“Here,” I quickly opened one of the Healing Potions I received and passed it to Ranalaiya.

“What? For me? But…” for some reason she was hesitant to take it.

“Just drink it,” I raised my voice.

“Y… yes,” she took it and emptied the bottle in a few gulps.

My Minor Regeneration Skill was healing injuries at a decent enough speed, but the Healing Potion worked almost instantaneously. I could see Ranalaiya’s bruises disappeared and swollen parts vanished within seconds.

Wow, that’s just awesome. I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight.

“Feeling better? Can you stand?” I asked, extending my hand to her after I stood up myself.

“Ah,” Ranalaiya stared at me, her dazzling green cat-like eyes sparkling from surprise. She finally extended her hand back to me to stand up. “T… thank you, Master.”

“You feeling ok? Nothing hurts anymore?” I wanted to confirm.

“No, I am… fine,” she looked charmingly confused. When she fell however, Ranalaiya lost the fur mantle I gave her, so now she was back to having only her torn clothes on her.

“Right, let’s ask if the changing room is free,” I said, my eyes not being able to resist to glance at the part of her chest with her bare breast being slightly visible.

Shit, get her clothes, moron. People are watching. I scrambled to collect the scattered clothes from the ground. Ah, fuck. These are too dirty now.

“Come,” I took her to Ranco’s shop again.

The leather pants and the jacket didn’t look too bad, but the t-shirt and the undergarments were too dirty to wear them, so I bought additional ones which made Ranco happy again. I sent Ranalaiya with Ranco’s wife to get her dressed when the changing room became available. When Ranalaiya came back, I had to pinch myself to stop drooling. As shabby as the clothes she wore were, Ranalaiya looked stunningly, probably because the clothes Ranco sold me fit her almost perfectly.

Now that Ranalaiya didn’t have to hunch to hide her previously exposed body parts, she was standing straight, with her lower back arched just enough to help her ass and her hips beautifully curve into the sexy hourglass’ lines, forcing my eyes not want to move anywhere else. At the same time, the shirt she wore was tight enough, but not too tight. The fabric was pressed against her body just enough to show off her slim waist and her beautiful, probably B-size bosom. Overall, she looked very athletic and well built. Add to that Ranalaiya’s cat-like ears and sharp, green eyes, partly cat-like shaped nose with whiskers growing on the sides, her tail and the spots of her black fur showing where her clothes allowed for it to be seen, and you had a guaranteed nosebleed for a dork like me who still couldn’t believe there was a real cat-woman standing in front of him.

“I’m… ready, Master… Sorry, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya spoke after a short moment of awkward silence, a delightful flush dressing her cheeks.

“Ah, yes. Sorry, I was… thinking about… something,” I had to remember where I was.

Yup, people are staring alright… I realized pretending I wasn’t staring myself was too late.

“Right, we better go now. Thank you, Ranco,” I thanked the shop owner before turning to leave.

“My pleasure, sir. Please, come again,” Ranco bowed his head.

Ok, I have all these Rhaki’s skins. Maybe I could ask Alragus if he needs any of them? I thought, wondering where to go next.

“Come, let’s go,” I turned towards the direction where the Crafters District was.

“Yes, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said.

“It’s you. Hmph?” Alragus commented upon seeing me. He looked irritated for some reason.

“It’s good to see you too,” I said, putting on an act I was happy to see him.

“Welcome. What do you want?” The bull blacksmith clearly wasn’t in the mood.

“I can go to the other shop if you don’t want me here,” I dropped the act, feeling like I was treated like a nuisance.

“Sorry, I had… a bad morning. Some supplies weren’t delivered and now I can’t fulfil certain orders,” Alragus told me.

“Supplies, eh?” I could sympathize with him on that one. Of course, it’s been a while for me working with people who didn’t deliver on time. “Oh, this is Ranalaiya. This is Alragus, the blacksmith I have mentioned earlier.”

“Hello,” Ranalaiya bowed her head.

“Hi. Hmm? Hmph, you really are something else,” Alragus raised his eyebrows after taking a better look at Ranalaiya.

“What now?” His comments started to get under my skin.

“Nothing. What is it you need?” The blacksmith asked.

“I need a weapon for her. Maybe a knife or a short sword,” I wasn’t sure.

“A knife? Are you serious?” Alragus gave me an eyeful, the look on his face showing I wasn’t being smart, gently speaking.

“Ahm… I don’t know…” I rubbed the back of my head, pretending I haven’t noticed it. “What do you recommend?”

“What do I recommend? What kind of skills does she have?” He wanted to know.

“Skills?” I had no idea.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know?” Alragus gave me the ‘Are you serious?’ stare.

Ah, crap. I never asked Ranalaiya about it. Nor I bothered to check her stats before buying her. I was feeling like an idiot again.

“One… moment, please,” I spoke to Alragus, putting the dumbest smile on my face before stepping away to talk to Ranalaiya. “Can you tell me what skills you have?”

“Skills? But… Yes, ok, Master Rockin. Show Status,” Ranalaiya opened her Status Window to check.

Huh? What? I was stunned to see I could view all the information on her Status Window myself. I could never see other people’s Status Window when they were checking them in front of me. She has decent stats I suppose. Huh? Wait, she’s Level One and she has these stats? But… why am I able to see her stats in the first place?

“I have a skill that is called Claw Swipe,” Ranalaiya told me.

“A sharp swipe with a claw to inflict slashing damage. The damage is increased by the character’s Agility stat.” I read the description of the skill out loud myself. “Is that… the only skill you have?”

“…” Ranalaiya gave me a puzzling stare. “Ah, please forgive me, Master Rockin. Yes, that’s the only skill I have.”

“Right,” I went to talk to Alragus again, explaining him what skill she had.

“Humph, just like I thought,” he wasn’t surprised to hear what kind of skill she had. “I’d suggest a claw weapon for her. Two actually, one in each hand. But it’s up to you how you want to go about it.”

“Claw weapons? Ok. How much do they cost?” I wanted to know.

“How much are you willing to spend”? Alragus shot back a question himself.

“Aah…” I hesitated to answer.

“I’m not trying to rip you off. I’m only asking, because higher quality weapons cost more. I need to know how much you’re willing to spend, so I know what to offer you.” Fortunately, he wasn’t an ass when it came to negotiations.

“Right, yeah. Well, something… something basic, I guess. I plan on going to the dungeon, but she’s only level one right now, so we’ll be hunting Carnabbits to start with.” I explained.

“I see. I have some basic ones for you then. They are not great, but will do the job. One moment,” Alragus went to get them for me. “Here.”

The claw weapons he brought had two blades each, a handle to grip them, a strap to help them keep in place and looked rather crude. They probably were of a good enough quality, but I wouldn’t have called them to be very reliable.

“Ok, aaa… Could she… try them on?” I wasn’t impressed by the weapons.

“Sure,” Alragus agreed.

“Ranalaiya, can you put these on and tell me how they feel?” I spoke to her.

“Yes, Master Rockin,” she complied and was quick to put them on.

“Well?” I urged her to tell me what she thought about the claw weapons.

“They are… ok…” said Ranalaiya, but her tone of voice didn’t sound convincing.

“Listen, you will be fighting monsters in the dungeon. If these weapons are not good for you, you need to tell me.” I wanted her to tell me the truth.

“I’m so sorry. They feel very good. I could definitely use them. Please, forgive me, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya bowed her head apologetically.

What’s with all the apologies for every little thing? Jeez… I couldn’t understand why she was apologizing all the time.

“Ok, good,” I said in a casual tone before turning to Alragus. “How much are they?”

“They are two silvers each, so four silvers in total,” he said.

“Four silvers?” I couldn’t help but feel it was too much for some reason.

“Metal is expensive and it’s the lowest price I can offer. I’d usually charge more, but I need the money to buy the supplies I am missing,” Alragus told me.

“Oh, sorry. Yeah, ok. I’ll take them,” I took out the gold coin I received from that man who attacked Ranalaiya and passed it to him. He gave me six silvers back as my change. “By the way, do you need any Rhaki’s skins? I have some to sell.”

“Rhaki’s skins? You have Rhaki’s skins to sell?” Alragus became overly attentive all of a sudden. “I need six, or rather, at least four. Well, ahem… any amount… that you have.”

From his reaction I could tell that the missing supplies Alragus mentioned earlier involved a delivery of Rhaki’s skins as well.

“I have seventeen Rhaki’s skins with me. You said you need six?” I told him after checking my storage.

“Can I have eight?” Alragus asked.

“Sure. You can have more if you want,” I said.

“Thanks, but I am hoping for the delivery to arrive even if it’s late. I just need those eight now to fulfil two orders as soon as possible. I can pay you two silvers for them,” Alragus said.

“Two silvers? Hold on, the Guild paid me two silvers for delivering six Rhaki’s skins and you’re offering two silvers for eight of them,” I knew by now Alragus wouldn’t try to cheat me on the price, but the difference in what he offered was evident.

“The Quests at the Guild always pay higher than the market price. One reason is, the quest giver is willing to pay more to receive the goods sooner and it is always guaranteed, because it goes through the Guild. I could offer you three silvers for eight Rhaki’s skins, but only this once,” Alragus was probably desperate to get the skins, so he raised the offer price.

I see. That makes sense. Hmph, I’d rather not be the asshole then. I got the hint.

“No, that’s ok. Two silvers will be fine,” one extra silver won’t make a big difference to me right now, but it will hurt me if I want to build a long-term business relationship with Alragus.

“You sure?” Alragus was surprised to hear me say that.

“Yeah. I don’t want to be the asshole here,” I smirked.

“Hmph, thanks,” Alragus had a smile on his face.

I took out eight Rhaki’s skins from my Item Storage Box, leaving me with nine and passed those eight to Alragus. He gave me two silvers from the ones I paid him earlier and the exchange was done. After that, I placed the claw weapons I bought from Alragus into my Item Storage Box and we left his workshop.

Ok, what’s next. Ah, that’s right. Ranalaiya needs shoes too. I still have some money left with me, so I… huh? I was thinking which way to go when I noticed Ranalaiya greedily staring at someone or something. I followed her gaze with mine and noticed she was looking at the stall that was selling food. I wasn’t that hungry yet, but the same probably couldn’t have been said about Ranalaiya. I never asked her if she was hungry or not. Remembering how well the slaves were fed, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she hadn’t eaten anything at all today.

“How about we go eat now?” I asked her, pretending I haven’t noticed her staring at the food stall.

“Yes,” she was too quick to answer and then instantly blushed, looking extremely charming.

“I know just the place,” I smiled.

 

{at Savirei’s diner}

 

“Greetings handsome, you are early today,” Savirei was happy to see me. “And who’s this with you?”

“This is Ranalaiya. Ranalaiya, this is Savirei. She’s the owner of this place and her cooking is out of this world,” I felt like being cheeky with her.

“And you’re as sweet as ever today. That’s why I like you, darling,” Savirei licked her lips, her squinted eyes running up and down my body.

“It’s… nice to meet you,” Ranalaiya interrupted Savirei’s imaginary meal with her greeting.

“It’s a pleasure,” Savirei was quick to switch to being a polite hostess as she always was. “What’ll it be today? I do have some Rhaki’s meat tonight which was delivered to me by someone very special and I am yet to offer him a proper thank you for it.”

“Ah… that was… very nice of them and… I am sure they are looking forward to it,” I tried to pretend I didn’t know who Savirei was talking about. “Right, I’m not that hungry yet, but I’d like to order something for Ranalaiya. Can you give us a moment, Savirei?”

“But of course. Let me know when you’re ready to order,” Savirei smiled slyly before leaving our table.

“So, what would you like to eat, Ranalaiya?” I asked her.

“I would like… S… sorry. Anything will be fine, Master Rockin.” She clearly wanted to say something specific but stopped for some reason.

“What do you mean anything? There must be a food you like?” I asked casually.

“Ahm… I like… meat…” Ranalaiya said timidly, lowering her head.

“There are a few meat dishes available here,” I was browsing the menu. “Grilled Tarkee Wings. Hmph? Tarkee? Is that…”

“Yes, please,” Ranalaiya said, interrupting my thoughts. I caught a glimpse of spark in her eyes when I turned to face her before she lowered her head again. “If… if it’s ok with you, Master Rockin?”

“Yeeh, sure,” I agreed. I checked the price and it said the dish cost three bronze coins which wasn’t that bad. I turned towards the counter and waved to Savirei to show I was ready to order.

“Ready to order, handsome?” She asked after coming over.

“Yes. Can we get some Grilled Tarkee Wings, please?” I placed my order.

“Certainly. And what else?” Savirei smiled.

“That’s it, thank you. Oh, maybe some water to drink too, please,” I added politely.

“No Rhaki’s meat?” Savirei looked slightly disappointed.

“Not now. I’m not hungry yet. I’ll come back later,” I said.

“I see. In that case, I won’t keep you waiting for too long.” Savirei took my order and walked away.

We didn’t have to wait for too long for the order to be delivered. A plate of three grilled wings, probably three times the size of normal chicken wings, was placed on the table in front of Ranalaiya. Ranalaiya’s tail shot up and was wiggling to the sides excitedly while her ears were flickering joyfully one way or the other. Her eyes couldn’t look anywhere else other than at the steaming wings on the plate and she was struggling to sit still.

“Here you go, enjoy,” Savirei chuckled playfully, seeing Ranalaiya become so excited about her food. “And your water too.”

“Thanks, Savirei,” I picked up my glass to have a drink.

“You know, I’d be curious to learn more,” Savirei said, not rushing to leave the table.

“More?” I was puzzled by what she meant.

“You certainly must’ve pulled some strings. I’d very much like to know your secret,” the diner’s owner threw a glance at Ranalaiya.

“Oh, yeah. I wanted to ask you something as well.” I didn’t want to talk about it near Ranalaiya.

“Well, feel free to join me for a drink and we can have a chat, handsome,” Savirei winked at me before walking away.

“Listen, Ranalaiya, I want to talk to Savirei about something, so… huh? Why aren’t you eating?” It’s been a few minutes but Ranalaiya hasn’t touched the food yet.

“Is it… ok for me to eat, Master Rockin?” She asked timidly.

“Y… yes,” I was puzzled by why she would ask me that. “This is the food for you.”

“Thank you, Master,” Ranalaiya looked like she wanted to jump on the food.

Wow, she must be really hungry. I was aghast to see her starting to devour the food.

“Ah, oh, I… S… sorry,” she noticed my shocked stare and stopped before taking another bite.

“Hey, no worries. Eat… as much as you like. I will go talk to Savirei in the meantime, ok?” I told her.

“Yes, Master,” said Ranalaiya before turning her attention to the food in front of her.

“Hey, can I have another drink?” I asked Savirei, placing my empty glass on the counter.

“But of course, handsome,” Savirei was happy to see me come talk to her. “So, tell me, how did you manage to get your hands on the Night Sky Panther half beast slave? I thought you said you were struggling financially?”

“Yeah, I was and I spent almost all of my money to buy her. If not for those additional five silvers you paid me for the meat, I would’ve not been able to buy her. I paid one gold and three silvers for her,” I was honest with my answer.

“One gold and… You must be messing with me, darling. Everyone knows Night Sky Panther slaves have a minimum price of ten gold coins, and I am not talking about well groomed Night Sky Panther slaves here. And yet you got your hands on such a beauty. She must’ve been worth at least twenty gold coins if not more. I thought we were friends, you know,” Savirei tried to pretend to be upset but turned out to look charming instead.

“But it’s the truth. I honestly paid one gold and three silvers for her. I mean, she didn’t look as good as she looks now. Ranalaiya was badly beat up and could barely walk, and the clothes she had weren’t the clothes she is wearing right now,” I explained, having another sip from my glass.

“Really? Mind telling me more about it, darling?” Savirei became intrigued.

“Not at all,” I had another sip from my glass before telling her about my experience visiting the Salve Market.

“Wow, that was certainly a mistake on the slaver’s part. You were certainly lucky to snatch her for such a low price. Or should I say, it was Ranalaiya who was the lucky one here,” Savirei said with another mischievously sly smile dressing her face.

“Ranalaiya? Well, I… I guess…” I wasn’t sure why Savirei said it the way she did.

“You are such a charmer, darling,” Savirei giggled, seeing me being confused.

“By the way, you called her Night Sky Panther, ahm…” I shifted my body to have a look at Ranalaiya who was now devouring the last wing before turning back to Savirei. “What’s a Night Sky Panther?”

“You don’t know much about the races here, do you, darling?” Savirei leaned on the counter with her elbow, placing her chin on her palm.

“Aah… I’m… not from around here,” I wasn’t actually lying.

“Night Sky Panthers are a very sought after race, especially as slaves. Not only they are nimble and fast, making them excellent adventuring companions, but they are praised for their looks too, both men and women alike. Their alluring beauty is one of the main reasons they carry such high price as slaves,” Savirei told me.

“Wow, I… didn’t know that,” I turned to give Ranalaiya another glance. I simply thought she was a half-beast cat-woman, but now that Savirei mentioned it, it made sense why her ears and her tail looked different compared to the other normal cats.

“If I may ask something, darling?” Savirei interrupted my thoughts.

“Yes?” I looked at her.

“You mentioned that Ranalaiya was badly injured, but she looks very much fine now,” I knew why she asked me that.

“Oh, that’s because…” I had to tell her about what has happened after we went to the Shopping District.

“Really?” Savirei had to cover her mouth with one hand, laughing out loud. “That was such a fortunate unfortunate accident.”

“Eh? What does that mean?” I squinted my eyes, tilting my head to the side and feeling totally confused.

“So sorry. It surely wasn’t fun for you two when it happened, but you got another good deal out of that incident.” Savirei said.

“A good deal?” Again, I had no idea what she meant by that.

“You see, they have very strict laws regarding slaves here and you risk being severely punished for mistreating someone’s else slave,” she told me.

“Really? Can you tell me more about it?” I was very curious to know more.

“Yes, I can,” her words carried more than one meaning in them, but Savirei became a little more serious soon after. “Slaves are considered to be a property, just like any other wares offered on the market. However, slaves carry much higher value. One cannot simply replace an injured or killed slave easily. It’s not the same as buying another pair of shoes, if you know what I mean?”

“Yeah…” my eyes shot up as the thought of losing Ranalaiya creeped into my head. I’ve just met her several hours ago but I’d be really upset if something was to happen to her. I got proper mad when she was attacked earlier today already.

“That’s why you need to be careful and protect her well,” Savirei added.

“Huh? But didn’t you say the laws are very strict regarding slave abuse here?” I said, feeling like Savirei contradicted herself just now.

“Yes, however, slaves are only that, slaves. They have no voice, nor any rights. If for example, an argument was to escalate between any citizen and a slave, the citizen would be always in the right, unless someone who was not a slave could vouch for the slave,” Savirei explained.

“Right. So, that’s why the captain of the guards asked for witnesses regarding what happened at the market,” I remembered.

“One thing to remember, darling, is that the slave is the owner’s responsibility. If the slave gets into trouble, it will be the owner who will have to take responsibility. On a flip side, very few merchants would conduct business with a slave without their Master being present. As an example, Ranalaiya wouldn’t be able to get a room at the inn on her own, including my sister’s inn, nor I would serve food to her if you weren’t here. Apologies, but I’m just being honest with you, Rockin,” Savirei made an innocent, slightly sad facial expression, but I could tell she was serious about what she said.

“Even if you know me and Ranalaiya?” I tried to sound cheeky.

“Yes. Sorry, there’s too much risk involved. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say a slave comes to eat at my diner and they have money to pay for it too. On the outside, it looks totally fine. However, if the money they paid with were stolen and the investigation uncovers it, I will have to pay the money back to the rightful owner,” Savirei explained to me.

“Wait, but didn’t you say the slave’s owner was responsible for their slave? Why would you need to give the money back?” It didn’t make sense to me.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Savirei chuckled. “Simple answer is, since a slave has no rights, they cannot possess their own money either, which means any money taken from a slave are illegal money and need to be returned.”

“Oh, wow. That’s… serious,” that hit me harder than I thought.

Damn, the laws around the slaves are definitely strict. The slaves might have no rights but at least the laws protect them as well. It was a lot to digest for me.

“On another curious note, Ranalaiya must possess some nice stats too if you decided to buy her. Or did you choose her only for her looks?” Savirei felt like teasing me again.

“Ah, yeah. I think she has quite high Agility stat. I will need to ask her to show me her stats later,” I tried to remember.

“Ask her to show her stats? Darling, you know you can check your slave’s stats any time you want? You didn’t, did you?” Savirei let out a delightful chuckle again. “So sorry, you are just too charming.”

“No, I… didn’t,” I wanted to have another drink from my glass to distract myself, but it was already empty.

“Let me refill that for you,” Savirei offered, reaching for a pitcher. She filled up my glass almost to the brim.

“Thanks,” I quickly drank almost all of it in one go. I would’ve spoke longer with Savirei, but Ranalaiya was done eating and I wanted to buy shoes for her, get some supplies to take with me to the dungeon and visit the Guild to check for Quests before nightfall. So, after another short chat, mainly about slaves, I thanked Savirei for her hospitality and we left.