by K R Zax
There were eleven of them, sitting around a fire while laughing and eating something that looked like a fried goblin. I glanced at Lina, and she nodded, readying her daggers.
I picked a stone and threw it with all the force I could muster. The orcs were baffled when they heard a hitting sound, and the nearest orc fell on his face, revealing a bloody back and a broken spine.
By the time they reached for their weapons, I already charged at them with my Trinity axe.
“Hiii! Hiiu!”
They were enraged after seeing their comrade died, and I used the commotion to cut down two of them. Lina was next to me, she jumped over the orc’s rolling head, and buried her dagger in another orc’s neck.
I cut and incoming Fire Ball, and threw Darkness on the orc Mage, just as he was gathering more flames in his hand.
He had a decent amount of mana, I’m looking forward to making his acquaintance. We slashed and pierced, Lina took one more down, and I killed four while protecting her back. The furious mage hit one of his companions, and the orc fell to his knees, screaming and holding his burnt face. Lina avoided a mace and cut the wrist of the orc that was attacking her, dancing swiftly around him. All the orcs were bigger than her but slower. I judged she’ll be fine on her own and then moved to finish the blind mage.
The orc was clawing at empty air with his flaming hands. I only needed to wait for the right moment to pierce his chest with my Trinity spear.
“Iiiiii! Iiiiii...”
Lina’s orc was down, screamed like a dying pig as she twisted her dagger. She was all sweaty and tired, so I walked around, Absorbing the life force from the fallen while she rested.
“Do you always get this tired after a fight?”
She raised a brow. “Only when fighting tough opponents, you know? Like any other D rank adventurer would - if he is ‘Normal’ that is.”
“What rank are orcs anyway?” I don’t like when she stares at me like that. Where is the cheerful slave I bought?
“Well, ‘Normal’ orcs are D-rank, and the Mage was C-rank.” Why is she emphasizing the word ‘normal’ in such a way?
“But they seemed stronger than kobolds, so why are both of them D rank?”
She let out a defeated sigh, “Kobolds are weaker but faster, and orcs are stronger but slower. When you sum up all the factors into consideration, you come with an average rank. That is what Guild experts have been doing for thousands of years.”
“Huh, you know a lot.”
“I was paying attention on class.”
“There is a class?” A school for adventurers? Should I go there?
Sigh, “Not that you need to know, obviously. You are a Demon. You shouldn’t concern yourself with some small fry.”
“Hey, I’m not a Demon.” Bloody hell, will she stop with that? The last thing I need is people associating that word with me.
The orc corpses I filled with Darkness, stood up one by one. Unfortunately, only seven of them could be used, the others were too damaged.
“Uh-huh.”
I could feel the sarcasm radiating from her. It must be all the stress.
The roasted goblin smelled awful, so I toss it aside and put an orc leg over the fire. We drunk some water, and I took out the cheese and bread I bought this morning.
“I forgot to buy some salt,” the orc wasn’t bad, almost like pork. “And some pepper and other spices.”
“Spices?”
“Yes, like the ones they use in the Night Bird Inn.” The stew last night was delicious, I get hungry just thinking of it.
“And that is why their food is ridiculously expensive! If we weren't renting a room, you would have to pay at least 50 copper coins for one serving!”
Oh, God! She sounded like a wife! Is buying a female slave the same as marrying her? What are the customs here?
“Um, how much would it cost in an ordinary Inn?” Let's get a sense of the prices first.
“You can get a bowl of goblin stew and a keg of ale, for five copper coins in any place near the gates, it’s even cheaper in the slums. But it won’t be that tasty, that’s for sure.”
“I like tasty food.” I chewed the orc meat. It had a nice, thin layer of fat, and the cheese was salty enough to make it really delicious. There is no way I’ll eat a goblin, that thing smells like a used sock.
“Of course you do, m’lord.”
I put the rest of the cooked leg inside the Storage, and we resumed the hunt. I made use of the zombies to attack some goblins and orcs. They were great! The zombies were slow, but as their numbers kept increasing, we could take down more opponents faster and faster. By the time we went back to Tsarigrad, I already had 51 zombies: 19 orcs, 27 goblins, and 5 Twin-Tail Wolves. And I had 31 bodies that were too damaged to be used, so I will sell them at the Guild for some cash.
The sun was setting by the time we reached the western gate. As Lina told me, the western and eastern gates were open for the public, and only the military and people with special orders could use the north and south gates.
The gates opened at the 6th bell in the morning and closed at the 9th bell in the evening. When I asked her about the walls, there wasn’t much she could tell me, except that it is said that they were built a long time ago by Earth Mages.
I suspected that it may have been in the early years of the merging of the worlds because the design of the towers and gate wasn’t something you see in medieval fantasy. Smooth surface, square windows on the towers... If someone put a big machine gun up there, it wouldn’t look out of place at all.
The Adventurers Guild was full of people, most of them were sitting at the tables drinking, and some were at the counters. Several adventurers had small carts or sacks packed with skins, bones, and meat.
Lina told me to wait and went to the board where quests were placed. She came back with two sheets of paper.
“Once you remove the quest from the board and have the receptionist put a stamp on it, you are obligated to fulfill the quest. And if you fail, you have to pay a penalty,” she said, and I looked at the papers.
‘Extermination quest.
Target: 10 goblins
Proof of subjugation: 10 right goblin ears.
Reward: 1 silver coin.’
‘Extermination Quest.
Target: 10 orcs
Proof of subjugation: 10 right orc ears.
Reward: 5 silver coins.’
It was made that way to encourage adventurers to kill more monsters, and if you can’t bring the whole corpse, then you just need to bring the proof.
“You can get more money if you complete a quest AND sell the materials.” She smiled proudly, so I had to praise her. Besides, she looks so adorable.
“You are such a great girl! I don’t know if I can live without you!”
“Darling!” She buried her blushing face in my chest. “Don’t tease me in front of people. It’s embarrassing!”
“Oh, my. I’m not a ‘Demon’ anymore? Are you finally back to normal?” I hugged her while watching her tail swing leisurely. She’s so hot.
“You are a Demon,” she whispered close to my ear. “You are also handsome, and strong, and evil, and crazy...”
“OK, I get it. Please stop.” She giggled when I interrupted her. We were having such a nice time when someone coughed loudly.
“Ahem, ahem! Next, please.”
Lina pulled herself together and, with a bright red face, handed the two sheets of paper to Elyn. I could see that the Guild receptionist tried hard to contain herself from smiling, she sure takes her job seriously.
“Do you already have them? Don’t tell me that you are going out at this hour.”
“It’s fine, Elyn. Me and Darling beat a whole lot of them. They are all in his Shadow Storage.”
Some of the guys who were drinking at the nearby tables started whispering among themselves.
“Is that guy a Dark Mage?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard he brought a bunch of corpses th
e other day.”
“For real?”
“Did he kill them himself?”
“There’s two of them.”
“That’s Lina, remember? The girl who owned money and ended as a slave?”
“I saw the Desert Blades following them yesterday, they looked up to no good.”
“Desert Blades? Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen them all day.”
I behaved like I took no notice of what they were talking about and followed Elyn to the big table. There was already another Guild member at her place, talking to the next guy in line when we reached our destination. No one was waiting more than necessary in Tsarigrad’s Adventurers Guild.
“If you please.” Elyn gestured at an empty table, and I ended up using three to unload the cargo.
“What the hell!”
“That many!”
“Only the two of them did that!”
It felt like every person in the Guild had their eyes on us.
“Darling killed most of them!” Lina said proudly, basking in the attention we were having. I wonder, will she start purring? Is her race even able to do that?
Several Guild workers came to assist Elyn and finish the job as soon as possible. After some calculation, she asked for my Guild card, and a few minutes later, she gave it back to me, along with the reward.
With the bonus included, we had 33 silver and 80 copper coins. That’s an amazing amount for a day of hunting.
“Darling! You ranked up!” Lina cried enthusiastically, and I looked at the copper plate. Sure enough, there was a big F under my name.
Chapter 8.
We left the Guild in a hurry and went to our Inn. There were a lot of people outside, and many stalls still worked. Magic crystals illuminated the streets of Tsarigrad with beautiful, warm light.
“What do you know about magic crystals?” I asked Lina as we walked down the crowded street, admiring the city’s splendor.
“Crystals are mined in dungeons, and then Mages fill them with Light or fire magic. They are used for various kinds of enchantments: you can light a room, hallway, street, that kind of stuff. And then there are the ones used to power a specific spell or enchantment.”
“Dungeons,” I keep hearing about them a lot. “What does a dungeon look like?”
“I dunno, never been in one myself,” Lina shrugged her shoulders, and then she pulled my hand, there was a stall selling some caramel apples. I bought a couple and then gave her some pocket money. I felt like an old, married man all of a sudden.
“I heard that a dungeon looks like a big chunk of shining crystal, the size of a house, and has a cave-like entrance.” Lina nibbled at her apple while she talked. “And there are lots of floors inside, and the deeper you go, the stronger the monsters are. And treasure! If you are really lucky, you can find a powerful magic item or magic ingredients to make a powerful item.”
How much could we earn in a dungeon, I wonder? And if I earned a lot, what should I do with all that money? Now that I think about it, what do I want to do with my life here? Sure, I want to get stronger. But what else?
“Lina, how much do you think it would cost to buy a house?” That could be a good move. I could employ some undead as guards and buy more slaves…
“It depends I guess. It shouldn’t be too expensive near the slums, 20 gold coins maybe?”
“Nah, I was thinking about somewhere in this area. What?” Lina dropped her half-eaten apple, and she looked at me like I was crazy.
“You want to buy a house in the Central Area?”
“Yeah, is there something wrong with it?” I could always see guards patrolling the streets, so it must be relatively safe. At least, it felt that way.
“Of course you can. If you have HUNDREDS of gold coins piled up somewhere,” she mocked, and then stared at me intently, “Do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
Lina breathed a sigh of relief when I told her that, then she took a bite of my apple and smiled. “I dropped mine. Anyway, Darling, don’t just surprise me like that. If you want a house, we can buy it somewhere else, or even build it in a small town – it would be cheaper that way.”
“Nah, I like this city. It’s so nice and big, and clean.”
“That’s right,” Lina nodded and waved her hand. “There are also a lot of shops and nice food and bright lights. But why stop at Central? You can aim for the Northern Area. Buy a noble’s mansion. Or the Emperor’s palace.”
Needless to say, she kept teasing me all the way to the Inn. We had dinner in our room, like last night, and then I decided to take a look at my Status Plate.
“Yes!” I yelled when I saw the information displayed on the bluish piece of metal.
Name
Alex Miller
Mana
S
Strength
A
Speed
B
Dark Magic
C
Fire Magic
F
Air Magic
G
“What is that?” Lina looked at the plate with curiosity.
“It’s just something I got from my teacher. He said that it would be helpful if I had an insight into my growth.”
“Mana S? Strength A? Is this real? Agh!” When she reached for the plate, there was a bright blue light the moment she touched it, and Lina fell on the floor in pain, pressing both hands on her chest.
“Lina! Are you alright?!” I was worried and didn’t know if I should get a healer. Could I even find one at this hour?
Luckily, it only lasted for a second. Lina was breathing hard and had a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead, but she seemed to be fine.
I didn’t know my Status Plate would react that… Huh?
Name
Lina
Mana
G
Strength
D
Speed
D
Air Magic
G
What is going on? This should be my Status Plate, not Lina’s.
When I thought of it, the information on the metal changed, and my stats were displayed. I then thought of Lina, and the info went back to her stats. Somehow, I was able to have an insight on her info.
“Darling.”
I turned my head sharply when I heard her worried voice. Lina was trembling and pointing at her chest. There, her slave crest turned from blood-red to bluish. The same color my Status Plate and Trinity’s crystal had.
“Darling,” she cried and threw her arms around my neck. “Am I going to die?”
“No, you’re not.” I pushed her away and showed her the plate. “Look, this is a magic item made for me. But since you are my slave, it reacted to you, and now I can see your information as well as mine.”
I needed to wait a few seconds for her to process that information. She then stared at the plate and nodded.
“Yes, those might as well be my stats. Unlike you, I am normal.”
I overlooked the last thing she said, and place my hand on the slave crest. Was its color the only thing that changed? Could there be something else? The feeling I got was like a different awareness of her. I could ‘see’ her life force, her mana, strength, magic skill… Slowly, I poured some mana, adding it directly to hers.
“Aaah, Darling.”
I stopped when she buried her nails in my arm, maybe my actions were painful for her.
“That was weird.” She pulled away and lay in the bed. “Can we sleep now? I’m tired.”
She fell asleep shortly after saying that. Damn, I spent the whole day looking forward to this night!
Should I just… No! That’s illegal!
Hmm, is it illegal? This is a different world. And she is my slave.
No! Don’t you dare go that way! Calm down! Let’s calm down.
I’ll just tuck her in, and go to sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, there will be an opportunity to play with her.
I was about to put the plate back in the Storage when something c
aught my eye. Her status. It changed.
Name
Lina
Mana
F
strength
D
Speed
D
Air Magic
G
***
“Your Grace.” The girl poured more tea into the woman's cup. Just like last night, once again she was looking at a document, wondering how to deal with it.
In a note she wrote to the Adventurer’s Guild Master, she requested that anything unusual that may happen when dealing with Alex Miller is reported to her immediately.
But she didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
Firstly, there is a rumor that a D rank party known as the ‘Desert Blades’ had its eyes on the Mage. Additional information revealed that they were involved in extortion and coercion. Also, since their leader was a veteran C rank adventurer, most witnesses were afraid to report them.
They were at the Guild when Miller registered and sold the monster bodies. A new adventurer with a large sum of silver was a good reason to go after him. Several people confirmed to see them tailing Alex Miller and his slave girl, Lina. They headed to the slum area and disappeared, not to be seen again.
Upon a more In-detail search, it was confirmed that there was a large amount of blood found in one narrow street, enough to belong to six people exactly.
There was always murder in the slums, but bodies were almost always left behind. The poor would take even the stinking underwear from a corpse, but not the body. Definitely not six of them. There had to be a trace somewhere.
Unless… Shadow Storage.
“Your Grace, should I call for a healer if you have are not feeling well?” The girl asked worriedly when she saw the woman pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked like someone having a headache, and that was considered to be a justifiable reason for a healer. Every one of the palace servants had the responsibility to look after the wants and needs of the Royal Members, especially when one of them had a very responsible job. Mistakes could cost the servants dearly if they overlooked something.