There is some screaming from them and then it cuts off a moment later. When the fire has passed the three leaders of the bandits are lying on the ground. When I walk up to the big guy and kick him he doesn’t move. With a flick of my thoughts I open the combat log. Turns out they are dead. I was a little surprised that they were so weak to die so fast, but it was two spells and I did charge them. Got to remember that I’m not exactly normal. That’s when the arrows start to fall. They bounce off our barriers and don’t do any damage so I call out. “Last chance! Swear to change your lives before me or join your friend here.” I punctuate the last part with a kick to the body next to me.
Arrows still fall and I can see they are coming from five different spots, two on the right and three on the left. I can also hear the grass rustling as one person is running off to the left and more to the right. “Timbre, take the one running away on the left. You can shift if you want.” Giving Thia a telepathic command to wait I start casting Ice Lance and Mana Bolt at the remaining five archers. They go down easily and when there are two left I tell Thia to activate Merge. We need to practice it and I don’t want the other bandits to get away and kill some innocent farmer or something. I haven’t used Merge while Thia is in her elfin shape before so it’s interesting to see what happens. She jumps at me like she is going to give me a flying hug, but her arms are extending out as they grow larger. When she sinks into me they form into golden wings on my back. I still don’t have much time while we’re merged, but that is what the practice is for. By the time the change is complete only one archer is left.
Jumping into the air I give a powerful flap of my wings that shoots me into the sky. About thirty feet off the ground I turn to the direction I hear others running in. I can see them from here. Two more bandits in ratty armor and carrying bows are running parallel to one another. There is about twenty feet between them so I fly off to catch up. Between the two fleeing felons and thirty feet up I shoot an Ice Lance into the back of each, causing them to stumble and fall in their mad dash to escape. With how easy it is to kill these bandits I’m starting to feel a little sorry for them. I still don’t hesitate as images of them attacking honest people on the road flash though my mind. A couple of Earth Spikes shoot out of the ground where they had fallen and skewer them.
The battle over, I land and walk up to the bodies. I take the few pieces of silver they have on them and leave the rest. The whole time I try to avoid looking at the holes through their bodies caused by my assault. Just because I’m willing to kill doesn’t mean I revel in it. All their stuff is garbage and on its last durability. Using Shape Earth I then bury them. When I get back to the road Azzaria is already looting the other bandits and Timbre is trotting back from the grass with blood on her large muzzle. She wipes her face on the nearby grass before shifting back to her wolfkin form and using a cloth she pulls out to clean the last specks blood off her chin. I help Azzaria loot, finding about 30 silver and 27 coppers between them, mostly from the leader. The axe the leader has is worth keeping too. I will just have Azzaria sell it when we get back in town but it should be worth a little.
Storing all the bodies on the road I have Timbre lead me to the one she chased down. I bury them all right there and we head off down the road again. As we walk Azzaria falls in next to me. “You okay Vol?” she asks.
I guess I’ve been quiet since the fight. “I’ll be fine. I don’t like just killing them like that. Especially since they weren’t really a threat to us. I just couldn’t risk them attacking someone they were a threat to. What if the next group that came down this road was a family with children.” I shake my head to try and free myself from the downward spiral my thoughts have been on.
Azzaria puts her hand on my shoulder. “You did the right thing. Even if you had captured them and turned them into the guards at the city they would have been executed anyway. Most places don’t want to waste the resources for long term imprisonment so the punishments are mostly fines, short term imprisonment, or execution.”
Looking over at her, I wonder what kind of justice system this world is used to. That makes me think of how it should be at Thunderbird’s Roost, but I shove those thoughts to the back of my mind. “Thanks Azzaria. That, sort of, makes me feel better.”
The rest of the trip is uneventful. By the evening of the fourth day from Gan we get to the dock where the ferry will take us to the Capital of Riverock on the opposite bank. The ride costs a few coppers per person and the ferry, which was a flat boat big enough to fit four wagons, was manned by people on either side. They pulled ropes going through rings set into the railing to drag the vessel across the river. Soon we arrived on the dock with the rest of the travelers that were crossing. When we got to the end of the dock for the ferry there are two guards standing in front of the gate to the lower city, watching the people entering. They weren’t stopping anyone though so we passed by without incident. We walked down the main road that led from the docks and all the way to the next gate for the upper city.
Along the way I took in the sights. The lower city was mostly warehouses in this area since it’s close to the docks, but between the large buildings I can spot small homes in disrepair. Dirty people are unloading wagons into the warehouses and passing between the buildings. I don’t see any slaves around and everyone is human. The girls have been keeping their hoods low over their faces and their heads down as we walk down the street and up to the gate. The guards there see us coming and one of them raises a hand to stop us. “What is your business in the upper city?” The guard looks experienced and is wearing decent leather armor with a sword at his hip.
“Looking for a good inn tonight and doing some shopping tomorrow” I tell him.
He looks over my armor and then the three girls following me before he turns back. “The inns closer to noble town are better if you have the money. Have a nice day.” Then he steps aside.
I think about asking him where The Pony is but Dale said it was along the wall between upper and lower city. I don’t want to do anything to make myself stand out and the guard has already pegged me as someone with money. Let him think that I plan to be staying closer to noble town. He turns to the other guard and waves him off as we head through the gate. This part of the capital is far different from lower city. The buildings are clean and in good repair. The people too. The architecture is what I would expect of medieval society in Europe back on Earth. There are hints of magic that can be seen from the street though. Like the enchanted lamp putting off light from a window nearby. The street lights that are lighting up are also enchanted and coming on due to the setting sun.
When we have walked a little way through the street and the dwindling crowd I turn to a person walking by and ask about The Pony. The man I ask points in a direction to the left of the street we are walking down. Thanking the man, I turn and lead the girls down a side street in the direction that the man pointed. We weave through a few streets passing humans and slaves as we go. Soon we reach the wall surrounding this part of the city and follow the street that traverses the area next to it. As we go I observe the buildings we pass. Most are homes but soon we see a building that is three stories and has a sign out front hanging over the door. The sign is swinging slowly in the gentle breeze and depicts a small horse. This has to be our destination.
We enter the common room of the inn to quiet conversations. I look around and see there are a few people sitting at tables around the room. Some of the people are talking to each other while a waitress walks between tables. The waitress is the only slave I can see in the place, a small beastkin woman with furry black ears on her head and a black cat tail trailing behind her. I lead the girls to the back of the room where the bar is. Standing there and wiping down a glass is a man with sandy colored hair and just a little shorter than myself. “Hello. I’m Vol and I need a room for the next couple nights.”
The man looks over at me and the girls that are standing by my side. “Why don’t you go to one of the inns near noble town. The
y are more accommodating to those with slaves in tow.” After saying that he turns back to the glasses he is cleaning, clearly a dismissal.
“Are you Marcus?” The man turns his blue eyes to me and I can see how wary he is to answer. “Dale and Jadelyn said I should talk to you and recommended that I stay here.”
That sure gets his attention. Facing back toward me he looks over my party once again. “Come with me” he says and walks back toward a door to the side of the bar. Following him back through the door leads us to the kitchen. Passing by a couple of people cooking he leads us to a door that goes down steps into a basement. There are casks of spirits lining most of the walls and a couple of support pillars through the middle of the room. On the end opposite to the stairs we came down is a ramp leading to a door. “Now that we are away from any that might overhear, what do you want?”
Shaking my head I respond “I already told you. I would like to get a couple rooms for the night.” I hear a loud sigh from the left where Azzaria is standing. “Fine, I’ll tell him” I say exasperatedly. Azzaria apparently doesn’t think I need to be as cautious as I do. “I’m here to see about freeing what people I can. I have a place where they can be relatively safe and Dale thought I should talk to you.”
He takes a moment to think before saying anything. “I’m Marcus, but why should I believe anything you say?”
Preparing to cast in case this goes badly I wave at Azzaria. “You started this with Dale, go ahead and show Marcus.” A quick nod is the only response I get before she pulls back her hood and then takes the slave collar off. When she does this I’m watching Marcus so I get to see his eyes bug out and nearly pop from their sockets. A moment later she replaces the collar.
It takes a minute for the inn keeper to regain himself before he looks to me. “Is it real? Not a fake collar?”
“It’s real alright, but she has complete control of it herself. Go ahead and try to remove it.” What follows is the same thing that happened in Gan days ago. When he is satisfied, he backs away and turns back to me. Before he can open his mouth, I tell him “Yes. I have more of the collars, but not many. I’m planning on using them to make sure I had a few people here that could feed me info while I’m around. Maybe after I have left as well.”
“I still don’t trust you, but maybe you can do something for me. There is a gambling house for the more well to do citizens near noble town. The slaves there are frequently mistreated and if you want me to trust you then you can start there.”
“What is that supposed to mean? I doubt they will let me just take them away, even buying them from the house is unlikely to work. Even if I did buy them all, they would just buy more who would be just as mistreated.”
Marcus shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. That is what you will have to figure out.”
Quest: Gamblin’ House Blues: Do something to stop the mistreatment of slaves at the gambling house in upper city indicated by Marcus from The Pony inn. Reward: Variable, depending on manner of resolution. Accept: Yes or No.
With nothing else to do about it I decide to just take the quest. It may align with what I’m planning to do anyway. Taking out my map I show it to Marcus and he marks a spot close to the noble town wall. Without saying anything else he starts up the stairs. I shrug my shoulders to the girls and follow him up. Back at the bar Marcus hands me a key to a room on the third floor. “Here’s your key. Last door on the right on the third floor. It’s 20 silver for the lot of you. That includes meals each night.”
I toss him the silver and say “Please have our meals sent up to us in the room tonight.”
He swipes the coin off the bar and waves us away. We head up the stairs to our room and take a look around at our new accommodations for the next few days. There is one large bed set in the back right corner of the room with a night stand. On the left side of the room is a table with four chairs around it. We take a seat and chat for a little while until there is a knock on the door. Timbre goes and answers it to find the cat girl from the main room holding trays of food. Timbre lets her in and she enters with her eyes down and places the food on the table before leaving quickly.
Tired from the day of travel food is the only thing keeping us from passing out right now. We all start digging in because we are famished, having not eaten anything since breakfast. As we eat the mutton and vegetable stew groans of pleasure can be heard from everyone. The mutton is seasoned to an amazing level and especially tender. The stew is good too, but the bread just melts in my mouth as I eat a bite then dip it in the stew before taking another bite.
A few minutes later I’m scraping the last of the stew from my bowl with the bread. Done with our meal we all lean back to let our dinner settle. “That was amazing. Their cook is very good.” My statement is met with lazy sounds of agreement. With the rigors of our long journey catching up with us I heard them all to the bed before locking the door and joining them. Not even taking my clothes off I fall onto the large bed next to the already dozing beauties and pass out immediately.
Chapter 14
The next thing I know, there is a knocking that brings me out of my slumber. Sitting up it takes a moment for me to get my bearings in the unfamiliar room, but soon I am awake and feeling refreshed. No lingering anxiety today. Looking at the three girls around me I get out of bed carefully and let them sleep. I open the door to see the same cat-girl waitress that brought the food last night. She has her hand raised as if to knock again then looks up at me. She quickly puts her hand down and red starts to fill her cheeks. Nervous, she starts to stutter something but I can’t understand anything until she looks down again, takes a deep breath and then starts over.
“Marcus told me to come ask if you want breakfast” is what she quietly tells me.
Looking her over, her head only comes to the bottom of my chin and she looks very nervous standing there. Not wanting to upset her any further I try to keep it simple. “I am Vol. What is your name?” I ask her gently.
“Rin sir.” She doesn’t say anything else but I think she is shaking a little.
“Well Rin, it’s good to meet you. Please bring four breakfasts up for me and my companions. I understand it’s not covered under the room price and I will pay.” I pause for a moment just standing there until she looks up to me again. “Thank you.” With that she nods jerkily and then hurries off down the hall to get our food. I move back to the bed where I sit and just watch the amazing women that have made themselves a part of my life. They look so peaceful and content in their sleep that I just watch for a little while until Rin returns with the food. As I let her into the room to put down the tray the smell from the bacon that is still piping hot permeates the room.
Only a minute later as Rin is leaving the room Timbre starts to stir. Then Thia, and finally Azzaria wakes. They all get up and gravitate toward the food. We all eat our breakfast quietly as we wake up and I check the message that popped up when I was talking to Rin. For some reason I gained a level in Magnetic Personality, but I don’t know why. As we are finishing up there is another knock on the door. Having finished before the rest I get up and answer it. It’s Rin again, but this time Marcus is with her. I wave him in and shut the door behind them. “Hello. To what do I owe the pleasure?” I ask him.
“I have a favor to ask of you. This is Rin….my daughter.” When I give him a nod and wait for him to continue he seems to be a little flustered. “That doesn’t surprise you?”
“Why would it?” I ask curiously.
“Well, most humans find it distasteful to have children of other races. The rest would be appalled with her being my slave.”
I shake my head. “I’m not one of the former and as for the later, I understand the necessity in your situation. Now, what is the favor you mentioned?’
Marcus has an odd look on his face before saying “You aren’t from around here” but he doesn’t ask about it. “I wanted to ask you for one of the collars you mentioned, for my daughter.”
Nodding in understand
ing I pull one from my storage and bring it out of the bag at my side. I started wearing one just for this sort of thing. Handing it to him he spares a grateful look to me before turning to his daughter. Reaching to the collar around her neck he is able to remove it. She takes a moment to rub her neck where it was before we instruct her on activating it for herself. Looking up to me through her long black bangs she says “Thank you” in a quiet voice I can barely hear.
“You are very welcome Rin.” Turning to Marcus I address him. “If it isn’t prying too much I was wondering about Rin’s mother.”
Marcus releases a tired sigh and takes a seat on the end of the bed. I sit at the table with the girls and Rin sits next to her father. “That is one of the reasons I asked for you to do something about the gambling house. When the law was changed so all non humans would be enslaved I tried to smuggle Rin and my wife out of the city. I planned on meeting them on the other side of the river but they were caught by guards inspecting the cargo of the ferry and sold on the slave market. Luckily I was able to buy Rin, but I didn’t have much coin left and was out bid for my wife Maka. The gambling house purchased her and the one who runs it hates me so he refuses to sell her.”
A Mage Rising: (The Chronicles of Herst 2: A LitRPG Saga) Page 27
