“Whatever was here, it’s gone,” Gilian said. “There’s nothing here.”
“There’s definitely still a wound, though,” Rya said.
“A wound?” Jeanne and Gilian said in unison.
“Yeah, it’s like a giant gaping hole, but completely invisible to the naked eye!”
“Look,” I said, “all you need to know is that a wound is something magical, it has to have to do with mana. Just watch the flow of mana and you might find something.”
“But what is a wound?” Gilian asked.
“Well, a wound is… well, it’s what happens when you draw a magic circle. When you use one, it essentially makes a burn mark, kind of like how you would leave a burnt patch of land if you use fire magic close to the ground. The only difference is that we can’t see it, or at least not in a conventional way.”
“Yeah,” Rya interrupted, “like, because you guys are good with magic, you can probably sense the flow of magic.”
I decided to investigate the premise a bit more. This was definitely the spot I arrived in four months before. There were chances that the wound could have healed, but I could feel that there was something. It was as if a lot of energy was collecting at one spot. It also had a weird smell, almost like ozone.
“Look,” I said, while pointing at the paved ground. “There are a few small traces left of the circle.”
“Is that a wound?” Gilian asked.
“No, this is seems to be either ink or chalk. That, or it’s just plain dirt that’s been gathering.”
“How do we know there’s a wound here?”
“It’s just something you feel. I don’t really have a good sense for magic or mana, but even I can feel something. I’m pretty sure you two have a better sense.”
“How does it work, though?”
“Actually, I don’t really know. Mana is supposed to be flowing all around us, maybe you can sense this flow?”
I could already see that Jeanne had closed her eyes, and it didn’t take long before Jeanne responded.
“I can feel it,” she said.
“You’re right,” Gilian said, “I think I feel it as well.”
“Can you guys map the wound?” I asked.
“Do you have something to draw with?”
“I don’t have anything yet, but if you have a skill that you think you can use, I might figure something out.”
It took a short while for them to figure out a skill that could be useful.
“Is 【Water Manipulation】 useful?” Gilian asked.
“I think I can do something with it.”
All I needed was to create ink. I wasn’t sure if ink was water based, but I decided to just go with something that could work. Essentially it would just be water with ground graphite. Hopefully the skill would be able to carry the graphite particles. I just had to create it with 【Item Creation】, of course not forgetting to also create the bottle to contain it, otherwise it’d just fall down on the floor.
We then all left the pavement, so that Jeanne and Gilian could use their magic to draw out the magic circle. Slowly but surely the ink began to flow, and symbols began to appear, then lines which turned into circles and patterns, until an entire magic circle began to appear.
“I think I have this circle memorized,” Jeanne said.
“Me too,” said Gilian.
“It seems the magic circle is incomplete, though.”
“Wait, how do you guys know that?” I asked.
“The magic circle is automatically recorded into our 【Spell Book】.”
It was to be expected. I mean, I didn’t expect their findings to be recorded at all, but I already expected the circle to not be entirely complete. Aside from the fact that they’ve only been using magic for less than a day, I wouldn’t expect it to be completely accurate to trace the flow of mana.
After the ink dried up, I decided to take a closer look. There were still some marks left behind. I guess mana can erode stone like water can, or at least magic circles. A huge amount of energy goes through it, so it’s only to be expected it would affect the surroundings. I decided to look at these irregularities, and tried to fill in the gaps. I’ve also tried to clean up the circle wherever I felt like it should be cleaned up. Of course, it wouldn’t completely help, but at least it drew a more complete picture for the sisters.
“What now?” Gilian said.
“I assume you guys can draw out the magic circle from your 【Spell Book】. Once we find somebody who’s more knowledgeable about them we can let them help us analyze it. For now, though, we need to clean this place up, remove any trace of us finding the circle.”
As the sisters used their water magic to remove any ink on the pavement, I couldn’t help but notice how nice the pavement looked. Once the ink was removed, I decided to use 【Analysis】 on it. Even though this information wasn’t really useful, I possibly could use it in the future, I thought.
“So, where to next?” Gilian asked.
“Well, it’s getting dark, so maybe we should set up camp somewhere. Rya, do you have any suggestions? Preferably not too close to this place.”
“We could head further up north,” Rya said. “We’re already going in that direction anyway, and if we reach the forest we can easily find the road again.”
It was still dusk when we arrived at the outskirts of the forest, an ideal place to set up camp, really. Unlike the forest near Alphana, this forest was pretty dense. This meant that the chances of getting attacked from behind would be pretty low. It wouldn’t be impossible, so to lower the chance, I decided to add some rudimentary camouflage using fallen branches and leaves behind our tents in a way that a campfire wouldn’t be easily noticeable.
Due to their blessings, Jeanne and Gilian received some basic elemental spells from Elverde. While they could be used in offensive ways, they weren’t exactly powerful enough to actually harm intruders efficiently. At most they could incapacitate them temporarily. I decided not to rely on them too much. This was a new world for them, and I wanted them to enjoy it.
The road to Benita from the main road wouldn’t be too long. It would be around half a day to get through the forest, and from there it was at most a few hours until we’d arrive at the city gates. If we had a caravan, we’d be there a bit sooner I guess, but since I didn’t know how long we had to stay there and how successful we’d be, I decided to just save on money.
Benita is mostly known for its dungeon. It’s a low level dungeon that has a protected dungeon core. It’s under protection by the city itself, as the dungeon is their main source of income. The main reason why this dungeon is popular is because of its low level and the fact that a certain protection prevents major injuries that could result in disfigurement or even death, and any damage sustained will be healed upon leaving the dungeon. Nevertheless, it’s still advised to enter with caution, as damages to equipment won’t get repaired, and items that get lost will not be retrieved. The dungeon would always make sure everybody would get out safe, but that wouldn’t extend to materials taken into the dungeon.
Rya was really excited to go to the dungeon, or rather, she was excited to show us the dungeon. She’s been there a few times before, but she never really got to enjoy her stay. Any party she’d get into would just send her back or just plain ditch her. This time, though, she’d go with us.
Once the camp was set up, we had dinner, established the guard duty, and went to bed. It was decided that only Rya and me would be on guard duty, since we both got used to it anyway. I picked the first shift, leaving Rya for the second.
Having some time alone wasn’t so bad, really, it gave me plenty of time to practice. One of the things I wanted to try is something I’ve read in many isekai manga. A trick to increase your maximum mana reserve would be to completely deplete it, and let it naturally regenerate. Actually, it wasn’t clear if you had to have it naturally regenerate, but since I didn’t have anything to replenish it, I didn’t have to worry about it that much.
Because I wanted to practice my magic anyway, I thought that this would be the right time. I already read up on magic. Completely depleting your mana wasn’t harmful, though would often be paired with extreme fatigue. This is why most magic users are also in peak condition. The last thing you want is to spend all your mana and then be completely incapacitated while being attacked.
I decided to practice conjuring elemental magic, which would enable me to fill up depleted magic stones. Coming across these is actually pretty easy, depending on what you’re looking for. The cheapest kinds are the ones that are too small to be really useful. Some merchants have a lot of them in stock, since they’re excellent practice material, especially for enchanters, as 【Magic Stone Infusion】 often serves as the basis for enchantment skills, though aside from that, some jewelers would also utilize them as cheaper alternatives to small gemstones.
I had a bunch of them. Since 【Magic Stone Synthesis】 would destroy one of the stones, I had to have enough to properly experiment with them. The first element I decided upon was fire. After practicing 【Conjure Magic ‒ Fire】 a few times, I combined it with 【Magic Stone Synthesis】 to infuse it into one of the depleted magic stones. It took me a while to figure it out, but eventually I had a fire magic stone. The next step was to use 【Magic Stone Synthesis】 on two of them to see the outcome. While it did come with a result, I wasn’t exactly sure what I got. I decided to just let it wait until I learned 【Appraise】.
By the time it was time to switch out, I was exhausted and my mana was depleted. Waking up Rya wasn’t that hard, she was already used to this. She always managed to be cheerful, though I guess she was quite a bit more cheery than before.
Breakfast was already cooking when I woke up. Jeanne and Gilian were still sleeping. It was still early, so I decided to let them sleep. Rya was already done with hunting, something she’d always do. It’s how we could save money on provisions.
“Did you catch anything interesting?” I asked.
“Yeah, check this out.”
There were several piles of material, mostly the usual stuff, but also things like feathers. Since I was the only one who had a 【Storage Box】 with 【Unlimited Storage】, Rya had no choice but to put them on a pile while I was still asleep.
“Did you go bird hunting?”
“Nah, they’re from some kind of feathered predators, like, they look like a cross between a lizard and a chicken. Ya know?”
She began to draw the shape in the dirt.
“Wait, you hunted velociraptors?”
“Velo-what? What are those?”
“They’re just, I dunno, I’ve never actually seen one myself.”
“Are they from your world? Your previous one I mean.”
“Well, I guess? By the time humans came to be, they have been long extinct. The only remnants we have of them are fossils, and only recently people have discovered that they might have been feathered.”
The campfire was still burning, albeit a bit lower. At this point we’d stop adding wood, so that it could naturally sizzle down. After that, all we had to do was to cover it with dirt to completely extinguish it.
I wasn’t sure if Rya could use fire magic. I mean, I guess she could, since it’s one of the easiest types of magic there is. All I know that she knows how to light a fire without magic. It’s her preferred way of doing it, saying it would save on mana. You’d never know when you would need to be ready to use it.
“Hey boss,” Rya said.
“Please don’t call me boss,” I replied.
“Yeah, yeah, anyway, about your status as an otherworlder.”
“What about it?”
“I think you should keep it to yourself.”
“I mean, sure, I was already planning on doing that.”
“Lady Elincia asked me to keep an eye out for you, keep you safe for as long as we’re traveling together.”
“You don’t really have to look out for me that much, though.”
“Yeah, well, we’re companions, so it’s only natural for me to look out for ya. You’re not exactly that strong, ya know?”
“Yeah, I know. To be honest, I don’t know if traveling right now was the right thing to do. I mean, you’re already a seasoned adventurer, so we might be a liability to you.”
“Well, you shouldn’t sell yourself short. You can handle things on your own as well.”
I glanced at the sisters. They were still sleeping. I knew that at some point we had to wake them up for breakfast, so that we could leave as soon as possible, but I wanted to let them be for just a little bit longer.
“Hey Rya,” I said. “I know you still have your collar on, but, well, just in case there’d ever be such a situation, if you want to do something, you don’t need to ask me. You’re not a slave anymore.”
“I know,” Rya answered.
There was a smile on her face, a kind of child-like innocence.
“I’m glad that I met Lady Elincia,” Rya said. “I could have gone to any slave house, ya know, anybody could have taken me in. I was at a point where I didn’t have any self-worth. Lady Elincia gave it back to me.”
“Didn’t you regret becoming a slave?”
“Don’t think I did. If I didn’t, I would never have met Lady Elincia, and I wouldn’t have ever met you. Lady Elincia, she always told me and any slave under her care that she’d look for the right person for everybody, that she’d make sure we’d end up in the right place. She’s the kind who looks after us, cares for us, that we get treated the way we deserve to be treated. It’s why she almost never takes prisoners in.”
“Why’s that?”
“She has to treat everybody equally, which also means that she can’t just straight up refuse a prisoner based on their crimes. She’d have to also take in rapists and murderers, and, well, I think it’s hard for her. She doesn’t want to force them to wear collars that force their behaviors.”
“But she does take in prisoners?”
“Only in rare circumstances. Ya see, each slave has to be willing to be with their master. In other slave traders, it’s forced with these collars. In the case of The Residence, it’s all based on mutual trust. Slaves at The Residence are taught that we should see our masters as companions, as leaders, rather than those that only see us as property.
“But there has to be a mutual trust, not just a one-sided one. If the crime is too severe or too ingrained in their personal being, it’s really hard to build trust with those people, so Lady Elincia often plays it safe.”
“And this is also why there’s a selection process with potential customers?”
“Yeah, exactly. If ya can’t trust a customer with a slave, you’re betraying those you looked after. Actually, people might not know this, but, Lady Elincia, she used to be a sex slave. Or actually, she was trained as one.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah, that’s how she can sweet-talk people, make them more open to the idea of owning a slave, or having them purchase equipment they don’t really need. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she never scams her clients, she’s very honest when she’s selling stuff. There was this one time where this guy, he just came for a sword replacement. Ended up getting some stuff he couldn’t even use. Never even complained. Few days later, he came back to get some more equipment for his companions.”
“That sounds hilarious.”
“That one I’ve actually seen happen, but there’s a lot of stories that Lady Elincia told us that were equally as hilarious. Wait, let me get something.”
Rya reached for her backpack, and after rummaging through it, she took out a book.
“This is a book that Lady Elincia gave me. She told me that if I ever got sold, she’d give me this very copy.”
“What’s it about?”
“It’s her autobiography. I’ve read it quite a few times, actually. Helped me through some rough times. Actually, at The Residence, we’re allowed to read anything we want.”
“That’s pretty generous of her.”
“Yeah, but I mean, being a slave in waiting can get kinda boring, ya know? I mean it ain’t prison. But anyway, this book tells you her entire life story, how she started as a slave and such. Apparently she’s the daughter of a noble family, or at least, they were a noble family. It’s probably due to circumstances that she had to be sold into slavery, maybe they were even stripped of their ranks. She’s not sure though, it’s all what the slavers have told her.”
“Did she ever try to find her parents again?”
“I mean, yeah, of course. She never stopped looking for them. Her husband is even currently continuing his search.”
“Must be rough.”
“Yeah, it is. She doesn’t even remember where she’s from, or who her parents were. When she became a slave she was only a child.”
“And I guess the reprogramming didn’t really help.”
“Yeah. She’d be trained until she turned 14, at which point she was put up for sale.”
“That must’ve been horrible.”
“Yeah, especially considering the fact that she was trained as… well, let’s just say that the training for that began at a fairly young age.”
“Is that even legal?”
“In the Albega kingdom? No. But in Alvolen? Yeah, sorta. I mean, I don’t know a lot about Alvolen, but I do know that the age of consent is lower than here. I mean, not that it mattered.”
“How so?”
“Ya know why the slaves at The Residence have these nice rooms? I mean, we didn’t have any property, but we didn’t have it bad at all. Well, the reason is that we’re being treated as humans. No matter how bad a slave trader is, in Albega, slaves still have to be treated humanely. They use any means possible to break you, and then break you even more.”
“And that’s not the case in Alvolen?”
“At least that’s what I’ve been told by other adventurers.”
The mood got all gloomy. At this point, she was just poking the fire with a stick. I guess I felt a bit uneasy myself, so I tried to change the subject.
“So tell me, how did Elincia get out?”
“You mean how she got free? She got purchased by the Celwind household. I mean, that’s how she met her husband. After she got purchased, the Celwind family helped her rehabilitate, and then they set her free.”
“You make it sound easy. I imagine it would have left a permanent scar.”
“It did, and it still does, I guess. Like, she rarely sleeps alone, there’s always a servant nearby in case she gets panic attacks.”
“So she has servants.”
“Yeah, former slaves. They actually get an allowance and are allowed to go out on their own.”
“But what happened after she was set free?”
“Well, according to the book, she left the household. A few days later she was found by the family, and they took her in again. They never formally adopted her, instead she got married into the family.”
“Well, I guess that sounds nice.”
“Yeah, it totally is! Lady Elincia, she loves her husband very much! Like, if she didn’t fall in love with him, she would have just left again to search for her parents.”
There was a certain kind of happiness in her eyes that made her eyes sparkle. I guess that even with the short period she’s been with Elincia, Rya held a great admiration for her.
“You really love her, don’t you?” I said. “Elincia, I mean.”
“Yeah, I guess I do,” Rya answered. “She always looked out for me, and always made sure that I’d be happy. I mean, sure, she always does that with all of her slaves. When I first applied to become a slave, she kept asking me if I was really alright with this. Whenever I was scared, she was there for me.”
Rya smiled at me. A quick glance at the worn out book she held told me enough. This was her treasure. Not just the book, but what it represents.