"It looks like all that's left is to find an artist for the study cards."
"Man, that seems like the hardest part though."
I was walking around the market with Liza to gather supplies for our departure from Seiryuu City, when I bumped into the young merchant from before. He was the one who sold me the study cards at the flea market.
He has already found a craftsman who would do the wood-working, and acquired a supply of wood for the cards. Now he just needs to find someone who will draw the cards for 1 silver.
"There were plenty of artists who said they would do it for 2 silver, but I would be losing money at that price."
I guess there aren't many artists crazy enough to draw the set of 100 cards for only 1 silver, or 25 coppers.
"I've already tried everyone at the guild. I don't know where else I can go."
The young merchant has the face of a discarded puppy on the roadside.
I'd love to introduce him to someone, but I can't think of anyone that could help... Oh wait.
"Are you familiar with the general store near the gate plaza? Nadi-san is pretty well connected, so she might be able to find an artist for you."
"There's someone like that? Thank you, I'll go take a look!"
He says that as he runs off, looking much more lively than before.
"Hmm?"
I notice something off after the merchant leaves.
Liza was standing right next to me, but she's not there anymore.
I turn around to see her staring blankly into a back alley.
Unlike the crowded main street, the back alley is nearly empty.
"Liza, what's wrong?"
"--Master, my apologies. It's nothing."
She replies with those words, but her face is saying the complete opposite.
The orange scales on her shoulders and arms seem to have a duller color than before.
Her usually energetic tail is lying lifelessly on the ground.
"You can tell me if you want to talk about it."
I offer to listen to her, but Liza just whispers "There was someone that looked like an acquaintance."
Apparently, she saw someone that resembled one of the slaves at her previous master's place.
"We don't have any more plans for today, so you can go talk to them if you want."
"No, I was mistaken. It was a different person."
Liza shakes her head as she says that, and starts to walk away.
"Was it someone you were close to?"
"Yes, us demi-human slaves have to work together, or wouldn't be able to survive..."
That's pretty heavy.
But, if they lived together under those conditions, it's natural that she would care for them.
"Was Urs their master too?"
Liza's previous master Urs was someone I had met during the riot incident. But, he was already killed by the demon that was possessing him.
"No, our original master was the leader of Urs's group. The leader was just lending us to Urs."
I see. If I remember correctly, Urs should be a member of the 'Sewer Rats' guild.
"In that case, maybe they are still living in the same place as before?"
"Yes, that's likely."
Liza voices her agreement.
"Let's drop off these supplies at the inn and go take a look then."
The 'Sewer Rats' seem to be a criminal guild, so it's not unthinkable for them to be abusing Liza's friends. If that's the case, I may be able to help them out a bit.
They might refuse to let us meet them, but that's a job for my [Bribery] and [Negotiation] skills.
"Is that really okay?"
"Yeah, of course."
Liza seems somewhat ashamed, so I give her a nod with a smile.
On the way back to the inn, Liza tells me a little about her friends.
It seems like there were quite a few of them. I managed to remember the 'bear-kin woman' and the 'leopard mother with a baby' since she talked the most about those two. The rest of them are somewhat blurred together in my head.
"Ah--! The guy!"
"It him!"
As we pass through the gate plaza, I hear some lisping voices talking about me.
I look over at the source of the voice, and see dog-kin and cat-kin children excitedly waving at me.
I've seen their cute stuffed animal-like appearance before.
They must be the children I gave grilled chicken to a while back.
It seems like they don't have anyone watching over them, so I head over to talk to them. Liza takes the rest of the luggage and heads back to the inn.
"Are you guys going on an errand somewhere?"
"Nope."
"We get herbs."
"Master go too."
I ask them with a gentle tone, and the kids respond at all once.
"Shut your traps. The loud brats are the ones who will get targeted first."
From the gate, an old human lady named Yona interrupts her conversation with Knight Thorne to shout at the children.
Apparently, this old lady is the children's master.
"Sorry."
"Please forgive."
The scolded children apologize to the old lady.
"Who the heck are you?"
The old lady, who was looking down on the children with her hands on her hips, turns to face me.
"Nice to meet you, I am the traveling merchant Satou."
I introduce myself to the old lady.
"What business do you have with these runts?"
The old lady stands herself in between me and the children.
It's almost as if she was trying to defend them from me.
"Master!"
I hear a scraping voice coming from behind them.
The owner of that voice, a longhair rat-kin woman, runs up to the old lady's side and holds out her hand to protect her.
Her other hand is on the handle of the hatchet at her hip.
"Wait."
"No."
"He is good guy."
The children behind the old lady try to get her attention.
After hearing about the grilled chicken and jerky I gave them, she untenses her shoulders.
"Ah, so it was you. You're the one the runts were talking about."
She orders the rat-kin to step down.
"You just had to go ahead and butt in."
The old lady's wrinkled face has a bitter expression.
"He not bad."
"He good."
"I said shut up!"
The old lady yells at the children who were trying to defend me.
"I was trying to teach these runts to be careful of humans, even if I had to play the villain a bit."
"Why would you do something like that?"
"Because the people here are harsh to demi-humans like them."
I think back to all the demi-human persecution I've seen in my short time in Seiryuu City.
It's just as she says. If they aren't careful, they could easily get assaulted. Or, if they are really unlucky, even lynched for no real reason.
The old lady was worried about that, and teaching the children to be weary of humans.
"Do you get it now?"
"Yes, my apologies. I was thoughtless in my actions."
"Y-you're certainly very honest..."
After I apologize for my actions, the old lady seems taken aback.
"Well, whatever. Be more careful if you're butting into other people's business. And, don't be so friendly with these runts, got it?"
I silently nod.
"--Well, I had my fair share too. The chicken and jerky weren't half bad."
The old lady smirks as she says that, and walks outside the gate with the rat-kin and the children.
The dog-kin and cat-kin children keep turning around to wave at me.
They really are just like cute moving stuffed animals.
"Tch, that weird old hag and her slaves again."
"Good grief, the gate reeks of beast now."
Some farmers push their carts through the gate. After passing by the old lady's group, the farmers start insulting them behind their backs.
I can understand some differences in opinion, but I feel sick after hearing the clearly discriminatory remarks.
I know that an outsider like me can't do anything about it, but...
"Geh--"
"L-let's get out of here."
As the farmers make eye contact with me, they get startled and quickly run off with their cart.
It looks like I may have unconsciously activated my [Intimidation] skill.
"--Racial discrimination, huh?"
It was there in my old world too, but it seems to be stronger here due to the more pronounced racial differences.
"Master, sorry to keep you waiting."
After the old lady and her party disappeared into the distance, Liza returns from dropping the luggage off at the inn.
The farmers from before are also nowhere in sight.
"Kept ya waiting~?"
"Nanodesu!"
For some reason, Tama and Pochi are here too.
"My apologies, when I said I was going to meet the other slaves, they wanted to come too..."
I glance at Liza, and she explains what had happened.
"No need to apologize, let's go."
I smile at Liza and give permission for the two to come along.
"Feeling bad~?"
"Does your belly hurt nanodesu?"
Tama and Pochi look up at me worriedly.
It looks like I was still a little down after seeing that incident earlier.
"Pain, pain~?"
"Go away! nanodesu."
Watching them always makes my heart feel warm and fuzzy.
"I'm all better now thanks to you two."
I show my gratitude to the two by patting their heads.
"If you aren't feeling well, then we don't have to go--"
Liza seems to be concerned for me too.
I'm a failure as a guardian if I keep worrying them like this.
"I'm fine now."
--Alright!
I put on my brightest smile possible.
"Okay Liza, lead the way."
"Understood."
And so, we followed Liza to the base of the 'Sewer Rats' in the west quarter.
◆
"These streets are the same as always."
It looks like we need to pass through this tangling mess of alleyways to reach the Sewer Rats base.
Ruffians are looking us down from behind the tattered buildings and overgrown weeds.
"Staring~?"
"They look more scary today nanodesu."
Tama and Pochi seem uneasy as they carefully watch over the surroundings.
That's probably because I look like an easy target with my expensive looking clothes.
"What's up bro, looking good today!"
Some guy that looks like a generic thug walks up to me and places his hand on my shoulder.
That body odor is pretty intense, please stop touching me.
Since the thug appears to be acting friendly, Liza is hesitating on whether or not she should intercept him.
"What did you want?"
I have a pretty good idea where this is going, but I'll ask just in case.
"Don't play dumb, out with the cash."
The thug takes out the knife that was hidden in his sleeve, and puts it up against my throat.
--Yeah, saw that one coming.
"I don't think so."
"Hah? You little shit, do you even understand the situation you're in?"
The thug calls out, and his companions come out from the various alleyways.
After seeing that, Liza readies her spear. Tama and Pochi start growling at them as if they were real animals.
"Of course."
I grab the thugs's knife between two fingers.
He tries to push the knife against my throat, but it doesn't budge no matter how hard he tries.
That's natural because of the huge difference in our STR stat.
"It's dangerous to point sharp objects at people, you know."
I throw the knife down at the thug's feet.
It looks like I used too much force, as the knife blade gets lodged in the earth.
"You little shit! Boys, take 'em down!"
The thug shouts, and some of his men jump at the beast-girls.
"Swoosh~?"
"Pochi won't get caught so easily nanodesu!"
Tama and Pochi dodge their attacks.
"Master--"
Liza turns to me as she parries attacks from a hatchet and dagger with her cloth-covered spear.
It looks like she is asking if it's okay to fight back.
"Feel free to take them out."
"You little shit!"
Upon hearing my words, the thug grabs his hatchet and swings it at me. You should really do something about that limited vocabulary of yours.
"Mind your manners in front of Master."
Liza easily parries the thug's attack with her cloth covered spear.
"Out of my way, you disgusting demi!"
This time the thug shouts a slur at Liza.
"Did you just insult one of my friends?"
With an emotionless smile, I slam a kick into his chest.
Of course, I held myself back just enough.
If I didn't he would have turned into a pile of ground meat.
The thug flies back a few meters and crashes into a pile of wooden boxes. He's bleeding and unconscious, but he should live since he has no fractured bones.
"Y-you're kidding me, right?"
Apparently that thug was the leader, and the underlings all start to get cold feet.
"Anyone else want to take a dive into the boxes? If you speak up now, I'll give you the same experience for free."
I ask kindly, but there are no volunteers.
"In that case, take that thug and get out of here."
After hearing my words, the underlings grab the thug and drag him while scurrying away.
> Skill Acquired: [Threaten].
"This place is certainly dicey."
I didn't imagine that armed men would try to rob us in broad daylight.
From the Garage Bag, I take two short swords out of Storage and hand them to Tama and Pochi.
Showing off our weapons might help keep the thugs away.
"Don't use them until I give permission."
"Aye!"
"Okay nanodesu!"
They put the swords at their hip, then strike a pose while nodding at me.
On the way there, we were attacked by thugs two more times. We didn't have a chance to do anything since Liza took them all out.
"--Around here?"
"Yes, it should be right past that next corner."
Just like Liza said, our destination comes into view.
"Huh~?"
"It's different somehow nanodesu."
Tama and Pochi tilt their heads in confusion. It seems like this abandoned building used to be the Sewer Rats base.
There are some people living in the building, but my AR display tells me that they are just squatters.
"Oi! You there."
An intimidating voice calls out to us. Despite the threatening tone, these two are guards that patrol Seiryuu City.
They seemed to be suspicious of the armed beast-girls, but they relaxed after I explained that the girls were just my bodyguards.
"So? What business did you have here?"
"We came to meet the demi-human slaves that were living here... but it seems like they already moved out. We're sort of stumped on what to do next."
"The Sewer Rats were the criminals who brought a demon into the city. They were sentenced with treason and executed a while back."
"You didn't see the public execution?"
--Gegeh.
This world sure is violent.
"Did their slaves get executed too?"
"No, the slaves should have been sold back to the merchants after questioning."
"Do you know which merchant?"
"Why should I tell--"
The guard seems annoyed, but I slip a silver coin into his hand.
"--Hmph. Head to the Mossu Shop. Irode Street in the west quarter."
He pockets the coin and tells me the location before leaving.
As I wave goodbye to him, I use my map to look up our next destination.
It's not too far from here.
Part 2
No comments:
Post a Comment