“So...” Rothol grumbles, rubbing a hand over his face with clear fatigue. “You two, what are your names again?” It's been like, the entire rest of the day, thirty, forty plus hours. We spent the whole time stuffed off in a back corner in the guild somewhere, told to keep quiet while Rothol spent the day managing the absolute clusterfuck that followed the attack.

In that time, we came to terms with what's ahead of us. And... and Liina impressed on me very strongly that for the time being, she isn't my master. She can't be, not while she's a slave to someone else.

Now we're back at Rothol's house, practically a manor, given his important position in the town. We're just standing right in the entrance though while we talk, since the two of us are still all beat up, bruised, burned, and in our mostly destroyed adventuring gear.

Looking around at the wide open building, I wonder if the mayor's place is bigger? Do they even have mayors? Does the guild master function as the mayor?

There are no answers to my random, meaningless questions.

I hesitate, I'm not used to talking to people first. “Liina, Sir.” Liina finally speaks up.

“Yumi, Sir,” I follow. I know we're technically his slaves now, but... I don't really want to call him 'Master.' We're contract slaves, which makes it feel more like... prisoners maybe? We are basically doing community service.

“Alright. Yumi, Liina. You two will be in my service for the next two months. First and foremost, let's see what you're capable of.”

I'm so used to altraska, that the seemingly random silence that follows feels out of place, but then I see his eyes flicking back and forth, and I realize he's looking at windows only he can see. Our Statuses I guess? It's so weird not being able to tell what information someone is looking at...

“Yumi, you're a Rank two... Synergist?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“That's right, you said you're an otherworlder and you've been living with the- them... So I take it you haven't been to an academy...”

“No, Sir. I've only heard them mentioned briefly before, so I don't know much about them. I assume they train people in their Class?”

“Yes, good guess,” he nods easily. “Oh, your status is...” He trails off as he looks at it. “I won't lie, it is rather disturbingly low in most areas. With this much Stamina, I don't know how you could even make it through the day.”

“With hard work and naps, Sir,” I answer awkwardly. “Days on Earth were only twenty four hours long, so it has been a very difficult adjustment to make.”

“Oh, I suppose that's understandable, coming from a world with such short days. It hardly explains your other abilities, or why your Mind is so high.”

“It has to do with my upbringing, I never really did anything but think and learn things.”

“How have you even worked as an Offensive Magic Job with such low Magic?” he asks.

“I'm naturally suited for the Synergist class,” I explain. “I can use it to much greater effect than normal to fight above the rated levels of my abilities, but as I said, I'm still weak anyway. Since Earth has no magic, my Magic started at zero when I arrived and I've had to build it up myself through constant training.”

“Hmm, that is rather impressive, how long has it been since you first came to Verilz?” He asks.

“Uhh...” I haven't exactly been keeping close track on time, but... “A little less than a year now, I think. About three or four months.”

“Hmm...” he pauses for some time, before going on. “Now I see what you meant by being more comfortable as a slave, I've never even seen a SSS rated slave before.”

“I'm SSS now?” I ask. “I was only SS the last time I saw it.” Even if I'm not her slave anymore, I turn a small smile back toward Liina and she returns it.

“Mm.” He appears to gaze at the window for a little longer before finally turning his attention to Liina. “And you. Liina. Expertise thirty four Warrior. Your status is... rather impressive.” He sounds just a little grudging as he says it. “You were able to weather a handful of my spells before falling, so that speaks for something.”

It almost sounds like an insult, and I'm worried for a moment that he's being condescending and arrogant, but he sounds serious.

“U-umm, sir?” I ask hesitantly. It's... a lot harder to speak out against him now that he's technically my master... “How strong are you?”

He chuckles. “Rank seventy wizard.”

Oh.

I cursed at this man earlier?!

I feel ready to have a panic attack at the thought alone, but Mas- Liina puts a hand on my shoulder to help steady me.

My breath comes quick, but I manage to stay composed while he looks to Liina again. “How would you compare your strength to other... others of your kind?”

“Above average. I am proud of my skill with a sword,” she reports seriously, like she's daring him to say something.

He catches the look and frowns. “Do not look at me like that,” he commands with a dangerous flash in his eyes.

“Mas- Lii-” My voice catches, and I have to make myself say, “Liina. You can't look at him like that, he's technically our master right now...”

In response, she puffs up her chest. “I do not consider myself your slave, and will not respect you as my master. I do not believe I did anything wrong in harming your wretched people, but I will accept temporary servitude if it spares my life.”

My mouth falls open. Did she really just say that?!

Rothol doesn't say anything. He just squints his eyes slightly, and Liina lets out a sudden, strangled gasp. She falls to her knees, clutching at her chest and shaking uncontrollably with small, pained rasps through her clenched, angry teeth.

“You will not speak to me like that, beast. Learn your place.” He snaps, eyes smoldering with rage.

“W-wait, please don't!” I plead up at him while holding onto Liina. “It's not supposed to be like this!”

After a few more long, drawn out seconds, he turns his gaze away, and Liina collapses to the floor, panting and gasping.

“S-sir...” I stutter after that display. “I'm sorry, but this is all wrong, this isn't the point of us working for you.” Speaking up fills my head with the scream of warning bells. But I have to remember what Felix said. He was the one who decided on all of this. “You're supposed to try and learn about the altraska from her, not subjugate her, it defeats the whole point!” I squeak.

“She insulted my people! The people she murdered!” he rages, and I practically flatten myself against the floor. Now that my angry, confident determination from earlier are gone, I can't take his harsh gaze at all.

Instead, I turn my attention to Liina. “And L...Liina... Please... You've admitted it, you hate humans as much as he hates altraska. You have to be open to learning if you want him to.” Still planted against the floor, I plead to both of them. “You two have biases from how you grew up, you have to try to listen to each other if you want to get past any of them. Insults, hatred, and unfair punishments will only make things worse.”

There's a long, hissing breath from the floor next to me, as Liina raises herself, a hand coming to rub my head. “You're right, Yumi, I'm being stupid.” She turns her gaze up toward Rothol. “I may not respect your people, but I can respect your sincere care for them. I apologize for harming the people you care for.”

Gritting his teeth with clear guilt on his face, Rothol responds, “I'm sorry too, it's not right to insult you like that. I understand you hate my people, and I've seen that your reasons may be legitimate, so I shouldn't use my power over you to silence you. However.” A hardness enters his eyes once more. “Slave or not, I will not be spoken to in such a manner. If you expect respect for you and your people, you must show some yourself. Prove yourself to be more than the wild animals I've always believed your people to be.”

Liina's teeth curl up into an angry snarl at the end of his words, growling out. “I understand. You're right, we must be able to speak to each other with respect if we want to move past any of our races' hatred. That is never going to happen if you keep insulting me.”

With a glare in her eyes and her shoulders set, Liina says, “No matter your power over me, how you beat, whip, or torture me, I will never show you or your people anything but hatred until you stop calling me an animal.”

Rothol grimaces. He knows he's wrong. It's been thrown in his face so many times. He can't just keep tossing racial slurs at Liina and expect her put up with it.

“Sir, please,” I beg quietly. “This is the first step you need to take, before we can go any further.”

He lowers his face, staring at the ground. He tries a few times, then glances around. Is he... worried what other people would think? If he started to respect the altraska? That they would turn against him?

“Sir.” I stand to get his attention again. “Are you worried about the others? If you show them that the altraska are more than animals, that they are people worthy of respect, are you worried the other humans will turn against you? That they'll throw you out?” My voice drops lower. “Do you feel trapped?”

That shocked blink in his eyes. He didn't realize it himself, did he? And he doesn't know how I know exactly what he's feeling. “You're a guild master. They may not like what you're saying, but you're someone with power. You hold power over them, not the other way around. You have power to make a change and have that change affect the people below you.”

My voice is shaking, just like the realization in his eyes. “If you can respect them and call them altraska properly, the others will follow.”

Rothol finally takes a big, shuddering breath, and turns to Liina. One more deep breath, and he says, “Altraska.”

Her face softening a little, Liina offers her hand. After a moment of hesitation, Rothol takes it. “Thank you for showing some level of respect for my people. I hope we can put aside our past hate and learn more about each other over these next two months.”

Rothol nods stiffly. “Yes, let's do that. Now...” They break off the handshake, and he turns to look around the manor. “While you're my contract slaves, you'll be staying here. There are a few housekeepers around during the day to keep the place clean, but they're out at the moment. I'll show you to your quarters.”

We follow him a little ways into an area near the back of the first floor. The room we arrive in can't be called spacious, with simple furnishings, but it's got a decent bed and the other basics. After a brief look, he shows us the next room over, that looks exactly the same. So, one for each of us.

Most of our belongings were confiscated earlier, so we don't even have our packs to drop in our rooms. Rothol hands us each a change of clothes he picked up on the way here earlier, and leads us off again.

After going past the kitchen and dining room, he stops at a new door on the second floor. “Here is the bathroom. Get washed, change, leave your old clothes in your rooms, and then come to the dining room,” he instructs.

“Yes, Sir.” I answer immediately.

“Y-yes...” Liina answers a little less certainly.

After Rothol walks off, we're alone again. There isn't much to say, so we head through the bathroom door. It's not too dissimilar to the one in Liina's house. Bigger, but familiar enough overall.

I turn on the tap to fill the tub, then we set aside our clean clothes for later. We strip and go to sit down and wash ourselves, but... we both stop to look around. There's some soap here, but no shampoo or conditioner? Liina had comically large bottles of them back at her house since she has an entire coat of fur that needs to be washed.

Why doesn't Rothol have any in his house? Well, I'd heard that a lot of men even on Earth don't really put a lot of work into their hair like women do, is it like that here too? Or, have humans not developed the same products as altraska?

Since there's nothing we can do for it, we just sit down and wash ourselves off. Since my hair is greasy and dirty after days without washing on our quest, I use a little soap to wash it. It helps get it clean, but leaves it feeling dry and unhealthy. I'm not sure if it's better or worse...

Then I catch Liina out of the corner of my eye. I try not to look to closely, but she's definitely licking herself... Unable to help myself, I turn a little more, to see that she's licking her arm repeatedly, long tongue tracking through her fur.

It reminds me of a cat washing its fur.

It also makes me flush deep red against my will. I clench my legs together and turn away. Oh my god I'm the worst. The fuck am I getting turned on by that? Finishing up quickly, I go over and drop into the tub before it's even full.

It's really nice after days of traveling through the wilderness. I let it soothe my sore muscles and lay my head back until my stupid arousal goes away. Then I can just relax. When the tub finishes filling, I turn off the tap and just soak for a bit longer.

Liina is still washing herself, the light rasp of her tongue over her fur the only sound in the otherwise quiet room. I try not to think about it and keep relaxing.

After a little while, I think I'm satisfied with my soak. “Do you want to get in?” I ask.

“Sure, I'm about finished,” Liina says, pausing in her cleaning for a moment.

“Alright. I'm done, so I'll get out now.” She makes an understanding sound while I climb out of the tub. There are some towels sitting around, so I use one to dry off before changing into the clothes he picked up.

They look like... I don't know, baggy peasant clothes? Dull brown and way too big for me, it feels like I'm wearing a sack. It's just one piece, is this supposed to be a dress? It's not fitted or anything. Is it just really cheap clothing? I swear the adventurers weren't dressed so shabbily, so it shouldn't just be a human thing.

Shaking it off, I do as instructed, dropping my dirty clothes in my room, then head toward the dining room. I get a little turned around since I only saw it once, but I eventually find my way there.

Rothol is already waiting inside. “That took a while,” he comments. “Where is Liina?”

“She's still washing up.” I... don't really want to get into details.

“It takes her that long?”

I guess I'm getting into details... “You...” For just a moment, I have a sense of deja-vu. Like when Liina told me I had to tell her what I needed, like razors and other hygiene products. But Rothol isn't really my master, so... I shouldn't tell him about things like this, should I? But he did ask about Liina, so I finish explaining.

“You don't have any shampoo or conditioner, which she usually uses to wash, so she had to do it, umm, manually...” I try to hide my blush as I explain, as much as I try not to think about it.

“Manually?” he questions. He can totally read my expression, because he asks, “Do I want to know?” I immediately whip my head back and forth, and he thankfully backs off.

“Well, I guess we'll just wait for her then.”

It feels really weird, just standing around in the dining room with Rothol. He doesn't look all that old, but I have to remember, they have shorter lives here. He has to be at least thirty, so he's actually really old by their standards, not too far from old age, when supposedly, his abilities will decline. I wonder how similar it is to normal old age like I'm familiar with? Or is it like, his level will start going back down or something? Or his stats all just decreasing until he dies?

I don't really want to think about it too closely, since I'm still a bit nervous about something like that happening to me and cutting my life way shorter than it should be.

Thankfully, it's not that long before Liina arrives.

“Good, you're finally here,” Rothol sighs. I get the impression baths don't take him nearly as long. But all we did was wash off, he doesn't have anything for washing my hair or shaving properly here...

“Excuse me, Sir,” Liina starts before he can get into anything else.

“Yes?”

“I understand that we aren't really your slaves, so you may not be under the same requirements to provide for us, but we have no money now, and there are still a few things that we will be hard-pressed to go without, so I would like to request them anyway.”

“O-oh,” he looks surprised for a moment, whether it's from her sudden request, or formal tone I'm not sure. “You're right, of course it's reasonable for me to provide things if you really need them.”

“Thank you. We need a hair brush, nail file, shampoo, conditioner, razors, shaving lotion, and tampons.”

“M-Master!” I cry, going bright red when she says all that outright. Then she gives me a look, and I flinch at my slip-up. “U-Uh, I meant, umm, Liina...” I mumble out awkwardly.

But it's Rothol's voice that catches my attention next. “Yumi, it will cause serious problems if you continue to call Liina that now. From now on, you'll receive a punishment whenever you do so.”

His stern tone immediately brings me to heel. “Yes... Sir.”

Without another comment to me, he nods and says, “Liina, I'll look into getting those for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, moving on. Come.” He waves and we follow into the kitchen. “Here's the kitchen. Since you two will be staying here for now, you'll do the cooking.”

“Why?” Liina suddenly asks, looking somewhere between confused and suspicious.

“Two reasons. First, a punishment. I won't go easy on you, I intend to work you two hard for what you did. Second, I want to see what... what altraskan cooking is like. I've heard you can tell a lot about people by their food, I want to see if it's true.”

The answer draws a shrug from Liina. “Understandable.”

There's just a bit of further instruction on how to operate his kitchen, which is mostly like Liina's except for an oven, then he tells us to get cooking. So we do. It's almost like when we cooked at home, since a lot of it was Liina teaching me how. So now, it's mostly more of the same, her doing a lot of it and showing me how it's done, letting me do the smaller parts that I can manage.

We're done before long. Some of the ingredients he had aren't particularly familiar, but most of it was like what Liina uses. Not that surprising since Thanifa and Karshis are only like less than ten days walk away from one another. Not exactly vastly different climates, so most of the plants and animals are about the same.

It's funny, I never knew much about cooking, but even I can tell how different the food here is. All chopped up piles of sauteed meats and veges, not so big on sauces like a lot of food back on Earth was. Well that, and a lot of modern food was made with a billion different chemicals that I don't even know how you would attempt to mimic them here, so everything here feels a lot more fresh and natural.

As we eat, Rothol doesn't have much to say, but seems to enjoy himself well enough. Then it's off to bed, with a promise that he's going to work us very hard at the guild tomorrow.