Mature Content Warning: Mentions of slavery and sexiness, but no actual sex or anything.

Author's Notes: The final part of chapter 3 is a bit odd, but I think it's humorous. It shows a little more about the world, and introduces a few odd side-characters.

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Chapter 3.3: I've Eaten Worse

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The first stop on the Argent dream tour was the Screaming Onion Tavern. It was actually quite close to the center of town, which suited Blackthorne fine. The surly patrolman continued to be passive aggressive despite the fact that they’d had no prior contact before that day.

Blackthorne walked over to the sleepy-eyed man who was running the bar and asked, “I’ve heard that you buy onions and meat here, is that true?”

The scraggly looking man looked the mage up and down then nodded. “Yeah, we do, but you’ll have to have a lot of them for me to bother.”

“How much?” asked the mage.

Scraggly man rubbed his chin for a moment then nodded. “Ten units of meat or a dozen onions.”

Blackthorne nodded to the man in kind then said, “I have that and more.”

“Right then, go talk to Jack in the back. He’ll check what you have.” said the man.

The mage nodded to him once more then walked into the kitchen area. His escort ghosted along behind him, silent and annoyed.

Jack in the back, turned out to be Jackie in the very little clothing. Blackthorne tried to fight down his immediate reaction, but he’d never been in the presence of someone who openly cooked while wearing nothing but an apron and a thong. It was such an out of place occurrence that he was almost certain that he had to be imagining things.

Jackie smiled at him brightly. “So, what brings you back here tall, dark, and bloody?”

Blackthorne noted that her hand remained perilously close to a large cutting knife despite her cheerful demeanor. “I bring you meat and onions.”

“Oh, do you now?” She gripped her knife in one hand then casually made her way over to him.

When she came close to him, he noticed that the delicate seeming choker she had worn around her neck was actually a thick metal ring. Jackie noticed where his eyes had gone and she rolled hers in response. “Yes, I’m a slave. Yes, I’m for sale. No, you can’t afford me. At least, I don’t think you can.”

“Uh, right... About those onions...” said the mage. He had known that slavery existed in this dream world, but he had not realized how blatant it truly was.

“Just going to ignore my status? Fine... What do you have for me? Put it on the table.” said Jackie.

Blackthorne lifted his bag then casually dumped its contents out onto the table. He quickly snatched up the vita stones and few other items that were neither meat, nor onions.

Jackie eyed the large pile of various rat bits and onion halves for a moment then nodded. “Well, the onions are a bit bloody, but they can be washed.”

She continued. “The meat though... it looks like you tried to carve it with an axe or something. It’s only fit for stew. Rat I take it?”

“Rat fiend, yes.” said Blackthorne.

The slave chef picked up a few chunks and leaned her head left and right. “Seems decent enough. Let me weigh it.”

She brought out a large scale and placed chunks of meat inside. After making a note of how much it weighed, she moved on to the next few chunks. She repeated that process for several minutes before the entire mass had been weighed.

Finally she said, “Looks like about seventy-three units of soup stock.”

“I can swear out one hundred sixty Jerin for the lot, including the onions.” said Jackie.

Blackthorne nodded once more. He did not care much about that. If anything he considered it a decent haul for something that he had only gathered as a food source. However, he did ask her one question. “How much for a room here for the night?”

“Well, that depends.” she said simply.

“Depends on what?” asked Blackthorne.

“Where you sleep and with whom you sleep.”

“Whom?”

She gestured toward herself. “Of course, I freelance as a whore.”

Blackthorne blinked at the curvaceous chef. She had really come right out and said that sort of thing? “That sounds like a wonderful evening and all, but I’m not sure that I could afford your rates...”

She nodded. “True, I overcharge anyway.”

He eyed her carefully. “I highly doubt that what you’re charging is nearly enough...”

She grinned at him. “Well, aren’t you the sweet talker. Save up some money and buy out my contract.”

Patrolman Greene muttered loudly, but they both ignored him. He might as well have been a wall decoration for all they cared.

“Would it be rude to ask why you’re a slave in the first place?” asked Blackthorne.

She shrugged. “Same as most of my tribe. I was captured during a raid on my village. I wasn’t strong enough to beat all of the guys who came after me, so I was bound to serve the one who defeated me.”

“Somehow I doubt the guy out at the bar beat you...” said the mage.

Jackie shook her head. “Nah, that guy just bought me off my husband.”

“Your husband sold you into slavery?” Blackthorne stared at her incredulously.

“Well, of course. Most husbands do. The jerk could have at least knocked me up first, though.” said Jackie.

Blackthorne rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment. “So, basically... You were captured in your village then sold into slavery by your husband, and now you’re the slave chef who freelances as a whore?”

Jackie nodded. “Yep. So, what do you say? Want a little company tonight?”

He gazed into her eyes for a moment then said, “My heart’s not ready.”

She laughed in a good-natured manner then grinned. “Well, I don’t much care about your heart. I mostly just want to scream a little. You seemed capable and I have to admit that I love a man who’s covered in blood and guts.”

“You’re an interesting sort of person aren’t you.” said Blackthorne before unleashing a small smile.

She winked at him. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere, but come to my room later with a sack of coin and I’ll show you just how interesting I am.”

Blackthorne laughed a little then smiled. “Don’t tempt me woman.”

She turned the side and flashed him a generous helping of side-boob. “Don’t tell me what to do. That’s my husband’s job until I can find him and smash his skull.”

“Will you use your breasts to do him in? I’m sure they could crush a man.” Ok, so Blackthorne was also a bit of a pervert. He could not help himself. The woman was so alien to everything he knew that he was absolutely fascinated.

“I planned to use a war hammer, but maybe your idea is better.” she admitted candidly.

“Jack! You still back there with that guy?” called the scraggly man from the front.

“Yeah, I’m trying to solicit him for sex.” she called back.

“Right, did you check his stuff?” asked the man after walking into the kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s not the best quality but you’ve bought much worse. Onions are decent. The meat’s good for stew or sausage maybe.” replied Jackie.

“How much did he have.” asked Mr. Scraggles.

Blackthorne stood there and tried not to feel superfluous. They chose to speak around him instead of to him.

“Figured the lot would be worth about one hundred sixty-three.” claimed the woman.

“That much for soup stock?” He walked forward them blinked. After coming closer he was able to see around Jackie. He got an eye full of the piles of meat on the table.

“Yeah, he brought in a little over seventy units.”

“Not bad...” said the man.

Scraggles turned to Blackthorne then looked him up and down before he asked Jackie, “How fresh?”

“Probably cut it up last night. It is good meat, just badly cut.”

“Right.” said Scraggly.

The tavern owner looked to Blackthorne once more. “I’ll get your money. Bring in better cuts of meat and I’ll pay more.”

“Sounds good.” said Blackthorne.

The scraggly owner went to go get the money. That left Blackthorne, Patrolman Greene, and Jackie alone in the kitchen once more.

She looked to the mage then pouted. “You sure you don’t want to slap my ass a little, maybe pull my hair?”

“I’d like to, but I suspect you would break my heart.” replied the man.

Jackie sighed loudly then shook her head. “Figures. The first blood covered guy I see in days, and he’s a romantic.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” said Blackthorne.

She tilted her head to the side. “I’ll let you put it in my ass. That’s pretty romantic, you know.”

“Does that cost extra?” asked the mage.

“Yes, yes it does.” replied the slave chef.

Blackthorne did not get the chance to respond. Scraggles returned with the money. They concluded their meat and onion business and then the mage asked about normal room prices.

“Aright, you want to stay for the week and have meals included. You sure you don’t want to rent Jackie for the week? I’ll throw her in for double.” asked Scraggles.

Blackthorne blinked at the man then shook his head. How exactly was she freelancing if her owner tossed her in as part of business deals? “Ah, no. Not this week. I’ll be out a lot.”

Jackie pouted at him then sighed loudly. Her overly intriguing bosom jiggled in disappointment.

The mage counted out one hundred fifty of his Jerin then handed it over to Mr. Scraggles. As it turned out his name was actually Alfredo, but Blackthorne had become used to thinking of him as Scraggles. That became the man’s unofficial name.