You know what’s good to do every day? “Smile”, though you’d look like an idiot if you do so without any reason.

***

Two days have passed since my discovery of the Mountain Dungeon. I already discussed and explained what happened there to Cherry and Matt. Both of them were shocked at first, but then they immediately accepted it while saying ‘this is Key we’re talking about here’, in which I did not understand.

Immediately after that, they wanted me to name that place as a proof of ownership. But since we haven’t processed this legally, it’s something very useless to do because only the Kingdom has the jurisdiction. Moreover, that place is inside the boundary between the Valeshtyre Kingdom and Berigious the Dwarven Territory according to our map. However, it might become a slight issue in the future since there’s a change that I did myself which involves the dungeon itself, and Sora fully knows that.

Today, we’ve just arrived in a town not far from the City of Dwarves. This town is filled with humans, dwarves, and for some reason, some races that I haven’t seen before like people with rabbit ears and such.

Sora and the rest called them Beastfolk. They said that their personality is derived from their species of animals. Like if the Beastfolk is half-tiger, they’re aggressive, if they’re half-rabbit, they’re much more of passive people. Sora gave me a warning on that part which is not to be ‘specific’ or being a stereotype in dealing with them because it is considered rude.

Also, the only reason why we made a stop here is that the escorts literally begged for it. They said that they want to buy some weapons made by dwarves in this place. And according to them, magic swords and bows are sold in this place. Of course, as a guy who fancies magic swords, I approved of it and accompanied them. The girls were reluctant about me coming with them though.

Right now, Sanjeet and his group are the ones accompanying me. The other group of escorts (the muscle group) separated from us and went to another part of the town. Sora stayed behind because he’s feeling lazy. It’s actually a good thing because he can look after the girls while sleeping inside the shadow of the carriage. I think he’s still hiding from Ghena.

And of course, not every escort left the caravan. Dretter and Verma stayed behind to keep watch, so Sanjeet, Lit, and Amly are the one’s accompanying me (or the other way around).

Currently, I’m talking with Amly about a lot of things like swords and bows and stuff. For some reason, I actually felt like we have the same wavelength. Also, I forgot telling this but, Amly is a petite, baby-faced, big brown eyed girl. Not to mention, her cute chestnut brown twin-tailed braided hair looks really perfect. And according to my observation, her height is just below my chest. She’s very small in ‘that’ part also.

“I feel like I’m being insulted by someone just now…”

“It must be your imagination. Can you please proceed with your explanation about the difference between a magic bow and a regular bow?”

After shrugging off her slight irritation, she then took her short bow from her short back *giggles*. She then pulled the string and made a sound similar to plucking a guitar’s string.

“First, about the regular bow. Like most of the type of bows you know, it only shoots the arrow forwards obviously. But the range of shots differs by how strong you pull it. Although sometimes we actually use magic imbued arrows, it breaks the string after one use so it’s not very advisable.”

-Hmm… If Magic Bows exists, then obviously Magic Arrows also exists. Didn’t think actually think that one through…

“And about the Magic Bow, it’s very expensive so I don’t know much about them. Although I do hear that the Bow’s string is made from [Mithril] and the Bow’s body is magically imbued to increase its durability.”

“So, according to what you just said just now, there’s a chance that the bow’s body is full of inscriptions to use > scripts and increase its performance or even other magic.”

“As expected of a Magician! You people really are geniuses!”

Since I laid out some details involving magic, Amly who didn’t understood much gave me highly regarding phrases. I say that this information is very basic because her phrasing face is really cute. How old really is she?

“Don’t be fooled by that face Key. Though she looks 13 years old, she’s actually 17.”

On my side, Sanjeet butted in and like he was reading my though, he gave the answer to my question. Was he serious?

“How dare you casually say a lady’s age Sanjeet? Don’t you have any leisure and suddenly butting in?”

“What’s with that reaction? Don’t tell me you we’re actually aiming for him.”

“Wah! How dare you say that!? Do you want me to kill you right here and now?”

Since Sanjeet sprouted out something inappropriate, Amly got angry and immediately pulled out one of her arrows and started pulling back the string at Sanjeet. Thankfully, Lit is also here and stopped them by herself by hitting the two of them with her fists.

“You two are in front of our employer, act like it!”

““Sorry…””

“I apologize for my companions’ rudeness sir.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Lit is a very strict looking female adult that looks about in her early 20’s. When she bows, her large breasts also drops and make Sanjeet and me feel a little weird. I think she doesn’t notice it but, her appearance which is only leather armor and short but very thick skirt is attracting a lot of people. But since her face really looks scary when angry, no one tries to approach. Why is she wearing skirt in this cold weather anyway?

After that, I then switched my attention to our other companion, Flo. He’s been quiet for a long time now so he made me curious.

“You’ve been silent for too long, I almost forgot that you’re here.”

“I was just too absorbed in the novel I’m reading right now. I apologize if my sudden silence disturbed you.”

“Don’t worry, I was just making sure that everyone’s here.”

Seeing that I’m done talking to him, he then continued reading the novel. And about that novel, it’s something Jane bought from one of the towns where we made a stop. Flo borrowed it two days ago and still hasn’t stopped reading since then.

The five of us are leisurely walking down the streets while looking at the weapons lined up like they’re having a bazar. Thanks to the cold weather, even though there are a lot of people here, it doesn’t feel hot at all. I remember this feeling when I was at a mall back on earth.

In the middle of our windowless shopping, Amly suddenly made a stop at a certain stall. This stall had a lot of bows of different types hanging, but I don’t see any bow that has any inscriptions. So naturally it doesn’t pique my interest. But since everyone’s here to buy a weapon, we made a stop and take a look at what Amly is interested in.

“Oh little miss, you like bow’s eh? Take a look and choose what fancies ‘ya!”

The tall and bulky owner of the stall is talking in a rough way which fits him perfectly. On the other hand, Amly is slightly angry to the fact that she was called small. That can’t be helped though.

The rest of us just stood behind her while looking at the other stalls where the eye can see.

Out of a sudden, in the center of the haggling noises, there is one voice that sounded a bit familiar. This voice sounded very deep and rough which is similar to the ones you can hear from old pirate movies except that the owner of this voice isn’t a pirate. For some reason, this voice is calling out to me. Because of that, I couldn’t help but turn my head towards that direction.

“Dishi?” “Young Master!”

Though we spoke at the same time in the same moment, both of us called out to each other for different reasons. I called him in a way that I was making sure if it was him. Judging from the way he called me, he probably saw me first.

When I finally saw Dishi’s full appearance, I can see that he’s wearing a thick fur coat under another layer of fur coat. Because the weather’s too cold today, I can see a warm cloud of his breath.

Since the place is too noisy, the rest of the group didn’t notice me walking a bit far from them to go to Dishi. And of course, Dishi didn’t notice that I have escorts with me. I already made this measurement so that Dishi wouldn’t be too formal when talking to me. If he knows that I already have gained the title of a Chevalier, moreover, a retainer of a Duke, he would without a doubt be too high praising to me.

“Young Master, what are you doing in this kind of place?”

“I have some business in Berigious. I just happen to make a short stop in this town to look around.”

“By business, do you mean visiting Master Godfre’s Workshop?”

-Workshop? Come to think of it, I think I heard that from the Headmaster. I completely forgot about that.

“Do you know where that workshop is? Though that isn’t part of why I’m visiting your city, I want to go there.”

“I see… Then allow me to guide you there. I just happen to be going home now when I saw you out here.”

“That’s quite a bit of a problem. I have some official business around the city so I can’t directly go there.”

After I said that to him, Dishi tilted his body and looked behind me. He looks like he found something. Then at the same time, somebody called out behind me again.

“Hey Key! Why’d you suddenly leave like that? You almost gave us a fright.”

It appears that Sanjeet and his group is done window shopping (though there aren’t really windows).

When I turned my head towards them, I could see that Amly is already holding a crossbow. Her face is wearing a very satisfied expression.

“Why are you worried about Sir Chardelier? Isn’t he a magician? He can easily defend himself using his magic.”

“Don’t overestimate magicians, Amly. I’ve already killed four of them before so for me, they’re weak.”

“Watch your tongue Sanjeet, our employer is a Magician. He can fire or even kill you anytime if he feels like it.”

“….”

While being carefree, Amly let out some careless words. Though Sanjeet retorted, he wasn’t any good either. Lit tried to extinguish Sanjeet’s overflowing confidence, but the way she said it is slightly dangerous so it wasn’t good also. On the other hand, Flo is still in silence while reading a book.

“Oh? Are they your escorts perhaps?”

“Yes they are, but this isn’t everyone yet.”

Everyone finally stood by me. After that, everyone got curious to the Dwarf in front of them. And of course, I introduced them to Dishi and the other way around.

“He’s an acquaintance in Dalseriev Dukedom. He also owns a blacksmith shop there at downtown.”

Since I’m using a slightly respectful voice while talking to the group, they showed respect to Dishi. That’s what I thought but…

“Sir! Do you sell magic swords?”

“Or Bows?”

“Guys…”

Sanjeet suddenly dropped on all fours while crawling to Dishi in desperation. Amly was the same, but only while hugging her bow with sparkling eyes. Since they looked like they were going to jump at Dishi at any moment, Lit immediately dropped her fists on them. Poor Lit.

“What are you doing?”

While they were groaning from the pain on their heads, I asked them.

“It’s just… it’s really hard to obtain a magic weapon without getting to meet a Dwarf first. Since we’re not nobles, getting connections from them is really hard to make.”

“Yeah! We just want to have magic weapons, but they’re really expensive if we want to buy them from other people. Frankly, it’s a faraway dream for us.”

Both Sanjeet and Amly drooped and became gloomy while stating their reasons for wanting to obtain magic weapons. Since I didn’t experienced what they experienced, I can’t really relate to their problems.

“Don’t get too full of yourselves kids. Just because you’re Young Master’s escorts doesn’t mean that you’re already someone directly related to him. But, I’d gladly forge one for you young ones for free, only if you guys have [Mithril] in your pockets.”

From the first part of Dishi’s words, Sanjeet and Amly’s faces became gloomy. When they heard the word ‘free’, their eyes sparkled with hope, only to be dropped hard on the ground in depression when they saw the high hurdle in obtaining something rarer.

“So it’s impossible huh…”

“There goes my hope and dreams…”

Both Sanjeet and Amly let out gloomy expressions like their happiness got sucked out from them.

“You guys… is this the actual reason why there was a lottery regarding my escort request?”

After asking that question, Sanjeet and Amly nodded to confirm my suspicion.

Now that I remember it, the woman who filed my request had a troubled look on her face. This is probably the reason why the fee I paid felt a little too cheap. [Free Border Pass] and [Entrance to Berigious] huh…

“Anyhow, I’d like young master to visit the [Farming Section] of the City since that’s where Master Godfre’s Workshop is.”

“[Farming Section]…”

“Ah, that’s right. You’re new here.”

After that, Dishi explained the details regarding Berigious.

The City of Berigious is actually a huge dormant volcano. Not just only one, but three dormant volcano. The reason why the City is in the middle of it is because the minerals that are usually hard to obtain can easily be harvested through the volcano’s flowing magma. Only [Mithril] is the exception.

The City is divided into four parts.

The [Farming Section]: It is located on the first of the three lined up volcanoes. The Volcano itself is already inactive and dead but the soil around it is very rich so the dwarves utilized it as one of their food source.

The [Smiths’ Section]: is located in the middle volcano. That is where the dwarves work and sell their works to common people. The ones that are made by the more known Dwarven Blacksmiths are only sold in the [Golden Gala] in the fourth section.

The [Mining Section]: it’s on the lowest part of the third volcano. This volcano is different from the first two because this volcano only became inactive by using some kind of sealing magic. This place is only accessible to Dwarves and certain people. Since this place is overflowing with different kinds of rare metals and minerals, there are often people brave enough to try and invade that section. But since Dwarves are very crafty people, none had made it alive. I guessing that they’re laying out many traps.

Lastly, the [Dwarven Palace]: it is on the upper part of the third section. Though it is called palace, it’s only called like that since majority of the populace are dwarves. This place consists of two parts, the commoner’s circle and the Royalty circle. Since I have official business in this place, I’m probably going to visit the Royalty circle.

“I understood. But why is my grandfather’s workshop in the [Farming Section]?”

“He likes quiet places. The whole city is ringing from metal hitting metal so it can’t be helped. Also, his workshop is also a small mansion so he stays there most of the time. It still mystifies me how he forges swords without making any noise.”

“So my grandfather also forges swords. Does he have access to the third section?”

“Actually, he doesn’t. He only buys the things he needs with his own money.”

-So this is the reason why Grandpa is filthy rich. He needs it so he can buy those expensive things.

“Well, I’m off. And by the way, you can actually see the workshop immediately when you enter the [Farming Section]. The whole place is abandoned since his disappearance, but the place is protected with a barrier so we can’t enter and clean it. The whole place is filled with a lot of dust so expect a need for heavy clean up.”

“Thank you for the information, I’ll just hire some maids to do the cleaning.”

“Sorry to break it to you young master but, there aren’t any maids in Berigious. Just buy some slaves here and let them clean the house for you. They’re cheaper than maids anyway.”

After leaving that note, Dishi immediately disappeared into the crowd. Also because of that, Sanjeet and Amly’s expressions became vain.

But slaves huh… I never thought of buying one before. I wonder what they actually look like in person. Now that I remember, Sora told me about the Temple Knight that attacked me becoming a crime slave. There might be a chance that we’d meet again.

I then turned my gaze to Sanjeet and the co.

“Do we have extra space in the carriage?”

“Why’d you ask?”

“I’m going to buy a slave.”

After saying that I’m going to buy a slave, everyone became surprised, especially Sanjeet. He asked me if it was okay for my conscience, but I’m slowly getting used to this world’s logic so there’s not much problem about it.

The four of them led me to where the slave market is at. Because we’re new in this place, it took us slightly some time to get there.

The slave market isn’t exactly a market. It’s more like a traveling caravan similar to moving circuses. Though I said earlier that I’m getting used to this world’s logic, I still got taken aback from the fact that the slaves are caged inside a caravan with iron bars like prisoner. There are two cages which segregate the men and women. When I looked into the cage of the female slaves, some of them wore mortified expressions while others looked blankly at me.

After that, I then entered the tent where the dealing happens. Only Sanjeet is with me as my protection. Though I preferred entering alone, they insisted that I should enter with a protection because there’s a chance that something bad might happen if I’m alone.

Inside the tent, there, in the middle, an old man is sitting in front like a clerk. With him, two men with large build are standing by him looking like guards.

“Welcome, welcome. What kind of slave is the handsome noble looking for?”

When the clerk noticed me, he immediately stood up and opened his arms welcoming me. He is using a high praising tone when he talked to me so I’m guessing he immediately see me as an important costumer.

And since I don’t want to look like a person who entered a place for the first time, I answered him with a slightly arrogant tone.

“That depends on what kind of slaves you have. But I preferred quiet ones if you have them.”

“Haha! So you really came here to buy, please come into the observation tent and choose from among the slaves according to your preference. You want quiet ones, correct?”

“It depends on how quiet they are. If they make a noise, then they aren’t for me.”

“You know your stuff for a young man like you. If you really want quiet ones, then a quiet one you’ll get. However, they’re not cheap.”

“There’s no problem about money, just show them to me.”

After that, the three of us immediately entered the tent that’s connected to the one we’re in. For some reason, Sanjeet is looking slightly pained while looking at me.

“What’s the problem?”

“N-nothing. I was just thinking about the slave you’re looking for.”

“What about them?”

Before answering my question, Sanjeet looked down with a grim face.

“You said quiet ones.”

“Uhuh…”

Since I didn’t understood what Sanjeet is trying to say, I just tilted my head in puzzlement. To be honest, the fact that I was looking for a ‘quiet type’ is just a spur of the moment.

But in the next moment, the idea struck my head along with the sound of pained screams that came from outside together with the sound of a whip cutting air. To be honest, it startled me.

“What was that?”

I panicked a little, but since I might get seen through by the clerk if I showed him a faltering face, I immediately calmed myself down before asking.

After hearing my question, the old clerk looked at me with a smiling face like he didn’t hear anything.

“A selection is currently happening outside. Please don’t mind it.”

“I-I see. I thought that there was an attack.”

While nodding with satisfaction from my answer, the old clerk raised the curtain to the next tent.

The next tent has a better interior that the first one. There’s a couch laid out for the costumers, lighting to illuminate the small stage in front of the couch, and a carpet on the stage as if it’s a runway for models.

I let Sanjeet stay in the first tent because he looks like he can’t swallow what is about to be show. Though sounding a bit hesitant, he agreed and understood and left me to the other side.

I sat down on the couch, but since I didn’t expect it to be too soft so I accidentally laid my back to the couch. But for some reason, there’s something warm touching my head. When I turned my head towards that direction, there’s a beautiful woman caressing me. She’s wearing authentic clothes that expose too much skin. In addition, she really smells good. I don’t really have a problem with it, but isn’t she feeling the cold in this snowy weather?

“Who are you?”

“Compliments from the manager, I’m here to serve you.”

“I see. It can’t be helped then.”

I then fixed my position and laid my head on her soft and warm lap. Since I didn’t notice the tent was actually warm, I started to sweat. So, I took off my coat and put in on the couch’s arm then fixed my position again. By the way, I hid my money inside the first layer of my clothes with > magic so that it wouldn’t get stolen.

I waited for some time. Moments later, the manager came into the room while rubbing his hands together and smiled at me.

“The selection is done. Please, choose among the women that are presented.”

“I didn’t say anything about women only.”

“Oh, I just assumed it because you’re a handsome man yourself. They should be lucky if they get chosen by a handsome and rich man like you. And also, their prices differ from one another. But I assure you, they’re all unused.”

After saying so, the old clerk—manager clapped his hands twice. The next moment, the light above me became dimmer and the one on the stage became brighter. And one by one, 5 girls came out to the stage and presented themselves.

Three of them looked at me with seductive poses, though they aren’t at Cherry and Matt’s level, they’re not too bad themselves. The fourth one was shivering while looking at me, the manager noticed this and signaled the guard he’s with and then whipped the floor. Since this girl made a sheik, she was immediately pulled out from the stage with the manager scowling the one who probably made this selection of women.

I was about to choose from the remaining girls, but then, I noticed that one girl was standing beside the three with an expressionless face. Her hair is full white, blue but lifeless eyes, average in the middle, and as tall as Matt. She’s not too beautiful, but I can tell that she could be if she would smile. However, she’s just staring directly at me without doing anything special like a mannequin.

The manager noticed this also. So he took the whip from the guard beside him and swung it to the air.

The three girls dropped on the floor while hugging their heads in fear. However, the expressionless girl remained expressionless.

This made the manager angry. So, the manager changed from hitting the air to the girl. When the whip hit the girl’s arm, it only made a small graze. But, the girl still remained expressionless while holding her arm. Because of this, it infuriated the manager more.

“You little—!”

“That’s enough!”

Just when the manager lost his temper and about to hit the girl with his whip again, I immediately stood up and grabbed his hand and stopped him. This is because a part of me wasn’t able to bear the treatment towards her.

“What’s the matter young man?”

“She passed, I’m buying that girl so don’t damage her even more.”

After saying so, the manager lost his anger and then smiled like nothing happened.

Though my words sounded heartless, it was the first thing that came to me so it can’t be helped.