Silence permeated the air.

The slave merchant.

The otherworlder.

The guild receptionist.

The criminal slave.

Only a sturdy glass wall separated one from the rest. Even then, her presence was not one they could ignore. She had been watching them for some time now and kept still. Only after Kiryuu had inquired about her did she move. Slowly, she got up and walked towards the glass wall.

“Will you please wipe that smirk off your face? It irks me,” she coldly ‘requested’.

Her remark surprised Kiryuu, who had placed his hand upon his face. His lips were indeed curved into a smug smirk without him realizing it.

“If you are thinking of buying me, I suggest you perish the thought immediately. You are not worthy of my servitude.”

“Is that so? Intriguing…”

Kiryuu had stepped forward. Vena tried to hold him back but she saw something that stopped her in her tracks. It was his aura. It was burning brightly.

“Kiryuu…?” She asked, worried.

“Wait! Sir!” Jubel intervened. “I’m sure there are better combat slaves here that you can pick.”

“Is it not fine?” The woman tapped on the glass. “These people need to know their place firsthand.”

A wave of killing intent surged from the woman. Some of the slaves nearby felt it and cowered behind their own glass rooms even though it was directed at Kiryuu. Jubel had fallen on his butt. Vena remained behind Kiryuu.

“Amazing,” he muttered, looking down on his hands that were trembling. “It’s like… I haven’t felt like this in a long while.”

“Oh? You are still able to stand? Most people would have already fainted.”

Some markings appeared on her neck and she felt a sharp pain. “Tch.”

Her killing intent subsided. Jubel could be seen getting up, his hand outstretched, and a magic symbol shining on the back of his hand.

“As you can see, she is incredibly difficult. The only reason she is placed here is because of the queen’s request.” Jubel explained. “I am guessing that not even the queen would want this woman anywhere near her, not even in the dungeons.”

“Why? What happened?” Kiryuu asked, still looking at his trembling hands. He felt a hand on his arm and looked back. Vena looked at him for a while… then suddenly pinched his side.

“Ow! What was that for?” He cried out.

“I can understand that you didn’t know so please listen carefully,” Vena’s grip on his arm tightened. “This woman is a murderer. She killed the entire royal family.”

“What? But… what about the queen?”

“She was not there during that time. She, too, is an otherworlder. In fact, she was one of the seven heroes of her generation. While she was off fighting the demonic forces, this woman had infiltrated the castle and murdered the royal family.”

“It was my duty. I have no regrets.” The woman interrupted and leaned her back against the glass.

“I’m surprised you weren’t executed. Wait no, I’m surprised you were caught at all.”

“I surrendered willingly. It was my last mission. I was going to accept whatever waited for me.”

She allowed herself to be caught. She was interrogated by she would not divulge any information as to who had tasked her with such a mission. At first they kept her in the dungeon. She cooperated and behaved. The only time she fought back was when some of the knights wanted their way with her. In the end, it was only the queen that was able to match her.

“I was already prepared to be executed too,” She continue. “The queen had other plans. She told me that death would be an escape and that I should atone for my sins.”

She turned her eyes towards Kiryuu and declared. “I am not going to serve someone weaker than me.”

“You’re wrong! Kiryuu is just…” Vena stopped herself. The only ones that knew about that incident with the status card were her and three other people. She still needed to wait for Rionna and Hilde to return.

Kiryuu placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I can’t explain it but… I don’t think i’m going to lose.”

He then turned to Jubel. “Let me fight her.”

“Oh? You wish to fight? Instead of picking another slave, you opt for combat?”

“I can’t exactly make you submit while you’re behind a glass wall.”

“Please listen!” Jubel interjected. “She might be unable to kill you but she can definitely injure you to a great extent. You might not be able to fully recover.”

He turned to Vena to try and appeal to her instead. “Please consider getting another slave instead.”

“Let him,” Vena muttered. Her expression became serious. “I’ll oversee the whole thing.”

“Damn it! Fine. Karlann, you bastard. You owe me a drink for this,” Jubel finally ceded and blamed a person that was elsewhere before he ordered around some men to prepare the grounds.

There was a vacant space behind the shop that can be used as a training ground. Normally, it was used to have a slave demonstrate their combat abilities. It was not uncommon for there to be sparring to occur. Neither was it uncommon for a slave to be tested by a buyer. This time was a bit different. Other people knew who the criminal slave was. When it was heard that there was another person that wanted to buy her, both slaves and buyers were interested. They even started betting who would win. Of course, it was mostly in favor of the woman.

Vena had taken the responsibility of overseeing the match. For some reason, the woman did not object to it. All the while, Vena was worried but she also had to let this occur. She had the capability of observing Kiryuu to a certain extent. If she were to witness anything strange (or stranger in this case), she had to report it to either Hilde or Rionna.

The two were just given wooden swords to use. Kiryuu wore casual clothes and the woman simply wore rags. Those that gathered, though, still find the fight in the woman’s favor.

“I never got your name,” Kiryuu asked, getting a couple of practice swings to get a feel of the wooden sword.

“Shino.”

“Nice to meet you, Shi—”

At that moment, his body screamed at him to move. He immediately raised his sword defensively. Just as he did, the sound of wood striking wood could be heard. Shino had already closed the gap and thrust her wooden sword towards his face. He barely made it in time. He saw her figure blur a bit and felt a chill down his spine. Even when he could still see her in front of him, he swung his sword in a wide arc reaching all the way behind him. The wooden sword just passed through Shino, which he figured was an afterimage. The familiar sound of clashing wood echoed behind him as Shino had blocked his blind swing.

Immediately after, Kiryuu turned to keep an eye on Shino. He jumped back to maintain some distance between them. On the other hand, she was looking at where she had blocked his swing. She had a perplexed expression as she turned towards him.

“How did you do that?” She asked.

“To be honest, I don’t know myself,” he replied. “I don’t have the most reliable of memories.”

“Concealment? Fake overwrites? A fluke?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. Nevermind.”

For some reason, the way she shifted her foot caught his attention. In that moment, she disappeared completely. He lifted up his sword again but a sudden pain surged through his left hand. She had hit the back of his left hand. He couldn’t move or feel his fingers so he decided to swing one-handedly.

It was a straightforward attack, a downward swing. Confident in her abilities, Shino blocked the attack but—

“!”

Heavy. That attack numbed her hands for a bit. She immediately pushed him back causing his sword to go flying.

‘Wait!’

It was strange for his sword to fly up just because she pushed back. True enough, he had swung his fist at her. She immediately used her sword to block the fist but she was still shoved back a fair distance.

Crack!

Her wooden sword broke but at a cost. He exerted so much strength that his fist was bleeding. He also dislocated a few fingers from that punch. She immediately tossed aside the wooden pieces.

“It was like this… right?” He muttered and shifted his foot for a bit. Her ears picked up those words.

Suddenly, he had closed the distance between them and was crouching in front of her. She clenched both fists together and swung down but he had already grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up. He slammed her down on the ground almost immediately after. He then went for the mount and placed his elbow on her neck to keep her down.

“It’s… my loss,” she said, in between heavy breaths.

Relieved, he pulled away from her and was about to get off when she reached out for him. She grabbed him by the head and pulled him towards her. He felt murderous intent from somewhere.

Sure enough, someone had grabbed him by the collar and yanked him away.

“Congratulations on your victory,” Vena said, still holding—no, gripping his collar. She was smiling but Kiryuu felt like it was a dangerous smile.

Shino took a look at the two. The otherworlder that caught her off guard and the elven guild receptionist grabbing him by the collar.

“I see,” Shino nodded as she had dusted herself off. She then knelt down and bowed her head towards Vena and Kiryuu. “I will be in your care, Master. Also, my apologies, Mistress.”

The heavy atmosphere lightened and Vena was greatly flustered, dropping Kiryuu as a result.

“Ow!”

After the matters regarding the transfer of ownership was done, they were back in the guild’s office. Hilde and Rionna have returned.

On one side of the table was Hilde, Rionna, and Raful. In front of Hilde was Shino, whom she had been glaring at every now and then. In front of Rionna was Kiryuu, whose fingers were being snapped back by Vena, seated at his right. Rionna was quite amused. Only after Vena has snapped back all of Kiryuu’s joints into place did Rionna finally apply healing magic.

Vena told them about what had occurred and the details regarding Kiryuu and his new slave, Shino. All the while she had her hand over his. Every now and then, though, her grip would tighten. Kiryuu just endured it as a means of scolding.

“Are you stupid or an idiot?” Hilde chided.

“Doesn’t that mean the same thing?” He retorted.

“Regardless, this would help us keep an eye on her by keeping an eye on you,” Raful nodded. “Do you have any objections, Rionna?”

“None at all. I think this is actually good development.”

“Tch. Whatever, I guess,” Hilde crossed her arms and huffed.

Kiryuu and Shino were told to return the next day. It seemed that Rionna and Hilde were able to hold an audience with the queen. Kiryuu thought that it was impressive to do so at such a short period of time. As such, they were going to discuss more private matters.

Once they were gone, Hilde let out a groan. “What a troublesome person. Are you sure this is fine?”

“That’s fine~” Rionna said with a smile. “That girl is very loyal but only when she acknowledges someone. So this would work very well.”

“Indeed but I think Vena has more to tell us,” Raful said.

“Yes,” Vena affirmed. “I would have stopped him but he burned so brightly. Even when her killing intent would wrap around him entirely, he was able to withstand it. He even got more excited.”

“A stupid battle junkie then.”

“Also…”

During the time they were fighting, some of the ‘chains’ around him cracked and splintered. At the time of his victory, a couple of visible locks had manifested and had broken off. The chains around him seemed to have gotten reduced as well.

“He was able to defeat her but somehow was almost pulled into a kiss,” Vena said with a deadpan expression. “To be able to match her movement but be caught by such a move is…”

Pomf. Rionna had gone around and sat beside her. “I see. Based on the evidence, our Vena was certainly jealous.”

Vena turned a shade of red as Rionna hugged and clung onto her. “I-I guess so.”

“It makes sense. He was all fired up and some of the ‘chains’ broke. I’m sure Vena would have wanted to do that instead~”

Vena was unable to reply as Rionna was now rubbing her cheek against hers. Even though she was a priestess among other things, she gets like this when she’s with people she is close with. The three have definitely been very close friends of hers since a long time back.

“I still don’t approve of that pervert.”

“Hilde, you’re just mad because he saw your underwear~”

“Wait… how did you know that?”

“I’m an oracle~”

“Use your ability for something more useful!”

“So that’s why you’re so mad. That makes sense. Although, I guess he can’t really complain,” Raful shrugged.

“U-underwear…” Vena was grasping at the skirt of her uniform as she muttered.

“Let’s get you some victory underwear next time~”

“Hey, stop corrupting Vena!”

Their ‘discussion’ was interrupted when they heard loud noises from the lobby.

“Master,” Shino called out as they went out of the guild office. Eyes turned towards them for a moment. An otherworlder and a notorious assassin. Master and slave.

“Yes?”

“Are you and Mistress Vena in a relationship?”

“Ah… well…”

“Please do not tell me that you have not noticed her feelings.”

“I’m not that kind of idiot,” he groaned. He may have been reprimanded for his recent actions but he wasn’t someone that dense. “I’ve been hesitant. My status as an otherworlder seems to carry weight and I wondered if…”

“If she would feel the same if you were not?”

“Yeah. She did say it didn’t matter but there are other things I am afraid of,” he paused for a bit and sighed. “I’m afraid to find out who I really am. What if my memories return and I end up being very different from who I am right now?”

“Is it not all the more reason for you to progress your relationship? You will never know what would happen if or when that time comes. Why worry about something so far away?”

“You’re right. Thanks.”

“Also, if you are in need of practice regarding nightly activities, you may use my body as you wish.”

“Are you trying to get us both killed?!” He retorted. Although her words did lighten the mood up a bit. “Speaking of which, you acknowledged her fairly quickly, didn’t you? Even addressing her as Mistress and such.”

“I suppose you would not know given that you are from another world. Mistress Vena is a fairly well-known person. If she were the one who initially wanted to purchase me, I would not object.”

Kiryuu felt his heart skip a bit for some reason. He initially thought of her as someone he would want to hold close and protect. It wasn’t as if he wouldn’t want to protect her now but… his curiosity turned into interest.

His train of thought was disrupted when several people in regal armor walked into the guild lobby. Some of them showed signs of heavy battle damage but were maintained well. That only added to how impressive the wearer would be.

One of them noticed the two of them and stepped forward, a hand going to the hilt of his blade. “You there!”

As he was about to draw his blade, a woman stepped forward and smacked the back of his head. Her armor was similar except for several gold trimmings on her armor. The man staggered a bit but did not speak a word.

“What are you doing, you fool? Do you have any idea where you are?” She berated him.

“Captain, I…”

“Behave yourself,” she reminded him and turned towards Shino, then to Kiryuu. “My apologies. I am Lysis Bryn, Captain of the Royal Guard. You are?”

“Kiryuu, an otherworlder,” he responded, glancing towards the man that got hit on the back of the head for a bit.

“Forgive me for asking, but do you know who that person is behind you?” She asked, as he said he was an otherworlder so there would be some things he might not know about.

“Yes. She is mine,” he declared so.

The knight from before clicked his tongue. “Tch. I was too late. No matter. I heard she always escapes and goes back to the slaver anyway. Why not sell her to me—I mean us, the Royal Guard, and we can make use of her.”

Kiryuu clenched his fist and his cheek twitched a bit. Before he could act, however, the other knights behind the man stepped back two steps. Captain Lysis had gotten fed up. She grabbed the man’s face in an iron claw grip and effortlessly lifted him up.

“Oh? Is that why you were so keen in joining this expedition? Even though you’re just a trainee…”

She then slammed him down on the floor, making him lose consciousness. She then dusted her hands and bowed to Kiryuu. “My apologies. This one has yet to be disciplined thoroughly. I will apologize to the guild master for this incident. You may carry on.”

She turned towards the other knights and prodded the unconscious man with her foot. “Two of you carry this bastard. I’ll call for the guild master.”

Kiryuu and Shino continued their way but listened in a bit on the small talk of the knights who were picking up the man.

“He had it coming,” one of them said as he grabbed one arm while another knight grabbed the other.

“Yeah. What an idiot. Just because he’s a viscount’s son.”

“Hey, your father’s a viscount too, right?”

“Well, yeah. Unlike me, he probably thinks it was a recommendation from his father that got him in the unit. I know though, that even a duke would bow their heads and beg for their sons to be given a chance to be a trainee.”

“I wonder what their business was,” Kiryuu wondered out loud as they were on the way to Karlann’s store.

“It is only my assumption but I believe they have business with the priestess.”

“Rionna? How so?”

“It is a given that the goddesses play an active role. Perhaps you are not used to such. But because of it, the church holds some power. It is likely they are here because of you as well.”

“Me?”

“Yes. The queen and priestess might be considering you as a hero candidate.”

“So their business is with Rionna. Alright then. I’ll let them deal with Hilde too. That woman has it out for me, it seems.”

“In any case, thank you, Master.”

“What for?”

“For declaring a person such as myself to be yours. I will strive to a slave worthy of standing by your side,” she smiled and blushed a bit.

He was not sure how to respond but their small talk got cut short as they had arrived at Karlann’s store.

“Ah, you’re back, boy.” Karlann had greeted him with a rather victorious grin. “I heard what happened. Actually, I had a gut feeling and sent out one of my maids. I told her that if any sort of betting would occur, she should bet on you. I need to treat an old friend to some drinks but I still raked in a profit.”

A maid entered and bowed her hair. “Miss Shino, this way please.”

“We will have you outfitted with some basic gear, at least. Free of charge,” Karlann laughed heartily. His ‘investment’ seemed to be paying off quite well. Shino followed the maid and Kiryuu was left with Karlann.

“To think that woman would acknowledge you, boy. You really are something. After I heard of what happened, I knew I had to prepare some gear for her. I think you’re starting to do really well.”

“I guess so. I still can’t recall anything though. I am guessing my body is still remembering how to move so there’s that at least.” He wasn’t even certain about his name. Something about it felt off, as if it was forced.

“Something still bothering you, boy?”

“There are a lot of things. Memories aside, there is something I really need help with.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Right. There’s this elf girl, you see…”

“Miss Vena?” Karlann had this stupid grin on his face. He could already tell where this was going. With the way Kiryuu fidgeted and looked all over the place, he can tell that he fancies the famous elf receptionist.

“Yes.”

“Heh, quite bold of you. Let me guess, this is because of you getting a slave, isn’t it?” Karlann chuckled. Shino’s infamy was widespread but there was a reason why there were people seeking to buy her. She was a fairly attractive woman. She has a beautiful face and a body with curves in the right places.

“Y-yeah. I want to get a gift for her. I kind of got her mad and I wanted to apologize.”

“Ah, youth. Well, I know just the place.”