“Found you, my soulmate.”

What in the world is this guy talking about? Mia thought internally as she looked over the man who suddenly barged into the back room against the slave merchant’s wishes. The best way to describe the man was plain looking, perhaps she spent to much time with nobles but to her nothing stood out about the man in front of her besides what he was wearing.

He wore a silver-plated suit of armor with a red cape that honestly didn’t fit him. Other then that he had brown hair with matching eyes. He honestly looked very out of place in this kind of shop, so much so Mia started expecting to be bought up for the night and beaten. At least it will be a change of pace… might even get a chance to eat something that isn’t slop. She inwardly thought with a sigh.

“Slave merchant, I wish to purchase this slave.” The man said.

The slave merchant began sweating “Oh, this one… again sir, this area is for the unruly slaves… this one in particular is known to be quite, vicious.”

“John, please be reasonable. You don’t even need a slave. “ The woman pleaded “The kingdom will provide you with companions specifically chosen and trained for your mission to defeat the demon lord!”

Mia perked up, demon lord? She sat up in her cage and inspected the woman who muttered that familiar title. The woman wore a pink frilly dress, much like a noble in highstanding would, but this seemed extra gaudy in Mia’s opinion. Too many ribbons and frills… She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin that reminded her of the dolls one of her masters kept behind glass.

“No Athena, I know you do not understand but this is how this must go.” The man, John, spoke towards the girl before turning to the slave merchant “All the better! And by the looks of her she is sickly, do you even feed her? You should be grateful for us taking her off your hands.” He smiled the knelt down, bringing his eyes to Mia’s level “What is your name, little girl?”

Mia stared at him for a moment, then looked towards the flustered merchant who sighed in defeat.

“You have permission to speak…”

Mia then brought her attention back to John “Mia.”

The man smiled softly, an expression that reminded Mia of a certain master with a fetish… “And why are you a slave?”

Why does this guy care? Just buy me, do whatever it is you are planning, and then return me like the rest. “…My village was under the control of the Demon king, the knights saved us but in order to retain our sanity we have to keep the slave collars on.” Mia said dryly. Fighting that particular order was useless, nobody really cares.

John nodded and stood up “Story matches up…” He then turned to Athena “Sorry, can we get this one? I think she will make an excellent companion.”

Athena glanced over Mia, visible cringing in disgust before she raised her hand to cover her mouth and turning away slightly from John “I will say it again, John, there is no need for this waste of time. She will just get in the way.”

John shook his head “No, trust me princess, as the hero this is something I need in order to defeat the Demon King. How much for her, slave merchant?”

The merchant was about to speak, but the princess stopped him “You don’t even know if she is can handle combat.”

John blinked “Oh right, appraisal. This will further prove it, watch how right I am.” He then turned to Mia, stared at her briefly before a slight look of annoyance spread on his face, before quickly replaced with joy “See! I told you! She has a higher Intelligence stat then I do!”

The princess stood there in silence, shooting a quick glance at Mia “Merchant, what are her stats?”

“Oh erm, it’s been so long… let me go fetch them.” The merchant spoke with a quick bow as he excused himself.

With how they were reacting, it reminded Mia that even she doesn’t know her own stats, or what that even means. Everyone sure did make a big deal about it when it came up.

The merchant returned with an old tattered parchment “Found it, now according to this that was taken years ago when we first bought her… her intelligence is ten. Slightly above average for a level one of her age but nothing too major… “

“Huh? That cant be right.” John said, walking over and looking at the parchment herself “According to my appraisal it should be much higher.’

“Sir hero has appraisal?” The merchant asked.

The princess sighed, then nodded “he hasn’t been very honest with it… “she mumbled.

“Yes, I do. I also have an auto translate skill. Which according to it this says her intelligence is fifty.” He said, showing the two the parchment before the princess violently grabbed it out of his hands and inspected it intensely.

Athena grabbed the merchant by his collar then shoved the parchment into his face “Does this LOOK like a one to you?!”

“Ah, Athena it isn’t that big of a deal…” John said, feeling bad for the merchants rough treatment.

The merchant took a closer look at the parchment and his face paled. “I uh. Oh dear it appears I have made a quite the mistake.” The merchant awkwardly laughed while tugging his collar.

“This is more then a mistake you fool! This is… “Athena went quiet for a moment, letting the merchant go before clearing her throat “We will take the girl, John, please excuse us as we finalize the legal matters of this contract.”

John crossed his arms “alright! Let me know when you finish so I can sign.” He said then turned to Mia “we are getting you out of here, Mia. Just wait a little bit longer.” He said then left the backroom.

Doubt that. Mia thought to herself as she turned to the two remaining people in the room.

“The summoned hero this time certainly is a bit…”

Athena sighed “Yes, but in a way it is better then the last hero. At least this one isn’t trying to ‘fix’ our ways instead of doing what we summoned him for.” The princess looked towards Mia “You really fucked up with that one. If the church finds out that she hasn’t been magically sealed this entire time.” She turned to the merchant with a smirk.

“…I understand…I’ll offer a discount.”

Athena scoffed “A discount is certainly a start, you will also magically seal her for free, transfer the actual slave rights to me, and draft up a fake contract for the hero to sign. While remaining silent unless you want the kingdom to tear this place down for criminal negligence.”

The merchant tried to speak up, but shrunk back, choked back his feelings and deciding to take the loss “I… understand.” He then slowly walked off while Athena looked over the parchment.

“Hrm, even without her magic she will be of some use, does this not have her skills?” Athena asked.

The merchant returned with another parchment and writing utensals, which he set them on a small box nearby and began writing “No, we only had her appraised with a level one appraiser, only her stats.”

The princess huffed “This establishment… I do hope you learn from this and hire better from now on. If this beast had any knowledge of magic she could of used it to escape, or worse. You are aware of the churches situation are you not? That would of caused numerous problems.”

The merchant frowned, ignoring the majority of her lecture “… The order transfer to you…”

“Oh right, go ahead.” She said and held out her hand.

A scene Mia was very familiar with by now unfolded. The merchant took Athena’s hand, spoke some unknown words, and a black light extended from his hand to hers. Next she felt something change within the collar around her neck as it glowed briefly, then stopped. With Mia’s experience she understood, Athena was now her master.

Athena smirked, turning towards Mia “This is an order beast, smack yourself in the face.”

Mia unwillingly did as she was told, raising her hand and smacking herself in the face.

Athena nodded to herself “Apply the seal as I issue a few orders.” She ordered the merchant, who nodded and began opening the cage “This is an order beast, do not move and only listen,” the merchant opened the cage, moving behind Mia’s back as he started adjusting her collar. Mia felt him changing it, adding something to the back as Athena spoke “You are not allowed to disclose me as your real master, your fake master is the hero, John, you are allowed to follow his orders as long as they don’t contradict any order I have given you.”

“Additionally, you are to act as my spy. Report to me any suspicious behavior or anything he wishes to keep secret from me or the kingdom, while keeping my private matters secret.”

Mia felt her heart sank, she felt like she just got involved with something way worse then any noble she has ever had to deal with. She then felt a click as the merchant finished.

“Done, her magic is sealed.” He said, standing up. He then went over to the table and handed her the parchment “Is this good enough?” he asked.

The princess took it, looked it over, and nodded “If he says anything, as long as it isn’t too extreme, go along with it. He seems to have some twisted idea on how our world works.” She said, handing it back to him.

“Idea? Like what? What kind of strange requests might he make?” the merchant asked.

Athena shrugged “No clue, on the way over here I had to explain that we don’t sign contracts by signing our names with our own blood, or that the slaves had some magic circle on their chests.” She shook her head “For now he thinks it’s a standard contract that is magically binding… he might ask you to cast it into an open flame.”

The merchant blinked “Burn it? But wouldn’t that get rid of the contract? Thus, defeating the purpose of having physical proof of an agreement?”

Athena gave a heavy sigh “It has been a… tough summoning” she then brought her attention to Mia “It is fortunate that at least one of his hunches was correct. His motives are questionable, however. This is an order, stand up and get ready to greet your new master once the fake ownership is transferred.”

Mia did what she was told, slowly standing up on her weak and shaking legs, cursing herself a bit as she watched them call in the hero.