Mia was awakened by the sounds of footsteps and muffled speech of people near by, slowly she opened one of her eyes and had to freeze, forcing herself not to move and appear still asleep. What she saw was 7 floating lights enter the dungeon among the falling mote of light. Telling herself to remain calm, this was the plan. She had no clue how much time had passed since she passed out, but by the looks of it [Sanctuary] was still in effect.

As they drew closer Mia was able to hear them, she listened in, trying to appear asleep.

“There they are, like the tracker said.”

“Hmph, good that we don’t have to deal with more deserters.”

“I think this is worse than deserters, someone managed to kill two of us while under the effects of the barrier.”

“So? These two were just from some local gang, I doubt anyone could do the same to one of ours.”

“Silence! two of you check the bodies! the rest look for who ever did this and where they went!”

The middle light shimmered, revealing a man in a gold trimmed robe with his face covered with his arm stretched out high into the air, signaling the others to move.

Two of the other lights shimmered, as their mirage faded and revealed them in their white robes. The two bowed towards the gold-trimmed robe “Yes my priest” “right away” They spoke quickly, then rushed over to the two corpses, stripping them of their robes.

Meanwhile the other lights spread out, some going deeper into the dungeon while a few others went outside, one stayed next to the priest, unmoving. “Well? Anything?”

The one inspecting the big thug answered first, he had folded his robe neatly and placed it at his side, leaving the man in the rough looking clothes he had underneath that barely fit his muscle-bound figure “Stabbed in the skull, “the man rotated the corpse’s head, allowing for a better view of the puncture “Hit brain matter, body does not show any other notable wounds, so he most likely died instantly.”

“An assassin then?” the priest asked, moving in closer to inspect the wound himself “One who knows of our barrier? Or a traitor among them.”

“Possibly, the state of the village earlier suggests a leak in our information.” The man then flipped the corpse over, inspecting it further “He was completely caught off guard, not having any chance to react.”

The priest then turned his attention to the other man, who like the first had removed his robe and folded it neatly besides them, but unlike the first he had also spread out all the man’s belongings “And his companion?”

“He died second, multiple stab wounds suggest a struggle but from the lack of blood on his weapon to the location of the stabs he did not put up much of a fight.” He motioned to the blade he had laid out, then to the wounds on his shoulder, foot, and chin “These are the most notable, the finishing blow being the one to his chin. He was overwhelmed, most likely in a state of shock after seeing his companion assassinated, perhaps this was made worse by a betrayal? Something he did not comprehend or consider happening.”

The priest slowly walked towards him, passing the length of the thin naked corpse presented to him “You are also supporting the idea of a traitor?” He asked calmly.

He nodded “While he may be a gang member and not one of ours, no one in this area should be able to over power him while they are under the effect of the barrier.”

“Minus the fox hero, who is missing.” The other spoke.

‘Eh?’ Mia almost reacted but stopped herself. ‘Maria is missing? What? Wasn’t she supposed to die when the village was invaded?’

The priest remained still for a moment, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips “Those damned foxes…”

“But that is unlikely, from the reports and from local legends the fox hero specializes in fire magic. There are no burns wounds, just clean cuts.” He then pointed to the items he had laid out on the ground “furthermore, one of the slave collars is missing.”

Having heard that, the priest flew into a blind rage “What!” he stamped over to the collars, counting them and then swinging his body frantically as he looked around “So it is a traitor! Do they realize how many years of preparation they have put at risk!” He then swung his arm around, pointing towards the one light that remained disguised “Go over the roster! I want everyone who specializes in assassination, scouting, and espionage accounted for and questioned!”

The light stood still for a moment, then dashed out of the dungeon.

Mia inwardly grinned to herself, them thinking it was a traitor would work out well for her, when they finally notice her they would never expect that she was the one that did all this, she actually found herself taking a bit of pride knowing her work was mistaken for a pro. It was short lived, as she found herself lifted in the air “Eh? H-he-“her throat was squeezed, forcing her to not speak.

“This one is still alive.” The space behind her shimmered, a man in a black robe appearing behind her “Fox Beastman, disgusting little child.” He squeezed her throat harder.

Mia struggled, squirming in his grasp as she watched her health drop rapidly, going from full to under half in a matter of seconds ‘Eh?!?! D-don’t they want slaves?!’ she panicked, she’d be sent back to the dungeon with this, hell if her stats were actually what was shown in her disguise she’d be dead already!

“Halt.” The priest said, the pressure on Mia’s neck lessening immediately, but not enough to where she could speak. “We are already short on merchandise.” The priest held out his hand expectantly towards one of his underlings, flexing his fingers “She is also a witness, no need to end her just yet.” A slave collar was placed in his hand, and he snapped it open, approaching Mia.

‘Here it comes…’ she was prepared for it, but she’d be lying if she wasn’t afraid. She struggled in the man’s grip, flailing around ‘Remember the effects… fight them… don’t give in…’

“Shhh my child, you shall serve your true purpose.” The priest nodded towards the men in black, who released her neck long enough for the priest to latch the collar into place “Now silence, you are now mine.”

“Aa..a..aa…” Instantly she felt her mind cloud over and she stopped resisting, going limp in the man’s arms and not struggling any further. ‘wait… no…’ she was losing focus, the world around her greying out. Her ambitions left her, her goals left her, she was only there to obey.

“Now, this is an order…” The man spoke, “Did you see what happened here? Answer honestly.”

Mia heard his words, zeroing in on them “Aaa… aa …aaa….” She thought she heard other voices, but those didn’t matter “Yes.” She spoke, nothing mattered anymore, she barely even registered where she was right now. ‘it is just going to be like last time…’ her mind cried out into her fog filled mind, wondering how many years it will be… No… she is aware…

“Good.” The man stood up straight, brushing himself off “This will make things easy…”

The collar around her neck tightened, a pounding headache started to root itself in her mind as she forced her mind to clear ‘I will not be someone’s toy again!’ focusing on the pain she used it to keep her focus, her mind clearing enough to where she could still be considered in control. Her focus improved enough to where she no longer didn’t care about her surroundings, seeing the two people behind the pope, seemingly laughing to themselves.

“Tell us beast! Who killed these men? Was it a traitor? Another beast?” The priest asked with crossed arms.

Mia was fully aware by then, successfully managing to push back the collars influence using pain and anger to keep herself there. She glanced at her health, 30, it was time to see just how much she could push this. She hardened her face, forcing her dull appearance as best she could to avoid suspicion “Yes, another man in a robe.” She said, wanting to keep their misconception they have constructed, but it came at a cost. The collar sensed the blatant lie, tightening around her neck and draining her health, but she withstood it, not showing her pain.

“Hrm, it is as we feared.” The priest spoke, turning to his underlings, giving a slight nod before returning his attention to Mia “And, what was the color of his robe?”

Mia glanced back at her health, 29, and was surprised it was doing so little damage despite the pain, but maybe that was the point? Regardless, this made it easy, all she had to do was grin and bear it, they were too sure of the collar’s effectiveness, and she didn’t blame them, if someone didn’t know how to resist, or that they could in the first place, they would just fall into that foggy prison until enough stimulus knocked them out of it. “Don’t remember, knocked out…”

“…” the man stared at her, processing the information “Hrm, at least this confirms it.” He then waved at the man behind Mia, who lifted her up once more “Send her to the caravan with the others, get her appraised and sorted. Priority to the merchant, we are well below expected numbers and that ass is beginning to want compensation for his wasted time.”

‘Well below… didn’t they attack the village? did they kill everyone?’ something didn’t add up, between Maria being missing and them complaining… just what happened this morning?

The black robed man nodded “Right away.” Gripping Mia tighter, but in a way that didn’t cause any damage, he broke out into a sprint. He dashed out of the dungeon, leaving it behind in an instant.

‘W-woah’ Mia had a hard time keeping a stoic face, this guy was moving way faster than what she could keep up with. The trees and scenery turning into a blur, she thought she saw a few buildings, perhaps her village? pass by, before they suddenly stopped amongst a caravan of carriages, with multiple people in white, black, and gold trimmed clothes idling about.

When they stopped and Mia managed to shake off the dizziness, she looked around, trying to gather as much information as possible. They had stopped in an empty space between the carriages, with 5 of them surrounding her. From what she could see most of them held metal cages that appeared to be empty. Besides them where groups of robed men, most wearing a white robe but there were a few black robed men here and there, none of them even acknowledged their arrival.

Mia noticed one gold trimmed man talking to a slightly chubby man wearing a suit next to an unloaded carriage, with another short thin man with glasses besides him. The priest had his hood down, revealing his well-kept face and long brown hair. She could not hear what they were talking about, but she recognized the chubby man as a slave merchant, the thin man most likely being his hired appraiser.

She glanced around once more, trying to see if there was any other beastmen here besides her, but she did not see any.

“Brought you one, found near the den.” Mia was pushed forward, being presented to the priest and slave merchant “I assume you have been already informed about matters there?”

The priest halted his conversation, turning to the black robed man “I have, unfortunate some one pities these beasts.” He huffed, looking Mia over “Small, isn’t she?” He extended his hand, gripping Mia’s chin and jerking her face from left to right as he inspected it “Shows promise, despite the dull appearance.” He yanked her closer, Mia stumbling to keep her balance as he presented her to the slave merchant.

“What do you think, Conroy? A few years and she could be the prized possession of some noble if they don’t break her.” He mimicked the same motions he did earlier, jerking her head about so the merchant could get a better view of her from different angles.

“Hmph, she better.” The merchant gave an exacerbated sigh “Despite your church hyping this up the operation itself has been a major disappointment. I have yet to make a profit from this.” He raised his hand, the thin man behind him getting the signal, stepping forward and staring Mia down.

Mia tried to remain calm, keeping her appearance straight despite being tossed around. Hoping her disguise worked.

“Yes I apologize, we were not expecting things to get so… boring. We are suffering from the lack of profits as well.” The man flipped Mia around, extending her arms and running his palm down the length of them “Thin.” He murmured, then grabbed her tail and yanked it upward

‘HMNG?!’ Mia froze, a shiver running down her spine before she corrected her expression, glad she was turned around.

“Fur quality is good for being out in the sticks.” He said, trying to up sale her. “What do you think, Conroy?”

The slave merchant huffed “Appearances is only half the appeal when it comes to these things.” He said, watching as Mia was turned around again, Mia herself seeing the appraiser write on a piece of parchment “If what she has underneath is also promising I can assure you we both will be happy.”

The appraiser presented the parchment to the merchant, who unraveled it and began reading “Hrm, Eight…” He looked passed the paper and stared at Mia in a judgmental manner “Short, but still room to grow.” He went back to the paper and continued “Level 2, stats are a bit above average but normal for a beast.”

Mia felt disgusted, having her worth judged like this, but kept up her act. Still, above average? Guess she pushed it with having so many above 5.

“Skill are… Hrm.” He paused, crumbling up the paper “[Early Riser: MAX], [Willful: 3] ,[Packer: 2], [Dagger Arts: 1], [Cooking: 1] ,[Cleaning: 2] , and [Sneak: 1]” he handed the balled up paper to his appraiser, failing to hide his own excitement “She will make an excellent maid, even something more to those willing to put in a little risk.”

Mia sighed in relief inside her mind, her disguise worked ‘eh? Isn’t he forgetting one?’ in her confusion she looked through her disguised information, finding the discrepancy immediately ‘he left out ice magic?! Why?!’

“Hoooh, a cute little maid huh? My eye doesn’t disappoint.” The priest pushed Mia toward the merchant “So, the agreed upon price?”

“Now hold on.” The merchant spoke “I think we can both agree I have lost a lost a lot here, I think it would be fair if I bought her for less.”

The priest frowned “Hey, I am already cutting you a deal here, your greed is showing.” He brought Mia closer to himself “if anything I should be charging you more, but I honor our contracts.” He snapped his fingers, instantly everyone in the clearing turned their attention to them “You wouldn’t want to break a contract with the church, now would you? And hey, I understand… this whole day has been stressful for everyone.”

The priest shrugged “A near empty village, wasting charges of the barrier, finding out there is a traitor in our ranks… “His eyes narrowed, his gaze trailing off to the front of the caravan “…having to power down a raging goliath because the grand prize went missing…” he then sighed “I get it, profits are low, but keep in mind this is the first stop.” The man chuckled “The first stop on our glorious march…”

He then shook his head “Knowing this, and me being such an understanding person I am willing to take this breach of contract as a joke, yeah? We are such good friends to do so, are we not?”

Mia couldn’t help but blink, noting this man sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

The merchant shriveled up “Y-yes, right, it was a joke! Forgive me… it was in poor taste.” He laughed nervously “Like you said! We are all stressed, I thought to lighten the mood… haha…”

“Great!” The priest shouted, queuing everyone to go back to what they were doing “The agreed upon price for a working slave then.”

The man in black extended his hand towards the merchant, who nervously took his hand and shook it, a spark of magic flowing between the two.

Mia opened her status, checking her slave title to see the merchant, Conroy, was now her owner, confirming what ever spell that was, was how they transferred slave ownership… she didn’t see the last priest do it to this man though, so how he had owner ship was…hrm… Regardless, why did this priest remind her of someone?

“Good, we will add this purchase to the log, we expect payment later.” The priest said, thrusting Mia forward where she landed in the thin man’s arms “Now, I have a traitor to deal with, get her loaded with the rest and ship her off, we move at dawn.”

The merchant bowed “Yes, we shall, thank you.”

The priest raised his hands in the air “Glory to Gaia!” he said, a wide smile on his face. He then fell into a bow, pulling his hood over his face and fading from sight, being replaced by a floating light that wondered off.

‘ah!’ She remembered him, picturing his shouts and motions but with a bald head ‘the priest from the explosion!’ he was here? She couldn’t remember if he said he was, but man, to go bald in just three years from that appearance. Her thoughts were distracted, hearing a faint giggling from above her.

Peaking up, she saw the merchant, who was softly laughing to himself before he coughed, glancing around quickly he held out his hand and the rolled-up parchment from before was placed in his hand, he unraveled it “This true?” he whispered towards his partner.

“Yes, that was foolish by the way.”

Conroy scoffed “Foolish? More like genius, we just made back some lost profit. It is not our fault they cannot keep a hold on their information, why should I pay the price?” he neatly folded the parchment and then shoved it into his suit pocket “Now, shove her in with the others.”

“Will do.” The man bowed, pulling Mia away.

‘ah, he did it on purpose…’ Mia thought, realizing why Conroy failed to mention her magic skill ‘well, shouldn’t affect too much? John has appraisal, but who knows where I will end up in three years.’ At least she did not end up with the church, and as long as she was in the merchants store three years from now, she could count on John storming in to fit his story… hopefully this time she could get a lot of information out of them.

She had already gotten a fair bit so far, especially from the priests. She had to wonder what the heck was a goliath, there was also what she was learning from just being able to pay attention to the scenery, like the size of the army and its forces. She nodded to herself, so far so go- Wait!

She froze, her eyes going wide as she was forced inside a carriage, not paying those inside any mind yet as she realized something very important, something that was missing from this cycle. ‘They didn’t put the speech restriction on me!’ She had to hold back her laughter, arguably the biggest restriction she had last time, the damning evidence she held just by being there that was completely stopped by the collar. Be it because of where they found her, or if they were just distracted by the aspect of a traitor, they never ordered her not to speak about the events that conspired here. Demon lord? Who is that!

‘I can speak freely about what happened here…’ once the cage was closed and she was left with alone with the prisoners, she smirked. ‘This just made dealing with John a whole lot easier…’