In front of the Inn, Ritzy was speaking with the owner.
Owner,
"Will that be all you need sir? Do you probably want something for the night? Our tavern offers night service, so just ask and I'll send someone".
Ritzy,
"No, it's fine. But I would appreciate it if you could tell me where I could buy some herbs. I don't desire my knights to appear all hungover when we arrive at the stronghold".
Owner,
'Of course! It would be bad for your family's reputation if they go like that. If you are looking for herbs, you can go down the street, take a left, and another left. Look at the right side of the street and you'll see a medical store with a health cross on it. If you see the smithy shop, you went too far. They open pretty early, so they should be available before you leave".
Ritzy,
"Thank you for the information and help. If I remember correctly. It was 5 people helping me bring my knights in, or am I wrong?
Owner,
"Yes, sir".
Ritzy,
"Okay, here are 1 iron and 50 copper. The extra copper is my way of saying thanks".
Owner,
"You are truly kind. Wait, before I forget here is the slave's paper of authenticity that shows you are the owner".
Grabbing the papers, Ritzy headed back inside the inn. Walking through the halls, he heard countless adult things.
Finally getting back to his room, Ritzy sat on a nearby chair. Inside the room were only Ritzy, Jacky, and his new slave. Ritzy and Jacky were talking to each other while the slave was seated next to the table the room provided.
Jacky gave a slight bow and said,
"Welcome back young master".
Ritzy,
"How has the slave been?"
Jacky said giving a scornful look at the slave,
"Very quiet, she hasn't even eaten the porridge you told me to get her".
Ritzy,
"It's fine, just go back to your room and rest for tomorrow".
Ritzy handed her a small bag with 1 silver and some iron coins inside.
"Also here, take some coins. I need you to go to the nearby herbs store and buy some herbal medicine. Something that will help with our hangover knights".
Jacky,
"Okay, and what do I do with the slave?"
Ritzy,
"Nothing, I'm going to question her about some things I desire to know. You just need to worry about getting enough sleep".
Jacky,
"Understood, I'll take my leave now".
She gave another slight bow and left the room. Now, only Ritzy and the slave were left in the room alone.
Ritzy,
"Little girl, I wan...."
Hearing Ritzy talked to her, caused her to jump from fear. She quickly tried to hide behind the chair and use it as cover.
Ritzy's mind,
'Poor little girl, even with my many years of experience of seeing the worst of the worse. My weakness is still innocent children'.
'I remember when I was first tasked to kill a child. He was the son of a small dictator'.
'That day I was tasked with killing two targets. I needed to kill the dictator and his child. Supposedly, the way their government worked was, if the dictator died. The child would directly inherit his father's position. That the only way someone other than the son would inherit the title was by there being no more male descendants.'
'With no more male descendants, the position will be inherited by his second in command. In the dictator's case, his advisor inherited the position.'
'Even though from what I heard that the country started prospering after it opened its borders to the U.S. It was something I am not proud of'.
'When I was going to assassinate them, I was trying to kill the child when he was sleeping and then go for the father. In contrast to what it was supposed to be, I found the dictator sleeping on a chair right beside his child's bed. He was completely asleep and had a simple smile on his face. On his lap was a children's book. The son was tucked in bed and sleeping in bliss. It looked as if the dictator was telling his child stories so he could fall asleep, and that he also accidentally fell asleep as well'.
'It was a huge mental blow for me because I never had that experience until I arrived here. When I saw them, I was heartbroken but luckily, I was also filled with jealousy. If it wasn't for my jealousy, I believed I wouldn't have ever had the strength to kill the child and father'.
'Now though, the situations a bit different. I received a father who wants to give me a prosperous future and a mother who gives me more love than I desire. I doubt I can even hurt a child now'.
Ritzy stopped being in a stupor and approached the little girl,
"Hey, little girl, what's your name? Are you hungry? You should eat the porridge I bought you".
The child was still in fear and didn't react differently to Ritzy's words
Ritzy's mind,
'Maybe I should take a different approach, shes probably used to being treated as a detestable object only good for cheap labor'.
Ritzy said in a serious and demeaning voice,
"You should eat, you need to keep your strength up because we will be traveling tomorrow. I can't have you slowing down the group."
Hearing Ritzy's stern voice, she panicked and grabbed the bowl. She didn't sit on the chair or grabbed the spoon next to the bowl. Instead, she took the bowl and sat on the floor. She then used her hands to scoop the now cold porridge and wolfed it down like she hasn't eaten in days.
Ritzy,
' I remember typically slaves just did what their master said no matter what. That only the new and undisciplined slaves cowered in fear and took a while to listen to orders. She looks around eight so she should've already learned how to eat with utensils but it seems she doesn't. It's probably the result of her being enslaved at a much younger age before her parents could teach her when she wasn't a slave. On the other hand, she is showing signs that she is undisciplined like her fellow slaves'.
'This would mean that she is more like a semi-new slave. That she was able to tell what happened when she was enslaved. I wonder how the child felt when she was restrained and made into an undesired object. Did she weep for her parents? I wonder what went through her mind.'
As the little girl was eating her meal, a bit of porridge accidentally fell onto her makeshift shirt.
She was wearing what seemed to be a torn piece of cloth. The cloth looked raggedy and brown. It seems it was originally from a potato sack and just turned into a poorly made dress.
Seeing the porridge on the little girl's dress, Ritzy grabbed the handkerchief inside his jacket.
One of the very few things that Elizabeth taught Ritzy was to always carry a handkerchief. She said that every gentleman needs to carry one. She also mentioned that the kindness one shows when they hand their handkerchief to a woman, will become one of the most memorable moments of a woman's life. She then reminisced on how every time she felt like crying, Christopher would always be there to hand her one.
Holding the handkerchief, Ritzy began wiping away all the porridge to clean her.
Noticing that Ritzy was touching her, the little girl became terrified. She was so horrified at the fact that Ritzy was touching her, she drenched her dress. She began crying and laid on the floor and began protecting her head.
She screamed with all her might while sobbing,
"Please don't hurt, me! Please, I didn't mean to do anything wrong! I just ate the porridge-like you said! Please forgive me!".
Ritzy was left in a stupor, he had no idea what to do.
'Holy shit, what happened in her past to give her this reaction. Damn, it seems that the old bastard punished or more like tortured her way more than a normal slave. She can't even be touched. I wonder when was the last time she was touched without ill intent'.
'She didn't even say she didn't do anything wrong. She just kept apologizing. Not even showing a bit of defending herself'.
'This will be a major inconvenience. How am I suppose to learn more about this world's norms without her. She is more of a burden than an asset now'.
While the girl was screaming, the people who were next to Ritzy's room woke up from the noise. They started yelling to quiet the noise. The craziest part was that some of them were saying to either kill it faster, or shut up. They didn't care if it was an animal being killed or a person. They acted if everything was normal.
'Now that I think about it. It seems natural she would be like this. This world keeps surprising me. It's way crazier then what I thought'.
Ritzy then stopped hesitating and knocked the little girl out.
"It seems I need to find a new method to learn about this world's norms. I also need to find out a use for this girl. Burdens must not be kept, but I also don't desire to abandon her".