I left without anyone accompanying me and a large bag of gold. The contract with the Marquis was finally done, and I promised never to work for that Marquis again. He was delighted with the mother's performance. He paid the rest of the contract and said that he hoped to work with me in the future.
I barely contained the scoff I had when he had the gall to actually say that to me. He doubted me then asked for me to make the goods show off their training. In many respects and with some slaves, they would be rebellious still, and with the way I trained the mother and son, I left their minds intact. It would not be like how the Centaur was being trained to become a beast. Instead, those two were looking out for themselves.
That was what that show from the mother was. It was her determination to make the Marquis like the mother-son couple. She knew I would be incandescent if she didn't perform and knew that her owner was the Marquis. I was impressed with the brains behind the woman and was only very slightly sad to see them go.
I wouldn't have wanted those two for permanent keeping, though. Neither seemed to have the fighter's mentality before the mother did that to her son at the end. She hated pain play and hated doing it to her son.
I shook my head of those thoughts as I made my way back to the warehouse to lock up for the night. I took longer than I wanted to at the Marquis place, and I still had to talk to that girl. I promised I would talk to her, so I would. I needed to hear her answer and, if she accepted, get the training going and things in place.
I sighed at my busy schedule and moved through the streets at an increased pace.
Things with the Marquis went better after the boy's mother pulled out that performance, but I knew if I pulled out the token from Freya's father proving who I was, I could have made things easier. The problem was that I wasn't sure if it would, nor did I want him to understand my background. My reputation in the world was on my own merit, unlike that which I had in the Kingdom of Arlin.
My name was an unknown one in Arlin, mostly associated with my time in the Adventurers Academy. That was the way I wanted it to stay for the elements I wanted to work with. Although I was covering my identity with the gang if I was ever found out, I had a glaring weakness left behind in the Kingdom.
Although I didn't much care for my mother and father, they still were my parents in this life. IT would be humiliating if I lost them for something so crass as letting my identity slip. The shame I would feel would be one that hit both my lives in the raw.
My death in my past life wasn't humiliation. In a way, it was a show of how much they feared and respected me. It was my mistake not to have more protection and not see or hear it coming. I never involved my family in my underground businesses once despite all my dealings. No one even where I came from, so my parents lived their lives without ever knowing how far I had gone.
I would not be humiliated in this life for something that, without mana, I could pull off. Therefore the seal could be useful in the future, but its utility was something I would be very careful to use. It would be more of a last resort, and that mother sweated bullets thinking about what I could do to her boy and herself.
I smiled, knowing that I didn't need to use such a two-sided blade on the Marquis. He paid in full, fulfilling the contract. I stepped inside the warehouse, putting an end to my racing thoughts on the Marquis. I walked into the warehouse, and I entered my office. Jackie was lying back with a smile sitting in the chair opposite the desk.
"Hello, Jackie," I said in a neutral tone as I moved around her to sit down. "I am surprised you didn't play till I got back."
"I finished with the Centaur and noticed you had not come back yet. I wasn't about to leave the warehouse empty without you to put up your defenses, so I decided to wait for you here. How did the delivery go?" Jackie asked, her tone only mildly curious.
"Both bad and good," I said, putting a large bag of gold coins. "I was paid for my work, but the Marquis insisted on insulting me by asking for a demonstration," I told her casually, and I saw Jackie frown. I saw the question in her eyes, and I asked, "What is your question, Jackie?"
"Umm, Forgive me, but why is that an insult?" Jackie asked.
I watched her, and I wanted to sigh. "There are many reasons, but I will go with the simplest one since it is the main reason. We slave trainers, depending on how we train our slaves, can be their most hated enemies. Unlike what I did with the mother and son I trained many times, we have to become that hated person. Now, think about that and having to prove you trained them when you are complete?" I said it, and I saw her thinking. I was being paid to train Jackie, and I knew she wasn't stupid as she came to the conclusion I was expecting her to come to.
"Since we are the most hated person in their lives, they will act out just to ruin our deal if we have to prove it. Even worse if they know they can destroy our reputation while they do it." Jackie replied, and I nodded, "Putting us on the spot like that and putting the contract on the table if it isn't proven is an insult. Maybe even trying to get out of paying for your services."
"Exactly, I doubt you will encounter that problem with your nobility. But It is an insult to all of us Slave trainers when asked." I smiled, though, "My training prevailed, and I will never work with that particular Marquis again no matter how much he begs as he truly realizes the versatility and training those two will show." I shook my head, "But I will look at the cells and make sure they are fed properly, and we can see each other in the morning, and I will see the progress you have on the Centaur. For now, though, I have other things to be attending to."
Jackie stood smiling, "I think you will enjoy the progress I made. I truly think he is about to break into what the contract specified. I will see you tomorrow Mistress Sally. And thank you for allowing me to learn so much with my short time here." Jackie left the room, and I watched her go. I leaned back in the chair and narrowed my eyes.
I didn't think I had many more things to do today for too long as I remembered. I still needed to choose what I wanted from the System too. I got up instead of the temptation to open the System and decided I would tomorrow not allow myself to delay any longer than that.
I moved through the hallway and chucked some extra food into the cells for the slaves. I didn't look inside, and I heard scrambling towards the food in some of the cells while others didn't. I turned and looked in one of the cells containing Jackie's favorite slave. He sat on the floor of his cell, legs spread, and I could see the swelling around his balls.
I smiled and moved on, tossing a little extra bread to his side. That man looked lost but not broken, and I couldn't help but grin. Jackie was doing well, although still new to the training business. But technically, I wasn't that much more experienced than her. However, those memories did a lot to change that.
I finished tossing food at the slaves and began to lock up before leaving. I walked down the street and passed the exact spot where my instincts screamed. It almost became a habit as I passed to look around sharply. In other ways, it was comforting that this feeling hadn't disappeared, for that meant that they could be starting things.
I needed a week or less before my plans were known which way they went in the initial stages. If things went south, then I would have my plans in place. It was soon time, and I needed to send Jackie home after tomorrow in case of plans changed.
I walked in silence, finally making it back to the tailoring store. I walked in with my back straight, ready to deal with what the night was to become.