At last, we finally reached Juryez.
I'd spent the last three days of travel helping everyone else raise their skills. My Constitution had only gone up a single point, but that was alright.
More importantly, the chat I had with Priya proved quite fruitful. I really had to be more careful from now on and stop falling for everyone who's just a little nicer to me. I hadn't fully sorted out my emotions, but at least I now knew what I felt toward Lucrezia thanks to Priya.
It wasn't love. That was for sure.
It was attachment.
I mean, I considered her a friend, but I doted on her and hung on her every word because... Well, she was my first and only source of affection since I came to this world.
Antenora was a bitch that was now strangely interested in me (which was kind of weird as her attitude basically changed overnight) and Priya was Priya. I didn't know her well, but I suppose she saw right through me.
I needed to thank her at least and ask her what all that business about "being by my side" meant. I didn't really want to chain her to me, if that's how she was planning to repay me.
Not to mention the fact that I still hadn't asked Lucrezia what she had to talk about with Antenora last night. I couldn't exactly find the timing, but I felt like it was important enough that I shouldn't just gloss over it.
But first, there were more important things to deal with here in Juryez.
Getting into the town was going to be a hassle due to the large amount of security posted around the perimeters. This was clearly a far larger and more important town than Yasterton and Erdes.
Despite Cyrus' promise about cracking down on the slavery trade here, I didn't see any signs of that. Perhaps that paladin was still organizing their forces.
Again, Priya's voice rang in my head.
"All they need to do is tug on your heartstrings."
...Mother fucker. If that asshole really did spew a load of bullshit at me, you can bet your ass I was going to give him a real wakeup call.
For now though, it was more important to get inside the town so we could gather some intel.
I considered just sneaking in through a rear entrance or something, but I couldn't find anywhere that wasn't guarded. The patrols were disciplined and orderly.
Since I was no master of infiltration, it was pretty much impossible for me to find a gap where all four of us could sneak in.
Walking in normally wasn't an option either. With the way the guards were conducting their searches, Lucrezia and the others would be forced to take off their hoods.
While Lucrezia and Antenora might not be immediately suspicious since the nubs on their foreheads were still quite small, Priya's animal horns would instantly be recognized.
In the end, it was Priya who managed to provide us a solution.
"This town trades slaves more than anything, right?"
"...Yeah."
"Why don't I pretend to be a slave, and you can pretend to sell me."
I balked at Priya for even suggesting such a thing.
"H-Hell no! I mean, even if it's just pretending, it feels... fucked up, y'know?"
"Hm... Do you have any other ideas, then?"
I bit my lip. Even though I hated it, Priya was right. This was probably the easiest way to get into Juryez. Plus, with Priya's obvious cliodé features, they wouldn't even ask me for a merchant's license.
After all, no human would walk alongside a Demon as friends. Either she was my slave or I was here to auction here. At least, that's what they'd think.
I nodded reluctantly.
"Yay! Then Lucrezia and Antenora can do some searching around the city's perimeter!"
"Alright! Maybe we'll find—" Lucrezia stumbled mid-sentence, holding a hand to her head.
I looked at her worriedly, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
Whoa! What the hell...?
"What's wrong, Lucrezia? You're not sick or anything, right?"
"I'm not, but..." Lucrezia frowned, shaking her head and touching a hand to her forehead. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I just felt... really dizzy all of a sudden for some reason."
"It's okay, Lucrezia! I'm sure you and Antenora are pretty tired, so how about you two rest up instead?"
"Yeah... Sorry for worrying you, Ryuuko. Priya."
After Priya assured Lucrezia that everything was alright, we headed off to the main gate of Juryez.
Thanks to the power of racism, the guards barely even gave me a second glance after asking me what my purpose for entering was and briefly frisking me. Of course, neither Priya or I had any illegal goods on us so we got through security smoothly.
The interior of the town sure was different from the other stops we'd visited so far. The perimeter walls being made of stone made that obvious, but actually seeing it for myself was far more impactful.
The buildings were well-maintained and the streets were clean. It was a far cry from the count's fief. Yasterton had been pretty decent, but this was on a whole 'nother level. I mean, even the main streets were paved with stone bricks.
Goes to show that being a hub of commerce really does go a long way.
Priya and I spotted a few taverns lined up on the main street, and we decided that it'd be better to stop by in the evening when it would become busier. Instead, we chose to visit a few shops and purchase some clothing.
Before leaving Yasterton, Cyrus had also included a pouch of money with his farewell letter, stating that it was the reward gold for wiping out those bandits at Erdes.
With that, we were able to purchase new clothes for Priya, Lucrezia, and Antenora. I still liked my current outfit, especially since the fabric in this world wasn't as refined as the stuff we had back on Earth.
"Haven't you been wearing that for a while though, Ryuuko? We've got enough to get you a new set of clothes too!"
"Eh, it's alright. Besides, I can always get it cleaned or repaired with magic."
"Yeah, but doesn't it feel stuffy to wear the same thing every day?"
"Not really."
Priya ended up leaving it at that, and we had a bit of fun picking out clothes for everyone else. The shopkeepers gave us weird looks and some outright refused to allow Priya to touch the products since she wasn't a human, but other than that it was relatively okay.
Of course, there were even shops that refused to allow Priya to enter, but they were pretty easily convinced thanks to my masterful "negotiation" skills. Still, it was pretty depressing to see Priya treated this way.
Honestly though, it felt somewhat wrong to be shopping in Juryez seeing as the town's primary export was slaves.
However, there were a good deal of merchants who didn't deal with slavery, and it seemed like Priya was enjoying the shopping experience despite the prejudiced treatment she was getting, so I guess it was fine.
It was pretty obvious that this was the first time she'd actually been inside a market district like this before, so I didn't want to deprive her of the experience.
Eventually, we made our way out of the market district and into a more quiet area. The buildings there were primarily warehouses so there wasn't really anyone present. Thankfully, that meant we could drop the master and slave act.
To my surprise, Priya pulled me into an alleyway. I gave her a confused look, but she seemed as though she had something serious to tell me, so I kept silent.
"...Ryuuko. You should be more careful about who you trust."
"Huh?"