When Magnus returned inside, everyone was about to leave.
"Magnus, we're leaving. We still need to return to the clan," Farqos said.
Magnus nodded his head and waited outside. Farqos entered the carriage first, followed by the old man and the two masked maids. Magnus followed thereafter and sat between the two maids.
The mayor waved at Farqos, and the carriage continued onward.
...
A week passed, and the carriage slowed in front of a three-story tall house. Compared to the other areas, this place had many trees growing, with a considerable amount of cacti growing everywhere. This was the Bravodel Clan.
It was situated beside an oasis, a huge body of water similar to a lake in the middle of the desert. The clan was similar in size to the previous towns, but the people within had a class to them. Their body movements were refined, and their appearance was very neat.
"Teacher, lead Magnus to the training house. I will go rest," Farqos said to the old man as he walked down the carriage.
"Sure, Young Master," the old man replied and nodded.
Throughout the week, Magnus learned that this old man practiced the Sun Arts. He was much stronger than Farqos, who was only at the "Sun Apprentice" level. The old man's power level was called "Sun Master."
Magnus confirmed that they practiced some sort of magic in this world. Men practiced the Sun Arts and absorbed the sun's Solar Energy. This allowed them to display power beyond that of a superhuman.
He was also able to acquire an amicable relationship with the two masked maids. He didn't try to convince them to escape after learning from his mistake. And after seeing that he didn't try to abuse them and was quite nice, the two answered all of Magnus' questions.
Overall, his relationship with them headed towards a positive trend.
The thinner maid was called Ava, and the other was named Rivia. The two never removed their masks, but Magnus was sure that they were both beautiful. There must be a reason why they didn't dare to show their faces.
"Follow me," the old man said to Magnus.
The old man's name was Crono. He led Magnus on a long walk, and they arrived at a small mud brick house. It didn't seem to be big enough to be considered a room.
"Is this a way underground?" Magnus guessed.
"You're correct. It's much easier to isolate the screams of women when they are stored underground," Crono replied.
He unlocked the wooden door's hatch lock and grabbed a lantern hanging above their heads. He flicked his fingers, and a stream of yellow light entered the lantern and lit it up.
The lantern's light illuminated the way down the staircase. Magnus followed behind Crono.
Along the way, Magnus' mind whirred as he couldn't help but imagine what would greet him below. After a dozen seconds, they arrived before a steel door.
"Remember this diagram."
Crono touched his finger on the smooth surface of the metal door and drew a simple yet complicated diagram on it. An audible click sounded after he was done, and a small crack opened in the doorway.
"Did you memorize it?"
"Can I try?"
"Why not?"
Crono pushed the door close, and it clicked to the locking position again.
Magnus switched places with him and drew the exact diagram the old man had made.
"Good. You don't have to draw it perfectly next time."
"I got it."
They entered the room. A strong smell of blood greeted Magnus's nose, causing him to turn serious.
He saw cages filled with various women wearing all sorts of clothing. Some of them had none at all, it was sickening. Magnus noticed that a lot of them were wounded.
"These are new Cynthian slaves. Here is a book on how to train them. Be careful and don't break too many of them. They are a great source of income for the clan," Crono warned.
He grabbed a book from a small shelf on the wall and passed it to Magnus. The women slowly sat up and stared at the two of them. They squinted their eyes and glared with eyes full of hatred.
"If you need to kill, you're allowed to kill them. If you need to feed them, there is a lot of feed stored at the back. Just tell me if you need more feed. There's a tube above where we can send them through."
Magnus took a deep breath. The reality of his job finally sunk into him. He was about to train slaves, and the thought of it made him think twice if he really wanted to work for Farqos.
"You got it?" Crono asked after not hearing a reply from him.
"Y-Yes. I will train them to the best of my abilities," Magnus replied with a stutter, still unsure about the whole thing.
"Great. I want to see two fully trained next week. You have the whole place to yourself, so you can do 'whatever' you want. I know you can't control your little brother any longer," Crono said and smirked.
Magnus solemnly nodded his head. He could tell what Crono was pertaining to.
Crono took one last look at the cages before leaving the room and locking the metal door.
"..."
Magnus turned back to the women in the cages.
"Filthy man, free us, and we will reward you!" one of them said.
It was a tall woman with brown skin. She had a well-toned body and the look of a fighter.
Magnus couldn't help but smile hearing the tall woman ask him to free her. Finally, someone was reacting normally, unlike Ava and Rivia, who feared the thought of escape.
The tall woman pulled her head back in fear after seeing the smile on Magnus' face. From their perspective, his smile was a sadistic one. She couldn't help but shudder at the thought of what would happen to them next.
"Alright. I will free all of you under the condition that you help me," Magnus said.
His words shocked and confused all of them. The tall woman who had expected him to say no didn't believe her ears.
"Is this a trap?" a witty-eyed White woman, who looked to be in her early teenage years, asked.
"How old are you?" Magnus asked her instead.
"19. What does that have to do with my question?" she replied.
"You're lying. You look really young."
Magnus was suspicious of her.
"What? Never seen a Cynthian woman before?" the witty-eyed woman sneered.