After spending some quality time in the library, I came to the central pond.
After midnight, only half dead were around. Although there were a few going about, they kept their distance from this place. Not because I was here, but because something far far more dangerous was under water.
During the day, this place was full of tourists. In the dead of the night though… yeah, undead were one of the few who understood just how serious the thing below was.
Even now I could only feel it, I could trace its golden soul. When I first laid my eyes on the beast, or rather its soul, I knew it was beyond me. But in these couple of weeks, the gap had closed dramatically. If I could somehow level up my necromancy a bit more, maybe up to B rank. Then who knew what I could do with it… and maybe… even tame this beast….
But of course, that was just a theory and I had no real way of knowing just how deadly this thing that was apparently sleeping for generations, was. And I wasn't really all that stupid enough to just wake it for the sake of testing my theories either.
At least not yet.
***
By the time I made way for the inn, the eastern sky had started picking up some colors. This was a different world. The environment, the people, even the moon was different. Yet, some things never did change.
One of which was of course-
"Move it bitch!" A man slammed his feet on the back of a fox beastmen boy. He'd been carrying a crate and though I thought he'd fall flat on his face, he didn't. He endured it, didn't say a word, and just… kept on walking.
Slaves.
Or rather, slaves without the tag 'slave.'
There were two types of slaves in this world. Slaves that were sold because of their own misfortune. And slaves that were sold by their parents, loved ones, without really turning into actual labeled 'slaves.' I'd only learned about the second one after buying Vivia.
These non-labeled slaves didn't have the protection from state like labeled slaves did, but they also weren't bound by any contracts to do anything and everything their master told them to do. Yet, these slaves didn't betray their masters and for better or worse did much more horrible things.
Why?
Family circumstances, guilt, shame, and a bunch of other crap called responsibilities.
Since they weren't 'real' slaves and could 'run' if they didn't want to do things, and maybe even just say 'no' surely, they weren't totally against all that inhuman shit, right? Yes, that was an actual statement from the city governor when he justified this crap just last week. And I was a literal guest of state. Sufficed to say, I was out of my depths the whole time and didn't manage to squeak out a single word.
Granted, I wasn't a hero of justice, or even that morally right myself but that man even got my bullshit meter tingling a little. No wonder people voluntarily sell themselves.
"Fascinating, right?" A voice from behind. I recognized her. Dan, that girl who got pissed because the waiters got me her order.
I actually remembered her.
"Perhaps. Interested in slavery?" I said.
"Interested in slicing their throats off to ease their pain but nothing more than that," she said.
A chuckle leaked out. "You had me in the first half. Thought you were talking about slicing the throats of their masters but yeah."
"What? Where will I have the guts to do that and survive? The only guy who can do that is probably you and even you will face repercussions."
"What of sort?"
"Who knows? Maybe some fancy knight will be dispatched from the high church. Those bastards seem to think anything that's dead, should stay dead."
"A lot of other people seem to share that view as well."
She shrugged. "Not as thickheaded as I thought. I'd be careful if I were you. Lately, lots of corpses are showing up in the borders," she showed me her haul of corpses. I was so engrossed in our conversation I might or might not have missed the literal shitload of corpses piled up just behind her on her human drawn carriage. "Makes it easy for us hunters but does make me wonder why knights would show up around here," She stared at me, a faint smirk.
Yeah, I'd been wondering the same. The knights weren't stupid enough to come here just to claim their territory. Besides, Sondar was separated from this continent by sea. They didn't have any real reason to expand.
So the only logical reason was either the thing in the pond… or-
ME.
"Beats me, perhaps to become my toys?"
She almost fell over, laughing. "Don't come crying back, if they chopped of your head and kept it as a toy," She left.
Not rare for hunters to go out at night and fight monsters. But it was mostly just halfdead who did that, not beastmen like her.
But oh well.
I came back to the inn, and Vivia was already waiting for me at a particular table.
"Trouble sleeping?" I said.
"No, I slept fine. But I suppose I can just pass the question right back at you."
"Would you like to order now?" A waitress rushed to our table.
"Sure," I took my seat. "I'll have a full course, and-" I turned to Vivia.
"Standard breakfast."
"Please wait just a moment."
"Do you like not sleep at all?" Vivia asked.
"Can't. Not even a wink."