After they pass through the gates Wilhelm is casually buying things he needs while Runa is tailing him around. He carried the food he brought making one of his hands full.
The crowd started to form, there was a small commotion. Two drunk men were fighting inside the town. It was just your average misunderstanding between two drunkards.
He noticed Runa trembling, her hand was cold as he held it. She's afraid of people, and with her experience, she clearly wouldn't forget how it feels like to be a slave where she witnessed and felt how people treat them. She's having trouble around people.
Not that she knew anyone around the town, the slave merchant was from the east. An opposite direction from the west side of Reolona where they currently are.
All she knows is that her current owner was a weird one, different than the previous ones, she could differentiate the difference between people's vibes after living a harsh life and Wilhelm didn't emit any malicious vibes. Instead, he gave out a tranquil vibe. That's why being held by him calmed her down a little.
Wilhelm pulled Runa away from the crowd he figured that the crowd was the cause of her trembling state. "It was getting way too crowded, let's go somewhere else," he said as he dragged her away.
Wilhelm walked the path where there were fewer people. Runa has trauma that's one thing he understands, even if he heals her body, the mental and emotional damage were not included during the healing process. While venturing through his thoughts, he was thinking and formulating a spell that involved the memory of the human brain and body.
What would happen if he were to try manipulating her memory? Will she forget about her trauma? Tampering her memories would do the thing. It could but even so, the body would still have certain reactions only to some extent.
It's what people call muscle memory where your body naturally reacts to something that you kept experiencing or doing for a long time and if that were to happen by adding another set of magical functions that erases the memories of the body should do the trick but if he makes a mistake then it would completely ruin her body's coordination and might destroy her senses where she might end up in a vegetative state.
He was diving deep into his thoughts and had come up with solutions. The only thing that stops him is the risk of harming Runa. Wilhelm was taught by his parents to treat living creatures as 'living creatures' and to know his limitations with his experiments. Therefore his ideas can't be performed as they still have a risk factor.
They left the town after buying things he needed including women's clothes for Runa and other essentials, they went outside the town leaving the same gate they went in.
The reason why he needed to go outside instead of just teleporting inside the town was because it was illegal to use magic inside the town. That's why he would always wait until they reached a certain distance away from the town's gates to use his teleportation magic.
He teleported along with Runa back to his house. He prepared the table and placed the food on top of it. It was plenty for one person. He wanted to share the meal with Runa but she refused to eat with him saying,
"A s-slave s-should n-not share the s-same table as the m-master."
The way she kept stuttering is the result of her being constantly abused which developed as a habit.
She's a slave and slaves do not share meals with their masters. Slaves only eat the leftover meals and are sometimes not fed at all. Taking that into consideration Wilhelm intentionally brought a lot of food in case she refused him. He decided to leave her the remaining food.
"Runa, I'll head to my room now. Do you remember your room? It's next to my room so don't enter the wrong door. Also, you can have those leftovers and care to use the chair, I have two of them after all. And, don't forget to clean the plates after eating. The spoils go with the can next to the sink"
A set of instruction before he climbed the stairs to his room.
Runa was left alone with a pile of warm food on the table, enough to fill her belly full. The food left on the table is still warm and most of them were untouched. She was grateful for the leftovers from her new master.
...
Wilhelm was reading a book inside his room it's his habit to read books when he has free time. He used magic that screens him images inside the house and he could see Runa sitting on the chair he sat on while eating the remaining food. It made him smile.
"I wonder what's your plan for making me do this? I'm curious as to why I bought a slave you know? ... You're telling me that I'll take care of a slave?"
"Well, it's not like I have something against slaves. Anyway, it doesn't matter now, as long as she's with me I'll have her experience a life without being
bound by chains..."
"Carefree? I've only been here for a couple of weeks. Heh, look who's talking, aren't you having your leisure time chatting with me? Guardian of the Rowas Sea, Lagus the Sea Serpent?..."
"That and this are two different things. Anyhow you're telling me to help her recover her mental health without using magic? Is that a challenge? Well, it's not like I can refuse you but sure, I'll try."
He was having a conversation with one of his friends they were exchanging words through telekinesis.
...
Wilhelm wakes up three hours after the sun rises. He stretches his body as he changes his clothes. His hand reached for the knob and the sound of clanking made Runa jolt.
"G-good morning..!"
She greeted him and offered a bow. She doesn't know what she is supposed to do inside the house therefore she waits for Wilhelm to get out of his room and give her instructions.
"Good morning, Runa. I'm pretty sure I woke up a bit late as a habit but oh well it's still morning, I guess. Anyways have you eaten yet?"
Runa shook her head sideways. At least now she can give a proper honest response.
"I c-can't possibly e-eat on my a-accord" she replied.
He hummed as he was thinking of a way to make her not act like a slave and even if she were to eat on her own accord and there was no food available inside the house, he forgot about that problem and only remembered it later on. He would usually buy his meals elsewhere.
According to his conversation with Lagus last night, Runa is a slave and her job is to serve her master. Specifically to be a toy for entertainment, despite her unwillingness, she was bound by their commands.
The poor girl was defiled and abused to the point where his previous owner threw her away like a broken toy. That is why he can't just force Runa to change and forget about her trauma, it would take a considerable amount of time.
The time would be shorter if he used magic to erase her memories but it would feel like cheating and Lagus challenged him to try and resolve this situation about her trauma without the use of magic to erase memories and whatnot.
Helping her would mean, that he would have to be a bit more understanding and extra kind... He was still curious why Lagus knew her.
He wanted her to know that she was safe inside the house. That he won't do anything that will cause her harm or force her to do things against her will.
"From now on you'll be in charge of maintaining the cleanliness inside the house. Since you're going to clean the house, stay out of the study and the research area." He said it at a fast pace since it happened to cross his mind.
"Despite the unorganized looks in general, everything is well arranged, you could just do the cleaning anywhere else inside the house"
He stated what she was supposed to do, cleaning. It was the perfect job for her.
"Going back, you can take your time adapting to this new lifestyle with me."
Runa started to giggle softly. The sound of soft laughter and her softened expression created a satisfied feeling inside Wilhelm's chest, he wanted to keep her smiling like that for a bit longer.
"Anyways I'll be heading to town." Wilhelm left the house.
"My master... is weird." she giggled. "This is the first time someone was kind to me after being thrown into slavery." Runa was glad.
The very person who threw her into slavery was the man she once called her father. Ever since that incident, she couldn't bear to trust anyone completely. Wilhelm will have it difficult trying to heal her soul. Magic can solve it easily, It just so happens that he won't be using it for now.