[Next day]
"How do you all like the clothes? Tell me if they're too small or uncomfortable, Ok?"
Reniella asked the large group of people, who wore brand new clothing and seemed a little bit apprehensive about being so out in the open, the group consisted of a range of people, from children, to teenagers to adults, there were no elderly or children below the age of 9.
"Yes Princess, I'll bring the concerns to you if there's anyone who expresses discomfort about the clothes"
A woman with short dirty blonde hair walked up to her and spoke for the whole group. Reniella figured that despite having freed them from slavery a few days ago, some of them still didn't trust her and the others probably had been slaves for so long that they had feared speaking even when being spoken to.
This only served to highlight to her that the issue of slavery was still quite persistent despite the country having done everything to ensure no one was enslaved unjustly.
"Please do. Hopefully, this behaviour won't persist"
She responded, and the woman nodded. The clothes the former slaves were wearing were bought and paid for with Barrett's money, hence why at present he was silently fuming as he stood beside Reniella.
Alexander, his brother, on the other hand, silently gave Reniris an intense stare, one filled with pure, unadulterated anger and copious amounts of hate.
The new slave collar around his neck displayed his status as slave for all to see and he understood clearly what it meant to be a slave, and the fact his own brother allowed for this to happen only fueled his anger.
"Anyway, today we'll take a carriage to a nearby village, where you guys can live free, without a fear of being captured again"
She said addressing the former slaves and only receiving silent nods from a few, while it would have been enough to just set them free to go wherever they wanted, she also realises that many of them probably don't know where to go, and would probably get captured and illegally enslaved again.
"Wait a minute, your Highness, you said "we" does that mean we'll be going with them?"
Barret asked, not liking the situation one bit.
"Yes, both you and your brother will be coming with me, Philemon will take care of the city"
Barret wanted to protest. However, he swallowed his anger and decided it was not worth it. This was mostly because he had no room to say anything, plus the Princess will not listen to his opinion on the matter
"Also tell your brother to stop glaring at Reniris, I don't think she'll appreciate that."
She advised, and Barrett gave her nod but did nothing. The mood between him and Alexander was a bit awkward right now. No doubt Alexander partially blamed him for his current predicament.
Reniris and Eon, on the other hand, were having their own conversation, Reniris held a stack of papers in hand as she skimmed through them, only reading the parts she thought necessary.
Eon watched her flip through the forms, like a student who didn't study for a test and was just now skimming through the material.
"I don't understand why you won't just pick a quest"
He said, picking up one of the quest forms and reading it.
"We have to get a quest that is and will be the most rewarding and not just anything, plus you said you want it to be fun"
She explained to him, and he sighed
"Yes I said I wanted to it be fun, I didn't want you stress over it, I'm sure it will be fun regardless and even if it's not, we can make a game out of it"
He said. She seemed a bit too concerned with what he wanted instead of just picking up a quest. He didn't particularly care which one.
"OK but we still need a quest that will make us the most money, most of these will only get a single night in an inn, I still want to go a library in the next city and that may require money"
She explained and caused him to let out a deep sigh once again, she was thinking far too much about this, it's supposed to be just a quest, you just do something for someone or the guild and receive a reward for it, it wasn't that deep.
"look, let's take this one, it's a goblin slaying quest, it should be fairly simple and we can play a game of who can kill the most goblin in the shortest amount of time, plus it's 5 ixe per goblin slayed"
He said, shoving the form in her face, an ixe was the currency of the Hendrix kingdom, and 10 ixe can get you a loaf of bread. They'd need at least a 100ixe to afford a single night at an inn.
So far, they have been accommodated by the princess, who offered them a room in Baron Philemon's mansion, which was quite spacious.
"I guess that's a good one, plus we can make extra money by killing other dangerous monsters. The guild offers rewards for that."
"it does?"
"Yes, that wasn't in the forms the guild master gave us when we signed up, but I had the princess explain a few things while you were asleep yesterday"
She explained, and he gave her a nod. He turned his head and saw the princess along with her two companions walking to their location, one of them looking more than a little pissed.
"Wow If looks could kill, we would be dead right now, although I can't say I appreciate the death glare"
Eon commented, and Reniris could only sigh, as she tried not to look at the man that seemed to silently promise her an agonising death by his own hand.
"Don't mind him, it's not like he can do anything without my permission, and besides, he'll be out of your feathers for the next weeks or so"
Reniella said, and Alexander could only huff in anger, wordlessly disagreeing with the princess. He planned to get his revenge one way or another
"btw how does the slave collar work?"
Eon asked in a bit of curiosity. He had no intentions of owning a slave but he did find it as something that was interesting.
On earth slavery was usually enforced using violence and maybe a bit of psychological conditioning, but one couldn't force a slave to obey they had to threaten them to obey
In this world, however, it seemed like you could control a person's movement as long as they had a slave collar on, at least control them to an extent.
"That's something I can't disclose. Just know it works with a type of enchantment"
She said. Only the royal family and noble court are allowed to distribute out slave collars. It's an attempt to control slavery and have it as something not anyone can force on anyone.
Of course, that doesn't mean it's impossible for individuals to make a slave collar themselves and sell them to criminals or loan sharks, debt collectors, or organisations.
"Fair enough, when will you be leaving?"
"That's rude and tactless, shows you have never spoken to a noble in your entire life"
"I don't believe in nobles, but regardless, you don't speak like a noble"
Reniella raised a brow, that was certainly a mindset that would get him in trouble. He best avoid the capital, she would have advised, but she chose not to.
"I'm the princess, I can speak however I want, but to answer your question, I'm having Philemon and my butler Alfred hire some available carriages in the city"
She answered, and Eon chuckled at her words about speaking how she wanted,finding them to be agreeable. She was his type of person.
The city of Rix was a lawless city before she arrived, no doubt that it will be slightly difficult to hire carriages, the one she came in with doesn't have nearly enough space for a hundred people.
"That's nice. When you get to the village, tell Jericho we said hello, any way Eon and I will be going back to the guild since we found the quest we want"
Reniris spoke, although Eon couldn't help but pick up on the slight disinterest in Reniris's voice as she began her sentence,perhaps he was imagining it.
"Alright see you later then. Also, I still want to learn silent casting from you. You think you can teach me or show me?"
"Yes I can do that, but I doubt we'll be here by the time you get back"
"that's fine, I'm sure you'll arrive at the capital sometime and I plan to finish up my business in Rix in maybe 2 months, so I'm we'll meet again there"
Reniella explained and Reniris gave her nod, causing the young princess to smile, she doesn't get the opportunity to meet a lot of people who can cast magic better than her, at least not people that are close to her age, so hopefully she'll be good friends with Reniris in the future.
"Alright then, see you later, little girl"
"ugh! I told you to stop calling me a little girl, I'll be an adult in just two years!"
She fumed as she stomped her foot on the ground and pointed furiously at him, and he simply laughed as both him and Reniris walked away.
"Why do you purposely anger her like that?"
Reniris asked. Even when they first met, Eon seemed to purposely tease Reniella for some reason. She found it odd.
"It's all in good fun, I think she's cute when like that"
He answered without much thought in his words, and Reniris's brows creased just slightly.
"Do you like her?"
She couldn't accurately put on a label to the feeling of discomfort she felt, but all she knew was that Reniella and Eon seemed to be closer than she is to him and she didn't like that, it felt off.
"Not in the same sense I like you, she's cute in the same sense a child is cute"
He answered, and her brows returned to normal. However, she asked a curious question.
"In what sense do you like me, and in what sense am I cute?"
"I like–wait a minute, are you jealous?!"
He asked with a soft chuckle and caused the red hair to blush slightly at his question.
"I'm not jealous, just curious"
She answered, and he chuckled softly once more, this certainly was a new side of hers. He didn't hate it, mostly because it confirmed that their friendly relationship was going somewhere.
....
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. Please comment or like.