Arthur was shocked by how quickly day turned into night. It was almost as if someone flipped the switch. He only considered setting up camp for a moment but couldn't waste his chance to meet the locals. Instead, he summoned Shade and nestled himself on his back.

  "So you plan to sleep while I am chasing people?" His familiar asked with an amused tone.

  "I wouldn't call it sleep, you know? It will be a light nap at best or just idling my thoughts and legs, at worst." Arthur snorted.

  "Rigggght." Shade chuckled. "But you will owe me one... Hmmm... Maybe a premium deer steak once we get home?"

  "Deal." Arthur agreed and yawned. He was slightly drowsy and while he could, technically, power through with sheer willpower or drink an energy drink, he knew that he should use every opportunity to sleep.

  ???

  "Arthur! Wake up!" Shade's voice shook him after what seemed to be a couple of minutes. "Problems!"

  It wasn't the first time he had slept while riding on Shade so he had been confident that he could relax. He was still a bit stiff and his body protested, wanting to catch a few more hours of sleep, but life wasn't fair. It took him a good heartbeat or two to realise that his familiar was slightly disturbed. In the distance was the caravan they were pursuing. It appeared that it had been attacked by some sort of large, monstrous creature resembling an oversized boar. One of four carts was broken in half and Arthur could see people running around trying not to get killed by the beast. The animals that pulled the carts were, surprisingly, standing still but they seemed terrified. A couple of them were already dead but the beast seemed to target people first. It charged at one unlucky soul, tossed them into the air, and swallowed them whole. The torches illuminating the crisis were fading away, one by one.

  "Okay... We're dashing in but, before we reach them, you are going to hide. If we are lucky, that furry pig is edible." Arthur yawned as Shade sped toward the battle.

  The monster pursued the people as if it held a grudge and Arthur swore under his breath. Why the hell didn't they hide behind the remaining carts? Why the hell didn't they have proper guards? With a short growl, Shade informed him that the site was in range. Arthur jumped from the Fenrir and dashed forward, taking out his bow and drawing an arrow. With disbelief, he noticed a woman shielding a much stronger-looking man behind herself. He released the arrow and struck the monster right behind its ear, causing it to trip and almost crash into the woman. He, immediately, stored his bow and took out his glaive as he dashed forward. Just a few steps later, he was ready to engage but, it seemed, that the boar was dead. However, as he got closer, he realised that getting friendly with the locals was going to be extremely difficult, if not outright impossible.

  The young woman had been beaten, bruised, and wearing a heavy, iron slave collar on her neck with a single glowing red stone in it. The man was, most probably, a slave trader. Arthur closed his eyes and looked straight towards the starry sky above. "Just great..."

  "Hello?! Is anyone there?" The man who seemed to be a slaver asked with a shaking voice.

  Arthur considered simply turning away and leaving but, alternatively, he could just kill him. No one would find out either way... He took a deep breath as he realised, at least, these people were also using common. Instead, he approached the large cargo cart where the man was standing. It was filled with crates and barrels full of various merchandise. After fully turning and, silently, inspecting his situation, he looked at the Human who still couldn't see him in the darkness.

  "I killed that... Thing? A boar, I guess." He replied calmly and appraised the carcass. He hid his glaive in his storage space and took out a sword, which he put on his hip. "Steelfang Boar... Huh..."

  There weren't such monsters in Aderon, as far as he knew, so that was an additional confirmation of how serious his predicament was.

  "You saved me, Sir!" The man looked around but was incredibly relieved.

  It took him a moment to realise that these people were very low-level and, most likely, their statistics prohibited them from seeing him in the dark.

  "My name is Benjamin Alabaster, good sir. I'm a merchant from Castolarca." The man was reaching around with his hands until he stumbled upon the wagon. "I can barely see anything in this darkness. How could you defeat the beast? How many people survived the attack?"

  "I'm stronger than you, Mister Benjamin... I'm afraid that only you and this young lady survived." Arthur sighed. He decided that being selectively honest was currently the best course of action. "My name is Arthur Ives, I'm from a faraway country."

  The Inquisitor picked up a broken plank and lit it up with a fire spell. That slightly startled the man and woman but the merchant immediately moved closer.

  "Thank you once again, Sir Ives." The man extended his hand and Arthur, very reluctantly, exchanged the handshake.

  The man followed his gaze and looked at the girl standing at a distance. She was, clearly, a Nekomi, with black hair to her shoulders and black fur covering her cat ears and tail. The inside of her ear had fluffy white fur that looked incredibly noteworthy.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "In the land I call my home, enslaving another person is a crime punishable by death." He said coldly as he locked his gaze with the merchant.

  The man lowered his head visibly ashamed. In the corner of his eye, he noticed that the girl twitched in what must have been a shock. She looked at him with her incredibly blue, cat eyes widely open.

  "I would like to live in a place like that, Sir Ives..." Benjamin said with a quiet voice as if he was afraid that someone could hear him. "I'm not a slave trader, nor have I ever had slaves in my life. I run the Alabaster Trading Company and I specialise in general trade."

  Arthur simply nodded, happy that he was wrong about the man. Thanks to his Truth Seeker skill, he knew that Benjamin was being honest. Without further words, they each gathered wooden fragments and Arthur prepared a campfire. While the merchant was helping, the woman was still standing as if she were unable to move.

  "Sit down near the fire." Arthur smiled at her but she only lowered her head.

  "She can't," Benjamin said with a sad voice and he openly stared at his hair. "Once the slave owner dies, a slave has to follow their last order. In her case, she was ordered to protect the caravan from the monster attack."

  "And there is nothing that can be done?" The Inquisitor looked in shock at the man.

  "You could try to, forcefully, break her collar but if she survives that she, most probably, will be seriously wounded by the backlash. You could try to find her slave contract, but if Solvis, the slave trader who was her owner had it with him, the Steelfang Boar swallowed him whole."

  Arthur blinked a few times and stepped over to the monster’s carcass lying on the ground just outside the firelight. He wasn't a wildlife specialist but he was almost sure that boars weren't carnivorous. He almost summoned his knife from his spatial storage but paused, deciding to pretend he took out a dagger from under his cloak. With an effortless motion, he cut open the Boar's belly and, surprisingly enough, the bodies of a few dead people rolled onto the ground. Well, most of their bodies, at least. Three upper halves of Beastkins wearing slave collars and one Beastkin in a richer outfit, his face frozen in horror. Arthur couldn't be bothered with the fate of a slaver. He dragged the slaver’s body to the campfire and, unceremoniously, emptied his pockets on the ground. In one of the pockets, he found a leather pouch filled with various papers. After closer inspection, only one scroll seemed to be still active so he unrolled it.

  "Sir Ives!" Benjamin looked at him in shock. "You can't just steal those papers! The guards will certainly be investigating this case and you will face severe consequences-"

  Arthur took out a gold coin from his pocket and tossed it on the slave contract he placed on the slaver's body. "I just bought her."

  "You... What?" Benjamin blinked furiously. As he looked, the runic stone on the woman’s collar clearly indicated the transferred ownership.

  "I guess that, as long as the fair price was paid, everything is legal. Please, sit down Miss." Arthur shrugged and picked up the contract. Meanwhile, the woman relaxed as she sat closer to the fire. "Tell me, because now I'm curious, what are the laws regarding the ownership of found items in this... Kingdom?"

  "That... Depends, Sir Ives." The man locked his lips nervously. "The Kingdom of Saftia has laws protecting merchants and trading companies and, if the item you claim to find belongs to a trade company, you are obliged to return it. Of course, you will receive a percentage of its value as a finder's reward but you usually can't keep it. That is true especially for slaves and other exclusive wares. For the rest, it's mostly finders keepers. If you kill a monster all drops belong to you."

  "You do realise that this is technically a part of my drop?" Arthur laughed as he pointed towards the dead slaver.

  "Ummm..." He scratched the back of his head. "You could possibly argue it in court..."

  "I'm not interested." Arthur shook his head and looked at the still-shocked merchant. "You can place his body in one of the surviving carriages and go to sleep. I will keep watch for the night."

  "I... Thank you, Sir!" Benjamin grabbed the body of the slaver and tried to pull him away but, in the end, it was Arthur who had to throw the body on an empty cart.

  Once the merchant disappeared into his carriage, and Arthur was sure that he was sleeping, he looked at the woman. He closed his eyes, activated a privacy barrier, and made the bubble just big enough for two of them. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that she was looking at him with curiosity. According to her slave contact, she was sold into slavery because of a debt but it wasn't specified whose. However, except for that information, Arthur didn't find anything, which puzzled him. Not even her name so, at least, it was easy to begin the conversation.

  "We are currently shielded by a spell that prevents anyone from hearing what we are talking about. As I said earlier, slavery is punishable by death in my homeland, the Empire of Arcadia. However... I'm lost. I don't even know where I am but, I think, we can help each other. Are you willing to hear my offer?"

  "Yes, my Master." She answered with an uncertain voice.

  "I'm not your master..." He groaned.

  "I'm sorry but I must address you like that until you choose a different title, my Master." She explained patiently.

  "You can call me Arthur." He sighed.

  "I'm afraid that's impossible, my Master!" She quickly protested. "One of the functions of this collar is its subconscious demand for me to always use honorifics when I address you, Master."

  "I don't like it... Anyway. Whatever you decide, I am freeing you at the end of our discussion, so that should take care of the 'my master' bullshit." He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose and noticed her slight panic. Despite that, he continued, hoping that everything would explain itself. "I have no idea what can get me into trouble, nor do I know enough about local laws. I want to return home and I need someone to help me navigate through this land... Kingdom of Saftia. So if you will help me, I will reward you handsomely."

  "I’ve never heard of the Arcadian Empire, my Master. So I don't believe I can be useful to you..." She answered sadly.

  "Finding a way back, if there is one at all, will be my problem. I will need you to advise me in regards to local customs and common sense that might be drastically different from what I know." He smiled encouragingly at her.

  "In that case, I would gladly be your guide, Master!" She smiled brightly and her tail waved happily.

  "So, before I take off your collar, I want to learn a few things about you if we are going to work together," Arthur said and she simply nodded. She tensed once again. "Tell me about yourself..."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to who edited the chapter!