A few hours later, the girls were laying low while I snuck into the city with Shao. I didn’t want to be a single guy traveling alone with so many female slaves, or it’d be kind of obvious. Thus, she cast the Many Faces spell on just the pair of us, allowing us to sneak in unseen.

When we reached the guards, I was scared there was some kind of deception tool they had that I didn’t know about and that we’d instantly be caught. Thankfully, this city wasn’t like the Capital and it didn’t require paperwork to enter. We were able to pass in by simply paying a small travelers fee.

Once inside the city, we asked around and headed straight to the slave market. I kind of felt a little lost without Figuro around. He always made all of my purchases look so easy. As I stood in a staging area filled with carts of imprisoned slaves, I had no clue how to even start. Fortunately, Shao had been a former slave long enough that she did know the proper procedures.

“Hehe, just me and master, it’s like a date.” Shao grabbed my arm and giggled to herself.

I wouldn’t consider a date to the slave market as a good date but to each their own.

“Let’s just go ask if anyone is selling a dwarf.”

Shao shook her head. “You shouldn’t look like you know what you want. Slavers have an eye for such things. They’ll definitely jack up the price if they know someone wants her.”

“Even so…” If it came to a few more gold coins, I’d rather be quick.

“Master, it will also draw unwanted attention if you’re looking for someone so specific as the dwarf. I recommend you act more casually.”

I decided to take Shao’s advice on this, even though it made finding the dwarf considerably more difficult. I had to ask for someone with blacksmithing skills. This line of questioning brought me to three different strong-looking men. None of them were Magic Blacksmiths though, so I had to find reasons that I wasn’t interested in them.

“They’re selling that dwarf now.” I heard someone say as we were walking by.

“isn’t she being reserved for the gladiator pit?”

It looked like the reason we had trouble finding her was that she wasn’t registered as a Blacksmith. This Lord Reign was seriously being petty. He decided that he would leave her to fight as a gladiator despite not really being into combat.

We raced over to the section where gladiatorial slaves were being bid on. Lo and behold, Rubee was in that place. Her usually upbeat smile was gone, but even then she didn’t look nearly as beaten or defeated as the rest of the slaves. Rather, she looked more curious than afraid. The pair of us waited as four other slaves went on the stage and were sold.

“I was like those people at one point,” Shao spoke softly.

“Now, you’re mine,” I responded.

She blushed. “Master always says such dangerous things.”

“Dangerous?”

“Mmm… it makes me so excited I want to cut something.”

“Doesn’t that make you the dangerous one!” I retorted.

I didn’t get a chance to hear her response as Rubee was finally brought up. Even if I had to waste a lot of gold, it was fine. I could raise her as my personal blacksmith. I really felt she had a lot of potential. Ten gold, fifteen gold, it didn’t matter how much I had to pay to get her.

“100 gold!” Someone shouted as the first bid.

My eyes nearly popped out and I turned white. Why did it turn out like this?