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As I stepped into the sunlight to have a better view of the road I asked Gidly nervously

"You don't think he's going to abandon us in the Wastelands right?"

He spun tales about the Slaver's guild to me throughout the days we were waiting, they weren't pleasant in the least. It didn't help I knew he had some connections so I didn't know what was real. Gidly didn't really work for them, but he adored twisting reality just to spook me.

"Of course not! I told you, I only said that to scare you a little."

He put a hand to his brow watching the streets for any sign of our boss appearing

"I do hope he comes sooner than later though. The pamphlet said to meet here, the slaves are already here and waiting to go."

Gidly huffed and wiped the sweat from his face

"And to make matters worse this part of town has little to no shade! And it's so densely built there is no wind whatsoever"

I had to agree with him, it wasn't exactly a hot day, but the lack of shade and wind really did a number on us, even with us being comfortable with high temperatures. Truth be told though, he said some variation of that every five minutes or so, I rubbed my temples in annoyance

"Gidly I know he is late and that we can't really rest here, but could you wait patiently for a while and not complain? I know it's hot, even for us, but calm down."

Truth be told I just wanted to be done waiting, to get out of here for some fresh air and not watch these scrawny looking slaves. But I had to admit one thing: I didn't want to wait forever, no matter how much the guild paid. I dragged myself into the shadow, big enough to contain me in it and plopped on the ground with knees near my face to not leave a single part of me in the sunlight. Gidly groaned, stretched himself and looked around in hopes of spotting the cart

"Ugh, where the hell is this guy?! We were supposed to meet here at noon and it's well over past it!"

He kicked some dirt into the air and paced around the middle of the street, which was surprisingly empty today. Maybe it just wasn't a popular part of town at this time of day...

While curling up in my little shadow, I heard a distant noise, something like hooves, but not like those of an anthro. I stood up and looked in the general direction of it

"Wait with your swearing Gidly"

I held out my hand to the jackal and started running in the direction of the noise. I saw two carts over the little bridge one with a male mouse with grey fur driving it and the other driven by some kind of avian with black feathers and an anthro snake being transported in it.

That must be it! Our employer has finally decided to show up! I immediately returned to Gidly and told him the good news. He only smirked, dusted off his vest and laughed

"Well, I can see it now, so better look professional enough to not get laughed at."

He pointed a finger at the stone bridge I ran to, the carts were rolling up it right now, Gidly couldn't help himself, but nudge me.

"Who do you think is the boss? The mouse or the bird?"

I turned around to watch the carts once again

"I'll wager on the mouse, he's in the front after all."

Gidly just stood there watching and nodding

"Good point, but if I were you I'd probably dust myself off" he pointed out to me.

After he said that I looked myself over and indeed I was dirty all over! How did I miss that? As I was frantically trying to clean myself up the sound of hooves came closer and stopped, I was too busy with cleaning my attire and didn't see as we were approached by a rather fancy-dressed mouse who immediately dismissed the avian away and looked at us as if trying to judge us on the spot

"Ah, it's good to see you mister Gidly, but I must ask where is your companion and what is this child doing here?" he asked pointing at me, of course, I may be small, but the mouse isn't that much higher than me! Though the sight of me trying to clean my clothes must've made me look inexperienced.

I straightened myself, puffed my chest as much as I could and cleared my throat. No mouse is going to call me short! But he was still paying me for a job so I kept it civil.

"Please do not call me a child, I'm not much smaller than you and I don't suppose you're a child are you?" I left the question hanging for a moment and kept going "I'm his companion and my name is Flaris. A pleasure to meet you. "

I could see the mouse having trouble keeping his composure, his lips trembling and tail moving to the sides. But most of all he looked shocked at the revelation that a person smaller than him could be the help he requested. I guess he thought Gidly brought his kid to say goodbye, but before I could speculate more I heard the mouse's voice

"You must forgive me for my impertinence, but I won't tell you my name for the time being. More importantly, we were late because of a last moment slave gifted to us."

I saw his hand gesture to the female snake anthro in the cart. Ah, so that was the reason he was late, the pursuit of profit.

"With that out of the way, please start loading the slaves into the carts."

We were quick to do so, the slaves were tired of standing there as much as we were, so they complied with us getting them into the carts, there were a dozen or so of them, six of them for each cart.

The slaves didn't talk much, even amongst themselves. Only shackles and rags on them, maybe they even lost their dignity along the way to be so devoid of life?

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask you two" And there the mouse goes again interrupting my train of thoughts "Can I see your passes and could you tell me what previous combat experiences you had? Forewarned is forearmed, you understand."

I stepped forward in his direction and showed him my pass, a bronze icon with my name, face profile and race printed onto it, which the mouse nodded at.

"And any combat experience?" I drew my crossbow from my back and showed it to him

"I did some hunting a year or so ago, so I think I'll manage my own"

The mouse didn't look too happy about it, he only nodded and asked,

"Do you perhaps have any other valuable skills for the journey?"

Do I have any skills? I started to count on my fingers and recite to him what I remembered.

"Ummm, well... I did work at a tavern so I picked up on some cooking, not too much though, I had to restock once in a while so I did ride a cart, but not as big as this one"

I gestured to the cart full of slaves, it was truly monstrous in comparison to the one I had experience with.

"I think that's it, at least for the moment, I can't think of anything else that might be useful."

The mouse nodded slowly, I think he is more pleased with this than my crossbow skills. Then he looked at Gidly and repeated the same questions expecting further info.

Gidly handed over his pass and tried to evade the question about combat experiences

"Let's just say I can hold my own in a fight" and he rested the palm of his hand on a sword pommel.

Truth be told I've never seen Gidly in any kind of fight, but I guess a mercenary has to keep his secrets. He only grinned at the mouse hoping he wouldn't pursue the topic.

Luckily for him, the mouse looked at the sky and with a shocked face said

"Oh my! I hope all pleasantries are done because we need to get on the move."

I followed his gaze, sun in this position usually meant the biggest influx of customers to the Whistling Bard, I think it'd be 2 P.M. by the new fancy system they put in place.

"Mr Gidly please come with me to the cart and you Mr Flaris get started with preparing the second one for travel." The mouse came almost running to the first cart and shouted "I almost forgot. Please limit your conversation with the slaves to the minimum and don't get distracted with them, they are mostly criminals or deserters, not worth your attention!"

Speaking of slaves I spotted a couple of cats, a wolf, three foxes the usual lot of anthros and of course, the reason we had to wait so long was an anthro snake woman, not like one of those nagas in the Eastern Wastelands no, she was almost exotic in these parts of the continent. Yet this one somehow ended a slave; maybe a wanderer stuck in this city and desperate for crowns? Heck if I know.

With all the slaves rounded up in the carts and all the preparations completed we began our journey into the Wastelands. In the first day of travel, we only managed to leave the city, which was in itself a blessing to me. At last some wind and actual fresh air! But leaving the city did take up some time and we only managed to clear the fields and a couple of villages near the city but out of the city walls.

We had to camp in the middle of some wheat field, thankfully the farmer didn't mind as long as the carts would be near the road.

The day was exhausting for me, didn't suspect riding a bigger cart would be so much trouble for me. Good thing the slaves were sleeping on the ground near the cart so I could splay myself inside the cart with just a sleeping bag under the starry night sky. The sleep itself wasn't exactly peaceful... I kept hearing the slaves whine and moan in their sleep, probably because of some nightmares, let's hope I won't have them in my sleep?

*Yawn* Is it morning already? Damn, I slept harder than I expected to! Time to stretch and make something to eat. I really hope that mouse packed some provisions with him and didn't mindlessly rush to the Wastelands, there sure were none in my cart so I'm worried.

The sun is just coming up now, so at least it is still dawn and looks like I'm the only one awake right now... At least the carts aren't that far away from each other... and here it is! Let's check what's inside and not wake Gidly up.

Rummaging through stuff like that doesn't belong to my favourite activities, but somebody has to do it... A pot: large enough for me to curl up inside, should be big enough. Some dried meat, vegetables and jugs of water hmm... I could try to make a stew of some kind. I'll have to set up a small fire though, let's do this on the road and not in the middle of a flammable wheat field.

After some trouble with lighting a fire and preparing everything without a table I started cooking it and I have to say the stew is coming along good enough to be edible... I think...

Last one thing to do is to go wake everyone up so they can eat it fresh!

Looking over my shoulder to check up on the slaves I was greeted by the snout of the anthro snake slave from earlier.

I instinctively jumped up and stepped back in a defensive stance, but relaxed after seeing it was just her.

"I'm terribly sorry for startling you, I just smelled something delicious and had to check what it was"

She begun, speaking in a soft and friendly tone, with a smile on her face that revealed her front fangs. She didn't wear much, even for a slave, a simple piece of cloth to cover her breasts and her privates, everything else revealed to the world.

I think she noticed I was staring at her, but she didn't react in any way. I just couldn't help but observe her body in it's fullest. I was just gathering intel... yeah... intel.

Truth be told though from her body alone I could say she was someone that knew their way with a weapon, lean arms with some muscle to it, legs toned and ready. Her whole body was a blend of feminine softness and the posture of an experienced fighter.

This impression was only strengthened by the soft-looking yet hard dark scales. Thankfully she was more interested with what was in the pot than me ogling her

"So little fox, what are you cooking today for us hmm? It does smell delicious..." she asked.

I snapped out of staring at her and with some annoyance at what I've just been called retorted "Firstly don't call me 'little fox', but you can call me by my name which is Flaris, good to meet you" with that I extended a paw to her, which she shook and introduced herself

"Well Flaris, if you're so forward in introducements with a slave, I suppose you can call me Milra"

I gestured for her to sit next to me; it'd be rude to have her stand.

"You know I've been thinking since yesterday, you are from quite an exotic race and yet you ended up a slave. What's more your body looks well trained, how did this happen? As I said your kind is very rarely seen in these parts, your settlements are closer to the Western side of the Wastelands than the Eastern aren't they?"

I looked at her with curiosity and gave Milra a questioning look awaiting for some kind of answer, to which she answered with a stutter

"I-I suppose you're right, sadly I've never been to these parts of the kingdom." She shook her head in disbelief "Why are you even talking to me, weren't you prohibited by the mouse slaver?" she said while pointing to the small tent by the side of the carts.

I only chuckled at that and shrugged "I doubt he really cares about that, I think he just wanted to look professional. Besides the sun is rising so I doubt he'll get up so soon" I sighed and mumbled "concluding from his yesterday's lateness..."

Milra giggled at that, which was terrifying in its own right, as she hissed more than actually giggled

"Ha-ha you seem very relaxed about this whole situation, won't the jackal tell him if he sees us?"

I gave her a doubting look

"Honestly? I doubt it, knowing him he'd just join in, but he isn't an early riser so I think we'll have to wake him up for breakfast"

I looked into the pot and tasted a bit of the stew with the wooden spoon I found, it lacked the rich taste of the stew in the Whistling Bard, but not like I could achieve it without spices, so I only shrugged and stood up

"Speaking of which I think the stew is nearly ready!"

Milra clasped her hands "Looks like I completed my first goal of knowing what you're cooking!" She smiled at me, baring her fangs, probably unintentionally, but they made her look dangerous.

She then looked into the pot with a worried expression "Will it be enough for all of us?"

I looked at the pot, seemed just large enough for all of us

"It should be! If we give everyone adequate portions that is. Besides I could fit in there, don't worry"

I tried to lighten the mood, but she glanced at me.

"You know that's not saying much..."

I immediately felt my optimism deflating and being refilled with annoyance. I could even feel my ears splaying flat on my head. "Very funny, better help me take it out of the fire or the stew will turn into pulp before I can take it out. On three... One... Two... Three!"

She's strong! As I lifted the heavy pot, Milra lifted it with ease. She was definitely stronger than me.

We took it and planted it on the grassy ground nearby. I looked at her, still surprised with her strength. I must have underestimated her

"So these muscles aren't just for show huh? I must admit you're getting more mysterious the more time I spend with you"

I said as I started to put out the fire. Milra was visibly happy with the complement and flexed a little

"Well, I had to train to at least survive so these came as an added bonus"

She was most impressive while standing like that. While looking at her I can't help but wonder: How the hell did she end up in cuffs, in this particular transport? She really did spike my interest and I'll get some information out of her with the only method I know... Talking.

"Say, would you mind if we talked more extensively on the next occasion?"

I asked trying to sound as innocent as I could. Milra just cocked her head at me with a sly grin and asked

"Aren't you a bit too forward?"

I blushed slightly seeing her take on a more... teasing... pose, which was enhanced by her wearing the revealing slave rags.

She giggled at that, seeing me awkwardly trying not to stare at her body must be amusing. Milra regained her composure rather quickly and looked me in the eyes

"I don't mind. I always welcome an opportunity to talk this freely to someone, didn't have that luxury in a long time."

As she said that her expression changed to that of sadness. She let out a sigh and sat down on the ground. I strolled my way up to her and sat nearby

"What do you mean by that? You don't talk to the other slaves?"

Milra curled up, head on her knees, still sitting and muttered

"They never approach me... I think they are too scared of me."

I tried lightening the mood a bit with a joking remark

"Not that I blame them, you probably could do some serious damage to them just with your bare hands!"

She gave me a passing look and scoffed "That makes me look like a serial killer more than anything."

She has an amazing physique, but she?s reluctant to use it, there's so much bugging me about her... "Say... You seem capable, why don't you or the other slaves just escape? The only guards here is me and Gidly, seems like an easy getaway."

Milra stood up, stretched a little and looked into the distance

"You're right, it seems like it... You know why we don't do it? Because of these."

She pointed to her manacles "From what was explained to me at the guild they are enhanced with runes, but every pair is different. Some overlap with others, but most of them have a similar effect and different details."

Now she got me interested, I motioned for her to continue.

"For example some work on legs, but each individual one will make something different. One can become incredibly heavy to the wearer and nobody else to the point of collapsing, the other can force your legs to return to your owner and so on." She sighed and slumped a little "I saw one work in person. A slave tried to escape the Guild at night, her master's key alerted him to her escaping and activated not long after. The gal got off easy compared to most, she was turned into a feral cat and let me just say she wasn't the same when the key deactivated..."

I could see Milra shudder at just the thought of something similar happening to her. I placed a hand on her back and tried to comfort her

"Let's just hope nothing like that happens to you."

She sniffed a little trying not to cry and nodded. I continued patting her, but after a few minutes I stood up.

"For now, please get everyone here while the stew is still warm."

Milra stood up wiped some tears off of her scales and walked off to the carts.

I sat there looking at the sun for a while longer and thought about what I just heard. Magical cuffs... sounds bizarre, but from her description the seem terrifying. Once they are on you, you lose hope to escape... The guild really is powerful...