We decided to break for the night after the long day we just had. We enjoyed a cheap meal at the inn. Money was tight right now, especially when I needed to purchase a slave in the morning. I was still using my hero status for free room and board. That meant Lydia was sleeping in my room. I bought her an additional meal, but I was quickly finding out she mostly ate meat when given a choice. Had I known our turkey drumsticks in the dungeon were actually her preferred meal, I might have hung on to them and kept purifying them.
That night, Lydia was still shaken up over the spiritual attack she had suffered in the city, so I gave her some space. That is to say, she held me tightly all night long, and when she woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares, I patted her head until she went back to sleep. Lydia had grown tough in the dungeon, but in many ways, she was still very vulnerable, especially when it came to our relationship. As someone inexperienced, I was the same way. For the moment, I was happy letting things remain the way they were.
The next morning, we decided to walk to the slave caravan. I didn’t want to use my portal in case something else came up later today and I needed it. I also had some desire to experiment using it and my Dungeon Point System, but that would have to wait until later. For the moment, it was nice walking with Lydia by my side on a sunny day. Walking was growing a lot easier for me. I had been walking miles every day, and I felt in my gut that I was getting a lot more fit. By the time this was all over, I might actually have a six-pack.
Checking my pocket, I had five gold, so it should be enough to pay for a normal slave. I just needed someone to help cast spells now. I didn’t mind fighting myself, but I refused to do it alone. The doll had caught me by surprise, but when it came to most scary things, I typically could maintain my calm. Once we picked out a slave, I would return to the seamstress, pick out stuff for the new recruit and then hit the accessory shop. There had to be some kind of spiritual protection I could get for Lydia and admittedly myself. Although White Mage increased my spiritual attack resistance, direct ghost attacks were still hard to handle.
We passed the guards, who waved us right in, recognizing Lydia and me from earlier. It was only a few minutes before Figuro made an appearance.
“Hello, distinguished guest!” He bowed. “You couldn’t possibly be back with 100 gold already?”
“Hah…” I laughed. “I’m working on that, but it turns out I need some help.”
“Help, is it?” Figuro scratched his chin. “Since you came here, that would mean you need a slave, yes?”
“Ah… yes, it turns out that is the case.”
“Come, walk with me, let me know what you’re particularly looking for.” Figuro asked.
“Well, I need someone who can read.” I explained. “A strong spiritual strength would be good. Oh… and magical ability.”
“A man!” Lydia suddenly said.
“Huh?” I looked over at her.
“He wants a strong man!” Lydia shot me a look.
I laughed wryly. “When you say it that way, I sound like your last Master…”
Figuro chuckled. “I’m glad to see you and the missus are getting along well. I’ll go check in the back and see if there is anyone that meets those requirements.”
Figuro walked away, and we were left waiting. I noticed a couple of slaves carrying a long stretcher. On the stretcher, was a familiar person. It was the pale animalkin girl I had seen in the sick caravan. She was a foxgirl with pale, ashy hair. On her eyes were two stones.
“What’s going on here?” I asked as they brought her out and laid her down on a large bedding set in the middle of the camp.
A guard leaned forward. “That’s nothing special. They’re just burning a corpse. She was always a sickly thing. It finally got the best of her and she died last night.”