Chapter 1087: You Should Be More Careful When Partying Up

I came back to the Guild and dumped all the stuff on the counter.

"Here you go~ Everything should be there~" I told the Guild staff cheerfully.

He stared at the pile of stuff in front of him for a good minute before looking back up at me.

"Umm... Miss Aster? What are these?"

"Hmm? The items needed to complete the Requests that I took?"

"Umm... I can see that but... Hasn’t it only been like... Less than a few hours since you left?"

"Yes?"

"And you managed to complete all of the Requests in such a short amount of time?"

I nodded, "That’s right. Should I not have?"

"No, err... That’s not what I was trying to say... I mean... Are you really only C Ranked, Miss Aster?"

"Well, if you must know, I haven’t really been active as a Mercenary or Dungeoneer until recently. But I have been training myself doing other things."

"I... I see... Err... That might explain some things but... Isn’t this still a little too fast? I’m pretty sure that a normal party would only just finish preparing their gear and head out right now... But you’ve already returned and completed everything before one would even set out..."

"Well, I guess you can say that I’m always ready to head out at a moment’s notice."

Which was true since everything I need is in the Bangle of Folding anyway so there’s not much I need to prepare for if we need to leave the city.

The Guild staff finally recovered enough to help process the items and mark the Requests as completed to credit me with their completion.

Just from this short trip that took just a few hours, I earned roughly three hundred Creas. Not too bad for such a short trip. Just killing the golem alone already earned me two hundred Creas since it was meant to be a C Ranked Request by itself.

I pocketed the money and left the Guild, trying my best to ignore all the worshipful stares coming from the others that were in the Guild.

Seriously, these people need help... Maybe I should just suggest therapy or something...

As I left the Guild, I almost ran straight into a mage that was in the midst of walking in but I managed to take a step back to avoid colliding with her.

"Excuse me," I apologised.

"No, no, that was... Eh? Miss Aster?"

I paused and turned to look at the mage, finding her rather familiar...

Oh!

"Hello Jenna!" I greeted the Off-Worlder mage that I shared a wagon with not too long ago with those other Off-Worlders. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah... Well... You know? I’m also heading to Aerialla Academy now, right? But it’s not like I have infinite money so I have to take Guild Requests to earn Creas to pay for my route to head towards the Academy."

I nodded in understanding, "That makes sense. Though are you sure about doing Requests alone? That’s pretty dangerous, you know?"

She waved at me, "Oh don’t worry, I don’t intend to take any dangerous Requests in the first place. I was thinking of just looking for parties that want a mage to accompany them and just attach myself to them for the Request for a cut of the earnings."

I gave her a pointed look, "You... Do realise that this idea has its own dangers too, right?"

She blinked at me before tilting her head, "Eh? There is? Like what?"

Wait, really? It’s one thing to know about the risk and still do it because you’re prepared but it’s another if you’re not even aware of it!

"Like... The party members mistreating you or... Well... Pressuring you to let them use your body to satisfy their sexual needs?" I pointed out.

Her eyes widened, showing she hadn’t even considered this possibility, "Eh?! Does that happen?!"

"Well... I don’t think it’s that common of an occurrence but the chances of that happening isn’t zero right? I’ll just go ahead and tell you that there were a few times I partied with strangers and they tried to kill me to claim the loot for themselves or even steal my stuff... So if you’re not prepared to deal with that..."

"Eh? Eh? Wait, wait... That could actually happen? I mean... I already did some Requests in the previous city where we separated and there were no problems! So I thought it would just be like that!"

Oof... This girl is pretty naive I see...

I sighed, "Are you some kind of sheltered girl back in our World or something?"

She scratched her cheek, "Umm... I guess a little? So... What should I do?"

"Well... I would suggest forming a more permanent party if you intend to do this long term... But I would also caution you that even your own party might betray you as well... Not saying they would but there’s always a chance you know? Especially when you’re partnering with strangers..."

She gestured at me, "What about you? You have a party too right? Aren’t you concerned that they would do the same?"

"Well, first thing is that I grew up with them so I trust them with my life. Second, they are all my lovers so... Yeah..."

"Oh right, yeah. You mentioned that they are part of your harem too. Just curious... Is there any jealousy at all?"

Err... I couldn’t really answer that question so I turned to Katsuki who had been standing behind me the entire time.

She bowed her head, "Mistress, I believe you already know they harbour no jealousy at all for the current relationship they have with you. All of us are just grateful to be part of your circle."

"Wow..." Jenna muttered, probably surprised by the level of devotion that Katsuki was showing.

As Katsuki bowed, my eyes were drawn to her neck where her slave collar remained just hidden underneath her maid uniform which immediately gave me an idea.

I turned back to Jenna, "I know! Why not just get yourself a slave? You wouldn’t need to worry about them betraying you in that case!"

She blinked at me, "Sl... Slave? Wait... There’s slavery in this World?"

"Eh? You didn’t know?"

She shook her head.

I shrugged, "I’ll just let you know that it’s not illegal and actually a normal part of life here. People who go into debt can sell themselves as slaves and they are basically treated like indentured servants if you understand. Mistreating your slaves is actually frowned upon. But they do have enchanted slave collars that would prevent them from betraying you so I think it might be a good idea to get one."

"But... That means I have to cloth and feed them as well, right?"

I nodded, "It’s an investment of course. So you’ll have to make sure that you’re earning enough to cover both yours and the slave’s living expenses."

"Is that alright though? Are slaves scary?"

Katsuki turned to her, "Miss Jenna, I am my Mistress’s slave."

"Ehhh?! Really?! I thought you were just her maid?!"

"She’s my personal maid and slave," I explained with a wry smile. "I rescued her and a merchant from some goblins and she was already a slave back then so the merchant gave her to me as thanks for saving them."

"Oh... Erm... Just curious... How much is it to get a slave?"

I scratched my cheek, "Ah... That would depend on the slave you’re buying. Their prices change according to their capabilities you see... If you like, how about we go to a slave store right now?"

"Eh? Wait... Right now? I haven’t prepared my heart yet!"

"Ahahaha~ I’m not asking you to go confess to someone or anything, just think of it as going shopping!"

"But... Wouldn’t I be disturbing your date?"

I blinked, "My date?"

"Yes? Aren’t you on a date with her right now?" She asked, gesturing at Katsuki.

Katsuki bowed her head, "You are mis--"

I immediately wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her in beside me, "Ehehe~ Of course we are on a date~ But we don’t mind helping you out at all! This could be part of our date too, right, Katsuki?"

Unexpectedly, Katsuki actually looked pretty flustered by my action though her tail was wagging up a storm behind her.

"Ah... Ah... I... I am fine.. With anything you wish, Mistress!" She squeaked.

So cute~

Jenna didn’t seem to notice how odd Katsuki was acting since she was still flustered by the prospect of going to a slave shop right now.

"Ah... Umm... I won’t lie but I am interested in this so... Err... If it’s not too much trouble then... Could I ask for you to accompany me to the slave shop in that case?"

I’m going to take a wild guess and say that this girl is one of those types who fantasises about owning a slave in a fantasy world and going on adventures or something with them.

She did say that she knows about these types of stories even though she doesn’t read them.

Either that... Or she just fantasises about owning slaves in general.

Well, I already told her that I would be taking her to one so we might as well~