Chapter 3: There Are Good People Out There! Maybe We Have a Chance Yet?

Chapter 3:
There Are Good People Out There!
Maybe We Have a Chance Yet?

 

FLUM AND MILKIT walked through the town, hand in hand. They weren’t heading anywhere in particular, just trying to put as much distance between them and the merchant’s house as possible. But the looks they got from passersby were decidedly cold. They were two young girls, dressed in little more than cloaks, with dirty faces and messy hair…and both bearing the mark of a slave on their faces, no less. Milkit could cover her mark with her bandages, but it wasn’t hard to guess her status by the fact that she was together with Flum.

Still, Flum didn’t get why people felt compelled to shoulder into them and sneer as they crossed paths. She finally spoke up as they weaved through the crowds.

“Is it always like this, Milkit? For slaves, I mean.”

Milkit tilted her head to the side in thought. “What do you mean, ‘like this’?”

That was all the answer Flum needed. Just a moment ago Milkit had nearly tumbled to the ground after someone tried to trip her, and yet, judging by her reaction, such cruel treatment was par for the course. Being a slave meant being despised.

Not just that—being a slave meant existing to fulfill others’ wants and needs.

Flum self-consciously brought her hand up to her cheek, the soft flesh of her fingers running across the unnatural shape etched into her skin. Due to the special pigment brushed into the mark, it wouldn’t disappear even if a heal spell were cast on her. Even though a whole week had passed since its infliction, it still stung when she touched it.

However, the pain she felt in her heart was far greater than the physical pain the mark left on her.

Milkit seemed to pick up on the dark look that had taken over Flum’s expression. “Is something the matter, Master?”

“I was just realizing that I really am living the life of a slave.”

Milkit cocked her head to the side again. “Oh?”

As someone who’d lived her entire life in bondage, Milkit probably couldn’t comprehend where Flum was coming from. Sure, being kicked out of the party meant she was free of her duty to fell the Demon Lord. But the slave mark also meant she could never go home. In more than one way, the girl named Flum Apricot was now dead.

And yet, she was still alive. Here and now.

Flum walked a little faster, each footfall firm and confident. She wasn’t alone, either.

“Well, if we’re going to survive, we’re going to need to earn some money.”

“Hmm…I guess I’ll just have to sell my body, Master. I’ve never done anything like that before, so I have to admit I’m a little nervous.”

Flum let out a dramatic sigh. She couldn’t believe the first idea to come out of her companion’s mouth was prostitution. “Milkit, you need to respect yourself a little more than that, okay?”

“Respect myself? I don’t understand.”

“Selling your body should be the very last option.”

“Well then, what should we do?”

Flum could think of only one place where she could find a job without anyone questioning her status. “Let’s make our way to the West District. I’m sure we can get a job there.”

Milkit seemed confused. “Will they give jobs to slaves?”

Flum squeezed the other girl’s hand and picked up the pace. She’d understand once they got there.

 

***

 

The capital was divided into the Central, East, West, and North Districts. The Central District was by far the largest, populated by businesses both large and small, and serving as home to many residents just off the main thoroughfare. Nobles and wealthy businessmen lived in the huge manors of the East District, while the North District was where the palace and other administrative arms of the government were located.

Now, the West District—that was where all the poor and downtrodden lived. The slave merchant’s home had been in the western part of the Central District, nearly on the border with the West District.

About twenty minutes or so later, the two girls found themselves in front of the building Flum was looking for. Milkit gazed at the symbol etched into the sign hanging out front.

“This is…an adventurers’ guild?”

Just as the name implied, this was a place where adventurers gathered in hopes of finding work. The term “adventurer” itself was a throwback to the days when the kingdom still consisted of wild, untamed territory. It was the name given to the brave people who sallied forth to clear out the monsters that roamed the lands.

“I heard there are a number of ex-slaves working as adventurers, and I figure I’m at least decent at fighting. At the very least, we should be able to take on some of the simpler jobs.” Flum had gained some confidence after her encounter with the ghouls and the merchant.

“You were able to take down those ghouls with relative ease, Master, so that should help earn our keep. But I’m still not sure I understand how your injuries were instantly cured the moment you grasped the sword or how you were able to swing it around with ease.”

“Like he said, it is an Epic weapon. I think that played a part, at least. Maybe the sword’s enchantments increased its abilities?”

“But the man who touched it melted away.”

“I’ve been wondering about that, too. Unfortunately, I have no skill with magic. Even Scan is beyond me.” If she could cast Scan, she could use it to ascertain the sword’s name and any enchantments it had. “Actually, now that I think about it, my body feels lighter, and my magic seems to have increased. How strange…”

Though Flum had never actually used magic herself, she knew how to do it in theory.

“C’mere for a second…”

Flum tugged at Milkit’s hand and pulled the younger girl into a small alley next to the adventurers’ guild. After making sure no one was looking, she summoned forth the blade. A swathe of light blossomed from her hand and slowly took the shape of a sword.

Once the surprise that it had actually worked wore off, she took a deep breath and tried to cast Scan.

Broken into its most basic components, all one needed to do to cast a spell was to summon the magic within them, call forth the spell, and focus on their target. Flum had tried this countless times in the past with little success, but now, she felt a shapeless entity flowing through her, almost like smoke. Her lips curved into an ecstatic smile.

In her sixteen years of life, she had never once been able to summon forth the power that she knew resided within her body, no matter how hard she tried. However, it dissipated just as quickly as it had gathered once she stopped concentrating.

Flum quickly forced herself to focus again and called forth the spell. “Scan!”

Suddenly words and images began appearing at the periphery of her vision.

 

Name: Souleater Zweihänder

Tier: Epic

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Strength by 318]

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Magic by 96]

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Endurance by 293]

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Agility by 181]

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Perception by 107]

[This equipment causes its wearer’s body to melt]

 

“Souleater…?”

That was an apt name for such a cursed weapon.

As far as Flum could tell, it had originally been just a dual-handed sword called Zweihänder. Cursed weapons were usually inhabited by angry spirits who rejected all who tried to wield them, their power growing stronger and stronger with each person that died while holding them.

“But…that doesn’t make any sense. All of its enchantments decrease stats. There’s no way that I should be able to use this sword.”

“Decrease stats?”

“At least as far as I can tell, yeah. Do you want to Scan it for yourself?”

“I can’t use magic…”

That didn’t sound right. The only reason why Flum wasn’t able to use magic was because all of her stats were stuck at zero. Even a single point in magic was enough for anyone to cast a low-level spell like Scan.

That is, unless…

No one had ever bothered to teach Milkit even the simplest of spells.

“Besides, it wouldn’t do me any good anyway. I don’t know how to read…”

This stung Flum for a moment as she realized just how lucky she’d been growing up. “Don’t worry, Milkit, I’ll teach you. Once things settle down a bit, we’ll study together.”

Milkit stared blankly at Flum, neither returning nor rejecting her cheerful grin. After a few moments, she looked away. Her eyes betrayed her confusion.

“If…if that is what you desire, Master.”

She sounded pretty pessimistic, but Flum chalked that up to the other girl’s personality.

“Then it’s decided! Just leave it to me, I’ll teach ya to read, Milkit.” Flum puffed out her chest. “…But this still doesn’t make sense. If this sword is supposed to lower your stats and cause your body to melt as soon as you touch it, why did it make me stronger and heal me?”

“If we could figure that out, then we’d know how to make you stronger, Master.”

“Stats that should have been lowered rise, flesh that was supposed to disintegrate was healed… Hmm…”

“It’s like everything was the opposite of how it should have been.”

“Right? A real change in direction…”

A change in direction…or, in other words, a reversal.

Reversal. Flum’s rare affinity…

The hex that’d hung over Flum her whole life. The useless affinity that turned all of her stats to zero—or so she’d thought. Now her stats were actually increasing, which could only mean…

“So maybe this useless affinity isn’t so useless after all?”

“Your affinity?”

“You see, I have a rare affinity called Reversal. It’s kept all my stats at zero my whole life, so I’d always figured it was useless. However, it looks like there is some way I can make use of it!”

Negative effects were turned into positive ones, flesh that should have melted away was healed. In other words, curses were reversed to be blessings.

“I always wondered why I had such a useless power, but…wow! I never thought I could use cursed weapons, so I didn’t even try. Hahaha!” Flum laughed to herself, lost in her excitement. Milkit just stared at her blankly. “Ah, sorry ’bout that, Milkit. I got a bit excited there. You see, thanks to my affinity, the deadlier a curse is, the stronger it actually makes me!”

“Ah, I…I don’t really understand. But that’s impressive, Master.”

Her reaction left a lot to be desired. Then again, the two had only just met, and Milkit didn’t seem all that good at expressing emotion. Flum was a little gutted that Milkit couldn’t share in her excitement, but this wasn’t really the time or place for that, anyway.

First, they needed money so they could at least have a roof over their heads tonight.

To register at the adventurers’ guild, you needed to take on and complete a simple F-Rank job. Once you did that, you’d receive your license and would be able to take on more jobs, which would provide you with a fairly stable source of income.

The girls exited the alley and entered the guild with renewed excitement.

Even the most charitable of people would have a hard time describing the guild’s interior as anything but disgusting. The fact that it reeked of alcohol even in the early afternoon didn’t help matters. The building included a small bar, ostensibly as a place to introduce adventurers to possible party fellow members. It was currently full of several muscle-bound men who immediately broke out into perverse grins when they saw Fran and Milkit’s slave markings.

Fortunately, the reception desk was straight ahead. The counter was manned by a young woman in gaudy makeup who was picking at her nails. She looked annoyed when she finally noticed Flum approaching her.

“What’re you doing here, slave? I’m guessing your master didn’t send you here on an errand, by the looks of it.”

“I want to be an adventurer. Could you issue me a license?”

The receptionist and the men in the bar broke out in laughter at this.

“Oh, bless your heart. You want to throw your life away? Listen, girly, I think you two would be better suited to a job that involves lying on your back. I don’t know about that little oddball over there with the bandages, but you’re young. I’m sure you could sell yourself for a fair bit. How about I introduce you to something more suited to you two?” The mocking smile on her face spoke volumes.

Flum somehow contained the rage she felt building within her when she heard the drunks chime in, too.

“That brown-haired broad ain’t too bad lookin’. I wouldn’t mind taking her home for the night. Gonna have to pass on mummy girl, though.”

“Hard pass here, too!”

“What about you, think you could do that little monster thing?”

“No way, man! Well, I dunno actually. I haven’t got one off in a while…”

“Gyahahaha! Even a stray mutt could get you goin’!”

“As long as she ain’t got no diseases or nothin’.”

“You’re really thinkin’ about it, aren’t ya! Wauhahaha!”

Flum ground her teeth and clenched her fists until her knuckles went white. They’d gone too far now. She took a step forward to give them a piece of her mind but then felt Milkit tug at her shirt and shake her head.

“Why not?!”

“There’s nothing for you to win here, Master. It’s best to just let it go.”

“I’m not just mad about what they said about you, Milkit. I’m downright pissed that they’d talk about me like that, too!”

This wasn’t true, of course. Most of her anger was aimed at what they’d said about Milkit, and they both knew it.

“Joking aside, they did say they’d pay you for your services. Why not take them up on their offer? It’s easy money, kid.”

“No thanks.”

“Your loss.” With that, the receptionist turned back to the paperwork in front of her and resumed her work.

“Hey, uh, wait a minute. Didn’t I just ask you to issue me a license?”

Silence. The woman didn’t even bother to respond.

“Listen to me!!”

“God, shut up, kid. I don’t have any jobs for unappreciative slaves who don’t know a good offer when it smacks them in the face. Just go spread ’em for the guys over there, okay?”

The woman’s patronizing tone was Flum’s breaking point. She lunged toward the counter and was about to grab the woman when a man walked over from the bar area to try and defuse the situation.

“Whoa, whoa, no need to talk like that.”

He was about a head taller than Flum and sported a thin, muscular build. His close-cropped dirty-blond hair gave him a rather clean-cut look. Though an expensive-looking sword hung from his waist, he wasn’t wearing armor.

“Sorry for butting in like this, little lady. My name is Dein Phineas, A-Rank adventurer in this here guild. Nice to meet you.”

He offered his hand. Flum eyed him with some suspicion before returning the gesture and gripping his large, calloused palm. Though the expression on his face was gentle, the scar on his cheek and his powerful gaze betrayed his true abilities. He was, after all, an A-Rank adventurer.

All adventurers started out at F-Rank, no matter what. As they collected more and more bounties, they slowly moved up the ranks and were trusted with higher and higher paying jobs. It wasn’t a profession for the faint of heart.

“We finally got a newbie coming all the way out to the guild in this dangerous hellhole we call the West District, Y’lla. You should be nicer to her.”

“But…”

“After she gets her license, whether she lives or dies is all on her. Personally, I think we should leave the door wide open for anyone to join, slave or noble alike.”

“If you say so, Dein.”

It was clear that this Dein person was a pretty influential member of the guild, considering how quickly Y’lla caved in despite her sass just moments ago. Dein leaned on the counter and tapped his finger on a paper sitting on the desk in front of Y’lla. “What about this one?”

Y’lla hesitated for a moment. “I dunno about that…”

However, she didn’t seem to want to say no to Dein. She finally nodded in agreement and slid the paper across the counter toward Flum. “Deliver one (1) werewolf fang” was written across the top, Rank-F.

Y’lla then handed her a map marked with where the monsters could be found. “Once you finish this job, I’ll issue you a license.”

“Thanks.” Flum mumbled a curt response and took the map from the glowering receptionist. If she ever wanted to make it as an adventurer, the two would probably be stuck working together for quite a while yet. She held back an exasperated sigh at the thought that she’d already made an enemy.

She turned toward the A-Rank adventurer and bowed her head. “Thank you… Dein, was it? It’s thanks to you that I’ll finally be able to get a license.”

He smiled warmly. “It was nothing, don’t worry about it.”

And with that, he returned to his table in the bar to sit down with some fellow adventurers. Flum watched him for a bit before turning back to Milkit. “Well, I guess we should get going.”

“As you wish, Master.”

She instinctively reached down and took Milkit’s hand as she led the way out of the guild. They were off to the werewolves’ stomping grounds, as indicated on her map.

 

***

 

Dein maintained his charming grin until the two girls were out of sight. The moment they were gone, he broke into a chuckle.

One of the other men at the table quickly spoke up. “What was that all about, Dein?”

“Didn’t you see? I was just helping someone get their first job, is all. I’m a real nice guy, I’ll have you know.”

“You’re so full of it, your eyes are brown. There’s something special about the job you picked, isn’t there?”

“Well…y’know, I figured I’d raise the bar a bit just to make sure the guild newbies are up to snuff.” Dein pounded back a glass full of white liquor. “Fwaaah. Them’s the rules, yah? In order to get a license, you need to complete an F-Rank job.”

“That’s true, yeah…”

“All I did was give her a tougher job.”

“How tough?”

“Just a little bit. A smidge, really. I just marked a D-Rank job down to an F-Rank, is all. If she has any talent at all, taking down a werewolf should be a breeze. At least, it would be for me.”

The other man’s face tensed. “Aren’t D-Rank jobs reserved for monsters that are three, sometimes even five times as powerful as F-Rank jobs? Those girls are as good as dead.”

“If that’s the case, well, so be it. Guess that means they weren’t made of the right stuff.”

“Gahaha! Yer never gonna change, Dein!”

The men raised a quick toast to the demise of the two slave girls and continued on with their boisterous drinking.

Dein Phineas was best known around these parts as the Intrepid Scoundrel. He colluded with the guild to turn a tidy profit on high-value jobs by getting groups of adventurers together and then claiming a part of their reward money for himself. Through this, and other illicit means, he’d managed to achieve A-Rank despite having none of the requisite skills.

Meanwhile, Flum and Milkit walked hand in hand out of town toward the location marked on their map, completely unknowing of the heinous nature of the man who’d sent them on their mission.