Lament of the Slave

Chapter 46: Stalls

This guy was aware of his appearance and took advantage of it. I really had to give it to him. He was very handsome. But if the Braves, his company, had sent him here or whether it was a spur of the moment on his part, I could only speculate.

His offer was not that different from the ones I received previously. Even so, to be the damsel in distress he considered me to be, it would be a tempting offer. After all, he promised me treatment free of charge, and of course, equipment and support to conquer the first floor and so on.

Though, his offer would have been much more sincere if the healing of my wounds was not conditional on written consent to join the Braves. To his dismay, I was not a naive slave girl trying to become a seeker and not at all in distress and need of treatment. Yeah, I was hurt, looking awful, but with enough time, my wounds will heal, and a bath with new clothes will do the rest.

That is why I was grateful to Mr. Daniel Fernbough, even though I didn't get the information I wanted from him. When I asked him about horned rabbits and where I could sell them, he enthusiastically referred me to his company. Of course, I would have to be a member to be able to do that.

Likewise, when I asked him about the possible disappearance in the labyrinth if I couldn't find a way back. Instead of the answer I wanted to hear, he assured me I did not have to fear anything like that with the Braves. I don't know if it was his smile when he told me, his devotion to his company, or a weird feeling on the back of my neck I have had since I came out of the labyrinth, but it gave me shivers.

So why was I grateful to him?

Well, because while he was trying to convince me, I stood still for over half an hour, recovering my injuries, and I didn't look like a complete loser doing it.

He wasn't completely stupid either, and when he saw he wouldn't convince me on the spot, he gave up. But he did so with grace and a disarming smile on his face.

I wish I could do that. Half an hour was not enough to heal the tendon in my knee completely, so I still limped a little as I headed for the merchants' stalls. I didn't smile like him either, but my face was no longer twisted in pain anymore.

The stalls themselves were one big surprise to me. There were more of them in Labyrinth Square than I had first assumed. They had a better range of goods than most stores in the city, and its quality was comparable or better. At least, at first glance. The downside was the price which differed greatly from the prices I saw in my search for weapons and armor in Castiana.

Speaking of weapons, there were tons of stalls with them. Besides selling, they were also repairing damaged weapons or bought weapons found in the labyrinth from seekers. I saw a merchant who focused only on the sale of swords. Needless to say, these swords looked amazing. Regrettably, with a price tag that I wasn't sure I would ever be able to afford.

There were stalls with armor, potions, accessories, or jewelry. The last one caught my eye because of my spatial ring. I wondered how much it cost. So after I rubbed my neck to get rid of the strange feeling on the back of it, I went to the jewelers stall, where an old woman in a chair was sitting behind a counter with exhibited goods.

[Jeweler: lvl 134]

Her class and level was the reason I approached her. Most of the stalls were owned by [Merchants], [Dealers], [Sellers] or [Traders]. The crafters owned only a few. In addition, this old woman underwent class evolution. Meaning she should know her stuff.

"Your hand, girl," she told me, urging me to show her the ring after I spoke to her.

As soon as I reached out with my hand, she grabbed it and pulled it closer to her, almost dragging me into her wares. I had to suppress a scream because I wore the ring on my left hand, where my torn muscles had not yet completely healed.