“Just a quick question, you do have all of your daily necessities like clothes and stuff? I know we will have to get blood tomorrow, but other than that?” I asked Ria.
“I should have everything.” Ria answered.
“What about adventuring gear, if we go hunting?”
“I don’t wear any armor or anything. I keep light and move quickly, and heal myself by drinking blood. It might not be great for having multiple battles in a row, but it works for quick one-on-one fights.”
“Then perhaps we should get you something. What about a weapon? What do you use?”
“I don’t. I use a blood magic spell that simulates blood frenzy to boost my stats while also using fire magic to boost myself even further. Or you know, I just frenzy. It makes my nails into quite good tearing weapons and I just latch onto an enemy, stick my fangs into them and suck until they die.”
“... I see. That might not be the best in the long run. Do you want to learn a different fighting style? I can get you a teacher.”
“I… I’ll think about it. But Brian, how do you fight?” Ria asked.
“I don’t. I just summon a few monsters and let them fight for me. It is a lot safer than actually going to the frontline myself. Well, admittedly I did try to be a frontline fighter for a bit, but someone said to me that I’m stupid for doing that, so I don’t think I’ll do it again.
But even if you don’t want to change your weapon, something with a bit more defense would be good, right?”
“... I suppose so. But I don’t have much money. We don’t use it in the village, so I only get it from the monsters I hunt and have Agatha sell.”
“But you hunted a B-rank crimson boa, right? That should have gotten you some money.”
“I didn’t sell it yet. I gave the skin to you and the meat got eaten. And I didn’t take the monster core with me, but left it in the village. And you can imagine what happened with its blood.”
“Understandable. But Ria, I’m your Master now and that means taking care of you, including your equipment. So we will get you something. And if I find out later that you lied to me about your clothing situation, I’ll be angry.”
“I really am fine with clothes.” Ria said. “But if you really insist, I won’t argue.”
“Excuse me.” I said after I took Ria into a certain armor shop. They have the crimson boa hide and I think I should use that for Ria as well.
A bit later, a familiar dwarven lady came from the back. That’s interesting, she is usually in the front.
“Oh, it is you. Your order isn’t ready yet, if that is what you came for.”
“No, no. I know it wouldn’t be yet. I actually would like to put it in another order, if possible.”
“We should be able to fit something in. What can we do for you?” She quickly shifted her tone from one that sounded a bit annoyed at the disturbance into one of a saleswoman ready to make a sale.
“I want you to make her something similar to what you are making for me. From the crimson boa skin, if possible.”
“Oh? I thought you were saving the rest of it for the one that hunted that snake.”
“She is the one that hunted it.”
“Really now? Then she will be a worthy customer.”
We spent some time going over the details of what Ria’s armor should be like. The one thing the dwarf decided is that the plates on hers should be thinner and smaller, but have more of them. This gives better coverage in close quarters combat, but makes the armor overall a bit weaker against ranged attacks. If mine was like a modern combat vest, with plates only in the most important parts, Ria’s would be one where there are thinner plates everywhere.
There was also a second difference. For Ria, they were going to just use bronze plates, not mithril. This is because Ria said she couldn’t take something as expensive as mithril. In a way, I’m glad that she insisted on that, as it gave me the opportunity to analyze a few metal ingots. No, not because of some trick, but because the dwarf lady was showing the metals to us. Copper, bronze, iron and steel. All great things to have access to. I can put Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu to use. I’ll ask him to learn how to forge that blood iron stuff with the help of my vampires and I’ll upgrade Ria’s armor with that once it is made. I should be able to do that.
The other good part was the cost. With bronze, and the boa hide coming from us, the cost was only 62 gold coins, a lot less than the almost 400 for mine. Not that I have a shortage of money. Actually, when I got the money out from the inventory, I noticed that the amount of money in there had grown again. The Upstart Goblins must have come off of cooldown and the goblins must have activated them again. Anyway, my total money (before paying) was 651 gold coins, 559 large silver and 520 small silver. Still have more gold than large or small silvers. I wonder if the chances for the coins aren’t 33,3% chance for each. The gold might have a higher chance.1 For those that want accurate information on the spot, the chances are actually 40% for gold and 30% for the silvers.
As with my own armor, I paid half up front and the other half would be paid when the armor is ready to go.
After that, we returned to the Sawyer estate. The gate guards did ask about Ria, but I showed them the slave contract and they let her pass. A slave, while not an object or anything of that sort, still belongs to their Master and generally isn’t denied entry into places the Master can access. That was something I learned yesterday when I was out with Angelina.
“... is this really alright?” Ria asked. “I mean, this is the Lord’s manor, right? Can someone like me really be here?”
“Well, I am, so I think you can as well. And I already got permission, so it is fine. And if it isn’t, we will just go somewhere else.”
“Where would that be?”
“No clue. Anywhere we want to go. That is the thing about being free. No one will tell you where to go. Well, at the moment you are kind of tied to me, so you need to go where I go, but I can go where I want to go and I do take suggestions.”
“... so you have no plan if something goes wrong. Got it.”
“Well, I can always escape into my dungeon and trap it up to the point where there is no way anyone will ever get through it. But that is the last resort that I will only use if I have no place to live elsewhere.”
“What would you eat?”
“I cooked up a giant fish back in the village and you are asking that?”
“Good point.”
As we were chitchatting, we reached the front door of the main house.
“Welcome back, Mr. Brian.” A maid had come to welcome me. “Is the miss with you the dhampir you spoke about?”
“Yes. This is Rhianna, but she goes by Ria.” I quickly introduced Ria to the maid. I’m sure I’ll have to introduce her another five times today, so I’ll keep it short when it isn’t important.
“Excuse me, but would you show me her papers from the exam? She did have the first one, right?”
“Of course she did.” I said as I got them out of Inventory, while I was digging in my magic fanny pack, just to make it look like the paper was there. “Here it is.”
Like, it is not like I want to keep my inventory a secret, but I kind of do. And it is easy enough to hide, so why not?
The maid looked over the paper before handing it back to me.
“I apologize for this, but I was ordered to confirm it.” She said as she bowed.
“No, I understand. Better safe than sorry.” But honestly, after what happened at the slave trader’s, I don’t think anything would make Ria lose her cool. Still need to set a Spellbinding Circle on her though. As I just said, better safe than sorry. I just need to figure out how to word it so that it won’t bind her in legitimate self defense situations.
“Brian! Welcome back.” Alice called as she met me in the hallway. We were on our way to my room. Well, the room I’m staying in. Ria had to drop off her stuff and then … well, actually I don’t know. I do have two things I need to do, but those can wait.
“Hey Alice. How was your day?” I asked.
“It was great. I was able to ride the dragon. Well, we didn’t fly yet, but just walked around.”
“Nice. First steps. Need to walk before you can fly, right?”
“I was going to take a small flight, but Paulina said I can’t do it in the middle of town. Brian, you have to take me somewhere I can fly. Please.”
“Well, I was going to head to my dungeon tomorrow, so I can take you as well. At least if I get my B.E.S. Big Core and it can fit multiple people.”
“Big Core? B.E.S.?” Alice wondered.
“Just another of my cards. Don’t worry about it.”
“And you were going to go all the way to the dungeon. Won’t that take a long time? Even on a fast carriage, the trip from here to Alewatch takes a full day. And that is only if someone can use healing magic on the horses to keep them running.”
“... Alice, you do remember that I have a flying golem, right? That thing moves a lot faster than some carriage. I can get to the dungeon with it in 15 minutes, or something.” I actually have no idea how long it would take with the takeoff and landing, but 15 minutes should be more than enough, considering how fast I got to the dhampir village. And I wasn’t going nearly at top speeds while going there. If I let Laura take full control of commanding Gradius, I could probably get to the dungeon in 5 minutes.
“Yes, I remember it. Will you let me ride in it?”
“Well, there is a problem. Gradius can only fit two people and Ria will be coming with us. Oh yeah, I should introduce you. Alice, this is Rhianna, but she goes by Ria. She is a dhampir from the local dhampir town and a friend of Lua. Ria, this is Alice Watchman, a daughter of Baron Watchman. She has been traveling with me.”
“daughter of a noble…” I heard Ria mutter, before she bowed, imitating what she saw the maid do earlier. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Watchman. My name is Rhianna.” Ria’s voice sounded very stiff as she said that. I guess she isn’t unapologetic enough for the noble life. Then again, without the power of system support, I’m not sure I would be either. I just know I can wiggle my way out of trouble by showing that I have the system support, so I don’t mind testing the limits.
“Brian, was she the girl that you wanted to make your slave?” Alice asked.
“Yes. She is my slave. We made the contract already.”
“I see… Rhianna, my name is Alice Watchman. You may call me Alice.” Alice said in a noble manner.
“Yes, Miss Alice. Thank you.” Ria said, still in her more forceful style.
“Now Brian, back to this … Big Core? What kind of thing is it?”
“A flying golem thing, similar to Gradius. But I think it is larger, so it should be able to carry more than two people.”
“You think so? What do you mean? You don’t actually know?”
“I won’t know until I summon it. I know what B.E.S. Big Core is based on. And that thing was larger than Gradius, so I think Big Core will be as well. But I will find out for sure when I summon it.”
“How do you know what it was based on, but don’t know what it is..?”
“It is like a legend. You know the legend about the hero, right? But would you recognize the hero if you passed him in the streets?”
“The hero is dead, so that is impossible.”
“Well, what if one of my cards could summon the hero. Would you recognize that he is the hero from the legends that you have heard without him telling you that?”
“Can you summon him?”
“No, of course not. My cards don’t seem to summon legends that are that well known.” Or more like they don’t summon legends that are known in this world.
“Oh. I think I understand.”
Do you? Do you really? Because I don’t and it is my skill. Well, I do understand that it just is Yugioh, but that’s it. It works and that is all that matters.
When we got to my room, I noticed that someone had brought a mattress into the room, with a pillow and a blanket and all of that other stuff. Apparently, that was going to be Ria’s bedding.
“Oh? It is super soft.” Ria said as she tested it out.
“Is it?” I got interested and tried it with my hand. It wasn’t as good as my bed, but it was good. Better than most cots I have slept on back on earth and better than something like my travel pelts.
“Yes. It feels better than my bedding in the village.” Ria said.
“Does it? I think it is similar to the one in the room I slept in.”
“That room has one of the best beds in the village.” Ria said. “I think the only better one is the one that Lady Agatha uses.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that. I thought you all had ones of that quality.”
“They aren’t bad, but not quite as good as this.”
“Well, I’m happy that you like it. Are you sure about sleeping in the same room as me? I can ask if they would let you sleep in some other room.”
“No. I want to sleep here. If I lose control, I want you to be close.”
“Yeah, speaking of that. We need to take a precaution.” I said as I took out a Spellbinding Circle. “Ria, I want to set this card on you. I know you don’t know what that means, so I’ll quickly explain. Basically, this is the spell that has kept you in check twice now. If I set it on you, it will automatically activate if you go into a blood frenzy or try to suck someone's blood without permission. Are you fine with that?”
“... you can do something like that? And you didn’t … was it set, set it on me earlier?”
“I wanted to ask if you were fine with it, before I actually did it. And to be honest, there is a chance that the card could activate in a legitimate self defense situation.”
“Brian. I’m both a slave and a dhampir. Do you think they will accept things like ‘self defense’ if I do it? Especially if I try to suck someone’s blood?” Ria asked.
“... probably not. I see your point. But just be careful. And make sure you ask for my permission before you suck blood from anything that falls into the humanoid category, as that will be a part of the trigger.” I warned her.
Laura was actually the one that specified the wording for the activation. By specifying blood frenzy and trying to suck blood from a humanoid without my permission, the card won’t activate if she sucks monsters blood in combat. Or when she just drinks from her blood bottle.
“I want you to bind Rhianna if she goes into a blood frenzy or if she tries to suck the blood of a humanoid without permission, set.” I said to, well, set the card on her. “Now, just remember, no sucking anyone’s blood without permission or that thing will bind you. That goes for even something as little as what you did back at the slave traders.” I reminded her.
“Yes.”
nro_8 Sorry for the kind of abrupt end to this chapter. I originally had a little more in it, but I moved it to be the beginning on next chapter. And with as much as I ended up writing about Brian telling Ria about things still in the evening, it just ended up being the next chapter.
“Just a quick question, you do have all of your daily necessities like clothes and stuff? I know we will have to get blood tomorrow, but other than that?” I asked Ria.
“I should have everything.” Ria answered.
“What about adventuring gear, if we go hunting?”
“I don’t wear any armor or anything. I keep light and move quickly, and heal myself by drinking blood. It might not be great for having multiple battles in a row, but it works for quick one-on-one fights.”
“Then perhaps we should get you something. What about a weapon? What do you use?”
“I don’t. I use a blood magic spell that simulates blood frenzy to boost my stats while also using fire magic to boost myself even further. Or you know, I just frenzy. It makes my nails into quite good tearing weapons and I just latch onto an enemy, stick my fangs into them and suck until they die.”
“... I see. That might not be the best in the long run. Do you want to learn a different fighting style? I can get you a teacher.”
“I… I’ll think about it. But Brian, how do you fight?” Ria asked.
“I don’t. I just summon a few monsters and let them fight for me. It is a lot safer than actually going to the frontline myself. Well, admittedly I did try to be a frontline fighter for a bit, but someone said to me that I’m stupid for doing that, so I don’t think I’ll do it again.
But even if you don’t want to change your weapon, something with a bit more defense would be good, right?”
“... I suppose so. But I don’t have much money. We don’t use it in the village, so I only get it from the monsters I hunt and have Agatha sell.”
“But you hunted a B-rank crimson boa, right? That should have gotten you some money.”
“I didn’t sell it yet. I gave the skin to you and the meat got eaten. And I didn’t take the monster core with me, but left it in the village. And you can imagine what happened with its blood.”
“Understandable. But Ria, I’m your Master now and that means taking care of you, including your equipment. So we will get you something. And if I find out later that you lied to me about your clothing situation, I’ll be angry.”
“I really am fine with clothes.” Ria said. “But if you really insist, I won’t argue.”
“Excuse me.” I said after I took Ria into a certain armor shop. They have the crimson boa hide and I think I should use that for Ria as well.
A bit later, a familiar dwarven lady came from the back. That’s interesting, she is usually in the front.
“Oh, it is you. Your order isn’t ready yet, if that is what you came for.”
“No, no. I know it wouldn’t be yet. I actually would like to put it in another order, if possible.”
“We should be able to fit something in. What can we do for you?” She quickly shifted her tone from one that sounded a bit annoyed at the disturbance into one of a saleswoman ready to make a sale.
“I want you to make her something similar to what you are making for me. From the crimson boa skin, if possible.”
“Oh? I thought you were saving the rest of it for the one that hunted that snake.”
“She is the one that hunted it.”
“Really now? Then she will be a worthy customer.”
We spent some time going over the details of what Ria’s armor should be like. The one thing the dwarf decided is that the plates on hers should be thinner and smaller, but have more of them. This gives better coverage in close quarters combat, but makes the armor overall a bit weaker against ranged attacks. If mine was like a modern combat vest, with plates only in the most important parts, Ria’s would be one where there are thinner plates everywhere.
There was also a second difference. For Ria, they were going to just use bronze plates, not mithril. This is because Ria said she couldn’t take something as expensive as mithril. In a way, I’m glad that she insisted on that, as it gave me the opportunity to analyze a few metal ingots. No, not because of some trick, but because the dwarf lady was showing the metals to us. Copper, bronze, iron and steel. All great things to have access to. I can put Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu to use. I’ll ask him to learn how to forge that blood iron stuff with the help of my vampires and I’ll upgrade Ria’s armor with that once it is made. I should be able to do that.
The other good part was the cost. With bronze, and the boa hide coming from us, the cost was only 62 gold coins, a lot less than the almost 400 for mine. Not that I have a shortage of money. Actually, when I got the money out from the inventory, I noticed that the amount of money in there had grown again. The Upstart Goblins must have come off of cooldown and the goblins must have activated them again. Anyway, my total money (before paying) was 651 gold coins, 559 large silver and 520 small silver. Still have more gold than large or small silvers. I wonder if the chances for the coins aren’t 33,3% chance for each. The gold might have a higher chance.1 For those that want accurate information on the spot, the chances are actually 40% for gold and 30% for the silvers.
As with my own armor, I paid half up front and the other half would be paid when the armor is ready to go.
After that, we returned to the Sawyer estate. The gate guards did ask about Ria, but I showed them the slave contract and they let her pass. A slave, while not an object or anything of that sort, still belongs to their Master and generally isn’t denied entry into places the Master can access. That was something I learned yesterday when I was out with Angelina.
“... is this really alright?” Ria asked. “I mean, this is the Lord’s manor, right? Can someone like me really be here?”
“Well, I am, so I think you can as well. And I already got permission, so it is fine. And if it isn’t, we will just go somewhere else.”
“Where would that be?”
“No clue. Anywhere we want to go. That is the thing about being free. No one will tell you where to go. Well, at the moment you are kind of tied to me, so you need to go where I go, but I can go where I want to go and I do take suggestions.”
“... so you have no plan if something goes wrong. Got it.”
“Well, I can always escape into my dungeon and trap it up to the point where there is no way anyone will ever get through it. But that is the last resort that I will only use if I have no place to live elsewhere.”
“What would you eat?”
“I cooked up a giant fish back in the village and you are asking that?”
“Good point.”
As we were chitchatting, we reached the front door of the main house.
“Welcome back, Mr. Brian.” A maid had come to welcome me. “Is the miss with you the dhampir you spoke about?”
“Yes. This is Rhianna, but she goes by Ria.” I quickly introduced Ria to the maid. I’m sure I’ll have to introduce her another five times today, so I’ll keep it short when it isn’t important.
“Excuse me, but would you show me her papers from the exam? She did have the first one, right?”
“Of course she did.” I said as I got them out of Inventory, while I was digging in my magic fanny pack, just to make it look like the paper was there. “Here it is.”
Like, it is not like I want to keep my inventory a secret, but I kind of do. And it is easy enough to hide, so why not?
The maid looked over the paper before handing it back to me.
“I apologize for this, but I was ordered to confirm it.” She said as she bowed.
“No, I understand. Better safe than sorry.” But honestly, after what happened at the slave trader’s, I don’t think anything would make Ria lose her cool. Still need to set a Spellbinding Circle on her though. As I just said, better safe than sorry. I just need to figure out how to word it so that it won’t bind her in legitimate self defense situations.
“Brian! Welcome back.” Alice called as she met me in the hallway. We were on our way to my room. Well, the room I’m staying in. Ria had to drop off her stuff and then … well, actually I don’t know. I do have two things I need to do, but those can wait.
“Hey Alice. How was your day?” I asked.
“It was great. I was able to ride the dragon. Well, we didn’t fly yet, but just walked around.”
“Nice. First steps. Need to walk before you can fly, right?”
“I was going to take a small flight, but Paulina said I can’t do it in the middle of town. Brian, you have to take me somewhere I can fly. Please.”
“Well, I was going to head to my dungeon tomorrow, so I can take you as well. At least if I get my B.E.S. Big Core and it can fit multiple people.”
“Big Core? B.E.S.?” Alice wondered.
“Just another of my cards. Don’t worry about it.”
“And you were going to go all the way to the dungeon. Won’t that take a long time? Even on a fast carriage, the trip from here to Alewatch takes a full day. And that is only if someone can use healing magic on the horses to keep them running.”
“... Alice, you do remember that I have a flying golem, right? That thing moves a lot faster than some carriage. I can get to the dungeon with it in 15 minutes, or something.” I actually have no idea how long it would take with the takeoff and landing, but 15 minutes should be more than enough, considering how fast I got to the dhampir village. And I wasn’t going nearly at top speeds while going there. If I let Laura take full control of commanding Gradius, I could probably get to the dungeon in 5 minutes.
“Yes, I remember it. Will you let me ride in it?”
“Well, there is a problem. Gradius can only fit two people and Ria will be coming with us. Oh yeah, I should introduce you. Alice, this is Rhianna, but she goes by Ria. She is a dhampir from the local dhampir town and a friend of Lua. Ria, this is Alice Watchman, a daughter of Baron Watchman. She has been traveling with me.”
“daughter of a noble…” I heard Ria mutter, before she bowed, imitating what she saw the maid do earlier. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Watchman. My name is Rhianna.” Ria’s voice sounded very stiff as she said that. I guess she isn’t unapologetic enough for the noble life. Then again, without the power of system support, I’m not sure I would be either. I just know I can wiggle my way out of trouble by showing that I have the system support, so I don’t mind testing the limits.
“Brian, was she the girl that you wanted to make your slave?” Alice asked.
“Yes. She is my slave. We made the contract already.”
“I see… Rhianna, my name is Alice Watchman. You may call me Alice.” Alice said in a noble manner.
“Yes, Miss Alice. Thank you.” Ria said, still in her more forceful style.
“Now Brian, back to this … Big Core? What kind of thing is it?”
“A flying golem thing, similar to Gradius. But I think it is larger, so it should be able to carry more than two people.”
“You think so? What do you mean? You don’t actually know?”
“I won’t know until I summon it. I know what B.E.S. Big Core is based on. And that thing was larger than Gradius, so I think Big Core will be as well. But I will find out for sure when I summon it.”
“How do you know what it was based on, but don’t know what it is..?”
“It is like a legend. You know the legend about the hero, right? But would you recognize the hero if you passed him in the streets?”
“The hero is dead, so that is impossible.”
“Well, what if one of my cards could summon the hero. Would you recognize that he is the hero from the legends that you have heard without him telling you that?”
“Can you summon him?”
“No, of course not. My cards don’t seem to summon legends that are that well known.” Or more like they don’t summon legends that are known in this world.
“Oh. I think I understand.”
Do you? Do you really? Because I don’t and it is my skill. Well, I do understand that it just is Yugioh, but that’s it. It works and that is all that matters.
When we got to my room, I noticed that someone had brought a mattress into the room, with a pillow and a blanket and all of that other stuff. Apparently, that was going to be Ria’s bedding.
“Oh? It is super soft.” Ria said as she tested it out.
“Is it?” I got interested and tried it with my hand. It wasn’t as good as my bed, but it was good. Better than most cots I have slept on back on earth and better than something like my travel pelts.
“Yes. It feels better than my bedding in the village.” Ria said.
“Does it? I think it is similar to the one in the room I slept in.”
“That room has one of the best beds in the village.” Ria said. “I think the only better one is the one that Lady Agatha uses.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that. I thought you all had ones of that quality.”
“They aren’t bad, but not quite as good as this.”
“Well, I’m happy that you like it. Are you sure about sleeping in the same room as me? I can ask if they would let you sleep in some other room.”
“No. I want to sleep here. If I lose control, I want you to be close.”
“Yeah, speaking of that. We need to take a precaution.” I said as I took out a Spellbinding Circle. “Ria, I want to set this card on you. I know you don’t know what that means, so I’ll quickly explain. Basically, this is the spell that has kept you in check twice now. If I set it on you, it will automatically activate if you go into a blood frenzy or try to suck someone's blood without permission. Are you fine with that?”
“... you can do something like that? And you didn’t … was it set, set it on me earlier?”
“I wanted to ask if you were fine with it, before I actually did it. And to be honest, there is a chance that the card could activate in a legitimate self defense situation.”
“Brian. I’m both a slave and a dhampir. Do you think they will accept things like ‘self defense’ if I do it? Especially if I try to suck someone’s blood?” Ria asked.
“... probably not. I see your point. But just be careful. And make sure you ask for my permission before you suck blood from anything that falls into the humanoid category, as that will be a part of the trigger.” I warned her.
Laura was actually the one that specified the wording for the activation. By specifying blood frenzy and trying to suck blood from a humanoid without my permission, the card won’t activate if she sucks monsters blood in combat. Or when she just drinks from her blood bottle.
“I want you to bind Rhianna if she goes into a blood frenzy or if she tries to suck the blood of a humanoid without permission, set.” I said to, well, set the card on her. “Now, just remember, no sucking anyone’s blood without permission or that thing will bind you. That goes for even something as little as what you did back at the slave traders.” I reminded her.
“Yes.”
nro_8 Sorry for the kind of abrupt end to this chapter. I originally had a little more in it, but I moved it to be the beginning on next chapter. And with as much as I ended up writing about Brian telling Ria about things still in the evening, it just ended up being the next chapter.
