“I doubt anyone could forget someone like you.”

How should I put it? The guy had a unique air about him that would make it difficult to forget him. He seemed far more adept at his trade than your average merchant. This kind of business was all about making sure your customers remembered you, after all.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t been back since we came to buy Filo’s claws. Not since the time we hadn’t been able to class up at the dragon hourglass. The slave trader had coaxed us into heading for Siltvelt or Shieldfreeden back then.

Wait a minute . . . Judging from his earlier comment, could it be that he had secret ties to the queen?

“You’ve played your own little part, too, haven’t you? To think you had secret ties with the monarch . . .”

“I wasn’t lying when I told you I liked you from the moment I saw you.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll just leave it at that.”

“And what can I do for you today?”

“I’m here about your actual line of work.”

“Oh!”

The slave trader’s eyes twinkled conspicuously. I wasn’t sure what he was getting so excited about, but I wasn’t going to let things go his way. I could imagine he was probably secretly delighted over the fact that I was still buying slaves even after my rise to fame.

“I’m looking to buy some cheapish demi-human slaves for now. The lower their level, the better.”

“What kind of budget are we looking at?”

I had 5,000 silver pieces that the queen had given me before the Spirit Tortoise incident.

“Around 5,000 silver. Including the slaves you’re currently searching for, too, of course.”

“An investment for a new project, I presume?”

“I’ve told you before—don’t ask me contrived questions you already know the answer to.”

Just how much did this guy know, anyway? I had a feeling I might just believe it if he told me he could see the future or something.

“This way.”

The slave trader motioned us toward the inner depths of his tent. We began to follow behind him, but Filo came to a halt.

“What is it?”

“I don’t wanna go . . .”

She must have picked up on the grim atmosphere and signature stench that lay ahead. I had gotten used to it, but it certainly wasn’t pleasant.

“How about you just stay put, then.”

“Okay!”

Filo nodded as she sniffed at the lottery monster eggs. Did she realize that was where our paths had joined? I warned her not to eat the eggs and then chased after the slave trader. After catching back up to him, we approached the cage where I had met Raphtalia.

“This is the place where my fate was forever changed,” Raphtalia murmured.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand her sentiment, but . . . thinking about it now, it had really only been a short amount of time, even though it felt so long. It hadn’t even been six months yet.