I take a last quick look around the town to see if someone, anyone needs my help. If anyone does, it's not to the extent that it qualifies as a proper quest. This is hardly a surprise, as I had done a fairly thorough search before, and the 'special' quest only seems to appear once all of the others have been exhausted. No more side quests for me, I guess. It's time to focus on my main objective.

Well, there is one other minor issue. A pair of strange creatures have been following me. Maybe not so strange in terms of physicality, they are just a rat and cat, after all, but I still think that 'strange' is still a more than reasonable qualifier for them.

"What do you want?" I finally ask. I had expected them to wander away at some point during my last quest hunt, but that didn't happen.

"Who says we want anything?" Vile replies, "I've just got nothing on the go right now, so I figured I'd hang around with you."

The rat wears a less than comforting smile, but the black cat looks somewhat less than satisfied with that fact.

"What about you... um... what was your name again?" I ask the small feline. I'm hoping that the combat text was just a sort of temporary title.

"It's 'Slave'." she says with a strangely confident nod. "And I only seek to follow the wishes of my mistress."

"I... see..." I reply, looking away from the pair, the rat currently standing upright upon the back of the feline. I look back to Vile, the cat's contented expression having left me unnerved. Of course, the rat's expression is no better. "As a paladin, I cannot condone the existence of slavery."

"What are you talking about?" the black cat angrily hisses, "You're a dog! You are all slaves! Hell, you're wearing a collar right now!" she crinkles her nose us as she looks to my neck, "Even if it's a pretty shoddy excuse for one."

"We aren't slaves! Sure, okay, maybe we're occasionally collared and leashed for our own good, and muzzled so we can't bite anyone and are expected to follow the orders of our master... um, I mean owner... um, I mean..." I pause, desperately struggling to come up with a word for what my human is that doesn't fit into the slavery analogy, but fail to. I'm not exactly pleased by the fact that she criticized the collar that my master had made, either. I don't even think that what the black cat wears can be called a collar. It's closer to a thick, rusted shackle with a broken chain dangling from the front of it. "Anyways, I'm not a slave! I follow my master's wishes purely because I want to!"

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"Well, I follow my mistress' wishes entirely because I wish to as well! I just happen to be more honest about my station in life." the cat nods, her eyes closed, wearing a confident smirk.

"Oh, really? So you honestly think that you have a choice in the matter?" Vile says, looking down at the feline beneath her, speaking in a cold voice. "That anytime you wished, you could simply refuse my orders?"

The black cat, Slave, tenses up, "Oh no, of course not! I just meant that... um..." she looks nervous before glaring in my direction, as though this situation were somehow my fault.

"You also failed to properly protect me during the battle." The rat sighs and shakes her head. "Clearly, I've been far, far too soft on your lately. Twenty lashes should serve as adequate punishment."

I am about to object to such a cruel treatment... not that I know exactly what a 'lashing' from a rat would entail, or how much it would hurt, but it still seems wrong. Instead, I can't help but notice the big, goofy smile on the face of the black cat, much less hear her very contented purring. "Yes, Mistress."

"Wait a minute... you actually like being hit?" I ask, although I imagine that I really don't want to hear the answer to that question.

"Of course! Not only is it satisfying to suffer in service to ones mistress, it can be a very pleasant situation once you get used to it! Plus, it both toughens the body and the spirit, which is extremely rewarding!" the cat nods enthusiastically. While I am more than a little bit skeptical, it certainly explains how impossibly solid the fairly small cat happens to be.

"Okay..." I say, trying to avoid giving the matter any more thought than I need to. Instead, I turn to Vile, "Wait, how is it a punishment if she enjoys it?"

The rat, wearing a rather smug and confident expression all this while blinks. She frowns, cupping a furless grey paw under her chin, seemingly deep in thought. "Huh, you know what? You're completely right! New plan, Slave! Instead, as punishment, I won't beat you. Maybe that will teach you to work harder next time."

The cat looks completely crushed, not daring to express such disappointment to her diminutive owner, but she does stare daggers at me, apparently, once again blaming me for her 'misfortune'.

"Well, now that that's settled, where are you off to next?" Vile asks. Meanwhile, the depressed feline simply stares at the ground.

I am about to answer, purely on reflex, but even as I open my mouth, I cannot find the proper words. All that I can do is state the truth of the matter, as my ears lower and my whole body droops. "I... I don't know."

---

Slave: "Really? Is this what the readers were warned about? A loving, consensual relationship between two intelligent and responsible adults?"

Squire: "Well, it might catch people off guard, is all, and probably isn't appropriate subject matter for younger readers."

Vile: "Oh, it's okay, I understand: Apparently violence is perfectly acceptable for all ages. You know... so long as it's non-consensual."

Squire: ...