This place is much better than staying in the hotel. I started off the day by playing a game of chess with Ilmey, the Sorcerer was still in bed, and the troops were training on their own. I think most of them gave up trying to challenge Uno.

This time I didn't feel like playing around with her, so I mated her pretty quickly. I think it's because they have none of the modern theory worked out in this world, so she simply isn't a match for even an amateur like me who's read a bit of Capablanca.

Today it seems she’s in the mood for the game since she asked for a rematch as soon as the first match ended.

There were people I never saw before coming by the estate; I thought I met all the robe-wearing people at the meeting a month ago, but I guess not. A lot of them were Sorcerers under Danial, and in his absence, Ilmey listened to their inquiries.

It was around noon when the Sorcerer actually showed up.

"Ilmey can you go get the fish, I'm still feeling tired from 'no fatigue'."

"You're the one who told me not to use that spell, and then you go ahead and use it."

The Sorcerer smiled wryly to her, I heard her sigh and I stopped paying attention to them. They clearly had some inside thing going on, memories I clearly didn't share so I let them be.

After what seemed like a conversation that ranged from scolding to concerned, my name was finally mentioned which got my attention.

"What?"

"I said, do you want to come along?"

"Come along for what?"

"Weren't you paying attention...? Never mind. To get the fish, and run some errands."

I'm not really doing anything... so "Yeah, sure."

The hustle and bustle of the marketplace is the same as always. Mothers haggling the shopkeepers, adventurers off work, children playing where they shouldn't, merchants delivering their products, peddlers setting up shop, shopkeepers shouting out their incredible prizes, and everything else you would find at a place that smells a bit fishy.

You could find just about everything here, streets going off in every direction with shops and stands of all kinds. Food stuff to swords to scrolls and everything in between, so as soon as I entered the place I activated my God's Eye just in case; wouldn't want to miss anything.

We seemed to be heading in the general direction of the fish market which I discern from what little she has told me. Every few feet she would see something that interested her; haggling and interrogating the shopkeepers, we slowly moved forward bouncing from one shop to another. I had completely forgotten how much I hated shopping with people, the few times I been forced to endure, all those memories are coming back now. She bought some ognam, told some shopkeepers to save some items for her, and even bought me a charm from a peddler. That was nice of her, useless but nice.

After wasting much time examining fruits, vegetables, and unique looking garbage we finally made our way to the fish market. With many stands displaying their variety of fish, the smell of it was rich in the air. Then I could hear the ocean waves, a block away is the seashores. There were stores with signs of fish mixed in with the usual little stands, they sold shells, pearls and all other kinds of souvenirs of the sea.

I could see the fishermen's boats on that beach sands. Following the sand, you reach the ocean waves, which lead to the horizon. A peaceful and lovely day, the blue skies, the white clouds and the blinding sun. The fresh ocean air, I stand in nature again. I’m nothing but a passing moment in this endless world. When you're in the middle of a storm created by men you forget the world doesn't care. It just is, whatever man does is merely... It doesn't even react. No laws of its own, no conscience or anything to worry about, well it's not conscious either. Being aware and still being pushed around by desires, I am determined. This must be, forever the curse of man, to walk in this determined world, where the ending is so clear and doom is certain. Life is all but an error anyhow, for entropy to fix, and wipe away from the universe. There would have never been any pain if it never existed. I wonder if they're even self-aware, I wonder if I am self-aware, going about fixing problems and trying to live one year longer when all of it is... Let's forget, yes, the summer breeze is lovely, the waves are beautiful, and so I am glad, so let's forget. Isn't that the motto of life?

So I ended up following her through the sand, we walked around the boats that were docked on the beach.

Quite in the opposite direction of where we were going there were people enjoying the beach, swimming, playing and sunbathing. Of course in the middle of it all, there were little stands to sell nuts and cotton candy. But we were walking farther and farther away from all of that. Towards where we are heading there is a dock, a long dock stretching into the sea. At the end of it, is a large boat. It looks like the boat or the dock was perfectly built for each other, for at the end, the dock it split into two like a tuning fork, and the boat fit perfectly within. It seems to be our destination, for I followed right behind her as she climbed the dock.

The boat in the middle is a kind of restaurant for the fancy people of the beach.

When this hairy man laid eyes on Ilmey he put aside what he was doing and approached us with a frown. His balding head and curly chest hair popping out his shirt didn’t help him seem any friendlier.

"Little missy, so he se-and ya ta do his dirty business ya. And who-es this? ya"

He gave me a passing glance. Ilmey looked at me for a moment as to decide whether, to tell the truth, or not.

"He's just Danial's friend. And to say... Master... He was feeling a bit tired so I volunteered to come in his place."

"He-as a shrewd guy, I wouldn’ta put it past him to plan all this. Ya guys don't want to tell me nothang, but I can guess, and when this shit falls apart watch yourself a little missy. Yu too." He slighted towards me, and Ilmey was clenching her fist. "I'am not gonna say anythang else, just know I warned ya, a little missy."

"Just do what we're paying you to do."

"Haa~ Folla me to the back."

I went to the back, which looked like a submarine docking area, but there were obviously no submarines; I don't think they have the technology for that. Besides this open water area, are barrels. The hairy man opened one of the barrels and pulled out a fish.

"Hea's what ya wanted rat. It'sa been sitting hea for a few weeks so they're well off ya."

"They look pretty fresh, you aren't trying to scam us are you?"

She was openly showing her disdain for the man, as she reached out to study the fish.

"Hey! Yau wanted it ta look fresh don't ya. Otherwise yeu gonna have the cook notice. Whoever-as eating this is gonna have a bad days."

"Alright, make sure when the people from the castle come to pick it up you don't say anything. Give them these barrels instead of the good ones and we're good. Here's the payment."

She tossed back the fish she grabbed to study and untied the bag of gold she had tied to her waist and handed it off to him. He looked inside for a moment and tucked it away.

"Nace doing business with ya little missy."

"And don't mention anything about us."

"A thrust me, I ain’t gonna say a word, and I want the same from ya folks."

"You got it."

They shook on it and the hairy man guided us out. Behind us, we could hear him mumbling out something about 'food poisoning' and 'pranks' as we left the restaurant.

All Ilmey said as we were walking back to the street was "The cooks from the castle buy fish from him."

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"He's the owner?"

I asked not really caring but to respond with something.

"Yeah, a commoner. Started off with just a small shop on the beach, worked his way up. Everyone knows him in this city."

"Commendable."

"Hmm… I guess."

For a moment I would have a thought she was Zejimal if she didn’t have such a cuter way of doing that.

We went back to the market place and visited a few magic stores.

She disappeared to the back of the shop with the owner, and I decided not to follow her so I could browse the shop. The shop had beaded curtain doors, complete wooden interior, and enough creepy dolls and items to give it the real feeling of magic. But that's all it had, a feeling, none of the items appealed to me, they were all too low level to be of any use. Only things worth any notice were the books, about certain famous Sorcerers of the past, some fictitious stories, and one book about how to make divine swords. I didn't read that one past the title because I didn't want it to level me up in something unwanted and make me lose a level in Necromancy or something else that I need. Not that it would, but I didn’t want to take the chance. I'll have to give it to one of the permanent summon, then let it read it and see what happens before I proceed with it. I bought the book before she came back. The cashier was a young man with long black hair, who was just a bit too hunched over for his age and wore a very gaudy Sorcerer’s robe.

♦♦♦

"Now that that's settled. Let me ask, will you be joining us on-the-day?"

"Please let me decline Ms. Ilmey. You know, I'm in no shape to be running around, you know I'm just an old man running a simple magic shop now." This lazy bastard, this is why your pupil is lazy too. "But you know Jerald will be happy to join everyone."

"It's fine. It’s good at least one of you is coming. And what's with that gaudy dress you got him wearing?"

"You know He picked it out himself, his hero is that great Sorcerer Mogod you know."

The paintings do have him wearing all that gaudy stuff.

"You should advice your pupil better."

"I don't want to do that, you know how it is."

No, I don't know how it is.

"Well, I'll get out of your hair. Make sure you send all the attack type scrolls to the estate on the time we arranged. And don't use the usual routes, the guards are paying more attention."

"Got it."

♦♦♦

"Jerald I hear you can do a level 4 spell now." Ilmey infers as she comes out the curtain doors.

"Yas Ms. Ilmey."

"Keep up the good work. And I want to see you out there, you got that."

"Yas Ms. Ilmey, I'll be sure to be there."

He had a very slow and lazy voice which stretched out everything he said.

"Good. You still reading the books I gave you."

"A~ Yas, I finished The Fundamentals of Mana Manipulation, but~ I'm still reading the other 3."

"How many times did you read The Fundamentals of Mana Manipulation?"

"A~ Just once Ms. Ilmey."

"Read it till you memorized the entire book, read it at least 10 times, cover to cover."

"A~ But I already und-"

"Have you memorized it cover to cover?"

"No Ms. Ilmey."

"Then read it again."

"Yas Ms. Ilmey."

"Good. Then, uncle, I'll see you again in 4 days."

The shop owner nods seeing us off.

"Where are we going next?"

"Why, are you getting bored?"

She's acting different from yesterday; more familiar. Less formal today, I guess she’s gotten more comfortable around me.

"No, not really, just wondering."

She looks at me and then the bag of books I'm carrying. It can’t be helped I’m carrying it all; my dimension pouch was filled with money and other consumable items, so I didn't have room for this. Putting it in my Slots will only get me unwanted attention. If nothing else, it’ll seem like strange magic to you.

"We're going to the potion shop next."

"I see. How many more stops do we have?"

"I thought you weren't bored?"

"I'm not, just w-"

"Wondering. Don't worry that’s the last." She had a stupid smirk on her face. "We have to order some potions, and we're done."

In the potion shop, she did the same thing again and disappeared into the back.

There were a lot of potions that were familiar to me, like the health potions, and mana recovery potions, but the ones that really caught my eye were the resistance potions. They weren't available in the game, I had heard of them in the report but this was my first time seeing them; 40% heat resistance, 60% cold resistance, 20% magic resistance, there were items such as rings that achieved the same results. Probably a more sensible approach, compared to the consumable potions that had its effects wear off, but it’s interesting none the less. So I bought them to be reverse engineered by the chemical engineers back at the lab. What's surprising is that I haven't done this already.

We left the potion shop with me holding another large bag of potions.

"I wasn't going to ask, but what is all that?" She said when looking at my bags of magic objects. She closed in to take a look inside. "Are all of these just resistance potions? Rarely anyone buys these so you probably helped them out."

"Yeah, the cashier said the same thing. They wanted me to 'come back again'."

"Yeah, I'm sure they did. Why did you buy all of these, even the books, what are they?"

"The books are merely some random stuff that caught my interest. The potions... they're pretty much the same, they caught my interest."

I can't say: I'm going to try reverse engineering the potions, and possibly weaponize it.

"What, are you going to use all of them on yourself?"

She asked picking up one of the potions from my bag.

"No, I'm going to take it home and put them neatly on a shelf. For the viewing pleasure."

"I know you're a collector, but these things aren't rare."

"I only now realized I don't have any of them in my collection, so they're pretty important."

"If you say so."

She dropped the potion back in the bag, luckily nothing broke.

The next few days were quite peaceful, the troops were training day in and day out, some people challenged Uno time to time, and lost all the same. The Sorcerer never tried to fight the Golem again, but watched while Zejimal tried and lost every time. So the days went by quick, and on the night before the invasion, large carriages carrying goods came to the estate. They were filled with all kinds of scrolls and potions. The potions were distributed to everyone, except the mana recovery potions which were exclusively given to the Sorcerers that showed up for the fight that's to come. The scrolls, on the other hand, were exclusively given to the non-magic using warriors.

"Everyone get some rest, in 4 hours we'll be heading to the castle."

The Sorcerer let everyone know. There were no underground tunnels or anything that could allow for a sneak attack, so all they can do is ride the surface during the night, and attack in the break of dawn. It was a surprise attack and that’s the best chance they have.

♦♦♦

In the cafeteria, all the morning shift guards gathered for their dinner.

"This tastes odd. This really from Casby's shop?"

He said putting down the piece of fish he half bit into.

"Oh god, you're complaining again. Nothing's good for you. This is army life, hasn't it been a year since you joined."

"I ate at the Fish-Boat before, and I know it’s better."

"If you don't want it, then I'll have it."

"Fine, go ahead."

He pushed the plate away and towards his taste-challenged friend. So all he ate was the rice without the special and watched the others eating away at the fish, but he did notice a few that pushed it away as he did.

"Look even Gordo's not eating this garbage."

He pointed it out to his friend eating his portion of the fish.

"Do I look like I care?"

"Never mind, I think I'll go to bed early."

"Alright, later."

"Haa~"

As he walked away he felt like all these men, including his friend joined for no reason, they don't even care what they're fighting for. He joined the army when king Tinkula abolished slavery; He lived in this country all his life but never thought of the old king as anything good. After a year He doesn't know what to think anymore, all his thoughts felt half-finished and unsure. Everything he's been doing just didn't feel relevant to his goal, whatever that was, which even he can't explain. 

♦♦♦

Master is wise. Master is strong. Master is kind.

"You're not going to eat the fish Lami?"

Master told Lami not to eat the fish, master is wise.

"No, Lami likes vegetables more."

If Master says not to eat, a good slave obeys.

"If you're not going to eat it then I'm going to take your portion too."

That's why you'll be punished by Master, bad slaves get punished.

"Go ahead."

Lami will never betray Master, Master trusts Lami, that's why Master told Lami not to eat. Master is such a kind soul. Master is very strong, he'll kill that fake king, then you'll all be punished.

"Lami I'm going to bed, you need any help cleaning up?"

"No, Lami is fine by herself."

"Alright. You always work so hard."

"That's what a good slave does."

"You’re not a slave anymore!"

All Lami can do is smile at the foolish girl, of course, Lami is a salve. What else would she be?

"Lami knows."

"Sometimes I worry about you Lami."

This girl is a good hugger, she always hugs Lami, but she doesn't have to worry Master is very kind to Lami. She should worry about herself, Master shows his strength to bad slaves who don't listen. And Master is very strong.

"I decided I'm going to help. Let's clean all this up before the night shift ladies show up."

▼▼▼

"See Lami that was much faster right? You should ask for help more, don't hesitate, your sis is here to help you."

La-Lami's sister, Lami's sister died years ago. Sh-she died. Died. Died.

"You okay."

"Ah- Yes, Lami is fine. Lami jus-just remembered something, but it's okay now, Lami forgot."

"Am~ alright let's get some rest. Eh~ my stomach feels funny, maybe I shouldn't have had all that fish."

"The soldiers ate it too right?"

That's what Master wanted, Master is very wise.

"Eh~ I think so. I'm going to go... I have to run- Eh~"

She left in a hurry, Master's words are coming true?

"That's because you were a bad slave."

May Master show kindness to your lost soul.

♦♦♦

"You sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I already told Uno to listen to Danial, and I'll only be holding you guys back if I come."

There are a lot more carriages here than there were 4 hours ago. They're here to carry the troops, and of course Uno.

There are also coaches for the commanders if you can call them that; Danial, Zejimal, and a few others.

"Well if you say so. We'll send a coach when we've taken command."

Is she concerned for me, I guess I must have sounded a bit self-deprecating.

She got into the coach that had all the familiar faces, also Jerald. Ilmey's always acting like a big sister to him, when he showed up in a gaudy robe, she made him change to a darker outfit, fit for sneaking around. They're going to reach the castle in the break of dawn so I don't know if that'll be helpful.

I watched them leave and then helped the maid close the gate.

Other than a few maids there's no one else in the entire estate, even the gardener went off to fight. This is a great opportunity to sneak around.