Slavery is a plague the central kingdoms try to avoid like... the plague. Getting cheap labor is always good, but the amount of grief, death and destruction slave harvest causes greatly offsets the benefits in the long run. That only the slavers have control over the slave collars and it is never in control of the realm is another strong point against allowing slavery. If a master orders a slave to kill the King, either slave or ruler will be dead by the end of the day. Not a chance I am willing to take.
Excerpt from King Helios of Yutis' journal.
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"Aidan, what happened to you?" There was no way Aidan's bloody outburst wouldn't be noticed by Sora.
"Later. But I think my guest is waking up." He tapped his chest. "And she is not happy."
"Weren't you merging or something like that? Here, clean yourself."
She handed him a damp rag. Aidan heated it and cleaned his face while he talked.
"She is resisting. We need to go back to Yutis. I need my spellbooks and maybe the headmaster's help. He is my father's friend, an archmage, and his element is Life. Maybe he can do something."
"Are you sure bringing Pearl with us is a good idea?"
"For us? A terrible idea. She will slow us and bring a slew of problems with her. But if we leave her behind it will be the end for her. I don't want that."
"You like Pearl, don't you?" Sora asked in a hushed voice.
"What? Where did that come from?"
"You are so adamant in helping her, and you had some skinship going on..."
"Sora," Aidan asked with his best serious voice and face.
"What?" Sora answered, very annoyed. Her reaction was to go on the defensive.
"That was a moment of weakness that will never repeat itself. I bet Pearl will not assault Lumina again too."
"Did you hate it?" Sora was almost pouting, but her voice softened.
"No comments." It would've been better delivered if the boy could avoid blushing. It was almost a lie anyway.
"Did you make Pearl cum?"
Sora's face meant she wouldn't even ask the other question, given the state of his male body after the bath.
"By the gods, Sora! Stop meddling in the princess' sex life."
The squirrel-kin opened a wide mischievous grin. "So you classify it as sex. Naughty Dawn." She teased, whispering in the boy's ears.
"What are we doing when we return to town?" He changed the subject instantly.
"How about business as usual because nobody has a clue of what happened in the cavern?"
"Might work, but we don't know where Kazuya went after leaving here."
"I'm sorry I lost his trail. He should be using some high-ranked movement skill."
"Not your fault. If I had to guess he has the power to instantaneously jump from shadow to shadow in a medium distance."
"How do you know?"
"I don't. But he is an otherworlder summoned hero. I just need to think of the most unreasonable thing they could do and there is a good chance I'm right."
"Huh. Is that kind of ability a difficult spell to create?"
"You have no idea. First thing is the teleportation effect. It is hard beyond measure to teleport a caster. Second, comes the instant effect, it means the circle needed to be pre-loaded but their 'skills' work like that, and the targeting..."
Sora smiled and listened to the lecture about spellcraft theory she had no understanding of. But she was delighted to see Aidan alive, healthy, and talking. Moving around. Being Aidan. She spent the last fifteen months staring at a sleeping whithering Aidan. Listening to him drone about magic theory with that passion he had on the subject was captivating for her. His lips moving as he talked with perfect pronunciation. His eyes shining with a passion for his research, gazing somewhere unreachable for her.
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She offered a silent prayer in gratitude for his recovery so far.
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They decided to keep pearl and the maids behind defended by Skippy, and have only Dawn, Sora, and Aidan scout ahead in town. If Kazuya went there, they might be suspicious and drag Pearl into a series of 'worried' interviews or even try to 'protect' her by restraining the princess to the inn. At the gate, the guards recognized Lumina and even offered to escort her. She only had to do two stops on her way to the inn they were using as a base.
"They stayed behind in the dungeon, killing kobolds left and right. I expect them to come back with a clean dungeon by the end of the week." Is what she told to both the guard and the guild.
Nobody else bothered them until they reached the guild. But it was a matter of time to someone from the town administration to arrive seeking news of the expedition.
"We are running against time now." Once they reached the inn, Dawn sent everyone on their errands. Fetch more supplies, clean clothes, blankets they don't have anymore, etc.
And Dawn went looking for Cythrel while Sora and Aidan were packing and giving orders around on behalf of Princess Pearl. She found the elf girl in her room, and she was distraught.
"Cythrel, what happened?"
She jumped at the bigger girl and dove in her chest, crying.
"I am sorry, your Highness, I was unable to stop him." Dawn froze. If by 'him' she meant...
"Kazuya." The elf nodded. "Cythrel, tell me what he did?"
"He invaded your chambers and rummaged through all your luggage. He took some sheets of paper and the collar with him."
"Your..." Dawn corrected herself to avoid hurting Cythrel. "The collar we took out of your neck. Is that the one?"
"Yes, your Highness. I tried to stop him but he was so rude and angry. He threatened to hit me."
"You did fine, Cythrel. You are not a guard."
Dawn felt a familiar tug in his male half's inner self.
'Leave the place at once. Otherworlders are too prone to making shallow convenient explanations and accuse those they dislike. We are in danger.'
Lumina once again, speaking in concepts and ideas rather than proper words. The pressure this time only burst some blood vessels in Aidan's nose.
"Cythrel, we are leaving. Get your things quickly while I check what he took."
The elf nodded and jumped away to gather her meager possessions. Probably only a few clothes gifted by Pearl. Dawn went to her own things in a wardrobe and checked what Kazuya took. The collar and the unfinished diagram for the soul exchange spell.
Angry, Dawn punched the wardrobe door, bruising her knuckles. That incomplete diagram meant a lot for them. Without it, it was almost impossible to revert the spell that bound Lumina's soul and worse yet, they could use that as 'proof' that Aidan was doing forbidden magic. And the slave collar in their belongings could be interpreted in so many wrong ways it made a knot in Aidan's mind.
Lumina was right. They had to get out of there. Dawn focused back on his male body carrying bags and backpacks to the inn's lobby.
"Sora, I'm bringing Cythrel down with me and we are going to leave. Things took a turn for worse."
Sora and Aidan were dodging questions from 'helpful' servants left and right. Some of them saw Kazuya, all of them demanded them to reveal where Pearl was. It was only because of Lumina's status they didn't apprehend the two right there.
Dawn came downstairs with the elf girl in tow, two backpacks slung on her slender shoulders. Even with all the strength and stamina training, Aidan was doing in the princess' body, it was hard to undo years of inactivity in just a couple of months. They balanced several bags on Aidan and left. Sora was the lightest one of them, with only one backpack.
They reached the gate, and the number of guards doubled. Worse yet, there was a city official in flamboyant clothes with them.
"Princess Lumina, what delightful pleasure to be in your presence. Your beauty brightens my day." He approached greeting Dawn with a flourished and well-practiced bow.
'Another roadblock. Annoying meddlesome people,' thought Aidan.
"Out of my way. I have no time to spare."
"Your Highness, why carry these heavy bags? Let me lend you one or two guards to help you. A princess shouldn't..."
"Mister, I am in an adventure on the field. I want to carry my own weight. And don't force me to explain myself. Step out of the way or I'm having you arrested. Guards!"
Dawn's impression of Lumina was only getting better and better. Her tone of voice, her body language, the haughtiness, and annoyance was almost like the real thing. The guards reacted on programmed instinct and some of them took a step forward to stop the official.
Royals were the pinnacle of the social food chain and they strived to remain there. In a dispute of a royal against a commoner, other royals would never openly take the commoner's side. For this man, it meant Pearl would support Lumina's decisions even if the foreign princess had no authority in town.
For the guards, disobeying Lumina was only a little worse than disobeying the King himself. Of course, word of what happened would reach the other royals, doing this in the open was not without consequences. Whatever the cost this stunt would have later for that princess in the royal's own game of crowns and thrones was not their concerns. They were screwed either way. But even more immediately screwed if they disobeyed. The repercussions could affect their families.
"Yes, your Highness! Your orders?" One of the guards, probably the leader shouted.
"Make way for me and my party, make sure nobody follows us and remove this man from my sight. This commotion is making Pearl wait. She dislikes waiting." Dropping the other princess' name was a good move. It reminded them to not meddle in games above their pay grade.
"Make way for Princess Lumina of Yutis!" The lead guard shouted. It was done to both issue the order and also state who was to blame for anything.
They left town. Aidan commanded Skippy to fly in the town's direction and harass any pursuers. Without something nearby to compare sizes, Skippy could be mistaken for a larger dragon by people on the ground.
Shooting dragons out of the sky was also among the myriad things beyond a town guard's pay grade.