“You wish to buy Lydia?” The man said with a sneer. “Like some peasant like you could afford her.”

“There’s a rule, right?” I asked the Guild Master, “If I can pay the fee, he must free her, right?”

The Guild Master nodded and crossed his arms. “That is true.”

I nodded, “I’ll pay off her debts. How much is she worth?”

I hated saying words like that. Lydia was worth everything to me, but I had to set her to some arbitrary value here. I didn’t like treating her like an object, but it was the only way to save a slave.

The noble crossed his arms smugly. “fifty gold coins.”

I let out a cough. All I had was a bit over a gold coin.

“You bastard…” The Guild Master snarled. “He asked you the amount of the reward. That’s ten times the amount he even put in himself.”

“You said it’d be at the value the slave was worth? As I understand it, Lydia was purchased from a discounted bin because she failed to be a proper courtesan?”

The man that he had called a slaver seemed to be listening to all this with interest. He made me a bit uncomfortable, but I had to focus on Lydia at the moment. Only the Guild Master knew what he was doing in Chalm, but given the residents of Chalm’s demeanor, he didn’t seem welcome.

“She told you that?” Tibult shot Lydia an angry look, and she wilted under his gaze. “That’s clearly because this slave is a known liar. Lydia, tell him you’re a liar.”

Lydia stepped forward, a stubborn and anguished look on her face. “I… I…”

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“Go on, say it!” He raised his hand, and the Guild Master tensed for a moment.

“I lied… to-to you… about everything…” She said, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. “Just… forget about me…”

I stared at her pained expression, and my body tensed even more. I remembered the time we had spent in the dungeon. None of that could possibly be a lie. That night we spent together was no lie!

“You’re giving me the reward, right?” I asked the Guild Master. “In that case, I’ll pay it.”

Tibult blinked. “Ah…”

The Guild Master grimaced. “My boy…”

I turned to look at him. “I’m just asking for my due. What I choose to spend it on is my own business.”

The Guild Master had an awkward expression on his face. “I’d normally agree. However, we sent the reward money to the capital to try to bait a dungeon diver. We had to scrounge up every last bit of money the city had to pay for this, especially after paying the rewards to all the adventurers for that last battle. It’ll take a few days to recall the amount so that we can provide it to you.”

“Then, in a few days, I’ll…”

“Oh… sorry there…” The noble’s malicious grin returned. “I’ll be leaving town immediately. Won’t be able to stick around.”

“You… why?”

“Don’t worry, Guild Master, you can have my five-gold reward. This… somehow… feels much more satisfying.”

“You can’t do this…” I took a step forward.

“Do you dare tell a noble what he can and cannot do?” The man asked, his voice twisting angrily.

The surviving slave bodyguard stepped between us. Even if I could fight Tibult, the other man was pretty strong. I couldn’t forget that he had managed to fight down to the 5th floor while protecting a noble and a weak slave. I wasn’t confident I could defeat him.

“That…” I shot the Guild Master a look.

He gave a guilty expression and shook his head. “I’m sorry, my boy, there is nothing we can do here. You need to have the money to pay the amount due, and you have to be near the person to pay it.”

“No worries.” Lord Tibult chuckled. “I’m returning to the capital. Once you have the money, you can just come to the capital. I’ll happily sell her to you then.”

Lord Tibult let out a malicious laugh. It gave me the impression his words weren’t true. I didn’t know what he had planned, but I had the feeling I’d never be able to buy Lydia from him. He turned around and started walking away. Lydia looked at me with tears in her eyes, the hope that had been there a moment before being quickly snuffed out.

“Come, you useless slave!” The noble barked.

Lydia turned around and followed with her head down. Within a few moments, I was all alone in this world once again.