Across from me was a young-looking girl who appeared to be in her teens, but was allegedly much older. She was a dwarf and the last time I had met her, she had been working as a Blacksmith trying to get her hands on some of the Orichalcum. Although she was a dwarf, there was nothing about her that screamed that she was a different species. Unlike the Esmere, who at least had some age in their features despite being small, giving them an appearance closer to halflings, the dwarves seemingly didn’t age at all, and other than just a tinge of baby fat on her cheeks, she looked completely like a young human woman.

Well, there was one other distinct thing about her. She was drunk, with her cheeks tinged red and her eyes looking just a bit unfocused. She had kicked in my door that was locked and then wondered into my tub. At this point, we were still in the tub, sitting across from each other. I was watching her, and it was anyones guess what was going through her mind.

She had become a slave under Lord Reign, although I suppose the reality was that it was under the Demon Lord Aberis. At first, I didn’t understand why the lord would go after the dwarf. I thought he had perhaps wanted her talents to himself, or perhaps it was pure coincidence. However, when she became the main prize of the gladiatorship, that blew those beliefs out the door. The only thing I could come up with at this point was that there was something about her that interfered with his plans. He wanted her gone, maybe not dead, but not able to focus on him.

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“Rubee-“

“Garnet.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Garnet.” She responded, smiling at nothing.

“I thought your name was Rubee.”

“It was Rubee… now it’s Garnet.”

“Um… what?”

“I changed my name when I was turned into a slave.”

“The lord changed your name as a slave?”

She shook her head, giving me a weird look. “I changed my name. Oh! I forgot you humans keep the same name your whole life, don’t you!”

I blinked. “Do dwarves not?”

“I don’t know, are you the same person now as you were five years ago?”

Five years ago, I was a fat awkward kid in high school. There was no way I was the same as him in any way. I shook my head.

“So, why do you give yourself the same name? Other species are so odd…” She shook her head, and then looked for a second like she made herself dizzy. “Dwarves change their names throughout their lives. Of course, there is the name our parents give us, but when we grow up, we choose a new name. Any time there is a major change to our lives, like a change of career, or… slavery… well, we change our name so that it reflects that era of our lives.”

“Era? Do dwarves live that long?”

“The oldest is over a thousand, or so I’m told.”

“So… Garnet then. You’re supposedly a prize in this competition. Would you change your name after your new Master takes over?”

“Why? My Master would change, but I would not.” She spoke this like it was the most obvious thing.

“I see.” I already could feel like this girl was difficult to talk to.