“I’m surprised, I thought that you would go with Maria again” Luna said “Well I guess maybe it’s a good thing this way” Luna racked a laugh.

Confused by what he just heard, Kyle said “What do you mean by that ?”.

“Well the last time we ‘split up’, you two went on your merry way and hatched a murrder plan together. The three of us were afraid that from now on that is how it's gonna be, you two go off to the sunset and come back with blood on your mind” Luna laughed Kyle cracked a smile.

“But real talk, where are we going now ?” Luna asked. “I’m thinking we could head inside some tarvens, we could likely catch some rumour or some tales from adventurers passing by like us” Kyle replied.

“Sounds like you just want to have a drink and lay off” Luna smiled at Kyle. “Well I can’t do all of the work all of the time” Kyle replied with a smile.

The two head to the tarven, not knowing that there was no rest for the wicked.

“So where are we heading ?” Maria said. “I'm thinking we should head to the market, that is where a variety of people will gather, merchants, adventurers, labourers or citizens. That is where we most likely gather some intel” Liam replied.

“Well then it’s settled then, let’s go to the market. Oh and Maria, we are just gathering some intel, not a plan yet ok ?” Allan said jokingly.

“Oh ha ha, very funny guy,” Maria smiled. They walked to the marketplace and received a familiar view. A business and diverse market, filled with people and goods on display. From normal everyday products to rare material and weaponry. It’s like they stepped back into the real world where they were in a festival market or something. The roads were layered with bricks and stone, making them much cleaner and more modernized. The smell of exotic and delicious food caught their sense with every breath they took. But not everything here was beautiful, “Slaves ?” Maria spoke. In front of them, they saw a group of men, women and childrens are being sold and put into forced labour.

“A religion that is all about peace and healing but still allows slaves to be bought and sold in plain sight. How odd ?” Allan said.

“Ok, get those ideas right out of your head right now, if you think we are going to do something about this” Liam said “This is much bigger than just a guide abusing its power ok, this is changing the ideal of an entire country and most likely all the world. We have to accept it as it is, at least for now”.

Those it pained them to let it go, they can’t do anything but watch as the slave was sold to various buyers. After the transaction was finished, each slave would get marked and get a burnt scar as a simple of where they are heading to. The women and young girls, as they found out, were mostly sold to brothels inside the city or from nearby towns and cities, whereas the men and boys were going to be used for hard labor.

“Can we leave, I don’t think I can take it anymore” Maria said as the line of chained men and women being forced and branded were still going on as she spoke.

“No, we need to gather some intel first, we can’t leave empty handed.” Liam spoke.

Fought through the anger and tears that were just trying to escape from her eyes, Maria agreed. They pushed through and tried to do what they were there for. The first thing they found out from asking around was that those people who were being sold as slaves were most likely prisoners of wars, minorities tribes from around the Kingdom and direct children of the slaves themselves. In this world slavery was still legal, in the matter of fact, back in Casablanca there were slaves too, it was just that they did not noticed. The Blackburns were a nice and good family so when they bought the slaves, they did not brand them and let them do honest work around the mansion or for the guide like maids or farm workers. In this religion, it was just not ok to kill your own kind, they did not say anything about slavery or even a good representation of what was ‘your own kind’. However, owning a slave was not cheap so that's why in Casablanca and Débutant town, there weren't many slaves to be seen. The second thing they found out was that the people here trusted the Temple so much that they would come to them for anything, from injuries, wounds or disease, rather than going to any doctors or medical herbs, that was why in the marketplace, there was almost no medical related material to be found. But as they soon found out, the Temple could not always perform miracles.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Ah the smell of alcohol, never have I wanted a simple cup of sake this much” Luna said.

“Well, I can’t guarantee you such a specific order like that here, but cheap beer is on me, how about that?” Kyle replied. “ Well of course it’s on you, you hold half of the money of the team remember ?” Luna smiled and said.

Sitting down at a table , the two ordered a couple of beers and listened in the crowded tarven. They heard many stories but did not seem to catch their interest, mostly just tall tales or just friends talking to each other. Kyle and Luna ended up just chatting with each other for a while.

“So how long has it been huh, 3 weeks or 4, so many things have changed. Somehow this has become the new norm for me now, isn’t that crazy ?” Luna said.

“I don’t remember how long it has been either, and yes, you all have changed so much, I could hardly believe it.” Kyle replied.

“Allan really took a big step forward, don’t you think?” Luna said. “You mean stepping up to me ?” Kyle smirked.

“Well yes and no, he did stepped up to you but it was more like stepping up for what he believe” Luna said “I’m just hope what happened with Rose doesn’t mess with his head”

“I have a feeling that he is going to be fine, stronger now even” Kyle said. “How about we change the subject shall we? What's about you, I have got a chance to talk to everybody else one on one before but not you.”

“What do you want to talk about ?” Luna replied. “Are you ok? No matter how we might say it otherwise, we have just killed hundreds of men intentionally, does it not have any weight on you at all ?” Kyle asked, his eyes were now much more warm and caring, a very different look on his face, the look that Luna had only seen once before.

“I don’t know Kyle, I felt both fine and not fine at the same time” Luna said.

“What do you mean ?” Kyle asked. “When we killed those men in order to save Rose and her family, I felt nothing, even when I shot my arrows and killed them by my own hand, I felt nothing, no remorse, no hesitation, no mercy. But that is what scares me, that I feel fine doing so, it makes me feel uneasy that I feel so calm now.”

“It's normal you know, to feel that way” Kyle replied “ When someone goes through such a traumatic experience, that person will change forever. Not to mention such an experience like that we have been through. We need to adapt to survive, to live, it might be better for us not to have unnecessary feelings like those.”

“Do you ever feel afraid, Kyle ? Have you ever thought that without those emotions, we might lose what's important to us the most, our humanity, our memories” Luna said.

“Do you want to know the truth, Luna ? I’m always afraid.” Kyle answered

“You, afraid, ha , that is something I would like to see someday. You are always so calm and cool headed, it always makes us wonder what you would actually be like if we met you in our world”. Luna said.

“Well, when we get out of here, I will make sure to make you guys visit my home country.” Kyle smiled “Oh and Luna, don’t ever worry about losing your humanity in this world, from what you and Allan have shown me, our team will always have a reliable moral compass.”

“How can you be so sure that me and Allan won’t be affected by this world?” Luna said.

“Your eyes, it’s not just pure like it was from when I first met you. Now I can see the fire and hardship in yours as well, people with those eyes, with those emotions won't be swayed easily” Kyle replied.

“So you really can read people's minds through their eyes huh, just like what you told Geralt?” Luna said “That some cool trick, maybe you could teach me that too some days”

“Do you have someone in mind already ?” Kyle asked. “Who is this ?”

“Didn’t you say you could read my mind, look into my eyes and tell me the answer” Luna spoke. And Kyle did exactly that, he looked deep into Luna's beautiful ruby red eyes, but he was not a mind reader for real but he did catch something.

“I see, you have some nice trick of your own Luna” Kyle smiled back at Luna. She did say the answer was in her eyes and when he looked at it, all he could see was his reflection in her eyes, and that was her answer.

“Ha ha, thank you, a little too cringe but I just couldn’t help myself. But it’s not very often that we can just have a nice normal talk like this, I just want to enjoy myself with some laughs. I can not believe you actually follow through though.” Luna laughed.

“I’m truly impressed. It has been awhile since I can have normal and fun conversations like this. It’s almost as if we were still in our world and this is just some kind of ghetto style coffee shop” Kyle replied.

“Well if that is truly what is going on then this place sucks. Because this is the worst beer I have ever tasted and for a coffee shop that spent so much on their decor I expected better” Luna spoke and laughed. “I know right,” Kyle replied. They continued their conversation with smiles and laughter until something caught both of their attention.