“You go and guard them,” I said to Taneva.

He only pouted.

It was a new day, and the crew had a meeting about going out there. Yup, there were still a lot of them that were quite curious and looking forward to going into the city. They discussed it seriously, and I listened, of course.

I had no problem with what they were planning. However, we were quite concerned about who would keep them safe. First thought was Velar. But we would also be shopping today. What would we be shopping for? Supplies for the travels, of course.

Considering that we would be waiting for Suda, we might as well shop for what we need in the meantime. Taneva would not need it, but we normal humans definitely would. We needed cooking stuff, tents, sheets or sleeping bags, water pouches, some additional clothes if we could find good ones aside from the ones on this ship, and so on. Furthermore, we couldn’t just take all we need from this ship, the crew would need it later on.

Velar would be coming with me, and I imagined Hartwin as well. That was good for me, let the boys carry the heavy stuff. No, let them carry all the stuff! Hehehe.

“Estelia… are you driving me away?” he asked, looking all miserable.

“I need Velar with me. You’re too difficult to ask help from. We’re going shopping, you know.” And not to mention he almost started a fight because it was amusing. Best to avoid that while shopping to reduce headaches. “Besides, if you’re with them, we won’t have to worry about anything.”

He let out a sigh. “Fine…”

“Great. Keep them safe, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Body guarding, what an easy job.”

Immortals really take things easy, don’t they? I really had no idea how to kill them. Really, how embarrassing it was. Immortals were almost like my antithesis. I was having a bit of a crisis faced with something I could actually never kill. Sucks so bad.

He faced the crew. “Alright! Everyone who’s going out, prepare yourselves. I will be your humble guard and tour guide. You’ll be in safe hands.” He grinned.

Some time later, Taneva left the ship with his group. There were only several of them since too many would be too attention grabbing. The rest would need to wait for their turn, either later or tomorrow. But me and Velar would likely be back this afternoon, maybe he could take a group to the city while I stay here.

Furthermore, the Cursed Children as guards were not an option. I would rather they stay here on this ship.

“You have the funds?” I asked Velar.

“Yeah.”

I was referring to the money that we would spend on shopping. We should have plenty enough for everything we need. There was a lot of money here on this ship, so there was no need to worry about running out. As for me, I had money of my own! That’s right, I ain’t broke. The captain’s cabin had a lot of silver and gold. Motherfucker’s rich. So, given that he didn’t need it anymore, it was mine for the taking.

I grabbed the cloak I found and wore it. I tied the lace and ensured I was enclosed before drawing on the hood to cover my head. That’s right, I had two hoods, but of course I had the one for my combat outfit lowered. What am I, a weirdo?

Red riding hood Estelia going out again! Well, technically maroon, but still a shade of red…

I turned towards Hartwin. “You coming with or not?”

He chuckled with a cocky smile. “I thought you would never ask.”

“We’re not going inside any bar, just so you know.”

“Uuuuuh… T-That’s fine with me.”

“And no flirting with any woman that we may encounter.”

His face contorted. “I-I can definitely d-do that.”

“Good.”

With that, we left for the city. We saw some shops when we went around yesterday. We assumed it must be some shop district or something. It was a bit far, so we would be encountering some dangerous shit.

At any rate, we avoided all the trouble. There was some fighting on the street, so we had to reroute a bit. Wouldn’t want to get involved in anything.

“Useless swine!”

I turned towards that noise only to see some guy get beaten to the ground. He was messy and dirty all over, he curled as he received powerful kicks to the stomach.

“You can’t even do the simplest things! You know how pricey you were?!”

Wow, yeah, he must be the master of that slave. Slaves being treated fine, what a load of horseshit. Hey, it’s not like I felt any empathy or compassion for the slaves. I was just pointing out the lie told to me. Or perhaps it was the thing the people try to tell themselves? Likely. Basically, I was just calling people on their bullshit.

The three of us could only stare as we passed by. It was not our place to intervene. I wasn’t some paragon or heroic person that would begin lecturing people of what is righteous. Besides, it does not benefit me in any way to change the ways of this place. If it does, I might have done something, but nope.

Nothing is completely good in reality. People help for their own motives, and most of them for personal gains. Look good to the press, pretend you’re good so the public would see you in a good light. Posting and saying something righteous as if you’re a saint, but in truth you’re just trying to get attention and likes, all for fame and acknowledgement, present themselves like they’re superior. Every action taken has ulterior motives.

Okay maybe there are just outright saints. But that’s like one in a million.

When too many righteous people gather, yeah don’t take things at face value. For likely, what you perceive is only superficial.

‘Oh Estelia, you’re just being extremely pessimistic.’ I’m not.

Just saying you gotta watch out for those that lecture too much.

“What are you looking at?” The slave’s master glared at us.

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We disregarded him and continued on. A short while later, we encountered some vendors selling fruit. I stopped in my tracks to look at what was for sale. After having a look at the fruits for sale, I restrained a wince.

What the heck are these?

There were small fruits like grapes. But they were all wrinkly and darkly colored. They didn’t seem appetizing to eat. Although, I was a bit amazed that despite this place being called a dead land, plants still bear fruits. Well, I guessed there were still plants here, so it was expected for at least one to grow fruits.

Hartwin leaned in and scrutinized the wrinkly grape. “Is this edible?”

“Hah?! Of course it’s edible!” The vendor was clearly furious at the foolish question.

“Oh. In that case, I’m curious. I’m buying.”

I was curious as well. “Buy some for the two of us as well.” I referred to both me and Velar. My knight should, of course, have a taste of this fruit from the abyss.

Hartwin paid the vendor with a handful of bronze coins. Apparently, it was more expensive than how it would be back on the continent. I received multiple weird grapes. Looking at it up close, I hesitated for a moment.

Man, if I get sick from this…

Hey, you only live once — or rather for me, twice… or thrice…? I pushed the grape into my mouth. The moment I started chewing, my face contorted into a sour expression. That was because the fruit was indeed sour, too fucking sour. I lowered my head as I quickly tried to chew it, but it only made the flavor more intense. I just wanted to end it as fast as possible.

But despite the tough flavor, I managed to swallow it.

“Ugh…” Aside from the sour part, it was totally edible. If I keep eating more, I might get used to it.

“Oh wow, I d-didn’t expect that,” Hartwin said amidst the sourness in his mouth, his face contorting and voice strained.

“Yeah, but it’s alright.” Velar appeared to be handling it better than us.

“Hahahahaha! What’s this? You never had something so sour before? That’s hilarious.” The vendor merely laughed at us. “Now I’m sure you ain’t from around these lands.”

“This is what you eat all the time?” Hartwin asked, seemingly a bit repulsed.

“Yeah. You don’t get a lot of options. Unless you get the imported fruits. But those are hard to come by.”

Hartwin shook his head with pursed lips. “... And more expensive, I imagine.”

“Of course.”

And we have a lot of those on the ship. And we had no intention of even selling them. Too bad.

“There are a lot of fruits here, want to give them all a try?” Hartwin pointed at the other fruits.

There were cucumber looking monstrosities, apples, and melons. Like the grape before, they were all wrinkly and darkly colored. It didn’t spark any appetite in me at all, but rather only gave me some curiosity.

“I’m interested,” I said. “But we should hold off buying food until after we’re done shopping for our necessities.”

It would be annoying to carry food all around.

“Right.”

With that decided, we continued on into the market. But then I noticed some people gathering around an elevated wooden platform.

“Hang on.” I walked towards the platform, my companions followed close..

There were people standing on top of it. They were messy and their clothes couldn’t be called clothes at all, more like rags having been put on them. There were four of them. Two men and two women. The men were well built as they were stripped of their shirts to show their body. One was around late twenties, while the other seemed to be in his early twenties.

The two women looked attractive, setting aside how dirty they were. But I guess you have to be attractive to be displayed here. One woman was in her early twenties, tall and slender. The other looked quite young, in her mid teens likely.

All of them looked depressed, as they had their heads lowered.

“Alright everyone, gather up!” said one man climbing and standing on top of the platform wearing formal and decent clothing. “We have a fresh batch of slaves from the eastern island!”

Yup, this was a slave auction.

“Gather up if you’re interested in buying an aide!”

More and more people gathered, which I guess that some only wanted to watch like us.

“Alright, alright! Let me show you number one!” He enthusiastically pointed at the man in his late twenties. “This guy right here is foolish enough not to pay his debts! As you can see he has well formed muscles. I assure you, he can handle all the heavy work you can give him.”

He urged the man to flex his muscles. With hesitation, the slave did as he was told. True, he could definitely handle hard labor. Anything abusive though, well, everyone has their limits.

“But for any ladies out there that might be interested, I’m sure you won’t find him lacking underneath.” The man grinned with a nasty chuckle.

“Oh yeah? What’s his size?!” one female asked.

“Eight inches. And I’m sure you won’t be dissatisfied with the thickness.”

“Oooooh.” the ladies in the crowd breathed out their astonishments.

What the fuck they point that out? It’s like showing specs of a phone.

Never thought I would get to see women here intending to sexually take advantage of their slaves. But hey, not like it does not happen.

“Price starts at four silver!”

“Four silver!”

The auctioneer pointed at the man who shouted that price. “We got four!”

“Five!”

“Five silver from the lady!”

“Six silver!”

“Six from another beautiful lady, quite an energetic bunch we have right now, eh? Anyone else?” He looked around the crowd, waiting for one to offer a higher price. “Going once. Going twice… Sold to the beautiful lady!”

A henchman brought down the slave from the platform.

“Have fun.” The auctioneer waved at the paying customer before facing the crowd again and approaching the next slave.

The next slave was the young woman in her mid teens. She looked miserable, slightly trembling on the stage, and avoiding eye contact with anyone.

“For the next one is this pretty young lady. To be honest, where she came from is unclear to us. But I’m glad to have her in hand. A young fruit, petite, slender.” The auctioneer moved behind the girl and grasped the side of her body, pressing his hands into her waist.

The girl flinched. The auctioneer slowly raised his hands until he reached her breasts, it would seem the purpose was to show her figure. The girl closed her eyes in fear, moist at the corner of her eyes.

“And a face so pretty and cute.” The auctioneer placed his hands on her cheeks for a moment before letting go.

“One of our finest. And you know what they say, the younger, the better!”

“Is she a virgin?!” a man in the crowd asked.

The auctioneer shook his head. “Unfortunately, the fruit has been bitten. But despite that, the fruit is still quite flavorful. Thus, the price starts at five silver coins!”

“Five silvers!”

“Five silvers from the gentleman at the back.”

“Five silver and fifty coppers!”

“Five and a half silver from the man at the front! Anyone else?”

Damn. That sucks. At that point, many would have given up on life.

“This is disgusting…” Velar muttered.

“Yeah. So cruel…” Hartwin shook his head.

“I never imagined I would get to see a society like this,” Velar added. “Something like this is just too repulsive and terrible.”

“Can’t we do anything to save them…?”

I directed a sharp look at Hartwin. “Don’t even think about doing anything.”

“But…”

“This is normal in their society. Our values and ways do not align. Do not try to change something when it does not want to change.”

“How pitiful.”

“We do nothing because there is nothing we can do.”

“Can’t we save these ones?”

“If we save one, then why shouldn’t we help the next? That way, it would be fair. Then what about we save the next one after that? Not doing so would be unfair.”

“... I…”

“We can’t save everyone, Hartwin, Velar.”

Hartwin lowered his head. “... It’s hard just watching like this.”

“Indeed.” Velar let out an exasperated sigh.

“Terrible as it is, the most we can do is pray that their life would turn out for the better somehow, and someday.”

“That will need a miracle,” Hartwin said in a low voice.

“Then pray for a miracle.”

“How ironic, asking for a miracle when a goddess is beside us.”

“I am not a full-fledged goddess yet. Nor would I be a wish granter. At the moment, I am still human, like you. And humans have risks to consider, and limits to acknowledge.”

“... I guess you’re right.”

“Eight silver coins!” one man shouted.

“Eight silver coins to the fancy-looking man! Anyone willing to up the bid?” The auctioneer looked around. “Going once. Going twice?” He waited for a moment, but it would seem no one else was willing to throw more money. “Sold! I’m sure you’ll have a delightful night later on, good sir.”

The slave girl glanced at the person she was sold to. And as she was moved out of the platform, tears began welling up in her eyes.

“We’re going,” I said.

Without looking back, we continued on. We encountered plenty of hardware for sale on the street. And of course we were looking for those that had the best prices, so we ended up walking around for the meantime. But then I noticed a particular building.

“A weapons store?” Seemed like it. “Hey guys, would you mind if we stop there for the moment? I’d like to check out their weapons.”

Velar nodded. “Certainly. I’ve been wanting to buy a proper sword for myself.”

“I’m fine with my sword, so I don’t think I’ll be buying one. But sure, let's go in,” Hartwin said.

Well, I had some empty weapon slots I needed to fill.