Oh, so that’s why he was missing for a few days! I didn’t realize that fairy was ‘the new guest’ they were talking about. I’ve only learned about her when she came to see me. We gathered as usual, thinking that Ira will be missing once again, but he walked in with that fairy sitting on his shoulder.

“Look at my new parrot!” He said with a self-satisfied grin.

“Hello, mortals!” The fairy was in a merry mood, and her high-pitched voice was quite loud for such a small creature, “Bow before the mighty, magical creature!”

The demons smiled, the same way you would smile at a mischievous child. Mun-Hee was the only exception, rubbing the temple of her head while rolling her eyes.

“She really is like he said,” she grumbled.

“Come here! Let me shake your fingers!”

The demons obliged, still smiling. They stood up and introduced themselves to the fairy one by one. Humans have a habit of greeting each other by grabbing their hands so, since that wasn’t an option, the fairy grabbed their index fingers instead.

I was the last to greet her, to which she just said: “A timkik, huh?” I bowed my head respectfully, and stepped aside.

“I’m Liri! Nice to meet you! It’s funny how similar all of you are!”

“Liri. That’s a pretty name,” Jens said.

“Ho, ho, of course it is! But don’t think flattery will get you anywhere!”

She blinked quickly a few times, showing off her long, white eyelashes.

“Liri is curious about the humans,” Eric started, “so she flyed here to see us for herself. She is a fairy, and her people are very similar to our myths, with one noticeable difference being that their wings buzz a lot when used.”

“She is buzzing like a big-ass mosquito,” Ira said.

“My ass isn’t big!” Liri pouted, “My tits are, but not my ass! I fly a lot so I get plenty of exercise, you know!”

“That is just a figure of speech,” Eric explained.

“Why is your tongue so sexual? Your casual phrases are like: big-ass, fucking huge, tits-up! It’s as if you’re obsessed with …”

“If you spend time with Ira, that is what you get,” Mun-Hee interrupted her, “He is not very smart and have filthy tongue. Not all of us talk like that.”

“Oh, you must be small-eyed Mon-Kee he was talking about.”

“It is Mun-Hee. I already introduced myself.”

“Ira, that is not right,” Eric protested, putting on a serious face.

“It is just a joke.”

Eric leaned in towards Liri: “Ira is not serious. He speaks false constantly, thinks it is funny. Please, do not take everything he says seriously.”

“I know! And that’s why I like him! He’s the only one treating me like an actual person here. The rest of you are treating me as if I’m some stupid kid! I know that everyone thinks fairies are cute because we’re small, but after a few centuries it gets tiresome.”

“Just do not think Ira is a reliable information source. If you need true knowledge, please, talk with me.”

“You’re so boooring!” Liri dismissed him with a wave of hand, turning her head in the opposite direction, “Anyway, Ira said you’re doing something interesting here!”

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“Yes,” Ira confirmed, “We are trying to turn a slave in to a lady.”

“You’re doing what?” Liri’s wings rose up in surprise.

“I telled you we are doing an interesting thing.”

“Who’s the slave then?”

Ira pointed his finger at me.

“She looks more like a noble than a slave to me! In fact, she looks far more noble than the rest of you combined.”

“I served nobles before, so I am familiar with their etiquette,” I responded.

“How did you get here?”

“I was given to the … to humans as a gift.”

“Lucky you! I bet you’d rather be here then serve some fat-ass, timkik noble.”

“Lady Liri, please do not use the words Ira is teaching you. He is a bad influence,” Eric protested.

“Who is your master?” Liri ignored him.

“It is master Jens.”

“Point at him.”

So I did.

“The big hunk?”

I nodded affirmatively.

“Ho, ho! You’re a lucky girl indeed!”

“Not forget Jens, Liri is my parrot!” Ira said it half-jokingly, but there was a hint of seriousness in it.

“Are you jealous?” Liri asked him, grinning in his face.

“Of course I am!”

“Just look at him! How can you compete? He is bigger, stronger, and handsome! I bet he’s smarter too!”

“I would not be jealous otherwise!”

“There, there,” she patted his ear, “all of that being said, I bet he’s nowhere near as honest or funny as you are. The people here are way too polite and predictable, just like everywhere else. But still … what are you guys thinking, trying to make a lady out of a slave?”

“We want to prove to timkiks that slaves, commoners and nobles are not so different.”

“And why is that?”

“Because that is how it is.”

“I don’t really think so. Only the nobles are blessed properly.”

“Is there … a scholarly way to prove it?” Booker asked.

“Well, of course! You can see it in their mana!”

The demons looked at each other, looking rather uncertain.

“When you say mana, do you mean magic?” Eric asked.

“Yes, of course! Magical creatures like me can easily discern nobles from the commoners.”

“You have … you can sense it?”

“We are mana in physical form!”

“That’s … interesting … I will like to hear more about that later.”

“Are you saying there is a difference in how nobles and commoners are … built?” Booker asked.

“Of course there is! For example, this timkik girl here is clearly a noble! You don’t even have to sense it! It’s obvious just from looking at her!”

“What do you mean?”

“Commoners aren’t nearly as splendorous as she is!”

“But she’s a slave.”

“So what?”

“How can a slave also be a noble?”

“Just like everyone else! People are often sold into slavery to pay for their family’s debts! Yes, that changes their social status, but it doesn’t change what they are!”

“Nobles can become slaves?” The demons eyed each other in disbelief, as if someone told them that Yesis is good.

“You people can understand some extremely complicated things, and yet are constantly struggling with the basics. Hello!” Liri shook her hand next to her face, “When you can’t pay your debts, it’s only natural to sell one of your children into slavery.”

“How is it natural?” I don’t know why, but it looked as if Jens was getting angry for some reason. He stared at Liri intensely, even though she was only speaking common sense.

“Children are parent’s property, they can do with them as they like. They gave them life, home, are constantly providing for them and are investing in their future. Sometimes that’s too much, so parents sell one or two of their children in order to provide for the rest.”

“Sell in to slaves?”

“Where else?”

Jens gave me a shy look. Somehow, there was both anger and pity in his eyes.

“Is there a difference with noble and commoner slaves?” Eric asked.

“Not really. It all depends on who they’re sold to. Although, nobles have connections, so it’s much easier for them to find a good master. It’s a common thing for nobles to sell their children to other noble families they have good relations with. It’s considered extremely shameful, but sometimes there’s simply no other option. Consider it as taking a loan, with your child as collateral. However, once bought, a slave is no longer his or her parent’s property. Meaning that the master can sell a slave to someone else, which usually happens when a noble family fails to pay the loan back on time.”

“You know a lot for someone living in a forest.”

“I enjoy being among the mortals, so I visit them often.”

“Can fairies be slaves?”

“I … I guess we can, but I’ve never seen one. We have no reason to sell one of us and mortals are too scared to kidnap us. They fear that harming a lucky buzzer would curse them.”

“Would it?”

“I don’t know,” Liri shrugged with her eyes closed.

“You sayed kidnapping,” Jens pointed out.

“Yes, I did. What of it?”

“Is that how some people become slaves?”

“Sure. That’s why nobles always go in crowds with a lot of escort. They fetch a much higher price than the commoners. Kidnapping a commoner is rarely worth the effort, unless they are highly skilled in something, but nobles are a different thing.”

“Is that not unlegal?”

“Illegal? Of course it is! But that hardly discourages criminals. If you get a noble, you take them out of the city as soon as possible, and into some other nation. Preferably a nation that’s at war with theirs. That way you can present them as loot.”

“We can talk about that later,” Eric said, “We gathered here to talk about happy things. And that is why I have this with me.”

He put the big, square-shaped thing he brought with him that day on his lap, and opened it.