Sharlan, Jolene, the new slave companion, and the puppy all exited the slave trader's quarters.

"Sharlan, why did you need the uniform to buy the slave? You could have simply gone here without having to deal with that guard, Jake."

"What do you mean? A fairy told me that I'd get ganged up on and killed if I showed people my tax exemption!"

"Wait, that's not tr…"

"Sharlan! Look out!" Who would interrupt such an important conversation other than the one who possibly has something to gain or lose from the results of it.

"Quinci?"

He he, now I'm surrounded by all girls! Hmm. I wonder if the puppy is female too. Ahh. What a weird thought! Gross. Why'd that even enter? Prolly too much influence from my country of origin. Speaking of which, why can't I remember anything from before I was isekaied. I don't remember my friends, relatives, or even anything from my daily life. The only thing I vaguely recall was getting my card back from someone. But for some reason it's all blurred. I wonder if they have magic in this world that could recover memories. I mean, they obviously have to. Maybe the healing rock could do the same. If I use the healing rock on myself, I would probably bring back lost neurons and thus restore my lost memories. I think I should give it a try.

"Wake up! Sharlan!" Quinci replicating the Joseph 2cage meme.

"Huh?"

"You looked super deep in thought. Are you okay?" Asked Jolene.

"Oh yes, of course. Here, take this and throw it at my face." Sharlan handed the rock over to Jolene.

"What? Why would I do that? You saved me, I couldn't possibly want to hurt you!"

"Don't worry, this rock will heal me after it makes contact and then I will have my memories returned to me."

"You're missing memories? And also, did you just say that this rock will heal you? Like in healing magic? I thought that was just a rumor."

"Yeah. I have healing magic. So I'm asking you to throw that rock at my face."

"I'm sorry. Is this some kind of mean prank? What if the rock doesn't heal you, and then you die, and I become a murderer? I don't want to do it! I'm sorry."

"What about being ready to see some scary things?"

"But this is different! How about we try it on some insects or something first!"

"I healed the queen with this rock."

"Wait, what? That was you? That means you're also the guy who was supposed to be hanged?"

"Yes, that's right. Does that make it easier for you now?"

"Well, I don't know. I didn't see it with my own eyes."

"Quinci, how about you? Oh wait. Sorry. Ahh" Quinci started pulling Sharlan's ear after his comment.

"What are you even attempting to do?" She asked, seemingly confused by Sharlan's thought processes.

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

"I was gonna use the rock to heal any neurons I might have lost that might have led to my memory loss."

"I think you should hold off on that. Like, we aren't sure of the capabilities of the rock."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what if you lose all the memories that you've made after you came here?"

"That's not that much. You guys can just reintroduce yourselves and tell me what happened."

"Plus, I don't think the queen had any memories returned to her after she was healed."

"But you don't know for sure. Now do you? What if I have it hit my head specifically?"

"There are two more important factors to consider though."

"Oh yeah? What are they?"

"First, what if the rock has a use limit? Wouldn't you be wasting an important resource for something that isn't necessarily needed at the moment?"

"Okay, that's fair. I didn't even consider that possibility. Good thinking. How about the other reason?"

"Didn't you tell me before, that you received your powers from someone? What if it reverts you back to before you had them?"

"That honestly seems pretty unlikely. But you're probably right about limitations for the rock's abilities. And based on the reactions of citizens, it seems that healing magic is hard to come by."

"It doesn't exist. At least not until you arrived with the rock." Said Jolene.

"Okay then. Let's get back to what we were talking about before. What'd you say about the uniform being unneeded?"

"Yeah, so I don't know where you got that from, but…"

"Hey! I think we have more important matters to discuss right now!”

“Oh right, why did you come back? I thought you went off with the others? And why do you seem to want to disrupt this conversation so much? Is it really lacking in importance or could it be that the notion of getting killed by the citizens due to tax exemption was a fabrication of the truth intended to increase my subordination under you?”

"Uhhh. Wait, what? I thought you didn't know!"

"Wait, for real?" Asked Sharlan, clearly astonished.

I'm confused. Is he actually as gullible as I thought he was, or is he just messing with my mind? Quinci was slightly on edge.

"So, were you aware or not? I'm confused now."

"No. I just figured it out right now. After listening to Jolene and seeing you try to prevent her from telling me."

"Well, I guess my cover is blown then. But just so you know, you're still indebted to me for saving your life. So, don't expect to leave just yet."

"So, you just lied to me?"

"Well, yeah, but for a good reason."

"Does that mean that there wasn't a tail or any ill will from the King?"

"No, there was not."

"Huh. Why do you keep tricking me, Quinci!"

Now that I think about it, the line that she said shortly after was probably a smokescreen to try and redirect my attention away from the lie that she set up. "And had you not received the tax exemption as your reward, I had plenty of things planned to keep you from running away. But I obviously won't tell you in case I do need to use them." In retrospect, this seemed pretty fishy. And there was plenty of evidence to back up her words considering the actual absurdity of the tax percentage. I obviously could not have marked off her words as nonsense. Having not been acquainted with the people of this nation, anything like that sounds relatively probable. Guess I should go return the uniform to Jake.

At the pub.

"Yo, Jake, here's your uniform back."

"Uhh. It's you again."

"Did you get your fill of booze?"

"Not yet. That uniform is worth a lot, so get over here and buy me another drink."

"Well, you're paying. I'm just removing the tax for you."

"Ugh. I feel so sick. Probably because I saw your face more than once today."

Transition.

On the way to the guild. Sharlan is lagging slightly behind. *Cough* admiring the view *Cough*.

I just got a brilliant idea. I might even go down in the history books as one of the greatest minds if I can pull this off.

"Hey, guys, wait up!" He yelled and started running to catch up.

Now, time for some magic. "Ecchi plot protagonist jutsu" Sharlan whispered while activating his Doors of Death upon the step most nearest to the group of girls. His body rotated nearly horizontally and he "tripped" and fell onto the slave girl's breasts.

"Kyaaa!"

"I'm sorry! The Doors of Death have opened involuntarily!"

A moment later.

"Okay, here's the deal. This is going to be our first quest together. So, I need to know all your capabilities to make the best game plan. Slave, I'll need you to be our tank since you're a beast person. Jolene, you'll be our designated mage, and I'll be a fighting Healer. Quinci, what can you…"

"Aren't you even going to ask for my name?" Asked the slave.

"Oh yeah. Do you have one?"

"Yes, in fact. I do. It's Lesli Medgær."

Hmm. She reminds me of someone.

"Wait. Don't only nobles have full names?"

"Well…"

"Well, that doesn't matter. We're all relying on you Lesli Medgær!"

"But wait! I can't fight!"

"Don't worry. This is a good opportunity to learn. We'll all be fighting together so don't be afraid to retreat and get help from one of us. Plus, using your powers as a beast person will be super effective compared to just being a normal human."

"Beast person?" Everyone looked at Sharlan inquisitively.

"What the matter?"

"I'm just an ordinary human." Said Lesli Medgær.

"What do you mean? You have the cat ears and a tail. Clearly, you're a beast person."

"Sharlan, did you not know?" Asked anyone from the group other than Sharlan. (It really doesn't matter)

"What?"

"Slaves have animal characteristic embellishments that serve to point out that they are lower than humans, aka, slaves."

"Wait, so these aren't real then?" Sharlan pulled on the ears and they popped right out.

Oh, her face looks exactly like one of the two girls I saw getting kidnapped when I spawned here. Wait a minute.

"Did you get kidnapped by bandits near Border Town Settlement 628?”

"Yes? H-how did you know?!”

Did she just pull a bird-plane assumption on me? I wonder if the bird is…uh nevermind.

“Uh, I have an ability called the Int Factor” It’d be too shameful to admit that I was too scared.

“Huh” the slave put on a pondering countenance.

Transition.

Uh. There seems to only be lame quests up right now. I wish there could be

a boss level monster.

"The Demon Lord has been resurrected!!!!" The Guild Master made the announcement.

Oh, speak of the Devil. Or the Demon Lord in this case. Finally, the plot begins!