?So… First, I would like to thank you for saving my husband’s life.”

  Flora already heard the brief explanation Abram had given her. The woman before her had saved his reckless ass, helped him acquire more cores than he alone could get in five trips, and they even captured a criminal wanted by a noble family, an almost impossible feat, even if there were four more Abrams together. All in all, lady Valeria was the sole reason Flora didn’t become a widow the same year she’s gotten married.

  “It’s nothing much. Just like I told him, I needed a guide, as I am rather new to these parts.”

  “Is there any reason you are visiting the domain of the Hermann’s?”

  “I am searching for a lost child.”

  “Could you tell me more? After all, me and my Abram are quite familiar with this domain, and we do know a lot of people.”

  “Sure. His name is David. He is a twelve year old, but might look a bit older by your standards. Light brown hair, skin a bit darker than mine, green eyes, and some freckles. I bet he’ll try to change his clothes, so no point in describing those, but from what I remember, his shoes reach a bit past his ankles, are dark brown, with red shoelaces, and steel toe caps, though I suppose that wouldn’t be visible at first glance.”

  ‘Quite a detailed description. Except the – bit older – part, that is.’

  “I see. Well, I don’t visit market often, but when I do, I’ll ask around. But, I am curious. What do you mean ‘By Your standards’?”

  “At first, I thought your husband was fifteen at most. From what I could see, people in this country are not very big.”

  ‘In this country? No wonder I didn’t recognize the accent.’

  “Could you show me how tall he is?”

  The woman before Flora raised her hand.

  “About this tall.”

  Tall indeed. A twelve year old boy noticeably bigger than Flora herself would qualify as large. Then again, so did lady Valeria. Flora wasn’t sure if she ever saw a person as tall as that grey haired tower of a woman. She wouldn’t count trolls or ogres as people, not that she saw that many of them anyway.

  “Is everyone this gigantic in your home country?”

  “No, not really. But the average does indeed seem to be higher.” The old woman smiled in amusement.

  Flora was glad lady Valeria wasn’t forty years younger. The slight smile she had shown was enough for the younger woman to get a bit jealous. Back in her youth, that scar ridden face must’ve been strikingly beautiful. If this old lady introduced herself as lady Elaina from tales of the Qworan civil war, the one who was supposed to have caused the entire bloody conflict just by smiling at two princes, Flora might have just believed it.

  As long she didn’t look into her eyes, that is. Had they not been confined within smoky mists of age, the lingering sparks contained in those dullish gems would be sure to strike fear and awe in people’s hearts, but never frenzied love.

  “Are your people all as good looking as you are? It might be troublesome if that David makes a commotion.”

  Lady Valeria laughed out loud, only stopping once she started to cough violently.

  “It’s been a while since someone said something like that to me. Were you a man, I’d think you just like older women much more than usual. Answering your question, I like to think my looks were quite exceptional. That being said, David does have the makings of a handsome lad.”

  “Even If I had to take a break for health reasons, I am still a decay mage. If you could fool my eyes with just a thin layer of wrinkles and scar tissue, I might as well give up on repairing my core and die. Besides, aren’t there women who like other women? I could be smitten just as much as any guy, you know?”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Your attempts at teasing are a bit too thickly layered to work. And you have a wonderful husband, please don’t say things he might misunderstand.”

  “Oh? Wonderful husband, you say? Can you tell me what is it that you find wonderful about him?”

  It would be a lie to say that Flora wasn’t pleased with this assessment of Abram. Quite the contrary, she wanted to hear him praised.

  Older woman smiled.

  “Well, for starters, he definitely loves you. That one is the most important, obviously. Additionally, finding a man who’s willing to risk his life for his wife is getting harder and harder nowadays. Not to mention his massage skills. Having someone with those kind of skills might seem insignificant now, but it won’t in a few years, believe me.”

  ‘Massage? Did Abram give her one? When?’

  “Believe me, I do realize their importance. So much so, in fact, that Abram was supposed to stop giving massages to other women.”

  Flora knew she was being a bit unreasonable, ‘other woman’ being essentially a granny, but it couldn’t be helped.

  Lady Valeria shook her head.

  “Oh. Well, don’t be too angry with him. I’m honestly not sure if I could’ve gotten up in the morning if he didn’t help me in this way. Being eighty sure is a pain, and not just in the ass, but everywhere.”

  “Eighty? I thought you were sixty something!”

  “Honestly, I feel sixty something, after that massage, though we are talking about late sixties. Mind letting me borrow the kid couple more times? I’ll pay a fair amount, obviously. And promise to spare him any sexual harassment, since that’s what he complained about the most.”

  “Depends how much, and in what currency, I suppose. Would you happen to have necrotic cores?”

  “I had to spend a few days at the city centre in that place. Take a guess.”

  “Hm? But why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why would you venture that deep into a place filled with so much death? Normal people would die just from the sheer amount of necrotic mana, you know?”

  “Because that’s where David went. And it seems I suffer from Mana Interference Resistance. Though I can’t say it’s actually making me suffer, since it makes it so that necrotic mana can’t hurt me.”

  “Wait… Then how did the massage work? I know it should have some effect without mana, but not as much as you described.”

  “It would appear that the symptoms of my condition can be temporarily alleviated through drinking booze.”

  “That goes against everything I’ve ever read on the subject, but alright. That being said, do you think this David is still alive? Since he went to such a dangerous place and all that?”

  “I saw traces of him successfully escaping an Undead Wyvern. I don’t know how many monsters like that live around these parts, but I believe he should only get better at getting away from them. Honestly, I mainly worry about him getting hurt by other people.”

  “Is he a prodigious life or decay mage? Or does he have Mana Interference Resistance, just like you?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because there is no other way to survive undead wyvern’s poisonous breath.”

  “Most likely the latter. I don’t think he ever saw magic, much less used it.”

  “That’s a relief. Had he been a prodigy, a lot of people would want to abduct him for… various purposes. If he’s suffering from Mana Interference Resistance however, then even kidnapping him for the cute face wouldn’t be worth it, since obedience items don’t work on you people.”

  “What’s an obedience item?”

  “Wow. I don’t know where you lived until now, but I might want to move there. It’s a tool used for making sure a person who wears it can’t disobey an owner of the part of the set. The ‘slave’ part usually takes the form of a collar, while ‘masters’ are incredibly varied.”

  “That sounds like quite a nefarious little thing. Are they legal to own?”

  “No, not unless you are an owner of a criminal slave.”

  “Is criminal slavery common around here?”

  “About as common as crime? There is never too much workers, so heavy labor is perhaps the most common sentence there is. Severe crimes get you life deep in mines, where you are practically guaranteed to never see the light of day again, while light ones get you sentenced to a few months or years of cleaning floors, or digging holes. Honestly, I can’t say I disagree with use of obedience items on actual criminals.”

  “So these items are used on innocent people as well, I take it?”

  “Yes. The pattern is this. Criminals abduct some young lad or lass from some village in the sticks. It’s easy, because nobody bothers recording all the people living in some remote place, and the security is always lacking. Villagers search for a few days, come to the conclusion that the victim was eaten by monsters, and make an empty grave. When that happens, all the criminals need to do, is falsify the documents of their abductees so that it appears they were sentenced to slavery for some kind of crime.”

  Contrary to what her earlier ignorance implied, lady Valeria didn’t seem surprised, nor terrified.

  “So, the usual pattern, except made easier by the fact that legal slaves exist, and by use of something that makes the victims unable to call for help. Back where I’m from, human traffickers usually use drugs and threats, but can’t make their crimes appear legal, since there is no legal slavery. Instead, they bribe officials.”

  “I thought you were from some kind of land of sunshine and rainbows, since you didn’t even know what a slave collar was, but I guess all those scars weren’t inflicted by clouds made of candy, huh?”

  The older woman laughed.