“As expected, there are slaves everywhere.”
After leaving the Magician’s Association, Fia and Claire headed straight for the commercial district of Aurora City.
Unlike the usual neighborhoods where street vendors hawked their wares everywhere, the commercial district’s streets were especially clean.
Every merchant not only had their own storefront, but also hired staff to attract customers at the door.
Because of this, the streets were much wider than before, and the lighting was better too.
But since this was a crowded area, there were also a lot more beggars and slaves.
It wasn’t quite to the point where you’d see one every few steps, but as long as you looked around, you’d always spot them somewhere in your field of vision.
Some of them, as soon as they saw Fia walk by, would look at her hopefully, wanting to beg for charity.
But the moment their eyes landed on Claire beside Fia, they’d immediately give up on the idea and shrink back in fear.
Fia, with her white-caped twin tails, frowned as her gaze lingered on the slaves lying by the roadside.
“This is supposed to be a theocratic nation that preaches human unity, but they still have human slaves.”
“There are slaves in every country, you know? Besides those born as slaves because their parents were slaves, most of the rest are criminals.
Well, that’s what they say, but honestly, it’s more about the laws being too strict.”
Claire gave a troubled smile as she explained.
“For example, if you can’t pay the entry tax, you get sentenced to slavery.
Or if you say something bad about the king or a local noble, you can end up a slave too.”
The so-called entry tax was a fee you had to pay when entering the city, usually just two or three iron coins.
After paying, the guards would give you a wooden token with your name and the date you entered written on it.
If you didn’t have this token and weren’t a permanent resident, the guards would treat you as a criminal and throw you in jail.
Whether you got sentenced to hard labor like repairing city walls or working in the mines, or just got made a slave outright, all depended on the mood of the local nobles.
It’s worth mentioning that in special situations, the entry tax system would be temporarily suspended.
For example, recently in Aurora City, they had to take in refugees, so the entry tax was canceled for a while.
The reason Fia was seeing so many slaves and beggars now was because of the flood of refugees.
“By the way, Fia, aren’t you worried about your little sister at all? I was just worried you’d rush into the temple to save her without thinking.”
Claire lowered her eyes to watch Fia’s expression, sounding concerned.
On the way here, the two of them had seen notices posted along the street, saying that the third princess of the Elf Kingdom was being held in Aurora City.
It even clearly stated that the reason she’d fallen into their hands was because someone inside the Elf royal palace had betrayed them, smuggling the young third princess out of the city and bringing her to the Holy Nation as a token of loyalty.
Fia waved her hand lightly.
“If that’s true, I’d definitely go cause trouble for the church right now.
But Anastasia and the others have already been tricked by the same kind of scheme once, so I need to be careful.
I want to wait until Anastasia finishes investigating before I do anything.”
The reason she and Anastasia were staying at Claire’s clinic was because the royal guards had fallen for fake intel from the church, believing that members of the Elf royal family were being held in Aurora City, and the news had leaked.
Now that Anastasia and the others saw her as a symbol of wisdom, if she just charged into the church and smashed things up, only to find nothing there, it would be a huge embarrassment.
If only Anastasia and the others found out, it wouldn’t be so bad.
But if the church used it as a negative example to mock her, her life as an elf princess would be over.
“This could be another trap set up to lure me in.
No matter how powerful the Moon of the Unfathomable Sea is, it’s still just a magic tool, and magic tools need someone to keep supplying them with mana.
They’re probably running out of strength, so they’re desperate to catch me.”
“I actually think it’s more believable this time.
If it was just a rumor, that’d be one thing, but to announce it officially like that—if the fanatical believers found out it was fake, the church would be in a really awkward spot.
They care about their authority even more than monarchies do, so they wouldn’t make baseless claims.”
“Hmm…” Fia pressed her right hand to her chin, thinking.
“You have a point, Claire.
I’ll go check it out tonight and see for myself.”
With the Cloud Moon of the Phantom Sea to alter people’s perceptions, she could just disguise herself as an ordinary guard and sneak into the temple easily.
Even if she got caught, she could just blast a hole in the temple with magic and escape.
She really needed to study the magic she got today once she got back.
What Claire didn’t know was that after Fia got that magic catalog this afternoon, she’d already learned the language of magic incantations from the words written in it.
For normal people, learning a whole new, complicated language in one afternoon would be unthinkable, but for Fia, it was just routine.
Now all she was missing was the tone and pronunciation needed for chanting spells.
Once she learned those, she’d have completely mastered the art of chant magic.
“I’ll go with you, Fia.”
“That’ll just get you in trouble, Claire… If we get found out, what if those paladins come to your clinic that night?” She could use the Cloud Moon of the Phantom Sea to alter people’s perceptions, but Claire didn’t have anything like that.
If Claire’s clinic got destroyed for helping her, she’d be too ashamed to face anyone.
But Claire just shrugged, looking like she didn’t care about the clinic at all.
“Let them smash it if they want.
There’s nothing in there anyway.
Compared to a clinic, you’re way more important, Fia.”
“I’m more important…” That was way too embarrassing to hear.
Fia looked down, troubled.
Even if it was a joke, when someone said “you’re more important than so-and-so,” it was still embarrassing—let alone when Claire’s tone was completely serious.
Claire didn’t notice Fia’s embarrassment.
Instead, her gaze drifted to Fia’s chest, her expression turning a little playful.
“By the way, Fia, I didn’t realize you were the type to go without underwear.
You might still be underage as an elf princess, but you’re not that young anymore.
Not wearing underwear will affect your development, you know.”
“Huh?” Fia froze for a second, not reacting, then her face instantly turned bright red.
She stiffened, hugging her chest with one arm.
“Cl-Claire, what are you talking about?”
“Oh my, I checked for myself yesterday, remember? That innocent, adorable, and incredibly smart elf princess turned out to be on team no-underwear.
I was really surprised.
It’s a bit of a pervy habit, you know.”
It was only after Claire mentioned it that Fia remembered: yesterday, to avoid some soldiers in an alley, Claire’s hand had brushed against her chest.
That must have been when Claire realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
How could she mess up in a situation like that?
But it wasn’t her fault—how was she supposed to know the beautiful girl walking beside her would suddenly pin her against a wall?
Not wanting to let Claire’s teasing get to her, Fia cleared her throat, lifted her chin a little, and forced her expression to stay calm.
“That was just because I didn’t sleep well yesterday, so I forgot to put it on when I got up.”
“So you’re wearing it properly now?” She wasn’t, but Fia was sure Claire wouldn’t dare reach out and check, so she puffed out her chest.
“Of course.”
“I’ll have to check for myself.”
“Hey, Claire, are you a pervert or something?!” Fia hadn’t expected that answer and quickly took a step back.
Seeing Fia react like a startled little animal, Claire burst out laughing.
“I’m just kidding.
I wouldn’t do something like that in the middle of the street.
Hmm—as compensation, I’ll let you touch me back.”
With that, Claire curved her lips into a smile, turned sideways to face Fia, and wrapped one arm under her chest, deliberately emphasizing her impressive bust.
Her eyes were full of invitation.
She was practically begging Fia to commit a crime.
Claire’s figure was pretty impressive, the kind you’d call curvy in all the right places.
So when she put herself on display like this, Fia couldn’t help but feel awkward, not knowing where to look.
Even glancing a second longer felt rude.
“Don’t you want to try?” Claire said, deliberately shaking her chest.
Tch.
She’s definitely messing with me.
Fia wanted to tease her back, maybe even reach out and touch, but if Claire didn’t react at all, she’d just end up embarrassing herself.
Fia clicked her tongue in frustration.
“Who wants to try, anyway?”
“Hehehe, little Fia, you’re too cute.” Not letting the joke drag on, Claire changed the subject.
“Since you don’t want me tagging along, I’ll stay near the temple to back you up.
Anastasia should be going with you too.
After all, this is a royal rescue, and the royal guards can’t be left out.
With Anastasia there, you can relax a bit.”
“We’ll talk about it tonight.”
Just like with Claire, the reason for not letting Anastasia come along was that she didn’t have any item to disguise herself.
If they acted rashly, something that wasn’t dangerous could easily become dangerous.
As for the safety issue Claire mentioned, even though the only magic she could use freely right now was ‘Spirit Fire’, ‘Wind Blade’, and ‘Torrent’, she couldn’t forget the ridiculous strength this body gave her.
Even the sturdy temple walls—she could probably kick a huge hole in them.
The only downside was it’d hurt a bit.
After walking a bit further, Claire looked surprised.
“Hm? There’s actually a shop selling frozen sweets in Aurora City.”
Following Claire’s voice, Fia saw a street vendor pushing a cart.
Unlike regular folks in rough clothes, the vendor wore a light blue magic robe.
If Fia remembered right, that was the lowest grade of magic armor.
Back at the Mage Association, Fia had seen the prices for magic armor in the catalog.
Depending on strength and features, the prices varied wildly.
For example, a robe that slightly boosted magic power cost thirty gold coins for a single piece.
In comparison, a robe that only slightly increased elemental affinity was dirt cheap at just three silver coins.
According to the young staff, that “slight” effect was really up for debate—some people thought it worked, others thought it was a scam.
Still, for those who’d just become magic chanters, even a three-silver-coin robe was worth buying.
Not for the effect, but because the robe itself was a status symbol.
Wearing it showed everyone they were magic chanters, and that earned them respect.
The young man’s business clearly wasn’t doing well.
Even though a bunch of kids with pitiful eyes were hanging around his cart, there were hardly any customers.
Even when someone asked the price, most just smiled bitterly and walked away after hearing it.
The so-called frozen sweets seemed to be a snack like ice cream, served out of a wooden barrel.
