~~~ 1 Month Later

Mental fatigue was starting to wear down Ai's functionality skills – not that she had many to begin with. She was getting her much-needed Odin Sleep every night in order to reset her cooldowns, but that did not mean that it was a truly restful sleep. There were things to do in Asgard which weighed heavily on her mind every night she closed her eyes. The meeting with the noble families of Asgard drew nearer and nearer, and Ai's anxiety grabbed hold of her psyche more and more. A cycle of hatred started with Ai hating her inability to deal with anything social, which spiraled more into hating herself for being herself. She could not entertain the thought of loathing anyone but herself, since these were mostly problems which stemmed from her.

A small part of her still did so for letting her daughters meet the Asgardians the way they did. Perhaps if she were more truthful or open with Frigga, things could have turned out differently – but alas, of all the NPCs to meet, she was glad it was with the most trusting or understanding. Nanami, just like her mother, hated dealing with other people if she did not absolutely have to. Viridi, who was a bit more assertive, openly accepted Frigga. A superficial relationship would do more harm in the long run than the younger girl openly stating her discontent against the queen. Ai was scared of the intelligence of her NPCs, especially now that they all have their own wants and desires. It was not that she distrusted her own creation, but Ai was sure if Viridi wanted to, her scheming could match even Loki in terms of effectiveness.

She so far had followed Ai's instructions, not that she expected her NPCs to disobey her. Out of all her creations, the ancient elf was the strongest among all her sisters. Although most Players invested some levels into their race and then the rest into job levels, Ai invested all of Viridi's levels into her racial levels. With no job levels, she had no access to higher-tier DPS spells which every Player and her sisters had, with the rest of the siblings having offensive capabilities in some shape or form, be it a tiered spell or a skill associated with their job. Viridi, for all intents and purposes was meant to be the unmovable object her younger siblings could stand behind. Without her [Allfather] levels, Toreii would never win a drawn out fight with Viridi.

If Nanami was designed to be an anti-swordsman, then the eldest Noble Sister was an anti-mage. With specialized gear or simply high enough resistances, a Player was able to negate damage of spells up to a certain tier. Most PvP Players had Tier 6 and below spell damage negation from leveling up their characters to Level 100. Ai had min/maxed this concept with Viridi, fine-tuning her racial levels exclusively into magic resistance, enabling her to negate all damage from spells Tier 10 and below. Anything shy of a Super-Tier spell was nothing but an inconvenience to this super tank of an elf. Although she could take a Tier-10 to the face and be absolutely fine, any physical weapon above Level 50 could mortally wound her in turn. In hindsight, a tank who could only sit at the back until all their threats were dealt with was a terrible one.

If Viridi entered the front lines under very specific conditions, though, her racial levels gave her highly useful utilitarian skills. By leveling them exclusively, one of the secret skills an ancient elf was able to achieve was [Primus Inter Pares]. With Yggdrasil containing nearly a dozen types of elven races to make a character from, Viridi's skill allowed her to access the skill tree of any of the elven races, one at a time, before the ability went on cooldown.

The reason why Viridi had gotten through Gratia's mental guard so quickly was due to the charming passive which high elves possessed, as Ai has learned to understand. Although she was suspicious that murderous intent was still abound, Viridi was slowly making headway towards getting all the information the dragon was useful for. At least for the moment, Ai guessed there was still a low possibility of her NPCs killing this world's inhabitants. The mess for when that bridge would start – and in some ways had started – burning would be a headache for future Ai. Thus far, every NPC's or New World natives' interaction with Ai had not gone the least bit well.

If there was a silver lining, it would be Frigga. Although the first meeting between the Asgardian and her NPCs did not start off well, at least the confrontation was with the most understanding of her daughters. Nanami was quite resentful of Frigga after learning Toreii had gained a partner, and did not inform any of the Noble Sisters. From her reaction, Ai guessed it was equivalent to not liking your parent's new fling – or to be even more blunt, Frigga was like a new evil stepmother whom Nanami never asked for. She had kept this to herself, but Ai could clearly see the judgmental looks the girl gave Frigga. There was not much she could do about it for now, but Ai decided it was better for her only stealth-specialized NPC to move up into the castle. Limited to the confines of Ai's shared bedchambers, Nanami spoke very little to Toreii and nothing to Frigga.

Integration of her NPCs with the Asgardians was not going well. Frigga was as lovey-dovey as ever, even in front of Toreii's daughters, which hampered any plans Ai had for them to get along.

With so much to do, she put their relationship building on the back burner. So far, the only Asgardian to know of the existence of Nanami was Frigga, but if Heimdall knew anything, he did not say it. Every day for her was more civil unrest, as rumors spread among her citizens that Asgard was in great peril. How these rumors started, she did not know, but her RPG and management games experience told her it was only a matter of time before talk turned to violence.

If she knew how important it was to ease the minds of her people, it would have been a top priority. Instead, Frigga had hidden most of it away from Ai. For all she knew, the only big mishap was she had to attend a meeting with a large group of people. Every word spoken, every move made by the matriarchs of the noble families were heavily censored or intercepted by the Queen of Asgard. Nothing would reach the ears of her beloved, if she could help it.

No information going to Ai meant she only had to deal with her people skills and social nervousness, instead of ruling over an entire kingdom of people. Had she read into the full backstory of Frigga, instead of skimming it for bits here and there about why her wife was such a stalker, she would have also learned Asgard was politically ruled by the head female. Males were officially the higher-ranking citizens in Asgard, but promotions and connections were built on female relations. This was also true all the way up the crown.

Nanami had learned of this secret form of government a week after watching the daily life of her new step-mother, and she too decided to not disclose the terrible weight Frigga had to bear. With nothing to do inside of the bedchamber, all Nanami could do was watch, listen, and learn.

Ai, on the other hand, was doing mental exercises. Once again in solitude, Ai had locked herself away, practicing how she would sit or preparing lines for questions when asked. If she was going to claim the title of King, then she had to act the part. The only other beings with her were the black ravens whom she personally commanded. After she had teleported away with the hydra, both the ravens were unable to follow her, even though they were about to recount what Frigga did after Toreii and the hydra went sunbathing.

With the secret armor Ai had forged, the Queen of Asgard had a field day with the horde. It was a bit regretful she was unable to gather the materials from the dragons whom Frigga slain, but Ai was limited on inventory space at the moment. Half of her efforts were spent preparing for the upcoming meeting, while the other half was allocated into relearning how her character worked. Magic still worked the same, as with all of her skills, items, and Tiered Magic had also transferred over. However, there were slight deviations in some of their effects: Spells or abilities which were Yggdrasil-specific were either not effective at all or did not behave in the way Ai remembered them.

Stuck on a never-ending schedule, Ai felt like she was becoming a plant, absorbing nutrients through the air. The last physical meal she had enjoyed was a cup of instant ramen from her real world. Ai imagined herself salivating over a warm cooked meal, as she forced Toreii to commit to memory the proper prose of a king. Food might have been an optional thing for the Deity, but the Odin Sleep was not. She had to make sure her cooldowns were reset by the next time a fight broke out; otherwise, sleeping was just to ease Ai's human mind. Practicing how to act kingly was one thing, but Ai was skeptical whether she was doing it right. Her only experience with kingly things were from books and games. Almost everything she practiced had some sort of dramatic flair to it, like making a scene out of moving her arm or slamming [Gungnir] into the ground. Sometimes, she would make Toreii look extra serious with gazing in a certain way, or change the tone of her voice.

It was more work than she wanted to put in, but it was no longer simple NPCs she had to be in front of. Actual sentient beings were going to be looking at her and how she acted. A building pressure inside of her head boomed rhythmically, as Ai was reminded of her last thesis defense. Meeting the nobles felt like she was meeting the board of education instead, feeling herself faking a persona in order to appease a crowd she had no affiliation or affection with.

Ai sighed internally, and Toreii followed suit physically. Her mental toll was starting to affect the performance of her character, as if the weight of the world decided to rest itself on her back. Toreii might have had the strength to carry that burden indefinitely, but Ai's sanity would have never been able to handle something of that capacity. And as if she was suddenly playing on a server on the other side of the world, Toreii's movements became sluggish like she was being worn down little by little.

This was not part of the game she used to cherish every moment playing. It was… work!

Ai was completely fine with doing her share of work during the week, but having that mix into her gaming time made her angsty. Now that her work and gaming life were one and the same, she was losing all the enjoyment Yggdrasil once brought her. She was not really one for role playing, but practicing to put on a performance for a higher society was probably on the bottom of the list of things she wanted to do with her character.

There hadn't been a single solid sustenance in her stomach, yet phantom pain was mounting up there as the days go by. At some point, a rusty knife trying to penetrate her skin would have caused her less anguish. Even white lies she came up with in her mind, like 'it was just dealing with interactive NPCs' was barely enough to keep her nerves in check. One of the reasons she never progressed to a professorship herself was the fear of standing in front of a crowd who needed her to lead. If it were just students, she might have one day overcome her anxiety, but the entire noble population? Her tongue tasted bile, as her mind continued these 'what-if' situations.

From dawn to dusk, she locked herself inside Odin's private chamber. As Toreii's movements and speech became ingrained more and more into her muscle memory, Ai had Solomon on the side reading off self-help books about social anxiety. She felt like an undergraduate again, cramming the night before the big final semester test. At some point, Ai had considered cutting her losses and just went to the meeting drunk – and said 'liquid courage' became more appealing as the deadline came closer. However, with Toreii being an adolescent, Ai had her misgivings about downing any amount of alcohol now.

Another sigh escaped her. The powers of the all-powerful, all-knowing Allfather was at her fingertips, yet here she was, practicing lines and her choreography like it was a stage play.

'This is unbearable! What am I doing with my life? This isn't what I wanted…'

With one deep breath after another, Ai tried to regain some semblance of composure. Consequences be damned, she was going to do something she wanted for once! The scenery of black, etched obsidian faded away, as gale force winds wooshed against her face and ears. With [Gungnir] at her side, Toreii was flying just underneath the floating fortress. By teleporting beneath the city, Ai hoped to raise the least amount of suspicion. Asgard was high above the cloud line, away from the mortals' eyes below. The chilly air felt refreshing against her rosy cheeks, as Toreii rubbed the tiredness from her eyes.

It was just past midday, with Asgard directly blocking the sunlight above. The snowy mountains which broke through the cloud line before were no longer here. Ai surmised Heimdall must have flown the entire city to a new location. Below her, between peaks, through the soft, white clouds were grassy plains and luscious, green forest.

'I'm just stepping out for a bit! They won't miss me at all,' Ai thought to herself. There were no excuses she wanted to make this time. It was purely for selfish reasons she left without telling anyone.

As best as she could, Toreii scanned the scenery for any signs of civilization. Although the holy spear could not talk, Ai could feel its excitement from being set free of Asgard's confines. The Deity's tiny body shook from the chilling shiver running down her spine. It was exciting to see the New World once again — it's practically a new expansion in Ai's mind, which she now called 'Yggdrasil 2'. Disregarding the uncreative naming sense, it was an adventure into a new unknown awaiting her.

When her eyes finally caught onto a lightly-used path into the forest, Toreii relinquished some mana to her to ring. "[Silent Magic - Perfect Unknownable]," Toreii casted inside her mind.

Nothing changed about her appearance besides a tiny shift in the atmosphere around the Deity, bar a near-imperceptible a tiny bubble separating herself from the world around her. Firmly grasping [Gungnir] in her hand, the World-Class Item only served to embolden her confidence. Instead of flying straight down, Toreii let the winds carry her through the sky, as to avoid creating a noticeable trail. Descending slowly but surely, the sun's warmth hit her softly, with Asgard no longer looming over her head.

The magnificent floating city grew smaller in view, eventually fading to a tiny speck in the sky. Although briefly, Ai wanted to see what else the New World had to offer. There was some concern she might meet another Nyx Al-Shun, but Ai tossed that thought as a single bad apple in a field of orchids. The smell of rustic earth was the first thing Toreii noticed, as she softly landed by the forest entrance. Her ears picked up the sounds of birds chirping in between pauses of each other or the quiet buzzing of bugs.

Everything before her was alive with life, which was something exclusive to a virtual game not too long ago.

One foot after another, Toreii took her first steps into the adventure awaiting her. The trail she followed was clearly made by some form of biped being, which meant it would surely lead her to some kind of civilization. Without much care to her pace, Toreii steadily made her way into the forest with her eyes glued to her surroundings. Like a tourist wandering through a new city for the first time, she was careful not to stray too far from the beaten path. Toreii should have been more cautious to what she was touching, but having only seen trees in books and paintings, plant life practically mystified her. As if she were in a fairytale, the young Deity walked further into the forest without a care in the world, enjoying what her home world never offered her.

Even if she did not find anything today, being in the forest and seeing all it offered was enough to fill Toreii's heart. The warm breeze against her face felt nice, as the trees quietly had their leaves rustling from animal activity. The fauna she was able to glimpse at were similar to the ones Yggdrasil had, which had her thinking about how much of the game was imported to this world. Perhaps the entire world of Yggdrasil was transported, but only pieces at a time? Maybe the new world had a bandwidth limit, or that bases were transported first – those were some of the theories she came up with, but they became afterthoughts as Toreii finally found an end to the tree line.

Adjusting her eyes to the bright sun overhead, a quiet chatter pricked her ears into attention. A human caravan was just off in the distance, with burly men moving crates and a foreman shouting orders, pointing in every direction. Those who stood guard on the edge of their base of operation had leather armor with wooden spears, and a wooden fence just a little behind them. The campsite seemed temporary, but it looked like the humans had operated in the area for quite some time, since their trails were a lot deeper than the one she had traveled on.

What perplexed Toreii the most was their speech was coherent to her. She knew for a fact the odds of her native language would also be transported and used was minimal. Therefore, since the guard on their watchtower failed to spot her, Toreii assumed no one in their camp was able to detect or see through such a high tier spell. Just to be sure, she waved her arms above her head, flailing them as dramatically as possible. Still, no one noticed her, prompting her to move closer to the settlement.

Her doubt was replaced by curiosity when she was close enough to watch and hear them speak to each other. Flying over the guarded gate, Toreii was in the heart of the caravan now. Confirming she really was understanding them, confusion hit her when their lips did not match the syllables they spoke with. It was almost comical, like a bad lip sync on a rushed game release, but was never patched. At this point, she wondered if it was some kind of magic which automatically translated language. There was no such thing back in Yggdrasil, but it could have been devised for use in this world.

"Have the slaves been loaded up yet?! We have to get them out by tonight! I'm not paying you bushwhackers to pick flowers and frolic! Get moving! NOW!" A bearded man shouted from atop some crates. His hair was oily and unkempt, with several laceration scars on his face and neck. Black beady eyes devoid of compassion scanned over the working people, as his muscular arms pointed to different groups of men moving equipment.

"Slaves…? They have slaves in this world?" Toreii said aloud, tilting her head in confusion. She had read about it and seen some roleplaying in Yggdrasil, but never thought it would transgress to this new world as well. Looking around, she walked away from the shouting and explored their campsite. Tents were propped up everywhere, with some having guards outside, while others were big enough to walk through freely. Hearing the sound of horses nearby, Toreii followed the direction of their neighing.

Reaching what seemed like a loading area, large steel cages meant for something like a bear or tiger were seen everywhere. One of the cages actually held a sleeping bear, while the others had the slaves she heard about earlier. Almost a dozen elves were stuffed into each cage, clearly organized to maximize profit per unit of area. Their ages ranged from the same as Toreii's to as old as middle age, but the majority of them were females. Some were sleeping or were just lifeless, others were trying to bend the metal bars of their prison, and the rest had just accepted their fate, quietly crying in the fetal position.

An uneasiness swept her legs as Toreii froze in place. Small pins pricked the insides of her stomach when she saw how the humans had marked the elves. Long pointy ears she was familiar with were instead cut in half, leaving a fresh bloody stump. Toreii would have been fine with blood and gore, or just frightening creatures who tore you apart limb from limb.

These things were a part of Yggdrasil — this was not. Subjugation of other races and inhumane treatment of them was not part of the game she cherished so much. There might have been a racial thing in character creation and the 9 worlds, but that was for roleplayers.

Toreii's cute face scrunched up into a frown, with mixed feelings of sadness and disappointment swirling inside her. Everything the World Champions fought for and against was being rubbed with dirt right before her. Their sense of unity and compassion for everyone, regardless of background or race, was nothing more than an ideology in this new world. Her memories of them were all she had left. Toreii was not the first of the World Champions to come here, but if she were the last, then carrying on their ideology was the only honor she could give to the closest thing she considered her friends.

Steeling her resolve, she calmed herself with a deep breath of fresh air. Getting the out-of-body jitters, she noticed her right hand had gone numb, as color and blood had drained away from it, leaving a pale white visage as she unfurled each finger. She had unknowingly held [Gungnir] in a death grip, her nails leaving visible red marks in her skin. Toreii was agitated from the inside out, but for once, it was for someone else.

The image of a shining platinum knight resurfaced in her mind. His visage was always proud and strong about his beliefs, and his sense of justice was something every World Champion admired. The first time Toreii met him, she did not understand his forwardness or why he did not stride to become even stronger.

Now, all she can remember was his resolve to defend his friends and the last words he spoke to her, 'Those who do not save the weak cannot call themselves strong.'

Toreii decided to prove her title as the Asgardian World Champion.

The effects of her spell had weaned by now, as Toreii re-exited the forest for a second time. Guards on the watchtower were the first to spot her, causing a commotion among the caravan. With [Gungnir] in hand, she walked confidently toward the human settlement, chanting to herself, 'Act like you belong!' Strutting like the God she was, Toreii imagined the silhouette of her former companions right behind her. She had nothing from them except for their lessons and example, but that was enough for now.

"Nine's Own Goal…" Toreii whispered under her breath. She did not remember where she heard the name from, but it reminded her of the secret club she was a part of. It would have been a good name if the 9 World Champions were ever assembled, but that was just wishful thinking now.

"HALT!" One of the guards shouted, pointing his spear in her direction.

Toreii was not even halfway to their camp before they had stopped her. In hindsight, a child walking out of the forest with a golden spear was more than just a little bit suspicious. Her first impression of these people was that they were poachers, who also happen to be slavers. She did not know if it was possible to reason with them, but with a purse as deep as hers, these types of people were likely to welcome her sooner than later.

More shouting could be heard behind their wooden fence, as her sudden appearance caused these men to mobilize. Opening inward, the reinforced gate slowly creaked to life, letting out two men on horseback. By the time the gate had closed again, the horses had closed the gap between her and the base.

"Who are you? What is your business here?" The same man she saw earlier shouted, this time with a scimitar pointed at her. Just behind him was another equally brawny man, fully bearded, but with metal armor instead of leather.

"I'm here to buy some stuff!" Toreii shouted, feigning confidence, but the smile she cracked was more akin to a crazy maniacs instead of a sincere one.

Normally, the stutters would start now – after all, the smooth, commanding tone she usually used for her NPCs… was exactly that: only for the NPCs who're near enough to a family to her.

Right now, it's pure, unadulterated anger pushing her façade, enabling her to look at the 'welcoming party' straight in the face, pushing the stutters out of the way.

"Are you a spy? Or a scout? Or just bait? Do your people really think sending a child into enemy hands is a good distraction? We just got a free hostage!" The foreman shouted at her. He easily got off his horse, making sure to keep his curved sword pointed at her body as he looked at the forest behind her.

However, his line of sight suddenly dropped following the sack the girl just threw casually to the ground. "A buyer, obviously. Is this how you treat your clients?" The knot on the sack conveniently loosened at that time, letting various precious gems spill to the ground, shocking the two men. "If so, then I simply need to take my patronage elsewhere…"

The dangerous trader stopped in his tracks as his eyes gleamed with delight at the sudden appearance of the shiny jewels. With decades of experience behind him, the brilliance of the variety of gems were beyond anything he had seen before in his hard life. Even when he was a novice thief whose ambitions were bigger than his capabilities, the jewelries of the royal family had always captivated him, but even those gems paled in comparison to the lustrous shine he was witness to now.

Bending down to pick one up, he threw another to the man behind him. His eyes did not deceive him – the sparkle in each crystal gem was like night and day. He tore his view away briefly, eyeing the mysterious child who just appeared. "What are you? A dragon in disguise? The child of a dragon? No ordinary man would ever come here with jewels this precious and drop them carelessly."

'Think of something! Quick!'

"I am no 'child'," she growled. "For I am 10 millennia old!" She blabbed in the heat of the moment.

'Smooth! Real smooth! Pit-of-deadly-spikes smooth! Thanks, me!'

"You're 10,000 years old?" The man repeated with a low voice, eyebrow raised in doubt, "A 10,000-years-old girl who looks 10 in age, in the middle of the forest with a bag of jewels… and she is looking to buy some wares from us?" Clearly, Toreii's answer wasn't easily accepted. "How dumb do you think I am?!" The man snapped at her.

However, come to think of it, if this person really was a child, he expected her to run away as soon as she pointed his blade at her. After seeing jewels with a quality surpassing anything men were capable of finding in their entire lifetimes, hearing the little girl say she was 10,000 years old was not that far-fetched. He retracted his sword back into his leather sheath at his waist, as he gathered the rest of the spilled gems and swept them back into the pouch.

"Consider this," he said, shaking the small bag, "an entrance fee. I'm a reasonable business man. If you got the coins, neither of us will ask any questions." He tossed the bag to his partner who was still examining the jewel from earlier.

But both men's eyes widened once again in shock, as the flying bag, as well as the gems the bearded man was examining, flew the other way around and returned to their original owner's sleeves. "It will double as tips, if you serve me well," Toreii coldly eyed them, even though her heart couldn't beat any faster due to the nervousness and gall of the act she's pulling right now.

He still had his guard up on the unknown girl, but a payday like this was practically a retirement fund for him. If he lived by the end of today, tomorrow he would be richer than the kingdom he ran away from.

Getting back on his horse, he beckoned Toreii to follow them back. Using the reins on his horse to get closer to his partner, he quietly whispered to his partner, "Your thoughts?"

"This may or may not get everyone killed, Iago, including me. What if she's a dragon?" The older soldier asked, his grey beard emphasizing a slight frown.

"A dragon would sooner kill us all and take what it wanted, than give away jewels these precious," Iago retorted, trying to make himself believe the excuse as well. "You and I could open up our own tavern after this! Think about it, Stein! No more hiding in the forest anymore, no more monsters coming to munch on you at night, no more sharing the same tent with half a dozen other men. We can have women swoon over us for the rest of our lives! Maybe even a different woman every day!"

"Iago…" Stein sighed, "We didn't make this far by blindly accepting a big payday. What about our patron? What will he do once he finds out about this?" He questioned.

"We simply don't tell him," Iago sneered.

Just behind them, Toreii, with her superhuman hearing picked on their conversation. She was glad human greed was as prevalent in the new world as it was back in Yggdrasil. If it were her being offered a large sum of money, she also would have taken it as well… once upon a time – in fact, she did take a huge sum of money for an item. However, with years came wisdom. She was only as rich as she was because she lucked out on finding her fortune.

These men would not be as fortunate as her.

Millions of eyes were locked onto her as soon as she entered their camp, causing Toreii to feel her heart's palpitations skyrocket. Dealing with one or two people… and she was okay for the most part, but a campsite full of men, looking at her in various devious ways? She tried to shut off her brain and keep herself on autopilot as best she could.

The other reason was if she let her own uneasiness – well, more like outright crowd panic, really – run wild… there's no telling the carnage she'd instinctually release. Stage fright and burning anger were not a good combination to sit inside a child-sized stomach.

She needed them to give her more leads towards a more cultured civilization, after all. It's hard to question pieces of meat and chunks of organs.

The man with lots of scars on his face – Iago – had gotten off his horse and led her around his 'market', showing her swords and armor, likely stolen – or, as he called it, 'high risk trading'. She had hoped the tour would eventually lead to their loading bay where the elves were, but it seemed the man had other plans. Instead of a straight path through each section of the camp, he made sure to go in a roundabout way, surely for time so his men could move the more questionable 'supplies' around.

"I was expecting other types of wares…" Toreii quietly mumbled, emphasizing on her disappointed tone. Iago had informed her they were traders of rations and army supplies, but she knew that was a lie.

"Oh? Exactly what kind of traders do you think we are?" Iago insisted with a disappointed voice. Shaking his head, he continued, "I'll have you know I run a legit and hon-"

"Iago! The elves are agitated! They started attacking our gu-"

Leaping from where he stood, Iago quickly clamped down on the bandit's mouth, eyeing him like he was a dead man.

However, that was nothing compared to the stink eye Ai forced Toreii to produce, leading Iago to cold-sweat. "That kind of trader."

Every soldier within hearing distance averted their eyes from the village idiot who just came running in. They knew better than to be on the end of Iago's blade – the poor messenger was not going to last the night. Trying to make themselves look uninterested, they went back to their busy work, but still kept their ears open for the drama about to ensue.

"Hmm? What was that? Buying elves? From me?" Iago retorted, as if he was offended. "I'll have you know slavery is highly looked down on! My business would never do something so degrading." He smiled back at her innocently, as he motioned other men to take the terrified bandit away.

"How much?" Toreii asked, trying to play the situation out in her favor, showing she could see right through his lame excuses. "Is this enough?" She said, reaching into the sleeve of her robes where the 'tips' from before were hidden. Pulling out a new bag, she easily tossed it over to Iago.

It's much, much heavier than the 'tips', too.

Trying to catch the item out of midair was a mistake on Iago's part, as his hands became numb on impact and his back crumbled over under the weight of what was now in his hands. The back of his hand hit the ground with a thud as pain shot up his arm, but his eyes left him in so much bewilderment.

Toreii had tossed him an entire ingot of platinum. She watched as he struggled to pick up the metal bar, but after a couple of minutes, had given up and summoned several men to his position. The ground underneath the bar had caved down, which seemed to confuse the soldiers who showed up on how to clear it away.

"Who... are you? What are you?" Iago asked, rethinking some of his choices. He shook his hands to dull the pain away, as he pointed to the correct direction of their loading bay.

"I pay and there's 'no questions asked', remember?" Toreii reminded him.

Iago led her away, thinking back to his friend's words and whether he had gotten himself into something he should not have.

The cages were just as she remembered them, except the elves were just as the messenger had said. They were in a state of panic, trying to break free of their confines, even attacking the nearby guards as if they were feral animals. Iago started shouting orders to his men as they approached the holding bay. Even though he was a thief and a liar, he knew how to command his men well. The abrupt chaos only ended when the elves took a look at the apparent 10-years-old.

One by one, the wails and screams ended as Toreii entered their view. The younger elves, who did not know what was going on, were calmed and shushed by their older kin. 'Do I have something on my face?' She wondered, scanning the prisoners.

"You lot! Get the cargo up and out here! We've got a buyer!" Iago shouted to his men, "Line them up! Give them 5 whips if they aren't moving fast enough!"

Toreii visibly frowned at the foreman, quietly mumbling under her breath, "People aren't objects…"

"I'm not the one throwing my wallet around and buying them, am I?" quipped Iago, trying to rid himself of Toreii as quickly as he could. He had a 6th sense for incoming trouble, and the strange girl was raising one red flag after another. "Take your pick and get out of here. I don't want you causing me anymore trouble around here."

Several minutes passed, filled with shouting and shoving from the bandits, with the crack of a whip snapping at the elves every so often. Even with their more resilient bodies when compared to normal humans, there were ample signs of abuse among all of them. Some had severe lacerations on their back, with blood seeping through the brown rags barely clothing them, while others limped or could barely move their legs, which Toreii could only guess was from physical trauma.

Their meager shuffling only elicited the cruel wrath of their jailers. Tears trailed down their face with every whip, as quiet sniffling went on unheard. Iago stood unfazed by the scene, even grabbing the hair of a child elf and dragging her to stand in line with the others. A high pitched wail came from the crying girl as she struggled against Iago's tight grip. The other elves could only look dejected at her, unable to do anything.

"I'm not one to buy damaged goods, but since they aren't a product to you, I can expect full price for each of them?" Iago laughed as he looked back to her. His broad shoulders and puffed out chest tried their best to look intimidating to the little Deity, but it went unnoticed. "Feel free to inspect any of the goods before purchase. I'm a fair businessman, after all."

All of them looked fearful for their lives, more so than when she was spying on their camp earlier. Even if they could somehow see magical auras like Toreii could, she had swapped out one of her rings to hide her magical presence. It was not obvious to her what their fear was, until she followed their line of sight.

Almost all of them gave their undivided attention to the divine spear in her hand.

A single elf with heterochromia was the only one to look directly at Toreii. Short and petite like the young Deity, she held her head high and stood upright. She did not know if she had to pay extra for things like different colored eyes like she would have back in Yggdrasil, but so far, the bandits were fine with taking her low-level quest rewards. Yggdrasil gold could probably have been used, but being the hoarder that she was, she needed to clear her inventory of items which no longer had any uses.

"How much for all of them?" Toreii asked.

As if to mock her, Iago stood around with his arms crossed and stroked his chin like he was in deep thought. He knew from earlier she possessed items beyond what a mortal man could imagine. However, he did not need the King and his men chasing after him for answers he did not know himself. "I want triple their weight in gems and go-"

- Thunk!

Toreii dropped a leather sack twice as big her head onto the ground. Gasps could be heard from the bandits as she walked past them to the elves.

"Double that," Iago snapped, stepping in front of her path.

"What?"

"I said double it," Iago said in a low tone, looking down at her. "The fact that you're paying asking price means there must be something important about these elves to you. I'm not going to ask what, as long as you pay double."

- Thunk!

Another sack hit the ground and Toreii walked past in a hurry. These might have been useless items to her, but she did not have an unlimited supply of them. Just as she took a step forward, all the elves took a step back. Some of them had put up a fight against their captors, but against Toreii, they might just be trying to run against a walking plague.

"I do offer transportation of goods for a fee," Iago offered, ruffling through the bags to check their contents. Both bags were filled to the brim with gemstones, which only serve to ignite the greed in his heart.

Toreii turned back with a slight frown as her response. There was persistence… and then there was Iago. Every chance to make a quick sale, he took it. An image of Iago dressed in a suit, going door-to-door, bullying people into buying his product, swept across her mind. Even in this new world, people like Iago still existed.

With the elves grouped together and nowhere else to go, Toreii was finally able to approach them, except for one lone heterochromatic elf who stood in front of them. Although she was dressed in rags, like the others, this one was in better health. No whips or bruises were seen on her body, as if she was spared from the punishment.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you," Iago laughed.

Reaching into the sleeve of her robe once again, Toreii pulled out a scroll parchment. It unfurled itself and burned up with a blue hue, which activated the spell within it. Her newly bought slaves went wide-eyed, as all of them were engulfed in a purple light.

- [Mass Teleportation]

The bandits and soldiers around her gasped in shock and fear, including Iago, who grew pale in the face. His normally bronze skin was devoid of any color as his jaw hung loose from what he had just witnessed.

- [Greater Teleportation]

"People aren't cargo," Toreii coldly replied, her golden eyes shimmering. Consumed in a similar purple light, the Deity teleported away. There was something different in her tone – earlier, Iago simply thought she's just an aloof inhuman sage, but now…

No, he knew now.

It was killing intent which permeated her last words.

Every single item she just gave away silently hummed with traces of magic, shimmering away unnoticed. Clearly, these traders had never seen a cloaked tracking spell before.

A/N: I'm pleased this got out faster than a month of waiting. Do you guys like the development? Is it too much? I'm trying to balance new world stuff and stuff happening in Asgard right now. Tell me if you guys prefer new world to Asgard affairs.