Chapter 6

There are some things you just cannot ignore. Bad dreams are one. Thankfully, the dreams I had were... low intensity compared to the last time I'd been spirited away. Just a few random visions of things I'd never wish on anyone else.

But that wasn't what woke me up.

The smell of smoke was poking at that primitive alarm signal that nearly every animal in nature had. It took effort, but with the smell came the instinctual fight or flight reflex, and the sudden spike of adrenaline was pushing away the already fading nightmares.

But, my body was protesting with every motion I made towards sitting up. "FIRE!" Someone outside the window yelled. "The Shield Hero set the house on fire! There are people inside!"

I vowed to myself that I would remember that voice.

But that was for later. I opened my inventory and took out my handkerchief, swished it around in the wash basin, then tossed it back into the shield's inventory (Now it said 'wet' next to its description). Then I tried the door.

Locked.

Reflexively I took a half step back and slammed my shoulder into it. Of course, I was an eight year old, and I bounced off the door. Firmly reminded of that fact, I braced a bit better for a second try, but only managed to bruise my shoulder. I could see smoke curling up from under the door now, and could hear a thumping from another room on the same floor.

"The Shield Hero locked the doors to trap the people in their rooms!" That same voice called out after I tried one last time.

I was going to do very bad things to that person... yes...

I shook away the currently unproductive thoughts, and pulled the chisel and hammer I'd gotten from Erhard out of the shield's inventory. The lock was a primitive skeleton key lock, and unless the nice lady spent good money on proper home security...

The chisel bit into the wood under the metal plate of the lock mechanism and stuck there. I gave it a second tap with the hammer, then gave it my very best upwards swing. The hammer hit the end of the chisel square on, and the end of the chisel pried up the mechanism for the lock, unseating the latch from the hole in the door frame. Recovering the tools and shoving the door open, I flopped out into the hallway, and landed bodily onto part of a bright orange flame that had crawled down the length of the short hallway and partially up one wall.

The noise of my escape was joined by more noise outside as the fire drew in a crowd. There was also a dry racking cough coming from behind one of the other doors. I got to the door and started to apply the same technique to the lock, but this door opened inward. "Hit the door!"

There was another cough, then something crashing to the floor inside the room. I was starting to cough too, and the smoke was getting almost too thick to see. I didn't have time to finish hammering the lock off the door!

So, I waved my hand over the shield, "Medicine shield." I said, the shield suddenly changing shape slightly, the thin plant cutting edge along the side appearing. "This better work..."

With a grunt, I wedged it into the gap between the door and frame, practically slamming my body into the other side of the shield to wedge it in as solidly as possible.

"Small shield." I said, leaning into the side of the shield as hard as I could.

The change of shield, and the thickness of its edge, popped the weakened lock away and I nearly slammed my face into the wall with the sudden release of pressure. Inside, I saw the nice lady on the floor beside a bed, her arms and legs wrapped up in rope.

Fire was eating through the floor, and I heard the staircase behind me collapse. There was only one way out, but I just wasn't strong enough to get us both out the window! As quickly as I could, I took out my all purpose knife and cut through the ropes as fast as I could. All the while, the lady was coughing, the fire was all around us, and I was starting to see spots with all the smoke I had been breathing in.

The ropes came free, and part of the answer to our problems popped up in my Shield Almanac. 'Rope Shield'. With little time to really look at it, I gave the nice lady the wet handkerchief, held it over her nose and mouth until she did it on her own, and started tying one end of the rope coming off my new shield (yes... it was basically a coil of rope spiralling out of the green gem in the middle...) around the nearest bedpost as fast as I could.

I coughed, then rasped out, "You need to hold on to me as tightly as you can, and jump out the window." I said to her, letting her use my body to get to her knees, "Please! You..." I couldn't stop myself from coughing again, and my vision was getting dark.

But, strong arms wrapped around me, and as the window shattered around us, I hoped that the rope would be long enough to get us down, but not short enough to pull my arm out of its socket with the weight of the lady hugging me tight.

With no idea how to control my newest shield, and only a rough guess on how far it was to the ground, the landing sucked. There was a sharp pain from my shoulder, a wet noise that I felt as much as heard, then a sudden jarring thump as I landed next to the lady.

Then that irritating voice called out again, "Water! Water! The Shield Hero started a fire! Get water!"

Trying to blink the stars from the edges of my vision, trying to move and sit up with only one arm, I was utterly helpless when something heavy slammed into my gut and sent me further down the alleyway and away from the main street.

Oddly, it didn't actually hurt. But there was enough force behind the kick to send my smaller body rolling. The landing send pain through my shoulder, and before I could recover, a huge shadow loomed over me, and basically wrapped himself around me, leaving only my shield arm exposed. I couldn't even call out as my mouth and nose were all but crushed into muscles that felt like stone.

Suddenly under attack, I struggled, I kicked, I twisted, I even bit, but then a second shadow moved at the corner of my vision, its outline waving crazily with the fire behind it, and then something... like a metal cap that seemed to be the exact fit, was clamped over the green gem of my shield.

ERROR ERROR ERROR said a window that popped up in place of my status screen.

"Think I'm useless now?" It was the one who volunteered for my party. Ren named her 'Myne'. The person who'd wrapped me up in his arms didn't leave much space for me to see, but her face moved in front of the little gap in his hold, and I saw her face, "Loosen up a little." She slapped the man's shoulder.

He didn't even grunt, but his enveloping hold lessened slightly. Before I could call out, struggle, or made any noise that might be heard over the panicking people trying to put out the fire a few dozen metres away, a massive hand clamped over my throat.

"You won't be needing these." She said sweetly, taking off the belts over my shoulder and hips, then my pack. "For the crime of arson and attempted murder, I am placing you under arrest. Don't kill him."

Like a toy, hand still around my throat, the one holding me stood, and just... kept his hand where it was. And as my vision went black, I found myself looking into eyes similar to my own.

I woke suddenly as a wave of cold water slapped into me. All at once, I felt all the pain from the night before, as well as the bruises around my throat, and a weight resting on my shoulders. Blinking water from my eyes, I found myself in a small stone walled cell. My current shield arm was still dislocated, and my good arm was in a 'half stockade'. A plank of wood with two holes in it, one for my neck, the other for my wrist.

"Awake now, you filthy animal?" Someone asked, "Time for your audience."

There was a clank and rattle, and I turned my head as best I could towards the noise. It was just a guardsman, one of the same castle guards I'd seen when I'd first arrived. A second guard appeared in front of the cell, and he kept watch as I was hauled to my feet roughly, shaken me hard enough so I almost couldn't get my feet under me properly, then all but thrown me down to the ground again as he pushed me out of the cell.

The other guard started walking in front of me, while the angry one continued. "For what you did, I'd have you killed. But the King wants your crime to be made public." He pushed me again, and this time I bounced off the leading guard's back before falling to the floor.

"We'll never get there if you don't let me walk." I growled, getting hauled to my feet again, then punched in the gut. Again, there was 'kinetic force' but no actual pain. "Beat your wife like that too?" I asked, the guard's fist lashing out again and hitting me in the jaw. Again, my body moved, but there was no damage. "Hope you don't have children." I continued, my legs compensating for the shock of the hit and letting me keep my feet.

The guard started to go for his sword, but the one I bumped into, older than the first, put a hand on his shoulder, "He's right. We'll never get there if we don't let him walk." He looked past the angry guard to me, and gave me a look close to pity. Then he pulled on the other guard's shoulder, "You lead."

Without announcement or ceremony, I was dragged into the throne room with the other three heroes already waiting there in front of the King and the gaggle of advisors from a couple days before. Unlike before, I was halted with the three heroes between the King and I, and a half dozen guards surrounded me.

The three heroes looked at me with a mix of scorn and pity, and the only other 'party member' there was the red headed Myne, who was half hiding behind Motoyasu as I glared at her.

I shifted my glare towards the King, and spotted my belts laying on a table next to his hand. He frowned when my eyes locked onto his, and he started to speak.

"Theft. Arson. Attempted murder. Squandering the gift of money the Kingdom gave you. We ask for your help, to save this kingdom from the Waves of Disaster, we give you free reign and the assistance we can, so you can strengthen yourself. And this is how you conduct yourself?"

Motoyasu looked down at me, "Seriously kid? I thought you were better than this."

Itsuki took a jab at me too, "Surely your parents taught you better? Playing with fire as well?"

Ren quietly tacked on, "Not everyone can handle the pressure of going solo."

"You have no-" I tried, but was cut off.

"Silence! Myne? Tell them." The King spoke over me.

Myne nodded, looking down at me, "I had been running a small errand for Sir Motoyasu, when I saw the Shield Hero enter the little bed and breakfast just past the canal. My errand had taken a little longer than I thought it would, and it was very late. But then I smelled smoke, and saw the fire starting in the house the Shield Hero had been in!"

She continued, starting to tear up a little, "I called for help, and could hear struggling inside, banging doors as if people were still locked in their rooms!"

"I was the only guest there last night! Ask the Matron! I saved her life!" I shouted back.

"Only because you tried to stop her from escaping, and the two of you fell from the window on the second floor!" Myne said, hiding behind Motoyasu's shoulder as if she was afraid of me. "She told us herself!"

"And this." The King held up my belts, then upended them on the tray they were on. "Lock picks? Keys to the house you were staying in? An Heirloom ring?" He held up each of the items in turn, then scooped up the small sum of bronze and silver I'd kept for 'loose change'. "And this. A Fire stone." He held up this world's equivalent of a 'hot plate', the little magic gadget I got from the alchemist.

The advisor next to him coughed into his hand, "A useful and expensive item. But easily mishandled."

"Undeniable proof of your crime!" The King said, setting the item down carefully.

"All that talk was just for show." Ren said.

"We're supposed to be heroes." Itsuki said, "And instead you start stealing?"

"You shouldn't have gone alone, if only to have someone keep an eye on you." Motoyasu sighed, turning away from me to face Myne.

All around me, the whispers started. My ears flicking side to side to pick up bits of what they were saying. "Mistake to summon all four... why summon the shield as well... a child... demi-human... street rat..."

"Heh." Shackled, held in place by six adults in full armour, and being run through a joke tribunal, I couldn't help but laugh a little, "Is this really how you treat your guests?" My sudden question seemed to shock the people in the room, so I continued, "Have you been lying to me since I got here?" I tried twisting my voice so it sounded like the wizard who had talked to us when the four of us appeared, "O brave heroes! Please save our World!" I even glared at the guy, since he was standing to the far left of the King.

"Yet under everyone's breath, they insult me. Behind my back they glare at me. To my face they call me 'child' and 'criminal'. YOU!" I pointed with the hand that was still locked in the shackle, "Are the thief! Stealing me away from my home, to save your kingdom when you are too lazy and incompetent to do it yourselves!"

"SILENCE!" The King roared, standing up.

"There's that attitude again..." Ren sighed.

"Of course a child would blame others before seeing their own faults." Motoyasu sighed.

"You." I was still pointing, "Are being a poor host. Tell me! How is it that someone 'just passing by' had the exact item they needed to suppress my 'Legendary Weapon'? Huh?!"

The guards around me used their spears to push me to my knees, "The King said to be silent!" It was the same guard who'd hit me. And yes, he hit me again, but I still didn't feel it.

"You said I fought with the Lady of the House? HOW?! She outweighs me by three times! I have an attack power of nearly nothing!"

Someone kicked my back, and I flopped to my face. The bracket of wood around my throat started to choke me and cut me off before I could say more.

"These items will be confiscated." The King growled, toying with my wedding ring in one hand while pointing at me with the other, "Only because you are one of the Heroes, will I reduce your sentence from a lifetime of imprisonment to five days, as our kingdom might still have use for you. But you will no longer be given any help from the Kingdom of Melromarc! Five days of imprisonment in the deepest, darkest dungeon!"

I was hauled to my feet, then off them by two of the guards. I looked at the King, then the Heroes, then to Myne, "I'll still do my job..." I said hoarsely, "But it's clear the Waves aren't the only Monsters the kingdom needs saving from."

The 'deepest darkest dungeon' was apparently 'off site'. First, I was carried out of the throne room with all the people present boo'ing at me. Then I was carried back down to the cell I'd been in when I woke up.

Then past that. Down a hall of similar cells, to a guard room. Then, without a word, the two holding me waited for a third to open up a barrel, while a forth forced a bit of cloth into my mouth and wrapped a handkerchief around my head, I then realized it the barrel was for ME, and it was too late. They dumped me in, stockade and all, and sealed it up. Whatever had been in here before was probably wine of some kind, and there was a tap hole in the side that was letting a little light in.

Then the barrel was picked up...

If I had even a fraction of my old strength... But I didn't. All I could do was look at my Status Screen, and the little 'ERROR' icon over it, greying the rest of the details out.

Up stairs, down a hall, outside, onto a wagon, across the bridge, down the streets... I heard all these details while I tried to shift and wiggle inside the barrel. I did manage to get my good hand free from the stockade, then get the rag out of my mouth. But that didn't really do me much good. Pushing on the top of the barrel did nothing. The bumping and jostling around me as well as the dim light from the hole in the side hinted at me being in the middle of a bunch of other barrels, so it was probably pointless to scream.

In this place though, who would hear me? Who would care if they did hear me?

So, I worked alone. The weird metal cap over the Shield's Gem seemed stuck there, almost like it was glued or vacuum sealed to it, and with my arm still hanging limp there was little I could do anyhow.

But, maybe a half hour later, thoughts of actual arson and a certain castle running through my head, as well as the loss of my ring...

My ring... I felt... It wasn't anger. No. But it was cold. A cold icy certainty... If I wasn't about to get dumped into a river or something... When I got out of here, I was going to...

A sudden thump made the growing red haze around my vision recede, and after a moment, the barrels around mine were being lifted out of the wagon. Then my turn came, and outside I could hear all kinds of... it sounded like animal noises... Low, monstrous, questioning.

"Here you are, Tamer. Keep this one out of sight for a while."

"Ahh. Thank you thank you. Do I have permission to sell this one?" The voice was cultured, businesslike, shady.

"If you think you can, go ahead!" There was a laugh.

"Perhaps it will cover the young lady's fee for my services. Who's to say?" The new voice mused out loud.

"Not our problem now." Came the reply.

Moments later, I heard the wagon roll away, and the new voice call out, "You, yes. Come here, carefully, take it to the back. You! Bring a pry bar."

Then the barrel was lifted up, and whomever had me started walking.

As we walked, there were more animal noises. Some I could tell were this world's equivalent to 'bored horse talking' or 'is it dinner time'. Others however were fearful, whimpering, broken. It did nothing for my mood, but there was nothing I could do about it. It just fuelled that cold rage in my gut.

The barrel was set down, and after a moment there was a sudden THUNK as something hit the top of the barrel.

"Wait!" That voice said. Then there was a tap on the side of the barrel, "If you're awake, I'd rather not have to damage you further. I'd like it very much if you didn't struggle overmuch."

Great, my captor... buyer? Was trying to play nice. I had to dig around in my mind for something reasonable to say, but instead settled with, "Promise I get to shake the hand of the guy who carried this barrel."

There was a pause, and I felt my Kitsune nature practically giggle at how confused that must have made him. "I... Very well. You have my word."

"Deal." I said.

"Go ahead."

The barrel was struck a second time, then there was a groaning squeak of timber as the boards of the lid loosened up, and with a 'clunk rattle' most of the lid came up, while the rest bounced off my head and fell down to my feet. That actually did sting a little. Such a weirdly specific protection magic...

Above me was a gloomy darkness and a high ceiling. Oddly, that ceiling looked like fabric, but I couldn't have been sure. A moment later the head and shoulders of a large man with clown make up on, and massive muscles (a literal circus strongman) peered into the barrel, then reached down with big hands. Holding me under the arms, I was hauled out like a grumpy stuffed animal, and set down on my feet.

Behind and to the left of the 185cm tall muscle clown (who wasn't actually wearing silly pants and boots, but sensible clothing), was a much shorter man. Excluding a rather stylish dark purple top hat, he was quite short. But he wore a matching suit with a feathery ruff around the collar, a light purple undercoat, a somewhat exaggerated bow tie, and carried a sturdy looking cane with a large crystal head.

Add that to his wide face, long curled mustachio, smooth chin and small circular glasses, he looked like a mix of a Circus ringmaster, and pimp.

"Hmm." The big man looked down at me, and offered me his hand to shake.

"Other hand." I said, getting a puzzled look, but compliance. I used my good hand to hold his massive paw, guided it to hold the hand of my dislocated arm and said, "Hold you arm still."

I put my good hand around my wrist to keep it from bending, and shoved my body down towards the hand holding mine. The pain was sharp, the sound was damp with a hint of grinding, but once the pain eased, I could feel that I'd set my shoulder on the first try. Then, though I still used my other hand to help move my arm, I shook the clown's hand.

The 'Ringmaster' tucked his cane under his arm and clapped his white gloved hands in something close to glee, "Impressive, impressive!" He stopped clapping, then stood with both hands on top of his cane to look at me, "Get that off him, would you? It just looks silly hanging off his neck like that."

"Not afraid I'll run away once this is off?" I asked, eyeing the giant man as he considered the plank of wood latched to either side of my throat, "I have better things to do, than be stuck here."

"Oh, I'm not worried. Not at all." The Ringmaster said.

Two big hands gripped either side of the stockade, and just pulled it open. The metal holding the lock in place pulled itself free of the wood with a splintering snap, and just like that, the wood came off my throat.

"You see, without your shield, you're not much of a threat." He continued, a heavy hand putting itself on my shoulder. Not gripping or squeezing, not pushing down. Just... resting there. And it felt like just the man's arm weighed as much as I did.

I decided that another round of 'kick the Kitsune' wasn't what I wanted, so I tried diplomacy."I heard you were intending to sell me. So this world has slaves?" I asked, "What kind of price do you think you'd get for me?"

His thin eyebrows almost vanished under his hat, "Ah, the Fox Demi Humans always had sharp ears." He laughed, a huge grin forming under his styled mustachio, "I am a merchant of flesh." He bowed, "Most people only ever see the animals. I have a very brisk business buying and selling farm animals. Dragons, Filolial and many kinds of other animals the farmers and stable masters like. Pets too! You would be surprised what a good rodent hunter can sell for!"

"And here, I'm guessing you have other types of animals." I looked over his shoulder, just for a moment since I didn't want to take my eyes off this... merchant while in his presence.

Cages. Lots of cages. Mass produced and uniform in construction. I saw hints of humanoid shapes, but also... no... they were humanoid. But looked more animal than human, like the Volralden and Kobold of Falmart.

"Ho ho ho! Calling fellow demi-humans 'animals'! What kind of Shield Hero have we summoned I wonder?" He laughed.

"If you breath, eat, rut and die, you are an animal. No matter what kind of tools and intelligence you have." I glared at him, "As for 'what kind of hero'... My world almost doesn't have slavery."

"Don't sound so angry!" He laughed, "The accommodations might be sparse, but I feed them and keep the weather off!" He shook his head, "I can see we will never get along, but, you are still in my care."

Now the hand on my shoulder started to exert pressure, but I held back the discomfort, "You didn't answer my question."

"Pardon? Oh! You did ask, didn't you." He took one hand off his cane to rub his smooth chin. "I will consider your price. But for the moment you see, I am being paid to keep you here." He made a 'shoo' motion with his hand, and once again I was picked up like a toy. "The people you see in these cages... Most are criminals, others are... failed gladiators. Others still were hurt and set to be... disposed of."

"My world has a different way to punish criminals. And the wounded are treated." I said, thankful that the muscle-clown wasn't like that guardsman. Aside from the indignity of being essentially helpless, he was just holding me under the armpits... like a disobedient fox kit.

"And money is involved I'm guessing?" He looked over his shoulder to grin at me.

"Money, or service, depending on the crime, or price of the treatments to get them fighting again." I replied. "We also have fair laws, that are far more resistant to lopsided judgment."

Again, that annoying laugh. "I see you are already turning into bitter young man. Hmm, this one." He paused in the middle of a row of double stacked cages, tall enough to stand in (for me at least) and covered with simple canvas sheets that actually gave them privacy to either side. "Sadly, you may have a bit of trouble sleeping."

There was a quiet coughing noise from the cage next to the one he was opening.

"And I will warn you, if you misbehave before I think of your price, I will put a Slave's Curse on you." He said gravely, "But you seem a smart young man! So I doubt you'll misbehave!"

The huge clown put me on my feet, then gave my rear a heavy push, making me stumble into the cage. "Curse?" I raised my eyebrow, "Not enough to sell them like cattle, but curse them too?"

"Of course!" He grinned at me, "Surely you've noticed how quiet it is in here. A slave must be obedient, a slave must not betray their master. The Slave Curse enforces obedience with pain, or even death should they continue to misbehave."

Again, a quiet cough from the cage next to me. "So you've told them all to not speak. Just the type of cowardice I'm expecting from this world... Go figure out how much I'm worth then." I growled, sitting down with a huff and folding my arms, "But the longer you take, the worse my mood will be when I get out of here."

"I wonder how long that attitude will last? But! I congratulate you for not defaulting to petty threats and begging for your life." He bowed, nodded to the clown and with a swish of fabric my new cell was put into darkness.

It was about here, at this point, in this strange new world, in a cage, in a slaver's market... That I decided I'd had enough trying to play by the rules. It might sound silly, but there was a method to this kind of thing. Being who I was, who I was tied to, and most importantly what I was... There was a kind of... karmic system to things.

My actions were being judged, not just by my peers, but by a divine system. There were things I didn't do, just so I could stay on the 'good' side of that system. I didn't lie (save for those rare occasions where everyone knew I was lying, like Freya showing up after almost ruining my party, and me saying she was 'unexpected'). I did not break promises (with the exception of a promise no longer being possible to keep, either by chance or the other person involved breaking their side of the deal). And, to be a good guest, or host. The most basic tenant of Hestia.

To most, these are just common sense rules to live by. But for me... Well, Delly kept warning me not to do those things, or else I might turn into a bogglin (apparently they're a kind of swamp gremlin, very ugly and bad at parties).

Well. I was under no such rules here it seemed. There were no Gods. My connection to Hestia was cut off. And I only had fragments of my adventuring status and abilities.

All I had now, was a shield that was currently just a fancy sheet of metal, a status screen that was just saying 'ERROR' in the exact shade of grey that told me it was really supposed to be red. I had nothing but the clothes on my back, this shield, and my slippers.

But I also had a nice flat metal floor to my cage, and a world that, despite the weird magic and logic, had physics and math.

My ears tracked every noise, every growl, every rustle in the area around me. Even though I couldn't see past the cloth sheet over my cage, I could tell what some of my closest neighbours were. For example, to my immediate left was someone with scaly skin. Every time they shifted themselves, I could hear the 'thicker than skin-harder than fur' noise.

Someplace across from me, there was something with a lot of fur with a rash or something, the constant scratching noises and wordless grumbles telling me the story.

Directly above me was someone who was drawing bored little circles with a clawed fingertip on the metal floor of their cage.

And to my right, was someone small who had what sounded like irritated lungs. Maybe from smoke inhalation or the like. As the hours went by, and I worked on my escape, I could hear the cough get ever so slowly worse. Just changes in pitch, dryness, strength... When you had seven children, you learned about coughs, sneezes, runny noses and all kinds of things the body did to try and get rid of things it didn't want.

My stomach was really starting to grumble when I heard the growls around me change in pitch. Shifting over a little to sit on my work, my ears tracked the motions of a couple people moving from cage to cage.

"Now now, one shouldn't snap at the hand feeding them." It was the Ringmaster, but I was sure he wasn't the one tending the cages. "Good good, chew slowly, drink carefully."

The growling voices slowly changed, going from a steady rumble to an intermittent snarl. There was a pause, and another feral voice shifted to 'grumpy eating' sounds, like a dog protecting its food from a reaching hand.

The occupant in the cage next to me shifted, the shifting of their scaled skin adding itself to a low growling hiss, then a rough noise of teeth tearing apart something dry. A moment later, there was a slosh of water, a greedy slurping noise, then a clunk as something hit the metal floor of the cage. "Good good. Behaving well today."

Then a shadow loomed on the other side of the cloth hiding my cage, and above me, that slow grinding claw tip stopped, followed by the same dry tearing noise, then a small sip and gulp, and then a quiet dull noise as something was set down on the cage floor.

Then apparently it was my turn. The cloth over my cage was moved aside, and two of those muscle-clowns loomed on either side of the ringmaster. One held a large basket of small bread loaves, the other a barrel under one arm, and a ladle in the other.

"Shield Hero." He greeted with that annoying smile of his. "Those eyes of yours pack quite the punch for someone so young."

"Not the first to tell me that. Lunch time I'm guessing?" I replied, an idea coming to me, though I'd have to be careful about how I went about it.

"Indeed." He nodded, "I'm still thinking about your price. But as I said, I have already been paid to keep you here a while."

"I understand the value of a contract, no matter how distasteful the conditions." I shrugged, one of the giant clowns tossing a little loaf of bread at me.

When I didn't eat it right away, the other clown dipped the ladle in his hand into the barrel and then extended the cup through the bars at me. I leaned forward and filled my mouth with the warm tasteless water, but didn't swallow any, instead only pretending to by covering my mouth with my hand and tipping my head down as if I were swallowing.

"We can talk in the morning." He grinned, tipping his hat and motioning to one of the clowns, the cloth flopping over my cage a moment later. Once done, I took my shield 'off' my arm, and put it on the floor, face up, and 'held' it with the toes of my foot. The 'rules' about the shield said I couldn't let it go, but it didn't say how I had to hold it. Once on the floor and flat, I spit the mouthful of water into the indent that held the gem. It was covered by that weird metal cap, but still, the water didn't drip out or leak, and it partially filled the indent. Tilting the shield a few times got more of the water under the cap over the gem.

Next to me, I heard the cover over the cage move aside, and a scared gasp come from inside my neighbour's cage. "That one is sick you know." I said.

"You can tell? Yes yes, she is ill, and she has a mental disorder as well. Quite troublesome. I hope you can sleep with her next to you. She often wakes up screaming you see." He didn't laugh, and I could tell he wasn't even smiling. "Her last owner couldn't handle it, and I bought her for almost nothing."

The one we were talking about was given her share of food, but after the sip of water, I heard her try the bread and start coughing again.

"Alas, I might have to take the loss on money. We will see." And they moved on.

I waited a little, nibbling slowly at my bread while the line of growling and grumbles in the Ringmaster's path quieted with feeding time, then returned to the usual level of noise. Now alone, or at least, alone enough that I didn't risk getting caught during meal time, I looked down at my shield.

"Let's hope I don't need more water..." I mumbled to myself, wondering, hoping, this would work.

I wiggled my fingers, did a few wrist stretches, then formed a few quick 'seals' with my hands. "Mizu Hyoketsu."

My status screen with that annoying not-grey ERROR message only had one thing working for it, and that was my three 'status' bars. HP, MP and SP. My HP was just a little over double what it was when I started. Considering I was only level five, this seemed about par for 'the tank' of any RPG I'd ever played.

But, what didn't seem right, was my MP. It had also doubled. SP too. I wasn't sure, but some of my Kitsune 'magic' seemed to be leaking into my stats. It didn't seem to be effecting my base stats much, maybe not at all. But my 'magic resources' seemed oddly high for my level. Oh sure, I hadn't played any of those fancy 'VR MMO' or whatever... But I played the original Rogue, and had been playing RPG's ever since. Game math, was game math.

Even so, as I used my Senjitsu, or 'element arts' on the only element I had gotten access to (unless I spit, or used some other fluid of mine) was the water I'd just been given, my MP and SP dipped, and with a quiet crackling noise, the cap on the shield popped up.

Ice expanded about 10 percent when it froze, and in a closed space, it could easily deform and crack what ever container it was in. Carefully, I got my little fingers under the edge of the cap, and pried it off.

The ERROR message blinked one last time, then faded, and I smiled as all my icons lit back up again. I looked at the cap in my hand, and squinted at it to activate the shield's appraisal skill.

Suppression Cap

An object that limits the function of magical objects. Quality determines limit.

Quality: XXX

Figures, it had this world's equivalent to 'maximum' quality. This item was made just for the shield, as if it had been used before... But...

I held the unassuming metal cap over the gem, this time the wrong way around so it wouldn't fall back onto it and put me back at square one again. The shield took the item in, and the Almanac opened up, the icons extending past the Leaf Shield (with it's 'absorption' ability') to something much further along.

Not enough material. Level too low.

"Well... that's no different here than back home." I mumbled to myself, "Use everything you find for the next encounter..."

Now, it was time to really set to work... All bargaining was decided on your position of power. Who had the goods, the money, the upper hand... And I was going to start from here.

I worked for a couple of hours, before I heard lumbering footsteps moving through the aisles of cages again. Slowly, bit by bit, the light coming through the cloth of my cage dimmed. Ah, lights out. That was fine. I had finished with the 'detailed' work already, and the rest I could do in all but total darkness.

I did however, shift over a little so I was sitting on the array of complex designs I'd marked into the metal bottom of my cage, just in case they decided to look in on me.

The footsteps passed, the lights and sound of the prisoners around me faded, with the occasional 'SLAM' of noise from some of the more fierce prisoners, as they tried to reach the ones turning off the lights. This was quickly followed by a howl of pain and the scrape of motion over metal as the attempt was repaid with pain from the Slave Curse.

Once the lights stopped vanishing, and the noises returned to the usual level I'd come to expect over the last few hours, I started putting the last bits of my trap in place.

This world hadn't figured out proper welding it seemed, and each of the bars, while very sturdy, was slotted into place, like a peg into a hole on the top and bottom. Thick rivets held it all together, but that was fine, I didn't need to break the entire box.

I also got to 'know' my newest shield, and had to bite my lip to stop myself from giggling. My very first offensive shield. Oh sure, it was intended for utility, I mean, 'rope shield', a long spool of really strong rope. I might look like a child now... But I had two lovers, and a third in another world who all enjoyed a little rope play from time to time... Then there was an actual 'ability' attached to the Shield itself, 'Air Strike Shield'. I didn't dare activate it here, yet, but the description (you know, I almost wanted to thank whomever game up with the 'operating system' for this thing...) said 'summon a shield of force within five metres, lasts five seconds, cool down twelve seconds.

Maybe I'd gamble with it if I had to... But for now, I just finished working with the rope of my shield, and the various things I'd stored in it.

I was woken up from my nap, when someone very close started screaming. It started as a cry of fear, the cry of someone who had only a moment left, and could do nothing but scream at whatever it was that was coming to end them. I'd heard many versions of that scream, from my children, from monsters, from people who had become monsters... from myself...

But no, it was coming from the cage next to me, and just as I realized that, the pitch changed, and it became a cry of pain. I caught sight of a very faint purple glow through the cloth between our cages, and the scream of fear, then pain, gurgled and faded to nothing as the one in the cage next to me passed out.

This of course woke everyone up. And it wasn't long until others were being punished by their Slave Curses, until eventually, they had no choice but to be silent, or resist and pass out from pain.

Once the noise had returned to a low grumble, I heard the one next to me start coughing again.

NOTES!

Remember folks, Kodori can't punch heads off.

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

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