Chapter 22: Shopping
Mike got off the carriage and turned around and helped Lana off the carriage too by offering her his hand
"Thank you Mike"
While he did so he received some glares from the knight that was about to help Lana off the carriage but ignored it, as soon as Lana got off the carriage she walked up to the front of it and petted one of the giant wolves that had pulled the carriage for her
"Good boy"
The giant wolf behaved just like a puppy and frawned on Lana for a bit before she turned back and asked Mike
"Wanna pet him?"
"...Sure"
Mike walked over, as he neared the wolf glared a bit at him but he calmly matched its gaze and eventually the wolf looked away, this made Lana a little surprised, Mike approached the wolf and slowly began petting it, feeling the soft fur in his hands a thought crossed his mind
'Man I want a giant wolf too…'
Lana that stood beside him gave a smile as she read his expression, but she remained silent and spoke
"This is a silver wolf, this one is Max, he's 12 this year"
Mike gave a nod and fluffed Max's ears with a blissful expression on his face as Lana continued speaking
"I have been raising silver wolves all my life and thus I can tell that you like them, did you perhaps have contact with wolves before Mike?"
"Nah not wolves anyway… I have some experience with dogs though, we had one when I was small that lived until it was 14 years old…"
"I see… Well then let's go inside and get this party started!"
"Sure, I am famished"
Mike followed after Lana into the manor and was surprised to see servants milling about, more specifically maids, genuine maids! While wearing a smile on his face he admired the maids that walked past for a while before he eventually imagined Julie in a maid uniform and almost got a nosebleed, Lana looked at him with a knowing expression and gave a sigh
"Oh how good it is to be young"
"...I'll try to control myself, but if one of them insists on washing my back I don't think I would be able to hold back"
Lana gave a giggle
"You sure are honest Mike"
"Well I have been told it's one of my finer qualities"
Soon the two of them arrived in a dining room with a long table, Lana took a seat at the end of the table while Mike took a seat next to her, meanwhile, Lana waved over a butler
"Prepare some food and booze!"
"Yes at once lady Lana"
From there the party got started with the two of them drinking and eating while they chatted long into the night, Mike eventually told Lana that he was from another world which piqued her interest, after talking about Mike's homeworld for some time the topic eventually shifted to the silver wolves were Mike expressed his desire to own one of his own, Lana, however, informed him that she had no silver wolves ready for adoption which left Mike a little disappointed.
After that Mike suddenly remembered that he had to test his new skill and asked Lana
"Oh right, Lana do you have any connections to any slave traders?"
"I do, why do you ask?"
"I need to test my newest skill"
"Oh sure in that case Let's go slave shopping tomorrow, but now let's drink!"
Mike gave a smile and raised his glass to toast with Lana…
The next morning Mike slowly awoke, to his surprise he didn't have a headache and after drinking the glass of water that stood on the night table he felt completely fine and quickly got dressed before he opened his hand and the knife came flying from the night table and landed in his hand
"...Morning"
Mike caressed the knife before he put it into its sheath before he walked out of the guest room to find Lana so they could go shopping
'For slaves that is… is it just me or does that sound very wrong?'
Mike shook his head, he had often seen slaves getting beaten in the cities he visited for work and was starting to get used to the fact that slavery was a thing in this world, soon he arrived at the dining hall and found Lana sitting seemingly waiting for him at the end of the table, Mike gave a smile and sat down as he greeted her
"Good morning Lana"
"Good morning Mike, let's get some food and then go out shopping"
"Sure"
After the two of them were done eating they took Lana's carriage out to the slave market and got off the carriage, Mike looked around and generally saw misery where ever he looked and gave a sigh
'I'll never end up like that… I'll rise above'
"Come on Mike, I'll introduce you to a slave merchant"
"Okay"
Mike followed after Lana into a shop where a fat middle aged merchant out form the back and showed a wide smile when he saw Lana and spoke in a humble tone of voice
"Welcome lady Lana"
"Jan, how's business?"
The fat middle aged merchant gave a wide smile as he answered
"It's good, very good in fact… This young man is?"
"He's the one that caused the mess in the temple yesterday"
The fat middle aged merchant's smile stiffened slightly before he spoke to Mike in a humble tone
"Welcome to my shop, I know that lady Lana doesn't care for slaves thus it must be you who want something from my shop, no?"
"Yes I want to buy a slave or two"
"I see, well then please follow after me"
Mike and Lana followed after Jan into the back and soon they arrived at a room where Jan sat them down in a couch before he excused himself to go and get his merchandise, Lana and Mike sat in the couch and chatted for a bit before there was a knock on the door and Jan entered followed by three scantily clad young women that lined up in front of Mike and Lana as Jan spoke
"These are among the best of my current inventory, from the left to the right the price is 14.000, 12.000 and 16.000"
Mike looked over the women and gave a sigh then he spoke
"I'll take the one in the middle"
Speaking of the woman in the middle she was about as tall as Mike and had long white hair that reached her lower back, besides that she had the smallest 'assets' of the three but they were by no means small, her eyes however looked dead which gave the impression that she, like the other two were corpses that had been dressed up
"Very well, how would you like to pay?"
"In cash"
Mike took out the required amount of money from a leather pouch and paid the merchant that gave a happy nod and quickly handed the slave contact over to Mike, once he held the contact that was made with magical means he felt control over the young woman that stood in front of him, Mike gave a nod and asked Jan
"Do you have some other clothes for her to wear?"
"Yes, one moment please"
Jan walked out back and quickly returned with a hooded robe that he gave to the young woman that wore it, now Mike had an easier time looking at her, you know now that she actually wore what could be considered real clothes, then he and Lana stood up from the couch and walked out of the shop followed by Jan that bowed deeply once they reached the front and spoke
"Remember once you grow tired of her I can re-buy her for half the price"
Mike felt disgusted inside but still gave a nod and got on the carriage along with Lana and the young woman once inside the carriage Mike gave a long sigh which made Lana ask him
"What? Was there not slavery in your old world?"
"No, at least not like this…"
Lana gave a nod before she closed her eyes to rest as the carriage slowly moved back towards the manor, meanwhile Mike looked over at the young woman and asked her
"What's your name?"
"...Master can call me whatever you want"
Mike gave a slight frown and spoke again
"That's not what I asked you"
"...My name is Rebecca Master"
Mike gave a nod and leaned back on his seat and also closed his eyes, soon the carriage arrived at the manor where the three of them exited the carriage and Lana turned to Mike and asked him with a slightly lewd smile on her face
"Now do you want to enjoy your purchase first or..?"
"Mike gave a long sigh and spoke in a slightly tired sounding voice
"You know that's not why I brought her…"
"Well in that case I want to see it too, let's got to my lab"
"Sure"
Mike walked a few steps before he looked back at Rebecca that followed after him and gave a smile that chilled Rebecca's already dead heart