After a hard night's work, Okio was ready to fall asleep. But, reminded that her master was staying at a nearby inn and that workers would come early in the morning, she tried to keep herself awake by washing her new clothes that had become dirty. Cleaning them off and even finishing drying them with a magic press iron that she'd found in one of the bedrooms, she wore the dress once more and decided to get her master and inform him that her task was done instead of waiting.
Knowing that the tallest building in town was the inn, she followed a path that led to where the top of the place seemed to be. Walking around town freely, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Countless men and women were looking at her strangely; some had seen her before at the slaver, others were curious about her broken horn, and some were simply infatuated by her beauty.
Trying to ignore them, she kept her head lowered and continued to walk. Keeping her distance from everyone, she made sure not to get in anyone's way, and by the time she reached the spot, her neck was hurting from looking down for so long.
'This should be the place.' Steeling her heart, she quickly stepped inside. But to her surprise, the very first person she saw was none other than the hero who'd come to look at her at the slave trader. 'What…is he doing here?'
Sitting in a chair and leaning forward on the reception desk, Rudy was filling in for his mother as she'd gone to the market with a couple of other employees. Buying essentials and other items, but it has taken so long that the bored hero was fighting the urge to fall asleep right then and there.
At first, Okio was surprised, but the reminder of that night and the feeling of being given hope only for it to be taken away turned that surprise into something more sinister. Angrily, she began walking towards the reception, her hands folded neatly by her hips. Stopping right before the hero, she glared down at him until he finally noticed her presence and looked up.
"How can I help you–" As soon as Rudy's gaze met her, he almost choked on his spit. "Y-you…what are you doing here?"
Staring at him some more, Okio wasn't sure whether to be mad at the young man or be thankful that he wasn't her master. Already, she could tell that he was in no way better than Zephyr–and that realization made her anger break into a subtle smile.
"I'm looking for my master; he's staying here." She said, pointing her finger at the ledger of customer names.
"O-oh…" For a spell, Rudy stared at her, wondering who bought her in the end. A pang of jealousy burned in his heart, as well as frustration towards himself, since he thought that he couldn't save her from a monster. "What's their name? I'll look for it."
"Master Custer." Only knowing the false name of the devil, she gave him just that.
"Custer?" Furrowing his brows, Rudy began looking through the ledger. In the middle of his search, however, he was reminded of who that was. Quickly looking back up at the woman, he blinked a few times in disbelief. "Him? Uhmm, I guess it makes sense since he already…"
Spotting himself from finishing that sentence, he noticed the woman's list of lewd stats popping right next to her. He tried not to look, but eventually he did. To his surprise, the woman was still a virgin even though she'd already been bought. But if last night was anything to go by, with Aura moaning as loud as she was, that wouldn't last long.
With a gulp, he turned his head to her face.
'Him again? Didn't he already have sex with so many girls that the counter was busted on his list? Why does he need her as well!?' His jealousy burned even deeper. For, while he, a hero and an adventurer, was struggling to confess his love or get some practice in bed before he had sex with his crush, a flimsy-looking merchant was adding more girls to his harem. 'Ughh… I should've bought her. Now who knows how badly he's gonna treat her.'
Assuming Custer to be a monster as well if he was buying slaves left and right, Rudy truly believed that he'd made a mistake, and now this woman would have to suffer because of it. If only it had been him who'd bought her, then perhaps he could've treated her nicely and well…gotten some practice in before confessing his love and sharing the bed with Roxanne for the very first time.
"Hello?" The sudden voice snapped the hero out of his skull, and waiting angrily before him was the very slave he was fussing over. "Can you just tell me where my master is? I don't want to stand here while you stare at me like that!"
Genuinely angry for the first time since becoming a slave, Okio snapped at Rudy.
"S-sorry, I–he's on the upper floor, left-most room!" Lowering his head with embarrassment, Rudy shook his head. "But you know…"
Looking up again, he tried to hold a weak smile.
"If you need any help, maybe I can–"
"No, thank you, you've helped enough," Okio interjected before walking away from the counter.
Watching the slave woman disappear upstairs, Rudy wondered how he could help her get out of the slave contract. He thought it would be for the best and perhaps even forgive him for what happened when he'd visited her at the slaver's place.
'There must be a way that I can help her, right?' He thought, assuming himself to be the savior that she might need. But what he refused to see was that the woman herself did not want anything to do with him. In his mind, she was angry, but that was natural, given Custer's treatment of her, surely. 'Even if she's angry now, maybe once I save her, then she'll forgive me?'
A young hero trying to play a role for which he was severely underqualified. Unfortunately for Rudeia, his stubbornness refused to let him see that he wasn't the man that he thought he was.