Chapter 13: The old acquaintance.

Note: If I ever miss changing 3000 years to 10000 years, please not whenever Kibadios says 3k years (his past, 1st reincarnation), he meant 10k years. I originally wanted the past to be 3000 years ago, but I changed my mind later and chose it to be 10k years ago. Just saying...

Since Kibadios and his harem were camping just a few hours away from Lorian, they were able to finally make it to the capital at just half past ten. Lorian, the capital of the Maeg Kingdom, was unlike any other small towns Kibadios has passed on the way. First and foremost, it was huge. Even compare to several large towns that Kibadios has passed through, the capital was at least six times their sizes. Protecting the city was a large stone wall structure with numerous watch towers. According to Ryan, there were more than 6 gates leading into the capital and the gate they were entering right now was one of the largest. Indeed, as the hybrid's carriage approached, the gate seemed to be growing more and more with each step they took. Instead of wooden structure gates that were found in other towns, Lorian's gates, or at least the one they were entering, was made of metal reinforced with protective magic. Once reaching the gate, he noticed several soldiers, covered in high class armors that hide almost all of their bodies, were inspecting any travellers who wanted to get inside.

「Name and purpose?」The leader of the city gate's guards asked Kibadios' group.

「My name is Ryan, a hero. I am here in response to a royal summon.」Ryan calmly responded, then he turned to the hybrid, who has disguised himself as human to lessen any scrutiny they might get from the guards. 「And here is my master, Kibadios-sama!」

「...Master… of a hero?」surprised the guard as he examined the authenticity of the royal summons. After all, heroes, pinnacles of human existence, were supposed to be the leader of their respective party. It was not too often they would encounter a hero who served someone else.

「Yeah, I am nothing but his loyal retainer.」Ryan shoot the hybrid a smiling look. After all, on the way, Kibadios had planned to act as Ryan's party member and follower, but the hero fervently refused and insisted to have people acknowledge from the beginning that Kibadios was his master.

「... Hmm」the guard looked at Rowan and Maia. 「So, what about them?」

「We are also Kibadios sama's retainers.」Maia replied with a smile.

「... Having a hero to serve as your retainer, you must be a big shot, huh?」

「Not really, I'm just an adventurer. Just by chance I helped saving Ryan's life so he swore to follow and serve me… not that something I wanted but he kept insisting… hahaha」Kibadios lied.

「Is that so? Okay, you guys can...」the guard looked at Kibadios from head to toe. As he almost let them pass, he was interrupted as Kibadios' chest suddenly swell up. The surprised and confused guard slowly poked the hybrid's breast. 「What… is this?」

「CHiiiii!!!」a small shadow quickly popped up from inside Kibadios' shirt, then quickly slid up along his face and nested on top of his head.

「A slime??」asked the guard.

「Oh yeah, we picked up this little guy here on our way here.」Kibadios raised his arms above his head to grab onto his newly adopted pet. The slime, who he named Nu, was a low class monster he found right after his big mock battle with Ryan. According to Rowan, during the clash, some of the hybrid's and Ryan's haki had shot up to the sky and hit a flying monster, causing it to drop its prey down onto the ground. The prey, which turned out to be a cute little slime, was adopted by the hybrid as his pet after Maia seemed to have fallen in love with its cuteness. Since Ryan guaranteed them that despite being classified as monsters, having a slime as a pet was fairly normal, Kibadios did not find any problems with keeping the slime. After all, he was also fond of the cute little slime himself since it reminded the hybrid of his dog during his life on Earth.

「A slime huh? That scared me. I thought you're growing boobs right there!」laughed the guard. Although it annoyed the hybrid, he remained calm since causing a scene here would make it harder for him to cross the checkpoint. 「Oh well, everything seems to be fine. You guys can come in… Welcome to Lorian, capital of Maeg! Hero-sama, you can report to the Royal Inn, they will make arrangements for your stay here at Lorian. Further instructions will be given to you there.」

After a few nods and thanks, the hybrid made it in the city without any problem. The group took a few steps inside, then both Rowan and Maia suddenly stop moving. For people coming from a mere isolated village like them, who might have never set foot into the capital had it not been for their master, the pair was dumbfounded by the grandeur of Lorian. The capital's main street, despite being as wide as a highway back on earth, were packed with people and carriages. Each side of the road were decorated with fully grown row of trees that cast an undisrupted shadow onto the smooth pavements, providing refuge for people in the summer heat. According to Ryan, during the springtime, these trees would be blooming yellow with their flower, providing a pleasing aesthetic to the city itself. Still sitting on top of the hybrid's head, the slime was also excited to be in Lorian as it continuously jumped up and down, making noises.

「That's not good, Nu-chan!」Maia finally removed the slime off of Kibadios' head. 「Stop jumping on top of Kibadios sama's head. Stay here with me!」

The slime finally calmed down as it laid there in Maia's arms and tugged itself nicely underneath her breast. You little shit… Kibadios shot him a look but soon turned his gaze to another direction as he realized he was jealous of a pet. That and the fact that he realized he could ravage Maia's body any time he wanted has quickly calmed him down.

「Kibadios sama.」called out Ryan 「You guys can have a look around, I will go to the guild for a bit.」

「You're going to ask for the home address of the priestess in your party?」Asked Maia.

「Yeah. Since most of the records of adventurers are kept here, at the largest guild in the country, I should be able to find out her home address. As I have told you, she told me that she usually sends money back to her hometown for her sick parents so I just want to continue sending them some money in her stead... It's the least I could do for her.」

「We can come with you.」said Kibadios.

「Huh? It's fine, Master. I don't want to bother you. Besides, I also want to hang out at the guild for a while to gather some information too. 」

「Are you sure?」

「Yes. Besides, Master, Rowan-chan, and Maia-chan. You guys have never been to the capital right? You can walk around, there are a lot of fun attractions. There's also a huge marketplace a few blocks from here, you can find almost everything for sale there.」

「「Really?」」Both Rowan and Maia���s eyes were brightened up.

「If that's the case, I'll take a look around.」

「I'll be waiting at the guild for you guys.」

「Good. We'll be back within an hour or so.」

Once Ryan has entered the guild, Maia turned to her master. 「Let's check out the marketplace Ryan mentioned. I bet it's going to be fun.」

「Sure.」the hybrid nodded. After all, he's also curious about what it had to offer.

------

「I'll take this one.」said Kibadios as he held out the circlet.

「Is that a present for Ryan chan?」asked Maia

「Yeah. After all, a hero needs his circlet to have a more heroish look.」The hybrid reminisced about all the JRPGs he had played during his first life. 「You two arent jealous, are you?」

「No, of course not!」Answered Rowan while touching the feather connected to his earring 「We already have received our own gifts from you」

「Why dont we go over there, where the crowd is?」asked Maia once her master has finished paying for Ryan's gift.

「Wow, that's a lot of people. What's happening there?」wondered Rowan

The three people soon made their way through the sea of people. This marketplace, befitting its unofficial title of "Largest gathering in the Kingdom of Maeg", was unimaginably huge. It was probably more than ¾ the size of Rowan and Maia's village, with merchants gathered from various corners of the kingdom, with some even came from outside the kingdom border. Just like how Ryan told Kibadios, since the Kingdom of Maeg did not actively discriminate against demihumans, the hybrid could see lots of nonhumans walking around the marketplace, some were buyers, some were sellers. Still, since he has decided to keep his identity hidden, he did not want to remove his disguise here.

「100 copper coins!!!」yelled out someone at the middle of the large gathering that Kibadios and his two slaves were heading toward. 「Any higher bid? Going once... going twice… SOLD!」

「An auction?」

「I wonder what are they auctioning?」

「Who knows.」

「Slaves.」A husky voice spoke out from behind.

Kibadios turned around to look at the person who just answered their question. It was a tall and muscular man, or at least that was the impression the hybrid got since his entire body, except for his head, was cladded in armors. With his dark wavy long hair covered the top half of his face, his exceptionally white shark-like teeth stood out even more than usual . With just one glance, Kibadios could tell the man standing behind him was a dangerous individual. His haki alone was only comparable to Ryan's; however, since the hybrid could tell that the man was actively suppressing his own haki, it meant his true haki level was much higher than Ryan. He's clearly a hero class human!!! ...

「... You are?」asked Kibadios

「...」The hero stared down at the hybrid for a while, then finally answered. 「My name is Kyles. I bet you're a traveller from far away since you dont know about their famous slave auction.」

「I am an adventurer. This is my first time at Lorian.」

「... Is that so? And these two are...」

「We are his retainers.」answered Rowan. 「We came from a small village so this is the first time ever I see a live auction of slaves… 」

「I see.」

The four of them finally made it to the front row. On the stage was a flamboyantly dressed auctioneer, his face donned with a lively grin as if he was leading a festive event. Yet, kneeling down next to him was a half naked man, his body was covered in fresh wounds, his hands were cuffed behind his back. Once the payment was made by the bidder, the auctioneer remorselessly dragged the slave by his unkempt hair to his new owner.

「You just got yourself a bargain!」laughed the auctioneer as he handed the goods.

「I know! I know!」nodded the bidder.

Once the auctioneer made his way back to the middle of the stage, he continued on

「Now, to conclude the event today… The rare and high class slave that most of you have come here for… The elf-girl that we have recently caught from a hunting trip! Her beauty rivals those of princesses from royal houses...」the auctioneer signaled his henchmen to bring out the elf. 「Yllaner!!! 」

Despite being caught as a slave, the light blue hair girl, unlike others who were treated badly in her batch, was still dressed in a beautiful high class garment. Although her smooth, white skin showed no sight of injuries, her hands were still tied behind her back to prevent the elf-girl from escaping.

「As you can see, I did not lie about her beauty!」The auctioneer held her chin up, allowing the crowd to take a good look at the good. The elf-girl face was both elegant and prideful, her deep blue eyes instantly captivated both men and women in the crowd. 「Once she's your slave, with the slave crest, you can force her to do anything… I promise you, she will be the perfect onahole!」

The men among the crowd cheered. Presented with the beautiful maiden, some of the rich ugly bastards sitting in the front row were unable to hide the bulges in their pants while their hands busy wiping away their drools. After all, this was the reason why the crowd was abnormally large compared to the usual auctions.

「Master, look at that elf… 」Rowan nudged his master, who stood right next to him. As a man himself, he could fully appreciate Yllaner's beauty while as his master's loyal slave, he could tell Yllaner would be the perfect addition into Kibadios' harem. Strangely, his nudge received no response. Curious, the teenager turned to his master, only to witness something he had never witnessed before: In front of his eyes, his master stood frozen, his eyes opened wide without a single blink. From the edge of his eye slits, tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping onto his clothes. Taken back aghast by their master's strange behavior, both Maia and Rowan hurriedly leaped next to their master.

「「What's wrong, Kibadios sama??」」

「That cant be her...」Kibadios murmured to himself. 「She was dead… She was clearly killed by that fucking bitch and the bitch's dad more than 10000 years ago… 」

「Who was dead?」asked Rowan worryingly.

「... Master!!」Maia tried shook the hybrid but it was Nu, the slime, who brought the hybrid back to reality by climbing onto his head and stomping it hard with his entire jelly-ish body.

BONGGG!!!

「... That fucking hurts, you little shit!」Kibadios angrily removed Nu from his head.

「「Master, are you okay?」」

「... Yeah. I'm fine.」The hybrid sneakily wiped away his tears. Ignoring the puzzled looks from his two slaves, Kibadios turned his gaze back onto the stage. That elf-girl, Yllaner, looks just like Sylvia . But I can tell they're not the same person. Is that her reincarnation? Or is that just a random doppelganger? 「She looks… just like someone who was dear to me.」

「The girl?」surprised Rowan. The healer knew that his master was only born more than a year ago, so it was puzzling that he has met someone else before meeting them…

The girl must have looked like someone from his village? Rowan came to the most logical conclusion. Still, he could not explain the part about her being "killed more than 10000 years ago." 「If that's the case, should we rescue her?」

「... No.」The hybrid coldly answered after a brief moment of hesitation. After suffering unspeakable tragedies in every single reincarnation, the hybrid named Kibadios now knew only of vengeance. He believed that he had long discarded any unnecessary emotions and attachments, since they were the very causes for his downfall during his first reincarnation. Even if the elf-girl named Yllaner looked just like his beloved wife, so what? She died. She has been dead for more than 10000 years now, along with everyone else that he once loved. This Yllaner was nothing but a stranger… Even if she was the reincarnation of Sylvia, so what? In the end, she was not Sylvia, she could never be his Sylvia. She was nothing but a distraction.「Having her joining our party would just distract me. It's better for her to be sold off somewhere out of my sight... 」