There is no Need to Worry

Tuly was happy to hear that. "Great! First, you can start practicing the manual I lent you on our way back since we're a few hours away. Oh, right! Since you know the problem of slave trading, you don't want to become targets. With that being said, I will have you pretend to be my slaves for the moment. If you already have owners, the slave traders will hardly cause you trouble. After all, their market relies on the confidence the buyers put in them. If they stole the slaves back, the slave market would eventually fall since no one would want to buy anymore."

Carol was confused by that. "That's fine, but... how exactly do we pretend to be slaves? Do we need to be chained up or something like that? I don't like that idea."

"Chains? Why would a slave need that?" Tuly asked in response, confused.

However, Grisa understood the issue. "Tuly, they came from a world without Star Energy, you know? They obviously don't know about the Slave Seals."

Tuly put a hand on his face after hearing that. "Oh, right! I'm such an idiot." He then explained how it worked. "In this world, we have things called Slave Seals. Once they're placed on someone's forehead, they will connect with that person's mind. From that point onwards, you won't be able to ever betray your master again. If you try, your soul will be attacked by the seal. If it gets destroyed, then you're basically dead. The only way to escape from it is if the master himself decides to set you free. Only the will of the master can achieve that."

Carol and Duran were shocked to hear that. "To think such a thing exists."

Well, Lian was surprised by another thing. "So... souls really exist, huh?"

Carol and Duran were taken aback for a moment. However, they had to admit Lian was right.

"Now that you mention it, this is the first time I've heard about something that can affect a soul," Duran said.

"Don't you have souls in your world?" Tuly asked back.

However, Lian and the others shook their heads. "That's not it. The point is that no one was able to prove that souls really exist back in our world. That made a lot of people think it was just an illusion created by religions. For us, for example, a soul is nothing more than the electric currents and the chemical interactions that happen in the brain."

"E-Elec-elec what? Chemicools?" Sure enough, Tuly's group had never heard that one either.

Lian shrugged his shoulders in response. "There's no need to think too much on it. Explaining would be too annoying anyway."

However, Duran and Carol were interested in the method behind the seal. "It's still not confirmed that souls really exist, though."

Lian agreed with them. "I know. Perhaps the creator of that seal found a way to detect the chemical and electrical patterns of the brain related to betrayal. Once the seals see the pattern forming, they will attack the brain cells. An attack that is directly sent to the deep parts of the brain. That's terrifying."

Tuly already gave up trying to understand Lian's group. "Alright, alright. You can talk more about the Slave Seals later. For now, I will have a fake seal drawn on your foreheads." Tuly then looked at Grisa, asking her, "Do we have any Seal Ink?"

"Of course not!" Grisa immediately shook her head. "First of all, we don't even know how to use seals. Why would we buy Seal Ink? Even the lowest level ones are useless for people like us."

"That's true..." Tuly sighed as he answered.

Seeing the puzzled expression on the faces of Lian's group, he understood he had to explain that part as well. "Well, simply put, there's a specific type of ink that must be used to create seals. I'm not sure how they're made since I've never cared about them. However, they have several different levels, and the higher the level, the stronger the seal that can be made. These inks are also used to make talismans, but that's a whole different topic, so I won't enter into great detail."

Lian's group had already made up their minds to check these things out once they got to the city. There were just way too many things they didn't know.

"Alright," Tuly continued. "We will head back to the city, so just cover your foreheads with the leather we gave you. People will probably think you're our slaves but don't want to show it. Once we get the ink, we can draw the fake seals."

Lugg then warned Lian. -Lian, you better be careful. Nothing guarantees that they will really draw fake seals. Perhaps they will take this opportunity to use real ones.-

'I know. I'm counting on you to tell me if you find something suspicious.'

With that, Tuly's group covered the carcass of the dismembered Lizak before preparing to depart. "Are you all ready?"

Everyone nodded in response. "We are fine."

"Then let's head back to Tuma. These Lizak parts will give us quite the good sum," said Tuly with a smile.

As they got away from the area where the Lizak died, Lian remembered something. "Oh, right! Tuly, how come that Lizak didn't disappear after you killed it?"

Tuly continued to walk as he looked back at Lian. "That's a special trait of the descenders. Don't ask me how or why it works like that. However, once a descender dies, they won't leave behind a body. Instead, they simply become Star Energy and disappear. There are many theories behind this phenomenon. The majority believes that the descenders' bodies are sent back to their own world. Others think that because they weren't supposed to be here, this world gets rid of all traces of their existence. But in the end, no one really knows the true reason."

Carol asked in concern, "We won't suddenly disappear while we're still alive, right?"

Tuly shook his head in response. "As far as I know, you won't. So there's no need to worry."

---

Quick note: Power Stones Deal is here again. Check the Author's thoughts below.