30. Creama

"This place is a lot more bustling."

"Of course. Creama is the capital city of Marquis Walter's domain."

Thyra was walking down the streets of Creama along with Jullia. Kaya and Hilda were left behind at Viscount Manor in the city.

Thyra wore a white shirt and brown pants with a dark cotton corset. There was also a robe that covered her entire body. It was a style of clothing often seen on mercenaries and intrepid explorers. Naturally, it didn't draw too much attention.

She was also carrying a longsword. As she had started to train under Ruth, she used the longsword as her weapon of choice.

After hearing that, Justin gifted her a long sword with a blue thunder topaz in its hilt as a gift. Since it drew too much attention, she substituted her longsword, which was forged by the blacksmith she had commissioned to create the training implements.

Other than that, she was also carrying a couple of daggers. The weapon she was most accustomed to from her Earth days.

"And this is the market street." Jullia explained, "This is the only street in the city where you won't need to pay any taxes to sell something."

"Huh? Then wouldn't everyone sell everything here?"

"You won't have to pay taxes to the marquis, but you have to pay taxes to the adventure guilds and mercenary companies." Jullia thought for a moment before adding, "It's better to say you won't need it as long as you are registered with the adventure guild or a mercenary company."

"You are registered with the adventure guild, right?" Thyra asked.

"Why? Do you want to sell anything?"

"No, I want to buy something."

"What?" Jullia took one moment to decipher her intention before adding, "If you are looking for the essence, it's better to go to the guild. There will be less chance of being cheated."

"Let's go, then."

"But if you are looking specifically for slime essence, then…"

"Ahhhhhhhh…" A piercing scream didn't give Jullia a chance to complete her sentence. When they turned to look, they saw the man had been thrown into the stand by the opponent's attack.

"How dare you touch what is mine?" A crisp voice resonated in the surprisingly silent marketplace.

The man who was attacked might have already lost consciousness. But his friends swiftly pulled out their weapons. "You weren't even interested in it before we grabbed it."

"I saw it first." The crisp voice spoke again. She was a little over 150 meters tall and wore a very extravagant dress. The dress didn't match the surroundings. However, the dress and her chubby figure were enough to tell that she was a noble.

However, their confrontation had exceeded the limits of mere talks. All four of them attacked together.

On the girl's side were two maids and two bare-chested men. The maids weren't of any use in the fight, while the spike-collared, bare-chested men jumped forward to protect the girl.

"They are battle slaves." Even without Jullia's explanation, Thyra could recognise them.

Although the contracts Thyra had signed with Aria, Jullia, and about 34 other recruits looked like slave contracts, they didn't hinder their everyday lives. To be precise, it didn't even affect them as long as they didn't betray them.

However, the men in front of her were different. They have no right other than to listen to their masters. Even if their masters ordered them to die, they would have to commit suicide.

"Those are real slaves."

Jullia nodded, adding, "They are from the other side of the sea. They must have cost more than 100 golds each."

"Oh!" Thyra was a little shocked. That much money would have been enough to fully arm a quarter of her army.

"They won't be able to beat them."

"Who? The slaves?"

Jullia didn't need to answer. Even with the weapon, the four of them didn't get the chance to leave a scratch on the slave's skin. They were subdued quickly.

"Ahhhhh…" Just when everybody thought it was over, the chubby noble screamed.

It was only then that others noticed there was a fifth partner in the group. He was now holding a dagger to the chubby girl's throat.

"Stop." The fifth member shouted. "Or, I will kill her."

"Do you know who I am?" On the other hand, the chubby girl was screaming louder than him. "If my father learns about this, your father, brother, and son will be beaten. Your mother, sister, and wife will be sold to a brothel. You will…"

"From her elaborate description, I don't think it is the first time she is doing it," Jullia mumbled, and Thyra had a similar idea. Jullia continued, "Should we help? She is noble."

"There is no need."

As soon as Thyra said that, a young man jumped out of the crowd and subdued the fifth member without any problem. The teenager was so agile he quickly supported the chubby girl who was about to fall.

"Are they shooting some kind of movie?"

"Movie?" Jullia looked toward Thyra for an explanation. However, Thyra continued smiling without answering.

"Young master Kreza!" The chubby girl blushed. She quickly jumped out of Kreza's embrace and fixed her dress.

"Young lady, you shouldn't be in this kind of place. Let me escort you home." The young master led the chubby girl out of the street without caring about the damaged properties. And with escort knights with them, no one dared to demand anything either.

"Kreza! Kreza!" Thyra felt the name sounded familiar. But she couldn't remember where she had heard it.

"My lady, should we go?" She followed Julia to the mercenary company called 'The Dragon Essence' mercenary company.

"Oh! If it isn't Jullia," She was greeted at the door. After some small talk, she was led to the company commander.

"Varsa, I think you got Hure's letter, right?" As soon as she sat down opposite the bald man.

Varsa, the bald commander, didn't answer and continued to stare at Thyra. After a moment, he asked, "You want to become the king of the kingdom?"

"Varsa?" Jullia shouted.

Thyra waved her hand before turning towards Varsa, "Currently, I am trying to survive. Nothing more, nothing less."

Varsa broke into a smile, "You talk just like the Queen Mother."

"Varsa, show some respect to the princess."

"No need, Jullia. We are here to do some business. There is no need to care for those superficial things."

Varsa broke out into thunderous laughter. "I like you," he said, pulling a fist-sized stone from her jacket.

"This is a new product." He pushed it toward Thyra. "It has yet to come to the market."

"You are talking about slime essence, right?" Thyra had never seen slime essence. As a matter of fact, she had never seen any essence at all.

Her body had already absorbed the thunder bull essence before she came to this world. On the other hand, Hure kept all the slime essence. So, it was her first time seeing one.

But what surprised her more was the fact, Varsa was talking like it was some kind of laboratory product.

Varsa nodded in response, adding, "But these are different. It is also cheaper."

"Cheaper?" Jullia asked.

"Rather than hunting wild slime, these were extracted from the slime they have farmed."

As Thyra looked at them, Thyra felt something moving inside the stone. She couldn't stop herself from touching it.

"Unlike wild slime, these essence doesn't generate many abilities, mostly…"

That was the last thing Thyra heard. Her mind went blank as soon as her finger touched the essence stone.

Varsa and Jullia saw in shock that Thyra had lost consciousness.

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