The Town's Vitality

Leaving the bodies out in the open didn't sit right, so they decided to cremate them with Alexia's magic.

That done, they camped a distance away, spent the night, and resumed the journey home.

No trouble worth mentioning. They passed through Empire territory and crossed back into the Kingdom.

At last, with the long trip behind them, they arrived at the town Master called home.

But something felt off.

The number of carriages coming and going was low.

It was never especially high traffic, but the town's location meant there was always a steady trickle.

Yet now, before noon, there were barely any carriages outside the walls.

They cleared the checkpoint without waiting in line and entered.

Inside, things didn't look dramatically different.

It hadn't been that long of a trip, not years of absence. It was hard to imagine anything major had changed.

They returned the carriage. No damage, so no extra charges.

The gemstones went to a jeweler Master knew.

Selling them at the tool shop wouldn't suit the clientele.

He didn't have the expertise either, so he simply passed them along wholesale.

Even so, the profit was more than sufficient.

He understood now why some merchants did nothing but shuttle back and forth to Spartia.

A pouch packed tight with gold coins.

The combined proceeds from selling the elemental crystals and the trade goods.

Master weighed that in his hand with satisfaction.

Finn had skimmed a cut, but they'd still cleared over a hundred gold coins.

He sold off the gemstones and headed back to the shop.

The employee was restocking shelves, so he asked if there'd been any problems.

"Nothing in particular. Though we've had fewer customers lately."

"I see…"

"Also, that bronze statue is apparently almost finished."

"That's unwelcome news."

The memory of being thrown in a cell by the lord's son surfaced in Master's mind.

And the money that had been squeezed out of him afterward.

He left the employee in charge and went through to the living quarters in the back.

The slaves entered from the rear. He had them dust off before coming inside.

They gathered in Master's room.

Master was changing his clothes.

The slaves sat on the floor in their usual spots.

It had been a while since this scene.

"First things first, do your laundry and maintain your weapons."

"Yes. What should we do after that?"

Azu asked.

There was a time he'd have punished her for speaking without permission, but the long trip had deepened their understanding of each other, or so Master felt.

Besides, stamping out initiative had its own problems.

Slaves who did nothing but follow orders were a dime a dozen.

There was no need to reduce these three to that.

He also just didn't want them working with dead eyes.

Master thought for a moment, then spoke.

"No particular work right now. How about you go buy Elza a priest robe?"

He'd been meaning to upgrade Elza from a habit to a proper priest robe anyway.

Adventuring priests were common enough that even regular clothing shops stocked them.

"I'll be buried in backlogged work for a while. This should be enough."

He transferred some gold coins into a small pouch and handed it to Azu.

She accepted it with both hands. The weight made her tense.

"I'll go with Elza-san after we're done."

"Thank you, Azu-chan."

Elza seemed to have no objections to a priest robe.

"I'd like to rest once I'm finished, if that's acceptable."

"Do as you like. Azu, pick up dinner too."

"Yes."

The slaves filed out of Master's room.

Master attacked the mountain of work on his desk.

Azu and the others changed first and did their laundry.

They hung the clothes out back and tended to their weapons.

Alexia returned to her room as announced.

Seeing her off, Azu and Elza headed for the main shopping street.

"Not many people around."

"You're… right."

Elza's observation prompted Azu to look around again.

This was the busiest street in town.

And yet people were sparse.

It was usually much livelier.

Several shops weren't even open.

Fortunately, the shop they wanted was.

An adventurer-oriented outfitter.

They bought a priest robe that fit Elza and a chainmail shirt to wear underneath.

After the purchase, Elza chatted with the shopkeeper for a bit.

A paying customer got at least that much courtesy, even a first-timer.

They left the shop. Elza had changed inside and was now wearing the priest robe.

Unlike the dark-colored habit in black or navy, the priest robe was white and red, a bit flashy.

Slits ran up both sides of the skirt for ease of movement.

As befitting a cleric, the slits weren't terribly deep, but her fair legs peeked through.

"It looks great on you."

"Thanks, Azu-chan."

With the robe and Elza's looks, the compliment was entirely deserved.

"What were you talking about in there?"

"Oh, business conditions while we were away, public safety, that sort of thing."

"I wouldn't have thought to ask about that."

"Ahaha. Observing people and spotting problems is part of a priestess's job."

There was a saying that churches thrived on other people's troubles.

It sharpens your eye for things, Elza added.

"Apparently public safety's gotten bad. There's been a prowler at night. At first it was small animals turning up dead, but…"

Just recently a person had been attacked too, the shopkeeper had said with a sigh.

The incidents only happened at night, but that was enough to explain the closed shops and thin crowds.

"Um, wouldn't the guard patrol normally handle something like this?"

"Normally, yes. Because otherwise people get scared and stop going out, just like now."

If Master had been there, he'd have put it in terms of sluggish economic activity.

They hadn't seen a single guard patrol since leaving the shop.

The guardhouse had people in it, but they were lounging around with bottles and some kind of game.

"Absolutely no discipline."

Even Elza was appalled.

Townspeople glanced at the guardhouse and whispered among themselves. Even Azu could feel the sour mood hanging over the whole town.

Azu was keenly sensitive to the ill will of others.

"Let's hurry home."

Azu wanted to be back at Master's house rather than out here.

For dinner, they bought meatball soup and bread for four.

Elza carried the clothes and bread; Azu carried the soup.

They'd brought a carrying bag, so it wasn't a problem.