Chapter 1533: Favor from Sarah
Surprisingly, they received a guest in the middle of the meeting.
It was Sarah and Gurnam.
The Voumi slaves they had received so far were living well, considering everything. This was especially regarding those who got captured earlier.
These people hadn’t stopped working and hunting for monsters, and they had slowly been saving up contribution points and some money. They had to pay back the amount Alterra (and Otto) spent to free them, too.
However, there had been a lot of challenges. For one, it was awkward to encounter visitors from Limestone Valley. Even if compared to normal wars, the losses of Limestone Valley were extremely small; Terrans simply could not see the deaths as mere ’numbers’.
Many had lost at least an acquaintance or someone they had greeted at least once, and some had lost a friend or a family member. It was inevitable for them to feel horrible when they saw people they associated with their deaths.
In the same vein, there were also a lot of Alterrans uncomfortable with them for now, even if they were technically no longer Voumi slaves. They were not a majority, but they weren’t exactly few either.
Some Alterrans knew those people who had died, and even if they didn’t, the stigma of killing brethren—especially within their alliance—would be attached to them for a long time.
The only fortunate thing was that no one had openly bullied or ostracized anyone. Ignore them, sure, pretend they didn’t exist, definitely, but no one went out of their way to isolate the former Voumi slaves, which was already beyond what they had expected.
This was primarily because of the rules, as well as the culture and values being perpetuated passively amongst the masses.
Peace and comfort were too good, why would they risk it? Just pretend not to see them.
Another reason for this was that all survivors from Voumi were relatively skilled and could carry their own weight. They’d just group together and hunt together, and all was well.
If they dared show even a bit of weakness or stupidity, then they’d definitely get a lot of sneers and head-shaking, which was seriously annoying.
So far, everyone had saved up a decent amount to meet their needs and even had savings so they could save up enough so—someday—they could pay for the money used to free them. This would also be the eventual case for the slaves Otto bought.
Speaking of the successful trip to Voumi, they doubted they’d be able to pull of something similar again. They wondered what they would have to do to get the other Terrans.
The only times they, Terrans, got lucky and obtained a lot of bonus ’free’ slaves were during the 5-villages war.
When an allied Lord died during another’s war, and got his village destroyed, then the slaves would also be freed.
This was what happened to Hasa Village’s back then, when it fell during the Resso-Alterra war. It allowed the Mauin Villagers to rescue their brethren, who fortunately did not have the slave tag in them anymore.
That would not happen again, at least not any time soon, but there were also Terrans whose families were actively finding ways to find them. For example, Sarah, and this was the reason why she was here in the first place.
She needed to track down her brother. She could not wait any longer. The longer she waited, the more the boy suffered. How could she just ’hope for the best’ and ’hope he found a good master’ and leave it at that?
At the same time, she knew that it would not be easy, and the monsters there—wherever he was brought in, knowing that it was at least a superior Town—could easily kill her. She was no use to Milo dead.
At their current strength, they were pretty much useless.
"Please, Elders, if there’s anything I can help with to expedite finding the sold slaves, please use me."
Mathilda, the representative, stared at them. "We are currently investigating this, and we have gained an ally among them," she said. She was referring to a certain host-slave who fell in love with a Terran, an interesting bit of info that their spies, Hiro and Atlas, had found.
Sadly, some of the buyers did not disclose where they were from and...they found out that the child was taken to a City. Which one, they did not know, but one thing was for certain: Sarah and Gurnam would die.
"I don’t encourage you to go at your own level. I recommend focusing on leveling up."
Sarah’s heart dropped. "But—"
"We are investigating, making connections in various cities as well," the old woman said. "I’m sorry, but as you are now, you are really useless for this mission." They could not even investigate Voumi directly because they could get recognized.
This made the two bow down, depressed, and Mathilda’s stance softened. "For now, focus on gaining strength. By the time we figure out more, don’t you want to be as dependable as you can?"
Like this, Sarah would be hunting for most of the waking hours along with Gurnam. Together, they’d eventually develop among Alterra’s strong forces.
...
At this time, the aforementioned lad was shivering a bit. He was inside a cart, a decent one at least, but he had no idea where he was anymore.
He was not able to determine where he was or where he was being taken. All he knew was that after he was bought from Voumi Town and had been traveling since then.
Soon, the cart stopped, revealing a large villa almost akin to a small eastern castle he had visited with his family back in Terran.
Milo wondered how his sister was. She never returned after that war. None of them did.
He didn’t want to believe anything had happened to her, but just imagining it made him terrified.
He asked the masters back in Voumi, but they would beat him up in bitterness every time he asked.
He had cried a lot, but not because his body was in pain.
Now...he was sold to new masters, much stronger than the ones from before, ones whose single slap could make his head fly.
He could no longer cry because he could really get killed, and there was no more sister or brother, Gurnam, to protect him.
He didn’t want to die. What if his sister was out there, somewhere?
What if she was looking for him? What if she were crying?
Milo pursed his lips.
And...what’s going to happen to him, now?