“You’re free now. Leave this place—go wherever you want.”
As they neared the Dungeon Entrance, Su Yao said this to the two other slaves trailing behind her.
The only person she intended to save was the silver-haired girl standing beside Clorel; as for this pair of twins, they had simply gotten lucky to be taken along.
The two exchanged glances and then froze in place. All their shackles had been removed once they exited the city, except for the thick collars around their necks.
The slave traders had claimed those couldn’t be removed—and that seemed to be true.
Su Yao turned and headed into the Dungeon, but unexpectedly, the two “former slaves” followed her again.
“Aren’t you leaving? If you go in with me, you might never get out.”
Seeing their hesitant, shrinking forms, she put on a fierce expression (at least she thought so) to try and drive them away.
Instead, they dropped to their knees right in front of her with a thud.
“We have nowhere else to go. Please, Miss, we beg you to take us in. We’ll do anything.”
Their voices trembled with tears. They spoke the truth—returning to human society with those unremovable collars around their necks would make life unbearable.
Better to take a chance by sticking with the noble lady before them, hoping for a new master who might treat them kindly.
This little gambit was understandable, and Su Yao had to admit, they were right to bet on her. The blonde-haired girl paused to consider.
Clorel and the silver-haired girl’s daily rations alone cost at least 200 DP. Of course, if she rewarded them with delicacies later on, the DP required would only increase.
The torches used to light the Dungeon consumed about 100 DP worth of fuel each day.
Although the Slimes and the occasional magical beasts coming to drink from the Magic Spring contributed 100 to 200 DP, overall, Su Yao’s expenses far exceeded her income.
As for whether she or Clorel could increase DP earnings? Unfortunately, no. Once Clorel was bound as the Dungeon Boss, her daily DP output dropped to zero, just like Su Yao’s.
In short, if she took in these two, their upkeep would cost at least three Gold Coins worth of DP per day. Honestly, it stung a little.
Su Yao didn’t see herself as a saint, but as a civilized person from the modern world, seeing these twin sisters kneeling and begging stirred a pang of compassion in her heart.
“Sigh, come along then.”
The group arrived at the heart of the dungeon. The Slimes hopped around excitedly, and Su Yao affectionately scooped one up. It was cool and bouncy—quite a relief after traveling for so long in the heat.
“Clorel, have them take a bath here first. We’ll deal with the rest later.”
The newcomers stared in amazement at the blonde girl so casually embracing the magical creatures. When had humans and monsters ever gotten along so intimately?
But the next moment, something even more ridiculous happened. With a wave of her hand, three wooden tubs for bathing suddenly appeared out of thin air.
The twin sisters had never seen such magic before. If this world had rubber fruit, their jaws would probably have hit the floor.
As for the silver-haired girl, she couldn’t see any of it. Her sunken eye sockets and tightly shut eyelids showed that her eyes had been cruelly gouged out.
And when Su Yao mentioned “Clorel,” she didn’t react at all. Perhaps not only her eyes, but even her ears had been damaged.
Clorel’s tears kept dripping into the tubs as she examined the girl’s body, showing how close they must have been.
Now that Su Yao thought about it, this was only the second time she had seen Clorel cry. She couldn’t help but wonder about the nature of their relationship.
They couldn’t possibly be lovers or anything like that, right? What was she thinking? Ahahaha…
Feeling a bit guilty about imagining such things and upsetting Clorel, Su Yao chuckled awkwardly—but then suddenly stopped.
Even she didn’t know why an inexplicable irritation had crept into her heart.
“An old bachelor like me suddenly brings home a girl and says she’s my future wife.”
That’s it! The irritation must be because Clorel had broken their pact of eternal singleness—it couldn’t be anything else!
Unfortunately, the chestnut-haired maid probably never took that oath and had no idea what Su Yao was thinking.
Once all three had finished bathing, Su Yao spent 3000 DP to exchange for three Precise Treasure Chest – Clothing boxes.
Yes, the blind box reward was still maid outfits, but obviously nothing as cute as the one Clorel wore.
Probably because she hadn’t imagined it carefully enough.
“You two should introduce yourselves first.”
Besides war criminals, Su Yao was quite curious about the charge of “seducing noblemen.” No matter how she thought about it, that didn’t seem like a crime worthy of such a harsh punishment.
“My name’s Doro, and she’s Doli. We’re just commoners from Karn Village on the outskirts of the Capital…”
After their introduction, Su Yao roughly understood the background. These two were pretty unlucky.
A male noble had taken a fancy to the sisters and paid to hire them as maids, but just as he was about to succeed, his wife found out.
The male noble’s status was lower than his wife’s. Their political marriage held no love, but his wife wouldn’t tolerate his affair.
Caught in the act, he shifted all blame onto the two sisters. Through his wife’s influence, they were exiled to a mining area near the border.
Su Yao wanted to tease Clorel about how nobles like these would never win a war, but seeing the sorrow on her face, she swallowed the words.
“Doro, Doli, take these loaves to the room inside and eat. I’ll arrange a place for you to stay shortly.”
“As you command, Mistress.”
“Thank you, Mistress.”
She sent the crying twins away; for now, they mustn’t know about Clorel’s situation.
“Clorel, please introduce this lady.”
“She’s my childhood friend, Sofia, and also my Guard Captain. It’s thanks to her protection that I managed to escape the Capital. But I never expected she would be captured and tortured like this.”
Clorel held her childhood friend in her arms. Although the silver-haired girl couldn’t hear what Clorel was saying, she nestled against her comfortably.
Her delicate features were still discernible, though she was now emaciated beyond recognition. Before this, she had probably been as beautiful as Clorel.
Her platinum hair had lost its luster, her lips were purple from prolonged malnutrition, her eyes gouged out, her eardrums pierced.
From the occasional “a-woo” sounds she made, her vocal cords might also be damaged.
Perhaps influenced by Clorel’s overwhelming grief, Su Yao found herself filled with loathing toward these invaders she had never met.
“Is there any way to help her?”
Feeling both sympathy for Sofia and unwilling to see Clorel so sorrowful, she asked.
Clorel nodded.
“I heard the Saintess of the Holy Nation’s Healing Magic can cure disabilities.”
The Dungeon Shop did offer Healing Magic. Su Yao could buy it now, but a first-level healing spell probably wouldn’t be enough to fully heal Sofia’s injuries as Clorel hoped.
Su Yao continued browsing through the other items in the shop. Suddenly, after seeing a certain item card, a bold idea sparked in her mind.