The Slippery Mage

"Okay then, I should find Cornelia's brother first. I'll take my leave now," I say.

When I was about to leave though, someone enters the room and give some piece of paper to Felix. Felix read it and sighs before he looks at me.

"It's the most recent update of Cornelia's family. Apparently, Cornelia's brother has been sold in exchange for money. Even if the investigators sent this report as fast as possible it should take days. It means that he has been taken for a few days already. Here are more reports on where they took Cornelia's brother," Felix says.

So it already happened. I guess I can't change this future.

I have a small hope that I can get there before Cornelia's brother is sold but I was wrong. It happened already.

If I get there early, I can take various measures to stop them from selling their own son to the slave merchant. Now I have to think another way.

Unfortunately, slavery trade in this world is legal. Maybe some look at slavery in disdain and hate but it is legal since they have a way to take care of criminals or poor people without using tax money by turning them into merchandise instead. No need for prison for these people. But prisons still exist though. I don't know what kind of crime needed for a criminal to be sold but that doesn't matter.

"Then I really should move now. I'll return as soon as possible. If possible, it should be by the end of today. And we still need to make a contact with Cornelia. Try to get her to come here tomorrow," I say.

This is a public library but maybe because Felix is doing great as the librarian here and gained a lot of trust from the other staffs, he became the one in charge of this library and has his own office. This is where we will have a meeting from now on. That's the plan. We can have our secret meeting about our future plan here.

"She's doing great in the academy studying magic and making friends. How can we convince her to come here?" Sabine asks.

"A message that she should understand. Tell her this and she will know that the one asking for her to come is another reincarnator from the same world. Once you say this code, tell her to come here. If she doesn't understand this code, still invite her to come here. I'll investigate later whether she came from the same world as I do or not," I say.

The message is simple. Just some words, or rather names, of things that exist in my previous world.

London, Paris, Rome, Hollywood, anime, and football. They don't exist in this world at least. Maybe I should popularize football. I'm sure people will like it. It's the most popular sport in my world after all. But that will be for the future.

"London, Paris, Rome, Hollywood, anime, and football. I have memorized them," Felix says. His memory is good so he doesn't need to take notes.

"What are those?" Sabine asks.

"London, Paris, and Rome are three famous cities in my world. I'm sure she can understand them. Hollywood and anime are… let's just say that they're important entertainment industry in our world that shaped the modern culture. As for football, it's the most popular sport in our world. She should understand them," I say.

Though if her understanding of football is different than mine, then I can guess her nationality.

Wait! It's not just America. There's also Gaelic Football and Australian Football and they're different than the football I like.

Well, they're still popular sport in their own country. She should know at least one type of football. And I hope it's the one I like.

"I see. Using popular places and cultures will surely trigger her memory of her previous world. Since she's someone that the Goddess herself picked, I should be the one to meet her since she will more likely to trust me because we're both girls," Sabine says.

Good. Since she will do it herself, I don't have to worry about miscommunication. Her talent is in communicating after all.

I still wonder what does that mean? Does it mean that she's a social butterfly? Or she's just good at talking? I don't understand. Though I have suggested her if she could learn communication magic so we can communicate long distance. Her talent is in communication so it should be somehow doable. She has to believe in her talent and train hard to be able to do it though.

After confirming our plan, I leave the library right away. Using the map Sabine provided for me, I rush there as fast as possible.

There are trains and railways in this world. And since Dahlia is connected with many countries, many trains pass this city every day. There's even one that should take me to the destination right away. But I won't ride it. I'm faster than trains after all.

And I'm right in front of the slave merchant's store now. Cornelia's brother, Julian, should be here according to the information. With my money, I should be able to buy him.

I enter the store and inside the store there are slaves everywhere. Chained so they can't escape but there's also slave magic used on them so they can never disobey their master. The slaves are cleaning the store to make sure it's clean while putting a smile on their faces.

In the game, the protagonist hates the thought of buying slaves so even if I want to get into a store like this, there will be a dialogue from him who mainly only speaks yes or no saying that he hates slavery and wants nothing to do with it so I couldn't enter the store at all as the protagonist.

But now, I can buy anyone I want. I don't think there are any important or strong characters who were slaves in the game. But while I'm at it, I should find someone who will work for me.

Though I don't know what they will do. Maybe I'll build my own mercenary group. Or it will just be for a band if I can find someone with talent in music.

That will be interesting. Getting a group of musicians travel all over the continent who are secretly powerful group of people that can defeat demons. Maybe if I don't know what kind of world this is and the danger I will face in the future, I would have become a traveling musician.

Do I like music so much? There's a reason why but I don't like talking about it.

"Excuse me, may I help you?"

A girl who doesn't seem to be a slave here greets me and asks if I need any help. I guess she should be the one doing that because many customers won't like if there's any slave talking to them.

"I'm looking for a boy called Julian. I heard that his parents sold him a few days ago and he should be here. I want to buy his freedom," I say.

"I see. Hmm… there is one boy named Julian transported here this morning. We haven't put a price on him yet. The owner of the store should be doing it in the back at the moment. I'll guide you to him," she says.

Meeting the store owner right away? Is that okay?

"Is that okay? I'm just a new customer though. Why would you bring me to your boss right away?" I ask.

"Well, it's not like anyone who dares to do anything in this place will be able to escape alive," she says.

Then I feel killing intent from the slaves who were just cleaning around the store before. This place is awesome. Maybe there are many other powerful people for sale.

"Awesome. I want to take a look at other people once I get the one I come here for," I say.

"Sure. The boss is inside," she says.

She opens the door and chat with the man inside. In there, I see a boy who is shivering in fear.

"Are you the one who wants to buy Julian?" the slave merchant boss asks.

"Yes," I say.

"What will you do to him?"

Nice question. I thought that slave traders don't ask such question and usually don't care about the slaves they're selling. Though maybe it's just for courtesy.

"Setting him free and return him to his sister, Cornelia. His parents might have sold him but his sister doesn't know anything about it at all," I say.

"Cornelia?"

The boy heard me when I say his sister's name. He's really Julian.

"There are many complicated explanations but if you have any more question, feel free to ask. I just want to get him and then I want to look around to see other people," I say.

"Hmm… do you have money to buy many people at once?" the boss asks.

I have a lot of money. But I don't have a house where I can let the people I buy rest. Maybe I should buy a house first.

"I guess I'll buy Julian's freedom first. How much?" I ask.

"I want to know your true intention first," he says.

I think he's being quite insistent because he knows that I'm not a noble at all. He doesn't ask anything else but he wants to know what kind of person I am. That's quite nice of him.

"First I'll bring him to his sister then I'll ask his sister where he should stay. Maybe I'll bring him to live with my parents. Only when I know him better will I know what to do with him," I say.

"Hmm… let's talk in my office. Please follow me," he says.

Someone then brings Julian to another place while I follow the slave trader. I guess he hasn't decided if he could sell Julian to me.