My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

Chapter 1202

As we left Matty’s dungeon, I instinctively looked to the west. Celeste reached out and grabbed my arm, stroking it soothingly.

“Miki is in that direction,” I stated a fact that we both knew.

I still didn’t know exactly where she was, but she was somewhere in Dioshin. Unfortunately, Dioshin was generally hostile with Aberis. This stemmed from Aberis’s tendency to enslave the citizens of Dioshin. After the war against the Demon Lord Aberis, the country had grown a tendency to favor human supremacy. It seemed like Prince Edward was working toward undoing a lot of that, but after twenty years the damage was already done.

“It’s okay, Master. I’m worried about Miki as well.” Celeste told me. “What’s the plan?”

“The men mentioned Miki’s family. It might have nothing to do with them, but it might be something involving them. Either way, as I understand it, the foxkin are close to the border, so they would be a good first stop. At the moment, I’m not able to portal into Dioshin, and even if I could, I don’t know where her family is.”

Anyone could draw a map, but the maps of this world were made by those with the calligrapher job, which I had. A calligrapher infused the map with magic, giving it an imprint of the mana from the location being drawn. This is sufficient that when I look at such a map, my Map skill would update with the details from the map. Just because I could see it on a Map didn’t mean that I could target it with a Portal. Perhaps there were high-level maps that were created with enough detail that such a thing was possible, but in general, a location needs to be within range of my mana sense, which was usually about as far as I could see.

I could find a drawing of the basic layout of Dioshin, they weren’t sufficient to give me more than a basic understanding of Dioshin. There was no such place called foxkin village or something obvious like that, so I couldn’t guess where they were. Heading over there now would just be asking for trouble.

Sure, if Celeste flew me up into the sky, I could probably get a distant view and make several kilometer-long Portal jumps, like I had once done while dealing with the bandits in southwest Aberis. I might even be able to get past their border this way, but if I wasn’t careful, they’d see Celeste lifting me and come to suspect something.

“What do we do then?” Celeste asked.

Celeste had once been impulsive and childish. Since her evolution, she had grown much more even-tempered. I missed her youthful naivete, but as the only party member I had recovered thus far, her steady and reliable nature helped me keep my heart calm. I had lost everyone, and saying I was going to get them back didn’t mean I wasn’t worried about them. I reached up and stroked her head with my finger where she was perched on my shoulder.

“It’s not a problem.”

“M-master…” She grew flustered as I rubbed her, her incandescent wings fluttering.

“We know someone who knows about Dioshin,” I explained. “We need to talk with him.”

It had been a while. It was time I spoke with Figuro once again.

Chapter 1203

I stepped through a portal into an empty mansion. If Faeyna saw such a place, she would be upset. I had left her to care for the Chalm mansion. After the city fell to the Maid’s Lament, the mansion had fallen into disrepair, so it would take some time for her to bring it back to standard. Thus, I had left her there. However, the Chalm mansion wasn’t the only one that had been abandoned. There was also the Capital City mansion which had been left to gather dust for two months.

She was supposed to hire maids to help her handle the two properties, but no one who applied had ever met her standards. Then again, how did one meet the standards of the Maid Hero? It seemed impossible. So, she was doing everything by herself. Two properties were already far too much for her to handle. What would happen when the castle was finished? Also, there was likely a time she’d want to go training with me too, giving her even less time to manage the home.

At some point, she’d have to let someone else take over at least one of the properties. Perhaps, she could get a young apprentice that she could teach from a young age? Such a thing was a possibility. In the meantime, one of the properties was always going to be neglected. At least Prince Edward hadn’t given the property away after I was presumed dead. That would have been irritating.

The pair of us walked out of the mansion. My target was the Slaver’s Guild. I barely took a step out of the gate when I heard a familiar voice.

“So, you are alive after all. I heard as much.”

I turned to see a young boy standing there with his arms crossed. Behind him was a familiar-looking maid. They had pointed ears and a childlike appearance. They were allegedly closely related to elves, although now that I knew more about the world, I’d say that they looked like a cross between dwarves and elves. They possessed the pale skin and pointy ears of an elf but the short and child-like features of a dwarf.

“Pait. It’s been a while. Have you gotten shorter?”

“Pfft…” Dav covered her mouth as she spat out, causing Pait to shoot her a glare before turning back to me.

“Aren’t you just compensating for something?” He shot back. “I know you have a lot of women, but when you said you’d be enough man for all of them, I don’t think they meant by the pound.”

I felt shaking on my shoulder, but when I glanced at Celeste, she was distinctly not looking in my direction. I smiled darkly and glared back at Pait.

“I’d teach you a lesson, but I don’t bully children.”

“You know, I feel a bit bad for you up there. You’re probably not getting very much air.”

The pair of us stared daggers at each other, and then both put our heads back and laughed. I held out my hand and he clasped it.

“It’s been too long.”

“You never stop by.”

“Boys are weird.” Dav sighed.

“Mm! Mm!” Celeste nodded.

Chapter 1204

“So, it’s Dioshin that you’re heading toward.” Pait stroked the mug.

Since I had run into him, I didn’t want to just take off. At the very least, I decided to explain my predicament. After all, Pait was from Esmore, a different country to the south. They border Dioshin as well, and unlike us, they are on talking terms with the country. At the very least, he may have some information on the country. I had intended to talk to Figuro, but Pait was a good person to speak to as well. I was glad that I had run into him by chance.

The pair of us had gone to a local bar. It was in the upper area of town, so while the drinks were expensive, it was also very quiet and clean. It was easy to get a place where you could discuss things in quiet. It was a common location where trade deals and political treaties were discussed. We each had a cup of wine while we spoke. I had gotten Celeste a mug as well, and she now sat on the rim of the glass, occasionally leaning in to sip. She let out a burp, her face completely red.

“I have a Slave Guild friend. He’s the original one who bought her. I never really understood how that worked. From my understanding, the Dioshin hate slavers, so why do they work with a human? How is the Slaver’s Guild even able to get into Dioshin?”

Pait raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“The Slaver’s Guild started in Dioshin.”

“What? Really?” I couldn’t help but be surprised.

“As a people, the Dioshin were always broken into warring tribes. Their entire culture is based on the idea of dominance and submissiveness. Certain tribes are in power, while other tribes are the workhorses. The power dynamics in Dioshin are awful.”

“I didn’t know… I always thought they were pretty united given their resistance toward Aberis.”

“Oh, it’s true… their fear of outsiders is what keeps them all together, but the country of Dioshin is extremely segregated. Kin remains with kin, and cross-animalkin breeding is considered taboo. This is why you don’t see half-dogkin, half-catkin, or something like that. Other than variant animalkin, their lines are completely pure.”

My only experience with animalkin had been Chalm. I guessed that in my mind, Dioshin was a diverse place where animalkin of all kinds worked together much like my city. It had been their distaste for slavery that had bound the citizens of Chalm. In theory, once they were free, they could have gotten back into Dioshin. I had never asked too directly about such things, as some wounds were difficult to dig up, but it seemed like there was a reason they chose the wilderness. I was starting to understand a bit more about my people now.

“So, Slavers are favored in Dioshin?”

“Among the people, no. Among the elites? Of course.” He shrugged. “It’s politics, boy. The elites line their pockets with gold and have a means of eliminating undesirables and rivals. Then, they create an enemy out of Aberis to spread fear and control the population. They exploit their citizens for their own gain.”

I nodded my head. I wanted to condemn them, but even on Earth, I couldn’t say things were any better. Those with power would always use that power to their advantage. It seemed like the slavery of this world was a complex subject. Pait was watching me carefully as he took a sip from his mug. Finally, he slammed it down.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me.”

“Huh? What’s that?” I was caught off guard by the conviction in Pait’s voice.

“I will help you get into Dioshin.”