When Solution opened the door, she found a young woman wearing a short black dress emblazoned with a stylized emblem over her breast, and carrying a silver tray covered with a silver dome. “Your food, mistresses.” She said in a lyrical almost ‘sing song’ voice that gave Solution pause.

“Good. I’ll take it.” Solution extended her hand and took it from the young woman, “Wait here.” She said flatly and took the tray into the room. She shuffled through the coins in Nua’s pouch for a moment and snagged one, then returned to the entry and with the coin atop her vertical fist, she flipped it over to the woman. “Compliments of Mistress Nua Calen Aiwenor on the prompt response.” The woman’s eyes went wide as saucers as she caught the coin in her palm.

She stared down at the gold emblazoned face of Ainz Ooal Gown, “Ah, gold… did…” She snapped her jaw shut when she saw the glaring eyes and folded arms of Solution.

“Are you about to suggest that ‘the’” ‘shit, what should I call her?’ for a moment dismay ran through her head as Solution tried to come up with an impressive and useful sounding title for the sleeping elf, something that would make the rumors fly and draw interest, ‘ok it’s something impressive, oh, yes… already have it,’ “Mistress of Pain, who took her wealth from the broken souls of those who defied her god and became death’s White Hand, cannot afford to tip well?!” Solution’s voice rose slightly as she heard footsteps out in the hall.

“N-No but… but a gold coin for j-just bringing food I…” She stammered in answer, only to fall silent as Solution let her voice get just a tiny bit louder.

“I will have you know that a single gold coin to her is like fractions of a copper to the richest resident of this hotel.”

“Th-Then please, give my thanks to the mistress!” She bowed over and over again with great rapidity, her long braided black hair whipping back and forth with the forcefulness of the apologetic gesture, she made a swift retreat as she closed the door.

Solution smiled a crafty smile with just the barest hint of it on her lips as she listened, the footsteps outside sped up, and she listened to the traded words.

As she listened to them ask the servant questions about the alleged wealth of the occupant and who it was, Solution laughed and went over to shake Nua awake.

“Nap time is over, get a quick bite, then get back to sleep. Or, I can just eat it all, up to you.” Solution said with a cheshire grin on her face as she savored the flavor of her last deception.

Nua slowly pushed herself up and rubbed her forehead, “Ugh, yeah, thank you Lady Solution, I know it’s rude of me but… so tired. You don’t care if I just skip getting dressed, wolf down my food, and then lie down on my bed and die for a few hours, do you?”

Solution shook her head, “Die for real though, and I’ll eat you. Your meat tastes too good to go to waste.”

Nua shrugged and flung her legs over the side of the bed as Solution brought the tray next to where she sat. “You’re not kidding, I assume?”

“Do I sound like I’m kidding? I’m still digesting your left hand, want to see it?” She grinned and reached into her breasts, they went from porcelain perfect to an opaque blue like perfect waters, and her fingers disappeared within.

Nua watched with fascination as her arm vanished, and then a moment later she was staring at the half digested remains of her own left hand. Some of her bones had been digested, most of the meat was gone, but there was about two and a half fingers left and most of the connective tissue.

“That’s on the list of things I never thought I’d see.” Nua replied with a bizarre sense of fascination at the grotesque, bloody appendage.

“Want to touch it?” Solution giggled and extended it.

“Just don’t put it over the tray, I’m hungry, but a piece of ‘me’ next to the stew is a bit much.” She replied, and Solution complied, keeping it away from the tray, letting Nua trace her fingers over the wrecked piece of herself.

It was squishy, juicy, and faint pops from the dissolving fluids echoed in her ears where they would live on in her worst dreams forever after.

“OK… go ahead, take it back, at least finish it off.” Nua said as Solution deposited it back into her body and waited as her teacher then removed the dome off the tray and set it aside.

As it was laid aside, a thought came to mind, “Teacher, can I ask you a question?”

Solution looked blankly at Nua for a moment, searching her face for a hint at the question bubbling around in Nua’s head, finally she nodded, but folded her arms in front of her chest. Her eyes narrowed with a measure of displeasure, “As long as you understand I may not answer it.”

Nua tore a hunk of bread away and dunked it in a thick, meaty stew, she took a deep breathe through her nose and savored the scent of meat cooked to perfection.

She opened her eyes and replied, “It’s fine, it’s just, you know a lot about me, but despite all the time you’ve spent teaching me, I know almost nothing about you. All I know is that you’re a maid demon who used to serve the late Demon Emperor. That and you’re exceptionally dangerous… and sadistic… and beautiful.”

Solution preened a bit and her hostility to being questioned faded away, she cockily polished her nails on her shirt and then blew on them mockingly as if to rid herself of nonexistent dust.

“Flatterer. But alright, I was created by a powerful being, one long gone now. He created me in this form, with the mind you know, with one purpose. To serve him and his will. I was designed, full grown and ready to serve and work as both a maid and a warrior. I can clean alone better than a hundred of the best of your former slave brothers and sisters combined. I was made to look this way because he thought it was beautiful too, and made to think the way I think because it let me serve his wishes better.”

She looked down her nose at Nua and went on, “That is why I hold all the rest of you to be so… low. You were born a baby, which is useless enough, but what is more, you were born for no reason whatsoever, to a world that didn’t care if you existed at all. Your entire existence is purposeless from the time you’re conceived by other worthless beings, to the time you die.”

Nua restrained the urge to flinch and her blue eyes took on a golden hue, “I won’t tell you you’re wrong in all that. We’re not ‘created beings’, we’re not ‘designed with purpose’ by some greater supreme being. But you are wrong about one thing.”

“I doubt it, but I’ll bite, what?” Solution asked in a clipped tone as Nua chewed on a hunk of stew soaked bread.

She swallowed hard and answered, “Not being created with purpose, isn’t the same thing as not having one. It means we get to choose our purpose for ourselves. I have decided that my purpose is to declare the glory of the Great Liberator God, the God of our Dark Savior, to all the world. That is my purpose. And my purpose is to keep an oath to the one who saved me, and free him from death as he freed me from the fear of it. That is also my purpose.” She wagged her hunk of bread at her teacher who stood a few feet away.

“That’s what you were wrong about, we non-created beings, we can find and create purpose for ourselves, true, it means we’ll never have your skills, none of us may ever be as dangerous as you are. Or clean half so well. But we can have worth beyond a tasty snack, or were you just wasting your time teaching this former slave all that you did?”

Solution closed her lips and considered what Nua had to say, she watched quietly as her pupil ate, finally she answered. “Maybe so, but most of you will never do more than breed and die, those are just sheep, doesn’t matter if the wolf or the bear or the undead eat them. It doesn’t matter, because they never had a purpose to begin with, that makes their deaths meaningless except for the pleasure it gives to the one that swallows them. For those, a meaningful death is all they can ever hope for.”

Nua bowed her head, “Having once been one of those useless aimless sheep just trying to stay alive, I won’t dispute that, but even within them, given a chance, they might be more. But still, to know you are truly a… created being? At least I know you have an excuse for what you are. That’s actually a relief.”

Solution looked down at her pupil, “You realize you’re saying that, while I finish dissolving another one of your fingers.”

Nua gave a savage laugh unthinkable twenty years earlier and shook her head, “No, you’re not. I gave you that hand, you’re just eating your dinner, and I got something better out of the deal.” She held up her new faintly glowing white metal hand with the dark center gem, and made a fist. “You get a snack, I get the power I need, or a chance for it at least. I got the greater end of that bargain, Teacher, no matter how good I taste.”

Solution rubbed her hands together greedily, “You’ve never tasted you, so you can’t possibly know that.” She licked her lips, and kept her approval to herself when Nua did not flinch from the hungry gesture.

A moment later Nua finished the last of her bowl and laid back down on her stomach again, yawning once before she fell into a deep, deep slumber.

Kaiji stared down at the metal floor of her cage replaying the events of the evening in her head on it’s hundredth loop.

Her heart was still pounding, and her cheeks were still wet. She felt every rise and fall of her chest, a drop of rain fell through the imperfect roof and struck her dark hair. It ran down over the base of her ear, down her cheek, over her neck, until the chill of it stopping, and then falling from her bare nipple snapped her out of her reverie.

“Just… what was I seeing? She snatched that whip out and… and just yanked him onto his ass.” She whispered the words over again as if trying to decipher the intent behind them. “At least I know I’m not likely to be eaten… or killed, not if I was bought for that much.” She tried to relax, the hideous guard interrupted her briefly, throwing a cheap brown blanket at the bars.

“Take it. Your owner wants you in decent shape.” He half slurred and then took a hunk of bread and tossed it to her. It bounced off her breast and fell to the floor, she snapped her eyes up at him. His lecherous look, told her it was an intended act, but she darted her hands out and grabbed the blanket and bread nonetheless. Seconds later Kaiji was bundled and chewing on the first food she’d gotten in two full days. Her stomach gnawed at her, but she forced herself to eat slowly and savor the flavor of dried bread as if it were a sumptuous meal.

To her surprise, she saw him make multiple trips, provide cheap, threadbare blankets and bread to each of the acquired slaves. Unlike herself though, they addressed him.

“Hey! What about my wife?! Did she buy my wife?!” Kaiji turned away in pity from the noise, putting her back to the others.

“How about my children? Are they going too?!” A desperate cry cut into Kaiji’s heart.

“Please! Tell me something!” Came another.

After finishing his deliveries, the sentry snapped out, “Not that it’s any of your business, but since I can’t beat any of you into silence now, I’ll tell you if you shut up for the rest of the night!”

The cacophony of noise began to ebb and desperate men and women clung to bars and drew their faces to them as if bringing themselves closer to news would make it better. Kaiji stuffed the bread in her mouth and grabbing her ears, she shut her eyes and closed a fist so that she might not hear what she knew was coming.

“The rich woman that bought you lot, didn’t buy anyone else. Your children will be sold tomorrow as planned when the rain passes, the same for any wives, husbands, or surviving family here. Maybe thank that one?” He said maliciously and jerked his thumb toward where Kaiji crouched, wrapped in a blanket with her back to them all.

The slaves looked from him to her, unable to make the connection, he laughed and said, “Isn’t it obvious? What she paid for that one could have bought your families ten times over. And by the way, because she bought that one, you can bet that at least some of the hundred that are going to the Tlalmok Empire as tribute, will be slaves from your city. Wonder how many of your children, buying her condemned?” He turned away and left the slaves behind him to go sit out the rest of his shift.

For the rest of the night, Kaiji felt glares of hatred from the other slaves, pouring onto her back like burning acid, and all she could do was sit sleepless. Water dripped down to fill the silence, and despite the blanket, Kaiji continued to shiver until morning came, though it had nothing to do with the last days of the winter storms.

The arrival of workers to take them away was no surprise, rough, powerful looking figures, mostly humans and orcs. They wore crude brown overalls and dirty, cheap black shirts beneath. They were efficient and indifferent as they grabbed not the slaves, but the entire cages, put them on carts with wheels low to the ground, and took the slaves of sight.

“No! My wife is back there! Sylvina!” Kaiji shut her eyes as if that could keep back the plaintive cry of a soldier in a cage, somewhere back there, she heard a woman cry out in return.

One by one they were taken out and loaded into a series of wagons, hefted into them by two laborers each who simply grabbed the bars at both ends, and heaved the cage, slave and all, up into it. Then a worker in the wagon would simply haul it to the end of the cart and take the next one. The men and women within were jostled around to no end, and more than a few ‘oofs’ resounded, and more than a few minor bruises were made as the job was quickly and expeditiously done.

Kaiji found herself in the last cart with only one other caged girl, a young woman with matted brown hair barely moved or looked around at all. Kaiji took a deep breath of fresh air, the water was already largely drained, and what wasn’t, was being pushed to the drainage areas by specialized ‘brooms’ which had no brushes, but were instead long flat wooden planks. These specialized sweepers were held by slaves in cheap brass collars who would move throughout the upper districts pushing the water to the lower districts.

It was petty, but Kaiji smiled a little at that. The young woman a few feet away in her own cage seemed to notice nothing, or if she did, she cared about nothing she noticed. Impulsively, Kaiji spoke to her, “Hey… it’s alright, whatever happens, at least you won’t go to the Tlalmok, and… hey at least you don’t live down there.” Kaiji inclined her head in the direction of the slope the pushers were driving inches of water towards. “I mean we got a few drops of water on us, right, but those ‘free’ people at the bottom will be up to their waists in waste. I don’t know what’s happening but… but try to have some hope, alright?”

The girl raised her head slightly from where it was buried in her knees, turning it slowly over to where Kaiji sat, and gave a fragile, trembling smile that barely moved her lips, then vanished into the darkness she made for herself by pressing her head back down to her knees.

Within minutes, Kaiji heard the crack of the whip and the sound of horse hooves on stone, and their cart began to move.

She glanced up at the sun and took a long, deep breath of the humid air, ‘Well, at least it’s a pretty day out this morning.’ She thought to herself as they moved along the near empty streets in that brief span of time before the work began in earnest and the rest of the city came to life.

Nua stretched out in bed as she began to wake up, whatever dream she was having was fading rapidly from memory as sleep took it away, but it left a smile behind it.

She felt her tendons stretch out as she extended her limbs and flung herself out of bed with a spring in her step and a hearty, happy yawn.

When she was up she went to the wardrobe on the wall and flung it open, there as expected, were robes for the bathing area, she looked to the window and saw that the sun had barely touched the horizon. “Good, I should have the baths to myself. She went to the wall and pulled a rope, somewhere in the hotel, a servant or team of servants was waiting to dispatch their peers to the most expensive rooms, and her little tug of the rope rang the bell that told them where to go.

“Morning. Weren’t you going to wake me?” Solution said in the pleasant way she used when masquerading her sadistic nature. as she slid out of the bed before the rope returned to its position. She didn’t stretch out as Nua did, instead she went straight for the wardrobe and threw on a robe of her own.

“Do you even sleep?” Nua asked with a titter.

She was not disappointed by the interruption that kept back Solution’s answer. Before Nua had even finished tying her robe, a sound knock was at the door.

“Enter.” Nua said in the haughtiest voice she could manage, ‘OK, getting into this character is going to get old… very fast. Well it can’t be helped.’ She suppressed a sigh and kept the surprise at bay when there were three servants at the door.

Nua made her voice imperious, “We’re going to the baths. One of you goes to see that breakfast is ready and delivered to the dining area, one of you wait on my delivery of slaves. Ensure that the…” She paused and tapped her chin thoughtfully, “yes, the most expensive and the least expensive, are tended to first. Have them washed, fed well, and delivered to my room under guard. The rest, store in the stables. Have them also fed and bathed until the tailor arrives. And the last of you, lead us to the baths and attend to myself and my, ahem, body guard.”

The three servants, each young men with brown hair and freckles, traded swift looks and silently came to their own division of tasks, two departed with swift long strides that were just slightly less than a run, while the third folded his hands behind his back and stood with feet shoulder width apart, awaiting the order to move.