Guardian and his newly acquired servant have reached the house. Ithayiga passed back the gruel pot to Guardian and went inside to gather his siblings. Cute little beastmen children emerged from the house, all five of them; some were rubbing their tired eyes as they were just woken up.

“No way are we getting this for free.” His younger sister still disbelieved Ithayiga.

“Is it true that you bring food for us?” The oldest brother questioned.

“It is all in a pot.” Guardian put the pot down.

The children gathered around it in haste. Seeing as there were no tricks involved siblings put their hands inside scooping the food and putting it in their mouths greedily.

“Brother, you are not eating?” The smallest child asked in between the gulps of food.

“I had my fill already.”

“Lucky!”

“And will you keep getting food every day just like that?” The oldest daughter asked.

Ithayiga looked up at his Master quizzingly.

“Yes, he will be fed daily and looked after. But this does not come for free, I intend to work him hard. After all, he has to serve instead of his father, so he has to work as much as the adult would. That was what you were told, no?”

“Mhm.” The children nodded in agreement, their mouths full of thick gruel.

“Would you take me into the service too? I am sure my parents would not object.” The oldest sister offered herself to be a servant too.

He could not believe her words ‘Was it that easy to get servants? So there was no need for all the trouble I went through’. It appeared that they were ready to do everything he asked just for a measly morsel of food. ‘Were the things this bad in the slums?’.

The thing was actually much worse, but there was no way for Guardian to know that. He did not have to live in the city slums, ever.

“There is no need. One helper is all I need for now.” He refused her offer.

“…” This somewhat upset her. She felt envious of her brother.

The children were not messing about and the pot was empty within minutes.

“Right, this is time for us to leave.” Guardian told to the little ones.

“Already, will my brother come back to visit us?” the sibling who asked this hoped to receive some food, the brother would definitely bring something for them again.

“I doubt that. He will need to remain at my side at all times. Let’s go, boy” Guardian wanted to cut the boy from his family so that he could control the young boy better.

“Bye bye…” Itayiga waved goodbye to his family, trying his best not to cry.

As they walked further the boy expressed his gratitude “Thank you, Master, for sharing your food with us. They did not say it but I am sure they were very grateful. I will remember your kindness and work hard to repay that.”

“I was serious about you not being able to see them again. Are you okay with that?”

“I am prepared to deal with that.” He knew that there would be a time then he had to leave his family and start his own life. It was just that he did so much earlier than others would.

“Good boy. That is the right attitude.”

Their walk back to the city was put to the halt by a large group of people. There were about two dozen of them, they looked young and were very skinny. Most of them were males and they appeared to be a gang of slum dwellers, probably looking for a way to get rich quickly.

“Oi! What is a fancy man doing here in the place like this?”

“We missed our chance this morning, yet you came back.”

“Big mistake! Look how many of us are here now. The word spreads quickly.”

The thugs were surrounding him from all sides. They must have seen him in the early morning, but probably were too afraid to attack him so they gathered more men.

“Master, this is bad!” the young beastman whispered to Guardian while pressing himself closer to his broad frame.

“Let me guess. I have to hand all of my valuables to you?”

“So you know the drill. Good.”

“And do not blame us. You are the one who is stupid to come here… Looking like that! And with no guards.” The young thug still could not believe their luck.

“What are you waiting for? Start unloading your bag.”

“Oh, and you little fellow. You better scram off! There is no need for us to hurt someone who is one of our own.” Thug pointed to Ithayiga and motioned him to leave before things got ugly.

“Stay!” Guardian said to the boy commandingly, gauging boy’s resolve.

Ithayiga made his decision to fulfil his duty and stay by his Master’s side.

“Ohhh, is he your Master, now? So be it! We will beat the shit out of you too.”

“Come on men, let’s encourage him to be quicker to chare his valuables!”

No one wanted to be the first as they all felt intimidated by Guardians sheer size.

“What’s up? Are you afraid? If so, good! If you do this there will be no coming back. I am sure you can see that I can pack a good punch.” He rolled the sleeves of his robes and flexed his muscles in intimidation.

“Come on! What are you waiting for!” the leader urged again his gang to act.

The slum dwellers launched themselves at him. The guardian grabbed Ithayiga and to the boy's surprise, Guardian swung him quickly into the air and out of the trouble. The boy crash-landed on some discarded rubbish, he probably was still fine.

“You foolish creatures! You stand no chance in a brawl with me. No matter how many of you are here.”

Thugs swarmed him from all sides, kicking him and punching, he felt very little of it. Most of them were superbly weak and his body’s natural armour did a good job at absorbing their pathetic punches and kicks.

It was time for Guardian to counter-attack. He did so with overwhelming power.

A scrawny looking human teenager was punched directly in the face, smashing the better part of it. Few others had their chests and arms slashed, his claws piercing their soft skin and flesh. Beastmen proved to be a bit harder to wound, all this meant that they will only last a few seconds longer.

The thugs kept pounding at him, fresh men replacing the injured very quickly. He was not the one to tire quickly and he kept defending and counterattacking, which was quite easy as the slum dwellers had no actual weapons besides stones and sticks.

He kicked a few others sending them flying, his tail swung targeting the faces of others. This was the strategy he had used many times before. Somehow, people kept underestimating him again and again, this was a good example of it.

The brawl lasted just a few minutes. The thugs were losing badly, many of them had broken bones, and few were even dead. Guardian himself suffered little of damage, nothing his body would not be able to naturally heal and repair by tomorrow.

More and more of the slum dwellers turned around and ran away. They understood that they don’t stand a chance against him. His robes made him look like a lazy merchant, yet he fought like a seasoned war veteran, the gang did not expect that.

Guardian grabbed the last one who was stupid enough to put a fight. Then he quite literally pulled the head and part of the spine of the body. He then proceeded to throw it above and past the group of thugs who were fleeing from him.

“Here, this is a reminder for you! I will be coming back! You will do good to remember me.” He shouted at them.

“Boy! Where are you? I hope you did not run off!?”

“Master, I am still here.” The small furry head peeked out from a corner of an abandoned shack. He looked afraid, his entire body was shaking and his tail was squeezed in between his legs.

“Ah good! Show me a place I could quickly wash this off. They have stained my robes.” The robes proved to be quite sturdy, there were no rips, only the filth from the scum who attacked him.

“Are you sure about that? Won't they come back and attack us again?”

“I highly doubt that. They have learned their lesson.”

It was not just the thugs, many other slum dwellers were observing the battle from a distance as it drew quite a bit of attention.

“I will take you to our usual place by the river. Are you sure you a fine with that?” Boy expected him to want to take a bath or something like that, just like a noble would.

“It is fine. Lead the way.”

During their walk. Guardian was lecturing the boy.

“Even though I gave you a free pass out of the combat this time, next time you will be expected to contribute.”

Up to this point, the kid was doing his best not to mention what happened. He was still terrified, also he did not enjoy becoming a birdlike-entity and crashing into the rubble. He was lucky not to get injured too badly, all he received were a few bruises.

“Master, but how can I do this? I am too young and too weak.”

“If you lack muscle just use your head.”

Ithayiga could not think of anything he could have done to help in that situation. Something more specific and precise from Guardian would have helped.

“I am unsure about this.”

“Trust me, when I am done with you, you will no longer even think off fleeing.”

Boy doubted that this will come true.

They reached the river. There were numerous people washing their bodies there; further away were the women and children rinsing their clothing. Guardian approaching them drew their attention, the way he looked like was the reason for that. People gawked at him shocked to find a wealthy looking person here, but they said nothing to him.

He set his bag on a shore and instructed Ithayiga to watch over his goods. He took some of the Aiu’s soap and went inside the river while still fully clothed. He rubbed himself and his robes with soap, trying to get all of the dirt and blood out before it permanently stained the fabric.

The soap was of good quality and easily washed his clothing. It even made it smell nice as he used the more expensive herbal soap.

As he was done a group of young women approached him.

“That is some interesting stuff you are using. We could even smell it further down the river.” The river carried the foam soap made and smell towards the women who did the washing.

“Mind us showing it?”

“Here.” He gave a wet bar of soap. “This is a special soap my apprentice makes, it is quite popular in my city.”

The women inspected the soap smelling it and passing it to each other.

“Oh, so you are not from around here. Just like I thought you came from the Isles, did you?”

“You look foreign.” another woman added.

“No, I am not from the Isles, those people have horns and hooves. But yes, I am not from around here.” He added so that they will not confuse him with them.

“This must be expensive stuff. Is it not?”

She finally gave the bar of the soap back. It was reduced to the half of the size. Women pinched tiny parts of it for themselves, as they handled it; hoping that he would not notice. The problem was that there were just too many women doing that, so he noticed but chose to ignore it.

“It is two coppers per bar. Can you afford it?”

“What, us simple women, no. But we might convince the wealthy ladies whose clothes we wash to buy some. If you cut us some of it.”

“Hmm” he considered it.

“Gives us some samples and I am sure our ladies will jump to buy it. After all it smells so nice, not like the normal soap.”

“And it looks to be just as effective if not more”.

“What stops you from running away with my samples and selling it?”

“Nothing. But we wouldn’t do such a thing, you have to trust us.”

He looked at Ithayiga hoping to get some indication if he should trust them, the boy was a slum dweller himself he should know. All Guardian got was an unsure shrug.

“Hey, Guardian! You seem as popular as ever!” A woman shouted while waving from a distance.

He looked more carefully who it was. It appeared to be Iustitia accompanied by a skimpily dressed lizardwoman.

“I did not expect to find you here. What is all this ruckus?” she asked turning her head towards the group of women. She was blind but did a good job hiding it.

“They want me to give them some samples of my merchandise so that they can show it to their employer.”

“And?” she doubted that this was just that.

“And I am not sure I can trust them.”

The group of women were whispering between each other but did not disturb his conversation.

“I say you can. If they are thinking of crossing you I am sure I will find it out. People talk and I listen, there is no way, such a thing will pass unheard by me. And I am more than able to find out there they live.”

“Hmm. And you will help me just like that?”

“Of course, I owe you!”

“I will al-sss-o a-sss-i-sss-t.” hissed the lizard woman. She was feeling nervous in front of him as it was not the first time they have met

“Then I am convinced.” He took out more of the soap from his bag, broke it into finer pieces and handed it to young women.

“I will trust you will keep your word. If not, do not be surprised if I came knocking at your door, personally.”

“Thank you. We will not cross you.”

“I will set a shop in the city market. I am sure it will be easy to find if you ask around, I tend to stand out. So if you come with the money from your masters to buy some more of my merchandise, I will cut you your share.”

“See you then.” A woman replied.

“I will definitely come back, there is no way my lady is not buying this.” Another woman added.

What the women did not tell is that each time they would bring some of the soap back they would already have cut their share from it. They would lie telling that since it was so exquisite it came in a smaller size; this was normal for the expensive stuff.

“Thank you for this Iustitia. You helped me out. It is always hard to start fresh in the new place as people do not trust my wares.”

“Well, to thank me you could visit me more often. You did not come back after all.”

He had no intention of coming back because he did not have such urges.

“Sss-orry about last time.” Hissed the lizardwoman.

“Do I know you?”

“She is Shazzara.” Iustitia leaned closer to him to whisper. “The one who was bold enough to disturb your sleep at our place.”

That helped to juggle his memory. She was the one he kicked out of his bed.

“Ah, I remember you now. What had happened – happened. I forgot ambout it already, so should you.”

This cheered Shazzara quite a bit. She was still infatuated by him and wanted to make up for her misbehaviour.

“Boy we are done here, lets head to the market.” He tied his bag to his back and started walking.

Two women kept following and pestering him with idle talk.

“Who is this boy?”

“He is my new servant.”

“What does-ss he exactly do. He does-ss not look like much.”

“Keeps me company and he will run little errands for me.”

“Why would you need a boy for a company. Just get one of us like any man would.”

“Free of charge. Of cour-ss-e.” Shazzara hissed out.

That was precisely the reason why he picked this boy, women were just too bothersome to deal with. Especially those with loose morals.

“I will have to pass. I am of no need of that sort of company.”

“Well, if you will, you know where to find us.”

“Do you know a good place where I could sell my goods?” he decided to get something actually useful out of these women.

“I know of a spot or two, that depends what are you selling.”

“Stamina potions, salves, healing salves. Stuff like that.”

“Mhm mhm. A spot not too far from the alchemist guild will be fine for that.”

“Lead the way then.”

He still found it shocking that a blind person was showing him where to go.

After some time and some small talk, they have reached their destination. He did his best to get rid of the two women, they left him alone reluctantly.

He paid a single copper for the right to peddle his goods and made a meagre profit by the end of the afternoon. His goods were good, it was just that he himself was unknown of yet. He hoped that his customers will talk and send their friends to him next time.

The boy followed him around obediently, helping him with whatever he asked. His next task was to go around and find some information about the magic and ferocious beasts.

His tries were all in vain, no one waswilling to disclose such information to a foreigner even if they knew. His last try was the grand library and archives, He was not allowed inside to browse it, but he was able to pay the record keeper to look for the information he needed. He was told that this will take some time as the archives were badly organised. The bookkeeper's services have costed him most of the coins he had, not to mention that he paid other people to try and get the info for him. All he had left were two gold coins.

His final task was to go to alchemist guild and to peddle some of his more expensive goods directly to the organisation for resale. This would affect his profit but it was an easy way to sell it quickly and get his merchandise better known, as it was branded by the sign of a cross Aiu came up with ☨.

He was discussing the price of his goods with the clerk just to get rudely interrupted.

“Hey, it is you! I did not recognise you with all this fancy clothing. Just who are you really?” Cynthia the golem master recognised the Guardian.

“Now… a peddler and a travelling merchant.”

“I assume you peddle some alchemical reagents and potions, correct?”

“Well, yes why do you ask?”

“Well since you come from different lands maybe you can help me out. The lot here is quite useless.” She was sneering at the clerk who just shrugged it off.

“It depends. Does it pay?”

“This is not the place to discuss this. How about you come with me to the tavern.”

‘Isn’t she a tad bit too young to be visiting taverns?’

“Let me finish this and we shall go” he still had to haggle on the price with the clerk.