Chương 161: Food for Thought

When we stepped out of the last shop, we stopped as we heard someone shouting in the center of the square, surrounded by a large crowd.

Obviously, since we were all mortals, the desire to quench our curiosity overwhelmed our other thoughts as we made our way forwards, hoping to see what caught everyone else's attention.

Even Rhefia was standing on her tip toes, hoping to better see whatever was beyond the sea of bodies in front of us.

Thankfully we could jostle our way to the front, pushing past some people with ease since everyone flinched whenever Rhefia or Aethisia glanced their way.

What greeted us was a rather... peculiar sight, one that elicited mixed feelings inside my heart.

Standing in the center of the crowded marketplace was a tall, looming woman, her skin a pale orange, though...

She had little skin.

Scales coated her neck and forearms, glimmering a deep, rich orange color, whilst her ears and spots on her cheeks were also a deep orange, an in-between of scales and flesh.

Her chest was rather large, barely concealed by the scratchy brown shirt that she wore, whilst a skirt made from the same material covered her midriff.

Where her legs should have been was instead a long, scaled snakes tail, the vibrant orange scales overlapping her pale whitish softer scales near her belly.

Her tail was coiled and chained, restricting its movements, whilst her wrists and fingers were bound.

A shackle hung on her neck, connecting her via a thick chain to a rather imposing, equally tall woman, her features drawn into a sneer.

The orange snake woman glared hatefully at her... captor or guard, who simply seemed revulsed by the snake.

Beautiful red feathered wings were drawn close to the guards back, whilst her legs ended in deep crimson birds feet, each talon adorned with a gold ring or talon cap.

The cloth tabard she wore over her chainmail displayed a white tree, which Rhefia had told me was the symbol of Birchan.

She grasped the chain that held the snake woman, yanking it as she growled "There was no order to take you back in one piece, bitch. Slither over to the cell, or I'll be making myself a nice pair of snake scale boots. Understood?"

The bird woman's voice was low and scratchy, and as she turned slightly towards me I saw a thick, dark scar across her neck, which explained the voice.

Instead of replying, the snake woman glared at her captor before silently slithering away, towards the direction the woman had gestured to.

Her scales made no noise on the stone ground, while her aura made everyone step away as she ignored them.

Watching as they left the square, I glanced at Rhefia for a moment, my wife wearing a thoughtful expression.

"Rhefia?"

Hearing my voice, my wife chuckled mirthlessly as she nodded, grabbing my hand and leading me away.

"I... wasn't expecting there to be a slave market here as well... Last I checked, Tusk City wasn't accommodating to slavers..."

Her mutter made me frown, and I glanced back towards the beautiful orange snake woman, my heart conflicted.

The idea of owning another person...

My eyes went straight to Yiksa, who glanced at me instinctively, understanding what I was thinking.

It... was an interesting conundrum placed before me.

I had... memories, fragments or nuggets of my prior life, small chunks of knowledge of common things, and slavery... was one of them.

There, it was considered an evil, unforgivable practice, the idea of forcing someone to become your servant for life with no hope of freedom resonating poorly with most.

The belief that a group was superior and that another was lesser, and therefor needed to be guided by that superior group... that was something from the history of my old life, something I still knew about now... somehow.

I didn't agree with that belief; that someone was superior simply because of their race or characteristics, but...

Slavery in its essence...

Now, I couldn't claim to hate it and find it revolting, now could I?

After all, I myself was already partaking in it with Yiksa; she was still my Blood Slave, bound to me through magic and forced to follow my orders when I gave them.

So what did I feel about it?

Pursing my lips, I sighed as I stared at the ground as we made our way back to the park for now, my thoughts whirling around.

I was conflicted; what was the punishment Yiksa deserved for what she had done?

Was becoming a slave to me correct?

Even if I looked past just Yiksa, what was this worlds criteria for slaves?

Were they just people abducted and forced into it, or were they heinous criminals and people who sold themselves for hopes of a better future?

Even with the small amount of knowledge I retained from... wherever - and whoever - I had been before, could I judge this worlds morals and ethics at all?

And even if I found it heinous and terrible, what could I do?

Abolish it?

How?

And... why?

What good would it do me and my family?

I... was a selfish woman, focused on just myself and my family, so... even if it was some cruel, terrible thing, should I even care?

It had faded away in my mind, but... Yiksa was, indeed, my slave, and...

Sighing, I sat down with the rest of my family as we glanced towards Rhefia, who pursed her lips.

"That... was an interesting sight. Quite rare, too."

Rhefia turned towards Camara, Aethisia, and Kalia, her eyes hard as she began explaining what that was.

"Most likely, the orange Lamia was either a criminal or prisoner of war, and the red Hawkkin was a licensed slaver for the Queendom, which means that Lamia is someone important. So... she's to become a slave, which is... a forced servant, is the easiest way to put it. She will have no will of her own, and it's common for the worst of criminals or extremely desperate people to become slaves, to be used for whatever their owners want..."

Trailing off, Rhefia shrugged as she said "It's... a harsh reality, but one that you'd have seen sometime in the future anyways, since it's so prevalent around the world. Anyways, you don't need to worry about being forced into it at all; the method to create slaves is rather expensive and requires documentation from some government official, and the materials to bind a slave are something only the Queen has access to."

We all nodded, an odd mood falling around the clearing.

Camara seemed neutral to it all, as did Kalia, though my youngest seemed to feel slight pity for the Lamia... maybe.

Yiksa simply shrugged as she leaned back against the carriage, her eyes meeting mine for a moment before returning to the fire, her eyes just as neutral as Camara's.

However, Aethisia seemed just as conflicted as me, her lips pulled into a thin line as she stared at her hands, only to take a deep breath and shake her head.

As for Rhefia, she was looking at me, watching my expression carefully.

Turning towards her, I gave her a smile, letting the thought drift from my mind for now.

---

Obviously, slavery = bad.

We got that clear?

Cool.

Now, I understand that it's a sensitive, uncomfortable subject, but honestly, past this chapter here, I won't be broaching the morality of slavery that much, but...

Our world had very different forms of slavery depending on the culture, and everyone knows of the Triangle Trade and slaves in the good ol' U S of A, but there were various forms of slavery, like indentured servitude and serfdom.

And the world of Teran is the same; there's 'good' slavery like the 'ideal indentured servitude', 'neutral' like serfdom, and the bad of what the US had back in the day.

Anyways, moving past that, I probably didn't need to actually explain myself here considering... the entirety of my works, but don't feel like dealing with some people sometimes, and since this is the internet, I'll just make my stance known and whatever.

Really, probably didn't need to do this whole 'introspective' chapter, but whatever, adds depth and shit or whatever.

Slavery exists in the world and is a problem blah blah blah I'm just a guy on a computer writing smut so I did my part.

Hah... cool?

Lamia slave get... soon.

... probably didn't need all this but again, some people on the internet can't do basic reading comprehension sometimes, so I'm just covering my ass with this...

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