CHAPTER 42: YOU’VE CHANGED ALOT, AISHA.

"I am willing to buy her from you. Name your price," Terra pointed aggressively, trying to place herself right in front of Aisha.

At the same time, Aisha could be seen moving forward, her hand stretched to the side to stop Terra from talking.

Ash, on the other hand, simply sighed, unwilling to take part in whatever was going on.

"If this is an inn, I would like to get a room," he uttered with a nonchalant aura.

Terra raged. "What? Did you just ignore me? How dare you? Who do you think you are?!" She pointed even more aggressively, daring to take a step forward.

However, before she could get any further, Aisha grabbed her and covered her mouth.

"S-sorry about this Master, I don’t know why she is suddenly like this. She is usually way calmer."

"Hmmm! Ghmmm!" Terra still shook like a wild cat, desperately wanting to free herself so she could shout some more.

"Master? Can you give me a minute so I can... talk to her?"

Ash sighed, then nodded his head.

"Thank you, Master."

With that done, Aisha pulled Terra away, taking her to the far back room where she had once walked out from, leaving Ash standing there, his cape covering his body from head to toe.

Since he was alone, he took the opportunity to look all around him, taking into account once again how empty the place looked.

Why would Aisha know such a place if she was being treated as a slave here? Ash frowned, unable to come up with a single logical explanation.

That was when the system notification popped up.

[The system has chosen to leave a hint pertaining to the trauma quest.]

’...’

[The character Terra will play a huge role in helping you complete this task. You can choose to use her or choose to find another route.]

’Better than nothing, I guess. Anyway, how long does Aisha intend on keeping me waiting?’

...

Inside the storage room where Aisha and Terra were, Aisha was seated on the ground, while Terra sat in the same position, only her back was rested against the wall.

"I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you with those people. I was too weak to do anything, but still, I wanted to help you as much as I could." Terra sighed. "I can’t believe you went through all that. Dammit."

Aisha smiled in response to Terra’s growing frustration.

In order for Terra to understand that Ash was not the bad guy, she had ended up going too far, explaining every single bad thing she had faced since she was sold from Othland.

"I don’t regret it as much anymore. Not as much as I did back then. If I didn’t go through this, I would never have been saved by my master. See, this is why I keep telling you, you have the wrong impression of him. Master Ash is a good person."

Terra didn’t say anything for a while; instead, she just stared at her.

Back when Aisha was still so small, and her mother had been killed in front of her, Terra would often sneak her away from the slave trader’s camp and bring her to this abandoned inn where barely anyone went.

She would give her food, clothes, and often tell her stories from the outside world.

Back then, Aisha barely had any life behind her eyes.

Every second of looking at her seemed like she was merely being controlled and clinging to life like it was the last thing she could hold.

Hell, she barely looked anyone in the eye, always with a dark cloud above her and her eyes fixed solely on the ground.

And yet, here she was, healthier and for some reason defending her master this much.

For someone like her, who grew up in the worst possible environment, there was no way she would so easily defend someone like this.

Not like this.

Terra soon wore a small smile on her face. "You must really care about that man if you are saying this much. You’ve changed."

"Of course I do. Master is the best." Aisha raised a single finger as though about to give a lecture. "Master isn’t good around people, so I want him to like you. Okay, Miss Terra? Please try to act your best."

"I was acting my best."

Aisha sighed. "Please do better. Anyway, let’s go back. Master Ash is already getting impatient, and there is someone else here already."

She stood up and stretched her hand forward, offering it to Terra.

Terra didn’t hesitate to take it, her body getting lifted off the ground from a single pull from Aisha. They both headed towards the door.

As they opened it, the first thing they saw were four men standing at the very front, all surrounding Ash, who had his back rested on the wall, arms folded.

"Oh shit," Terra cursed the moment she saw them, halting her movement.

"Huh? Who are those people near my master? Are they friends of yours, Miss Terra?"

"How much less confronting this would be if you were right. No, these are troublemakers."

"OI! You can hear me, right? Are you deaf or something?"

"Boss, this dude is ignoring you. We can’t let that go now."

While all three of the men were ranting, trying to intimidate Ash, the one in the middle, a man wearing a white hat and an all-white outfit, remained standing in front of Ash, locking gazes with him.

"I see," the boss uttered. "You’re not from around here, are you? I see no other reason why anyone would choose to come this far into the city just to take an inn. Did you get lost?"

Ash remained silent, then slowly turned his gaze to the girls.

"There you are. What took you so long?" he asked them.

The boss lost it, annoyance etched on his face.

Without giving it a second thought, he smashed the bottle he had been holding right at the side of Ash’s head.

...

[A/N]

Happy new month.

Here is the new month’s challenge, if it can be met.

100 ps—1 extra Chapter.

50gt—1 extra Chapter.

Thank you all for reading.