<~> Chapter 166My friends and I followed Sibyl to a part of Goldeh that I hadn't been to yet. It looked like a fairly industrial part of town and it was busier than anywhere else I had seen iy thus far. People were walking in and out of warehouses transp boxes, and carriages full of different loads of goods were waiting to unload. This was the only part of the city that I've seen that looked normal for what I would expect a rge city to look like.

  Sibyl poio one of the warehouses as roached. "That's the one. And uh, whe there you have to call me Sarah, I obviously 't call myself by my actual name around people I used to know so I introduced myself as a friend of Sibyl. The guy knows Raya too though so that should help."

  "Who are we going to meet? Duke?" Raya asked.

  "Yeah," Sibyl replied. "Duke's usually good for this kind of thing, he's reselling this wagon for cheap because the guy who sold it to him was in a hurry to leave the city. He sold the wagon as part of the goods he was trying to get rid of rather than finding a separate buyer. Ah there!" She pointed out a weasel beastfolk.

  Despite his dirty clothes, his weasel head made him look really cute. Something about his small eyes and big ears appealed to me. He was short, short enough that he wouldn't even e up to my bust while standing up meaning I had to look down at him the whole time.

  "Ey! Raya! I swear you look hotter every time I see you! And the little kitten is back! Were you still looking to buy that wagon? It's a nie, won't be able to hold onto it for long!"

  Raya got a mischievous glint in her eye. "Heya Duke, haven't seen you around the Vixen tely! If I didn't know better I'd think you didn't have time for us anymore," she finished with a pout as she pressed herself into his side.

  The fidehe man had was gone now, he turned into an embarrassed mess who couldn't keep his eyes off of Raya's breasts pushed into his face. "N-no, I mean yes, it's been really busy tely... I haven't had time to... visit."

  Sibyl pulled Raya off of him with an amused smirk. "Raya, give the poor man some space. Yonna give him a heart attack from the blood loss."

  The weasel coughed and adjusted his pants awkwardly before refog on Sibyl. "Sarah was it? That old dog doesn't have time to visit me herself then? Ah, whatever, the price is the same as st time if you've got the gold. Is this the friend of yours that's paying?" Duke focused on me for the first time since we came up to him.

  Sibyl's tail flicked out in annoyance. "She doesn't like it when you call her an 'old dog' and you know it. And yeah, Duke, meet Lilith. She's buying the carriage aing us tag along to the capital."

  His ears drooped a bit as he looked over at Raya. "Ah, I'd hought I'd see the day when my favorite dy skipped town. You'll be back though right? The capital isn't safe for... people like us."

  A gentle look settled on Raya's face. "Of course I'll be back. The Ruby Vixen is my home and those girls are my family. But I o get out there, explore a little. Oh! And look! I've learned a little bit of magic!"

  Raya jured a small blue fme above her palm, the magic looked effortless pared to how much trouble she had with it the day before yesterday. "Man here is my magic teacher! She's going to show me a thing or two on the way to the capital!" Raya released the magid pulled Man into a side hug to show her off much to her embarrassment.

  Duke just ughed in response. "Seems like you're set on this then. Just be careful up there aye? I hear the Tamin bastards are more active there than usual. I guess it's not any more fucked than Goldeh is right now but everyone's on edge there from what I hear." He shifted his focus bae. "So, I haven't caught your you're paying yeah?"

  "Lilith," I said with a nod. "I am yes."

  His eyebrow raised. "You look like an adventurer, must have e into some money because year looks new... mostly. I fear you won't have any more luck with those bastards than the girls here."

  "I'm no fan of the Tamin church. But I'm told they leave demon syers mostly alone."

  "A demon syer? Wouldn't have guessed. Did you e because you heard this city was being besieged by demons? I re the guards would love the help clearing out the deserted parts of town."

  I smiled wryly. "I have been helping them already but it's about time for me to move on. I'm on my way to the capital, Goldeh has just been a... pleasaour."

  "Pleasant?" he barked out a ugh befng at the girls. "Only a demon hunter would call a half-destroyed city pleasant. Crazy bastards the lot of you." He looked over at Sibyl. "Anyway, this kitten promised you'd pay me to take this carriage off my hands. Let's go get a look at it."

  Duke led us off to one of the nearby warehouses. Off in the er of a building stacked to the ceiling with boxes was a huge carriage. The thing was much bigger than I expected it to be, about the size of a rge SUV from my world. It ainted with bright white paint and had fe windows blocked with white curtains inside.

  "It's in really good shape, the suspension is practically new, and it still has a log safe uhe floor. The thing is big though, some of the materials are lightened with magic but it'll still require four draft horses minimum or two uunas to move this thing. If you know what you have to pull it I get it the proper fittings but I out of my warehouse as soon as possible."

  Sibyl nodded. "We already have a pair of uunas to pull it, they're in a stable on the edge of town. The one owned by Tirren."

  "Aye, I know the oirren is a good man. One of the few humans I tolerate nowadays." Duke shifted his attention to me. "So, almost new carriage i shape, how's twelve gold sound?"

  I grinned in amusement. "I was told the price would be ten."

  He shrugged. "Well, proper merdise should have proper prio? Besides, I don't know you, who's to say you don't make your payments?"

  "Payments hm? How about eight but I pay yht now?"

  "Eight?" Duke almost looked offended but I knew better, this was just part of the game. "Because you're friends with Raya and Sibyl, I'll give it to you for ten. But only if you pay now. I have it brought to Tirren's by the end of the day with uuna fittings."

  I pulled a pouch of ten gold s I had prepared in adva of my pocket. "Ten gold, right here. Do you have paperwork for it?"

  He grumbled. "Follow me, I'll t the gold while you look over it."

  Duke led us off to a small offi the other side of the warehouse full of wooden shelves and ets. He opened one and pulled out a small stack of folded paper. "Fug expensive paper. Ten years ago you could get by on your word, now everything his expensive ass paper to prove anything. Fug world travelers." He poi one of the chairs o the desk. "Sit there and read over the papers. You read right? I'll t the gold while you do."

  I nodded and took a seat. There weren't enough seats for my whole group so most of my friends stood outside the office so it didn't get too crowded. Only Raya and Sibyl were ih me.

  While Duke ied each one by one, I read over the dot. It looked kind of like a deed or a car title with a serial number handwritten in the er. There was also a description of the carriage writteo it. On the sed page was a list of names and who ow previously. There were only four names on it, the first being the crafter and the st one being Duke. The st name of his signature was so scribbly it was illegible but I could read the Duke part at least.

  "Seems fio me," I said. Sibyl took the papers and looked them over before nodding and handing them bae. "Are we good to sign?" I asked Duke.

  After a moment he slid all of the s bato the bag and his mood seemed to have greatly improved. "Aye, sign your system here o line. Shame I couldn't get mold out of ya but at least you're paying now and didn't try to pass off a scraped ."

  I sighe lih my full name, Lilith Baphomet. I hadn't written a signature in this world before and I didn't really have any time to e up with anything special so I just wrote the name in a calligraphy style.

  Duke's brows furrowed when he looked over my signature. "This is ynature? I 't read it. What nguage is this?"

  Oh shoot, I fot. "Uh, it's the nguage of my homend. I'm from a small town in Ara."

  "Ara?" he asked dryly. "Whatever, none of my business. As long as it's your system name in whatever nguage then it should be fine."

  He signed his own name and pulled out a small stamp. As soon as he touched the stamp to the paper I could see ambient magic move from the air into the stamp before sinking into the paper. A cl the paper made me realize that the small marks at the end of each signature had embedded magic, like little coded timestamps.

  He folded the papers and slid them into an envelope before handing it to me. "Guards in some towns might o see this so I would keep them as safe as you . Don't leave them on the carriage itself unless you want to risk bandits g the carriage is theirs. Not that most bandits would risk fighting ah uunas but you never know what might happen, some people are desperate right now."

  I nodded. "Thanks for the advice. Make sure you have Cecelia at the stable informed when it's delivered."

  "Nice doing business with ya. I never fucked a sheep girl before so if ya are feeling more horny than usual, e baetime," he gestured at my horns while he spoke. There was something I found really amusing about a cute little guy with such a foul mouth but as endearing as I found him, his attitude was still off-putting. I wasn't sensitive enough to get upset by it though, I found it funny more than anything else.

  "I think I'll have to pass little guy," I replied.

  He huffed but had a grin on his face. "e baetime if you need something. If the price is right I track down anything that goes through this city."

  roup left the warehouse. It was te afternoon now but not quite su. It was still a bit dangerous in town, though Sibyl said it had improved tely. We still decided to head back to the brothel before su, better to skip any potential headaches.

  I looked at Raya, through the bond I could feel how excited she was for the uping trip. I walked o her so we could chat on the way back. "Raya, I didn't really expect you to want to e with us. After we first talked I thought you wouldn't want to leave the Ruby Vixen."

  She smiled and looked up at the sky. "Before you came I probably never would have left." She tapped her in thought. "But... after everything that's happehe... ges you've made for everyone, I'm not as worried about anyone anymore. Everyone's a lot stronger now, no one's going hungry, some of the girls have healing magid the Madame is young again. Everything's ged and I don't feel like... I need to be around to help everyo anymore." She iwined her fingers with Sibyl who looked away bashfully. "I want to see hings and explore with my new girlfriend. Between her and you guys, I feel like it wouldn't be too dangerous. Maybe with a little bit more magic practice, I could even learn how to protect everyohat sounds oo."

  I put my hand on her shoulder. "As much as this is a surprise to me, I'm happy to have you along. The two of you have quickly bee great friends of mine and it'll be fun traveling with everyone. More people will make things like cooking and night watches more bearable too." I said with a ugh.

  Raya grinned. "Besides, it's not like we're leaving forever. The Ruby Vixen will always be my home and everyone who lives there will always be my family. If nothing else, that part is more true than ever. I'll e back even strohan before and I'll help everyoh my new fire magic!"

  Man patted Raya oher shoulder. "Just o get to the point where you cast more than two fireballs before throwing up." That got a big ugh out of everyone.

  Saine

  Hello! A bit more background on where Raya is at. I hope it doesn't sound like too much of a cop-out but it is true. Things have ged a lot for the Ruby Vixen, Lilith has given them a much more solid foundation to live on. I won't say that Raya being a quick fan favorite had nothing to do with this ge in attitude but I also don't think it's too much of a stretch for her to e with the group either. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading, I'll see you agaiime!

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