Time passed quickly, and before long it was afternoon. Leilin took a pleasant bath, changed into a loose white robe, and headed over to Creo's villa.
"Welcome, Leilin! My dear friend!"
Creo stepped forward and embraced Leilin, a slightly uneasy expression flickering across his face.
"Your aura seems to have grown stronger again — truly enviable!"
It was Leilin's age and potential that had initially piqued Creo's interest and motivated him to build a connection. With a wizard whose future held no limits, planting your network early almost always yielded unexpected and tremendous returns.
But Leilin's rate of progress seemed to exceed even his expectations.
"Just a successful experiment, that's all!" Leilin replied modestly.
In truth, this was the result of him using the Mimicry Spell to conceal most of his Spiritual Power. Otherwise, someone as shrewd as Creo would certainly have guessed something.
Creo clearly didn't buy Leilin's modest words, but among wizards, matters concerning Spiritual Power were absolute privacy — any prying would invite hostility.
So Creo simply smiled, stepped forward, and warmly took Leilin by the arm.
"Enough about that — come, let me take you to the slave market!"
……
The slave market occupied the fourth level of Nevernight City, covering an enormous area, and its signage was displayed with full grandeur.
"My lord! Come to our establishment! We have all kinds of slaves, including two snake-women just captured from the Eastern Ridge Desert — their technique is top-notch!"
"My lord! Take a look here — beautiful bunny girls, fiery foxwomen, and Ganna tribe beauties with tremendous physical strength! These are all Great Knight-level — lovely to look at and built to last. And each one is only eight hundred Magic Stones…"
"Look here — this is the daughter of the Grand Duke of the Dike Duchy! Noble bloodline and royal status. The Dike Duchy is a major duchy comparable to an empire, so the Grand Duke's daughter is essentially a princess!"
Within the massive slave market, there were also numerous independent shops, and to attract customers, these shops employed every trick in the book.
Leilin followed Creo while watching the various shopkeepers barking their sales pitches at the entrance.
Fiery bunny girls and foxwomen, their bodies covered by only a few scraps of cloth barely large enough to cover the essentials, large swaths of skin on full display. Fluffy white tails and fiery red fox tails swished back and forth, and paired with the coy, bashful expressions on the foxwomen's and bunny girls' faces, the contrast was powerfully striking.
"Well, customer? Want to take a look at this princess's figure?"
Creo was clearly interested in the slave advertised as a princess, and he paused in front of that particular shop.
Leilin also studied the girl behind the shopkeeper — tall and slender, golden eyes, carrying herself with an air of supreme nobility. This kind of aura, something akin to a natural presence, could never be imitated so convincingly without being cultivated from childhood.
The beautiful young girl wore a grand court banquet gown, and even a small diamond-encrusted crown sat atop her head, as though she were truly a princess out for a casual stroll — if you disregarded the blank, resigned expression on her face.
"Quite beautiful!" Creo put on a lecherous grin. "Come to think of it, I've had plenty of women, but I don't think I've ever trained a princess before!"
"Absolutely a genuine princess — her father was the previous Grand Duke of Dike!"
The shopkeeper pushed his merchandise hard. "And this woman hasn't been touched — she's a complete vir…"
"The Dike Duchy — I think I recently heard something about that. Wasn't there a coup?" Creo stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. "Let's hope there aren't any lingering complications!"
"No, no! The previous Grand Duke of Dike was determined to build up his own strength and break free from wizard control, so he was abandoned by the wizard family backing him. In fact, the coup was directed by that very wizard family…"
The shopkeeper gave Creo a detailed explanation.
Leilin noticed that the moment the Grand Duke's daughter heard this, her head dipped slightly, and a look of terror mixed with hatred flickered in her eyes.
Though the expression vanished in an instant — she concealed it well — how could it escape the notice of the wizards present?
"Oh? Quite the fiery spirit? I like a challenge…" Creo's interest was instantly piqued. "Just tell me the price!"
"Two thousand Magic Stones! That's the rock-bottom price!" the shopkeeper said with confidence.
"Two thousand Magic Stones?!!" Creo's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "For one mortal who isn't even a knight? Do you think I got kicked in the head by a donkey?"
"Don't say that! This princess cost me an enormous effort to acquire — she's the only one of her kind in all of Nevernight City! Other royal princesses all have wizard families backing them. This kind of merchandise is only available now — whether you'll ever see one again is purely a matter of luck…"
The shopkeeper did his utmost to entice them.
"Two thousand Magic Stones! Far too expensive — that's enough to fund several large-scale experiments of mine!" Creo shook his head helplessly.
He turned to Leilin. "My apologies for making you wait. Let's go!"