Chapter 115: Trouble Solved

"But this isn't at all what we wanted..."

After hearing Rayan's cold and ruthless words, the crooked-mouthed leader sighed in despair, suddenly remembering something, his eyes lit up, "You just mentioned you have your reasons, is there some trouble you're facing here in Triumph Town? Maybe we can help?"

Rayan nodded slightly, speaking indifferently, "I owe five hundred and fifty gold coins."

"Five hundred and fifty..."

The light in the crooked-mouthed leader's eyes dimmed immediately. They were a group of men who couldn't keep their belts tight, spending any bit of money they had on food, drink, and gambling, and it was impossible for them to gather so much money. He instinctively sniffed the air and caught a seductive musk scent wafting from the cave behind Rayan.

He peeked inside and saw two female slaves, quietly crying and wiping their tears.

"There's nothing else, please leave."

Rayan, noticing his snooping, turned cold again.

The crooked-mouthed leader hurriedly said, "Sir, these two female slaves, you must have bought them from the local slave depot, right?"

"What's that to you?" Rayan turned to leave.

"Sir!"

The crooked-mouthed leader didn't dare to physically stop Rayan but shouted after him, "Sir, if you owe money to the slave master because you bought these two female slaves, we might have a way to help you pay him back!"

"Oh?"

Rayan stopped and stared intently at the crooked-mouthed leader, "What way?"

The crooked-mouthed leader sighed with relief and then explained proudly, "A few years ago, that slave master bought a batch of goods from us, but before he could sell them, they were stolen by robbers from Shadowcrest Ridge. Although the principal of the goods wasn't much, we were cautious and raised the interest rate tenfold. By now, that interest should have accumulated to five hundred gold coins. Heh, not gonna lie, Sir, we've been keeping this from the slave master, hoping the interest would accumulate so high that he'd be unable to pay it off..."

"That's quite a high interest."

Rayan smirked slightly, "But it does suit my interests. If you're willing to help with this, not only will I not kill any more bristle pigs, but I'll also give you the ones I hunted just now."

"Is that true?" The crooked-mouthed leader's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Mutual benefit."

Rayan spoke nonchalantly, "All I want is to not owe the slave master anything, and since he owes you, we can bypass him completely and make a deal. I don't care how you do it, I just want one result: that I am clear of any debt with him."

"You can count on us!"

The crooked-mouthed leader thumped his chest and promised, "We'll head straight to the slave trading post and settle this matter in no time!"

"Let him send away my brand guide, and another thing..."

Rayan's cold lips curled into a smile, "I suggest you don't settle it too quickly. You should have some fun. That guy has been hiding Royal Grin wines for over a hundred years. Don't forget to try some when you go there."

The crooked-mouthed leader immediately caught the hint and laughed loudly, "Great! Our hundred-plus men were just complaining about the lack of liquor! Thanks for the reminder, we're on it."

With that, he bowed to Rayan and walked back to the dense forest, his spirits high after a successful negotiation, boasting more ammunition in front of his peers.

Rayan sensed the bounty hunters hidden in the dense forest quickly depart, leaving only a few behind, seemingly to keep watch. He didn't mind and turned back to the cave.

Back in the cave, Meila and Taola had stopped crying. sola, though sad, was a fire girl, her eyes shedding fire, not tears.

It was clear that their emotions were suppressed, and the cave's atmosphere was somewhat strange with the enticing musk scent.

And Rayan's mood had significantly improved. First, no need to kill bristle pigs anymore; for him, killing bristle pigs posed no challenge, the more he killed, the more it tortured him. Moreover, the crooked-mouthed leader had already taken a hundred-plus people to "settle the account" at the slave trading post, just thinking about the scene was satisfying.

This method wasn't as gratifying as directly chopping off the slave master's head with the Crow Sword, but for the sake of long-term planning, this was the most extensive form of retaliation. Speaking of revenge—allowing scoundrels like the slave master to exist was a reason the visible and invisible rulers of this world deserved retaliation.

Rayan first buried this thought in his heart, cleared his throat, and slowly scanned the three female slaves.

Only sola dared meet his gaze, her orange pupils filled with grievance, while the other two female slaves bowed their heads in resignation.

sola, unwilling to accept this for the two female slaves, spoke up before Rayan could speak, "Master, this is all sola's fault, punish me instead. They just came out of one hellhole; you can't push them into another, please give them another chance."

"They were never in my plans."

Rayan bluntly said, "So no matter what they did today, I am not taking them with me."

"Master..."

Rayan waved his hand to cut off sola's plea, "sola, how long have you been with me? When have you seen me arbitrarily change my mind?"

sola nodded painfully and turned to Meila and Taola, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault!"

Meila hurriedly clutched sola's hand, emotionally saying, "Lady sola, this has nothing to do with you. The master has already made his decision, please don't blame yourself."

Taola also came over to grasp sola's hand, tearfully saying, "Lady sola, the thought of never seeing you again after this makes Taola very sad…"

As another round of crying was about to start, Rayan sighed deeply, "From the way you talk, I seem like a complete villain."

"Master, we didn't mean that at all!"

Meila quickly knelt down to explain, "You saved us, we are your slaves, we will obey your every decision, it's only natural."

Taola also knelt down, "It's just a pity we haven't had the chance to repay you and Lady sola; we can only hope to fetch a good price to improve your and Lady sola's life."

"I never said I was selling you off."

Rayan said coldly.

The three female slaves were startled. sola was the first to speak, "But didn't you say you wouldn't take them with you?"

"That's right, I said I'm not taking them with me, I never said I would sell them to someone else." Rayan replied.

Meila and Taola, hearing that Rayan wouldn't sell them, burst into tears of joy, hugging each other tightly, "It's great, the master isn't selling us! The master isn't selling us!"

While they still couldn't stay with Rayan and sola, not being thrown into another hellhole was a fortunate misfortune for them.

Once their emotions had slightly calmed, Rayan continued, "As I said, you are not in my plans, not because of your lowly status, but because being with me could lead to danger at any moment. Unlike sola, you have no combat or defense skills; in a dangerous situation, you can't protect yourselves or gain abilities from it, so I can't take you with me."

Meila and Taola nodded submissively, both speaking, "Master, you've thought this through so well, people like us would only be a burden."

"But Master, if you're not taking them with you, are you planning to leave them in Triumph Town?"

sola spoke with concern, "They are slaves, it could be very dangerous without protection."

"I've already thought about that."

Rayan spoke calmly, "I plan to find a reliable bounty hunter tomorrow morning to send them back to Shadowcrest Ridge."

"Shadowcrest Ridge!"

sola shouted excitedly, "That's perfect, why didn't I think of that! Doesn't Duke always say he's short on tavern girls? This is great, we'll send him two at once."

"sola!"

Rayan couldn't help but shake his head with a laugh and a cry, "Tavern girls engage in that kind of... never mind, it's hard to explain to you, but the boss won't mistreat them."

"Hmm, sending them back to Ravenstorm Inn is a great decision!"

sola said with excitement, "Meila is good at calculations, she can help the boss with his accounts, and Taola can cook, she'll be a good chef, the boss won't have to be so tired every day."

"I was thinking the same." Rayan nodded in agreement.

Seeing Meila and Taola a bit bewildered, sola affectionately took their hands, "You don't know, Duke is the best, kindest person in the world, I and the master have received his kindness, you won't be mistreated there."

"He's so good, and he's been kind to the master and Lady sola, should we sleep with him?" Meila asked earnestly.

"You..."

Rayan was about to scold them for their unclean thoughts, but recalling the enticing appearance of Meila and Taola when they first met him and the lecherous expression on Duke's face, he changed his mind, "Ahem... I neither encourage nor oppose it, everything, everything is up to you."

"Yes, Master!"

The two female slaves then showed a relieved smile...

After sorting out the matter of the two female slaves, Rayan leisurely walked outside the cave, leaned against a thick tree trunk, his head resting on his arm, gazing at the setting sun, his mind filled with the exciting prospect of soon seeing the Twilight Blade again, leaving the chattering of the three female slaves behind him.

sola, full of enthusiasm, started directing the two of her kind, and although her experience was lacking, always slightly off the mark, she had a natural leadership quality, like the glow of the dawn, infecting Meila and Taola.