Anomaly

„Magus, can you also connect the thoughts of two people?"kdkddk

-I never tried, but i think it should be possible if no party defends against it. Also, i will hear all that you convey to each other.-

„Thats ok, could you please connect me with the cardinal in that case?"

-Of course.-

„Oh, can you make it so that everyone can hear it?", Julia asked.

-I will try.-

„Thank you. You want to ask him about the slaves, right?"

„Yes, although we can't be sure if they are."

-Oh, you have someone who can use telepathy? And rather good at that!-

-Yes, Magus, the big guy with a crystal in his forehead.-

-Mister Walker, i guess? I see, i hurried to much and didn't give you a chance to introduce yourselves. Why are you contacting me like this?-

-I have question, i noticed those people with collars and wanted to ask.-

-Ah, you mean the slaves.-

-So they really are slaves. I won't judge but i'm just not used to that as slavery was abolished a long time ago where i come from.-

-Yes, i heard that even hear are country's like that. But i can a.s.sure you that they are treated very well in these parts, as we have even many laws to protect them.-

-They are protected by the law? May i ask how the conditions are?-

-Slaves aren't really treated much different than normal people in most cases. Compared to other places the conditions are very good here.

As a slave they naturally have an owner, which you can identify with the help of the collars the slaves wear. The owners have to take care of them properly, they are given living quarters food to eat and clothes to wear. Also, even if not much they even get paid for their work. The working conditions are also very good, there are maximum amounts of working hours a day and one free day every week, if my memory doesn't fail me. There are mainly only two downsides. First, of course, a slave can't choose which job he is given, but most of the time the owner let them do what they did before they became slaves. There should also be some exceptions, an owner can't, for example, force his slave to risk his life or into s.e.xual intercourse.-

-And the second downside?-

-Family, a slave has to ask for their owners permission if they want to have children. If they are allowed to, the owner has certain responsibilities in that aspect as well, making it so that those children most of the time end up working for the same family as their parents when they grow up. Either as a free person or as a slave, but they aren't slaves since birth.-

-And what happens

-Yes, that happens from time to time as well. In those cases the owner is allowed to give that child to an orphanage. But i heard that such cases are actually handle different in most cases, they give the children instead to other owners that specialize in raising them as servants. These children then get the choice when they grow up, either paying them back with their own hard work, or what happens most of the time, they become slaves and pay for their education in that way. Those slaves then get sold as high cla.s.s goods to other wealthy families.-

-Those conditions actually seem quiet good!-

-Of course, they are still fellow humans and beastman after all. In actuality, i heard that in recent times more and more of those third and fourth children of poorer family's become slaves by their own choice, as many slaves are said to have better living conditions than them. Almost one out of ten slaves in the capital are like that.-

-Thanks for the kind explanation. But i think we should talk about the rest face to face, and not like this.-

-Certainly, that does sound much more comfortable. Until then.-

„Well, it seems my uneasiness was unfounded, even if they are slaves they get treated quiet well."

„That is true, and i don't think they have any reason to lie to us in that regard.", replied Julia.

-One human owning another, for me that is something hard to understand... Isn't it enough to just ask them for help?-

„Nothing against you my friend, but i think we know now who not to entrust with our finances!", Allan replied only half jokingly.

After this they fell into silence again. When Allan got back to looking outside, he realized that they had already pa.s.sed the first wall. While the size of the mansions on both sides of the road hadn't changed much, they now where all surrounded by a huge garden and two to three meter high walls.

At this point it didn't take them long until they reached the outer castle wall.

While they were on the way, everyone respectfully evaded their carriages. That was why, they were stopped for the first time in their travel. When Allan looked to the front he saw a guard approach the carriage in the front. The guard was wearing a heavy looking armor, being literally covered in steel from head to toe, a big towers.h.i.+eld that seemed to be made of solid steel on the left arm and a sword and a club tucked away on his hip, while a short spear hung over his back.

When the guard saw the cardinal sticking his head out of the window, he bowed in way that looked a little bit weird, as he had to keep his balance with all the weight he was carrying around. But still, the guard moved naturally as if he didn't feel the weight at all.

A moment later, the cardinal gave some doc.u.ment to the guard for him to check, which he did very carefully.

„Wow, they are pretty thorough in their security measures. They don't even let a cardinal just enter without the proper doc.u.ments, even though it seems like the guard recognized him. And this is just the outer wall."

When they were let through the gate, they kept going until they reached the top of the hill and the inner castle wall.

When Allan saw the guards of the inner wall he got surprised, as the guards seemed to be equipped only to look good. Surely, they were even more thorough in checking the doc.u.ments and the cardinals ident.i.ty.

But if one looked at the guards of the outer wall, they wore knight armor that made them look like a moving wall of steel.

Compared to that the guards of the inner wall wore armor made of a dark green, almost black, material that reflected the sunlight in a dangerous l.u.s.ter. That material was then crafted in several thin, overlapping plates which tightly fitted the body of the wearer, s.h.i.+fting with every movement. In fact, while those armors looked quiet impressive, they looked so thin and tight that one could almost tell every movement of the wearers muscles, not to mention the gender, and Allan wondered if they didn't feel naked. The only thing comparable to a s.h.i.+eld that they had was slightly larger piece of the same metal as their armor that barely covered the back of the hand and then reached up to over the elbow. Even their weapons seemed more decorative than anything, one looked like slightly longer kitchen knifes and the other were rapiers. They hung on the guards hips blank without any protective cover for the blade, as if to show of their beautiful silvery color and the intricate designs that were carved into the blade.

Only when Allan saw the patterns that were carved into the blade, and realized their similarities with the magiccircle back in the church, did he realize the mistake he had made in his earlier evaluation and became able to see the precision these armors and weapons were made with.

He still needed to get used to the existence of magic.