Keith had no idea if this was the night something was supposed to go wrong or not in the story but he was not going to take any risks.

In the end, Keith decided not to go too far into the Oasis green part so that he could keep an eye on Shinu. He could still see Shinu from his current place in the oasis so he was a little relieved by it.

He soon began to gather the nuts on the nearby trees, not even realizing when he lost track of time and his surroundings.

He did not notice someone sneaking up on him and ended up being hit in the back of his head. Then, he was picked up with Shinu and taken away from the slave traders.

.....

"Looks like we got ourselves a good trade offer, boss. The kid looks young and I am sure that some rich master would buy him and this person here looks like a carbon copy of the grandmaster. He would surely fetch a good price for us."

Keith's consciousness came back in patches so he was pretty much able to hear what the slave traders were talking about.

He could not believe he had let himself get captured like this.

'I can never let people find out who I am. It would be far too humiliating for me and especially blow my cover.'

Keith promised this in his heart. This was a secret he would take to his grave, and if someone asked him why he was there, Keith would tell them that he got captured because he had a plan.

"Let me go. You do not know how much trouble you will get into once my mother comes for me. So let me go."

Shinu complained, now awake and full of energy. Keith wanted to tell him to save his strength and not fight back, but he doubted that the kid would listen to him.

"Shut up kid. Just because I cannot hit you does not mean I will not gag you if you annoy me too much. From today onwards, you are our merchandise."

Shinu looked up in shock, not understanding how a human can be an object at the same time. The concept of slavery and ownership did not exist in the Hermits' camp after all.

The horrified look on Shinu's face caused the slave trader to laugh with joy. He seemed to find Shinu's cluelessness to be funny.

"Sorry kid, but soon you will see a world you have never seen before. I am sure you will learn a lot as well."

The slave trader left the scene soon after that, closing the door behind him. There were only Shinu and Keith left in that room after that.

Finally, when it looked like everything was safe and no one would come in, Keith dared to wake up and sit straight. Shinu seemed to be struggling with the rope binds on his body and Keith sighed.

"Don't both try to undo these ropes. They are artifacts that would not come undone no matter what you do. Just save your strength for now because you will need it soon."

Shinu had never said how long he had been a slave. As a dragon-cub, Shinu was someone who grew very slowly and would be 7 years old for a long time. His age in the MMO was never specified as well but he had looked somewhere around 8-9 years old at that time.

It would be some time before the protagonist came for Shinu if he even did come at that.

"You want me to sit still? How can I do that in my current situation? And what about you? How did you get captured if you are so great? You said that you would teach me to be to wield my power, but you were not even able to save yourself. I knew all outsiders were liars."

Keith tried not to show how much those words affected him. Shinu was saying the truth and Keith had gotten caught because of his carelessness.

*cough* "Don't worry, it's all part of my plan. I wanted these slave traders to capture me so that I could catch them red-handed. I will soon take this place down."

It was a fact. Even in the likely case that the protagonist did not come to take these people down, there were rumors of the slave ring being disbanded in the original story. It was only a matter of time now.

Besides, Keith had sent a message to Clair, telling her what was going to happen. His companion would take care of things for him from here on.

'I just need to put my faith in Clair. I am sure she will not let me down.'

Shinu did not believe Keith. The adult was a liar and he was the biggest liar Shinu had seen in his life. There was no chance that they would be saved in this desperate situation so there was no need to give Shinu any false hopes.

"You are sure we will be saved?" Keith nodded with full certainty, "In that case, I will follow you, no matter where you take me. But only if you save me and agree to take my mother with us as well. I will not leave my old mother back in my village."

Keith was surprised by Shinu's words but they did not sound that bad to him. He was willing to take an old lady with him since it would not change much in the guild.

"Alright kid, it's a deal then."

Keith agreed easily to those words. Now it was a matter of waiting.

........

Clair was busy going through the documents on her desk. The documents, Keith, the grandmaster was supposed to finish.

But Keith had taken off on another journey, leaving Clair to finish his work. It was too much for Clair who had to finish by herself in time. And then there was her supervision work she had no time for.

'Ugh, when will this mountain of paperwork finish? I am so writing the same thing again and again.'

Clair was ready to do anything else other than this paperwork which was not even necessary. It was just a formality people had stuck with her since the grandmaster was not here.

Her salvation came in the form of a text message from Keith, asking her for a favor. It explained his situation and what he wanted from Clair.

It seemed like it was time to organize a raid on the slave house near Hermit's territory. It had gone relatively unharmed precisely because they had not made any big moves recently. But it seemed like things finally changed for them.

'Hmmm, I should ask Shinzou to deal with this and come with me. I heard that he was going to make rounds on that said anyway. I guess it is time for me to head out as well.'

Clair was finally free to do what she wanted. She immediately headed toward the training grounds, hoping to find Shinzou.

Shinzou was there, but it was a surprise to see him duking it out with Amelia. The pink-haired gladiator was holding her own against a guild master but it was only in the physical strength department.

"How is it? Is my progress to your liking?"

Amelia asked, her chest panting due to exerting too much of her energy. She looked exhausted but she was still pulling herself up.

Shinzou looked unimpressed on the outside but his eyes were wide in shock. He had never seen someone improve as fast as this girl did in his life. She was a prodigy worth keeping around.

"Honestly, you are a little better than the brats I usually train. I knew I should never have doubted the grandmaster's words when he asked me to take you in as a student. You have the potential."

Amelia grinned and lost her focus. It was her doom since Shinzou did not spare her small mistake. Before Amelia knew it, her sword had been forced out of her hand.

"But despite all this, you are too green to go against me. Next time, practice a little more on being focused so that you do not get distracted while fighting."

Melia clenched her fists in rage, her expression darkening as she considered her shortcomings.

She had seen Master Shinzou coming at her but she had still allowed herself to look away. Next time, she will not get distracted.

Clair clapped her hands to get both of their attention and they looked up at her. They had noticed her as soon as she had walked in.

"Master Shinzou, Amelia, you both fought well."

Shinzou scoffed at Clair's words, not believing that she was here to watch them practice. His slave girl was far too cunning for that.

"Say what you want to say and don't beat around the bush."

Shinzou snapped and Clair grinned. It was going to be a fun trip for sure.

"The grandmaster wants us to do something so get ready."