The Boys Going Shopping

“We’ll take our leave first to get ready,” Marcus said as the other six senators started filing out; he had a spark of gratefulness in his eyes as he looked at Prix. “We will let the judges get to it after lunch.” Marcus bowed before heading out as well.

Sato was vibrating on the floor for a while after all the senators left. “I-” Sato got up, looking angry, “-I’ll buy myself another girl- or something.” Sato said, “Idalec, can you come with me? BOYS ONLY!” Sato told Luna specifically.

“Sure,” Idalec said, following Sato out of the room. Prix snuck along,

“Why didn’t you stop Luna from torturing Sato?” Prix whispered over,

“What is justice? Fairness, fairness in punishment. Good follows evil, and evil follows good.” Idalec blabbered,

“Prix, this is BOYS only!” Sato complained as he broke out into a jog.

“We can talk later,” Idalec said, picking up his pace to follow Sato.

Outside the government building, people were setting up a court, a couple of senators were helping coordinate everyone, and yet nobody said anything as a furious Sato stomped by. Sato kept taking random turns until the Idalec, and he was in a less populated part of Rome.

“Luna's worse than Taiga and Nagatoro combined!” Sato clutched his hair, spinning on Idalec, who kept up with a casual pace. “I-I can’t keep getting cucked like this! Everyone! I need to buy a slave who is just agreeable! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR, IDALEC!!!” Sato spiraled, his horse voice making him sound like a ghost. “How do I beat Luna? I NEED to beat her!”

“Isn’t Sunya agreeable?” Idalec asked, letting Sato slump facing the wall like he was waiting to get shot by a firing squad,

“Oh yeah.” Sato said, his emotions seemed to get completely flushed out, “See, this is why I brought you along, little bro.” Sato stood up, patting Idalec’s shoulder. “I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Idalec kept watching Sato as a strange thought crossed his mind: ‘... why would Sunya go along with the con? What was in it for her to do what Prix asked?’

“Anyway, I need an elf girl who actually likes me.” Sato wiped the snot from his nose. “Now where’s the closed slave market chat?” Sato reached for his pocket just to pull out nothing.

“Why don’t you buy some new clothes before going back?” Idalec asked, hands clasped behind his back, as Sato put his hand into his pocket again and tried to pull something out that clearly wasn’t there. “Did you forget your money?”

“No- forget about it.” Sato stopped dipping his hand into his pocket. “I still have some money with me.”

Sato, with Idalec a few paces to his left, kept walking until Idalec spotted a clothes shop. “Right here,” Idalec said, pointing to the right.

“Elf girls.” Sato managed to turn a full 90 degrees and, without a single doubt in his mind, walked into the clothes shop.

“wHy ArE tHeRe No ElF gIrLs HeRe?” Sato nearly had a breakdown after seeing the clothes. “I haaaaate clothes shopping.”

‘Where does he get so much energy from?’ Idalec wondered as Sato kept making a scene. “Think about this as a gift for Sunya, and forget about buying anyone else,” Idalec said softly,

“But it’s a tradition! Every town I visit, I buy one slave girl.” Sato complained as a man approached the two,

“Is he hurt?” the man asked, motioning to Sato

‘It hurts to look at him.’ Idalec scoffed, “He needs some new clothes.” Idalec said calmly to the man, “Can you just pick something out for him that looks the same? Quickly, if you can.” The man took a quick look at Sato before scurrying around the shop, picking out a greyish t-shirt which had been slightly embroidered around the sleeves and collar, which resembled Sato’s shirt if you squinted, a pair of linen work pants, and a belt. Idalec paid the attendant with some of the demon’s bribe money before taking them over to Sato, who had recovered from the horror of ‘clothes shopping’ he was experiencing. “Change into these.” Idalec crouched down, handing off the clothes to Sato.

“You're such a real one, bro.” Sato got up, walked over to a changing room, and appeared in his new clothes, which fit him surprisingly well. “Damn, I look fine.” Sato said, looking himself over while holding his dirty clothing in a ball, “Now let’s go buy an elf girl.” Sato said, looking much happier; his voice even seemed to recover a bit.

After stumbling around Rome some more, Sato ran into a slave market. It looked just like the one in Roux, with a lobby and a back.

“So how do I buy an elf girl?” Sato asked the room as Idalec walked over to the bulletin board. “Idalec?” Sato turned back,

“Nobody's selling elves,” Idalec replied,

“Bullshit.” Sato walked over and looked at the bulletin for a few minutes before his mind started wondering, “Sure. Whatever. I just want another girl, beast gi-”

“I think I can help you.” A woman approached Sato and Idalec,

“Ah!” Sato squealed, jumping back,

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” The woman apologized, holding a paper.

“I wasn’t scared,” Sato replied, waving his hand, causing the women to giggle politely,

“I have a few offerings…” The woman said, pointing between Idalec and Sato,
“I’m helping him out,” Idalec said, taking the list,

“Ok.” The woman nodded, handing Sato the list; a large number of the entries were crossed off, reading ‘Lost’

“Why have there been so many write-offs?” Idalec asked,

“Uhmm…” The woman looked uncomfortable. “... yesterday in all the chaos this crazy cat demon jumped into the back and butchered a few and… incinerated most of the rest. She killed a couple of agents who tried to stop her...”

“How tragic,” Idalec muttered,

“Ok, can you show us around?” Idalec finally said,

“Certainly. I’ll just warn you that it’s a little grizzly out there.” The woman spoke while walking backwards, leading them towards the back.

They managed to ventilate the back well enough, the open roof design coming in handy, but the unmistakable stench of rusted metal, fur, and something burnt very much still lingered around; not even the smell of strong pine incense could cover it up. ‘Damn, Luna really did a number on them.’ Idalec guessed, ‘There can’t be that many cat folk who can do that to metal bars.’ Idalec observed metal, two fingers thick, which looked like candle wax. It was pretty clear that this had been a quick and dirty job for Luna since one side was completely scored; the side where the woman was bringing them was only lightly touched.

“Idalec, I think it might have been the Calamity that stuck here.” Sato raved, “Did his demon that attacked have red, furious eyes?”