Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2433

Chapter 2433: Swindling a Horror

The Caravan Master — whoever or whatever he was — shifted his gaze, looking at the Memory forming on Aiko’s hand curiously.

"That is an unusual Memory, Miss Aiko."

Indeed. While most Memories formed from sparks of light, some were different. The Memories crafted by the spellsmiths of Fallen Valor, for example, manifested in a whirlwind of scarlet sparks instead. There were stranger ones out there, as well, even among those Memories bestowed upon Awakened by the Spell. Those were usually quite special, albeit not always more potent than the rest.

The Memories crafted by the Lord of Shadows after his supposed death, however, always appeared like a torrent of darkness.

Aiko smiled.

"Well, you know how the Spell is. It likes to be fancy sometimes."

The Caravan Master chuckled and looked at her with the same curious smile.

"Indeed I do. We, merchants, have to know these matters by heart — people assign additional value to the strangest things, after all. A flashy Memory can cost ten times the price despite not offering any additional benefits. I prefer my Memories powerful rather than flamboyant, personally... but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t want to get my hands on a couple of the latter, and sell them for a fortune."

He laughed.

Aiko’s smile was a little forced by then.

The Caravan Master... seemed perfectly human.

That was the creepiest part, really. How flawlessly he blended with the crowd, no different from any other person she had met.

But Aiko was convinced that he was not, in fact, human. That was what made her skin crawl more than encountering the creature itself did.

"But what Memory are you so eager to show me? You... wouldn’t be summoning a weapon, would you, Miss Aiko?"

There was no threat in his voice, and yet, Aiko suddenly felt cold.

She raised an eyebrow.

"A weapon? Goodness gracious, surely not. What am I going to do with a weapon in these heels?"

She wasn’t lying, either.

Her stilettos were indeed not what one would want to wear in a fierce battle. Granted, Aiko could float and fly as she wished, so that wasn’t an issue...

Still — she was a lover, not a fighter.

Well... the "lover" part wasn’t going so well for her, to be honest, but that was beyond the point.

’Who cares? I love money! Now that’s true romance...’

Finally, a hand mirror made of polished silver appeared in her hand. It was quite a stylish little accessory, etched with beautiful patterns and inlaid with finely carved pieces of obsidian.

The Caravan Master studied it carefully.

"Not a weapon, after all."

He looked at her and smiled.

"Still... it seemed that I’ve been discovered. How vexing. I thought I performed the role of this human well. I even came while the Star is gone, and the Shadow it casts is gone with her."

Aiko shivered.

’Not a human, then.’

Her suspicion, unfortunately, had turned out to be correct.

’How did this thing pass the inspection, dammit?!’

What stood in front of her was not the Ascended merchant she had been supposed to meet. Instead... it was a vessel of the Great Terror, Skinwalker.

"Let me finish explaining about this Memory first. I summoned it for a reason, you know?"

She turned the mirror this way and that, casting bright reflections on the cobblestones.

"This here is a prototype of a Memory my boss has been developing in his free time. Communication is a serious problem in the Dream Realm, actually. Sure, the Immortal Flame is already working on a solution — a Dreamscape for the Dream Realm, or some such. Making it safe from all the horrors of this world is proving to be a problem in and of itself, though. Hence, we came up with our own solution. Ah, if only there was a way to mass-produce them! But I am getting off topic."

The vessel of the Skinwalker tilted its head.

"Communication? Are you hoping to commune with me, Awakened? Unity... community... yes..."

Aiko coughed.

"Thanks... but you are not my type, sorry. Sadly, it’s not like I can do anything against you, can I? I mean, I am a mere Awakened, and you are a Great Terror. What am I supposed to do? Oh, but I do feel the need to inform you of something."

She pointed to Little Ling, who was clinging to her.

"This here is my dear friend’s child. And my friend is a real she-wolf when it comes to protecting her boy. Coincidentally, today, we learned that everyone in this city loves his mom very much. Do you know why? Because she is Saint Athena, Raised by Wolves, Steward of the East... the War Beast. You should know her well, considering how many of your vessels she has destroyed."

Aiko drew Little Ling closer and covered his eyes with her hand.

Then, she smiled brilliantly.

"Right, returning to the Memory. It has a really terrible name, so I’ll spare you the pain of hearing it. I mean... I am perfectly capable of coming up with a terrible name of my own! Today, let’s call it..."

Aiko paused for a moment and then said in a solemn tone:

"...Call Mommy."

And just as she did, something thundered in the sky above them.