Back in the central area of the ship, in the mall-like space, Bianca was looking around and being rather careful of any suspicious individuals while allowing her darling pet to find something of interest to visit first.

  Naturally, she also gnced towards the sex toy store she had seen previously, curious as to what she might be able to find in there. Perhaps she’d see something more advanced than the toys she’d seen so far, or maybe just something more exotic – either way, she was very keen to have a look and either draw inspiration from the store, or even buy a few things that looked interesting enough.

  If it had been the nearest vaguely interesting store in the vicinity, Bianca would’ve gone there directly, but as is she just wanted to keep it in mind for the moment.

  “Mistress, could we visit that store first?” her pet pointed to one that was conveniently near the sex toy shop, an accessory store that had a retively subdued storefront, with only the name of the shop showing above the door, “I would like to try some hairpins.”

  “Hairpins? Alright, sure, why not?” Bianca agreed, leading her on, continuing to look around in the meanwhile, “Remember, we won’t be buying too much right now, but feel free to look around. If anything catches our eyes, we can always grab more money on our return… or we can consider some alternative means, I doubt I need to expin them.”

  Her pet shook her head, and soon they arrived at the door to the store, having little to discuss while surrounded by others.

  Fortunately, this store wasn’t too busy, having only a few people standing around in the corners, examining the wares lining the numerous tables and shelves throughout the shop. There were six rows of tables from the front of the shop to the back, with a shelf on either side, and all of them were covered in crimson velvet, with various trinkets spread out evenly across the tables.

  “Ooh, there’s so much… Mistress, may I-”

  “Look around, don’t worry about it. Just don’t take anything without asking,” Bianca said, although the st part of that wasn’t directed at her pet.

  Rather, it was a reminder to herself, because seeing so many small items spread out and shining so brightly at her was… incredibly tempting. Endlessly alluring and wonderful, nearly making her body move on its own towards the trinkets.

  She barely held herself back and instead walked in between two of the rows, gncing from side to side as little as she could while heading to the back. While she didn’t have any specific goal in mind, Bianca figured that she could find something to speak about with the owner of the store, or at least investigate something to do with the ship and the store owner’s retions to Li Wusu. Whatever is revealed wouldn’t be missed by the ship’s captain, of course, but at least it would even out how much the two sides knew.

  ‘Perhaps I’ll learn something valuable, maybe not, but as long as I can keep my hands to myself…’ Bianca focused and stepped up to the owner of the pce, a woman that was sitting in a chair, leaning back, her eyes half-shut but focused.

  It looked like anything that happened in the store wouldn’t be missed by her, but upon further examination, Bianca felt that something wasn’t quite right.

  ‘The same metallic feeling… don’t tell me-’

  “Can I help you? I’d id out all of the items I have for sale over there, so if you need something I don’t show, then too bad,” the woman said, but her aura was just a little metallic, and when looking up close, it was obvious why.

  She was made up of countless golden strands, arranged in such a manner that, somehow, there was almost nothing amiss about her. It would’ve been a downright miracle if not for the fact that it was obvious that she wasn’t human, and was created by Li Wusu for whatever reason. Thus, her original pn for questioning went out of the window, forcing her to reconsider something on the spot, eventually arriving at the direct approach.

  “What is this, Li Wusu?”

  “Huh? I think you’re mistaking me for someone else,” the shop owner entity said, looking at her as though Bianca was crazy, “If that was all, please stick with your girlfriend and come back when you choose something to buy.”

  “… How long have you been on this ship?”

  “Why the fuck do you care?”

  “Just wondering. This pce looks pretty well established,” Bianca said, looking around.

  The store did indeed look like it had been used for quite a while, nothing looking fresh, though there also wasn’t any dust or dirt anywhere in sight. This pce was well maintained and polished, but any newness had clearly faded long ago.

  “I’ve been here… a while. I’ve not kept track of it, but business is good here, and I can always get new wares when we dock,” the merchant entity considered it for a moment and shrugged, “It’s a good life, overall.”

  “I see. Didn’t you have anywhere you wanted to go when you got onto the ship?” Bianca asked.

  The shop owner opened her mouth, but she seemed to get confused as she closed it again and frowned.

  “I… I think I did, but…. I stayed here. Why did I stay here?”

  Clearly, the memories used to make this entity didn’t have an appropriate answer, or simply didn’t have the capability to think far enough to wriggle out of this trouble, so Bianca took a step back, resting her hand on one of the many cushioned surfaces on the tables.

  “… You. Are you pnning on buying anything?” the merchant entity suddenly snapped back to ‘normalcy’, as though she forgot about the conversation they had been having just now.

  “Well, if my darling pet chooses something, then sure,” she replied calmly, even as she slid something into her pocket, “I’ll go check up on her.”

  She turned and walked towards Song Ming, her heart starting to race the further away she got. That rush, that excitement of taking something from under another’s nose… it was exhirating, and a little arousing, if she was to be completely honest. Still, she could supress it for now, and so she did, coming over to her pet with a nearly neutral look upon her face, and only the slightest hint of wetness down below.

  “Hey, sweetie. What are you looking at?”

  “Mistress, this pin here… actually, could I ask about what you learnt from the merchant?”

  Bianca shrugged, “She’s an entity – we really to figure out the proper name – like the men that accompanied Li Wusu. I have a feeling most of the vendors that had been here longer are as well, which is a little… off-putting.”

  “She is? But… right, they do look a lot like normal people… Can’t she hear us?”

  “She probably can, but it seems like these entities struggle to recognise certain things if they’re pying the part of a regur person. Assuming we don’t somehow cause her to snap, I think she’ll just forget about it in a while, again,” Bianca expined, though she did lower her voice a little as she felt the shop owner entity look her way.

  “I see… I was mostly thinking about you, Mistress, so I hadn’t actually looked that much. Now that I know what the owner is, I…”

  “Not feeling like shopping here?”

  “Not today, Mistress,” Song Ming shook her pretty head.

  “Then let’s move along for now,” Bianca reached out and patted her pet’s head, “We can always find you something ter, perhaps even… how does a colr sound?”

  That got the exact reaction she expected, a flustered shy mess of sounds that barely deserved to be considered words, so Bianca pced her hand on the back of her pet’s neck and led her away, applying just enough pressure while grasping her neck to let her pet feel it.

  She was definitely going to find a nice colr for her at some ter point, but for now she’d just showcase her ownership in other ways. As they walked out of the shop, Bianca checked her pockets with one hand, confirming that she managed to get away with stealing a hairpin, and the other she slid down from Song Ming’s neck until reaching her firm ass.

  At first, she only groped her for a little while, focusing on leading them through to the store Bianca had been eyeing up, though once they were nearly there, she slid her fingers in between Song Ming’s rear cheeks.

  “M-Mistress?”

  “Just inspecting my property, sweetie,” Bianca offered a smile and pressed against the base of the butt plug in her pet’s ass, getting a wonderful mewl out of her.

  “D-Do you like what you feel, Mistress?”

  “Do you even need to ask?” she leaned in and whispered into her ear, “You’re the best slutty pet a girl could ask for.”

  Song Ming’s face turned so red that it felt like she could pass out at any moment, but she looked absolutely delightful, nearly making Bianca want to keep going for hours. Unfortunately, they had gotten to the front of the sex toy store, and she didn’t want to draw the attention of too many onlookers, so she moved her hand back to simply grasping her pet’s ass as they stepped in.

  Unlike the retively clean and elegant store that they had left, this one was rather busy, to say the least. It was flooded with shelves that were themselves flooded with all kinds of items. The front mainly contained risqué items, lingerie and bondage gear, but as she looked deeper in, she saw dildoes, butt plugs and… heaven knows what else. The only thing she knew for a fact was that there was no other sembnce of organisation, and that if she wanted anything specific, she would need to ask the person most likely to be familiar with the pce.

  “Sweetie, you’re free to look around again, I’ll try to find the owner of this pce,” Bianca instructed, delving deeper into the store.

  By the front, there was plenty of light to look around, but the back of the store was dark and dim, and there seemed to be no others in the area. The whole pce was… odd, and neither her eyes nor her spiritual perception, guided by the Weave and Demonic Tyrant, were able to spot anyone inside.

  Either the owner wasn’t in, or…

  “Can I help you?” a woman’s voice caught her off guard as she had wandered into the depths of the shop, coming from her side.

  Turning on the spot, Bianca found herself facing a woman whose features were made faint by the darkness, but she could tell that this woman was rather attractive, even as most of her attention was drawn to her eyes – or rather, the one eye she could see.

  Her long bck hair covered the right side of her face, but the left showed a violet eye that resembled a gemstone, gleaming and shining slightly in the darkness. The rest of her also looked like she was a perfectly carved statue brought to life, not a single fw or imperfection to be seen in this shadow, whether by her soft lips or lower.

  ‘Damn, she’s… hot,’ Bianca found herself unable to come up with better words, mesmerised by the woman’s charm.

  The only thing that helped break this focus was the woman narrowing her eyes and sighing, before reaching up and lightly tapping Bianca’s nose.

  “Boop… You awake?”

  “Hm? Ah, sorry, I… I was-”

  “Staring, yeah. Could’ve at least answered me while you were doing that,” the woman suggested, withdrawing her hand.

  “S-Sorry… Uhm, are you the owner here?”

  “Mhm, I am. Since you were delving into my shop, I’m guessing you were looking for something specific?”

  “I… Yes and no. This pce looked a little disorganised, so I hoped to get your help in general, but also I do have a few ideas. You see, my girlfriend and I-”

  “Let me guess… colr, ideally with something degrading like ‘Slut’ or ‘Pet’, maybe a new butt plug, maybe a ball or ring gag for fun in the bedroom, and… hm, I’d offer lube, but you don’t seem to need it.”

  Bianca blinked a few times as she processed the shop owner’s words, “That is… very specific.”

  “I happen to be good at reading people, in this and in general,” the woman’s violet eye almost seemed to glimmer more brightly for a moment, “And it’s awfully fun to help people break boundaries and common rules… Don’t you think? I know you’re not interested in some of those rules, like needing a guy to fuck a woman’s brains out and put a baby in her…”

  “… Uh…”

  “Sorry, I can’t help myself sometimes. So, did you want all of the things I listed?”

  “… Yes, please.”

  “Give just one moment, then,” the shop owner offered a quick smile and turned around, disappearing into the darkness of the store, leaving Bianca to ponder what exactly she had gotten into.

  ‘This woman doesn’t seem normal at all… but if she doesn’t mean any harm, and just gives us some nice sex toys, then all is good… I guess?’

  She didn’t have long to think before the owner of the store reappeared with a bunch of boxes in her hands, each individually wrapped in some kind of paper that was hardly as bright or fshy as wrapping paper could get on Orbis, but still made the items stand out. From the size alone, it was hard to tell what each box stored, but there were definitely more items than the owner had suggested.

  “I took some creative liberties with these, but I hope you’ll enjoy them nonetheless. They should make your trip a lot more fun,” the woman went up to Bianca and thrust the boxes into her grasp, “I happen to like you, so these will come free of charge. How does that sound?”

  “This… what even is all this?”

  “I don’t like giving spoilers, so I’ll let you find out yourself,” the owner offered a teasing smirk as she pushed Bianca towards the store’s entrance, “Now go on, don’t leave your little pet waiting for too long. She’ll get lonely.”

  “How do you even-”

  “Mistress!” Song Ming called out as they approached, blushing a little as she saw the store owner behind Bianca, “That’s so many… are all of these for me?”

  “I have no idea, but they’re apparently free, so… say thanks to the shop owner, I guess.”

  “Uh… t-thank you, shop owner…” her pet bowed dutifully, even as she was obviously confused.

  “Don’t worry about it, I like helping out couples… and triples… and random groups of people that wind up in a massive orgy… Let’s just say I like helping people and leave it at that,” the woman smiled and gestured them towards the exist, “Make good use out of what you get, alright? I can’t promise I’ll be around here next time you feel like buying something.”

  “Alright, we’ll keep that in mind,” Bianca replied, as awkward as she felt, and got out of the store, Song Ming following close after her. They went outside the store and, almost in a trace, found their way to a bench some distance from the store, where they sat down.

  Naturally, Bianca dropped most of the boxes to her side, letting them rest on that bench, and turned to her pet.

  “Well, at least she didn’t feel like one of those entities…”

  “Uhm… Mistress, did you understand what she was saying?”

  “Yeah, of course I did, why wouldn’t…” she stopped as she realised that something was indeed amiss.

  “She was speaking some kind of… different nguage, and you were replying in the same one, but… what was that, Mistress?”

  Whenever Bianca spoke the nguage of the Pnar Continents, she did so without truly understanding it herself, some power – probably the Demonic Tyrant – transting everything for her in both directions. Still, she could tell when that happened, and she knew that she could, if she so wanted to, speak regur Antanian. She simply didn’t need to, seeing as nobody understood her.

  ‘This woman… was she speaking Antanian? Was she like me? No, something about her… I didn’t see an aura around her, nor did my spiritual perception perceive her, and she seemed to know things that she shouldn’t have known…’

  Bianca felt herself shiver as she gnced towards the store, the garish storefront contrasting quite a lot with the dark interior.

  ‘… who or what was that?’