Chapter Nine: They Call it a Slave

One.. Two.. Three..

I worked like this for two weeks and managed to save up 40 pieces of silver, which means that I finally made back what I’d thrown to Motoyasu the day he betrayed me, plus a little extra.

Something about it all felt hopeless. I mean, my attack power severely limited the places I could visit.

I didn’t get hurt or anything, but one time I did try visiting the forest.

I think it was a Red Balloon. I was attacking it with my bare hands, and it was hitting back. I must have pummeled the thing for 30 minutes or more, but it showed no signs of weakening. It ruined my mood, and I left the forest with my head hung low.

It meant that I couldn’t actually leave the fields, and therefore was forced to do my leveling up there, which I did for two weeks. I eventually reached level 4. I wonder what level the other heroes had reached. I don’t want to think about it.

There was still a Red Balloon chewing on my arm. It just kept going and going, like it could saw through the bone or something. I’d gone to the forest a whole week prior. I must have leveled up since then. I tried hitting the balloon.

Clang!

“Sigh..”

My attack was still too low.

If my attack is low, I can’t hunt monsters.

If I can’t hunt monsters, I can’t get EXP points.

If I can’t get EXP points, I can’t raise my attack.

Dammit! There was no end in sight. I was walking down an alleyway, behind the restaurant. It led to the fields.

But that day was to be different from the rest.

“You seem troubled, sir.”

“Huh?”

A strange man called to me from the alley. He was in a silk hat and coattails. He was a strange gentleman by any measure: absurdly obese and furnished with polished glasses. He didn’t seem to fit the world, which was much more like the Middle Ages. So he stuck out dramatically from his surroundings. Deciding it wise to ignore him, I hurried on past.

“You need people.”

I stopped in my tracks. He knew exactly what to say to get me to stop.

“That’s why you can’t hunt stronger monsters.”

Everything he said annoyed me.

“I’m not sure what that has to do with you.”

“If I helped with recruitment, you might still stand a chance.”

I didn’t have the funds, or the desire, to hire a greedy capitalist.

“Party members? Ahaha, no. I will provide you with something far more useful.”

“For example?”

The man slid over in my direction.

“Interested?”

“Don’t stand so close, you creep.”

“Ahaha. I like you, kid. Fine then, I’ll tell you.”

The gentleman puffed out his chest, looking very important-like, spun his walking stick, and pontificated, “A SLAVE!”

“A slave?”

“Yes, a slave.”

A slave.. what was that again? I hear they used to exist in the real world, but now they showed up from time to time in games and manga (like the kind where someone gets summoned to another world).

To put it bluntly, it meant that you could own other people, much like someone might own furniture, and you could force them to do physical labor for you. I sort of pictured them as being whipped.

Anyway, slaves were living things.

Did this mean that slaves were bought and sold here?

“They do not lie, and they do not betray their masters.”

Hmm..

“Slaves are under a powerful curse. If they contradict or betray their masters, they must pay with their very lives.”

“Hmmm..”

Now the story was getting interesting.

If they disobey, they die. In some ways, that was exactly what I was looking for: someone who wouldn’t use me, and someone that didn’t have any funny ideas.

My attack was too weak. I needed someone to help me. But people betray you, so I couldn’t afford to pay them. I couldn’t get anyone to help me. But a slave wouldn’t betray me because betrayal meant death.

“What do you think?”

“I’ll hear you out.”

He smiled. “Right this way, sir.”

He led me down a back alley, and pretty soon I noticed an alarming number of scruffy, dangerous-looking people. The air was filled with aggressive shouts and the sound of fragile things breaking. More than anything, it smelled terrible.

Apparently this world had a bad side too.

It was sometime around noon, but there was no light where we were. We turned a corner, and there, at the end of the alley, was something like a circus tent.

“Right this way, sir.”

“Uh huh..”

The slave trader walked with a creepy air about him. It was something like skipping, but he spent more time in the air. He led me towards the tent, and pulled back the flap.

“Let’s get this out of the way up front. If you’re tricking me..”

“Ah, yes.. your balloon punishments are quite infamous around town. You’ll cause a ruckus and then run off, eh?”

So people were starting to talk about me. Fine. It was a good way to punish groups of bad people, and I shouldn’t be surprised that it made me famous.

“To be fair, there were those that wanted a Hero, like yourself, as a slave for themselves. I had originally approached you with that goal in mind, but since then I’ve had a change of heart.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, you have all the qualifications of an excellent client. ALL the qualifications: both good and bad.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wonder. What DO I mean?”

The guy was slippery. What did he want from me?

There was a metallic clank, and then a very heavy-looking door swung open.

“Woah..”

The interior was dim, and the smell of rot hung faintly in the air. I also smelled animals. It didn’t seem to be a very nice place.

There were a number of cages in the room, and human-like shapes moved within them.

“Now then, this one, right over here, I can recommend very highly to you.”

I moved closer to the cage he indicated and looked inside.”

“Guoooow.. Gah!”

“That’s not a human!”

Inside was something.. something covered in thick hair, with sharp fangs and claws. To sum it up simply, it looked something like a werewolf, and it was howling just like you’d imagine.

“It is a beast-man. Here, we consider them, in most respects, people.”

“A beast-man?”

I recognized the idea, as beast-men characters appeared often enough in fantasy games.

“I realize that I’m a hero and all, but I still don’t know all that much about this place. Can you tell me a little more about it, please?”

Unlike the other heroes, I didn’t really know anything about this place. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to know.

When I was walking around town I noticed some people, occasionally, with “dog” ears, or cat-like ears perched on their heads. Every time I saw them, I’d realize that I really was in a fantasy world. But there didn’t seem to be very many of them.

“The Melromarc Kingdom tends to consider humans as higher order creatures than these other types. It can be a tough place for beast-men and demi-humans to live.”

“Huh..”

Sure enough, I saw demi-humans and beast-men around town, but, just like the slave trader was saying, they were normally adventurers or traveling merchants. So it sounds like they were discriminated against, and were only able to obtain lower-level work.

“Ok, fine. But what exactly are these demi-humans and beast-men?”

“Demi-humans look just like humans from the outside, but they have some differences on the inside. They are considered a type of human. Beast-men are technically a type of demi-human, the sort whose beast-like characteristics are particularly powerful.”

“Gotcha. So they are in the same category.”

“That’s right. And because the demi-humans are, at least in this country, considered to be one step away from monsters, it’s hard for them to live here, and they often end up sold into slavery.”

I guess every world has its dark side. And because they weren’t technically humans, they were perfectly suited for slavery here.

“So yes, and these slaves have this particular feature..” The slave trader snapped his fingers loudly. When he did so, a magical aura appeared around his arm, and at the same time, some shape on the chest of the werewolf began to glow.

“Arrrgggh! Awooo! Awooo!”

The werewolf began howling in pain, as if something was restricting its chest. The slave trader snapped his fingers again, and the glowing shape on the wolf’s chest slowly faded away.

“.. Punishment is as simple as a snap of your fingers.”

“How convenient,” I whispered, my eyes on the werewolf, now sprawled, face up, on the floor of its cage. “Can I do it too?”

“Naturally. It can even be arranged so that a snap of the fingers is not necessary. It can be worked right into your Status Magic.”

“Huh..”

It did seem very convenient.

“However, a ceremony is necessary. The owner’s information must be shared with and absorbed by the slave.”

“So that the slave can always understand the owner’s intention?”

“You have a very good head on your shoulders.”

The slave trader flashed a sinister smile.

He made me uncomfortable.

“Sounds fine to me. How much does this one cost?”

“Well you must understand how useful a beast-man is in a fight. Naturally this affects the price.”

No doubt, gossip concerning my finances had reached the guy’s ears. He could say whatever he wanted. I wasn’t going to start throwing money around. Think about it: He knew I was in trouble, and he approached me. There was a good chance he was going to try and swindle me.

“How about 15 gold pieces?”

“I don’t know anything about the market price, but I assume you’re giving me a good deal?”

One gold piece was apparently worth around 100 pieces of silver.

There was a reason the king provided our funds in silver, not gold. The gold pieces were worth so much that they were very difficult to exchange. It was much easier to buy and sell in silver, and so the vast majority of commerce in the town used silver, not gold.

“Of course.”

“..”

The slave trader met my silence with a deep smile.

“You know that I can’t afford that, so you started with the most expensive one, right?”

“Yes, well, I can tell you are going to be a great customer regardless. I would be a poor business man if I didn’t start with our best wares.”

This guy was slimy.

“For your own information, please take a look at this slave’s information”

He held out a small crystal to me. I noticed a flashing icon, and soon enough words appeared before my eyes.

Battle Slave: LV 75

Race: Wolfman

It went on at some length about the slave’s various skills.

Level 75.. That was nearly 20 times my own level.

If this guy were on my team, my life would be so much easier.

I might end up stronger than the other heroes.

I had no way to know if that justified the price though.

He didn’t really look very healthy anyway, and he might end up getting in my way. I wonder if that was why the price was so low?

“He used to fight in the Coliseum. He hurt his leg though, so they were going to dispose of him. That’s when I stepped in and bought him.”

“You don’t say..”

So it was damaged goods. His level didn’t really matter then.

“Now then, I’ve shown you my best. Tell me, sir, what kind of slave you are interested in?”

“A cheap one, that isn’t broken”

“We have slaves specialized for battle or for physical labor. Or, if my intuition proves correct..”

“I didn’t do it!”

“Heh, heh, heh, yes, well.. I’m not concerned one way or the other. But which type is your preference?”

“This is crazy. Anything but a sex slave, please.”

“Heh.. I guess the rumors were false?”

“.. I didn’t do it.”

Yeah, I could say whatever I want. I didn’t do it.

What I needed was someone that could attack monsters for me. That’s it. If they were good for something else, that didn’t matter. If I could survive the night, and the next day.. that was enough.

“Do you have a preferred gender?”

“I think a man would be better, but I don’t really care.”

The slave trader scratched at his chin. “I know of one, but they wouldn’t be so good for your.. personal pleasures.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“The level isn’t very high.”

“If they can fight, we’ll level up together.”

“Good answer.. even though you don’t trust people.”

“Slaves aren’t people, are they? If I’m leveling up an object, it’s just like leveling up my shield. I’ll raise something that won’t betray me.”

“You got me there,” he said, suppressing a giggle. “Right this way then.”

We walked through the shop, which was lined on both sides with long rows of cages. Eventually the shouts and smells died down, and we entered a quieter area of the shop.

.. Or so I thought. Soon the room was filled with the sound of crying children.

I looked around and saw cages filled with children and older demi-humans. They looked miserable. The slave trader continued to lead me along until he suddenly came to a stop.

“This is the cheapest slave I can offer you today, sir.”

He was pointing to a group of three cages.

The first had a man inside, though he also had the ears of a rabbit, and one of his arms was twisted in an odd direction. He looked to be somewhere around twenty years old. He looked like the dictionary definition of a slave.

The next held a girl of around ten. She was unbelievably skinny, and her eyes looked terrified. She was coughing. She also had dog-like ears that were tied up around her head. She appeared to have a large, round tail as well.

The third cage held a lizard man whose eyes darted about the room violently as if he was just looking for someone to kill. He did seem more like a man than a lizard though.

“From the right they are: a rabbit-type with a genetic disorder, a raccoon-type suffering from panic attacks, and a mixed breed, the lizard man.”

So the last one was a mixed breed.

“They all seem to have severe issues.”

“These are all I can offer you in your range. If we lower the bar even more then.. Well..”

The slave trader glanced quickly to the back wall. I followed his gaze.

You could tell, even from far away, the smell of death. That smell in the air at a funeral, it was strong, and it was coming from that direction. It also smelled like rot. I felt like I’d get sick just looking in the direction.

“How much are we talking?”

“From the right, 25, 30, and 40 pieces of silver.”

“Hmm. What are their levels?”

“5, 1, and 8.”

If I wanted a strong fighter, the lizard man was the best option. If I was worried about the price, then the rabbit with the genetic disease was the best option. All of them looked very skinny.

The rabbit man had a useless arm, but the rest of him looked just fine. And they all looked miserable.. but so did all the other slaves in the tent.

“Why are they all so quiet?”

“Because they are punished when they make noise.”

“Makes sense.”

So he was he showing me slaves that were well trained, or slaves that couldn’t be trained? The lizard man looked like he might be good in a fight, but the other ones probably wouldn’t be.

“Why’s the middle one so cheap?”

She was skinny and scared, but she looked like a relatively normal little girl. Her face wasn’t good or bad, just normal.

“Raccoon-types aren’t popular with humans. Now, if she were a fox-type, I’d be able to get a good price for her.”

“Huh..”

Raccoons were, if you translated it, like?tanuki.?Even at that, she looked so human you’d think they could get a good price for her. But if raccoons weren’t popular, then she probably wouldn’t be worth much as a slave.

“She has panic attacks in the night. It’s a lot of work to look after her. “

“And this is the best you have in stock?”

“You really hit where it hurts.”

She wouldn’t be good for hard work, and she had the lowest level.

Was this a good thing? I wasn’t sure.

I caught the eye of the raccoon-girl. And I realized, looking into her eyes, how I felt.

Yes. This thing was a woman, the same gender as?that one?that betrayed me. I looked into her scared eyes and immediately thought that I wanted to control her. I thought I could just pretend that I’d turned Myne into a slave.. If she died, it might make me feel better.

“All right then, I’ll take the middle one.”

“An excellent choice, and it makes my life easier too.”

The slave trader produced a key and opened her cage. She stepped out, and he put a collar around her neck. She let out a yelp.

I looked at her, quivering in fear, and felt a wave of satisfaction wash over me. I imagined?that other woman?quivering in fear, just like this, and it made me feel great.

The slave trader took the girl, her collar attached to a chain, and pulled her behind us as we returned to the street we came from. We exited the circus tent and were in the alley again. He called for some people who appeared immediately. They were carrying a jar that appeared to be full of ink. They transferred a little ink to small dish and pushed it in my direction.

“Hero, please give us a little blood. Then the slave registration will be complete, and she will be yours.”

“I see.”

I pressed a pen-knife into the end of my finger. As I did so, I felt my shield react, but I wasn’t being attacked, so it didn’t stop me from drawing blood. Apparently it behaved differently outside of battle.

I waited for the blood to well up, and then let a few drops drip into the small dish. One of the men dipped his brush into the liquid and then pulled back the girl’s cloak to paint the magic onto her chest.

“Gahhhh! AAHHHH!”

The pattern on her chest began to glow, and I suddenly noticed a flashing status icon in my field of vision.

Slave acquired: conditions of use as follows:

A window opened, and it was filled with conditions.

I quickly skimmed through them. Attacking me in my sleep, or any other action that entailed the refutation of my will, would be punished immediately with pain.

Also, a party member icon appeared outside of the slave menu, so I looked into that.

Slave A. I didn’t know her name, so that’s what it said.

“Now this slave is yours, Hero. Your payment, please.”

“Sure.”

I gave the slave trader 31 pieces of silver.

“You’ve overpaid, sir.”

“For the ceremony. You were going to wring more money out of me somehow, weren’t you?”

“..You are very wise.”

If I paid up-front, it made it hard for him to say anything about it afterwards. I’d like to see him try to get more out of me now.

“Very well then. You’ve helped me clear out my stock.”

“By the way, how much do you actually charge for this processing?”

“Haha, it’s included in the cost.”

“Sure it is.”

He laughed, so I laughed along with him.

“You’re really something. I’ve got goose bumps.”

“Whatever.”

“I look forward to your future visits.”

“Sure.”

I started to walk off, and called for the slave to come with me. I turned my back on the circus tent.

The slave followed behind me, wearing a miserable look on her face.

“Now then, let’s hear your name.”

“.. Guh..”

She turned her face away and didn’t answer.

But that was a stupid thing to do. If the slave disobeyed my orders, she would have to pay. And so the slave punishment curse activated.

“Gu.. guhhhh..”

She put her hands on her chest and seemed to be in pain.

“Come on, what’s your name?”

“Ra.. Raphtalia..” Cough! Cough!

“Raphtalia it is then. Let’s go.”

She coughed out her name, and the pain faded. She took a moment to recover her breath.

I took her by the hand, and we continued to walk down the back alley.

“..”

Raphtalia looked up at me, her hand in mine. She looked terrified, but we kept on walking..