Chapter 36
Buying a Slave
When we showed up at the adventurer guild, it was the usual Receptionist-san… was it Siliana-san? Well, she was sitting at the counter.
The gatekeeper said she was worried about us, but…
“… Tch, where have you been?”
Huuuh? Isn’t this different from the ‘worrying’ that I know?
None of those good feelings after all. No, maybe she’s tsundere? [1]
“Ah, I had a bit to do outside so…”
“Well, what do you want? You can’t accept that F-rank dungeon commission that came in a while ago you know?”
Incidentally, it seemed that Haku-san shrewdly tidied that commission up before the Dungeon Battle.
I wonder if she was able to report that the commission accepted in Sia was completed in the Imperial Capital? Rather, although it was probably excessive coming from someone with influence, it seems that she prepared for [No Abnormalities] to be reported in advance. So she did have time to spare huh.
“Ah, come to think of it what about my designated commission?” [2]
“… It’s still there. It’s still a G-Rank commission though, will you accept it?”
“Yes please… ah, and do you know somewhere slaves are sold?”
He’d be more or less relieved if the adventurer guild recommended one. Adventurers that made use of slaves weren’t few.
They should definitely know of a good place.
“… Used for?”
“Various things. It’d be better if they have experience… ah, it’s no good if they aren’t women.”
It was a request from Haku-san, men are no good.
… In truth she doesn’t even want me near Rokuko.
Well, it’s this junior’s intention to follow Sponsor-sama’s inclinations. Right, I don’t want to ever make a harem. I’m really not interested in debauchery. I don’t want beautiful-legged women slaves. Wanna licky~. Oops, that leaked out.
“… If that’s the case, [Grapher’s Slave Deal] may be good. I recommend it to the point that I don’t want to refer you to it. Going after dark is best.”
“Thanks. Well, we’re off to clean toilets.”
I heard her click her tongue, but I ignored it.
Still, the reward for two of my nominated commissions were twenty copper.
Well, I brought one hundred silver coins as pocket money this time, but we went through a lot to be designated for it. I used [Cleanup], then went to the park to nap while Meat stayed there on standby… not, I collected information. I obtained information that said the [Heavenly Pillow] on the bench was supreme.
I wasn’t late returning this time since I ordered the clothes golem to bring me back.
When the two restroom cleanings ended around evening, it was just about a good time.
Since the guild might be crowded this time, I’ll head there to report the commissions as complete after buying slaves.
And so I went to Grapher’s Slave Shop…. Yup, it’s a splendid ordinary building.
“… The place I was at was a lot different.”
In addition, there was a Dark Slave Shop in the slums too. Meat seems to have been sold from there.
… Well, it was a bandit that bought the slaves.
I lead Meat inside since there was nothing else to do other than stand outside.
Now then, time to go shopping.
*
“Welcome. Do you have business here today?”
“Yeah, I want a slave.”
“I understand, there are no slaves that we can’t get.”
When I said that I came at the guild’s recommendation, the shop manager Grapher himself met me, giving his business smile.
He was very proper and merchant-like, but that may have been because this was practically in the middle of town.
“So then, what kind of slaves are you interested in purchasing?”
“Hmm, beautiful legs first of all, and female… being smart with various things would be good.”
“I see… Ah, your budget is?”
“Hmm, I don’t know the current market price. By the way, how much would you say this one is?”
I showed him Meat to see how much she was worth.
Meat eagerly stood up straight so that she could increase her worth even a little higher.
“… I see, although she’s a beastkin, she’s well-groomed and seems to be well disciplined… hmm, can she read? Write? Do calculations? Have skills?”
“She can read, write, and calculate if it’s simple. As for skills… she has none.”
More or less, he had Meat practice some things.
In truth, she had learned low class magic from all attributes one by one, up to [Storage]. I couldn’t use her as a reference since her price would jump up if I said that though.
She had just recently learned her multiplication tables.
The slave trader was folding his fingers in a strange hand sign… no, was he calculating by hand? Rather than just simply folding his fingers he was raising them halfway. Finally raising his left pinky, it seemed that his price calculation finished.
(Though I heard about finger counting before, from the thumb was one copper, ten coppers, one silver, ten silvers, and one gold in order. Each of the fingers on the right hand can stand up to express zero to nine. It was a way to calculate that turned your fingers into an abacus, it seemed like a merchant’s technical skill. Apprentices probably learn this from seeing it all the time.) [3]
“If it’s like her… it would be one gold coin here. Intended for merchants and aristocrats.”
… Money, or treasure? Let’s see, if a copper is one hundred yen, one hundred times one hundred… one million yen?
Wow I picked up something amazing, though that may be cheap if I think about it as being the price of a person…
“Ten gold wouldn’t have been enough if she were human. I expect her to be charming in the future. So? Would you accept one gold for her? I don’t mind adding a little extra.”
“No, I don’t want to sell my Meat.”
“Hoh… indeed.”
I, who was able to reconfirm Meat’s value, patted Meat’s head while praising her.
Seeing that, the shop manager had a bit of an admiring look.
“Hmm, our inventory right now may be unable to suit your discernment. As expected, years end and pass on by…. we have youths around eighteen years old. Although we do have younger ones, they are still unworthy and haven’t been trained…”
“No, it’s fine since I don’t want child slaves.”
Eh, what? Do I look like a lolicon?
“Oh, I was impolite. Then let’s talk a little more, give me some more details. I would like to hear how you plan to use them as detailed as possible.”
“Is that so… First, they don’t need skills since they will be doing chores. Women, of adult age. The cheaper the better. Budget is around ninety silver coins maximum.”
“As well as it being good if they have beautiful legs, yes?”
Looks like he remembered. This manager, he was doing his job.
“Hmm, so you want slaves for chores. If you want cheaper, then non-human… Yes, let allow me to bring out some candidates for you to choose from.”
Saying that, the manager left his seat, returning after a while.
He lead out four women beside him. They were probably the slaves since they were wearing collars… Yep, don’t they all have quite the legs? Wonderful.
“Hmm, are these to your satisfaction? … From this one, it’s eighty silver, one hundred, ninety, and sixty.”
… There was one with a higher price than my budget brought out, he was definitely a merchant. I predicted this and responded with a bit lower than my actual budget, but it feels like he anticipated that.
Well, in order from the one that cost eighty was the bear-eared beastkin, a fox-eared beastkin with good fur, an attractive elf, and a normal human. I looked at each one to discern them.
“Hm? Why is this one so cheap for sixty? Moreover… judging from looks, she’s human.”
“Ah, well, what to say… she has an interesting backstory? Since you wanted them cheap, I immediately brought her out. Should I withdraw her?”
“I’m interested in hearing her story.”
Putting it simply,
She wasn’t able to pay back her debt from gambling and fell into being a slave.
She was returned goods after being returned by her master.
Is what I was told… The merchant sold her as a delicious dish, but she was returned the next day after biting his lower half’s ‘that’. The person that was chewed just replied, ‘She was really bad, return my money’.
Still, it appeared that his important thing that was regrown with recovery magic was inadequate.
“I thought slaves couldn’t harm their masters?”
“It can be done within certain circumstances. Rather than as a master, she seriously recognized him as a meal presented to her. Of course the collar was operating properly afterwards… The reason she ate her master in the first place was that various things happened and he presented it to her saying, ‘Hey, eat up’. Rest assured, the contract magic operates normally.”
Ah, so he gave her permission himself. Couldn’t be helped then.
“… Having said that, just from saying her history, I haven’t sold her… I bought her debt, but haven’t been able to get rid of her… There’s no problems with her appearance, so it was my mistake. I want to reduce my deficit even a little… so how about it? She’s a bargain.”
“I see.”
She was certainly well-padded, the places that curved out curved out and the places that curved in curved in. Her hair was a slightly reddish blonde, I had no complaints with her appearance. Well, I wouldn’t complain so long as her legs were good. Besides, her being bigger might not be bad when considering that she’d used as the inn’s receptionist.
There’s no problem so long as she doesn’t bite me. I just need to be careful.
“I want to ask the person herself. So, how about it?”
“Buy me ‘n give me delicious stuff to eat. Don’t just go ‘n bring me home and take out something shabby ‘n tell me to eat it yeah? I wanna eat ‘n hope to fill my belly, I don’t care what kind of delicious thing it is y’know? At the least fill my belly with seriously good food to eat even if you’re an enemy kay?” [4]
That’s a serious attitude for a slave, oi.
“Meals’re more important than life, I don’t mind dyin’ if it’s for food, yeah.”
“I see, I see.”
I would do anything if it’s to sleep, she’s even boasting that she doesn’t mind dying for her big three desires. Yup, I like her a lot. Not bad at all. She feels like a bargain too.
“Meat, what do you think? I don’t think she’s bad.”
“Our meals are delicious, so I think it’s fine.”
“Heeeh, yah! You’re gonna get me delicious food?”
The slave with an interesting history cut in despite not being asked. Probably due to her collar squeezing her a bit, she let out a small choking sound. So meals are that important?
“Really!? I’ll bite it off if you’re kiddin’. My thing eating curse is terrifying.”
“Yeah, I promise. In exchange, you’ll work diligently?”
“Definitely! Hey hey hey, you said you’d give him a special price right, Grapher-samaaa. Right? You’d go down to forty-five silver right?”
“Hey, you’re saying too much—! Ah… umm, customer, that’s, umm—”
oNTEjgr
He was incoherent. She seemed to really be a problem child.
Moreover, her head wasn’t bad either. She guessed we’d buy her, so she supported us in haggling. She even knew her own bottom price.
That might be due to the slave dealer’s training, but even in that case her acting still wasn’t bad.
“Ah, well fifty silver is fine with me.”
“… … Thank you.”
I found a bargain, so I added five coins as a tip.
Footnotes:
Tsundere is, well… here. Return
The ‘clean the toilets’ thing from the previous chapters that he was in town. Return
He’s talking about this method. He didn’t really explain all of it and I definitely got confused midway through, so yeah. If you’re interested in the skill check it out here! Return
She’s using a kansai dialect, admitted to be a faked one by the author. Here’s a link for more information. Return