"Slave Trader!"
I marched straight to the Slave Trader's tent first thing in the morning.
"What are you doing here so early in the morning Hero-sama."
"Your Demon Seal was a sham! Depending on your response I might have my dangerous slave and demon here to go on a bit of a rampage, you see?"
"Firo is hungry. Can I do that later?"
"….. If you keep up that behavior I'll turn you into breakfast instead."
The Demon Seal that was placed on Firo didn't work as intended. Not only that, the option couldn't even be checked.
"Hm? Now what do you mean about that?"
I then explained to the Slave Trader about what happened this morning. It sure was rough. We somehow got Firo to calm down and had her change to her human form and from there headed to the tent.
Raphtalia was hard enough, but Firo on top of that. Having to constantly stay on watch to make sure they don't do anything out of the ordinary was stressing indeed.
"It seems the Philo Rial Queen can undo a normal Demon Seal, yes."
"Elaborate?"
"You can't restrain a higher order demon with a normal Demon Seal. The grand prize of the lottery, the Kiryuu, must have a special Demon Seal engraved."
"So you're saying a normal Demon Seal won't work on this thing?"
"Yes."
This bastard Slave Trader is happily jotting down this new discovery into some pocket notebook.
"So, will you be giving me this special Demon Seal?"
"Good gracious! That is outside the realm of our free services, yes."
"What did you say."
"As you would expect, this is not a cheap process and doing so for free would place my in a rather difficult position. The costs are starting to weigh down too much on my end you see."
Damn, it looks like getting any more free services from him would be pretty hard from now on. Well I guess it can't be helped considering all the damage I did…
"How much is it?"
"As I look forward to Hero-sama's future prospects, I will be taking a huge loss and price it at 200 silver coins. How does that sound?"
Shieeeet that's expensive.
"Could you please---"
"By the way, the market price for this kind of service is 800 silver coins at the cheapest. I would not lie about this as I have much hopes placed for Hero-sama."
Ack!
That was a heavy blow to my consciousness.
I accept my defeat and so very reluctantly hand over 200 silver coins to the Slave Trader.
"...If I find that you're lying I'll have my dangerous subordinates start a bloodbath you hear."
"I understand indeed."
Firo, who was in the form of the Philo Rial Queen and looking around restlessly, was taken in by Raphtalia who was holding Firo's enormous wings.
"Stay right there, Firo"
"Why-?"
"If you do I'll let you eat something real tasty."
"Really?"
"Yup."
With her eyes gleaming, I had Firo stand still at the place that the Slave Trader indicated.
Alright, if you're going to do your magic now is the time.
I gave the Slave Trader the signal. The Slave Trader nods his head as well, and 12 of his robed subordinates with their faces covered and invisible, surround Firo.
Then they poured some kind of medicine or other substance onto the floor, faced towards Firo and began chanting their spell.
The floor began to shine, and a magic circle started to unfold with Firo at the center.
"Eh, W-What's going on?"
Bam, Bam. Firo tried to put up a resistance, but was unable to do so as the magic circle enclosed in on her further.
"I, It huuuuurts! Stop-!"
Firo rampages about as she bears the pain from the Demon Seal's renewal, and each time she slams against it, the magic circle shakes.
Slave Trader's subordinates let out a gasp of shock.
"Just in case, I had extra followers restraining her with magic but… for her to be able to move under such pressure, I fear what she will eventually become, yes."
Now that I think about it, she's still only level 19. If she's already like this, how strong will she be when she's around Level 70? I nod to the Slave Traders words.
Finally, the magic circle is fully engraved onto Firo's abdomen and it becomes quiet.
"It's over, yes."
In my view there's a Demon icon that looks like it has higher level commands than the one before. I promptly check the option labeled with listen to everything I say.
"Hah…. Hah…."
She heaves as she walks towards me.
"Master that was mean. It hurt so much-."
As I wonder if there was a wicked smile was plastered on my face, I command Firo.
"First of all, turn to your human form."
"Whaat? That hurt so much I don't wanna-. Give me something yummy to eat!"
Taking little heed to my command and demanding food as if she was taking me lightly, the Demon Seal on Firo began to glow [in response].
"Eh, no-! Wha, stopitstopit!"
Firo fired some kind of spell at the Demon Seal, but this time the seal repelled it and the curse activated.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
Firo crumbles to the floor in pain from the Demon Seal.
"If you don't listen to what I say, it'll hurt even more."
"It hurts, it hurts! Uuu…"
She reluctantly turns to her human form. When she does so the Demon Seal stops glowing.
"Yup… looks like it worked properly this time. Good work Slave Trader."
"Indeed, it is quite a powerful seal, so it won't be so easily tampered with, yes."
I walk stand in front of the fallen Firo and announce:
"You yourself costed 100 silver coins, and following that your Demon Seal costed 200 silver coins. That's a total loss of 300 silver coins. You're going to have to pay me back that much by listening to what I say."
"M, Master-."
As Firo was having trouble getting up, I extend my hand.
It sends pangs to my consciousness having to say these kinds of things to a child who is so pure, but I want to at least [have the funds to] keep a roof over this self-indulgent kid.
"Listen to what I say."
"N,No-"
"I see, I see. If you really don't want to listen to what I say, then I'll just sell you off to this scary man over there"
"…!?"
Firo seems to have finally understood her position as her face warped in fear.
That Slave Trader, he's looking at me with some expression that's both troubled yet happy…
"How much would she sell for?"
"Let me see. She's rare, so dealing with her will be a bit difficult, but 30 gold coins sounds like a price I would buy her for if I include that cost. Since she has a powerful Demon Seal engraved on her, she won't be able to rebel anymore. I can see quite a few ways to use her, yes."
Damn Slave Trader, he deliberately lays down the price the moment after he says it'll be difficult to sell her.
I don't actually know for sure, but if I hand Firo over to him, her life will probably be over.
And now Firo is looking at me with upturned eyes looking absolutely terrified.
This is tough… My good conscious that I thought had vanished is rolling back in full force here.
However, depending on Firo's attitude, such a choice may really have to be made in the future.
If I can't be a nice onii-chan [in regards to Raph], then I can't be a doting pet owner either.
"And so he says. So the next time you go on a tantrum, I won't be there to pick you up anymore… You'll probably be forced to drink some biiitter medicine, then they'll poke around all- over your body, until finally… you die."
"N, Noooo----!"
Firo screams out in dissent.
"Master, please don't hate Firo- …"
Firo earnestly begs as she clings to my leg.
Shit! This is hard…
But I can't back down now.
"If you listen to me obediently then I won't hate you. Make sure you listen, got that?"
"Y, Yeah!"
"Good. Then when we're staying at the inn, absolutely do not turn back to your original form. That will be our first promise."
"Okay!"
At Firo's beaming smile, whatever remnants left of my good consciousness aches in pain.
Well then, I also have to head over to the Armorer today…
When I look away from Firo, I catch a glance at the Slave Trader who now has the most jubilant smile I've seen him have on to date.
"I'm getting a shiver down my spine at your magnificent display of fiendishness. You are most definitely the legendary shield hero!"
I have a feeling there's something wrong about what he's extoling me for… But I'm not sure if I should voice a complaint here.
And beside me, Raphtalia had on a rather complicated expression.
"Naofumi-sama… That might have been a bit much…"
"If I don't do this, then she won't listen to what I say. It was the same for you in the beginning right."
Raphtalia nodded at my answer.
"Now that you mention it, that was the case wasn't it."
"There are some things we can let her indulge in, and some things that we can't."
I won't mention my true intents behind this [statement] though.
"Carrot and the stick I see, yes."
"Slave Trader, I wasn't talking to you."
And quit understanding my motives.
"I sure gave you quite a hard time."
"If that's how you feel, then please, I will prepare for you an easy to handle Philo Rial chick to raise and-"
"Well then, I have places I need to be today. So if you can let me go then."
"Being able to not get swallowed up by my pace, I have the utmost respect for Hero-sama's strong will, yes."
With the conversation ending on that note, we left the tent.