I sat opposite of a man, with two slave girls in both arms. This was Celia's master. He's an ugly balding man with a potbelly, short legs, and his face looked like it was made of a bunch of distorted parts.
Celia took me to his shop after I asked her to. I decided that I was going to purchase Celia. I know that buying and owning a slave is morally wrong. After all, it was outlawed back on earth for a specific reason.
"The brat's going to be ten gold coins," he said whilst being mouth fed some wine by one of the girls. The girl then showed a face of disgust, probably due to his foul breath, which even the guard trio stood behind me could smell.
"Fine, take it," I said as I dropped ten gold coins on the floor. I didn't want to spend any more time here. But something told me it would not be the end by the way he clicked his tongue after I paid.
"Oi useless brat, take off those clothes they belong to the company! If you want those clothes, it's five gold coins," he shouted. I realised that ten gold coins were probably a ridiculous price for a slave, but it didn't matter to me at the moment. He was trying to milk the crap out of me and even trying to sell those rags that he calls clothes.
I didn't want to fall into his trap by overpaying even for those clothes. I could hear the guards whispering that a single gold coin was their two months of salary, confirming my suspicions. At that moment, I felt infuriated.
I used [Exchange] even though I wanted to keep my abilities a secret, and I bought a good looking dress and handed it over to her. Everyone in the room was shocked by the sudden dress appearing in my hand. My face remained emotionless, but inside I was striking a victory pose.
"You brat, slaves are not allowed to wear clothes of such quality. Give it here!"
"And why should she return it? Is there a law against me doing what I want with my property? Maybe we should ask the guards; I'm sure that they are knowledgeable about the rules, right?" I said as I pointed to the guard trio, who puffed their chest out in pride.
"Umm, of course not... if you're done, get out of here," he said with anger in his voice and returned, getting mouth to mouth by the girls, who again looked like they were about to throw up.
I honestly can not emphasise how foul his breath was. Well, it's not surprising since this world's level of healthcare is probably abysmal; I doubt many people even know what a toothbrush is.
Anyways I left with Celia, who was quiet this whole time. She now looked pretty cute with actual clothes on.
"Hey, bro, was that Item box you used!?" asked the first guard.
"Ummm yeah, if possible, could you keep it a secret?" I said.
"Wow, are you a royal mage?! Or are you a summoned hero!?" exclaimed the second.
Technically I was someone who accidentally fell into this world. So I guess the summoned hero part does not apply to me, and either way, if I were a summoned hero, I would've not told them anyways.
"I'm neither; I'm just a working mercenary, I guess."
"Seriously, being able to use Item box surely means you can use other powerful magic skills. You must be at least an A rank!" said the third.
"Actually, I'm only rank D."
"""Wait, really?!""" they shouted in unison, like some unfunny comedy trio group.
"Yeah, I just registered recently. Could I ask you to show me where the Lucera house is again?"
"Of course!"
"Yeah!"
"let's go!"
Celia, who looked a bit frightened at their outburst, covered her ears whilst tears formed at the edge of her eyes. I offered my hand, which she took, and we began to walk to our destination.
♦ ♦ ♦
I was furious, specifically at the boy who had just ridiculed me in front of my girls. The boy comes in wanting to purchase a worthless slave girl, but I could tell he was determined to buy her in his eyes.
I took a quick look at his clothes, which were nothing extravagant, and he didn't carry any weapons with him. I was confident that he was just some random boy from a poor family.
So I made the price 10 gold coins. No one sane would pay for a weak little girl. At most, she was worth a single gold coin, unlike her mother, who was an absolute beauty which I sold to some noble for 30 gold coins. I had planned for him to start owing me money, then eventually, I could turn him and his whole family into debt slaves.
I didn't expect him to throw the 10 gold coins onto the floor as if they were nothing. I was boiling with anger. My next plan was to humiliate him.
The clothes, that I generously give to my slaves, belong to me. Usually, something small doesn't even matter to me. But I wanted to embarrass him by making him walk out of here with a naked slave girl. This would make nasty rumours about him spread.
But then he pulls a dress out of nowhere. It must have been item box skill.
I could tell it was extremely expensive, something that a puny slave girl shouldn't even be allowed to look at. If I were to get my hands on it, I would definitely be able to sell it and make a decent profit. Not only that, I could possibly make some connections with a noble.
After he left, I pushed the two girls who were servicing me onto the floor. I wrote a message to my contact from the dark guild. I wanted that boy, slave girl, dead, and the dress in my hands.
Little did I know it was the worst mistake I ever made.