Part 1
Player Name: Kaga Michio
Character Information & Equipment:
Class: Villager Lv.3, Hero Lv.1, Thief Lv.3
Accessory: Ring of Determination, Sandals
Successfully selling all the stuff to the merchants meant that I have succeeded
in doing everything that I've set out to do in the town of Veil. This means
that as of this moment, I am free.
When that thought occurred to me, I felt both happy and somewhat empty
inside. Sure, I can do whatever I want without anyone bossing me around and
telling me what to do, but now that Picker-san and I went our separate ways,
there was no one here who knew me.
The reality that I was now alone in this foreign world hit me like a truck-kun
hits a protagonist in an Isekai-story. That thought alone almost made me have
an anxiety attack, until I remembered that I was technically not alone after
all. That's right, there is one more person whom I got acquainted with very
recently, like, not even two hours ago.
The Slave Merchant! He must be waiting for me to get back to him so he can
relay the information about that so-called 「Labyrinth」 to me! Since he
offered to give me that information himself without me pestering him about
that, it would be really dickish of me not to go and hear what he has to say,
right? But first…
I went into the shadows of the alleyways behind the Armor Shop with my
new equipment in tow. I decided that it would probably be best if I wore the
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Leather Armor over my jersey for some extra protection, but I placed the
Leather Shoes and Bandit's Bandana back into the backpack. That bandana is
different from the ordinary ones, so there is always a possibility that those in
the know will recognize it right away, so if I wear it in public, I might end up
being mistook for an actual bandit, and that is the last thing I want to be
dealing with. Finally, I had the Copper Sword on my back and two Scimitars
at my waist. That is the closest to being a samurai as I can possibly get at the
current moment.
I made sure that no one was walking near me or looking at me and opened
the bag with the prize money. It contained a total of 16 gold coins and a lot of
silver coins, meaning that the total prize was more than 160,000 Nar! It's
great that I have so much money now, but the sheer amount of coins
weighing down my string bag began to feel like a great inconvenience. For
someone like me, who is used to using the 5 or 10 yen coins, suddenly
switching to the currency of this world which seems to be going up every 100
coins might require some getting used to. Also, if I remember correctly, the
Village Chief gave me 15 gold coins total just before we departed from the
village. I don't know if they are of the same exact value, but it should be
almost as much as the prize money for those defeated Bandits. All right, time
for some quick math!
15 gold coins from the Chief plus 16 gold coins from the bounty for the
Bandits plus the two gold coins from all the shopping and selling I've done
with Picker-san… so it should be 33 gold coins in total. In addition, I also
have a lot of silver and copper coins. Since the gold ones are the ones that are
worth the most, I'll put only those into the drawstring bag, and then put it at
the very bottom of the backpack in order not to lose them. Okay, now I
should be ready to move on.
I left the back alleyways and returned to the city's main street, which was still
as busy as it was when we came here. Taking a closer look at the stalls, I
noticed that aside from humans, non-human races were apparently also
present here, and in surprisingly large variety. Tall, short, covered with fur,
scales, even those with sharp ears… sharp ears? Elves! So there are even
elves in this world?! And wow, there are many more female ones than males,
and… and… and OH MY GOD they are even prettier than the ones depicted
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in mangas, anime and books from my own world!
Now then, simply staring at the female shopkeepers like some kinda pervert
would probably get me in trouble with the authorities, therefore the best
course of action will be pretending that I am interested in buying the products
they are offering and have a gander at them during that window shopping.
One of them was especially beautiful and had nicely shaped big breasts, so I
spent the most time at her jewelry stand. Now, I know for a fact that when it
comes to age elven looks can be very deceiving, so I tried checking her out
with Identify, and the result is… Age: 37? Shouldn't it be like, 370 or
something, since she's an elf and all? I mean okay, as long as she looks like
she just passed her twenties (in other words: perfectly smashable) I'm fine
with that. Oh and by the way, when I tried to Identify myself to see if it
would display my age, it only showed my name and gender.
After a short walk I came back to the Slave Merchant's shop, to which
customers were coming and going as if they were out buying groceries.
Welp, I get this is a world totally different from mine, but honestly, I
expected at least one person to act suspiciously or nervously look around as if
they have stolen something. Am I the strange one here, or are all those people
not right in the head? Probably it's the former. Also on a side note: while I
was walking around the stalls ogling the nicely looking ladies I tried to listen
in on the other people's conversations in hope of gaining information about
the typical slave's market price, but that plan went out the window pretty fast
because most of them weren't speaking in Brahim, so I simply couldn't
understand a word they were saying.
「Hello? Is now a good time? Am I not bothering you?」
I asked after I finally mustered enough courage to go inside the shop.
「Ah, the young lad from before. By all means, do come in.」
The one to greet me was the same apprentice as before.
「Is Mister Alan here? I would like to talk with him about the matter we
discussed earlier.」
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「Certainly. Come and have a seat while I go fetch master for you. He'll see to
you in a moment.」
I was shown to the room next to the entrance to the shop, not the one in the
back. Could it be that this Alan guy has different rooms for different
"business" purposes? Am I going to be treated like an official customer now?
This room was literally littered with expensive-looking furniture, complete
with fluffy carpets, leather sofas, paintings on every wall and a big table and
a pair of chairs made from what looked to be a dark oak. This must be a
customer reception or something along those lines.
「Welcome back to my fine establishment, Michio-sama! I have been waiting
for you.」
The owner, Alan, came to me right away. I haven't even sat yet.
「Y-Yeah, right.」
「But where are my manners? Please, sit wherever you like. Make yourself at
home.」
I took his advice and sat on one of the sofas. It was even more comfy than the
one I sat on when I was here with Picker-san.
「Before we get any further, there is something I would like you to know
about the man you sold to me today.」
「Yes? What is it?」
「I had a little bit of a… friendly chat with him to get to know him better, as
per the usual procedure in my line of business and he revealed to me
information that might be of interest to you. That man became a slave
because he committed a crime of stealing the Bandit Bandana, which was
among your spoils of battle, right? Well it turns out that he didn't commit that
theft alone. He actually had an accomplice, unfortunately, he didn't want to
share his name no matter how …nicely… I asked him to do so. Do you
understand what am I going at, Michio-sama?」
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「Yes, I do. Thank you for telling me, I'll be sure to remain careful.」
Bandit Bandana is an item that raises the stats of anyone with a Bandit or
Thief Job so criminals were ready to pay a high price for it. If that guy
wanted to steal it from me, then that means he probably had someone willing
to buy it off of him. I don't know who that someone might be, but I think we
can safely rule out the Village Chief and his wife since they were very helpful
to me after I helped stop the attack on the village and nothing in their
behavior pointed towards them having any kind of ulterior motives. Maybe it
was Picker-san? He's a merchant after all, and they mostly have only one
principle in their line of business: to sell to the highest bidder. Then again,
dealing with bandits was probably too risky for someone like him. For all I
know, when the transaction would have been completed they might have just
offed him to get away with both the item and the money. Then, who might
that supposed accomplice be?
But that is a matter for later. For now, let's focus on the task at hand.
「When I came here earlier, you mentioned something about a Labyrinth,
right? I would like to hear about it in more details, but first, where exactly is
it located?」
It might be best to ask him about everything I want to know about before we
get down to business.
「It has been discovered in the forest just west of the town.」
「Meaning the opposite of where we arrived from.」
「That's right.」
When we departed from the village, we followed the sun as it made its way
across the sky, meaning we were going from east to west. So in order to reach
the Labyrinth, I'll have to keep going west from the city's other gate, got it.
Shortly after we began our discussion, a female servant came to the room,
carrying a luxurious tea set, probably with refreshments for me and Alan-san.
But those clothes… could it be that she's…
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UwU, what's this? A maid?
SWEET STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE ON A ROCK N' ROLLIN JESUS
WITH A FISHSTICK THEY HAVE MAIDS HERE!
Ok, that's it. This world is the best world ever!
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Part 2
IDENTIFY HER! IDENTIFY THIS PICTURE-PERFECT BEAUTY RIGHT
THIS INSTANT!
Roxanne: Female, 16
Beast Warrior Lv6
So her name is Roxanne, huh?
She is very pretty, no, beautiful, no wait, words cannot describe how much of
a hottie she is! She's on a totally different level than the models and idols I
knew from the Internet and TV back in Japan. Unlike them, who are basically
made to look and act the way they are for the sole purpose of making men
flock to them, she feels like something truly genuine, untainted by the
corruption of show business (thank God that they don't have it here!). I mean
just look at her! Truly an angel unfit to walk this dirty soil!
She has gorgeous pale-red lips and a pair of big, shining eyes, and her hair,
colored like the finest of chestnuts look so irresistibly fluffy that I just want
to bury my face in them! And she even has that typical maid hat… looking…
thing!
「Here you go, sir.」
She placed a filled cup in front of me. When she was doing so, her rich
breasts, clearly too majestic to be contained by the dark blue dress she was
wearing under her maid apron were visibly swaying back and forth. Dayum
girl, who would have thought that you're going to have such a nice pair of
bazongas on you? Also, today is such a great day!
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「Thank you very much.」
I answered simply.
Maybe that's just me not paying enough attention, but most of the clothing in
this world seems to be rather loose and bulky, which makes it somewhat
difficult to properly appraise the size of a woman's bust. But in Roxanne's
case? Every article of clothing was tightly sticking to her body, as if they
were made that way on purpose.
This is a shocking, quite shocking discovery indeed, wouldn't you agree, my
dear reader?
Even when she finished bending over to place the cup in front of me and
returned to her normal, graceful standing position, her breasts continued to
sway and jiggle, drawing my eyes to them as if they used some kinda
hypnosis spell on me!
「As I said before, the entrance to the Labyrinth has only been discovered
about two days ago so it hasn't even been fully explored yet. We currently
don't know exactly how big it is nor how long will it take to clear it.」
「Uh-huh, I see.」
Whatever the merchant was talking about came in through one of my ears
and immediately left through the other, because the entirety of my attention
was focused on Roxanne's chest. Height-wise it looks like she's the same as
me or a little shorter, so about 160 cm. I couldn't tell exactly because of the
clothes, but if how tightly they fit her is any indicator, she shouldn't have any
excess fat on her, except for her marvelous breasts of course. Like seriously,
they must've absorbed all the nutrients from her meals in order to grow this
large. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that, as pointed to by her
Job, she is not a human, but a demi-human or beastfolk of whatever nonhuman species are called in this world? It does not look like she has a tail or a
pair of animal ears on her, but those may well be hidden from view by her
uniform.
Oblivious to everything that was happening inside my head, Roxanne walked
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to the table at which Alan-san seated himself, gave him the cup and poured
him the same drink she poured me. He picked up the cup and slowly raised it
to his lips.
「Oh please, Michio-sama, don't mind me. Have a sip yourself.」
「Ah, right, sorry about that.」
Since he said it's okay for me to have a sip then I guess I'll do just that. But it
would be nice if it was just some herbal tea and not something that has
alcohol mixed into it, since technically I am still just a minor, although by
Japanese standards. If I'll have some free time on my hands I'll have to
obtain information on what is the drinking age here. And maybe the age of
consent while I'm at it.
Urged by the Slave Merchant, I put the cup to my mouth as Roxanne leaves
the room.
「So? What do you think?」
「Hmm…」
He asked me that, but I barely managed to drink any of the cup's contents, so
I had to make the answer up on the fly.
「It's not a bad drink, to be honest. I've never tasted anything like this in my
life so far.」
「No no no, I'm talking about the girl. Looks like she piqued your interest.」
Who, Roxanne?
「Oh, her? Well yes, she's certainly an eye catcher, that one.」
「Right? Out of all the slaves I have in my inventory right now, she's
probably among the best ones. And the one I would recommend the most.」
Ah, now I see. I understand what it was all about. So Roxanne is not a
servant. She's a slave as well. One of the best ones, huh? I definitely see why
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he would want to do that. And I guess it makes sense. After all, Alan-san is a
Slave Merchant, so why would he recommend anything else but slaves to a
potential customer such as myself?
「Allow me to cut right to the heart of the matter, Michio-sama. If you're
going to set your sights on exploring the Labyrinth, buying a slave would be
the best course of action for you.」
In that case, would I be able to buy any one of his slaves? Even the beauty
such as Roxanne?
「What I mean is, you're going to need to form a Party, since tackling a
dungeon like a Labyrinth on your own would be nothing short of suicide.」
Debatable, seeing as how I have my OP Durandal with me, but let's assume
that he's right for now.
「…. Keep going.」
Of course, that Party stuff does not interest me all that much. All I really want
to know is if I really want to buy Roxanne as my personal slave?
I suddenly feel very hot, like all the blood has rushed into my head. I wonder
if my face is red right now? This is not good, dude. Calm down, just try to
calm down before you do or say something stupid! I might still be a kid, but
that does not mean it's okay for me to do and say everything I want,
consequences be damned. Come on, me, think with your head, not with your
dick!
「With a Party of your own. You'll be able to hunt monsters and earn money
more efficiently. Of course, there are Adventurers who prefer to go solo, but
all in all it is more beneficial to have a large Party, up to six members total.」
「Y-Yes, of course.」
So Party's can consist of up to six members? That information might prove to
be useful in the future. Being free as a solo player is my preferred option for
now, but having someone to share my travels with might not be such a
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terrible idea either. We'd be fighting together, eating together and sharing the
stories of our lives while doing it, make a name for ourselves as famous
Adventurers and sleep in the same room at an inn to cut costs… wait, sleep
together? Sleeping… together with Roxanne… if I bought her…
「Naturally, the problems begin when it comes to splitting the loot obtained
from adventuring, like magical items or platinum coins. The Labyrinths are
mysterious structures that we don't know everything about, but we do know
that by clearing it you can get rich very fast at the risk of injury and quite
possibly death.」
So I assume that a platinum coin is worth even more than a gold coin? I could
probably easily buy Roxanne with one of those babies in my purse….
But wait. If Labyrinths really are filled with such treasures, then what about a
situation in which one member of the Party decides that he wants to hog it all
for himself?
「What about disputes over items and money? Do they happen often?」
「Thankfully not that often, but there were times when some Adventurers
desired some items to such a degree that they were willing to turn their blades
on their fellow Party members.」
「And how were such situations resolved?」
「Simply and effectively. Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth. In the Labyrinth, if a
Party member attacks you with an intent to kill you, you are legally allowed
to defend yourself, by any means necessary.」
「I see.」
The most logical option here would be to continue to go solo in order to
avoid such flaming messes, but if I do that, the possibility of buying Roxanne
might be forever out of my grasp! Ugh, this is so frustrating! I know I
shouldn't think about it, but I just can't get that thought out of my head!
What do I do? What the fuck should I do here?! To buy or not to buy myself
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a slave, that is the question! But the right answer to that problem is nowhere
near in sight!
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Part 3
On the one hand, I know that buying and owning slaves is morally wrong.
After all, it was outlawed in my world for a reason. But on the other hand,
she is such a beautiful girl that I felt that if I won't step up now and claim her
as my own, such a chance might not present itself to me anymore, and I
wouldn't be able to forgive myself to the end of my life if something like that
ever happened. I need to make a decision now!
「Of course, if your Party consists of people you know you can trust with your
life, there will be no problem with betrayals. Or if you still worry about that,
you can purposefully hire the people who are weaker than you. Thankfully,
cases of such happenings are fewer now than they were just a few years ago.」
He was practically spoon feeding me valuable information, but Roxanne was
all that I could think of.
If this was a game, having conflicts within the Party wouldn't be such a big
deal. Worst case scenario your in-game character would die and simply
respawn at the nearest church/temple (whatever the spawn point was) and
you could go on to exact revenge on the Party member who thought he could
screw you over. Even in MMORPG's, where the interaction was almost
exclusively between living, thinking players stuck together for better or
worse, the possibilities for betrayal and PK (Player Killing) were limited by
the game's systems.
Reality, however, was a totally different nut to crack.
No matter where you go, people around you are all ultimately complete
strangers whom you don't know if you could trust at all. I mean seriously,
let's consider the following: you're going to the Labyrinth with your Party
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members, you fight monsters, one of them drops some valuable item that one
of your Party members wants so badly that he's willing to kill for it, and he
does just that. What am I getting at? Considering that death is probably
nothing unusual in a monster-filled dungeon like a Labyrinth, no one would
probably even be suspicious when someone would die in there, since the
culprit would be able to just play the whole thing off as a 「He bit off more
than he could chew」 scenario. And while we're on the subject of valuable
drops and treasures…
「A question, if I may. While in the Labyrinth, is it possible to get stabbed in
the back by one of your Party members?」
「There is such a possibility, yes.」
I knew it. It would have been too good if that wasn't the case. Knowing that
she might as well try to kill me if she doesn't find me to her liking or that if
the opportunity to run off with a valuable treasure presents itself to her, do I
still want to buy Roxanne?
「I see. That's not nice to hear.」
「However, Parties consisting of a master and his slave have some unique
rules to them. Since a slave is a possession of its master, the same principle
applies to any item or money the slave might obtain.」
That's one concern out of the way. But if I want to make Roxanne mine,
there is still one thing that I have to know about.
「Hypothetically speaking, if I bought Roxanne from you, would she be able
to stab me in the back and run away with the treasure even though I'm her
master?」
「Something like that would not be possible. You see, master and slave are
bound to one another by a pact. If the master dies, his slave dies with him.」
「For real?! Isn't that too harsh?」
So if Roxanne ends up being bought by someone else and that someone kicks
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the bucket, she will bite the dust as well.
「Perhaps, but everything depends on how the master intends to live out his
life. And if you decide that you no longer want a particular slave as your
property, you can always release them from servitude or prepare a document
which transfers the ownership rights to someone else.」
「Oh, so there is such an option. That's good, very good.」
Knowing that I can release her before I die was a very useful piece of
information. Sentencing her to die prematurely simply because something
happened to me would be too cruel.
「But if you aim to be an Adventurer, and one who aims to explore Labyrinths
at that, you might as well prepare such a document beforehand, although
having it on you would amount to nothing if you ended up devoured whole
by some monster or disintegrated by a trap. My best advice would be as
follows: if you want to have slaves, you'd better resign yourself from
exploring Labyrinths or other dangerous places. Or know exactly when to
tuck tail and run if you value your life. I know that for someone young and
eager like you the prospect of being an Adventurer might be the one which
yields the biggest financial gain, but trust me, there are more safe, stable
ways of securing a source of income. Not to mention the fact that you'd need
to have a place where you and your slaves could stay, eat and sleep and I'm
not talking about renting rooms at an inn all the time. If you want to be a
slave master, your own house is an absolute necessity.」
I'd definitely want to provide Roxanne with a place where she could live, eat
and sleep in peace. Especially sleep, with me in the same bed…. Nonono kid,
get your goddamn head out of the gutter and start taking this seriously by
thinking of anything other than doing morally questionable things to that
maid girl and that bombshell body of hers! I want to stop with the lewd
fantasies that go through my head, but try as hard as I might, the picture of
her perfect tits and the vision of what I would do to them…
「On the bright side though, if you manage to pillage enough treasure from
one successful Labyrinth raid you'll have enough money to quite possibly
afford a comfortable lifestyle for the rest of your days. But there are a few
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things that you also need to have in mind before making the final decision.
First, when it comes to their status and social standing, slaves are only
slightly above Bandits. Actually, the biggest difference that sets these two
groups apart is that you are legally obliged to kill Bandits, Thieves and other
Brigands and you can claim their possessions as your own whereas killing a
slave who has its master is considered a punishable offense. But those who
ran away from their master are treated just like any criminal.」
So they are only slightly above Bandits and their ilk, huh? Looking at
someone like Roxanne, this is truly hard to believe.
「Besides adventuring, are there any ways to make money?」
「Of course there are. As long as you'll be a member of a proper Guild and
are willing to learn the ways of your new trade, you can become anything you
want.」
「Okay, I get it.」
The biggest problem here is that you can't form a Party with anyone unless
you trust them. I came alone from Japan to begin with, but even before
getting isekaid out of the blue like that I had severe trust issues coupled with
disdain for other human beings, who I assumed were all out to get me and
pour salt onto my open wounds, so how can anyone expect me to form bonds
of trust with the denizens of this world when I don't even know what are the
laws of this land and what counts as common sense here?!
And will I be able to procure enough money to buy food for both myself and
Roxanne without delving into the depths of the Labyrinth? Well, I can always
not buy Roxanne and begin my career as a solo Adventurer. With a weapon
like Durandal by my side making a name for myself shouldn't be anything
difficult.
「So how about it, Michio-sama? Would you be interested in buying
Roxanne? She's a Beast Warrior, so I'm sure she'd be a great addition to
your Party.」
「Beast Warrior…」
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「Yes, because she's a Werewolf. Beast Warrior is a Job that only a Werewolf
or other Beastman can acquire.」
「Werewolf huh? Gotta say, she doesn't look like one at all.」
Of course I knew about her Job and its level because I used Identify on her.
「Well, what do you say? Pretty tempting offer, am I right?」
「Yeah, but…」
「And to top it off, she's the most beautiful one among the female slaves I
happen to have in stock now. With her stunning looks and the intellect to
match it, she'll be a perfect companion for a first-timer like you. And she's a
Werewolf Beast Warrior at that!」
The Slave Merchant continued to pour his honeyed words down my ears.
This is nice and all, but I need to keep a clear head. I mustn't make a hasty
purchase under the influence of that sweet-talking of his! Besides, there must
be a catch somewhere! There always is!
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Part 4
But… but maybe this time it was actually an honest deal with no trickster
strings attached? It would be strange to sell someone so beautiful as Roxanne
without having some hidden agenda, but maybe that's just my damaged
mentality speaking again?
「So, why is her being a Beastman so important? Because you seem to be
making a great deal out of it.」
「Are you familiar with the saying that elves are the number one non-human
race when it comes to their lifespan and longevity?」
「Well, yeah.」
I mean, isn't it common knowledge that elves tend to live much longer than
humans? Or could it be that this is another thing that's different in this world?
「Then allow me to break it to you: that is just an urban legend.」
Oh really now? That's interesting.
「Elves are said to be the longest living race because they stay young-looking
for the longest. In actuality, the lifespan of Elves and Beastman are about the
same.」
「Is that so? I have to admit, I didn't know that.」
The eleven woman I ogled back at the street shops was supposedly 37 years
old when I Identified her, but she looked like she was in her early twenties at
worst. But I have to say, when it comes to looks as a whole, Roxanne was
even prettier than that elf lady. And her boobs are definitely bigger.
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「That's understandable, so don't worry about it all that much, Michio-sama.
We humans and non-humans have different points of aging and ways in
which we perceive the passage of time. To illustrate it with an example, I
think you'll agree that for us humans there is little difference between a two
years old dog and the one that is eight years old, right?」
「Now that you mention it, I guess you're right. I never given it much thought
myself.」
「When it comes to Beastman, at the age of 16 or 17 they are no different than
us humans, but the older they get, the difference becomes more apparent.
Typically, we humans start to show visible signs of aging around 40 to 50
years of age, but when Beastman hit that same mark, they still look as young
as they were in their teenage years, so from the perspective of our limited
lifespans, the Beastman might as well stay beautiful forever.」
「Ahh, I see.」
Roxanne is one year younger than me and she's already so beautiful that it
was unbelievable. So you want to say that even when she reaches her forties
and fifties her looks won't change much from how she's looking now?
「In addition to that, there is one more very important factor that sets the
Beastman aside from other races, a factor that is held in very high regard by
all of the customers.」
「And that factor is?」
「Since they are half beasts, or animals if you prefer lighter terms, they are
unable to bear human offspring.」
「Oh.」
So people do tend to consider that aspect as important, huh? I honestly didn't
think that anyone would pay any mind to something like that in a world based
on medieval settings. Then again, that would mean that I could just go at with
Roxanne over and over again without worrying about any pesky
consequences nine months later.
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「To that end, the dear Roxanne is still a virgin, if that matter is of any interest
to you.」
She's still a virgin? *Smacks lips* Nice!
「Does her being a virgin have any impact on her price?」
「It does, but for a practical reason. With virgins, you don't have to worry
about contracting any sexually transmitted diseases. Of course, we do have
proper establishments of the sexual nature in this town, but I wouldn't
recommend using them even if that was the last place of its kind in the entire
world. If anyone asked you didn't hear it from me, but to be honest, instead
of listing the diseases the local prostitutes have it would be faster to list the
ones they don't have.」
So I take it this world still has no ways of countering STDs then? Kind of a
bummer, but the one to be expected, since the medicine and modern drugs
should be pretty much non-existent here. Looks like that puts my plans for an
investigation of brothels to a grinding halt. Nevertheless…
「Thank you for the warning. I'll be sure to remember it.」
「Good. Going back on the right track, Roxanne herself is perfectly aware that
she might be used as a sex slave.」
「You don't say.」
So she's actually aware of how she might be used by her potential owner?
「On top of being made aware of the possibility of her becoming a sex slave,
she has also received all the theoretical knowledge required for pleasing any
kind of customer, no matter what his kinks or preferences might be.」
「Hm…」
That made me both concerned and aroused at the same time, but all my
concerns evaporated without a trace as soon as I imagined Roxanne in a turtle
shell bondage. Just that image alone was enough to send my youthful
imagination, which I tried to keep in check, running berserk again.
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「But that should come as no surprise, because, let's be honest here, if you
weren't interested in those things you wouldn't have been interested in
buying yourself a young slave girl in the first place.」
「I guess so.」
To be honest, learning that was kind of a relief for me. In this world, just like
in my previous one, buying yourself a young female slave seems to have only
one purpose, and everybody realizes that, so presumably I won't be the first
one to commit such a (morally) dastardly deed and I sure as hell won't be the
last one.
「But I have to say, Michio-sama, I am glad that you decided to pay a visit to
my establishment on a fine day such as this one.」
「Why is that?」
「After spending as many years in the business as I did I can proudly say that
I have a keen eye for judging the customers who walk through the door of my
shop, and it saddens me to say that even if many of them do want to buy
themselves a female slave, many of them won't even lay a finger on them due
to their 「moral compass」 telling them that it is wrong. To be totally blunt,
those are the kind of customers I dislike the most. The way I see it, any kind
of purchase, be it a slave or something as simple as a grocery shopping, needs
to be done with a leveled head and hefty amount of consideration. You know
what they say: haste makes waste, right? And I think we can both agree that
wasting money on something you won't really need is the ultimate waste.」
So people like that are present in this world as well, huh? Lovely. If there's
one kind of person I hate more than bullies and those who wronged me for no
apparent reason, it would have to be assholes with loads of money who
always buy everything in sight, only to throw it away after realizing that they
don't really need it. Thankfully, I can say with certainty that I wouldn't treat
Roxanne in such a way.
「Well, I guess that's right.」
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「So why do purchases like that keep happening, you ask? Well If you asked
me for my opinion, I would have to say that the reason for things being the
way they are is simple: inexperience, both at the side of the customer who
walks in here without knowing what is he getting himself into and at the side
of the female slaves who are not taught proper sexual education. Thankfully,
I can proudly say that Roxanne is not someone like that. She received all the
necessary education needed to be proper companion for any aspiring
Adventurer, so you can rest assured that she will never be a burden to you.」
「I see.」
「And lastly, as an added bonus, she is able to speak Brahim fluently.」
「Oh yeah, you're right!」
Back when she gave me the cup with the drink I was able to understand every
word she was saying, so I guess it makes sense for her to know Brahim,
which must be the name for this world's version of the Japanese language,
but I guess I was just too engrossed with the bouncy swaying of her tits to
notice that. And honestly, can you blame me?! It was totally amazing! I
would love to see it again if I had the chance.
「And that concludes my speech on why I would highly recommend buying
my dear Roxanne.」
Great, looks like his sales pitch is finally over.
Roxanne.
There is no doubt that she's the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life
(not that I saw many of them to begin with). Her eyes were so bright and
dazzling that just one look was enough for me to feel like I was being
swallowed in by them.
Can I really buy someone like her? I bent over my cup to give it one last
brainstorming session with a heavy chest. Is that what the weight of freedom
and responsibility feels like?
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Part 5
To tell you the truth, I still have my doubts about this entire matter, but above
all else I don't want to be left alone in this strange, unfamiliar world. If I can
have myself a companion, even if it will be a slave, then of course I would
like to jump at such a chance right away. What about my moral dilemmas?
They are still nestled at the back of my head of course, but let's look at it
from another perspective: if I will buy Roxanne, I will do my best to treat her
in a respectful manner and to one day set her free so she could decide her fate
on her own. On the other hand, if someone else ends up buying her, there will
be no guarantee that such a douchebag won't treat her like nothing more but
his personal sex toy, and that is something that I absolutely cannot allow.
Back in Japan I've had my fair share of mistreatment, enough to last me
several lifetimes and not wish a similar fate happening to anyone else.
The biggest problem here is that slavery is apparently a part of the system of
how things are ran in this world, and it looks like it is here to stay, at least for
the foreseeable future, and we all know that if there is one thing that cannot
be easily changed or overthrown, no matter what world you are living in, it's
the established social hierarchy and the twisted "norms" that come with it. In
my old world, even though it is claimed that we were living in a progressive,
advanced society where the concept of inequality has long since disappeared,
it was nothing more but a nicely sounding slogan filled with hypocritical
bullshit fed to the masses who were dumb enough to believe in it. Okay, we
abolished slavery because we deemed it to be too inhumane, but even with
that one problem gone, a myriad of others appeared almost immediately to
take its place: illegal employment, framing, human and organ trafficking,
child prostitution, those are but a few droplets which appeared in the cesspool
of shit that humanity has turned into. And here's the real kicker: everyone
seems to have agreed that the ones to be blamed for the present state of the
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earth are the members of my generation, the millennials! How fucked up is
that?! And to top things off, the damn boomers expect us to fix everything
while they continue to sit around on their lazy asses doing absolutely
nothing! The vast majority of us are still either high school or college
students, so how can they expect us to find solutions to the problems that
"responsible, full-fledged adults with a great amount of life experience" can't
fix even if their goddamn lives depended on it?! Also, even if by some
miracle I'd be able to push this world towards the same changes that occurred
in my world, the most probable scenario would be the one in which we
managed to get rid of slavery, but we'd be left with the same old
developmental problems that the earth is struggling with right now: poverty,
overpopulation, escalation of inequality and the like. Thankfully, going down
such a path is not an option right now, due to a very simple reason: as a
person, I lack both the mental capacity and charisma to enforce any kind of
change or push through with the development of any invention of greater
significance like computers, airplanes or solar panels and electricity.
Another issue is the fact that in this world slavery is very strongly connected
with the judiciary system and the apparent enforcement of justice. Just like
I've seen back in the village, making someone into a slave is a valid option of
inflicting punishment upon the criminals, and my guess is that option is being
chosen rather frequently, since it essentially gives you either a free servant or
a lot of money if you decide to sell your slave just like I did. In that case,
what would be the, maybe not the best, but a good alternative to slavery? I
honestly have no idea, but at the very least I feel like more prisons would be
built. And not just the small ones, like those cramped town dungeons you see
in video games. This world would need one giant, big-ass prison for all those
would-be slaves. But in order to build something like that, money would be
needed, and when we say money, it's obvious that the first thing that comes
to mind is taxation, but in order to gather taxes more efficiently bureaucracy
would have to be introduced, but in order for it to be introduced, we'd need to
develop a better education system so more bureaucrats could be raised to
collect the taxes which would then be spend to build prisons so that the
people wouldn't have to be turned into slaves… man, I'm getting confused
by my own thoughts and it's making my head spin!
The worst part is that bringing bureaucracy into the fray would absolutely not
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be the end of problems and solutions, but I don't know what should be done
next because I have absolutely no idea who and what else is connected to the
bureaucracy and how in the hell are those connections making the world go
round.
But anyway, I digress too much. I didn't come to this new world with the
intention of becoming a perpetrator of social change or some Abe Lincoln's
second coming. No no no, I came here because I wanted to kill myself and
was looking for alternatives. Can we just proceed to the part where I actually
get to buy myself a slave already?
Roxanne, oh my beautiful, precious Roxanne with that beautiful face and
bouncy bazoongas of yours. Just wait a few more moments, I'll be buying
you very shortly!
「You look as if you reached a conclusion to your inner turmoil. Michiosama. Has my elaborate explanation helped you make your decision?」
「I guess you can say that. So, can we proceed with the transaction?」
「But of course! Now then, if you would….」
Alan the Slave Merchant reached his hand to me, and when he did so, a halftransparent window with a system message appeared in front of my eyes.
『Do you want to buy Roxanne the Slave?』
『Yes』 『No』
Finally, the moment is upon me at last. I have to say, this anticipation is
becoming unbearable, to the point where my hands began to shake.
『Do you want to buy Roxanne the Slave?』
『Yes』 『No』
Of course I can't choose 『No』 here. I want to buy her in order to have a
companion who will aid me in my future travels and to free her when the
time would be right.
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『Do you want to buy Roxanne the Slave?』
『Yes』 『No』
Also, maybe she will finally be the one who will take my V-Card away from
me, since both Teirichi-san in the village and the beautiful female knight
from earlier showed no interest in helping me with that. At that moment, a
thought occurred to me. Nothing related to the situation at hand, but just
something I was curious about.
「Is the price of sex slaves any different from the price of the normal ones?」
「No, it is practically the same.」
「Really? I thought they are going to be pricier.」
I honestly thought that was the case, since the sex slaves are mainly used for
satisfying the bodily pleasures, just like their name implies.
「Their market price is the same because the differences in their duties are
minor at best. Both sex and non-sex slaves mostly perform the same jobs,
hence the lack of difference in their prices.」
「Then what about the differences between male and female slaves?」
Alan-san nodded and continued.
「Speaking of fighting abilities and the ability to do manual labor, men have
better abilities than women. However, the price of a working adult male is
about 120,000 Nar, whereas for a young woman, her price will be higher,
depending on her good looks.」
It's true that if it's purely for work purposes there shouldn't be any difference
in price between men and women. But it's also true that good looking girls
are always very expensive, that is a principle that was true even in Japan, but
they are always in higher demand than guys. That is why even if they cost
more, I'm sure none of the female slaves are left to gather dust for long.
Well, the Slave Merchant's story started to be strangely relatable. Just like in
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real life, women tend to have it better, even when it comes to the price for
selling them. And speaking of selling, I guess I should reset my character
again.
This time, I removed my points from 30% Increased Selling Prices and
pumped everything into Buying Discount, which gave a discount of 30%.
Okay, now we can finally start talking about the actual numbers. Bonus Skill,
don't fail me now!
「Is Roxanne going to be expensive?」
「Hm, let's see here…」
He seemed to be counting from memory, and then he declared with a broad
smile on his face. Is he content with the fact that I am finally willing to make
my purchase?
「Yes, the typical market price is about 600,000 Nar.」
…
.....
......…
WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU........?!
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Part 6
… UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK?! No matter how you look at it,
more than half a million is way too much for a slave! And that's the price
with the active 30% discount, for crying out loud!!!!
「Well, looking at your face right now I probably know what is going on
through your head, Michio-sama, and honestly, I can't even blame you for it.
So how about that: since I was the one who recommended Roxanne to you,
I'll lower the price for a bit. Does 422,800 Nar sound more acceptable? 」
The merchant presented me with something that must have sounded like a
nice bargain price to him, but for me it was still way too expensive, even after
such a significant drop.
I took a deep, long breath.
422,000 Nar. What kind of a price is that?! If only it was cut down by another
50%, then I would have jumped at the transaction without a second thought,
because honestly, what other choice do I have? Right now, it's either buy a
slave and have yourself a Party companion or go solo and continue to be all
by myself, a scenario I wanted to avoid at all costs.
Roxanne has absolutely captivated me. Literally everything about her
screamed to me that I should make her mine: her deep, bright eyes, her
magnificent chest and her beautiful face. The biggest problem here is that I
only have 33 gold coins. My ethics or personal feelings are not the problem
here anymore, because I have already steeled my resolve to do this. I just
don't have enough money to make the purchase, simple as that.
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「Unfortunately, it looks like it's a purchase that's beyond my current
financial capabilities. 」
「Is that so? This is grave news indeed. 」
The merchant replied. If he was disappointed with such an outcome, he did
an outstanding job at not showing it in the slightest. I, on the other hand, was
very disappointed with myself.
「I guess we have no choice then. Why don't you take a look at some of the
other slaves then? 」
Ahh, I see what's going on here. It was all a part of your clever little
marketing strategy, huh? Oh you rascal, you. Showing me your best slave
first, making me eager to buy her, only then sell me a cheaper one? It's like
those brothels in my world that scam people by marketing themselves with
the best girl they have in their crew just to trick people into making an
appointment with her, but when the push comes to shove and they muster the
courage to arrive all that is waiting for them is 「The Lady Handling the
Phones 」 who says that the girl you were supposed to meet up with is either
busy with another guy, or that she's sorry but she couldn't make it in time
and then just as you're getting ready to leave you're "graciously" offered to
pick one of the other girls instead, only to taken aback by how big of a stepdown they are, but you can't just say no and leave with your money in tow,
because some burly guy who looks like he just got released out of prison is
blocking the exit and is threatening to "make you one with the floor" if you
don't make up your mind soon. A very specific example, I know, but do not
worry, I'm not speaking from experience. Of course a sad, little cherry boy
like myself wouldn't have any experience in that field to back his stories up.
It's just one of the many threads about brothels that I visited back when I was
surfing the net looking for ways to end myself.
On a side note, con artists and telemarketers often use similar trick, but with
their own, unique twists added. But in this particular case, I can't say that I
was deceived by anyone. I just don't have enough money to buy the best
merchandise available, so I have no choice but to buy a cheaper replacement.
All right let's get this over with. I already said A, so now I have no choice but
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to say B.
「Very well. Show me the other slaves you have for sale. 」
「As you wish. 」
The Slave Merchant bowed down to me and showed me to another location.
We went to the stairs at the back of the shop and proceeded to go to the third
floor. The staircase was narrow, but well kept. Not a single floorboard
squeaked under our feet.
「Welcome. 」
When we got up there, an older-looking lady greeted us. The only things that
were present on his floor were a small corridor beside the stairs and two pairs
of doors, one on the left and one on the right.
「Line up the girls for me, please. 」
「As you wish, master. 」
The lady stood up from the chair she was sitting on, took out a small key
from her pocket and proceeded to open the doors to the left and disappeared
inside.
「This third floor contains women's quarters. Everything here is managed by
female employees, and no men beside me have the right to enter here. 」
「I see. 」
「Right now, all the girls are undergoing a thorough inspection of their
virginities. 」
He explained as if it was the most obvious thing under the sun. But now I get
why he wouldn't let any guy work on this floor. One man and so many
virgins… the temptation would be too much to bear. While we were waiting
in the corridor, the lady's muffled voice could be heard from behind the door.
Apparently she was going through a roll call after she finished her physical
examination. Eventually it ceased and she returned to us.
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「The preparations have been completed. 」
「This way, Michio-sama. 」
He guided me into the room, where many female slaves were lined up
shoulder to shoulder. All of them were wearing simple, tidy clothes, they all
looked properly fed, there was no excrement on the floor and the room itself
was not giving off any particularly nasty odor. I guess that was
understandable. They are a product to be sold after all, so they need to be
kept in optimal condition in order not to scare the potential customers away.
「So these are all the female slaves you have? 」
「That's right. Go ahead and see them all for yourself. Feel free to look to
your heart's content. 」
「All right. 」
I walked in front of them and examined them all, one by one. A part of me
regretted that they weren't told to strip themselves naked so that I could see
every nook and cranny of their bodies, but it's better not to push my luck
here. None of them were as eye-catching as Roxanne, so I haven't decided on
buying any of them yet.
They were all looking at me with curious eyes rid of anxiety and
nervousness, which made me somewhat embarrassed and self-conscious
about my average looks. I guess that they are judging me as much as I am
judging them. I understand that they are doing so because when I finally
decide to pick one of them her life is going to change drastically with me as
her new master.
That is what it means to buy a slave. It's not about grabbing yourself a free
laborer or a sex toy, it's about giving them a chance at a better life or ruining
it completely.
「Is there a problem, Michio-sama? 」
「No, not a problem at all. I was just amazed at how well-kept your slaves
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are. It's totally different from what I was expecting to see, to be honest. 」
「This should come as no surprise. I run a business here, so in order to gain
the upper hand over my business rivals it is essential for me to keep the
entirety of my merchandise at the highest standards of both health and
clothing. Their food is also being handled with proper care. Trust me, they
are better off here than they would have been back where they came from
before they were being sold into slavery. 」
The tone of his explanation suggested that he must have explained the very
same thing he was explaining to me time and time again.
「I see. 」
That was the only answer I could give him. Also, it made me wonder… this
place is actually pretty damn neat, since the slaves probably don't have much
work to do aside from maybe keeping the shop clean. If not for the fact that
they are going to be sold one day, they would have probably wanted to stay
here forever, or at least that was the impression that I got from my time spent
here and the information obtained from Alan-san's words.
Also, the longer I looked at the girls, the easier it was for me to spot
something critical:
Their interest in me was nothing but an act.
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Part 7
The first one, who was smiling cheerfully just a few moments ago now
looked straight ahead of herself with tired, unmotivated eyes, as if she was
about to fall asleep on the spot. Looks like she totally lost any semblance
interest in me.
The second one glared at me with a smug smirk on her face, as if she wanted
to openly ridicule me. She even glanced at my crotch for a brief second and
snickered in a mocking manner! If we weren't in a Slave Shop I would have
probably delivered a nice haymaker right to her face, but since I can't do that
I decided it would be best to stay my pimping hand for now. Let it go Michio,
you're better than that. No need to stoop so low just because a slave tried to
act like a smartass around you. Actually, it makes things much easier for me,
because now I am certain which one of them I won't buy even If she was the
last girl on the planet.
「Michio-sama, I hope you'll forgive them for displaying… something of an
attitude towards you? I assure you, their intention is not to mock you, it's just
that…」
「Yeah yeah, whatever you say you're probably right.」
Look pal, whatever their reason for such impudent behavior might be, I don't
want to hear about it. I'm not here to play psychiatrist to their troubles after
all. I'm looking for a reliable companion, not the one who will be nothing but
a burden to me since day 1. The way I see it, instead of allowing girls like
that one over here to do a lot of negative PR for you you'd be better off
selling her to do manual labor, like maybe working at the mines or something
along those lines. That way you'd still have the profits from selling her and
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had one less headache in your shop. But you now, that is just my opinion.
Anyway…
The next slave girl had much livelier eyes than the first one, but on the
flipside her face was nothing to write home about. The one next to her was
pretty nicely-looking… but nope, she's a no-go for me. Identify showed me
that she was a Villager at the age of 27…. And that's much too old for my
strike zone.
Next one was cute as well, but had no breasts at all; an absolute cutting
board, the kind that a chef of a restaurant would want to borrow when they
ran out of their own. The last one, the one who was after Little Miss Cutting
Board was still a kid, but she was pretty cute, all things considered. And no, I
didn't mean it in a lolicon sort of way, all right? I am certainly no child
molester, I prefer the girls who are of my own age, maybe a year older.
My ideal girl, huh?
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Now that I've seen every last one of them, I have to say that they are all
pretty cute. The fact that there is some age diversity between them was
definitely a plus, because I am sure that I will be able to find the one who will
be just up my alley.
That is what I would have said if I hadn't seen Roxanne first.
To me, she was so beautiful that all those other female slaves looked so
inferior to her that I probably couldn't see them as truly attractive even if I
tried. Ugh, I fell for the merchant's trick completely. Even though I realized
that he showed her to me first as a bait for buying the uglier ones (no offense
ladies, except for the smugly smirking one, you can just go eat shit for all I
care), but I can't do anything about it! I'm a young, healthy, impressionable
guy, so what other reaction would you expect when a hot chick was placed
right in front of my raging hormone-driven eyes? In light of that, there could
be only one solution to my current situation: I left the room without deciding
to buy any of the female slaves presented to me. Probably knowing that that's
how it was going to end, the merchant left after me.
When we got out of the room, the older lady from before waited for us along
with Roxanne. Did she finish all of her duties and come here to see us? Aww,
now that's just precious! I knew it, she's an absolute angel!
She bowed her head to us respectfully, and it was at this moment that I saw a
pair of ears adorning the top of her head.
Dog ears. They were the FUCKING. DOG EARS! OH MY SWEET JESUS,
HOW CAN SHE BE SO CUUUUUTE?!!!!!!
She didn't have the maid hat-thingy on anymore, so her ears were clearly
visible for all to see. They were the big, hanging fluffy ones, like those of a
Golden Retriever. They also look like they could be easily hid underneath her
hair if she didn't want anybody to stare at them.
「So I guess there's no use asking how it was, right?」
「Right. I'm sorry, but it looks like we're back to square one.」
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「That does seem to be the case indeed. You hear that, dear Roxanne? Looks
like this customer took quite a liking to you.」
The Slave Merchant outright told that to Roxanne. What the fuck dude?!
You're not supposed to blurt it out like that, have some compassion for your
fellow man!
Roxanne just looked at me without saying a single word. When our eyes met,
all I could do was to look away from her shyly. I was never good at
interacting with the opposite sex and I don't suppose that will change
anytime soon, but the stares were always the worst for me. Every time a girl
looked at me, it was almost certain that her face would twist in uncontrollable
disgust, as if I was some kinda bug that needed to be squashed under the heel
of their shoe, so I guess it's only natural of me to expect Roxanne to do the
same now.
However, much to my astonishment, she didn't do anything like that. She…
she smiled. It's true, I'm not bullshitting you! Faintly, just faintly, but she
really did smile! I… I didn't expect that at all, but I'll gladly take it.
It was a nice gesture, but it doesn't change the fact that impossible is still just
as impossible as it always was. I won't be satisfied if it's not Roxanne, but I
don't have enough money to buy her. I guess I should just forget about
buying slaves and move on as a solo Adventurer.
「Master, if I may…」
「Yes darling, I know what you are going to say. Michio-sama, while I can't
lower Roxanne's price more than I already did, I am willing to wait for a few
more days.」
「Huh?」
「Let's see here… you said this was your first visit to Veil so you are
probably not well versed with the terrain around the city, and there's also the
matter of the Labyrinth… so how about five more days to get the necessary
amount of money?」
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The merchant continues with his onslaught of words without giving me a
single moment to wrap my head around what's happening here right now.
Is this another one of his tricks? First he showed me his finest product to then
bait me into buying the cheaper ones, so now he probably wants to firmly
have me in his clutches by offering me such a kindness. Was I too careless?
Have I let my guard down too much because Roxanne's beauty blinded me to
everything else?
「Ah, n-no, I…」
「Trust me, you're not the only one annoyed at the fact that you don't have
enough funds to finish the transaction. But as long as you can procure the rest
of the money in a few days, I will be more than willing to wait. You're fine
with that as well, right, Roxanne?」
「Yes, thank you very much, master.」
And she bowed her head to him again.
What is this? Why is he suddenly getting so cooperative? What is going on
here?
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Part 8
Now that he's gotten so cooperative, there is no way for me to refuse unless I
want to be taken for a complete douchebag.
I would like to believe that he's doing it out of the kindness of his heart, but
he's a merchant. Kindness is not a part of their trade, unless they can squeeze
some coin out of it. Then again, even if he has some ulterior motive, I guess it
works out for me just fine. Thanks to that I will truly be able to buy someone
as beautiful as Roxanne for myself. Besides, what would both of them have
to gain from trying to deceive me like that?
Alan-san mentioned that she's still a virgin, just like all the other female
slaves in this store, and we have already established that it is like that because
virgin female slaves are worth significantly more than fully capable male
slaves. Is it about the money after all? Could it be that the Slave Merchant
and Roxanne know that once I'll set out to collect the rest of the gold
necessary for the purchase I will probably have much more than that and they
plan on stealing it from me after Roxanne kills me? No, that can't possibly be
the case. If it was really like that, such a plan wouldn't have even a shred of
sense, because Roxanne would have died along with me, and that would
prevent both her from getting her share of gold and Alan-san from selling her
to some other guy willing to cough up the dough. Well, that is all considering
that his explanation about the relationship between a master and his slaves
was not made up.
Another option is that the two of them were really just trying to have me buy
Roxanne, using the good business opportunity to their advantage. I am
willing to bet that Alan-san thinks that if I will be satisfied with Roxanne, I
will be willing to purchase more slaves from him in the future, but I'm too
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blind to see this because my crippling social anxiety robbed me of one of the
most essential abilities we humans can have: to have a little faith in your
fellow men.
「I'm glad that you are willing to give me the benefit of the doubt, but even
with that I cannot guarantee that I'll be able to procure the necessary
amount.」
「In that case I'll have to sell her to another customer, which won't be hard at
all, considering how beautiful she is.」
「So what you're telling me is that I have to get my ass up in gear and get the
money as fast as possible because other clients are ready to buy her? Is that
why you gave me those five days?」
I tried to get that information out of him.
「Unfortunately I'm afraid I cannot tell you anything, Michio-sama. That is a
company secret. In other words, that knowledge is none of your concern. If
you really want to buy dear Roxanne, then I suggest setting your priorities to
getting the money, nothing more, nothing less.」
「And here I thought you were on my side!」
「I am on no one's side, Michio-sama. I am, first and foremost, a merchant, a
man of business. As long as I get my money, the matter of who gets to be the
girl's new owner does not matter to me.」
That statement was cruel, but also perfectly logical at the same time. I should
have known. Of course. He's a merchant, the one dealing with slaves. To
him, they are nothing that goods which need to be sold either to those who
have the money and are willing to spend them, or to the highest bidder.
「Dear customer, as I said, as long as it's those five days, I am willing to wait
for you.」
Roxanne looked at me and smiled again. Her perfectly white teeth could be
seen through the narrow gap between her glossy, cherry-like lips.
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Beautiful, she's just transcendently beautiful.
「All right. Now that that's settled, Roxanne will be moving to the sold
slave's quarters.」
「As you wish, master. I will make the preparations at once.」
Alan-san relayed the news to the older lady. So I guess that means the game
is all set now.
「Yes, be sure to do that. Michio-sama, let us be on our way. You as well,
Roxanne.」
The older lady guided Roxanne to the room across the one I have previously
entered, while Alan-san and I moved towards the stairs leading back to the
shop's ground floor.
「Yes. Uhm, Mr. Customer, thank you for your patronage.」
Roxanne bowed to me three times in succession, each bow deeper than the
last one. Her dog ears were shaking in a cute way. Yup, the game is on for
real. If I can truly have something so precious for myself, then I have to get
the money no matter what!
「Let's go.」
「Yeah.」
The two of us went down the stairs without looking back again. Okay, now
that we were left alone again, I guess it's time to do a little prodding.
「You took quite a gamble there. What if I really won't be able to get the
money? Cause it's not like I'm some kinda magician who can conjure them
up from thin air you know?」
I started the conversation as we were going down the stairs.
「Oh, I don't think it's like that at all. I heard that you have single-handedly
defeated a group of wanted criminals. If that information is indeed true, then
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that would mean that you managed to earn between 120,000 to 200,000 Nar
in less than one day.」
It was a guess on his part but wasn't that much off the mark. He actually
managed to estimate the amount of Nar I got fairly accurately. But even so,
he still seems to be forgetting about one thing: he wants me to get 420,000
Nar to pay for Roxanne's purchase. Now, in order to get so much money in
the shortest amount of time possible, the best option would be to go to the
newly discovered Labyrinth and hope to find some valuable items there, but
if I want such an escapade not to be anything else than a glorious suicide
method, I would have to get myself a Party first, and getting myself a Party
would mean the necessity of splitting the loot obtained from raiding the
Labyrinth equally between all the Party members, and that would
automatically diminish my personal gains, to the point where procuring the
desired amount of Nar would be pretty much impossible to achieve.
What the Slave Merchant doesn't know, however, is the fact that just two
days ago I was nothing more but a depressed teenager who wanted to end his
own miserable existence, having achieved nothing and not obtaining any
money at all, be it my world's Yen or this world's Nar. Even after being
transported here, the only reason I was able to mop the floor with those
Bandits was because I managed to obtain a ridiculously OP weapon for
myself after countless experiments with Bonus Points and the Skills. Same
goes for milking as much money as possible out of everyone. If not for the
Character Reset option which can be used as many times as you want and the
fact that performing a Reset takes less than a minute if you know exactly
what you want to reset into, I wouldn't have as much dough on me as I have
now. What I'm trying to say is that I was only successful so far because my
「special treatment」 as a player allowed me to become somewhat of a demigod compared to all those people who thought that a Slow Rabbit or a
Gummi Slime were terrifying monstrosities that should be avoided at all
costs.
「I'm just saying, you should prepare yourself to be extremely disappointed,
just in case.」
「I will, you don't have to worry about that. But my intuition is telling me that
you're going to be all right. I believe I have mentioned this before, but I have
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a pretty good eye when it comes to appraising people and their value as
potential business partners.」
Dude, where does that confidence of yours come from and why don't you
share some of it with me?
With such thoughts in my mind, we returned to the guest room we were
initially sitting in.
Currently there are only two ways of obtaining money that would allow me to
achieve my goal. One of them was raiding the Labyrinth on my own and
hoping for the best. The ideal scenario here would be that I manage to find
enough valuable Drop Items to get myself at least 100,000 Nar per day,
peaking at 500,000 Nar after five days. Enough to buy Roxanne, and just
enough to have some spare change for some initial lodging and food costs.
Honestly though, such an outcome is extremely unlikely.
Normally, one piece of Rabbit's Fur was 10 Nar, so in order to get any
significant amount of money out of it I would have to hunt a shit-ton of them,
and even then I have no way of knowing if all of those encounters would end
with me getting an item that I want. From the info that I have gathered so far,
it looks like one defeated enemy can only leave one item behind when it dies,
and it won't always be the same one. Supposedly there are also stronger
monsters who drop more valuable items with higher rarity, but whether or not
I will be able to deal with them by myself is unknown at this point.
Another option would be to hunt more Bandits and collect the bounties
placed on their heads. If the average sum is 160,000 Nar, I should be able to
get the necessary amount a little bit faster. Is the Slave Merchant's
confidence in me coming from that? I… I honestly don't know if I should
think of it as incredibly naïve or progressive of him.
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Part 9
But I guess I am still naïve as well, since a part of me still doesn't want to
admit that this is the real world, just like the one I left behind when I
molested that 『Yes』 button. Back in the village I wholeheartedly thought that
this was nothing but an ultra-realistic game, and that's why I had no
reservations about turning the Bandits that attacked it into salami, and
besides, I did it mostly in self-defense. But now things are going to be
different. We're not talking about defending yourself anymore, we're talking
about assaulting other people, criminals though they are, but that's beside the
point, so that I could trade their lives for money which is going to be used not
for some chivalrous endeavor, but for the scummy reason of satisfying my
own selfish desires. The only real problem with this approach would be
finding a sufficiently large group of Bandits or a few smaller ones near the
town across the span of two days. That pretty lady knight said that the group I
had dispatched in the village was the one operating in the slums of Veil, so I
can probably assume that no other group would take their place, at least not
for the time being. Based on my video game knowledge, all the criminals in
the city will either hide in the city sewers, or relocate to their hideouts outside
of the town, most likely in some caves or encampments deep in the thickest
parts of the woods. Chasing them down would be another matter entirely if I
knew the terrain around Veil like the back of my hand, but without such
knowledge, running blindly around the forest might just prove to be a giant
waste of my precious time.
As for the other ways of achieving my objective, I guess I could try doing the
one thing that everyone who got sent to or reincarnated into another world
would try sooner or later: use my knowledge from the time spend on Earth
combined with my Identify Skill in order to multiply the amount of money
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that is already in my possession, but like I said before, I am just your average
high schooler who knows jack shit about the economy and the processes
which govern it, so I wouldn't know what to do, even if the method and
resources were right in front of me. And as far as I know, there are no tricks
to gain a large amount of money in literally a few days. Getting filthy rich
always involves long-term investments with large amounts of risk to them.
「Supposedly the Bandits whom you have defeated had decent equipment on
them. Maybe selling them to the shops here in town could be a nice way to
start?」
The Slave Merchant suggested once we got back to the guest room and I sat
back on the sofa. As if I didn't know that already.
Certainly, if I sold Durandal, it is more than likely that I would get 100,000
Nar for it, maybe even more. As for the Copper Swords, in my opinion they
are just glorified, oversized butter knives unfit to fight not even against the
Bandits, but also the weakest of monsters, so I don't think they'd even be
worth that much to begin with. But since the only weapon visible to others is
the one I currently have equipped, there is no way for Alan-san to know
about Durandal. When I first came here, all I had on me was a Copper Sword
on my back, but now I also have a Scimitar tucked on my belt. From the
outsider's perspective, I guess I'm looking like some kinda weapons maniac
or a sword collector.
Now let's see… combining the prize money and the money obtained from the
Village Chief with the ones I would probably get for selling Durandal, I think
I would be able to obtain the required 420,000 Nar pretty effortlessly.
The thing is, no matter what happens, I absolutely cannot sell Durandal. Ever.
If I did that, it would be lost to me forever, and that would mean a double loss
for me: that of a powerful weapon and the Bonus Points I've spent to obtain
it.
Even if obtaining Roxanne is everything to me now, losing Durandal would
be equivalent to losing everything, because without Durandal, I won't be able
to guarantee Roxanne's safety. Losing such a valuable weapon would spell
no end of trouble for both of us. No, that sword is my absolute trump card.
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Even if it means facing more difficulties and adversity, I can't part with it no
matter what.
「If I chose to enter the Labyrinth, will I be able to make a sufficient amount
of money out of it?」
I have to gather information about ways to obtain money without sounding
too suspicious. First, let's try to get as much info about Labyrinth related
matters as I can.
「You can. It won't be an astonishing amount but at the very least it will be a
steady one. The exact amount would depend on your ability and luck, but I
think 1000 gold is the minimal amount you could get for a single item found
in there.」
It depends on your ability and your luck…
I guess so. But since the ordinary drop items would get me so little, gathering
enough money out of them would still be impossible.
「1000 gold per item, huh? While that might be good in the long run…」
Right now time isn't exactly my ally.
「Can I get sell those found items to a Guild?」
「The Explorers and Adventurers Guilds are both here in this town. The
Explorer's Guild is the second building on the right across the main road. The
Adventurer's Guild is located in the center of the town on the west side. Just
between you and me, they don't like each other very much.」
The Adventurer's Guild and the Explorer's Guild are not on good terms, duly
noted. Having an Explorer Job might not be such a bad idea.
「What about hunting down Bandits and collecting bounties for their heads?」
「That's certainly a possibility, but I wouldn't recommend it, if you want my
honest opinion.」
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「Wouldn't… recommend it?」
「Yes, and for a number of reasons. For example, the only place where the
Bounty Hunters Guild is located is the Imperial City.」
「Bounty Hunting…」
So it can really function as a Job, huh? That was to be expected. If you can
become a Thief by stealing something and a Hero by Saving a village, then
by following that logic hunting down Bandits and the like should make you a
Bounty Hunter.
At least I thought that it's going to be like that, but apparently I was
mistaken, cause when I checked my own status I have received no such Job.
Maybe it is necessary to join a specific Guild first?
「A Bounty Hunter? You need to accumulate a lot of experience at hunting
criminals to obtain such a title.」
「I see.」
Apparently the prerequisite for that Job is to have a Warrior Job at Lv10 or
so.
「Even then, you won't be able to protect everything around you simply by
being strong. Hunt down enough Bandits as a Bounty Hunter, and you'll
quickly gain notoriety in the criminal underworld, becoming a target for
everyone willing to exact revenge or increasing their infamy. When that
happens, you won't be safe anywhere, even behind the walls of the Imperial
City.」
From a criminal's point of view, Bounty Hunters must be their sworn
enemies. It's natural for the two to detest each other. It's natural that both
those groups would want to exact revenge if their members were harmed. I
already murdered quite a lot of them, so… have I already been branded as a
potential target?
「If you kill too many Bandits, can you end up being targeted by other
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outlaws?」
Looks like hunting Bandits might not be as good of an option as I have
initially thought. Kill or be killed. That must be the absolute law of this
world. But even if you'll be strong enough to kill many, the ones who'll
come after them will eventually bring you down. History proved that to be
true time and time again. Well, back in my old world at least.
「That's right. And the prize money received in this way is absolutely not
worth the risk of you and your relatives being targeted by other Bandits.」
Then is it possible that the Bandits I had killed during the raid on the village
had extraordinarily high bounties on their heads? The ones going way above
the usual price paid for the extermination of their ilk? No, that cannot be it.
Picker-san counted the reward money for their slaying pretty accurately, so I
guess it couldn't have been anything special.
Either way, Bandit extermination should be my absolutely last resort. First, I
should try my luck in the Labyrinth.
「All right, I think I learned everything I wanted to know now. But one last
thing before I leave: if I want to stay in this town for longer, are there any
inns or hotels you'd recommend? I don't want anything fancy or too pricey,
but at the very least it should be something comfortable, with good food and
soft beds.」
「Those are some pretty specific conditions, but if you're looking for
something that is a middle ground between affordable and comfortable, The
Veil Pavilion, an inn located at the southwestern end at the rotary in the
town's center should be the place to go for you. It is managed by the
Innkeepers Guild, so I can fully vouch for their quality.」
「Okay, I will go there immediately.」
I don't know what to think about that Innkeepers Guild, but it cannot be a bad
place if Alan-san is recommending it to me. At the very least, it should be
better than spending the night at the stables or with no roof above my head
whatsoever.
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I stood from my seat. Now that we said everything that needed to be said,
there was no reason for me to stay here any longer. For now I will have to
secure myself a place to stay, but from tomorrow morning, I will have to
work my ass off as hard as I would beat my meat on a Friday night (hopefully
I won't have to take care of that myself for much longer).
「Then I will be anxiously awaiting your return in five days, Michio-sama.」
Sent off by those parting words, I left the Slave Merchant's shop and moved
forward towards my new goal: To gather enough money to buy Roxanne!
And I think I don't have to repeat myself, but I will do so just to psyche
myself up.
Failure is not an option here!