Part 11
Besides, it is not like consulting them all individually would have changed
much. I just have a feeling that instead of feeling like an examiner who is
being pressured by his examinees to leave the examination room so that they
could all cheat away in peace, it would be a very different kind of pressure:
the one similar to being invited to the office of a mob boss who then presents
you with a group of his hitmen and asks you politely by which one of those
you would like to be offed. Everything is nice and civil on paper, but in
reality having to make such a choice is still scary as hell. And even if these
guys did not look scary, there is another issue I would have to deal with: the
issue of their compatibility with my own tactics and Roxanne in the
vanguard. Ugh, this is turning into a real dilemma here! I know I said myself
that I do not want any other guys in my Party besides me, but what if some of
those beefcakes upstairs turned out to be a really great addition to have with
us in the Labyrinths? Should I have just swallow my pride, close my eyes and
choose someone from among them, taking one for the team? No, now that we
have already went back downstairs it is already too late for that, so there is no
point in thinking what could have been. I guess right now everything hinges
on how the Dwarven girl is going to turn up, because if she also happens to
be a no-go, then the future of my three-people Party that I have been
dreaming of is going to look very bleak.
「Welcome back, master? How was it? Did any of the candidates looked
promising to you?」
Roxanne greeted me with a smile and asked once we have come back to the
guest room after that terrifying ordeal in the male slave's room upstairs. Ahh,
after seeing those awful manly faces up there, the sight of her reminded me of
a Goddess. . . no, I guess you could say that Roxanne is my Goddess, and
there would be no exaggeration in me saying that, since she has always been
saving me, in more ways than one. She is beautiful, she is kind, she always
listens to whatever I have to say without cutting in before I finish speaking,
she is the most reliable help I could have ever asked for during our
exploration of the Labyrinths, her boobs are big, she hugs onto me whenever
we finish going at it before going to sleep, she wakes me up each day with
deep kisses, her skin is soft and the list could go on and on and on without
end, but for now, I think that me gratitude towards her can best be surmised
with one, simple sentence.
「Roxanne.」
「Yes? What is it, master?」
「Thank you for always being here for me.」
「Y-Yes, of course, master.」
Roxanne did not seem to realize what I was thanking her for, but I do not care
about that. What is really important here is the fact that I confirmed once and
for all that I do not want male slaves in my Party at all. Ever.
「And about your question: choosing someone form among those male slaves
would have been very difficult. . . for a variety of reasons.」
I threw my body on the sofa and then stroked Roxanne's doggy ears in order
to calm myself down. For some reason, I felt very tired, but instead of a
physical kind f exhaustion, it was more of a mental one. I guess being around
those male slaves, even if it was for but a brief moment, must have done a
real number on my fragile psyche, huh? But it does not matter anymore.
Roxanne is back at my side, and her presence is all that I need in order to heal
my wounded heart. And the softness of this sofa is a nice addition to that as
well. Feeling better already, I took a sip of the herbal tea.
「Ah, master, that is. . . 」
「Hmm? What is it, Roxanne? Is something wrong? Oh, did someone else
drank from my teacup while I was away?」
「N-No, but. . .」
「Then there is no problem. Everything is exactly as it should be.」
As long as I am the only one drinking from the same cup as Roxanne,
everything is a-okay.
Alan the Slave Merchant also returned back to the guest room a little while
later.
「Just like you saw just now, those male slaves are the ones who would
definitely be capable of holding on their own in the Labyrinth, making them a
pretty good addition to the vanguard position, if I can say so myself.」
「Yes, I could definitely see that. By the way, can I ask about their price?
Because we have yet to discuss that, if memory serves me correctly.」
「But of course. The value of the slaves who can be taken to the Labyrinths as
Party members is naturally higher than that of the regular slaves. The cheaper
ones usually cost up to one hundred and fifty thousand Nars, and the ones
who are at their peak physical condition can go up to two hundred and fifty
thousand Nars per slave.」
「Uh-huh, I see, I see.」
One hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand for a male
slave?! Is this guy for real? I would never pay so much for such criminallooking mountains of muscle! And also, is it just me, or are slaves who are
capable of being utilized as Party members in the Labyrinths are generally
more expensive than the good-looking female ones? Should it not be the
other way around? Well, I guess Roxanne is an exception to that rule, since
she is both beautiful and can handle herself against the monsters of the
Labyrinth thanks to her divine dodging abilities.
When it comes to the price of the slaves, I always thought that the price of the
slaves meant purely for the physical labour should be determined by how
hard they will work and how much they can earn, and in the case of female
slaves, the price would be based on how good-looking they are, but I guess it
is not all as simple as I thought it out to be.
As I was thinking about those things, I heard what sounded like a gentle
knock on the room's door.
「Come in.」
Alan-san gave the order.
「Her preparations have been finished. She is ready to be presented to the
customer.」
The one who walked through the door was an older lady who looked like she
was one of the shop's employees. After she bowed respectfully to Alan-san,
she looked at Roxanne and gave her a small nod of her head, and Roxanne
also nodded back at her. Could it be that this is this older lady who was
taking care of Roxanne while she was still living here, the same old lady
whom Roxanne wanted to save from the Bandit attack?
「Go on then, bring her here.」
「As you wish, sir.」
When Alan-san gave the order, the older lady walked out through the door
and brought another girl back with her. She was a short one, reaching only as
high as the older lady's chest, so she must definitely still be a child. She is
probably only around one hundred and fourty centimeters, perhaps even
shorter.
「As per your request, Michio-sama. Here is the only Dwarf this Slave Shop
has to offer.」
Now then, let me Identify her real quick. . .
Name: Sherry
Sex: Female
Age: 16 years old
Job: Explorer Lv.10
So her name is Sherry, huh? When I used Identify on her, it turned out that
she is apparently sixteen years old, which would make her the same age as
Roxanne. But she definitely does not look like a sixteen years old girl, which
would basically make her a teenager. Maybe it is because of the specifics of
the Dwarven race? But then again, even when it was written right there on the
Identify screen that she is a Dwarf, I have to say that she looks totally unlike
what I was expecting she could look like. To me, she looks just like a child,
albeit a little bit more grown up (TL Note: Oh yeah, let us see how much
time it will take for his inner lolicon to start showing up, shall we?) . If
that is how young Dwarves look, then it might be entirely possible that I have
seen more of them somewhere before, but I simply mistook them for regular
children.
Part 12
Taking a closer look at her body, it does not appear to be all that muscular
and sturdy, like you would have expected from a typical fantasy Dwarf.
Rather, her body is like the opposite of that particular expectation. It is small,
thin, and pretty-looking. For a moment there I even thought that my Identify
might have committed an oopsie by stating that she was a Dwarf, because
with how thin her ears are looking, I was ready to actually call her an Elf. I
do not know what the standards of health and beauty are when it comes to
Dwarves, but as far as I am concerned, it looks like this girl has the
proportions that are pretty much accurate for a typical person of her height.
But I do not mean it in an insulting way, as in trying to pint out that she looks
malnourished or underdeveloped for her age. She looks small and wellbalanced in a positive sense of the word. She does not have all that much
going on in the breasts department, but her overall style and figure are both
good. Her hair is jet-black and fluffy, and her face gives off a pretty gentle
impression, complimented by her lively, clear, big eyes and small, perky
nose, finished by her mouth which is also small and somewhat tight-looking.
I do not know why, but for some reason that specific type of beauty she is
representing reminds me of Italian women. I do not know why I thought
about them specifically, but that was literally the first thing that has popped
into my head when I was trying to find something from my old world to
compare her to. (TL Note: Yeah? Then apologize to any Italian girls who
might be reading this, or Italians in general!) That is kinda strange, huh?
Even though I am Japanese, which means that I should be primarily drawn
towards a more Japanese-style of beauty, I still find an Italian style of beauty
compelling and attractive. I wonder if it is like that for everyone or is it just
my own peculiarity?
Anyway, all things considered, this Sherry girl can definitely be called a
beautiful girl. Yes, that is right, even though she might look like a kid, a
beautiful lady should still be called a beautiful lady regardless of the
circumstances. Now, if she manages to grow a bit more and takes a proper
care of her hair, then I am sure that one day she will definitely be able to pass
for a real celebrity lady. And while we are on the subject of her hair: they are
thick and glossy all throughout her head, giving a slightly strange impression.
They are also not long, reaching to about the length of her shoulders, and she
has them tied to the sides at both left and right side of her head.
「Now then, Sherry. Come here and introduce yourself properly.」
Alan-san beaconed the girl, who was standing at the door shyly, to come
closer to us.
「Yes.」
She came over to us, stood upright and bowed her head respectfully. When
she did that, the entire head of her black hair shook unnaturally, or rather it
wobbled like a big pile of black pudding, as if it was trying to catch up to the
rest, which was admittedly kind of cute in its own right, if only a tad bit
disturbing.
「Good day to you, mister. My name is Sherry, a Dwarf and a Lv.10 Explorer.
Thank you very much for considering me.」
When she finished her self-introduction, Sherry came closer to the Slave
Merchant, who showed her with his hand to sit on the sofa in front of the one
Roxanne and I were sitting on. Since she introduced herself as a Dwarf and
an Explorer, there can be no doubt that these are her real race and Job, not
that I needed that confirmation from her since I have my Identify Skill that
essentially told me everything that I needed to know about her. I also
confirmed that she is a very beautiful girl, but I cannot say that I feel as
smitten with her like when I saw Roxanne for the first time when I came to
this shop. I wonder why is that? Is it because I already have Roxanne with
me? Or maybe because my mind sees this girl as a child and automatically
switches itself into non-arousal mode whenever I look at her?
Now this is a dilemma. I wanted to create myself a harem of beautiful slave
girls, but when I have someone as perfect as Roxanne, then should I really
force myself to establish romantic relationships with other girls? But since
my relationship with Roxanne got to where it is now only after I have
become her master, then maybe the same could happen with other girls as I
added them to my Party/harem as the time goes on?
Then suddenly, I got reminded of how reality of the male-female
relationships worked in my old world. Back there, the popular guys were
actually the douchebags who always did everything in their power to ignore
the girls who were clearly showing signs of being interested in them, and that
cold shoulder treatment was exactly what was making those douches even
more popular, because apparently all the girls love bad 「Bad Boys」who do
not care about them in the slightest, while the legitimately good guys who
were trying to actively pursue the girls they liked and showed signs of being
interested in them were almost always branded as creeps, pervs and
degenerates, and due to those stigmas their already low popularity was
getting even lower, plummeting straight into the negative zone. On the other
hand, if two girls were into the same guy and they happened to get to know
about each other. . . well, let me just say that in such a scenario all sorts of
nasty things could happen, because if there is something women hate more
than liars and cheating boyfriend sin this world, that is definitely other
women who try to put their hands on something that belongs to them.
But. . . would something like that really happen if I started to see Sherry in a
more romantic, less purely professional light? No, Roxanne is not someone
who would cause harm to others over such a petty reason. . . or at least I think
she is not. The again, you can never know for sure until things like that
finally happen, so. . . urgh, damn it, all this thinging about this if's and
maybe's is making my head hurt!
Okay, she is sitting right in front of me right now, so this is a good chance to
have a proper look at her and reevaluate my initial impression of her. I can
definitely say that this girl – Sherry – does not possess a typical sex appeal of
a woman, but she is definitely a beautiful girl. Even though she appears to be
the quiet and timid type, I can still tell what a nice girl she really is, especially
after having my eyes brutally defiled by all of those male slaves in the room
upstairs. It would not be an understatement to also say that she seems to
possess some kind of mysterious charm to her.
I guess she is pretty enough in my book. Not the type of girl I am personally
into, but also definitely the one that I would not be embarrassed to be seen
walking around in town. . . no! No Michio, stop this wicked train of thought
at once! Why are you thinking about her in the categories of a girlfriend
when you already have Roxanne who fulfills that role?! That is right,
Roxanne is for the purpose of having fun with her during the night, while this
girl would be focused primarily on the task of supporting Roxanne on the
front lines during our expeditions into the Labyrinths. Of course, if a
beautiful girl like Sherry did not have anything against it then that would
have been an entirely different story. . . but let us not think about it, for now
at least.
「Sherry, if you do not mind, would you answer a few of my questions?」
「Uhm. . . I, uhhhh . . . .」
She looked at me, then at Alan-san, then once more at me and Alan-san, who
nodded at her silently, communicating to her that it is fine for her to be
talking with me.
「O-Okay, I will try to answer them to the best of my ability!」
「Great. Now, you mentioned that you are a Lv.10 Explorer, right? If that is
the case, then does that mean that you do not have any problems with
entering the Labyrinths?」
「Yes. And I will try to do my very best while inside!」
Part 13
「Oh really? Well, how nice of you to be so eager.」
I only asked her if she was comfortable with entering the Labyrinths as a kind
of formality, but the level of eagerness she displayed with that one simple
sentence has admittedly been quite admirable. There is no doubt that
Roxanne and I will be able to hold our own against the monsters in there, but
I wonder how Sherry herself is going to perform since she is only a Lv.10
Explorer, because when I look at her arms, which are currently placed on the
table between us, they are pretty thin and unassuming. Also, even though she
said that she id going to do her best, right now she had a pretty hesitant look
on her face, as if she just remembered something unpleasant that she forgot to
mention in the heat of the moment. So, are there some 「buts」 to her readiness
to go to the Labyrinths, perhaps? Maybe she was only saying that she will
eagerly go there to increase her own appeal in my eyes, but in reality she was
scared after all?
「Uhm. . . 」
「Yes? What is it?」
「I, uhm. . . well. . . 」
Sherry was obviously gathering courage to tell me something, but just was
not able to do it, so she looked back at Alan-san, as if she was waiting for
him to encourage her. He simply closed his eyes and nodded quietly once
again. She nodded back at him, took a few deep breathes, and. . .
「Mr. Costumer, the thing is. . . 」
「Go on, I am listening.」
「As I already said when I introduced myself, I am a Lv.10 Explorer.」
「That is right. And when I asked if you would be fine with going into the
Labyrinths, you eagerly expressed your readiness to do so.」
Besides, I already knew that she was a Lv.10 Explorer from the appraisal I
did on her with Identify.
「Right, I said that. But, you see. . . 」
Uh-huh, so there really is some kind of catch to it, huh? Well, might as well
hear about it since she is willing to speak about it herself without any forceful
prodding.
「Do you have some sort of problem with it?」
Maybe it is some kind of traumatic event from her past?
「It is just that. . . I was unable to become a Master Smith.」
Huh? Now that is curious.
「Before you continue, let me make sure that I understand what you said just
now. You said that you were 「unable to become a Master Smith」? Why is
that? Could you elaborate on that some more?」
「Yes, of course. Since Master Smith is a Job that is mutually exclusive to the
Dwarven race, every Dwarf has a chance of obtaining that Job when they
reach Lv.10 in the Explorer Job. However, not every Dwarf can have the
aptitude to actually become one. Generally, it is believed that it can only
happen to those Dwarves who are exceptionally talented at exploring the
Labyrinths.」
So she does have a problem, and I think that I can more or less guess what is
it going to be about, but I am going to ask her about it directly anyway.
「Hmm. . . so what you are trying to say is that you did not obtain the Job of a
Master Smith when you aquired Lv.10 as an Explorer, is that right?」
「. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . yes. That is right.」
Sherry's face darkened and she lowered it down when I guessed what was the
reason of her being so troubled. A belief that if you are talented enough of a
Dwarf, you can become a Master Smith when you reach Lv.10as an Explorer,
huh? What a curiously peculiar way of putting one of this world's game
mechanics into words.
She is a Lv.10 Explorer, and yet she is not a Master Smith. In other words,
something must have happened to prevent her from obtaining that Job when
she reached the appropriate level for obtaining it, and that must have caused
both her and everyone around her to deem her as not talented enough,
resulting in her not having the Job of a Master Smith right now. But is that
really a reason for thinking that you will not be able to do any good in the
Labyrinths? Normally I would say that I do not mind it all that much, but
since I came here explicitly because I wanted a Dwarven Master Smith to
join my Party, this can prove to be quite a serious issue. . .
But is that really the case? Not being able to become a Master Smith because
you do not have enough innate talent, I mean?
When I first came to this world, I was able to aquire the Job of a Thief almost
instantly because I took some old, worn-out sandals from a barn where I have
woken up, and shortly after I obtained the Job of a Hero by helping the
villagers of Somara village deal with the Bandit attack which happened
shortly after I left the barn. So, if someone like me could obtain Jobs in such
random ways, then why would it be any different for anyone else? In the first
place Master Smith already has a restriction placed upon it, the one that says
that only Dwarves can become them, so adding another one to it, and the one
saying that you also need to be talented at that, would be just plain stupid and
unreasonable. Also, another issue that I see here, but it actually can be
applied to my old world as well: how in the glaring hell do you measure
talent?!
Maybe it is just that Master Smith has some other requirements for unlocking
it other than simply reaching Lv.10 as an Explorer? Like maybe, well I do not
know, having the value of your INT stat at eighty points or higher? No, that is
probably not what this is about. Since she was able to talk about the Dwarves
and Master Smith Job in such a reasonably well-esteemed manner, I would
hazard a guess that her INT stat must be pretty high. Then maybe it is about
having your STR stat at eighty points or higher?
Whenever I use the Character Reset Bonus Skill in order to change my stat
distribution, one Bonus Point can be used to increase the value of any given
stat by one point, so theoretically the requirement of having a STR stat at
eighty points or higher to unlock access to certain Jobs would not be all that
far-fetched. For example, it would make more than enough sense if the
conditions for unlocking the Master Smith Job were as follows: Have the
STR stat of at least eighty points or higher and become a Lv.10 Explorer. But
that is only my speculation, and nothing that has been firmly set in stone.
Even if I wanted to ask Roxanne about it, it would not do me any good, since
the inhabitants of this world do not know that Bonus Points even exist in the
first place, and explaining to her that you can convert them to increase your
stats would be too much work. But if my hypothesis turned out to be true
after all, then it would serve as a nice explanation of Sherry's predicament,
because if Dwarves really needed at least eighty points in the STR stat and a
Lv.10 in the Job of an Explorer, then that would explain why they treated
someone with STR below eighty as someone inferior and without innate
talent.
I glanced at Sherry's face once more. It is definitely cute. It would be areal
shame not to add someone as cute as her to my Party just because she does
not have a Job that I am currently after. But if I were to nitpick a little bit,
then I would have to say that her hair look like they are dirty, not to mention
that the way she has them made is more than a little unappealing. She would
definitely benefit from having them thoroughly washed and combed. Or
maybe my impression of her is like that because Roxanne was practically
perfect since the first moment the two of us met? From my first visit here, I
always thought that she was too beautiful for her own good (even if back then
I thought if was a trap that Alan-san set for me, but let us not talk about that
anymore).
But you know, now that I think about it, it is a given that I would see the
difference in the level of hygene between Roxanne and Sherry.
Part 14
After all, ever since Roxanne became my slave, we wiped each other's bodies
with wet warm towels, and recently we even began o take regular baths, now
with the addition of soap! So if Roxanne was able to become such a beauty
simply by taking proper care of her hygiene, just imagine what kind of cutie
Sherry would become if the same could be done for her! But that is the talk
for the possible future. Let me get back to the matter at hand for the time
being.
「Would you mind if I asked you something in regards to that problem of
yours?」
「N-No, not at all. Please, go ahead.」
「Then, why is it that you supposedly cannot become a Master Smith after
you reach Lv.10 as Explorer? Is it absolutely impossible for you to acquire
this Job now that you have already reached that level without obtaining it
beforehand?」
If she knew that there are other ways of obtaining Jobs other then possessing
the innate talent to do so, she would definitely not be so depressed about not
being talented enough.
「In order to join the Master Smith's Guild you have to obtain the Master
Smith Job before reaching Lv.10 as Explorer, otherwise you will not get
accepted, but it is not like there are no precedents of allowing Job Changes
past that point.」
That is what she said.
「I see.」
It is just as I have suspected. There must be another condition to unlock the
Job of a Master Smith. It really would have been strange if something as
vague as 「talent」 would be a legitimate requirement for unlocking a Job, so
instead, the word talent is probably used in place of some obscure, unknown
condition that has to be fulfilled, but if I could just figure out what that
condition is, it should be possible to enable Sherry to become a Master Smith.
Of course, after thinking about it some more, that other requirement has to be
something different than simply having eighty points put into STR, because
that would have been too obvious and pretty much every Dwarf would be
able to become Master Smith and we would not be in need of having this
discussion and all this thinking. If I were to hazard a wild guess, then I would
say that the conditions for unlocking the Job of a Master Smith are a little bit
stricter than that, but even despite that, even if Sherry does not have it at this
point, she should be able to get her hands on the Master Smith Job as long as
she would be able to meet the mysterious other requirement. Of course, there
is always a possibility that she will not be able to get it even if we do discover
what that requirement is and she manages to fulfill it, so the question that I
need to ask myself now is: how probable that possibility is? Should I estimate
that an attempt at getting it will end in failure, or will it be a striking success?
Let me see: first thing's first, buying a Dwarven Master Smith slave is a very
difficult endeavor, and the one in which Identify will not do me any good,
since it is practically impossible to determine if a slave was a Master Smith or
not, and there is also a risk of someone pretending to be a Master Smith while
in reality they are not.
However, if I end up buying Sherry and she does not end up obtaining the
Master Smith Job, it is going to be fine as well, because we will still fulfill
our initial objective: obtaining another Party member who will fight
alongside us in the Labyrinths, so this is the amount of potential risk that I am
more than willing to take. If that would come to pass, she would fight
together with Roxanne in the vanguard while I would have focused on using
magic from the safety of the back row, and outside of the Labyrinths I would
have her help with household chores if she could not do smithing. Besides, I
cannot quite put my finger on it, but Sherry seems to have that unique appeal
to her that makes me think that it would be a huge waste to allow her to pass
us by simply because she does not have a Job that I was searching for.
Initially I thought that maybe the requirements for unlocking the Master
Smith Job will be to attain Lv.10 as an Explorer and have your STR stat at
eighty points or higher, but maybe it is actually that you have to get those
eighty points of STR specifically before reaching Lv.10 as an Explorer. If
that was to be the case, then no matter how strong you got afterwards, i.e no
matter how many points you would invest in increasing the value of your
STR stat, you would never be able to become a Master Smith no matter how
hard you tried. Looking at it from such an angle, I guess it could be argued
that talent does play a role here: talent to get your STR stat to a desired value
before reaching the threshold of the natural barrier that is reaching Lv.10 as
an Explorer. But if all of that proved to be a wrong assumption and STR stat
does not have anything to do with becoming a Master Smith, then there was
still hope left for Sherry, even though she already reached Lv.10 as an
explorer.
「Uhm, I know that it will probably not mean much, but back in my village,
before I was made to be a slave, I was one of its strongest inhabitants! In
terms of comparing myself to the other Dwarves, I also think that both my
strength and height can be said to be well above average! I am also willing to
enter the Labyrinths with you to earn money for my own upkeep, and I swear
I will never do anything that would hinder your actions, Mr. Customer! So
once again, thank you sincerely for considering me!」
Sherry bowed her head deeply before me. It was a touching gesture, but a
part of me began to think that perhaps she was trying a little bit too hard to
appeal to me. Is she doing that of her own accord, or perhaps she was
commanded to do so by Alan-san? Either way, I began to feel suspicious,
because no matter how you would look at it, it is quite unusual for a slave to
be promoting herself like that to a potential customer.
My suspicions must have been written all over my face, because when Alansan looked at me, he cleared his throat with an *Ekhem!* sound and said:
「Michio-sama, would you like to have a moment for yourself so that you
could make your decision regarding Sherry's purchase?」
Yeah, he definitely read the subtle reactions from my face and tried to urge
me to make a decision as fast as possible.
「Sure, why not?」
「Well then. . . 」
When I expressed my willingness to consider whether to buy Sherry or not,
Alan-san nodded at me, placed his hand on Sherry's shoulder and escorted
her out of the room, leaving me alone with Roxanne so we could talk about
what we would like to do next.
「*Sigh* You know what, Roxanne? I just do not understand why this Sherry
girl was so proactive. . . no, proactive does not even begin to describe it. It
would be way better to say that she was really aggressive in her attempts to
try and appeal to me. I really do not get it.」
Now that there was just the two of us here, I could finally allow myself to
talk openly without being careful with literally each and every word that
would be leaving my mouth. What I meant by what I said to Roxanne was
that I cannot understand why would Sherry go to such lengths to get on my
good side, when all the other slaves offered by this shop displayed attitudes
towards me that were vastly different from hers. The other female slaves
from the time of my first visit here had a straight up bad attitude towards me
or appeared to be utterly disinterested in my person, and the male ones from
my trip upstairs today. . . well, I would not say that their attitude was bad,
more like they did not have any attitude at all, just standing there all
menacingly without saying as much as a word, and those criminal mug of
their certainly did not help them to advertise themselves in any positive way.
If I was a kid in Sherry's position, I definitely would have done everything I
could to improve my situation, so maybe she was doing it for exactly that
reason?
Part 15
But even with all that said, that still does not make it clear to me why she
would be so aggressive in her attempts to convince me to buy her.
「Master, if I may add something, then I would say that she probably did that
because she thought that the conditions were favorable.」
「Conditions were. . . favorable? I do not know about you, but if someone
were to approach me and said that they are going to be diving head first into
the danger-filled places like the Labyrinths and then asked me to join them in
that endeavor, it would have had the opposite effect on me.」
That is definitely not something that I would have been thrilled or overjoyed
about.
「Obviously, that would normally be the case, but I think that it is precisely
because she learned that we are going into the Labyrinths that she has been
putting so much effort into promoting herself to us as a reliable companion.」
If that is indeed the case with her then I can say that I can definitely
sympathize with her. When I first arrived in this world, the only way for me
to make money as a total rookie was to either go to the Labyrinths, hunt
monsters in there and sell the money obtained from their Drop Items. Ahh,
those were the days that I do not remember all that fondly. Also. Depending
on the person, they are going to perceive the degree of danger differently.
Some may consider going to the Labyrinth by yourself to be the peak of
danger, while some may consider going through it while taking orders from a
leader they deem as incompetent to be infinitely more hazardous to their
well-being.
「So if this girl was going through such lengths just to make sure that you
would buy her, master, then I think it is safe to say that she has been looking
for someone like you from the start. Incidentally, that was my goal as well.」
Is that so? Because I think this is actually the first time when she talked about
it so openly. So Roxanne back then and Sherry right now have at least one
thing that they have in common: meeting me was like killing two birds with
one stone to them, and frankly, knowing that I was the one whom they found
the most suitable for their needs made me feel good about myself.
「Ah, of course, if master ever decides that you no longer feel the need for us
to be going into the Labyrinths, then please allow me to continue loyally
serving you by your side.」
As expected of Roxanne. So reliable, regardless of circumstances.
「Okay, so, time for the real talk now. Roxanne, from your perspective, does
that Dwarven girl look like she is promising? Or is she only going to slow us
down?」
I asked for her honest opinion. Since Alan-san was oh so nice to give
Roxanne and I the time to consult each other on our opinion on Sherry
without anyone else disturbing us, might as well milk that opportunity for all
that it is worth. Now that he is not here we do not have to watch ourselves, so
me can exchange our true, unbiased opinions, and there is nothing that he can
do to influence that in any way, even if we ultimately decide not to buy
Sherry.
「Well, let me think for a moment. . . I do not know all that much about
Dwarves, but even though she claimed to have no talent whatsoever, then as
long as she will be willing to work hard and improve and put in some actual
effort, then I think I would be able to train her into a truly formidable ally in
no time!」
「I-I see. . . that. . . that is good to hear.」
Although the way Roxanne got fired up thinking about whipping Sherry into
a proper fighting shape does look a little bit scary. If it does end up
happening, I hope she will not be putting her through any kind of hellish
training regiments. Also, her eagerness to help her learn the ropes of being a
vanguard fighter sets my heart at ease for a wholly different reason: it looks
like, for now at least, Roxanne does not have anything against our newest
Party member being another girl (maybe because she does not see her as a
rival due to how childish she looks because of her height?), so at the very
least I can rest assured when I comes to that particular matter.
「Also. . . and forgive me if it sounds wicked, master, but while I do not think
that in her current state she will not be able to play any kind of active role in
our Party for quite some time, her price should be sufficiently low because of
that, and just that fact alone should make her purchase a pretty decent
choice.」
Oh? Well well well, would you look at that. I was somewhat worried that I
was the only one here who was having wicked, materialistic thoughts, but
apparently it was not like that at all.
「Eh? 「She will not be able to play any kind of active role in our Party」?
What do you mean by that? I thought that since she is the same age as you,
Roxanne, so I thought that this would be a good sign.」
「Normally that would be the case, but looking at her ears told me that she
must be getting on in years, so before you make the final decision on whether
to buy her or not, you would be wise to confirm her actual age, master.」
「Huh?」
Confirm her age? But at the moment when I used Identify on her earlier, it
clearly showed that Sherry was sixteen years old, just like Roxanne, so by all
accounts and purposes that should make her a very young person. So what
was Roxanne trying to say by that? Does she mean that Dwarves have a
generally short lifespan so I should take that under advisement?
「The ears of Dwarves are pretty thick from the moment they are born and
they gradually get thinner as they age. To that note, I noticed that her ears are
already pretty thin.」
「I see.」
Roxanne explained to me as I was twisting my head to the side in wonder.
Come to think of it, Dwarves tend to be described like that in some works of
fiction, are they not? Not to mention that it was actually Alan-san who
explained to me that different races have different aging processes and
thresholds, so for Dwarves it must be shown through the thinness and
thickness of their ears. If it is like that here as well, then maybe I could just
「casually」 remark that she looks older than she really is and see how the
slave merchant is going to react to that.
And speaking of the Slave Merchant, as soon as we finished talking, he
returned to the room together with Sherry and the old lady who brought her
here before. I do not know if it is just me, but his timing in doing so seemed
too perfect to be coincidental. Was he somehow able to tell that the situation
was turning bad for him? Or maybe he was actually eavesdropping on us the
entire time?
When Roxanne saw the old lady, her face immediately brightened up and she
started to wag her tail happily. She then turned towards me and asked:
「Master, would it be all right for me to leave my seat for a moment? That
lady over there is the one that was taking care of me while I was here, so I
would love to talk with her and thank her for everything she has done for
me.」
「Sure, go right ahead and have a nice, long chat.」
「Yes! I definitely will!」
Roxanne bowed to me and then to Alan-san, and then she left the room
together with the old lady. Alan-san sat on the sofa in front of me, waited
until the door to the room closes with a silent click, and when he was sure the
we were the only ones left in the room, he leaned forward and asked:
「So, how was the Dwarven girl? What to you think of her?」
「Well. . . she definitely was not bad, but I guess it will all depend on the
price. Also, could you tell me how old Sherry is? Because even though she
said so herself, I would still like to hear it from you.」
「I see. Very well, as you wish.」
Even if Alan-san was displeased with the current situation, he did not allow it
to show on his face.
Part 16
「Sherry is a sixteen years old Dwarf who failed to become a Master Smith,
but she has agreed to become a sex slave. Moreover, she is still a virgin, so
there will be no risk of you catching any disease from her in the event that
you decide to buy her.」
Now that Roxanne has left her seat, he can finally speak freely about such
things, huh? Or maybe it is actually the other way around, and he arranged
for the old lady to come here with him precisely because he wanted to use her
as bait in order to draw Roxanne out of the room so that we could talk about
those definitely sensitive topics? Well I will be damned, I really was not the
only one having wicked thoughts after all! Moreover, it would seem that
everyone else around me thought about them much more than I actually did!
「I see.」
「Michio-sama, with all due respect, I could not help but t notice that you
seem to be unaware of the peculiarities of other races, so allow me to give
you a helping hand by explaining one of them related to the Dwarves, since
that seems to be one of your greatest concerns in regards to Sherry's
purchase. Although it is true that in Dwarven culture the thinning of their ears
is associated with the process of aging, I assure you that there is no need for
you to be concerned about that in Sherry's case. For you see, she is
something of a peculiarity even among her own kinsmen, because she was
already born with her ears this thin.」
Yep, this guy definitely overheard my conversation with Roxanne and that is
why he is doing his best to sweep all of my concerns aside. Now, the question
is how much of it is actually true, and how much of it is just lip service aimed
at getting the negotiation back to the course that is more favorable for him.
「Michio-sama, since you are so concerned about Sherry's price, then if I
were in your place I would have considered here a real bargain, since that
curious feature of hers actually lowers her overall price for a bit.」
Then maybe it was actually good thing that he was listening in on our
conversation? Because without that, I am sure that he would have definitely
tried to set the price for her to be as high as possible. Man am I glad that I
managed to buy Roxanne at a real bargain price, although it was the one that
required the most legwork out of me when I was still not all that well versed
in how this world and its Labyrinths worked.
「Let me get this straight, just to make sure that I understand it correctly: you
are willing to lower Sherry's price even though no member of the races other
than Dwarves would ever be concerned about such a minor detail like the
shape of her ears?」
「Actually, it is the other way around: I am doing that exactly because for the
members of other races, the shape of a Dwarf's ears is the only way to
determine how old they are.」
「Hmm. . . I guess that makes sense.」
That argument was pretty understandable, since I could definitely agree that
if I am to pay a large sum of money for a slave, then naturally I would prefer
them to be a young, pretty gal and not someone who would just randomly
keeled over and died from old age one day without any prior warnings. I
mean seriously, if you are getting yourself slaves, what is even the point of
them being old? They younger they are, the better. That way they could serve
you for much longer, both with the household chores and in bed.
「Another point that might be of importance to you is the fact that since
Sherry is a first-year slave, then the taxes that you will have to pay for her
will be that much lower.」
「A first year slave? What is that?」
That is the first time I have ever heard such a term being used, so I asked
Alan-san for an explanation.
「Usually masters, the people who own their own slaves, are required to pay
ten thousand Nars per year for each slave that they own, while on the other
hand, ordinary citizens living in regular households are taxed with thirty
thousand Nars per year. If that difference could have been taken advantage
of, then people surely would use it to commit tax evasion without a second
thought. So, because of that those who are in their first year of serving as a
slave after they lost their freedom are required to pay the same amount of tax
money as the ordinary citizens, and Sherry's first-year tax has yet to be paid.」
So the amount of money you have to pay is thirty thousand Nars per year for
the common citizens and ten thousand Nars per year for slaves, huh? Yeah, I
can totally see that system being abused for the purposes of tax evasion, just
like Alan-san said. When you become a slave the tax you have to pay is ten
thousand Nars instead of thirty thousand Nars, so if you become a slave and
then buy your freedom back soon after the taxation period ends, you will
technically emerge from that situation twenty thousand Nars richer. So in
order to prevent such system abuses from happening, it has been decreed that
a slave who is in his or hers first year of servitude as a slave has to pay as
much money as the ordinary citizen, thirty thousand Nars. I am technically
classified as a Freeman who has to pay one hundred thousand Nars in tax per
year for myself, so if I tried to use that trick, I could potentially save up to a
whooping seventy thousand Nars in tax. However, as tempting as that method
seems to be, there is one potential drawback that might hinder me from trying
to go through with it: once I made myself into a slave, I might not be able to
go back to being a Freeman, and that is something that I would rather not
risk.
Incidentally, what was Roxanne's tax? She mentioned that she was sold into
slavery by her relatives who could not afford to pay her share of the taxes, so
when I was buying Roxanne, it must have been not her first year as a slave.
In that case, maybe her tax was already included in the price that I had to pay
for buying her?
「I understand.」
「I am glad to hear it. Now, because of Sherry's ears, unfortunately I am
unable to sell her for the price that she is really worth. Normally, I would
have charge about three hundred thousand Nars for someone like her, but
there is also a matter of the fact that it has not been all that long since we
have started her training, so in light of that, what would you say for a price of
two hundred seventy thousand Nars for her?」
And there it is: the price that Alan-san offered me for buying Sherry. It is
already much better than what I had to pay for acquiring Roxanne, but it was
still a bit high because he was trying to sell not a man, but a beautiful girl
who is also a virgin. In Roxanne's case I was pretty desperate due to my
circumstances at the time, but right now I am not all that desperate, so I think
that in this particular case I might allow myself to be just a little bit greedy.
「Hmm. . . that price seems like it is still a little bit high. If possible, could
you lower it just a bit more?」
「Then how about two hundred and sixty. . . no, two hundred and fifty Nars?
That is already a very fair price, and as much as I can lower it to still call this
transaction a profitable one.」
Two hundred and fifty thousand Nars, huh? That is a nice drop indeed, but let
us see if we can get him to drop it down just a little bit lower.
「So much, huh?」
「Yes, that is my final offer.」
Okay, now that he has said that, pushing for any more of a discount will
probably be pretty unreasonable. . . is what I would have said if it was not for
the final ace up my sleeve!
「If I may add something, I remember that when I was buying Roxanne, she
came with a set of clothes included. If the same could be done with Sherry
here, then what would the final price for her purchase be?」
Part 17
「 The clothes that that girl was wearing when you bought her? Ahh, you
mean those clothes! That was an outfit that was supposed to be an imitation
of the maid uniforms worn by the female servants working in the imperial
palace in the Imperial City, and they are a very popular product, if I do say so
myself. Most of the customers who decide to buy it always claim to be very
pleased with it.」
It seems that the maid outfit that Roxanne was wearing has been designed
after the ones worn by real maids, but it seems that it is mostly used for the
purpose of cosplay rather than doing any kind of actual housework in it. I
wonder if the nobles also have them or is it strictly reserved for the royal
family at the Imperial Palace?
「So it is something like that, huh?」
「If you want the same outfit for Sherry, then I can include it for another four
thousand Nars.」
「All right, that is fine with me.」
「Thank you for your purchase. As a special service for purchasing both
Sherry and clothes for her, the total price is going to be 177,800 Nars.」
Since I bought more than one "item" the thirty percent discount worked
nicely. I am so glad that I decided to keep it on before coming here. With
that, I can definitely say that the negotiations have been successfully
completed.
「Here you go.」
「Thank you very much. Doing business with you is always a pleasure.」
I handed 14 gold coins and 378 silver coins, the payment for Sherry, away to
Alan-san. It is good that I managed to lower Sherry's price so much, because
if I had to pay any more for her it would be really bad for my wallet,
especially since we will have to buy equipment for her as well. When Alansan finished counting the money, he ordered his servant to take it away at
about the same time when Roxanne came back to the room.
「What did you decide about Sherry's purchase, master?」
「That she will be coming with us after all.」
「Oh, is that so? That's good.」
Is it just my imagination, or did Roxanne's face look like it got very dark and
cloudy for a moment there? Am I simply seeing things because of my inner
guilt at buying another girl for myself even though I already have someone as
perfect as Roxanne? Or maybe it is because of my selfish desire for he to be a
little bit jealous of the new slave? Well, maybe her dim face was really
nothing more than my imagination playing tricks on me, because she was still
wearing the same welcoming smile on her face that she always has.
Besides, it was Roxanne who said that we should buy her in the first place, so
there is no point getting salty about it now, is there?
At least that is what I thought, but maybe she was just being considerate of
our needs while being opposed to the idea herself? But wouldn't showing a
bad attitude now that everything was said and done counterproductive? As
long as we want to continue to enter the Labyrinths, it is absolutely necessary
for us to enhance the strength of our Party, and for that, we are going to need
more members. Also, there is something I have to say right now, just to avoid
turning that matter into a potential problem later.
「I am terribly sorry to be pushing so much on your shoulders, Roxanne, but
as her senior, would you mind looking after her and showing her the ropes on
how we do things?」
「Yes! Please leave it to me, my master!」
Roxanne replied with a genuine smile on her face. Could it be a reaction to
her being a senior who will have her very own junior? Whatever the case
may be, I am glad that I convinced her to allow Sherry to become a part of
my Party. Even after the discount, I still paid a lot of money for her, so it
would be bad if she and Roxanne did not get along with each other.
「I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Michio-sama. Sherry, go over to
Michio-sama's side.」
The servant who went out with the money returned to the room, and he also
brought Sherry with him. She timidly placed her hands in front of her and
bowed her head to me.
「Thank you for purchasing me. I will be in your care from now on, so please
take care of me.」
「Right back at you. Please take care of me too.」
「I'm Roxanne, Master Michio's Number One Slave. Let's get along with
each other, shall we?」
It seems that Roxanne has climbed to the position of the Number One Slave
before I even realized it. Or maybe she's calling herself that because she was
the first slave that I ever bought? Yeah, that has to be it. In that case, she
really is my Number One Slave.
「So you were Mr. Michio's slave after all? Because my initial impression
was that you were his pretty young wife.」
Sherry was surprised at Roxanne's remark.
「His young wife?! N-No, not at all!」
Roxanne, you do not have to deny it so harshly like that. That hurts me pretty
much, you know?
「I heard that you were also a slave here until not too long ago, but because
you have such nice clothes and the color and luster of your heir and skin are
so beautiful. . . 」
「That is because master is a kind and wonderful person. Sherry, now that you
are with us, you will never have to worry about food, clothing and shelter
ever again.」
Then, Alan-san came to our side and said:
「We will finalize the contract making procedure now. Your Intelligence
Cards, If I may. Also, Michio-sama, confirm Sherry's age for yourself if you
wish.」
Sherry and I both lifted our left hands and summoned our Intelligence Cards,
and the Slave Merchant began chanting and moving his hands over them. HE
wants me to confirm for myself that despite having thin ears she is still
young, huh? How shrewd of him. Alright, let's see what we have here:
Sherry
First-year Slave
Race: Dwarf
Sex: Female
Age: 16 years old
Owner: Kaga Michio
Job: Explorer Lv.10
Identify has already revealed that she is 16 years old, so I am not worried
about her age in the slightest. Also, her ears are thin, but I do not give a damn
about that. Rather, I am thankful for them being like that, because they made
her so affordable to buy.
When I checked my own Intelligence Card I also saw that the amount of
Slaves under the Owned Slaves tab now had Sherry added as well as
Roxanne, meaning that it was now official that I have truly bought her.
I wondered if there was an upper limit on the number of slaves that I could
own, but it looks like that info will always be shown on my Intelligence
Cards no matter how many of them there will be, so I probably do not have to
worry about that. Not now, at least.
「Okay, I am done confirming.」
「Good. Now, the clothes will take time to make. Please come to pick them up
in ten days from now.」
After that, I was told the same things that I was told when I bought Roxanne.
Now that all the formalities were completed, the three of us left the Slave
Shop. When we got out, I had Sherry join our Party so that I could take a look
at all of her Jobs.
Explorer Lv.10, Villager Lv.3, Herbalist Lv.1
As I thought, she really did not unlock the Master Smith Job. Maybe it's
because she has to reach Villager Lv.5, just like it was with Warrior,
Swordsman and Merchant? Also, it is pretty admirable that she does not have
Thief among her available Jobs.
Sherry has nothing but tunic and a pair of trousers. And since Roxanne also
had only those clothes when I bought her, I wonder if this is a standard getup
that Slave Shops give to the slaves who were bought by the clients?
「Let's stop by the Explorers Guild for a bit.」
「Understood.」
「R-Roger!」
On the way home, we stopped by the Vale Explorers Guild so that I could
buy a Black Magic Crystal. I also bought it in the morning at the Quratar
Explorers Guild and used it in Vale's Labyrinth instead of the Yellow Magic
Crystal. If I knew I would be buying it again today, I would have bought two
in the morning to save time. After all, after fusing the Black Magic Crystal
that I found, I have not been able to find any more Magic Crystals in the
Labyrinth. I should have left it in my inventory, but my poor judgement got
the better of me again.
「When we're done there, we will go straight to the Adventurer's Guild and
return home.」
「Understood.」
「Huh? O-Okay. . . 」
It felt like Sherry was shocked a little but she still followed closely behind us.
「What's wrong, Sherry?」
「Uhm, Miss Roxanne?. Is there a fourth member of your Party who is an
Adventurer, by any chance?」
「No, there isn't why do you ask?」
「Because of how master said that we will be going home.」
Following behind me, Roxanne and Sherry were already having a
conversation.
It is the Adventurer's Skill, Field Walker, that allows Adventurers to teleport
pretty much anywhere through the portal placed on the wall. Sherry also saw
my Intelligence Card, so she knows I have Explorer set as my main Job. Did
she think it was strange?
「Do not worry. Just follow us and you will understand everything soon
enough.」
Roxanne chose to skip the explanation, despite Sherry's need for one. Is it
because I told her to keep it a secret?
「Eh? Uhm. . . what?」
Sure enough, Sherry looked very confused when I put out the black portal of
the Warp on the wall of Vale's Adventurer's Guild. I hope she likes surprises,
because there will be more of them coming her way soon enough.