After much consideration, I have decided to go back to the countryside.
Maybe I should be what Zect called a "local adventurer".
But first I decided to pay a visit to the slave market.
I'd never been in a place like this before because I'd been in the Hero party.
But now I'm free to go to the brothel or the slave market.
"Welcome... Ceres-sama"
"Yes, I'm Ceres."
The slave trader... seems surprised.
Of course, he's surprised. After all, I was in the Hero party before.
"May I ask how can I help you today, Ceres-sama?"
"I was thinking I'd like to take a look at some female slaves."
"But aren't you a member of the Hero party?"
For the note, the Hero party travels from place to place until they defeat the Demon King, and buying a slave is hard to do because it would cause a lot of controversy in public.
But now, I'm okay with it... I'm not a member of the Hero party anymore.
"Just the other day, I was dismissed from the party. Now, I'm just an adventurer. Just Ceres."
"Well then you've come at a good time because we have a lot of female slaves right now ranging from elf to former noblewoman at our disposal... please come on in!"
"No, I want to see household slaves and other low-value female slaves."
"Household slave... well... I beg your pardon... but I'm sure you'll have trouble with housework when you're alone... Please forgive me... I misunderstood you... then from the curtains over there... are household slaves and other low-value slaves... Please feel free to look around."
His language was polite but his expression was disappointed.
Well, I guess I was not a very profitable customer, so he just said 'please feel free to look around'.
Anyway, I turned the curtain and looked inside.
My first impression was 'it's terrible'.
The place before the curtains had a cage, but inside there was a carpet, a chair, and a bed.
It looked like a small hotel room.
However, this is just a cage.
No different from the cages people use to keep wild animals in circuses.
I looked at the cages one by one in the dim light, but there were only men and a few women.
I thought to myself, 'There's no way I can find a good partner at such a good time, is there?'
As I thought so, I looked into the dark cages as if peering into the cages.
However, when I was about to give up, a woman caught my eyes at the innermost part of the cage.
Her long black hair was tied back carelessly.
It's rare to see a woman with black hair in this world since the practice of summoning people from other worlds was stopped a long time ago.
And until today, I've only seen one.
However, that person couldn't possibly be in a place like this right now.
Anyway, I approached the cage... even if it wasn't her, my previous life was Japanese, so 'I'm very curious'.
As I peeked in, our eyes met.
"No way, Shizuko-san!"
I looked at her in surprise and she was surprised to see me too.
"Ceres-kun..."
How could I not be surprised?
Shizuko-san was my first love... and Zect's mother.
* * *
I heard once that it is bad etiquette to talk with a slave for a long time before purchasing.
So, I said, "Shizuko-san, wait for me."
And then I called the slave trader.
"I'd like to buy her... how much?"
"Oh, you want to buy her, then five silver coins for her and three silver coins for the slave's crest, is that all right?"
It's cheaper than I thought... I heard in a bar before that a normal female slave costs at least 5 gold coins.
I was worried so I asked him why it was so cheap.
"Ceres-sama, I am still a slave trader licensed by the kingdom, so I don't cheat my customers out of their money, but this slave, although rare, is an unpopular dark-eyed, dark-haired, elderly village woman who has given birth, and that's about the right amount of money."
Well, Shizuko-san is Zect's mother, so she would be around 30 years old.
In this world... that might be true.
"Thank you for telling me, then I'll pay you one gold coin for all of it, and can you prepare a shower and some decent clothes for her?"
"Yes, I can get that for you... but there are only clothes for young girls, is that all right?"
"Yes, please."
"Then please give me some of your blood in this plate... for the slave's crest."
"Ah, here it is, please."
Now, after 30 minutes of drinking tea in the parlor, Shizuko-san appeared, dressed in decent clothes.
"It's so embarrassing."
Shizuko-san, who tugged at her skirt, was very cute.
Well, since she was dressed in clothes provided by the slave trader, they were short and sexy enough to show her underwear if she wasn't careful.
"Shizuko-san, I'm sorry... I'm going to buy new clothes when we get out of here."
"That's... I'm sorry to have you buy such new clothes for this old lady, but this is so embarrassing, I'd appreciate it if you would do that."
Shizuko-san looks cute with even her ears reddening.
"Ceres-sama, here is a document in case you lose it... Well, even if you lose it, there is no problem because the owner can be identified because she has a slave's crest engraved on it... this woman belongs to you now... thank you very much. "
After that, I took Shizuko-san's hand, which was red to the ears, and left the slave market.