"M-m-master!" Lydia said in a weak voice. "Ah… this girl?"
"It seems I have agreed to take on a new slave." I said to her.
"It'll be only 2 silver for the slave magic." Figuro announced.
"What? Slave magic?" I frowned in his direction while peeling the foxgirl off of me.
Figuro shrugged helplessly. "Well, the fee is usually waived with a purchase, but since you didn't pay for her, technically…"
I sighed. Figuro really was a man out for money. I also noticed he had waited to say such things until after it was too late to back out. That was when a thought occurred to me. That was right. I had a skill called Slave Taker. I didn't really want to reveal this ability around Figuro, but I also didn't want to pay him unnecessarily. I raised my hand and touched the foxgirl's head.
"Slave Taker." I announced.
There was a sudden bright light on her chest, and a circular sigil appeared. Ever so slowly, the sigil started to change. I realized I had to keep pushing mana into it, and the sigil also seemed to want to resist. I drained over half of my mana by the time a new form appeared. I didn't recognize the new formation, but it felt familiar, as if it represented me. When I pulled away, I realized that the foxgirl was panting.
{Miki has become your slave.}
{Name: Miki
Class: Mana Manipulation
Job: Alchemist (Slave) – 8
Unlocked Jobs: Commoner – 5, Basic Magician – 1, Spiritualist – 2
Race: Nine tailed Foxkin}
"Are you okay, Miki?" I asked, feeling slightly awkward that I hadn't asked her name earlier.
"M-master?" She looked up at me in wonder. "I feel…. good… better than okay!"
The slave status up must be in play here. Her complexion was already looking better. I didn't want to start casting any more spells right now in front of strangers, so I held back from tossing out my White Mage spells.
"You used Slave Taker?" Figuro's mouth was wide open and he was shocked. "I had only heard of it, I've never seen it used before."
"Is this acceptable?" I asked now that it was too late to do anything about it, just like he had done to me. "No spell, no fee, right?"
Figuro smiled wryly. "It would seem that is the case. I will get the paper documents."
The pale fox Miki remained sitting on the bedding that had been her funeral pyre. Her complexion did look bad, but she still had her hands out, grabbed on to my outfit. Lydia seemed to be doing the same, grabbing my shirt from behind. Maybe this was just a slave thing?
When Figuro came back out, I signed the paperwork that confirmed Miki as my property.
"I appreciate that you have respected our contract and not taken Lydia in this manner." Figuro spoke as we finished up. "I mean no offense when I say this, but you may not want to show that skill to very many people. I will not tell a soul, but other slavers may take offense to someone with such a skill. I won't ask how you got it, but the ability to take a slave from someone else will make many people feel threatened."
"I'll take that under advisement." I said noncommittally.
"Wait… has the kitty girl not been made Master's slave?" Miki asked, cocking her head.
"I currently have her on loan. The official slave ceremony will only occur after I've paid off her debt."
"Then that means… I am Master's first slave." Miki blushed, something very noticeable with her pale skin.
"W-what!" Lydia's expression turned panicked. "Wh-what does this mean?"
"No matter…" Miki shrugged. "It simply means I'm Master's first and most important."
"N-no! Impossible!" Lydia puffed out her cheeks. "I'm Master's first! I'm definitely his first!"
"I'm just calling the facts as they are." Miki responded casually. "You can't deny the truth. One of us is Master's first and one of us is… a used pussy!"
"You…! Master! Tell her your pussy isn't all used up!"
"Ahem…" I coughed, feeling a headache coming along. "Can we have this conversation once we return to Chalm?"
I had a feeling I'd be getting a lot of headaches in the near future.