CH 26

Chapter 26: Assessing Each Other

After parting ways with Palinchron at the slave market, Maria and I made our way back to my new house. 

The first thing I did upon our return was check the bathtub. The bathtub in the house was constructed with a lot of magic stones, and apparently, the heat for it was supplied from the Line that extended from the outdoors. But obviously, if I used that service, I’d be charged for it later.

I used my own magic power to turn the water in the tub into hot water. Maria had been cleaned up somewhat in the slave market, but she was still comparatively dirty, so I encouraged her to soak in the tub.

“Well… I’ve got hot water running, so why don’t you go into the tub? Just give it a quick soak.”

“Into the tub…?”

Maria looked at the tub curiously.

“You don’t know what this is for?”

“Yes.”

“I mean you should take a bath. You fill the tub with hot water, and then you submerge in it to wash your body. That’s what it is.”

“…Huh. I understand.”

I answered her questions before she gingerly prepared to enter the bathtub.

Maria only said the bare minimum. She seemed to be interested in me, but I’d guess she was also wary of me. I wasn’t sure what kind of character she had. All I knew about her was that she was a good hunter and cook, and I only knew it from the ‘Display’. In other words, her numerical information.

I left Maria in the bathroom and headed for the kitchen. Then, I took the food I had bought from my ‘Item List’. For the night, I decided I’d make some simple sandwiches and salads.

Maria, however, didn’t come out of the bath even after I finished preparing the meal. I called out to her over the door between the bathroom and the living room.

“Are you not done, Maria?”

“Ah. No, I’m done. But my body is wet…”

“Aah. Wipe it off with a cloth you have nearby. You can wear whatever shirt fits as well.”

“Understood.”

The bare necessities were always available in that house, so I recommended that she use them.

I heard her rummaging through the clothes through the door. Soon after, Maria came out of the bathroom.

Dressed in her new beige clothes, Maria approached me without saying a word. Just the mere thought of a girl fresh from the bath made me bashful, but I tried to keep my poker face so she wouldn’t realize how flustered I was.

Her black hair, cut at the shoulder, was still disheveled, and she was unable to wipe off all the water. I wiped Maria’s head with the cloth I had at hand and asked her to join me at the table.

“Sit there. I know it’s late, but it’s dinner.”

“Huh.”

Maria replied distractedly. She seemed to find it strange that there was a meal and took a few unsteady steps to the table. I took a seat across from her.

I began to eat, not saying a word, but Maria remained frozen with a sandwich in her hands, looking mystified.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, well, it’s different from what I was told…”

“Hmm. What were you told?”

Curious about what slaves were told, I asked her for the details.

“They told me my master would make me regret being born a female and that I would bite my tongue out in less than a day.”

“…”

I regretted asking. I doubled my vow that it was better to stay out of all the slave business.

“You will rape me, toy with me me, and then break me, won’t you?”

“Not me, I won’t. For the time being, don’t worry about it.”

“For the time being?”

“I might sell you tomorrow. If it comes to that, you may need to be prepared for what you just described, so drop the topic for now. Taking you in today was a mistake. It was just a… momentary lapse.”

I had been thinking about what I would do with her. 

I wouldn’t say that Maria had the right talent for the labyrinth, not even to flatter. I had only bought her on a spur-of-the-moment emotional bias, and depending on the situation, I should have considered selling her back to recoup my money.

—That was a logical solution.

However, despite what words came out of my mouth, I also felt that I wouldn’t be able to do such a thing anyway. The fact was that Maria the slave was here precisely because I was too weak-spirited to leave her be.

“Hm… Then why did you buy me?”

“…Conversely speaking, why did you keep looking at me?”

I responded to her question with my own—partly because I didn’t want to give her an answer, but also because there was a good chance that none of that would have happened if Maria hadn’t been staring at me in the first place. I glared down at her, almost as if I was about to vent my anger on her.

“…Because of your black hair and eyes,” Maria replied with a piece of sandwich in her mouth.

That was a simple answer. It was true that black hair and black eyes were rare in this world. However, I was still a little let down that it was the reason.

“That’s it? Aren’t yours black too?”

“…That’s why. My family was eradicated because of this trait of ours. My black hair and eyes gave me a high price tag. So seeing that you have the same traits… makes me very, very curious.”

Maria then combed her black hair with her hand.

I felt like there was no lie in her words. She was speaking her true feelings through her story.

Hearing those honest words, I decided that I ought to answer Maria’s question as well.

“I see… I’m sorry to hear that. By the way, I really bought you by coincidence. There was a strange connection between you and me. It made me feel more bitter than anyone else, so I bought you mainly for my own self-interest. That’s all… that’s really all.”

I repeated the same words twice as if to say it once for each one of us.

The truth was that it had to do with something that happened earlier that day and the Skill that I possessed, but I wouldn’t go into it since it would be a long story to tell.

“…Understood. However, does that mean you don’t feel bitter for the other slaves?”

“I do. So don’t bring that topic up. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“I see… However, while you may be fine ignoring them, it is me who now feels sorry for the other slaves.”

The more the conversation progressed, the less reserved Maria became. As we talked more and more, Maria’s personality became more and more apparent. Her outspoken manner of speech irked me a little.

“You’re cocky for a slave… Aren’t you afraid I’ll change my mind if you get on my bad side?”

“I have confidence in my judgment. I’ll be fine.”

Maria spoke and then continued to gobble on her meal with confidence. I knew I was biased, but I doubted that was the right attitude for a slave.

She had been quiet and obedient just a few minutes before. Did she manage to see through me in the last few dozen seconds we had talked?

“How can you say you’ll be fine?”

“It is because you are one of those people who, when you see someone weaker than you, feel pity and relief.”:

A straight answer. Maria had anticipated my question and answered it without missing a beat. I was stunned and speechless.

She then continued.

“You are the type who gets a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from helping the weak… All in all, you’re too much of a pushover to rough me up.”

Maria’s eyes caught mine straight on.

Those eyes were no longer the vacant eyes they had been. They had transformed into something similar to Palinchron’s—the eyes that had seen through everything.

“…!”

Maria’s personal criticism of me took my breath away. No, perhaps saying that her words made me choke was a better way to describe it.

Maria confidently described me in ways even I didn’t understand. She understood me before I did, and that terrified me.

Like a ritual of my own, the fear pushed me to look at her ‘Status’.

【Status】

Name: Maria

HP: 31/41, MP: 35/35

Class: Slave

Level: 3

STR: 0.89, VIT: 2.02, DEX: 1.23, AGI: 0.73, WIS: 1.07, MAG: 1.91, APT: 1.52

Constitution:

Confusion: 0.42

Lethargy: 0.89

Innate Skills:

Insight: 1.44

Acquired Skills:

Hunting: 0.67

Cooking: 1.07

It was by no means a remarkable ‘Status’. However, there was one strength that she had that others didn’t.

* * *

Reaper Scans

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In short, the core of her character was the one Skill that I found in her and nobody else—the «Insight» Skill.

Perhaps it was that Skill that allowed Maria to pick me out in that large venue. Even then she must have been using that Skill to strip me naked and create a situation that was to her advantage.

I threatened her so that she wouldn’t belittle me.

“Maybe I won’t rough you up, but I still can sell you off, you know…?”

“Do it if you want. It will ease the pain in my heart for the other slaves that you didn’t save,” Maria answered resolutely. 

I almost felt a glimmer of respect for her. She remained so resolute despite the fact that her life and her everything were in the hands of others. At the same time, I reflected on it.

What’s so easy about taking the initiative when facing a slave… That can’t be any more wrong…

One could say that Maria was special, but I originally was trying to get myself an outlier. I had no excuse.

“Haah… I never thought slaves could be this much of a pain in the ass… You sure are something else for a momentary lapse. I regret ever going there.”

I let my face show the expression I had been careful not to show, perhaps from that sense of defeat.

Maria, seeing my weak side along with the words that escaped my mouth, replied as if she herself just lost words.

“Th-that’s, well… I have my personal grudge against the city people who killed my whole family, you know…”

“If that’s the case, it would have been much easier on me if you were meek and scared…”

“…You really love the weak, don’t you? You deserve contempt.”

“I’m just saying that I’d prefer it if you were more quiet and obedient… Haah, I give, I give. Do whatever you want. I don’t care. Once you’re done with that, you can take that bed. We’ll figure out the rest tomorrow, so don’t wake me up.”

With that said, I plopped down on a nearby couch without washing the dishes. I gave up on taking the initiative, and I prioritized resting for the time being.

“—! …A-are you not going to register on my collar?! Other people might steal me if you don't!”

Maria shouted as if she panicked. I didn’t know what made her so impatient. I looked and saw that she was pointing at her collar, blank of any name.

I remembered the information I had gotten at the slave market. If a blood contract was made with the collar, the master-slave relationship became official. That would prevent the slave’s escape, and sometimes pain was induced for it to be effective, or so I was told.

“Aah. Right, that exists. Stay still.”

I picked up Araith Household’s Treasured Sword from where it was sitting.

“Eek—”

Maria then shrieked. Her poker face from before distorted following the sight of the blade.

“Aah, sorry… Are you afraid of blades? Don’t worry. I have steady hands but stay still. —Magic, «Dimension Gladiator».”

Surprised as I was by Maria’s unexpected reaction, I still deployed my magic.

Then, I swung the sword down; it cut through the collar, and the collar only, without a single millimeter of room for error.

I had heard that it was possible to remove a collar by going to a special facility, but for me, my own method was sufficient. Doing that to a contracted collar would raise a problem, but I had heard that non-contracted collars were okay to forcibly break.

“Kya!”

Maria screamed, but she let the sword go past her as was told, not moving an inch.

“You can flee if you want.”

I let the sword lean on the sofa as I lay down again.

If Maria really fled after that, then there was nothing I could do. I’d just think of it as buying emotional stability for four gold coins. If anything, I’d rather have her run away from me so that I wouldn’t have to beat myself up over her later.

Maria, however, picked up the broken collar in surprise, then muttered.

“…there should be a limit to how much of a softy one can be.”

“I’m not a softy. I’ve forsaken too much for a single day, and you’re right, I’m just a coward who can only trust the weak.”

“That was meant to be a joke.”

I had already shut my eyes and ears. I was in a perfect sleeping position, though my hand was on the sword just in case. Maria, however, continued to talk.

“I can flee… was it? But there’s no one in this country who can help me. There’s no place I can go back to. That’s why I became a slave. I have nowhere to flee to. A half-measured kindness will change nothing…”

“I know, I just don’t care… I’m sleeping.”

They who were bought in as slaves had to depend on their masters who bought them to survive. Maria herself told me thus.

Suddenly, I thought about it. No one to help, no place to run away to…

—Exactly like me.

I might have a place to return to, but that place wasn’t in this world. I began to liken myself to the slaves, mocking my own fate.

I’m but a slave to clear the Labyrinth. Then who’s my master? Is it the Labyrinth, or is it the System? I don’t know. I mustn’t know.

“Good night… my Master…”

Beyond the darkness borne of my closing eyes, Maria’s voice drifted into my ear. She suddenly called me her master then of all times. Good enough for sarcasm, I’d thought.

“…snarky girl.”

I heard her getting into bed behind me.

When she finally fell asleep, I felt relieved.

This long day is finally over.

As usual, I drifted off while I was trying to plan for the days ahead. However, I was more tired than I had imagined, and soon I fell into the depths of darkness, the depths of a lukewarm slumber.

—right before my consciousness left me, I felt as if I had heard Maria’s voice.

***

I had been up until midnight, but my usual habit had me get up early in the morning.

I gave up my sleep time since I’d rather not disrupt my rhythm by failing to start my activities early in the morning. I went straight to wash my face and prepare for the day.

With my head cooled down, I mused about what to do with Maria.

I decided to make use of her as a companion in our Labyrinth exploration, as I had originally planned. Of course, there was a high possibility that Maria wouldn’t be able to keep up with our battles. However, that «Insight» Skill of hers was still a mystery for me, and there were things I’d want to test in the Labyrinth using Maria.

I told Maria, who woke up later than I did, something to that effect.

“—And that’s how it is.”

“Impossible. I’ll die. I’ll die in no time.”

“If you don’t want to, then run from here. But if you’re going to live here, then you have to earn your stay. I’m sure you understand that.”

I was charging Maria for her stay. Maria stroked her neck, free of the collar, and seemed to understand the justification for it.

“I’ll help around the house.”

“No need. I can do it myself.”

“There’s little I can do. Is that a roundabout phrase to say I should pay with my body?”

“It isn’t. I recall a certain someone called me a softy.”

“But it’s impossible for me to go into the Labyrinth. That’s where even the experts put their lives on the line, right?”

“Just shut up and give it a try. If it doesn’t go well, I’ll find other alternatives. Right now, I only want help with the Labyrinth.”

“Haah… I thought you were some soft-headed stuck-up young master, to think you’re actually a Labyrinth explorer instead. I may not have much time left to live…”

Maria hung her head as if she had given up on something. However, her tone didn’t have even a hint of sadness. She might have given up her life when she became a slave in the first place. She didn’t seem to be too afraid of the idea of dying.

“No, I won’t let you die, Maria. I won’t even let you get hurt.”

Seeing her like that annoyed me. It reminded me of Dia when his arm was cut off and the slave boy when his blood spilled in the corridor.

“H-huh…”

At my fervor, Maria looked at me with wonder.

She probably thought that it really was an impossible feat. It was a well-known fact that challengers die every day in the Labyrinth. Her eyes were convinced that if she challenged it, the frail girl that she was, it was obvious that she would die.

I, however, wouldn’t let that happen. I wasn’t going to take Maria with me if I didn’t have a chance of victory.

And as for this chance of victory, I didn’t mean the merits of exploring with me, such as my ability to detect enemies or my infinite load capacity. More than anything else, I believed that the Party system would greatly benefit both of us.

I hadn’t questioned how it worked up until then since I was partnered with Dia and our EXP share had been 50-50. However, we were outliers.

Such a fair share didn’t occur with other parties. Fundamentally, the one who delivered the last blow took all the EXP. From what I had heard from the more experienced explorers, they often said that it was difficult to raise the level of magicians who assisted with supporting fire from behind the line. And yet, when Dia and I had joined a Party system, it had been a perfect 50-50 split between us.

In short, I had the privilege of bringing up the total levels of my party members. A good example of it was Dia’s level. Perhaps, just by accompanying me in exploring the Labyrinth, Maria’s level would rise as well.

“Maria, I know you’re going to do ok in the Labyrinth, and I want you to follow me.”

“…understood.”

Maria nodded, convinced by my confident tone.

“First, let’s go shopping to get ready.”

“Yes, Master.”

I was about to step out of the house, but I stopped when I heard Maria address me the way she did.

“Master, you said… Don’t worry about how to address me. My name is Christ Eurasia. Call me however you want.”

“I’m your slave. It’s only natural that I call you my Master,” Maria chuckled thinly, insisting that it was the obvious thing to do.

“What are you even saying? You’re not a slave anymore. You don’t have the collar.”

“No, you see, I figured that my life would have been much easier if I were your slave.”

“Even so, don’t call me Master. It’s embarrassing.”

“No, no, no, calling one’s master as Master is the smallest civility a slave can enact. I must abide by it—”

“I see. You’re just trying to get under my skin.”

I decided that Maria was messing with me when she began to talk verbosely about a slave’s civility. 

“Fufu. No, I’m not. I really do it out of honor.”

Maria, however, denied it with a chuckle.

I couldn’t read her true intentions. However, I was certain that those eyes were no longer empty like they used to be, so I refrained from commenting any further.

With a small voice, Maria continued to speak behind me.

“—I am your slave. That is what my heart settled on, so that is how it is.”

“…”

I really wasn’t familiar with the culture of slavery. I didn’t have enough information to dismiss Maria’s words out of hand, and I couldn’t tell whether she was being serious or joking, so I let her remark be.

After that, we stopped talking about slaves and proceeded to the shopping district, discussing our upcoming exploration.

【Maria has Joined your Party】

Party leader is Aikawa Kanami

『Day Eight Finished』 

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