Volume 4 - CH 8.2

I then checked the status of the slaves Bohbee had introduced to me.

As expected, the people I wanted were well chosen, so I went ahead and purchased them.

However, since they were few in numbers, I decided to check the status of each slave in the trading company.

On the way, we found a couple with a very frightened looking daughter of about 10 years old.

There were no physical defects, but she had wounds all over her body.

Upon using appraisal, it seems that the father is Benak, the mother is Hatra, and the daughter is named Hayna, and that they are not nobles in particular.

“What about them? What’s their story?”

“Well…it seems that they were assaulted at the previous slaver’s place, as some sort of sick method of relieving stress…”

I see, so in other words you couldn’t stand the sight and bought them.

“Can they read, write, or perform calculations?”

“Apparently only the daughter can’t yet.”

Hmm. Then I guess I’ll just have to educate her myself, huh?

“…Then I’ll buy these three as well.”

“Thank you very much!”

The three of them stared with their eyes wide open as it was decided that they will be bought right in front of them.

I walked up to the three of them sitting on the floor, crouched down and spoke to them at the same eye level.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Haruto, an adventurer, and I’ve just decided to buy the three of you.”

Hearing this, the couple freaked out.

They probably thought that they would be used as decoys after hearing the word adventurer.

“Rest assured. I won’t treat you badly. You have my word.”

The couple looked relieved at my words.

“Okay, next.”

So we continued checking one after another, and finally I went into the last remaining room.

This is a room where slaves with severe deficiencies are gathered, so it would be very stimulating for Finne, not to mention Kusel, who used to be a knight. Therefore, only Bohbee and I entered into the room, and I asked them to wait in another room with the parents and child as well as the other slaves I had decided to buy up to this point, a total of thirteen people.

Looking at the room, it seems that there has been a fair amount of turnover since the last time I was here…

“Bohbee, what if I told you I could cure all of their defects?”

“That would be…certainly possible, if it came from master Haruto.”

“Just so you know, it ain’t gonna be free.”

Bohbee thought about it for a moment.

“…As much as I would like to do so, it is hard to imagine there been profit to be made selling them after they’ve been healed…although I feel very bad for them, I am going to have to decline.”

“I see, fine.”

Well, it’s just an idea, and definitely not something I can force.

Then I looked around the room again, and as a result, decided to buy seven more of out them.

They all either had etiquette, combat skills or experience in customer service.

All of them had been falsely accused or set up by unscrupulous merchants and sold into slavery, and had been forced to participate in slave gladiatorial fights or abused in other countries.

Since they are in this room, they have some physical defects and are weak, but with Bohbee’s help, we carefully carried them to the carriage.

After that, we decided to rent another carriage and returned to the mansion.

“Bohbee, you’ve been of great help. Like I said, I will contact you on a later date, in which case, I’ll be relying on you henceforth.”

“Master Haruto, no, boss! Understood sir!”

Boss, huh? Doesn’t sound half bad coming from Bohbee, I must say.

With Bohbee bowing to us, we left the slaver trader’s shop.

～

Arriving at the mansion, I called out to Sebas, Lyla, and Mia.

“Sorry guys. Could you carry the physically impaired and lay them on the bed?”

As the three of them were carrying the slaves, Tendo noticed that I had returned and came over.

“Welcome back…wow, you really went all out with your shopping.”

Tendo said this to me in surprise.

It is true that just excluding the ones with defects alone, it still leaves me with thirteen people after all.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, although the mansion is also a factor, there’s no such thing as the trading company having too much manpower.”

“Well, I guess so.”

Then, I turned around facing the thirteen slaves.

“Well then, I will give you a brief description of the job…or so I’d like to say, but there are others who were purchased separately from you guys, so I would do the explanation all together with them later. Until then, you can…let’s see umm, there’s a cafeteria, so why don’t you take a break there? Tendo, please show them the way.”

Tendo nodded honestly and took the slaves with him.

Now then, I should go to the remaining seven.

I moved to the room where Sebas and the others carried the slaves and checked on the seven.

“First, I will begin with recovering their superficial injuries and strength, and then…”

I recovered the slaves to the extent where only their physical defects remain.

Although Bohbee had informed me about their circumstances, there may be some among them who are falsifying their information and, more importantly, some of them may not want to recover from their defects.

I cast a recovery spell, and the seven woke up immediately.

“…Where is this…?”

After briefly explaining the situation to the seven who woke up, I asked Sebas to call the other slaves.

Just as the seven who had been staring blankly at their situation were finally calming down, the other slaves came rushing into the room.

Then, I once again introduced myself.

“My name is Haruto. I have purchased you all to become servants of this mansion or employees of the trading company I am about to establish.”

The slaves were buzzing at my words.

In the midst of all this, one woman, still on the bed, raised her remaining right arm.

“I am grateful to you, Master Haruto, for healing my injuries. But to work as a servant or employee with a body like this, with no left arm and no right leg, is…”

“I can resolve that. I can heal such physical defects.”

All the slaves widened their eyes at my words.

“Either as servants or employees, if you work for me, I will pay you a small salary, and you can even buy back your freedom when you have saved up enough money.”

Hearing this, a few of their eyes lit up.

I continued speaking.

“And the seven on the bed over there. You have been blamed for your sins, or tricked, and have fallen into slavery…isn’t that right?”

Judging from their reactions, it seems that the information was correct.

“But how do you think that happened? Why didn’t you deny your guilt?”

The woman earlier answered my question woefully.

“…Because I lacked power.”

The woman in the bed next to her continued to speak.

“That’s right. I didn’t resist in the face of such a powerful force and simply accepted it as a matter of course. I stopped resisting, not even thinking about the hell that would follow…it seems like a miracle that I am still alive.”

At these words, everyone turned their heads down.

I looked around at all these slaves and said.

“You’re right, you shouldn’t have given up. You should have resisted desperately. You should have kept your will strong, even if you lacked the strength——but, while it’s easy to say all that, reality is not so kind. Resistance would most likely not have changed the outcome, and in the end, nothing can be done without power. That power could be physical combat power, knowledge, or anything else. It is something that becomes your weapon of choice. To fight, you have to have a strong will and at the same time, strength.”

I broke off my speech here and took a breath before continuing.

“Then——do you long for power?”

Tendo, who was near the entrance of the room, had a facial expression as if saying “Really, you’re really going with that line?”, but I ignored him.

Because I can actually give them power…

Right, Ellis?

<<Yes, it is possible. If you imbue mana into them and get them to learn how to manipulate it properly, they will manifest their latent skills.>>

That’s right, I intend to empower them in this way and train servants and employees who will be an asset in terms of combat capability.

I want them to be able to live on their own even after they eventually become free. Of course, I intend to educate them well so that they do not become arrogant.

The slaves stared at me as I thought about this.

Then the woman from earlier opened her mouth.

“To heal my wounds as well as grant me power…can you really, do these things?”

“I can.”

“Then grant me that power. I beseech you!”

“I understand. And the others?”

I looked around, and one of the ones I had purchased from Bohbee’s recommendation opened her mouth.

If I remember correctly, she too, had fallen into slavery after being set up.

“Me too, I beg of you. I don’t want to go through that frustration again.”

They all nodded vigorously in agreement.

～

Then I first completely healed the seven with the physical defects, and then I poured magic power into all of them and taught them how to handle it.

The slaves were surprised when their defects were healed, but they were even more surprised when I channeled my magic power to them, and moreover, when they saw that their skills had blossomed, they seemed to be at a loss for words.

Well, even I, who gave them magic power, was surprised to see that many of them learned more powerful skills and magic than I had expected.

When I had finished empowering them, I tried to explain to them again about the subsequent objectives.

“Now then, let’s go over the work to be done, the assignments, and what I want you to do——”

As I looked at them ready to get right into it, all twenty of them were on their knees with their heads hanging down.

Gee, you all don’t have to be so formal…?

“Oh come on, what the heck, just be at ease and listen.”

As I said this, one of them opened her mouth.

“No can’t do sir. Anything less is simply unacceptable.”

And I am saying it’s unnecessary, sheesh?

“We hereby pledge our lives and loyalty to you for the rest of our lives, until the end of our days. It is the least we can do for our master who performed such god-like miracles and saved us.”

Sebas and the others who were watching nodded in satisfaction.

What? Isn’t that a little extreme?

As I was thinking that, Finne, perhaps reading it from my expression, gave me a glare.

“Haruto. That is not a feat that you can just dismiss as something trivial, is it? I will have you know that even if we exhaust all our mana, we wouldn’t even come close, just so you know?”

“E-Exactly…”

So, that’s how it is…

Well, since they mean no harm, so I guess I might as well just give in…

“All right, I’ll accept your gestures. But you have to be mindful of your surroundings in case there are guests or customers present, okay?”

“““Yes sir!”””

“Good.”

I, on the other hand, not feeling so good.

～

——So, I have more servants now.

It’s all good that they pledged their loyalty to me, but…it’s a little overwhelming.

I let out a small sigh and called out to Sebas and the others who were nearby.

“Welcome back. Sebastian, Lyla and Mia. How’s their education going?”

“Right. It’s going quite well. As expected of the people chosen by Master Haruto, they are steadily absorbing what we teach them one after the other. It will still take some time before they complete their education, though.”

“I see. Thank you. How long do you think it will take?”

I asked Sebastian, and when I turned to him, Lyla took over.

“I will explain. Let me start by saying that they are about 70% through basic education.”

“Wow, so fast.”

“Well, they were selected by Master Haruto after all!”

“…I see.”

“Yes. After the basics, there will be education on management and other topics. It will take at least two more weeks to complete their education.”

“Hmmm, it seemed rather protracted and at the same time kinda brief. Well, it’s pretty fast-paced, though, that’s for sure.

“I see. Well, then, let’s try to finish the preparations for the launch of the trading company by then.”

“Yes, sir. By the way, His Majesty reached out while you were away Master Haruto, and said that everything was ready and that you could begin inspection today.”

“Wow, already? Damn, I would expect nothing less.”

After our last discussion, we somehow found and decided upon a suitable location for the store, and he also agreed to find a suitable accommodation for the employees and land to manufacture our products.

I think I’ll go down there and check it out right away.

“I’ll briefly watch Tendo and the others practice in the yard, then go check out the prospective location for the store, and then finally head to Bohbee’s place, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Understood.”

With my back turned to Sebas, who bowed his head, I headed for the backyard.