CH 11

"I'll take care of the rest, and I'll contact you when the money is ready. Please hold on to your deposit slip until then."

"Okay. Hmm?"

As the audience groaned, I casually looked at the host and saw that the product was a girl.

A beautiful girl with dog ears, chained to a chain. Except for her drooping ears, she was a normal human being, dressed in shabby cloth clothes.

"Hey... do you also deal with slaves here?"

"Yes. It's not that often, but it does come up once in a while. But still, they are in bad condition. It might be sick, and I doubt that thing will sell."

"Mmm. ......"

She was sitting on the floor, looking listless and dirty. If she was going to be sold as a commodity, she should at least be washed and dressed in nice clothes, but is this how slaves are treated?

"The minimum bid price for this dog-eared slave is thirty thousand. So here you go."

"That's expensive."

"No, it's not that high for a slave. Female slaves are usually priced at 50,000 or 100,000."

"I see."

Female slaves seem to fetch a high price, since that is their purpose.

She stared at the floor and refused to move, as if she too was in despair over her situation.

"Thirty-one thousand."

"Thirty-two thousand."

"Thirty-one thousand," "Thirty-two thousand," the other customers said.

"Thirty-two thousand is the price. Do you have any more?"

The price for the jewel is 40,000, and I'm sure I'll get it. If that's the case, there's no way I can't buy it .......

But no, don't do that. You can't afford to pay a lot of money for bad sympathy or greed.

But the face is rather, well, quite to my liking. ......

The other customers didn't seem to care much. That's funny, guys.

"Can slaves be bought by ordinary adventurers?"

I ask Merlot.

"Yes, adventurers often take slaves as baggage handlers and vanguards. Beastmen are also good at fighting. If you're interested, I can introduce you to a slave traders."

"Hmm."

In all likelihood, it would be better to ask Merlot to introduce me to a slaver and buy a good slave there.

But for some reason, I was curious about her.

I had a gut feeling that I had to buy her.

Yeah, go ahead. I've got the money, I'll just have to earn it again.

"Thirty-five thousand!"

After I said it, I regretted that I should have made it 33,000, but it was too late. I guess it's not legal to call for a price cut.

"We got 35,000. Is there anyone else? There isn't, then. Sold to the adventurer over there."

"Hmm, it's not a very good deal, is it?"

"I know. Can you give me a heads-up on the slaves?"

"Yes, of course. Slaves are living beings and need to be provided with food and shelter. Failure to do so may be punishable by law, so be careful. You are not obligated to give them medicine even if they are weak, but if you let them die, you will not be well received by the people around you and the innkeeper will not like you, so be careful about that. As for the corpse, ask the innkeeper and he should be able to arrange a cleaner for you for a fee. As for the cemetery――"

"Oi, Merlot, I have no intention of killing her, okay?"

I felt like it was an unnecessary explanation, so I made him stop there.

"Oh, excuse me. Yes, slaves are stamped on their left arm. It's called a slave crest. It makes it impossible for her to disobey her master. We'll take care of the formalities, but once you've rewritten the ownership, she'll listen to your orders. However, there are some who are rebellious, so you have to be careful not to let them rebel to the death."

"When you say "prepared to die," does that mean they'll get the death penalty if they disobey?"

"Oh, yes, there are such punishments, but once the slave's crest is put in, there is a spell of pain that prevents them from disobeying their master. Forcing them to disobey can result in death, so most slaves are only defiant and rarely attack or disobey."

"Hmm. Literal slavery.

"Yeah.

"Then, please show me where the procedure is."

"Yes, sir. This way, please."

I was led to another room, where I sat and waited, drinking tea, when the dog-eared girl from earlier came dragging me in. She didn't put up any resistance, but it was rough treatment.

"Then, Alec-san, I'm going to rewrite her slave crest to you, so please give me your hand."

"Like this?"

I hold my hand out over her left arm.

"Yes. Then bear it."

The needle pricked me.

A drop of blood, and that seemed to be enough. The slave crest on her left arm glowed red for a moment, a kind of magic, I see.

"You are now her master. Here is the certificate of ownership. We'll keep a copy for you, so please contact us in case you need anything."

"All right. Then can you deduct the payment from the price of my jewel?"

"Yes. Also, there will be a tax on slaves, so please be careful when you pay next year, in March."

"Is it expensive?"

"1,200 gold for commoners and half that for slaves, 600 gold."

"Mmm, I see. I understand."

I think I need to save up some money. I'm sure the brave people of this world don't have the privilege of being exempt from taxes anyway.

"Then, hey, what's your name?"

".........."

The one who slumped down and didn't answer.

"Her name is Meena. Hey, Meena, this is your new master."

Merlot reminded her, but she didn't respond. Is she okay?

"Then, come here."

I pulled Meena's hand. She followed me quietly.

"Well, you must be hungry. Let's have dinner at the inn."

"........."

There was no reply. I wonder if she can't speak. I've spent 35,000 yen on this ...... Am I stupid?.

I took her back to the inn.

"Hmm, sir, did you buy a slave?"

The innkeeper looked blatantly disgusted.

"Yes, that's right. but what's the problem?"

"I wouldn't complain if you could buy slave that's a little cleaner. I don't want my Inn to get fleas, so could you please wash it before you bring it in?"

You really treat her like a pet. In fact, she's so dirty, she looks like she could be sick or have fleas. Good grieve...

"Oh, yes. Get me some hot water. I'll pay for it."

"I understand. Also, even if you share a room, I'll take one for each of you."

"I'll take that."

I pay 10 gold.

"Thank you. Then, I'm going to boil some water, so don't go into the room yet, just wait for me in the back."

I'll take Meena to the barn and wait for the hot water there.

"Oh, I didn't tell you, I'm Alec. Nice to meet you."

"........."

Phew. I don't know what it is, but it's hard mentally to be completely ignored.

I observe Meena, but her skin is pale and dirty. Her ears are drooping and dull gray. Her short hair is the same gray. She also has a tail, but this is a different world. The rest of her body is exactly the same as a human's, and she even has five fingers on her hands.

Her clothes are made of tattered and frayed cloth.　

Her face was beautiful, but her expressionless face and eyes were like those of a dead fish.

"!"

I wanted to see if it was real, so I touched her tail a little and she reacted it with a jerk. She held her own hands to hide her tail and stared at me.

"I'm sorry. I've never seen a beastman before. Was it wrong to touch its tail?"

Meena stared at me sullenly, and then gave a small nod.

"You can't speak?"

"...No."

It was a sinking voice, but it was a lovely, clear voice.

"What, if you can speak, tell me now. I was a little worried you couldn't communicate either."

"........."

Another silence.

"I won't ask you how you became a slave, because I'm sure you've been through a lot. But you were bought by me. From now on, I'm going to take care of you as your master, so if you have any requests, make them clear in words. To be frank, I don't know how to treat a woman or a slave. If you don't tell me, I won't be able to treat you well, okay?"

"It doesn't matter..."

"Well, if you don't like something, just tell me first. It's not like you're going to be attacked out of the blue."

"Slaves can't resist their masters as long as they have the slave crest."

"You said there was a pain spell?"

"Yes. It's hard to resist..."

Frowning and pressing one skinny arm, Meena seemed to have already experienced pain magic.

"'Did they do terrible things to you?"

"........."

Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it.

But the innkeeper's father is late. I don't have time for this.

It's too hard for me to talk to a girl I've never met before.

I guess I should rely on my skills here.

I'll have to see if I can find any good skills.