Volume 5 - CH 6

[Dragon's Dwelling Tree Residence]

This is the inn we use as our base in the Grandsword Kingdom.

The four-story inn is as big as a hotel, but it's a solid structure, and as a place for adventurers, it's where the roughnecks hang out.

I was sitting at a table on the first floor playing a card game with some other guests who didn't seem to be busy.

But ...... tsk, my hand sucks.

The guy sitting right across from me says with a grin, "You look dull, Alec."

"Shut up, Murphy. That's my face."

"I'm sorry about that. It's a full ...... raise."

"Oh? No change?"

"Yeah."

...... You're bluffing.

This guy is such a cheapskate sometimes, and he's bluffing.

When he's bluffing, he's bluffing.

No change, full call, even if it's a pig without a role.

And then Lily came running in from outside with a panicked voice.

"Geez! Alec, get over here now!"

"What's wrong? If Jouga's surgery failed, there's nothing I can do about it."

"The surgery seems to have been a success. But Fianna's about to be forcibly taken away by the guys from Janatha's store, and there's a dispute with the temple people!"

So that's what happened.

Fianna has fallen into slavery and now she's Janatha's property. By law and logic, if Janatha told her to dive into the dungeon as soon as possible, Fianna would be obligated to obey.

But she also have to heal and take care of Jouga.

Now that I'm hiring her for one thousand five hundred a week, I'm sure the guys at the store will be satisfied if she leave.

"All right, leave it to me."

"That's the spirit!"

"Well then, Murphy, I guess this game is over."

I threw the cards on the table, grinning inwardly.

"What!? You, shit, my first royal straight flush of my life, gahhh! Wait! Alec! At least let me finish this game before you go! Hey! Alec!"

Forgive me, Murphy, but I'm doing this to help people. I'm sure you'll understand. Pfft.

I ran to the temple with a angry voice behind my back.

"This room over here."

The corridor that Lily led me down seemed to be a reception room, where the priest and Fianna and the others were. There were also two of Janatha's men, but to my dismay, one of the men had drawn his sword right here.

We're in a temple, remember?

They must be under orders to forcibly take them back. But if they hurt Fianna or anyone else in the temple, they wouldn't get away with it.

I wonder what would have happened if I had been one step too late.

"That's enough. Put your sword away."

"Ahh? What the hell with you?"

The bearded slave clutching the sword responded as expected.

"I'm is Fianna's current employer. I'm hiring her for one thousand five hundred a week. Isn't that right?"

The familiar Janatha clerk was with them, so I told him.

"Yes, but outside of contracted working hours, she is under our control."

"I see. But it's daytime now. I've given her my orders to take care of Jouga. Right, Fianna?"

"Yes!"

"No, but she doesn't have to nurse a slave all the time."

"I don't think so. - Or what? You're trying to get her another job when your customers pay you in advance. That's called fraud in the eyes of the public. It's called fraud, and it'll ruin the reputation of your store."

"He's right, I'm going to tell everyone in the bar that Dreuro is a fraud!"

Lily points at him and says. She's a cheeky little fellow, but she's a cheeky little fellow at times like this.

"No, we can't have that. Alec-sama, I hate to say this, but I think our customers are also responsible for ruining our products."

"What?"

Speaking of merchandise, you're talking about Jouga. It's true that a slave I borrowed from the store was injured during an adventure with me. ......

"I'm not going to ask you to pay compensation, of course. It's not uncommon for adventurers to get injured or killed in their adventures. In such cases, we interview them about the situation and may ask for a refund according to their responsibility."

Mmm. Are you asking me to pay for Jouga's injuries?

That doesn't make sense to me.

"But this time, it's not the customer's fault, no matter how you look at it. It was a force majeure after we took sufficient precautions to make sure that Jouga had his sword ready. So, although we won't refund the advance payment, we'll call it even."

"Hou~."

If that's the case, Dreuro seems to be quite useful.

"In the meantime, I'm going to terminate the contracts of all of you and introduce another slave to you, Alec-sama, so that you can let me know your plans when you go on an adventure."

"No, I've changed my mind. We're going on an adventure now. So, no contract cancellations. That includes Jouga."

"What? He's weakened, you know?......Alec-sama, no matter how you look at it, Jouga can't go on an adventure."

"That's how you see it. He'll probably be fine in an hour."

"You've got to be kidding me. You're saying that his legs will grow back?"

"Yeah. It's a miracle of God. I'm a religious man."

"Pfft."

"Haha."

Lily and the priests laughed at this.

"Hmm, it's no use, I'll get the owner."

"Suit yourself. I'll listen to what you have to say."

"Yes. All of you keep an eye on Fianna. For some reason, her slave crest has not been activated. She might run away."

"Yes, sir!"

The clerk left the reception room.

"Fianna, they didn't rough you up, did they?"

There were a lot of clergymen here, so there was a possibility that a slight injury would be healed in no time and they would not recognize it.

So, I'll ask her just in case.

"Yes, because Alec-san came to me just as they were drawing their sword."

Fianna smiled.

"I see."

I'm glad we made it in time.

I'll just wait in the reception room as it is.

"Have some tea."

The priest here made me some tea.

"My bad. I got you involved in my companion's mess."

Since the priest is there, I'll apologize so as not to offend him. Jouga's is also hospitalized here.

"What? I've heard about it from Fianna, and it's quite a cool thing to do nowadays. We'll be happy to help you, though we'd prefer not to lose the money for the treatment, as it would cost us a lot of money."

The old priest said, his laughing eyes peeking out from under his long eyebrows.

"I'm not asking you to lose or anything like that, just make sure Fianna is well hidden. I'll take care of the rest."

"What!?"

The slave on guard there shouted, but he had already put away his sword. It seems he has the brains to know when he's outnumbered.

"I'm a paying customer, and the clerk said he'd go get the owner because he couldn't make up his mind. I think it would be wiser for you to wait quietly and do nothing. Janatha is very polite to his customers, and you might get a punishment from the slave crest."

"Mughh. ......"

I heard that the pale slaves are being punished with slave crests. It's a bit much, even if you're not too smart about it. It's a good thing I'm not a slave employee of Dreuro.

"Thank you for waiting, Alec-san."

The owner of Dreuro, Janatha, arrived with six stern, muscular slaves in tow.

He's going to do everything in his power to get rid of them when they break up.

Interesting.

I'll take it.

"Lily, go get the others."

"All right!"

But first, let's talk like gentlemen.

Janatha, dressed in black armor, took a seat across from me.

"Alec-san, let's not play games with each other."

"Yeah, sure."

"You seem to have taken a liking to our slaves. As for Fianna, I'll sell her to you for two hundred thousand."

"That's not enough."

"Oya, oya. I am a slaver who has been doing this for a long time and I'm a good judge of merchandise. If she put it on the auction block, it will be worth 300,000. I'm telling you that I'll sell it at a reasonable price. ......"

"It's not like that. What are you going to do with Jouga?"

"What am I going to him? I heard he cut off his leg. I'm afraid that adventurer will be out of business. We're going to fire him, and if you want, Alec, you can have him for free."

"What the hell!? I can still doing adventure!"

Jouga came here on crutches, but don't be reckless, even though you were just out of surgery.

Janatha also shook his head in disgust.

"It's impossible. You don't have to force yourself to continue being an adventurer, Jouga-san. How about becoming a tool maker? I'll introduce you to someone I know."

"I. I'm not good at detailed work, and didn't you say so yourself? You said you wanted to support my dream of winning the arena."

"Yes. But it will be difficult with your legs."

"You don't know about that!"

"Well, calm down, Jouga."

What Janatha is saying is decent. It's a little dry to treat the slaves, but I have to say it's hard for a guy who walks around with a cane to win in the arena.

He should not even be able to fight with a sword.