Volume 6 - CH 3

I was back in my room at the inn, looking forward to having sex with Lily today, when I was interrupted.

Of all people, by a man.

"Alec-san, can I have a word with you?"

"Oh, Clyde. What's the matter?"

It was one of the thirty-two slaves I'd bought in bulk, the one I'd been entrusted to lead. He was a tall, skinny guy. His weapon is a bow and arrow, which he carries on his back.

With a gloomy face and an amiable smile, Clyde said.

"It's about my party. Starting tomorrow, I want to move the hunting ground to a lower layer. I'm thinking about the third layer."

"What's the lowest level in your group?"

"It's eight."

"Well, that's no good. I can't allow you to go to the second layer until he's above level 11."

"What? You don't have to play it so safe. He won't die unless he screws up too badly."

"'He won't die unless he screw up too badly', huh. I'm telling you, if you let a party member die, you will lose your reputation. That's a fine."

"Can we get someone else to lead the party, then?"

"Well, Wait, I'll give you some benefits. I'll give you a leader's allowance. Ten gold per day, no strings attached."

"Only 10 gold? I want at least 100."

"Think about it. In one day, you'll gain 10 gold, unlike other ordinary people. Every little bit adds up to more than three thousand gold for a year."

"It's no good. Ten gold is a to small, and it's not worth it to take care of them."

"That's 20 gold. That'll give you over seven thousand gold in a year. I'll also give you a special bonus if the members think you've done a particularly outstanding job as a leader. If you don't like it, that's your choice, but other members may raise their hands. Ask the other members of your squad if they'd like to run for leader."

When Clyde heard that, he thought for a moment and said.

"No, I've changed my mind, I'll take the job for twenty gold."

"Good. By the way, how much money did you make today?"

"Our group made a total of 252 gold."

Subtracting the 16 gold living expenses for the six of them, they made 154 gold a day, which is far from enough to update the equipment for the six of them, but not bad if they can meet the maintenance costs.

I'm not sure how much the fixed costs of a slave party would be, but it cost me fifty thousand gold to buy thirty-two slaves from Janatha and ten thousand to equip them properly. If this total of 60,000 gold is a fixed cost, it would take about two years of running without the cost of treatment to make up for it.

"Good job. You didn't strain yourself, did you?"

"No, I'm not. We've only just met and I've been told you're the interim leader."

"How does it compare to Janatha's?"

"Well, it's not an easy comparison. I don't know how much money the other guys are making."

"Just use your range, your approximate sense. I'm not going to tell you to work as hard as Janatha does even if they makes ten times as much."

"My sense is that the difference isn't half, or even that much. Even the other adventurer's parties can't be reckless."

Janata's rental slaves are rented out to a party of ordinary adventurers, so the pace itself is not that different.

If you're a party of only slaves, you won't have a monitor, so even if you impose a quota, it might not make that much of a difference.

"I think so. So, keep up the good work and I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, and if you work three days, you get one day off. Tell the rest of the team that, too."

Rest is absolutely necessary.

"Okay. Also, ......can I collect the money for the purchase of herbs and manage my squad's portion?"

"If the rest of the team agrees, that's fine. As long as there is no particular objection, the leader has the right to make the decision. However, make sure you discuss it with the members. That way, there will be less dissatisfaction."

"Yeah, you're right."

"If there's any trouble, you can talk to me. Is there anything else?"

"No. ...... for now."

"If you need anything else, let me know tomorrow at dinner."

"Roger that."

Clyde went back, but as a leader he seemed to have a lot of potential.

He was the first to go to his superiors with his requests, and he had successfully negotiated and obtained a leadership allowance.

He also seemed to be able to do some number crunching, but I wondered if that was something he could be trained to do here, or if he even had the skills.

"Alec, that guy is .........."

Lily came over, but she was concerned about the other side of the door.

"What's wrong with Clyde?"

"Did he get into bed with you?"

"No, asshole."

"Oh, that's good. No, I was just wondering if maybe you like that kind of thing too."

"Shut up. Let's get on with it."

"Ehehe, okay?"

After locking the door tightly so that no one could get in, I undressed her.

"Your breasts are getting a little fuller, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I think they've gotten a little bigger. Someone's been rubbing them a lot."

"No, I think you're getting fat because you're eating properly."

"Maybe so. It's not that I've gained weight, it's just that I was so skinny before."

"That's true. Well, I'm going to love you tonight."

"Fufu♪ Aha!"

When I pushed her small body down, Lily laughed happily, already excited.

The next day, at breakfast, Ione suggested that we make a ledger for the slave party.

"Yesterday, Isaac asked me who he should report the profits to."

"What? Not to me, but to Ione."

I don't think he's got his eye on my Ione.

I've just appointed him as my leader.

"But I don't think he meant anything by it, because he was just passing by when I was coming back from giving up in front of your room."

I was in the middle of fucking Lily, I think. I guess he refrained from doing so because I had also locked the door.

"All right. I'll do that then. But it's a pain in the ass. ......"

"I'll do the bookkeeping. I used to do it at my father's dojo."

"I see. I wonder what he's doing now?"

"I asked Fritz to do it for me. I think he's doing it."

He's a serious guy, so he must have thought it would be a hassle, but he couldn't refuse his first love's request. Pity, Fritz.

"So, Black Cat Clan of the Wind, listen up. Each leader is to report the day's profits to Ione upon returning to the inn. Also, after three days of work, you'll take one day off. okay."

"""Ohhh! Yes!"""

The grimy people eating at the table over there brightened up at once.

Well, holidays are good.

"Hey, what's with the Black Cat Clan thing?"

Lily asked me.

"Did you forget? When we entered the dungeon, the soldiers gave us a name for our party."

"Oh, that remind me. I would have preferred a different name. That doesn't sound very strong at all."

"I agree, but it's like a name for them, so it's fine."

It doesn't matter as long as you can identify them. I don't usually go by that name.

"Pfft, pfft, wind, black cat, hihi, stop, that's not a good name."

The one who is shaking and laughing plumply in front of me.

"Letty, you're not getting any more skill points for the rest of your life."

"What!? W-wait, no, not that one. my bad, it's my fault."

She doesn't even know how to apologize.

I think I know now why she is still a B rank mage.

"Arara~, you poor thing. I was just about to ask if I could give it to Letty, since she's kind of in the party with me."

Serina said, but I won't give it to her unless Letty is in a good mood with me.

That's your punishment for laughing at me.

She's not a member of the official party, and even if she were, I wouldn't be obligated to give away my skill points.

I earned those points myself.

"All right, let's get our gear and get going."

I finished my meal, shook off Letty's crying clinging to me, and got up from my seat.

"""Got it!"""

It was a normal morning.

―――I hadn't expected that there would be any deaths in our party that day.