Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Avoid bar fights, please! part

The scene in front of me is quite different from what I expected. Both heroins look at me completely flabbergasted.

“What do you mean slave!?”

Helena says with a kind smile whose dark intent is only betrayed by an uncontrollable twitch on her right eye.

“Explain yourself now Ryu”

says Anne with an icy glare I know all too well.

“I really don’t know what to say, I’m as surprised as you guys are”

“I’ll explain. Ryu and I made a bet, if he was to win I would be indebted to him instead of Thomas. It’s clear now that he already won, there’s no fighting it, but how do you expect me to pay three gold coins?

.....

The tavern itself is not worth that much, and even if it was, I’m not willing to sell it to anyone but Ryu, since he’s the only one who I know for sure will take good care of it. Also, even if I sold myself as a slave nobody would pay me three gold coins, that’s just too much money. The only chance for me to keep being a free citizen would be that I either stumble upon a gold mine or if Ryu forgives my debt”

“For a moment I thought Ryu played one of his dirty tricks on you”

Anne sighs in relief

“Then it’s solved, Ryu, please spare Rina, she’s a good girl and I’m sure she’ll find a way to repay you somehow”

Helena says

“You say that, but I don’t think it’s convenient for us. Also, don’t forget how you guys reacted when I told you about the risk I took by taking on this bet, so you don’t have a say on this matter”

“But Ryu, this is going to far. Slavery is evil, it was abolished in...”

“No more discussions!”

I say loudly to cut Anne short before she mentions she comes from another world. Maybe I went too far, but It was dangerous. We’re just getting to know these people and we don’t know if they are to be trusted with a secret that big.

A knock on the door breaks the silence in the vast room and Helena stands up to open the door.

Two girls covered with blankets over their shoulders and bags on each hand get inside. The first is Claire and next to her a girl who looks just like her, only slightly shorter a lot thinner and with a sickly and frail body. Her body fat seems so low the skin is tight on her cheekbone, making her look as if there were holes in her eyes sockets instead of eyes.

“Excuse me, mister Ryu, I did as you asked and brought my sister over”

“Ryu, you know I’m not as violent as Anne, but you better provide a crystal clear explanation for this or I’ll be really mad, I may even consider going to Hiraku’s”

Helena puffs her cheeks looking angry and cute at the same time

“That’s no way to greet your new co worker and her sister, I’m disappointed you think so low of me Helena, besides, you made her uniform so you can’t fake surprise now”

So, turns out I’m dead after all.

“Please take a sit”

I grab two more chairs and put them on the table making it crowded. Both blond girls take a sit on the open chairs, but not before bowing in front of me.

“Thank you for this opportunity mister Ryu, I promise I won’t let you down”

“That’s great, now let’s discuss the terms”

I intertwine my fingers and lean forward making my best impression of Hiraku’s business stance. Anne notices this and laughs on the side. Claire nods awkwardly, it seems the presence of so many people at the same table has made it uncomfortable for her.

“I’ll pay you 10 copper coins per day, food will run on my account, and you and your sister will be able to stay in here for free as long as you share your room. is that ok with you?”

The look of surprise when I mentioned how much I was offering made her eyes almost pop out from the shock.

“Yes, I’ll perform any duty you may require of me, even if you wanted my body”

She said with a straight face, making me facepalm so hard I took 1 damage to my health points.

A fiery aura covers both Anne and Helena, both staring at me.

“Please don’t say that sort of thing, I just need you to cook and clean”

*cough cough*

“Excuse me, mister Ryu, I’m Sera, Claire’s sister, we’ll be in your care”

The sickly girl says in between coughs. She seems to be very ill, I hope it’s not contagious.

“Don’t mention it, and from now on just call me Ryu. Nobody must know that I’m the one running the business, since it’s thanks to Anne saving so many people on the battlefield”

Dylan responds to my words nodding profusely

“Yeah! if it wasn’t for the silver goddess I’d be dead. I was at the death’s doors when she came and gave me the magical medicine”

“It’s not magical and it was supposed to be a secret Dylan, which reminds me I need to speak alone with Anne, so please come to my room before heading to bed”

I frown looking at both Dylan and Anne respectively, but both jump scared when I mentioned their names.

“Anyways, It’s late and I’m beat, Claire pick whichever room you prefer and go to sleep with your sister, you need to wake up early to help me in the kitchen, the rest can stay a bit longer, especially if you help Helena finish Claire’s uniform”

At my command everyone stands up and I go to my bed, a couple minutes later there’s a knock on my door. Anne walks stiffly inside as soon as I open and closes the door behind her.

“If this is about what happened early, I forgive you”

“What? no, I don’t regret it in the slightest, if anything I’d like to repeat it”

“Does that mean you already made up your mind? there’s no way I’m letting anyone but my boyfriend touch me that way”

“Too bad, because you’re in for a good ol’ spanking”

“now you’re not making any sense”

Anne squeaks those words as if she was choking

“I’m being serious Anne. You can’t go around telling people you come from another world, I’m not as naive as Luke to think that it’d be a good thing if people were to find out. Best case scenario they will treat you as weapons and try to gain control over you. Worst case, I don’t even want to think about it”

“But if it’s our employees it’s alright isn’t it?”

Anne looks paler than usual

“On the contrary, they need to prove their loyalty before we tell them something that big. The only exception would be Rina, and only if she becomes a slave. Her life would be rightfully on our hands, hence she wouldn’t be able to say a thing about it. Do you think Dylan can keep a secret? he talked about the medicine you gave him”

“Ryu, I think we have a problem”

“please don’t say it”

“Dylan told everyone already”

***

‘Miss Ayumi,

I hope that you’re in good health with your husband,

I’m writing you this letter because I need secure supplies for the silver goddess tavern,

I’d be grateful if you allowed me to set up a meeting with Hiraku.

Ryu’

“pfff hahaha, did Ryu have a stroke or something!?”

Ayumi couldn’t hold her laughter after reading Ryu’s letter, it would be one thing if he was polite about it, but asking in such a formal way is completely out of character. That thought lit up the spark of doubt inside Ayumi’s mind instantly stopping her laughter.

Ryu could have many flaws, especially when it comes to dealing with women, but he never does anything without thinking.

Ayumi walked outside of the warehouse, where she was living with Hiraku and Bob for the time being.

It’s just a square wooden building, but it’s sturdy and has enough space to hold more goods than they can even dream of acquiring.

Hiraku was outside supervising the workers he hired from the billboard at the tavern, Dylan was standing next to Hiraku making small talk.

Southern people are considered among the strongest, and that’s because they need to endure the harsh climate and every single citizen is raised to be able to work at the mines. Those who are not able to do so, can either start their own business if they have the funds or work for someone who does.

This is the reason why the digging was so fast that in a single day they were almost ready for Ayumi to start using earth manipulation to build an aqueduct.

Ayumi’s plan was to get flowing water from the river to the trading outpost, her ideas amounted to Hiraku’s experience in planning modern house renovations were several steps ahead in the technology known in this world. But not even in her wildest dream she thought it was possible for things to be finished so soon.

“Young Dylan, what you’re telling me can’t be the truth”

“It is, miners don’t work all the time, there are some regulations in place so that people can’t spend more than six days at the mines in a row, nor can they work at the mines more than 12 days a month”

“But why is that?”

“What do you think would happen if everyone was able to come and go as they please? they would mine everything they could and then go to the next town to sell at a better price by themselves”

“That makes sense, they would take advantage of the safety measures the mayor provides but they wouldn’t live at Ironwoods, they would just drain the mine without leaving a single coin”

Dylan nods to Hiraku’s words

“Thank you for your time young Dylan, here take this”

.....

Hiraku says as he hands him two copper coins.

“I’m sorry but I can’t accept your generosity mister Hiraku, I’m currently being employed by... I’m under someone else’s care and if people saw me taking money from you it could raise suspicions”

“If you mean Ryu it’s all good, we come from the same village and we know how careful he is, is it Ryu?”

Ayumi joins the conversation prompting Dylan to tell her, but he refuses

“I’m sorry, I can’t say”

“Good, because if you did I would tell him, now if you excuse us I need to speak a word with my husband”

She mocks Dylan showing her tongue

“Thank you for understanding miss, I’ll take my leave now”

Ayumi and Hiraku discuss the matter about Ryu’s letter and decide to go to the tavern the next day leaving Bob in charge to guard the warehouse.

The outskirts are the cheapest zones to live in because every so often there’s attacks from beasts and many people go missing, but since Hiraku’s trading outpost is located at the north side it can be considered a mid level zone. since it’s also the closest to the mines and its a great spot for any kind of business.

Dylan is now headed to the widow’s lodging. Its a huge barrack where women of all ages live. Even though it’s provided by the mayor, it’s not free to live in. It costs a mere copper coin per person and only women are allowed to live in there. Even though its near the southern side of town it’s still kind of dangerous, but the mayor provides guards at all hours to keep them safe from beasts and bandits.

The barrack was built due to the necessity of accommodation for widows, since they lost their husbands they couldn’t stay at the miners houses, a lonely woman living among miners would only create problems of all sorts. But in time it also became a safe spot for orphan girls who were all by themselves, and as long as they could pay for their stay everyone was fine with it. Even the widows were happy to cohabit with younger girls and sometimes they would even educate them about the basics.

That kind of place was where Claire and Sera lived.

“Claire sis, please don’t do this! I’ll be fine somehow”

“I already made up my mind and there’s nothing you can do about it. There’s no way we can make it through this winter together, but if I sell myself I’m sure I’ll get at least ten silver coins, that should be enough for you to start your business. Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to buy me back soon”

Claire said with a bitter smile, knowing that it was highly unlikely. Ironwoods was not the kind of place where people would take pity on the poor, it was a dog eat dog place and only the strongest made it.

“If it wasn’t for that bad man you would still be working at Rina’s and we wouldn’t be in this situation, I hate him!”

“Don’t be like that Sera, it’s not his fault. He’s a better cook than I am, besides, there’s nothing I can do about it”

The fact that her sister was willing to sacrifice her own freedom for her was eating Sera from the inside, she felt completely powerless. One of the elders came walking hurriedly towards the girls who were hugging each other with tears on their eyes.

“Claire, there’s a handsome man looking for you outside. I told him men can’t get inside but he insists he must speak with you”

When Ryu spoke with Claire back at the tavern she had already given up, she was so helpless she was actually willing to sell herself just to give her sister the chance to survive this winter. But what happened changed their situation so fast it was hard for her to believe it. Even Sera was astonished, she didn’t trust this Ryu person in the slightest, but everything Claire told her was true.

At first, when they got inside the tavern Sera couldn’t help but notice that there were two beautiful dressed with revealing clothes girls sitting next to Ryu, making her distrust him even more. But what could they do, even if he wanted to have his way with them they couldn’t do anything about it. Perhaps it would even be a good thing, since at least they should get compensated. As long as it was enough to keep her sister from selling herself as a slave there would still be hope.

But there was one thing that she couldn’t understand. He knew that men were likely to notice her sister Claire, since she was so beautiful. But she herself was rather thin, a bit on the ugly side and so sick that nobody would ever be interested in her as a woman.

So, why would a sane man go so far just to get his hands on two poor girls with nothing to offer?

She couldn’t wrap her head around it making her feel uneasy. Now both sisters were sharing the same bedroom, the room size was adequate, even spacious, but there was a single bed and a night stand. Rina couldn’t afford to furnish the rooms appropriately. For them, though, it seemed like a luxurious room, something they hadn’t even dreamed about.

Claire was used to cleaning the rooms and she would do so everyday, but she has never stayed, not even a single night. Rina paid her as much as she could, but that was merely enough to save her earnings during the rest of the year to prepare for winter.

“So, what do you think he’ll do with us sister?”

Sera asked Claire in whispers

“I’m not sure, I even offered myself and he declined. Am I so ugly?”

Claire replied in the same tone as her sister

“No way! if you’re ugly what about me? anyway, that’s what scares me, the fact that she hasn’t asked us for anything dirty. Maybe he wants to turn this place into a brothel”

“Don’t worry Sera, if he wants me I’ll do it, but I won’t let him touch you, I swear”

They kept chatting for a while sitting on the bed and as soon as they lied down on the soft and mushy bed they dozed off.

Next morning came sooner than Claire would’ve liked. She needed to wake up early to make sure everything was ready for Ryu to start cooking. As soon as she opened the door there was a brand new dress waiting for her. It’s fabric was so soft and it was so thin that it felt as if it was made out of air, she had never touched something so valuable. She walked down the stairs and found out Ryu and Rina were already up and working.

Ryu was an early bird, while Rina was used to working from dawn to dusk due to her debt.

“Good morning Claire, I see you found your uniform”

Ryu said

“is it for me?”

Claire asked awkwardly

“It is, Hurry up and wash yourself before putting it”

“But you need help, let me at least...”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, appearances matter in this line of work, you need to look at least as gorgeous as Rina here”

‘He does want to turn this place into a brothel after all, that’s the only explanation why he hired so many beautiful girls and a guard’ Claire thought, but she kept it for herself. Since she already knew the place she took a bucket of hot water and went to the storage room, it was somewhat covered from the cold and it was secluded and away from peeking eyes.

Then she proceeded to undress and clean herself with an old rag. Only after drying herself she put on the dress, much to her dismay it was as revealing as those the other girls were wearing, to make matters even worse, it fit like a glove.