Volume 5 - CH 7

Chapter 7 – Second Grade Slave Sarah

Two weeks after Eto infiltrated the Tulle Slave Firm, there is a report that a large typhoon was approaching the royal capital. The typhoon is moving from the south to the north of the continent and is said to have caused enormous damage to the towns it passed. Some even witnessed the sight of carriages and houses being blown away by the strong winds.

When such damages spread through merchants’ information networks, Tulle promptly ordered his men to reinforce his stores and warehouses. Under the command of Dent, the windows are tightly blocked by wood, and sandbags are piled up high in places where water is likely to enter. Eto also secretly cast strength buff on himself and worked hard to pile up the sandbags.

“Yosh, I guess that’s it for now. Now, let’s eat, you lot! Since Master Tulle will be treating us today, look forward to it. However, you will be guarding the warehouse, Mouthless! After feeding the slaves, you too go eat what you like with this.”

Dent said and gave Eto a lot of money just for one meal. And as Eto bowed his head, Dent snorted and left. While thinking maybe his work today was finally recognized by Dent, Eto put the money he received into his pocket.

With that, Eto began to cook meals for the slaves in the kitchen of the warehouse.

There are actually grades for slaves. First of all, there is the lowest grade, fifth grade slaves, which sells like a mountain. Next is the fourth grade slaves, which are slaves with some practical experience. The third grade are slaves who have a special ability, while the second grade are slaves with an ability that made them more special than others. And last is the first grade, which are slaves with a high ability, which are extremely scarce.

Since there are grades, of course, the quality of meals provided to the slaves are different depending on their grades. The reason was probably because the slave firm itself may not be able to afford to give a good meal to slaves who cannot sell very well.

In the cases of female slaves, since there are various other factors such as appearances, apparently it is up to the skill of the slave trader to decide the grade of the slaves. By the way, Amou, who is a former B-rank adventurer is a second grade slave, Kohaku was fifth grade because she had almost no practical experience, and Sorano is third grade because she is a criminal slave.

In the warehouse where Eto works, when new slaves are brought in, some of them who seems to be in demand by the customers will be taken to the store, and if they do not sell for a certain period of time, they will be returned to the warehouse again. If that’s the case, they might be sold to other slave firms, or they will be sold at a lower grade. Yes, the change was more intense than what Eto had imagined.

Currently, the finest slave in the warehouse is a second grade female slave. The woman is a mistress of a wealthy man, but looks like anything that can be sold when her master’s business began to tilt was put up for sale. And one of them happens to be her.

As Eto knocked on the door of the room, the sound of footsteps approaching from inside was heard.

“Who is it?”

“…”

A small window for delivering meals opened, showing the woman’s face.

“Ah, so it’s Mouthless-san. Fufufu, thank you for your hard work.”

Her name is Sarah, eighteen years old, the same as Eto. She was bought when she reached adulthood at the age of fifteen, and for the next three years after that, she had to learn etiquette, common sense, and how to treat men. She has light golden hair like dandelion fluff and clear green eyes, which made anyone convinced that she was indeed a second grade slave.

Eto bowed his head and handed the meal to her.

“It looks delicious.”

Sarah smiled at him, but Eto just nodded at her.

“I wonder when did Mouthless-san become unable to speak?”

Sarah said, intending to chat with Eto. Hearing that, for a moment, Eto blanked out, but when he understood the meaning of Sarah’s words, he stared at her with a vigilant look. But, she paid no attention to Eto’s gaze.

“Because whenever I ask something, your throat and chin always move, after all. People who haven’t talked for a long time won’t do that, don’t you think so?”

“…”

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“Maybe it’s just hard for you to get rid of old customs? And thank you for the meal.”

After saying that, Sarah placed a tray of food on the table in the center of the room, which is away from the door.

“That’s right, Mouthless-san, how are those kids?”

Sarah looked back and asked, and Eto tilted his head, as if asking, ‘Who are you talking about?’

“Before I was brought to the royal capital, I stayed at Saltgar for a while. That was also the time when my master’s business went wrong and made madam angry. Because of that, my master tried to hide me there for some time. Well, it was a waste of resistance since I was sold in the end, though.”

Sarah said while giggling, as if it was someone else’s story. Eto was scratching his head, not knowing how to react to her story.

“Fufu, anyway, when I was brought from Saltgar to the royal capital, a brother and sister were brought with me. The name of the brother was Neil, and the sister was Myuu.”

Eto was actually familiar with the names of those two. It was in a case in which those who filed a lawsuit in the Veil disappeared, and the names of the siblings who disappeared at that time should be Neil and Myuu. Remembering that, Eto opened his eyes widely.

“I want to see them again because they were really cute. Too bad they were moved to a different carriage on the way. It was just before we arrived at the royal capital. I wonder if they were sold to a nearby village?”

On the way from Saltgar to the Royal Capital, there is an old castle that a guild investigator informed Eto about. As expected, that old castle must be the place where the slaves who cannot be shown to the public were trapped, that’s what Eto thought. As Eto summarized his thought, he felt a gaze from the door. And he saw Sarah looking at him through the grid with interest.

“Fufu, if you happen to know if those kids are doing well, could you tell me? I am curious.”

Eto nodded at Sarah’s words.