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Chapter 86 – Slave contract
Once again, I’m greeted with enmity when I enter this room.
Mia lets out a small shriek. She manages to contain it, but she’s probably still scared, because she’s holding on to my arm with a worried look on her face. Oh well, she’s still a growing girl, even if the future looks bright for her.
“What do you want?”
“I got the money, so I’m here to buy you.”
“…You came all the way here with yet another girl?”
She says with a belligerent tone while glaring at Mia.
Is she making herself seem bad so I don’t buy her? I remember that she wavered when I mentioned the Republic of Eldo. But on the other hand, she probably feels like she can’t trust the word of some human.
“I’m the one buying, and you’re the one being bought. You can’t argue against it, so you can stop the bad girl act. And…”
“And what?”
“I’ll say just one more thing. Try trusting a human, and I won’t let you down.”
I don’t need to get through to her right away, but I’m sure she wouldn’t have a problem being bought if Rurika and Chris were here… But they’re in the beast kingdom now. Apparently she is known by a frightening nickname, but her raw fighting ability is enough of a reason to think someone else will probably end up buying her.
Also, beast people seem to be pretty popular, and she looks adorable when she’s quiet, which makes me even more worried. After all, slaves can’t exactly say no when someone has enough money to buy them.
It’s actually pretty lucky that no one has bought her yet. The timing worked out perfectly for me. The fact that this place doesn’t like slavery also helps, as does the fact that most people can’t tell how strong she is just by looking.
Not everyone can use Appraisal and see her level.
“So Mister Sora, may I start by checking the money?”
“Yes.”
I present my card, and hand over seventy gold coins.
“Then I will withdraw four hundred and thirty gold coins from your card, and take those seventy gold coins, bringing us to a total of five hundred gold coins. That part is settled, so let us confirm the contents of the contract.”
Slaves can’t hurt the person they’re contracted to, but that restriction is lifted if they are in danger.
“Is this the gist of it? It’s pretty simple.”
“War slaves are generally like this. Also, the danger referred to in the contract is applied relatively broadly. For example, forcing sexual activity counts as danger. Although some agree to it to be released more quickly.”
“I don’t have any complaints.”
“Very well. Come here Sera.”
The contract is performed in a magic circle.
Her arms and legs are unbound, and now that I look at it more closely, that simple cloth she’s wearing is actually pretty lewd. She’s about a head shorter than me, but it makes me feel like I have nowhere to look. The collar just makes it worse.
I think Mia picks up on how awkward I feel, because she starts demanding that she wear a robe. I hand it over to Sera and prompt her to wear it.
Sera herself seems used to what she’s wearing, and doesn’t seem concerned about it at all. But she gives in to Mia’s anger and puts on the robe.
“You’re the worst.”
How’s that my fault!? I’m sure Mia wouldn’t understand even if I yelled that, so I don’t bother. And I can’t deny that I really was looking at her ‘that way’.
“That completes the contract. Thank you very much.”
Deep down, he doesn’t look like a bad guy, even if he is a slaver. Then again, that could be just a bias on my part. He sounds concerned, because he knows about Sera’s circumstances.
“It’s all right. I won’t do anything bad.”
Is all I say.
“First… You need something to wear and weapons. But let’s start by introducing ourselves. I’m Sora, and this cute girl is Hikari, my special slave and your senior.”
“I’m Hikari. I’m your senior, so ask me anything.”
“And this is… My pupil I guess? Mia.”
“…I’m Mia.”
“She has almost no friends, so please be good to her in the short time we’re together.”
I try to lighten the mood, but step right into it at full force. It’s kind of awful.
“I’m Sera.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much.”
She’s pretty standoffish. I wish she’d open her heart a little more, but I guess that’s asking too much right off the bat.
We head to a store, and Sera keeps looking around on the way there.
First, we need two sets of regular clothing. I ask her if that’s enough, but she bluntly responds with ‘whatever’. We have to wait a bit while they get them fit for a beast person, but she’s silent the whole time.
Mia tries to talk to her about something, but she’s completely ignored. I have to console her as tears start welling up in her eyes. You’re pretty brave, considering how scared you were at first.
Next, traveling clothes. This we buy in a store mostly targeted at adventurers.
Sera looks at these more seriously, because she seems more used to this sort of clothing. I said I was buying her to be a guard, so I’m sure she’s going to pick something very usable.
I set a budget and order her to buy things within that budget, including spares. She won’t really do it if I just ask her.
Also, Mia is looking all around this store. She usually doesn’t get the chance to see this sort of place, so it’s probably all very interesting to her. She keeps asking Hikari questions too.
Lastly, we stop by a weapons shop, where Sera picks a double-edged axe with a seventy centimeter long handle. Two of them, actually.
“Is the other one a spare?”
“No, I hold one in each hand.”
“Isn’t that heavy?”
“…? Not really.”
I heard that beast people have great physical abilities. I hold one just to see and… Oh? It really isn’t all that heavy. But I still don’t think I could swing one in each hand.
“Pick something like a wooden sword to use in mock battles.”
“You do mock battles?”
“Yes… I want to train to at the very least be able to fight. And I want to practice with you too.”
And I really don’t want to face her and her two axes in mock battles. I might end up with one less arm.
“I think that’s all you need.”
Now Sera really looks like an adventurer. Her equipment is made of monster materials, and it’s pretty tough despite still being easy to move in. The axes I move to my Item Box, because we shouldn’t walk around town with them. Maybe we should get an item bag just for them. But then it might be a good idea for her to carry one of those knives used to take apart monsters on her waist.
And I get a pouch for potions too. Money is just flying away. I was rich for only a brief moment…
“And let’s end it with a trip to the adventurer guild.”
I’m thinking of registering Sera as an adventurer. I can’t register myself, but there are functions of the guild that I might want to use.