Is there really such an idiot?

When morning came after our night in the town of Rosetta, I found several barrels rolling around in the living room of my Storage space base.

"Huh? Aishia, what's with those barrels? Don't tell me they're all alcohol?"

"Hm? Come on, Master. This is juice. Juice!"

"So in other words, it's alcohol."

Looks like Aishia, who I'd sent out shopping in town, had bought a massive amount of booze. This quantity of alcohol would definitely be an illegal transaction without a license. The gray zone in this country is absurdly generous. The dwarven nation sure is something else.

But where did she even get the money for all that—

"I used the gold coins I got as payment for performing treatments as Healer-shi at the slave trader's the other day."

—Oh right. I'd kept my promise to the slave trader in Solasidor the other day and did the monthly healing session. Five gold coins per person for five people. A whopping profit of twenty-five gold coins with zero cost to me.

And since I'd earned that much, I figured it'd be wrong to have Aishia work for free even if she is a slave, so I gave her five gold coins.

"Huh? I meant that to be spending money for you, Aishia."

"Please consider it funds I can freely use for Master's sake. Besides, getting pocket money worth enough to buy me five times over is honestly… a complicated feeling."

Yeah, and with that cashback, you basically became free, Aishia.

"Oi, Karina. Gold coins aren't something you just hand out to a slave as pocket money."

Mashiro-san lightly bonked me on the head. Oh, hello there. Didn't notice you come in. Fresh out of the bath?

"B-but, I can't do the Healer-shi thing without Aishia, you know? Rewards to keep her from betraying me are important, right?"

"Are you stupid? If a slave has money, they'll just buy their own freedom. You're lucky Aishia is a loyal one."

"Yeah, you're right. Aishia, I love you."

"I love you too, Master!"

Aishia and I hugged each other tight. She smelled faintly of alcohol. You had a few drinks, didn't you?

"Also, Mashiro-sama, do you really think there's anyone stupid enough to betray Master knowing her power? Even if they fled to the ends of the world, they'd be caught in an instant and face retribution."

"… There are some truly unbelievable idiots out there, so I'll keep my comments to myself on that one."

"Even Arthur the dragon understands and has sworn loyalty…"

"Dragons are actually smart though. It'd be rude to compare them to those kinds of colossal idiots."

Mashiro-san gazed off into the distance. Are there really idiots like that out there? In the beastkin nation or something?

"Master, would you mind making a cellar for these barrels? Oh, and please make it the type where time still passes. These get better as they age."

"Sure thing, on it. I'll move all the barrels over while I'm at it. Where should I put the door? Kitchen okay?"

"Oi, you're spoiling your slave too much right after I just said that, Karina… Well, I guess common sense doesn't apply to you at this point. You went and made a stray dragon into a pet, after all."

Mashiro-san scratched her head. Arthur lifted his head and looked over as if to say, "Oh, did someone call for me?" Nobody called you, so stay put.

"Well, we're going to Aishia's hometown anyway, so having gifts to bring along is a good idea."

"… The dwarven village, huh. Be careful, alright? Especially with Dea-boy. Don't let him out of your sight for a second. He'll get eaten alive, in the sexual sense. And by men, at that."

Ugh, seriously? Dea-kun is mine, so I absolutely have to guard him…

… No wait, that's not it! He's a precious child that Kumin-oneesan entrusted to me, so I need to protect him properly! Yeah!

And so, with gifts in tow, we left the town of Rosetta behind and decided to stop by Aishia's hometown.

The journey there? No dragons attacked us or anything, so there's really nothing worth mentioning.