Going to Buy a Slave

When I showed up at the adventurer guild, the usual receptionist… Siriana-san, was it? She was sitting at the counter.

The gatekeeper said she'd been worried about us, but…

"… Tch, where the hell have you been all this time?"

Huuuh? That's different from the "worrying" I know.

So there really weren't any good feelings after all. No wait, maybe this is what they call tsundere?

"Ah, I had some business outside, you see…"

"So, what do you want? There aren't any F-Rank dungeon quests available for a while, you know?"

Incidentally, it seems Haku-san had cheekily taken care of that quest before the Dungeon Battle.

So you can report a quest accepted in Tsuia as completed in the Imperial Capital? Or maybe it was some unreasonable move leveraging her authority. Either way, as we'd arranged beforehand, she apparently reported [No Abnormalities]. That gave us some breathing room time-wise.

"Ah, come to think of it, what happened with the designated quest?"

"… It's still there. It's a G-Rank quest though. Will you accept it?"

"Yes, please… Oh, and do you know anywhere that sells slaves?"

If the adventurer guild recommended a place, I could feel more at ease. Adventurers who use slaves aren't exactly rare, so they should definitely know a good place.

"… What's the purpose?"

"Various things. Someone experienced and intelligent would be good… Oh, and it has to be a woman."

This was a request from Haku-san. Men are strictly forbidden.

… Apparently she doesn't even want me anywhere near Rokuko either.

Well, if that's what our sponsor wants, I have no choice but to comply. Right, I definitely don't want to create a harem. I have absolutely no interest in debauchery. I'm not interested in female slaves with beautiful legs. Want to lick them. Oops, that slipped out.

"… I see. [Grapher's Slave Shop] would be good. I recommend it so much that I don't want to tell you about it. Best to go in the evening."

"Thanks for that. Well then, I'm off to clean toilets."

I heard a tongue click, but I decided to ignore it.

By the way, the reward for both designated quests combined was twenty copper coins.

Well, I brought a hundred silver coins this time so it's pocket change, but since they went to the trouble of designating me, I might as well. I quickly and efficiently cleaned up with [Purify], and while Niku stood by in the toilet, I went to the park for a nap… I mean, to gather information. I obtained information that the [Heavenly Pillow] is supreme even on a bench.

This time I ordered the Cloth Golem to wake me up when it was time, so I wasn't late.

Once the two toilet cleanings were done, it was already getting close to evening. Perfect timing.

The guild's probably crowded right about now, so I'll report the quest completion after buying a slave.

And so I came to Grapher's Slave Shop… Yep, it's a fairly ordinary building.

"… It's completely different from where I was."

Apparently there's a black market slave dealer in the slums too, and that's where Niku was sold.

… Well, she was a slave that bandits could afford, so that makes sense.

Standing around outside wasn't going to accomplish anything, so I took Niku inside.

Now then, time to shop.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Welcome. What brings you here today?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for a slave."

"Of course. There's no slave we can't procure."

When I mentioned I came on the guild's recommendation, the shop owner Grapher himself came out to greet me with a business smile.

He seemed like a proper, legitimate merchant, but then again, he was running a shop right in town, so that made sense.

"So, what kind of slave are you looking for?"

"Hmm, first, beautiful legs, female… and since I'm thinking of using her for various things, someone smart."

"I see… Ah, what's your budget?"

"Hmm, I don't really know the market prices. By the way, how much would you say this one's worth?"

I showed him Niku to get a sense of the pricing.

Niku did her best to stand up straight, trying to raise her appraisal even a little.

"… I see. She's a beastkin, but well-groomed and seems well-disciplined… Hmm, can she read? Write? Do arithmetic? Does she have any skills?"

"She can read, write, and do simple arithmetic. As for skills… she doesn't have any."

I'd had Niku agree to say that beforehand.

In reality, she'd learned one Low-tier spell from each element, plus [Storage]. If I mentioned all that, her price would skyrocket and she wouldn't work as a reference.

As for arithmetic, I'd just had her memorize multiplication tables the other day.

The slave merchant raised and folded his fingers in a strange hand sign… No wait, was he calculating with his hands? He wasn't simply folding his fingers; he was raising them partway too. Finally, he raised just his left pinky, and it seemed his price calculation was complete.

(When I asked about it later, it's called finger calculation. Starting from the thumb, each finger represents one copper, ten copper, one silver, ten silver, and one gold coin respectively. Combined with how the right hand's fingers are raised, each can express zero through nine. It's a calculation method that turns your fingers into an abacus, apparently a merchant's skill. Apprentices cramping their fingers trying to learn it is apparently a common sight.)

"In that case… at our shop, she'd be one gold coin. Suited for nobles or merchants."

… Gold coin? Let's see, if one copper coin is about 100 yen, then a hundred times a hundred… 1,000,000 yen?!

That's quite the find. Though when you think of it as the price of a person, maybe it's cheap…

"If she were human, ten gold coins wouldn't be enough. With such loveliness, her future is promising as well. So, how about it? Would you let me take her off your hands for one gold coin? I could even add a bit more."

"No, I'm not selling my Niku."

"Hoh… Is that so."

Having reconfirmed Niku's value, I patted her head and praised her.

Watching this, the shop owner had a somewhat impressed look on his face.

"Hmm, unfortunately our current inventory may not have anyone who meets your discerning eye. We'd be looking at older stock at best… The youngest would be around eighteen. We do have younger ones, but they're still untrained and hardly worth presenting…"

"No, I don't want child slaves, so that's fine."

Eh, what? Do I really look like a lolicon?

"Oh, my apologies. Then let's discuss this further and narrow down the requirements. I'd like to hear about the intended use in as much detail as possible."

"Sure… First, I'll be using her for odd jobs, so skills aren't necessary. Female, around adult age. The cheaper the better. Budget is about ninety silver at most."

"And beautiful legs would be a plus, correct?"

He remembered. This shop owner knows what he's doing.

"Hmm, so you're looking for a general-purpose slave. If you want cheaper, non-humans are an option too… Yes, let me bring out some candidates."

Saying that, the shop owner excused himself and returned shortly.

At his side were four women. They had collars, so they were slaves… Yeah, quite the nice legs lined up there. Wonderful.

"Hmm, do they meet your approval? … From this end: eighty silver, one hundred, ninety, and sixty."

… I said my budget was ninety, but he mixed in one that's slightly over. Definitely a merchant. I'd answered with a bit less than my actual budget anticipating this, but it seems he saw through that too.

So, from the eighty-coin one: a bear-eared beastkin, a fox-eared beastkin with nice fur, an unremarkable elf, and a regular human. Each of them was eyeing me as if sizing me up.

"Hm? Why is that sixty-coin one so cheap? And… she looks human to me."

"Ah, well, how should I put this… she comes with baggage, you might say. Since you wanted cheap, I brought her along. Shall I take her back?"

"Sounds interesting. Let's hear about this baggage first."

To summarize:

• She couldn't pay back debts from gourmet indulgences and gambling, so she fell into slavery.

• She injured her master and was returned.

That's what I was told… Apparently a merchant bought her, promising to feed her delicious food, but the next day he returned her after she bit off his lower-body "thing." When asked, the biter herself just said, "It tasted awful. Gimme my money back." Pretty sure "gimme my money back" should be the bitten guy's line.

By the way, it was regrown with healing magic, so no lasting damage.

"I thought slaves couldn't harm their masters?"

"The fact that she could is exactly why she comes with baggage. Rather than seeing him as a master, she genuinely perceived what was presented to her as food. Of course, the collar activated properly afterward… The thing is, the master had promised to feed her, and when he presented 'it' and said 'Here, eat up,' various things lined up just right. Rest assured, the contract magic functions normally."

Ah, so he gave her permission himself. Well, that can't be helped.

It was such a fundamentally important issue when it came to binding slaves with contract magic that apparently even the Merchant Guild got involved, using lie-detecting magic tools to investigate thoroughly. They checked everything, right down to his usual catchphrases and favorite pickup lines.

"… That said, with that kind of history, she just won't sell. We bought her as collateral for her debt, but we can't get rid of her… Her looks are fine, so we kept putting it off… At this point, I just want to cut our losses… So, how about it? She's a bargain."

"I see."

She was certainly well-proportioned, curves where there should be curves and flat where it should be flat. Her hair was the slightly reddish blonde common in this area, and her looks were fine. Well, from my perspective, as long as her legs were good, I had no complaints. Besides, if I'm using her as an inn receptionist, being well-endowed wouldn't hurt.

Just need to make sure I don't get bitten. I'll be careful.

"I'd like to hear from her directly. So, what do you think?"

"I let 'im buy me cuz he said he'd feed me tasty stuff. But then we get home 'n he whips out some crappy thing 'n tells me to 'eat it.' Whaddya expect? I was starvin' cuz I was lookin' forward to some real good eats, y'know? So I got curious if it was really that tasty. If he'd at least properly fed me 'n filled me up first, I woulda properly entertained 'im, yeah?"

That's quite an attitude for a slave.

"Food's more important than life. I don't mind dyin' if it's for food."

"I see, I see."

I'd do pretty much anything for sleep, but to actually boast that she'd die for one of the three basic desires… Yeah, I really like her attitude. Not bad. The cheap price makes her feel like a steal too.

"Niku, what do you think? I don't think she's bad."

"Our meals are delicious, so I think it's fine."

"Oh yeah? Nice! Ya gonna let me have that delicious food too?"

The slave with baggage cut in without being asked. Her collar seemed to squeeze a bit tighter as she let out a small "geh." Is food really that important to you?

I had the shop owner give permission, then continued the conversation.

"I don't know if it'll suit your tastes, but sure."

"Really?! I'll bite it off if yer lyin', y'know? A grudge over food is scary stuff."

"Yeah, I promise. In exchange, you'll work hard, right?"

"I like ya! Hey hey hey, gimme a special discount, Grapher-samaaaa. C'mon, you'd go as low as forty-five silver, right?"

"Hey, don't say unnecessary things! Ah… um, customer, that's, well…"

He was flustered. She really did seem like a problem child.

And her head wasn't bad either. Sensing that I was going to buy her, she immediately supported the haggling to seal the deal. She probably had a solid grasp of her own bottom price.

It might have been something the slave merchant set up, but if she could act this well, that wasn't bad either.

"Ah, then fifty silver is fine."

"… … Thank you very much."

She seemed like a find, so I added five extra coins.