Let's Raise the Difficulty

Morning. Different from usual in some way, yet somehow the same as always.

What was different, perhaps, was how he felt about Azu.

He hadn't slept deeply, but he'd woken refreshed.

Yesterday's sights still lingered in his mind as he climbed out of bed and left his room to wash his face.

When he was about to enter the washroom, he ran into Azu.

"Good morning."

"Ah, morning."

She must have already washed her face. She had a towel draped around her neck.

Stray water droplets caught the light, making Azu seem to glow even brighter than usual.

His heart rate ticked up a notch, but Azu showed no sign of being flustered.

Being the only one flustered felt like losing. He forced himself to stay composed.

"I'll come to your room in a bit."

Azu said that and walked away.

He entered the washroom properly this time.

He used a water magic stone to generate water, waiting for the basin to fill while staring at the mirror.

The same face as always stared back.

He let out a long breath.

Getting rattled by a slave was beneath his dignity as a master.

Setting aside the fact that none of the three could be overpowered physically anymore.

He'd already had them remove every tool meant to control them as slaves.

Being identifiable as slaves on sight invited trouble, and forcing obedience through pain would only lead to sabotage. He'd predicted that much from the start.

The reason his slaves obeyed him now was nothing more or less than trust.

Of course, as slaves, they had nowhere else to go, so a mutual interest existed between them as well.

He dipped his hands into the water that had filled the basin. It was cool to the touch.

Washing his face with it felt like it chilled his brain and cleared his thoughts.

His eyes sharpened.

The motivation to earn a solid day's income came naturally.

Heading out of the washroom, he collided with Elza.

He registered something soft, then lost his balance and toppled backward.

"Oops, sorry about that."

Elza grabbed Yohane's wrist, catching his falling body and pulling him upright.

"You're so light. Are you eating properly?"

"I think you're just too strong."

Going by appearances alone, Elza should have weighed less than him.

It had to be a difference in raw physical strength.

"That's not something you say to a girl, you know?"

"A girl, huh."

Yohane stared at Elza. From her face, to her chest, down to her legs.

Elza had a rather mature appearance, if anything.

Her chest was a decent size, too.

She was beautiful, no argument there, but calling her a "girl" was a bit of a stretch.

Elza closed the distance between them.

Her violet eyes reflected Yohane's face.

… If Azu was lovely, then Elza was beautiful.

Being stared at for too long unsettled the composure he'd just regained.

"Hehe. I'll let it slide. I'm in a good mood today."

She said that, stepped past Yohane, and disappeared into the washroom.

"What was that about?"

Unable to make sense of it, Yohane muttered to himself and returned to his room.

Come to think of it, what about Alexia? He opened the door to the slaves' room to check, and found Azu in the middle of trying to wake her up.

He gently closed the door.

Best not to see a woman drooling. That was mercy.

Back in his own room, he changed clothes and sat in his chair.

His mind finally switched into work mode.

He began clearing through paperwork he'd meant to finish yesterday.

Each individual document was nothing significant, but they added up.

He had to chip away at them whenever he could.

As for the shop, he'd leave it to his employees today.

He really needed to hire someone new soon, too.

Maybe he should consult the orphanage.

When he reached a stopping point, a knock came at the door.

"Come in."

The sound of the doorknob turning, and the door opened.

Azu entered first, the other slaves behind her.

They sat on the carpeted floor, same as always.

It felt like he hadn't seen this scene in a while.

His eyes were drawn to Azu's legs.

Never forget your roots, as they say.

He moved the finished paperwork aside, looked over his slaves, and considered what to do next.

The biggest issue had been securing an auction ticket, and thanks to Azu they had one. Next came building up funds for the auction itself.

Given how strong Azu and the others were now, they could afford to be selective about jobs…

Going to the labyrinth, which they'd been avoiding until now, might be a good idea.

"Alright, about what's next."

"Yes."

"We've had our vacation and recharged, so I'm planning to have you earn hard from here on out."

Azu nodded.

The other two seemed content to leave the back-and-forth to her.

Whether they trusted her as their leader or simply dumped the tedious stuff on her was anyone's guess.

"Let's see… How about this one?"

The Hill of Lament.

A hill in name, but a mountain in practice.

A high-difficulty labyrinth located a fair distance from the Kingdom.

He hadn't considered it as an option before, but with Azu and the others at their current level, it should be manageable.

Currently, they were rated among the top of the mid-tier adventurers by the Adventurer's Guild.

What the Hill of Lament yielded was gemstones like mica and agate, along with weapons and armor forged from mithril.

Among other things, apparently.

A place where you could earn steadily, supposedly.

It was popular with large-scale teams fielding many adventurers, as well as parties confident in their skill.

The catch was that harvesting too many items and flooding the market would crash the going rates.

Mithril equipment prices hadn't fluctuated much lately, so now should be safe.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't get much information on this labyrinth. High-difficulty labyrinths tend to be like that, it seems. The information itself has value."

Rumors alone weren't going to contribute much to their safety.

All he could do was prepare them thoroughly before sending them off, same as always.

"Understood. I'll get everything ready right away."

Saying that, Azu stood up.

Her motivated response drew a nod from Yohane.

While Azu and the others were out, he'd hire that new employee for the shop.