A Pain, but It Seems Discipline Is Necessary...

Negotiations with the slave merchant dragged on.

The product's peculiarities, the steep price, the high utility. The difficulty of handling her.

I weighed it all on the scales and decided to buy.

Unlike the other two, she was a considerable powder keg, but her potential was too high to ignore.

I dragged the reluctant slave to my room and shoved her inside.

I'd had Elza and Azu wait in the room beforehand, but rather than sitting them down, I had them stand behind my chair.

This time, intimidation was necessary.

The new slave the merchant had prepared was a nobleman's daughter from the Empire. She'd been taken hostage during a border skirmish with the Empire, only for the other side to abandon her in negotiations.

Apparently they were of the noble family that caused the whole incident, and for whatever reason, the whole family charged in at the vanguard together.

Are they stupid…?

The slave I'd just bought was Alexia Tentakil, formerly of the Empire's nobility.

She was the young lady of House Tentakil, who held territory along the border with the Kingdom. A mage and knight, I was told.

House Tentakil had been swayed by radical elements within the Empire. They'd destroyed the good relationship they'd built with the Kingdom and ultimately led the charge as the vanguard.

Their plan had been to rack up victories and position House Tentakil to reap the lion's share of the spoils, or so they'd schemed. Instead, they suffered a crushing defeat in the very first battle. The head of the house was killed. Alexia was captured and taken hostage.

Why did they even decide to fight?

The Empire promptly decided to dissolve House Tentakil as a gesture to the Kingdom, and since no ransom was paid for Alexia, she fell into slavery.

How to put it… well, similar stories happen with merchants too, but the sheer lack of foresight was staggering.

And naturally, enslaving a girl that short-sighted meant she was going to be defiant.

Azu clung to me because she had no other means of survival.

Elza compromised out of resignation.

But this Alexia didn't have the sense for either.

Case in point: right now, she was glaring daggers at me, her master.

Azu kept glancing my way nervously. Elza's face was perfectly composed.

Before I could even open my mouth, Alexia started laying into me.

"I-I am a noblewoman. I refuse to be a sla—!"

"You were sold as a slave through proper procedures and I bought you."

"There must be some mistake. The Empire will pay my ransom any—"

What a pain. Azu and Elza really had been easy to reason with, I realized.

Before Alexia could say anything else, I slapped her right cheek with my left hand.

Alexia recoiled in shock and fell back onto the floor.

She'd been on the verge of working herself into a frenzy, but the fight drained out of her in an instant. At the end of the day, she was just a girl who'd been shielded by her status as a noble.

As a slave, she couldn't raise a hand against her master. To me, she was nothing more than a helpless girl. A product I'd paid good money for and fully intended to recoup.

"That hurt… What are you doing?"

"What? Discipline. First of all, who said you could speak?"

I grabbed a fistful of Alexia's long red hair.

She hadn't been able to maintain it while in captivity, but even so, it was beautifully silken.

I brought my face right up to hers.

I kept my expression stern.

… I'd never seen a nobleman's daughter this close before, and she was certainly different from a commoner.

Azu and Elza were both quite beautiful, but Alexia was no less striking.

Those eyes, especially. Golden, rivaling her red hair.

She must have been adored back in her world.

But now, she was mine.

I could see Alexia flinching under my unyielding stare.

… Her parents had died just like that, she'd been captured and made a slave, and the Empire, her last bastion of hope, had written her off without hesitation.

She had no reason to be defiant in the first place.

She mouthed off because she didn't know any better, and that same lack of sense made her crumble the moment she faced something she couldn't overpower.

"You're not a noblewoman anymore. You're just my product, the same as the two behind you. I bought you because you're useful as a mage."

I tightened my grip on her hair.

The pain of having it yanked drew a muffled scream from Alexia.

"S-Stop it."

"I'll spell it out for you, since you're so short on sense. If you're of no use to me, there are any number of people who'd want to buy you. A former noble lady… I'm sure you'd draw no end of customers."

"Customers? What are you…"

I grabbed Alexia's breast. Her face went taut with shock.

"Don't you understand? What it means for a woman to take customers."

Her breast fit neatly in my hand. I kneaded it.

"Revolting… you're scum."

I let out a sigh. I wouldn't have minded carrying on and enjoying myself, but that wasn't the response I wanted to hear. This woman had apparently never once known what it was to be at a disadvantage.

That she couldn't grasp what it meant to provoke someone from a losing position left me thoroughly exasperated.

I took my hand from her breast and used it to slap Alexia's cheek again.

Not to cause pain, but so it would ring out.

It was also meant to make an example of her discipline for the two behind me.

Teary-eyed, Alexia buried her face in both hands.

I pushed her hands aside and forced her to meet my eyes.

"I don't care what you think. You're not a noblewoman with guaranteed rights anymore. Your rights are guaranteed by me and me alone. Make yourself useful."

After a long, silent stare-down, Alexia nodded.

She'd finally grasped that resistance was pointless.

"What should I do… What do you want from me?"

She asked, head hanging after I released her hair.

"I already told you. I bought you as a mage. You're going to become an adventurer and do nothing but earn money."

"… Me, an adventurer?"

Alexia raised her head.

There was no defiance in her eyes. She genuinely didn't understand.

"F-For something like that…"

"Mages are valuable. You came with all sorts of extras attached, like being a former Imperial noble, but if you're nobility, you're guaranteed to be a properly trained mage."

From a life of comfort to risking her life as a slave adventurer.

It must have been quite the shock. She didn't raise her head again for a long while.

Call it a twist of fate, but in a way, she was nothing but a victim.

She'd lost a war her parents had started, been captured, and then her backers pretended she didn't exist. Normally in cases like these, the hostage was returned after a ransom was paid, but I'd heard the Empire's envoy hadn't uttered a single word about it.

For my part, I was grateful to gain another useful piece, even if she'd cost a pretty penny.

Since she wasn't moving, I had Azu and Elza push her into the bedroom.

Azu moved with brisk efficiency, apparently spooked by Alexia's disciplining.

Elza was her usual unfazed self.

The room was big enough for four people, so three shouldn't feel all that cramped.

I settled into my chair and let out a long breath.

This one was going to be a handful for a while.

I'd need to outfit Alexia with new equipment, too.

… A battle dress, maybe?