The Teary-Eyed Slave

After closing up shop and sending the employee home, I was in the middle of counting the day's earnings, my favorite part of any day, when an irritable guard showed up at the shop. When I asked what the matter was, he just said "come with me" and dragged me out.

Getting hauled around by a guard was a first, and I wasn't pleased about it, but the man's foul mood was written all over his face. Better to play along until I understood the situation.

He brought me outside the gate. Both gatekeepers had troubled looks on their faces.

The reason was immediately obvious. And so was why I'd been dragged out here.

Outside the gate sat a blood-soaked bag stuffed with snake heads, and beside it, my slave, drenched head to toe in blood.

Azu was on the verge of bawling, sniffling every so often.

What on earth had happened? The gatekeepers didn't seem to have done anything to her.

The guard turned to me with a face like he'd been chewing gravel.

"So this kid apparently dropped her bag on the way back and snake heads spilled out everywhere. Gave everyone a real scare, but hey, she's an adventurer, it happens. Thing is, I can't let her into town looking like that. You understand, right? She's your slave, so deal with it."

He clearly wasn't interested in a rebuttal, rattling all of that off at machine-gun speed.

Still, I got the picture. Azu had done her job but fumbled on the way back.

She was a teenage girl. Being drenched in blood was enough to make anyone cry.

I told the guard and gatekeepers I'd handle it and slipped them some drinking money for their trouble.

The guard had come straight to me because it was the fastest solution. Kept things from turning into a bigger hassle. The matter ended here.

The moment the guard realized it was handled, his sour expression flipped to a grin and he hurried back into town. Definitely heading straight for a tavern.

The two gatekeepers looked sympathetic toward Azu, but they were on duty. They asked me to at least get the blood off her. Fair enough.

I took Azu to a stream a short distance away.

The sky was starting to turn orange. If I dawdled, it'd be dark soon.

Azu had devolved into a full-on blubbering mess, so I dumped water over her head to snap her out of it.

"… The water's cold."

"Wash your face first. Actually, wash whatever you can. This stream doesn't feed into the town, so nobody will complain."

"Okay."

I rushed back to the shop and grabbed a change of clothes and towels from Azu's room.

All part of a master's job… was it? Regardless, Azu couldn't enter the town like this.

When I returned to the stream, the blood was off Azu's face and hair.

Wet, Azu was really quite cute. Glad I bought her.

No time for admiring, though. If it got dark, the gates would shut and I wouldn't be able to get in either. That meant opening the shop late tomorrow. A serious financial loss.

I was not joking.

The blood had soaked through her clothes, all the way to her undergarments. The armor, at least, cleaned up easily.

After confirming nobody else was around, I had Azu change.

The blood was caked on everything, underwear included.

Bringing spare undergarments had been the right call.

When Azu realized she'd have to change everything, underwear included, she shot me a look of protest, but there was no time to humor a slave's modesty. I stripped her down without ceremony. She turned red as a boiled lobster.

I soaked a towel in the stream, wrung it out, and wiped her body down.

She was covered in blood, but it was all snake blood. Not a single wound on her. Slender frame. Ask anyone if she was suited for adventuring and they'd say no.

Maybe I'd let my preferences run a bit too wild.

But I hadn't started this on a whim alone. I'd poured in money I valued second only to my own life.

Until I saw clear results, she was staying the course.

Besides, it wasn't as if I could afford a slave who was already capable.

I dried off the blood, then the moisture, and put her underwear on her.

Azu had given up resisting and complied quietly.

The outfit I'd brought was a blue one-piece. It looked far more natural on her than the adventurer getup from before.

I bundled the dirty clothes together and handed the armor and gauntlets to Azu.

As for the bag of snake heads… I'd leave it. Monster snake heads had resilient life force, so they wouldn't rot quickly. Or so I'd been told.

I'd have Azu bring them to the guild tomorrow. She needed to file her report too.

After that, I'd give her some rest. Had to take care of her, or she wouldn't last.

Azu's eyes were still a bit puffy, but she'd mostly calmed down.

That was when everything seemed to finally register.

"Um… Master. I'm sorry."

"For making me get dragged all the way to the gate?"

"Yes. And for everything else. Having to wipe me down, causing all this trouble…"

There she went again, getting teary-eyed. I'd figured she was tougher than she looked, but maybe not.

"I told you yesterday. You're mine. Maintaining your tools is the owner's job. And you came back having done your work."

I toweled off her still-damp hair.

Long hair took forever to dry… Well, good enough. She was clean.

I stood up to leave, and Azu threw herself into my chest.

She clung on tight.

Strong grip, actually. Maybe the results of killing all those monsters were already showing?

Azu pressed her face into my chest and stayed still for a while.

Then she let go.

"—I'm okay now."

"Good."

A little life had returned to her eyes. She'd be ready to work again.

The sky wasn't dark yet.

I stopped by the gate and let the gatekeepers know I'd be leaving the blood-soaked bag nearby for now.

They told me to deal with it by tomorrow, but agreed it could stay for the night.

Back at the shop, I drew a bath. The small fire magic stone glowed and the water heated up quickly.

Azu had only wiped herself down with hot water yesterday, after all.

She'd been in the stream, so she had to be freezing.

I shoved Azu into the bath and threw together a light meal while she soaked. I still hadn't eaten dinner either…

I roughly chopped potatoes and dried onions from storage, tossed them in a pot to boil.

Added sausages made from salted meat, plus herbs. Mixed equal parts flour and water into a dough and spooned it into the pot in lumps.

Pinch of salt and done. The salted meat sausages gave it a rich broth.

I fed the freshly bathed, steaming Azu until she was stuffed, then sent her off to her room.

… Now then. Time to finish up work.

There were no shortcuts to making money.