Approval Up, Approval Down

Master and Elza returned to the inn, and Azu came to greet them at the door.

"Welcome back, Master. Elza-san."

Azu's hair was different from usual, beautifully groomed.

Her hair had always been naturally pretty, but life as an adventurer meant it sometimes had flyaways or was a little rough.

Now it was silky smooth, like a different person entirely.

The results of Alexia's grooming lessons, no doubt.

He touched her hair lightly. Azu looked ticklish but didn't pull away.

Azu was the most obedient toward Master.

He laid her hair across the back of his hand and lifted it, watching the strands slide off like silk.

The texture was pleasant.

It had a glossy sheen, and the light caught what people called an angel's halo across the crown of her head.

"Looking good."

"Really? Thank you!"

Azu beamed at that.

The kind of smile a girl her age would show, more cute than beautiful.

Compared to her awkward smiles from the beginning, she'd learned to smile much more naturally, Master thought.

"Where's Alexia?"

"She's in the back."

Azu gestured deeper inside.

"You're back."

Speaking of Alexia, the woman herself appeared.

She was in her underwear.

"Have some modesty."

"I was drying my hair. It's fine, there's nobody here but us, and it's a bit late for you to be seeing anything new."

True enough. Master had made her change in front of him before, so he'd seen her like this plenty of times.

"Do you not have any shame? Any at all?"

"Fine, fine, I get it, Master!"

As Master pressed the point, Alexia raised both hands in surrender.

She put on the loungewear she'd prepared.

Naturally, he hadn't made her wear the battle dress meant for combat here in the city, not even indoors.

It wasn't just Alexia protesting; even Elza had said it was a bit pitiful, and the outfit was absurdly conspicuous.

She'd obviously have to wear it for the arena, though. Alexia didn't yet know that.

Azu glanced at Elza and noticed the earrings.

"Those are beautiful. The same color as your eyes, Elza-san."

"Thanks. Hehe, he bought them for me."

Elza swept her hair aside with her right arm so Azu could see the earrings better.

Azu leaned in to look.

The translucent purple gems reflected the light in a lovely sparkle.

"Oh right, Alexia. Here."

Master handed Alexia a ring adorned with a blue gemstone.

Even Alexia's eyes went wide.

In both the Empire and the Kingdom, the meaning of a man giving a woman a ring wasn't all that different.

From Alexia's perspective, however, Master showed absolutely no sign of that kind of atmosphere.

She was a slave, so in theory she had no right to complain about anything he did.

The only reason Alexia's complaints were tolerated was that Master had simply gotten tired of getting worked up over every little thing.

"Um… that's not what this is, right?"

"What? Look, remember the elemental crystals? I delivered them today, and this whole venture of turning slaves into adventurers is finally producing results. I plan to improve the day-to-day returns too, of course, but I figured some tangible rewards wouldn't hurt."

Master spoke in good spirits.

A business that had started with no know-how, just buying Azu, an ordinary girl.

An incredibly precarious venture, but fortunately, it had found its footing.

Looking back, it had been quite the tightrope walk.

Visible revenue outside his main tool shop was exactly what Master had planned for.

Naturally, he was in a good mood.

"Oh. Right. Of course. Well, if you're offering, I'll gratefully accept. Master."

Alexia let out a heavy sigh at herself for getting even slightly flustered.

She had no feelings of that sort toward Master.

But Alexia had never been in love, and age-wise, she straddled the line between girl and woman.

Getting a little flustered just because a man gave her a ring was only natural.

She took the ring from Master and slipped it onto her right ring finger.

If it was just a token of appreciation and nothing more, then there was no reason to make anything of it, she decided.

The ring fit perfectly, and Alexia stole a glance at Master.

He was busy talking with Elza and Azu.

Alexia stroked the iolite ring once, then raised her right hand, letting the gemstone catch the light.

"Not bad at all."

Alexia seemed to like it.

"Oh right, Spartia's got loads of monster hunting quests, so I'd like you to earn a bit before the Colosseum."

"… And here I was starting to think better of you. I really do think there's something wrong with you, Master."

"Oh, come on. Sitting around until the Colosseum would just make you rusty."

The slight bump in Alexia's approval of Master had already dipped back down.

"I could accept it if you were competing in the Colosseum too, but it's only us out there."

"Now, now, Alexia-chan. It's true that we'd just be sitting around otherwise. And you'll treat us to better food in return, right? I'd love some fish."

Elza stepped in to mediate, slipping in a sidelong request of her own.

Spartia sat a fair distance from the sea, but there were several large rivers nearby. River fish were apparently easy to come by.

Still, feeding four people would be pricey. Even buying from the market and bringing it to the inn would cost a fair amount.

Monster meat that was safe to eat was actually cheaper.

"Fine, fine. Workers deserve proper compensation, even if they're slaves. Tonight's dinner will be fish for four, so earn it."

"Okay! Let's go, everyone!"

"Right. I'd better put my hair ornament away so I don't lose it."

Azu said this and carefully tucked the ornament into the supply pouch she'd gotten from Master.

Inside the pouch was a single silver coin, the one she'd received the very first time she met Master.

To Azu, these two things were her treasures.