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Chapter 51 : Let’s Buy Slaves
🕑 Added 2022-06-18 17:56:32 +0000 UTCTL:SummerPeanut
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I returned to Irgusia and talked to Zeke about the magic stone in Almeria.
He said that we should definitely exchange the magic stones for cash.
The Bryant family is obviously one of the richer ones among the viscounts.
Even so, Ike, myself, Clarice, and Leena are going to need a lot of tuition fees.
Especially the first three who are going to live in a dormitory in another country. I understand how Zeke feels.
“I've been thinking about buying a slave for a while now.”
When Zeke said this, Clarice and I looked at each other.
I know it is natural for people from here but for those of us who grew up in Japan, there is some resistance to it.
"Where do people sell their slaves?”
When Ike asked, we found out that they are sold in slave shops in most of the labyrinth cities and border towns.
He told us that there was a large slave shop in Almeria, too, which we were unaware of.
Soon after, Zeke and the three of us returned to Almeria and headed for the slave shop.
The slave shop was located in the northeast of the city, in an area I had never been to before.
When we entered the store, the owner of the store came to Zeke and started to sell his services.
"Dear customer. What kind are you looking for? We have a nice selection of slaves that have recently come in."
Zeke looked at Ike and motioned for him to speak up.
"We're adventurers looking for porter-luggage handlers. So we are looking for someone with high strength and agility."
When Ike said this, the owner gave him a difficult look.
"I'm sorry, but we don't have any person that fulfills your condition.”
“So you're saying there are amongst the non-humans?”
Zeke said, and the owner looked at him with a difficult expression on his face.
"Yes, there are many beastmen who fit that description. However, as you may know, beastmen do not easily recognize those who are weaker than themselves as their masters… The slaves here are not criminal slaves so the slaves have the right to choose…”
“Alright. If that is the case, there is no problem. May I have a proper look at them first?"
The owner nodded reluctantly as Zeke said so and we headed to the back of the store.
The back of the restaurant has several rooms with glass walls so that buyers can see from the outside.
The rooms are very clean and could pass for a normal apartment if not for the glass walls.
Apparently, the slaves can also see us from their side.
The slaves' eyes were not dead but they were looking at us as if they were trying to evaluate us.
It seems that the slaves have the right to choose their masters to some extent.
The slaves' room was a room for four, and there were separate rooms for men and women.
There were 28 people in total. In other words, seven rooms were in use, and only one room was vacant.
I appraised all of them but none of them were suitable as adventurers.
"Mars, did you find any that looked good?"
Zeke asked me that, and I told him about the appraisal results of everyone here.
"No, none of them fit the criteria.”
When Zeke heard these words, he said to the shopkeeper.
"Let me see some non-humans. I hear there are non-humans here who can keep up with adventurers."
"…I understand. But let me tell you something first.
The reason there are no human adventurer slaves is that they have already been bought by adventurers in this town. And the reason why beastmen slaves remain unsold is because they are stronger than the adventurers in this city and they pride themselves to never serve weak masters.”
Hmmm…… I was not convinced, so I asked the shopkeeper a question.
"Why did the shopkeeper purchase such beastmen slaves then? The shopkeeper knows the level of adventurers in this town, right? It wouldn't be cheap for this store to continue to feed the slaves.”
“It is to prepare for the stampede of magic beasts and the labyrinth overflow.
Only in the event of a stampede of magic beasts or a labyrinth-overflow can I force them to fight. This will not be done in violation of the contract that I have made with them. I have been told by the Count of Carmel to make sure that I have good beastmen on hand to protect this city……"
So the point is that they were kept here only for emergencies. Then the owner continued..
“In the past, there were B-class adventurers here so we sold few because some of them recognized those adventurers as their master……Now, all the promising newcomers have gone to Irgusia, and B-class adventurers or B-rank parties have gone to other cities and battlefields…"
I felt that half of this was Zeke's fault.
I suspect that Irgusia will absorb Almeria in the future……
“Thank you for sharing your situation. Please show us. We'll handle the negotiations."
I said and the owner took us to the far end of the store.
It was the same layout as the human slaves' rooms mentioned earlier, but with two people per room, making the rooms larger than those of the humans.
The youngest was about 6 years old, and the oldest was around 30.
When the male beastmen slaves saw us, they would threaten us with their fangs and sharp eyes.
The female beastmen looked at us with contempt as if they were looking at us like we were filth. These eyes are the type that shouldn’t be shown to Dames at all.
It is as if to declare, ‘We will never accept you.’
And the room at the far end was a beastmen occupying the room meant for two.
That room was the only one that was specially ordered, and the interior, as well as the size of the room, was so luxurious that it looked different from the other rooms.
"Why is this room the only special one?"
Zeke asked the owner.
“The adult in this room is the former Duke of Syrian, one of the 12 dukes of the Lister Confederacy.
As you know, the Confederacy of Lister is made up of a round table council of 12 dukes, but Duke Syrian, the representative of the beastmen, was exiled after the coup d'etat. The Count of Carmel took him over for an exorbitant price……”
"Why are the slaves that Count Carmel bought for an exorbitant price kept here?
If Count Carmel bought him for such a high price, wouldn't it be normal for him to keep them near himself?”
Zeke's question is valid. Not as a slave, but he should be put as a knight under his command……Eh? Don’t tell me!
"Duke Syrian said that he would not be subordinate to Count Carmel who is weaker than him…”
When the owner said this, I looked inside the custom-made glass-walled room.
There was a golden lion-man and a lion.
It was when I was just about to appraise the man and the lion.
The glass wall in the golden lion man’s room broke and the man came out.
He came out and attacked me with tremendous killing intent and speed.
I deployed Sylphid with all my might, and while predicting his attacks with Foresight, I used Wind Impulse to blow Zeke, Ike, Clarice, and the shopkeeper, who were all frozen stiff by the man's murderous intent backward and tried to blast the lion man forward with Wind Impulse.
The golden lion man was not affected by Wind Impulse at all and came right in front of me and took an attack position.
Clearly, there is too much of a power difference between us since I can’t see his attack despite using Foresight.
No matter what I did to defend myself, he attacked at a speed that exceeded my own.
I tried to mitigate the impact of the attack by spreading my magic throughout my body.
When the man's right hand came right in front of my face, his right hand was shot off.
Apparently, Clarice was able to break off from his killing intent after she got carried backward with my Wind and cast Barrier magic that appeared right between me and the golden lion.
The golden lion looked at his right hand and me with a surprised look on his face but immediately aimed his left hand at my head.
I tried to guard that left hand with all my might.
"UOOOOOOOGGGHHH!!!”
I screamed as I attempt to guard the man's left hand with both hands but in my Foresight, my head was pierced by the golden lion's left hand.
As expected there is an overwhelming difference in speed. But I can't give up here.
As I tried with all my might to guard my head against the man's left hand, I felt my magic leaving my body.
Barely just in time, I managed to slip my hands in front of the man's left hand.
The golden lion looked surprised and tried to stop his left hand.
The man's left hand stopped just in front of my two hands but my magical power countered back.
"BACHIIIINNNNNN!!!!”
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
The store is unusually noisy today.
Are there customers or alike?
Well, it doesn't matter as long as they don't bring them here.
After a while, Herik, the owner of the store, brought someone with him.
The beasties around were all stimulated. What a small fry!
Herik and someone are still talking.
From the sound of their voices, I guess he is talking to a father and his son.
It was when I was looking at the outside of the glass wall.
A blonde-haired kid was trying to assess me.
Screw you, you little shit!!! To think that a random kid would disrespect me!!!
I broke the glass to scare him and let out a full-on blast of killing intent.
No human could withstand my killing intent. The B-class adventurers who were here previously were also frozen stiff after all.
At first, I was going to shake them lightly but one of them resisted my killing intent.
It’s the damned kid who was trying to size me up!
The kid surprisingly blew his family backward and used Wind magic to keep me away.
It's a kind of magic with minimal killing power.
I released a bloodlust-filled attack that would stop by skin of his teeth and was going to lightly stroke the kid's head with my right hand.
The kid seemed to be able to move reasonably well, but not really that impressive. I was about to place my right hand on his head without any difficulty but something I couldn't see bounced me off.
The impact was so strong that it seemed to take my body with it.
I was a little surprised but I couldn't back down so I immediately tried to nudge his head with my left hand.
The kid was trying hard to guard himself but there was no way he could keep up with my speed.
Just as my hand was about to touch his head, something unusual happened.
The kid's hands were right in front of my left hand for unknown reason.
I thought that at this rate I was going to penetrate the kid's left hand so I desperately tried to stop my left hand.
The result was that it stopped.
As soon as my hand stopped, there was a loud noise and a burning smell filled the room, and my left hand lost all feeling.
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Author’s note:
If you feel the series is even a bit interesting and are curious about the story’s continuation, please consider giving ★★★★★ and bookmark as it will really help with my motivation. m(__)m
TL: Interesting result from Foresight. I translated it as foresight but the raw text itself means more like future vision. Foresight is either unable to see interference from Unique Skills or it doesn’t predict the future but deduces the most likely future based on Mars’s known information.
