"Why, if it isn't the Hero! What brings you here today?"
As I poked my head into the tent, that gentleman of a slave merchant greeted us with an exaggeratedly courteous bow.
"Oh my?"
The slave merchant fixed his gaze on Raphtalia, letting an impressed voice slip out.
"What a remarkable change. I never imagined she'd grow into such fine merchandise."
As he said this, he let his shoulders sag in my direction as though some great disappointment had befallen him.
"...What's that supposed to mean?"
"I had assumed you'd be more of my type, but I see I was mistaken."
I'd better hold back from asking what exactly he meant by that.
"A true slave handler keeps them alive, keeps them dead, and raises their quality all the while," I shot back at the slave merchant in a low, threatening voice.
"The slaves you know are just disposable tools, aren't they?"
"Na-Naofumi!?"
Raphtalia looked up at me with worry in her eyes.
I was self-aware enough to know I was getting a little carried away.
For lack of a better way to put it—I simply had more breathing room than before.
"...Hehehe. Is that so? I'm getting chills down my spine!"
The slave merchant—apparently pleased with my answer—grinned from ear to ear.
"Now then, regarding the appraisal of this slave... Having grown into such fine merchandise, if she is no longer a virgin, the price would be seven gold coins... What do you say?"
"Why has selling me already been decided!? And I am a virgin!"
The slave merchant let out a surprised cry at Raphtalia's words.
"Oh!? Then let us set it at fifteen gold coins. Would you care to verify whether she is truly a virgin?"
"Naofumi!!"
Raphtalia—fifteen gold coins!?
"Naofumi!? Hey, say something!"
Fifteen gold coins—that was enough to buy a Level 75 werewolf!
While my mind was racing with these thoughts, Raphtalia grabbed my shoulder with a terrifying expression.
"Naofumi... I suggest you stop your little jokes, or I will get angry."
"What's wrong? Why the scary face?"
"Because you're showing absolutely no defense of me, even though I'm the one being appraised."
"I have to act like I've got the upper hand, or he'll walk all over me."
That was the best cover I could come up with. If she realized I'd briefly been caught up in the thought of how much she was worth, Raphtalia might never look at me the same way again.
After all, I could never bring myself to sell the one person in this world who believed in me.
"Fifteen gold coins, huh..."
I murmured quietly, and Raphtalia's grip tightened.
"Ow, ow!"
Raphtalia's attack power... It really does exceed my defense, doesn't it.
This was reassuring. In a combat sense, that is.
"...Is it all right if I leave now?"
"I'm joking. I was just thinking about how beautiful Raphtalia has become, and how highly she's been appraised."
"I-I... Naofumi, really..."
For some reason, Raphtalia became docile and started blushing.
This behavior was infuriating.
...I thought so myself, but why? What had come over me?
"Well, merchant, I've already decided I'm not selling this one."
"Is that so... A tremendous shame. Then, what business do you have?"
"Ah, you haven't heard? The commotion at the castle."
The slave merchant let out another grin in response to my question.
"I have indeed. The curse on the slaves was lifted, was it not?"
"If you know, then we can get to the point... In fact, if you already know why I'm here, then stop appraising her."
That had mostly been about me nearly losing Raphtalia's good graces, for the record.
Honestly...
"That king's little outburst won't abolish this country's slave system, no. Not at all."
"Hm? Nobles don't buy slaves, do they?"
"Oh no, that's not the case at all. Quite the opposite—in fact, it's the wealthy who buy them the most. There are many uses for them, you see. Yes indeed."
"That scumbag king, Aultcray—the Spear Hero's backer—did he really say those things? Wouldn't that make the nobles resent him? Well, I know I would."
That would be ironic, though.
Rather, if that actually happened, the country might improve.
"Well, this country is far from unified. If he did something like that, the ones who'd suffer would be the nobles who publicly supported him. Yes indeed."
"That mustache old man has that much power?"
Was this some kind of dictatorship?
If so, it wouldn't last ten years. Eventually there'd be a rebellion and the kingdom would fall.
After all, a scumbag king was ruling, and a bitch princess was his successor.
"Well, you see. In this country, more than the king—"
"Um... What happened with the Slave Crest?"
"Oh right, that's what we came for."
I'd gone off on a tangent. Come to think of it, I'd never see that scumbag king again, so it really didn't matter.
"So you came to have the curse re-applied. Yes indeed."
"Yeah. Can you do it?"
"I can do it at any time."
The slave merchant snapped his fingers, and a subordinate brought over the jar from when the slave registration had been performed.
Raphtalia timidly removed her chest plate, exposing her chest.
"H-how is it?"
"What?"
"...Good grief."
?
Why was she being so shy about it?
She even let out a sigh.
Had I done something?
After that, just like before, I smeared the blood-infused ink onto the spot where Raphtalia's Slave Crest had been.
"The pattern has been destroyed, but repairs are still quite possible, you see."
"Oh..."
The vanished pattern began to resurface, glowing on Raphtalia's chest.
"Kuh..."
It still hurt, apparently. Raphtalia was bearing the pain.
The slave icon returned to my field of vision.
I checked the relevant items for commands and violations.
...I'd go lighter on them than before.
Raphtalia had returned to being a slave so that I would believe in her. I needed to believe in her too.
"Now then."
As I was considering what to do, my eyes happened to fall on the plate with the leftover ink.
When I touched it, the shield reacted.
"Hey, could you spare me some of that ink? I'll pay for however much it's worth."
"Certainly, that's fine."
I poured the leftover ink from the plate onto the shield.
Shhhh... the shield absorbed the ink.
The Slave Trader's Shield's conditions have been unlocked.
The Slave Trader's Shield II's conditions have been unlocked.
Slave Trader's Shield Ability locked... Equipment Bonus, Slave Growth Correction (Minor)
Slave Trader's Shield II Ability locked... Equipment Bonus, Slave Status Correction (Minor)
The Slave Trader's Shield, huh... Well, it made a certain kind of sense.
A new skill tree had appeared—it was originally derived from the Small Shield. As such, it wasn't particularly strong.
But the Equipment Bonus was a little enticing.
A growth correction, was it?
Come to think of it, I'd only spilled a small amount of ink—why did two shields unlock?
I glanced at Raphtalia.
"What is it?"
Oh right—I'd once had the shield absorb her hair. At the time, my attention had been on the Rage Shield, but maybe this one had been filled as well.
That was probably it. The Slave Trader's Shield II had been the one. Since the tree was filled, it unlocked together with the other.
That was my best guess.
If that was the case...
"Raphtalia, could you give me a little blood?"
"What for?"
"No particular reason. I just want to run a little experiment."
Tilting her head, Raphtalia did the same thing I'd done when adding blood to the ink—she lightly pricked her fingertip with a knife and let a few drops fall onto the shield I held out.
The Slave Trader's Shield III's conditions have been unlocked.
Slave Trader's Shield III Ability locked... Equipment Bonus, Slave Growth Correction (Medium)
Yes! My theory was correct!
"Naofumi? You look like you're having fun."
"Yeah, an interesting shield showed up."
"That's wonderful."
I switched my equipped shield to the Slave Trader's Shield and waited for the abilities to unlock.
"Well then... Hmm?"
Most of my business here was done, and as I turned to leave, a wooden crate of eggs in the corner of the tent caught my eye.
I didn't recognize them. What were they?
"What are those over there?"
I asked the slave merchant.
"Ah, those are our other line of trade goods."
"What's your other line of work?"
"Monster merchant."
He answered with an oddly enthusiastic tone.
"Monsters? So this world has Monster Tamers and the like?"
"You're quick on the uptake. I'm surprised the Hero doesn't know about them?"
"I don't think I've ever met one..."
"Naofumi."
Raphtalia raised her hand.
"What?"
"Filolials were raised by Monster Tamers, you know?"
I'd never heard that name before. What was she referring to?
"What are those?"
"The birds that pull carriages in place of horses in town."
"Oh, those things."
Those things that looked nothing but like giant chickens.
I'd thought they were just a species unique to this world, but apparently they were monsters.
"There was someone in my village who made a living raising monsters. The ranch was full of monsters being raised for meat."
"Oh..."
Maybe livestock ranching and things like it fell under the Monster Tamer category in this world.
"So what about those eggs?"
"Monsters won't bond with humans unless they hatch from eggs, you see. That's why we trade in eggs like this."
"I see."
"Would you like to see the cages with the already-raised monsters?"
If I wanted one, he'd sell it. This slave merchant was quite the shrewd businessman.
"No, I'm good for now."
I had other things to deal with.
"That sign propped up on top of the egg crate—what does it say?"
I couldn't read the writing, but there was an arrow pointing at the crate with what looked like numbers.
"One hundred silver coins per try—Monster Egg Lottery!"
"One hundred coins is steep."
We had five hundred and eight silver coins—a pretty hefty sum.
"They're expensive monsters, after all."
"Just for reference, Filolials—what do they go for on average in your shop?"
"...Two hundred silver coins for an adult, I'd say. It varies depending on feathers, breed, and such. Yes indeed."
"If an adult costs that much, then chicks must be cheaper. And if that's just the egg price with raising costs excluded... is it actually a good deal?"
"Not at all—all the eggs over there include other species as well."
"I see. You called it a lottery, didn't you?"
So there were hits and misses.
If you drew a blank, it'd be a disaster. If you hit, you'd come out ahead.
"So there's nothing guaranteed in that box?"
"My goodness! How could the Hero think we'd run such a cruel business!?"
"Am I wrong?"
"I take pride in my business. I do enjoy deceiving customers with lies, but I refuse to misrepresent the goods I sell."
"You enjoy deceiving people but refuse to misrepresent goods..."
What kind of logic was that? I thought half-exasperated.
"So? What's the prize?"
"To make it easy for the Hero to understand—it would be a Riding Dragon."
A Riding Dragon... Probably a dragon that the generals of the knight order rode?
"Like a horse but a dragon?"
"This time it's a flying type. It's very popular, so... noble customers keep taking a crack at it."
A flying dragon, huh... That had a certain ring to it.
"Naofumi?"
"According to market value, the prize is worth about twenty gold coins."
"And the odds? Just for the one that gives the Riding Dragon."
"We prepared two hundred fifty eggs for this lottery. There's one in there."
One in two hundred fifty.
"We've cast a powerful spell so that you can't tell by appearance or weight. The purchase is made with the understanding that you might draw a blank."
"That's good business practice."
"Yes, and the winner is required to provide their name and participate in our advertising efforts."
"Hmm, the odds are..."
"If you buy ten, you're guaranteed a hit from this special box over there. Yes indeed."
"I take it the Riding Dragon isn't in there?"
"No. However, you're guaranteed something worth at least three hundred silver coins."
A smile naturally crept onto my face.
Wait a second... Isn't this just a completion gacha!?
This was the kind of scheme designed to benefit the house in the long run.
I'd nearly been swindled once again.
"Hmm..."
But I had to admit—this was quite interesting.
Come to think of it, having Raphtalia as my only companion might become a problem down the line.
Which was more cost-effective—buying a new slave or raising a monster?
Testing out the newly unlocked Slave Shield would be fun too. Raphtalia's level was already high, so the growth correction wouldn't benefit her as much.
But then, the faces of Aultcray and the others suddenly came to mind.
Those guys had been really loud about freeing the slaves... probably because Raphtalia was a beautiful girl, but still.
And I'd felt plenty of times that even having Raphtalia around was troublesome.
Slaves required equipment purchases, which meant they were expensive—especially for someone like me with no money.
"All right, I'll buy one to try it out."
"Thank you! This time, we'll include the cost of the bonding ritual at no extra charge."
"You're too generous. I like that sort of thing."
"Naofumi!?"
"What?"
"You're buying a monster egg?"
"Yeah. I'm thinking that with just Raphtalia, future battles are going to get rough. Buying a slave means factoring in equipment costs, which adds up. Raising a monster from scratch might be a nice change of pace."
"I see... But monsters are a lot of work too."
"I know that much. Besides, Raphtalia probably wants a pet of her own, right?"
"...Aren't you after a dragon?"
"At worst, an Usapill would be fine."
I didn't hate small animals. Even online games had taming pets. The same principle applied—it'd serve as a kind of mental refreshment. More importantly, like a slave, if I could give it orders, it'd have to be stronger than me.
I was aware that my wallet had loosened up a little with my improved financial situation. But this shouldn't be a bad investment.
Above all, if the shield system worked for slaves, there was no reason it wouldn't work for monsters.
"And if I raise it and sell it, it won't hurt as much as selling a slave."
"Oh, I see. So that's your reasoning."
I might grow attached, but we didn't have money to spare. I just had to endure it.
Selling a slave was the hardest because they were human. If Raphtalia ever stopped relying on me—no, even if she still did—I wasn't sure I could bring myself to sell a slave who cared for me.
Monsters, on the other hand, couldn't talk. No matter how attached I got, the heartache would be manageable at best.
I could also wish them well: "I hope you find a good owner." Projecting my own selfish hopes onto them was an option too.
"You handle that sort of arrangement too, don't you?"
"Hero, your depth of thought gives me chills! Yes indeed!"
The slave merchant's enthusiasm was reaching its peak.
I looked over the rows of eggs.
He'd mentioned something about not being able to use Search or anything like that.
Well, I'd just pick one at random.
"This one, then."
Going with a vague hunch, I picked an egg from the right side and took it out.
"Now then, please drip your blood onto the mark on that egg."
I did as I was told, smearing blood onto the pattern painted on the egg's surface.
It flashed a brilliant red, and a Monster Taming icon appeared in my field of vision.
Just like with slaves, I could set restrictions and prohibitions.
...I'd set it so that penalties would be triggered for ignoring my commands. I checked the boxes more strictly than I had for Raphtalia.
After all, this was a monster. I wasn't sure how well it could understand human language, so being strict from the start was the safer bet.
It hadn't hatched yet, though.
The slave merchant was grinning as he opened what appeared to be an Incubator.
I placed the egg inside.
"If this thing doesn't hatch, I'm coming back to collect breach-of-contract damages."
"I take my hat off to a Hero who won't accept being sold a dud without demanding compensation!"
The slave merchant was in the highest of spirits. Seriously—did this guy have some kind of latent masochistic streak?
I wasn't one to get off on seeing men suffer, but... well, I wouldn't mind watching the other garbage Heroes squirm.
"I'm dead serious, even if it's just a verbal agreement. If you try to back out, my violent slave here will go berserk."
"What are you planning to make me do!?"
"Rest assured, I won't back down!"
The slave merchant was in an absolutely magnificent mood.
"So when does this thing hatch?"
I asked after handing over one hundred silver coins.
"It's written on the Incubator."
"Hmm..."
There were some number-like symbols in this world's script moving across it.
"Raphtalia, can you read it?"
"Um, just a little... It looks like the numbers will be gone by around tomorrow."
"That soon. Well, fine."
Something would be hatching from this egg tomorrow. I was actually getting excited.
"Come back anytime, Hero. We'll always be waiting."
And so, egg in hand, we left the tent behind.