Master and Slaves

"The master is waiting. This way, please."

The woman bowed with her head down, extending her right hand toward the back of the house.

She wore a gapless maid dress.

Was this the maid of this house?

"We’re intruding."

We entered the house and followed the maid deeper inside.

Behind us, the guard closed the door with a thud.

We went a little further inside, and the maid stopped in front of a luxurious door and knocked on it.

"Helene-sama has come."

It was a moment, but because Helene was a Dule, that was probably why.

"Please come in."

"Yes. Please enter."

The maid opened the door.

It was wide, probably around twenty tatami mats.

In the center of the room sat a young man on a sofa of an impressive set.

He stood up and walked toward us.

More "cool" than "handsome," I think.

His brown hair was neatly short.

His eyes were slightly slanted but not sharp.

His nose was high, and his lips were thin.

He was quite a man.

He wasn’t tasteless.

He was a little shorter than me, and a bit thin.

He had the atmosphere of a nice guy, and looked like he would be popular with women.

"Lord Freit-sama, I have brought Hiroyuki-sama."

Helene bowed to the man walking toward us.

"Helene, thank you for your trouble. Nice to meet you. I am Freit Clam. I do glass business in this city."

"I am Hiroyuki Asahi."

The man named Freit stopped in front of me, thanked Helene, and introduced himself.

I introduced myself too, and we shook hands.

Next, I should introduce the slaves.

"These girls are my slaves. Um, first, this is the elf and slave Sophia."

Sophia bowed her head with a sullen face.

Sophia was so expressionless.

"And, the Ze-Dule Muriel."

"I am Muriel. Nice to meet you."

Muriel also bowed.

She had a big attitude, I thought.

"Ah, and the Dule Cathy."

"I am Cathy. Ahnn."

Cathy gracefully pinched her skirt and bent her knee like a lady, but the jewel she had on swayed and she let out a lewd voice.

...Cathy, aren’t you embarrassed?

"Ahaha, last is the To-Dule Tiria."

Tiria bowed her head, knelt in front of Freit, and pressed her lips to Freit’s right foot.

Then she returned to her original position.

"Hahaha, beautiful slaves. Come this way."

Freit led us to the sofa in the center of the room.

"Please, sit over there."

"It’s an intrusion."

I sat opposite Freit.

"Please sit there too, Helene."

"Yes, it’s an intrusion."

Helene, with Freit’s permission, sat next to me.

My slaves stood behind the sofa where I was sitting.

Only Tiria sat on the floor next to me.

"Please."

When I and Helene sat down, a maid who had been waiting poured us tea and held out the cups.

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

I and Helene thanked the maid.

"Thank you. Ah, yes. Please call Lotte and the others. Tell them that I want to introduce them to the guests."

"Understood."

The maid bowed to Freit, then to us, and left the room.

"Thank you for coming. I’ve heard from Helene and wanted to meet you once."

"Um, what kind of stories did you hear?"

When I heard Freit’s story, I became uneasy.

He probably exaggerated or said things that weren’t true.

"Right... I heard various things, but what interested me the most was that you have many Dules."

"Dules...?"

I was bewildered by the unexpected words.

"Yes. A person who has both a Dule and a To-Dule at the same time doesn’t exist in at least this city."

"Um, sorry. Normally, can’t you have a Dule and a To-Dule at the same time?"

I had assumed Dules could be held in any number, so I was puzzled by Freit’s words.

"...Helene, did Master not tell you about this?"

"Yes. It’s unnecessary."

"It’s unnecessary... it’s a problem that could cost one’s life."

Hey hey, it could cost one’s life....

Was Master hiding something this important?

I looked at Helene sitting beside me, but she was calm.

"It seems there is no problem as of now."

"As of now... then Master measured Hiroyuki-dono’s vessel of the soul?"

"Yes."

Um, what is a vessel of the soul?

When had I been measured?

"So, what’s the result?"

Freit leaned forward and asked Helene.

"It seems it was unmeasurable."

"...Puh, ahahahaha... I see, unmeasurable."

"Wait, wait a second. What are you talking about?"

I was left out and couldn’t help but speak.

"Hahaha, sorry. Um, Helene, please explain. I don’t know how much Hiroyuki-dono knows."

"Understood. Master explained before that Dules must transfer a portion of their soul to the Master, right?"

Helene started speaking, turning to me.

"Ah, I heard that."

It was the one about A-Dule 1/10, Dule 2/10, To-Dule 3/10.

"Then, I will explain about the soul. Every living thing has a soul. Without it, it cannot be called a living thing. Every living thing has a body. That body has something called a vessel of the soul. By putting a soul into the vessel, the body acquires a soul."

"However, even if a soul is put into the vessel of the soul, there is usually a little leeway. About one-tenth of the vessel, roughly."

Freit continued after Helene’s explanation.

"That leeway is where the Dule’s soul is inserted. Well, there are individual differences, so depending on the person, it may or may not work as a Dule."

I see, I get it.

But then....

"If the difference in the vessel is large, it means you can’t have a Dule or To-Dule?"

"Right. For A-Dule it depends on compatibility, but for Dule and To-Dule it’s impossible with compatibility alone. Also, one person can barely manage it. That’s why human races have many people who use small beast people Vistians as Dules."

"Eh? Is that so?"

It was the first I had heard.

"...Helene, didn’t you show this city’s appearance?"

"Y-Yes. You were out walking in the morning."

Beast people Vistians... I didn’t see any, did I?

"Where on this path were you walking, Hiroyuki-dono?"

"Um, the central avenue... right. I was strolling along that avenue...."

"I see... I see. I’ll show you again. Anyway, returning to the story, depending on the size of the vessel, you can decide whether you can be a Dule, up to what stage you can be a Dule, and how many Dules you can have."

I see, the reason we couldn’t make the large-souled elf a Dule yesterday at the inn was this.

I get it.

"And when the vessel is full of souls, it breaks. When the vessel breaks, the body is destroyed and the soul wanders. That means...."

"Death?"

"Yes, that’s right. That’s why indiscriminately increasing Dules or raising their stages will kill you."

That was why he said it could cost a life.

"But Master couldn’t measure the size of Hiroyuki-dono’s vessel of the soul. Then...."

"That Master person is surprisingly useless. It’s impossible for a mere human to measure the size of a soul vessel."

Suddenly Sophia interrupted Freit from behind.

"Sophia!"

I turned and stopped Sophia.

It would be bad for Sophia, who was a slave, to interrupt Freit.

But what was really bad was the content Sophia said.

"Oh? Then, why don’t you measure it? Female elves are good at that, right?"

Helene gave an aristocratic smile and said to Sophia without turning around.

"You would understand better than Master, right? You couldn’t not understand. You’re an elf."

Freit also gave a demonic smile and said to Sophia without focusing on any point.

Of course Helene, and Freit too, had been taken care of by Master, so complaining about Master was normal.

"Well, well. Please calm down the two of you...."

"It’s only natural. A soul vessel like a mere human couldn’t possibly be measured."

Before I could soothe it, Sophia poured oil on the fire.

"Sophia, please calm down...."

"Um. Hiroyuki-sama, won’t you have Sophia measure it? Fufu."

I tried to warn Sophia, but this time Helene stopped me.

How could I settle this situation?

For now, would it be better to have Sophia measure it?

Then I’d think of how to handle the situation.

"...Haa. What should I do?"

"Stand up and face this way."

"Like this?"

Sophia walked toward the kneeling Tiria and said.

I stood up in my place and faced Sophia.

Sophia placed her right hand on my left chest, closed her eyes.

After a while, Sophia opened her eyes in surprise.

"U... so... why... why... who... what are you!?"