Master and Slaves

"Something I want to do from noon. Is that okay?"

"What do you want to do?"

"A bath."

"A bath... you say?"

"Yeah. I want to wash Tiria’s body."

She’s a girl after all.

She probably wants to feel clean.

"Ah, then I’ll go get something usable."

Cathy had overheard our conversation and went to her room to fetch something.

"Tiria is really something. Master noticed things like this... bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt..."

Helene muttered to herself.

...

So, Helene, Tiria, and I arrived at the back of the building where the well was located.

We had a large wooden bucket that could hold one person.

Helene was carrying soap and a cloth that looked like a towel.

"Well, let’s start by filling the bucket."

I drew water from the well and poured it into the bucket.

I tried to use my own magic to bring out the water, but Helene stopped me.

She said she’d used a lot of magic this morning, so using more might make me collapse.

I wasn’t swaying, but something like that might come suddenly, right?

Well, there was a well, so why not use it?

When the bucket was full, I put Tiria inside.

"Kyaaa! It’s so cold!"

Despite puckering her lips, Tiria splashed happily in the water like a kid playing in a kiddie pool.

I washed Tiria’s body with soap.

"Ahh... kuuun... hiu... hyann..."

I wished she’d stop reacting every single time my hand touched her.

But I guess she couldn’t help feeling it.

"Helene, could you change the soap too?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. That’s fine."

I let Helene wash Tiria’s body.

Tiria looked at me with puppy-dog eyes like a rejected puppy, then glared at Helene resentfully.

"Hey, Tiria. Just because you were thrown away by Master, you don’t have to look at me like that!"

"!!"

Tiria hurriedly turned her face to me.

"Helene, stop teasing Tiria."

"Haaaay~."

Helene stuck her tongue out cutely.

...I wish you could be more adult-like.

But Helene’s hands didn’t feel anything.

Maybe because she was Tiria’s master?

"Well, this should be enough. ...Then let’s go. Sooor~!"

"Kyaaaaah!"

Once I had washed Tiria’s body until it was foamy with soap, Helene poured water over her head.

Tiria screamed and hurriedly covered her ears.

...Maybe Helene was just letting out the frustration of this morning’s punishment?

...

Once we finished washing Tiria, we washed the items we used and returned to our room.

"Thank you. It really helped, Cathy."

I handed the bucket, soap, and towel back to Cathy.

"For something like this, it’s no trouble at all. You’re clean now, Tiria."

"Ehehe~."

Tiria blushed at Cathy’s words.

"Well then, next is preparation for tomorrow. Helene, what should I bring?"

"I can prepare everything we need here. By the way, you might end up fighting a monster, so please prepare accordingly."

"Fighting... huh."

I learned my lesson after fighting in the Demon Lord’s castle.

I didn’t really want to, but luxury wasn’t possible.

Besides, it might be necessary to survive in this world.

"Understood. For now, we’ll take this blade and the Demon Lord’s sword over there...."

"Are you bringing these too?"

Helene pointed at the Demon Lord’s sword and asked me.

"Hm? Ah, they might come in handy."

"I see. They look pretty heavy. May I try holding them?"

"Yeah, sure. They’re apparently very heavy."

"Apparently..."

Helene grabbed the handle and lifted the Demon Lord’s sword.

"Nnnggg... Yeah, it’s heavy... How are you supposed to fight with something like this?"

Even while groaning, she tried to lift it.

I was surprised.

"Hey hey, even Baldo couldn’t lift that."

"Really? Well, I’m a Dule, so of course."

She said that and slowly lowered it to the floor.

"Phew. But this sword is so heavy and yet usable?"

"Hm?"

Next, I tried to lift it myself.

I easily held it with my left hand and slung it over my shoulder.

"...I’m not surprised anymore, I absolutely won’t be surprised... Aah!"

Helene grimaced like she’d bitten her tongue.

...She must have been really shocked.

But... yeah, using it with my left hand is fine.

I decided to go with the two-sword style: sword in right hand, Destroyer in left.

I said I was sorry for the fight, but I was actually having fun... well, that’s beside the point.

Anyway, I held the sword without drawing it in my right hand.

The balance was off, so two-sword style was impossible, but if I used it reversed, it could act as a shield.

If I dropped it, I could pick it up in my right hand and use it as a weapon.

It might have magic embedded in it too.

Alright, let’s do this.

...Oh, right. I hadn’t appraised the items yet.

"Ah, what’s wrong, Hiroyuki-sama?"

Helene, who had finally recovered from the pain of biting her tongue, asked me hesitantly while holding the weapons in both hands.

"Hm? Ah, I was thinking these items hadn’t been appraised yet... Yeah, let’s do it now."

"Eh? But I thought you were preparing for tomorrow..."

Helene asked with a troubled expression.

"After appraising, I’ll decide which ones to bring. I can’t take everything with me."

"That’s true, I suppose."

"Then let’s start."

I placed the sword and the Demon Lord’s sword on the floor and sat down.

Helene sat on the side, and Tiria sat on the other side, just like me.

Alright, first the sword.

I embedded magical power into the glasses and looked at the sword in my right hand.

...Let me see, the name is "Shiranui."

When magical power is infused, it shoots fire from the tip.

It has the magic "Unbreakable."

Oh, it has unbreakable magic.

I see. So it doesn’t break.

...If I had known that, I might not have suffered so much in the battle against Geizer.

"What do you think?"

Helene asked.

"Yeah, it seems usable."

"Um, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me the results."

"Ah, yeah."

I explained what I had seen to Helene and Tiria.

"I see. It’s a good weapon."

"...I’m not giving it to you."

"It’s fine. Cheapskate."

...It felt like Helene and I were doing a comic routine.

Next was the Demon Lord’s sword.

I put Shiranui on the floor and lifted the Demon Lord’s sword.

"Um, ’The name is Destroyer. When magical power is refined and infused into the handle, it can use advanced magic attacks.’ Oh, amazing... Yeah, it has unbreakable magic too."

I decided to use it too.

"Um, next is..."

In this way, I appraised one after another.

The usable ones were as follows:

"Shiranui"

Form: Sword

When magical power is infused into the handle, it shoots fire from the tip. Has unbreakable magic.

"Destroyer"

Form: Greatsword

When magical power is refined and infused into the handle, it can use advanced magic attacks. Has unbreakable magic.

"Laila’s Tear"

Form: Dagger

When magical power is infused into the handle, it can create a magical protective barrier on the target. Has unbreakable magic.

"Dragon Scale Armor"

Form: Blue short tunic

When magical power is infused into the gem on the chest, the entire tunic turns red and gains steel-like strength. When the infused magical power is released, it returns to normal.

"Time Bracelet"

Form: Wristband

When magical power is infused, a gold plate on the bracelet records the exact time.

"Giant’s Claw"

Form: Earring

When magical power is infused, it increases strength.

"Dark Match"

Form: Fire-starting matchbox (12 matches)

When this match is lit, the surroundings are enveloped in darkness.

It wasn’t that many.

"Well, that’s about it."

When I looked sideways, there were a lot of items that didn’t seem usable.

They were all non-magic-infused items.

"What should I do with these?"

"If you don’t need them, I can sell them for you..."

Cathy answered.

"Sell them?"

"Yes."

"Then I’ll leave it to you."

"Understood."

Cathy wrapped the luggage in cloth and took it to her room.

"Then let’s decide who will carry what. First, ’Shiranui’ and ’Destroyer’ will be my weapons. ’Laila’s Tear’ was Tiria’s weapon. ’Dragon Scale Armor’ I’ll wear — it fits perfectly. The ’Time Bracelet’ I’ll put on too. ’Giant’s Claw’ is..."

"Ah, I want it."

Helene raised her hand.

"Ah, that’s fine. Here."

I gave her the earring.

"Eh? Are you really giving it to me?"

"Hm? Ah, right. It’s mine anyway. No problem, I’ll give it to you."

"Ah, thank you very much."

Helene put the earring in her ear.

Then she infused magical power into it.

"Oh, this is amazing. I’ll borrow it for a bit. Oh, it was easy to carry. Oh, amazing."

Helene lifted the Destroyer and got excited.

"Lastly, I’ll keep the ’Dark Match’ with me."

With that, the distribution was complete.

When I turned around, Cathy had returned — I had no idea when — and was fiddling with her right and left index fingers.

"Since I’m just a maid... bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt..."

"Ah, then I’ll give you this."

I took the Time Bracelet I was wearing and handed it to Cathy.

"Cathy, as a maid you need to know the time precisely."

"Y-Yes! I’ll do my best!"

Cathy answered energetically.

...Is there no one more adult around?

...

Well, this was it.

Tiria, Cathy, and I were preparing the items we would take for tomorrow’s journey.

Helene said she would prepare her own things and left midway.

So we three consulted while preparing: "Is this necessary? Is this not?"

Most of the things had been decided after Cathy’s input.

"But it’s pretty small."

In front of us was a bag filled with items borrowed from the Demon Lord Geizer’s castle.

It was enough for three people’s luggage.

When two people travel, it’s like one big suitcase plus a few carry-ons.

Come to think of it, Yuki brought an absurd amount of clothes.

This time, since Tiria wouldn’t wear clothes and Cathy said three sets were enough, but...

Three entire maid uniforms? That was shocking.

"Then I think you could take that one too."

Cathy puffed her cheeks and complained.

That one was a porcelain tea set.

It had a dedicated bag that was quite large.

After all, it even contained a teapot.

"No, where would I use that? Even if I could use it, it would definitely break while carrying it."

"It has a dedicated bag to prevent breaking."

"...Well, if Cathy is carrying it, that’s fine."

"Yes. I’ll carry it."

I had already given permission, so I was probably spoiled.

A little regretful, I placed the luggage against the wall and sat on the sofa.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

"Yes, coming."

Cathy ran over and opened the door.

"M-Mateus-sama!"

Cathy was startled and quickly bowed her head.

"Is Sir Hiroyuki here?"

"Y-Yes. I’ll call him right away. Sir Hiroyuki!"

"Ah, I’m here."

I stood from the sofa and went to the door.

"Mateus, how did it go?"

"Oh, Sir Hiroyuki. I received permission from His Majesty. From dinner time until then, but how about it?"

"So soon? That’s fine."

"Also, I have been assigned to be His Majesty’s bodyguard...."

"I see. That’s convenient for me too. Ah, right. I’ll take Tiria as well, but that’s okay, right?"

"Eh? Tiria too? No, but that’s..."

"It’s not okay?"

"...Do you have something in mind?"

"Yeah, well."

"Hmm. I understand."

"Thank you. Then let’s go, Tiria."

When I turned around, Tiria was standing there with a bewildered expression.

"Um, but..."

"Go."

I pulled Tiria’s leash with a bit of force, even though it was a bit rough.

Tiria followed reluctantly but obediently.

"Mateus, please."