Master and Slaves

"Come, let us go in."

Urged by Azret, I opened the shop door.

"Welcome."

Inside, two male clerks of about thirty bowed their heads and greeted us.

This kind of clerk’s service felt like something I had not had in a long time.

"Welcome. Lord Azret. Would you be Lord Asahi?"

Another man, about fifty, came out in front of us and bowed deeply to Azret and me.

"Yes, that’s right..."

Wondering why he knew my name, I nodded.

"We have heard from Lord Freit. I am the shopkeeper. My name is Darius. A pleasure."

The man who named himself Darius bowed his head again.

A mustache under his nose, a gentlemanly air, thin overall.

He wore clothes like a dark brown suit, but if he were dressed in black and called a butler, the depth of that bow would make it easy to accept.

"Likewise."

"Then, this way, please."

When I returned the greeting, Darius guided us to the back of the shop.

From behind, Azret and the Dules followed in a line.

"We handle anything a Dule wears, from finery for a feast to armor. If something catches your eye, even if the size does not fit we will alter it, and we also take orders."

Darius pointed at the clothes and armor lined up in rows and explained as he went deeper in.

The Dules glanced around at the clothes and ornaments, fidgeting.

They probably wanted to look at all sorts of things.

Once the business was done, maybe I would buy them something.

Following Darius, we reached the room at the very back.

It was quite wide. Two tables large enough for me to sleep with my limbs stretched out were set there, and even with me, all the Dules, Azret, and Darius, who had guided us, there was still plenty of room.

For light, many magic light spheres floated on the ceiling, and with not a single window it was as bright as outside.

In that room were a woman of about forty, and a short man.

The short man’s height was about to my chest.

He grew a beard long enough to nearly touch the ground, and his ears were pointed.

A dwarf?

"Allow me to introduce them. This is..."

Just as Darius was about to introduce the two, a voice came from behind me.

"Dorm, ain’t that Dorm!"

"Birga! Been a while! You doin’ all right?"

Not the usual polite tone. They were speaking in words with several dialects mixed in.

"What’re you doin’ in a place like this? And that getup... you, don’t tell me you became a Dule!?"

"Wha!? Th-that is, well..."

Leaving us stunned at the two who had started talking out of nowhere, they were about to go on when Birga hid her chest with both hands, choked on her words, and fell silent.

In that gap, Darius, the first to recover, pressed in on the dwarf-like man Birga had called Dorm.

"Dorm! No matter how close you are, they are customers, so treat them properly!"

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Darius scolded Dorm.

In that time, I asked Birga about Dorm.

"H-he is a childhood friend. He should have been an armor craftsman in the village..."

"An armor craftsman."

"Yes. His character is like that, but his skill is solid."

Birga said it with a glance at Dorm.

Darius must have been watching for the moment. Timing it for when our talk broke, he bowed his head toward us.

"I am sorry. He is an excellent armor craftsman, and I can recommend the armor he makes with confidence, but..."

"Hmph!"

When Darius turned, Dorm, maybe sulking because he had been scolded, snorted and looked away.

Seeing that, Darius sighed deeply.

"Hah. I am sorry. I will bring a replacement at once..."

To Darius, bowing deeply again, I smiled wryly and shook my head.

"No. Dorm, please."

They had gone out of their way to choose a dwarf bad at serving customers, so he probably had skill enough that it could be allowed.

Above all, Birga vouched for him.

"Then, please have them line up in a row over here."

As Darius said, I had them line up along the wall.

Fifteen in a row. It really was a wide room.

"Hah. I heard from Lord Freit, but to have this many beautiful Dules... I envy you."

Darius muttered it with a sigh mixed in.

On the opposite side of me, Azret nodded many times.

"Thank you."

Even if it was to make up for earlier, I was glad to have the Dules praised.

Even so...

"But you knew well that we came looking for armor."

He had not recommended the luxurious party dresses for women displayed near the shop exit, had passed the corner of ornaments further in, and brought us here.

"Yes. We heard from Lord Freit that Lord Asahi desired armor to put on your Dules. And then..."

Darius turned and looked at the other woman, who had been standing at a loss.

"She makes women’s finery. This is Doris."

When Darius introduced her, the woman called Doris bowed her head softly.

"I am Doris. A pleasure."

A woman with a calm air, and a soft manner.

"Doris has abundant experience, so I believe the finery she makes will please Lord Asahi."

"W-wait a moment. I had no plans to buy finery..."

Darius had introduced the woman, Doris, but to me it was news out of nowhere.

Dresses for finery were quite expensive, weren’t they?

"We heard from Lord Freit that it is a gift to Lord Asahi."

Darius explained simply.

...Was it all right to accept?

"Then we will measure at once. Is that all right?"

"I’d like to start too."

Doris and Dorm urged me.

"The payment has already been received."

Darius followed Doris and Dorm.

...Well, I would complain later.

"Understood. Then, please."

I nodded to Darius and agreed.

"Certainly. Then, we will measure, so could you have the Dules remove their clothes? I will be outside, so if anything comes up, tell Doris or Dorm. Then, excuse me."

Darius went outside, looked this way for a short while for some reason, then soon closed the door of the room we were in.

I see. So that was why he had guided us here.

Close the door, and the inside could not be seen from outside.

This room seemed to be a place for measuring like this, altering clothes, and repairing armor.

"Then, take them off."

I urged the Dules.

"Y-yes."

The Dules glanced at me and answered, looking lost.

Taking clothes off in front of people must have been hard to accept.

All the more with Dorm, a man, here.

And... hm?

The Dules were looking back and forth between me and beside me.

At the end of that gaze...

"...Azret. Could you leave?"

I narrowed my eyes and said it in a low voice, as if blaming him.

"Ah! S-sorry! Right away!"

Azret scurried out of the room.

A man I could not let my guard down around...

The Dules sighed in relief, then started taking off their clothes.

But this time they kept glancing at Dorm.

Azret had left, but Dorm still seemed to bother them.

Birga, in particular, was arguing with Dorm.

"Wh-why are you here!?"

"Can’t be helped. I’m makin’ armor."

"You only make Dule armor, don’t you!? Pervert!"

"I ain’t interested in a human woman’s naked body!"

"Th-then, y-you ain’t interested in my body either!?"

"I-I ain’t interested in a puny body like yours either!"

Dorm calling Birga’s body puny stung, but I noticed that the sense of a woman’s beauty differed between dwarves and us humans, and accepted it.

Dwarves were said to prefer plump women.

Even so, thinking of Birga, it might have been better to have Dorm replaced, but Birga herself had said his skill was solid, so I wanted him to make something good as things were.

Fifteen naked women lined up facing us.

All of them had red faces.

"Then, I will start. First, what kind of clothes would you like?"

Doris ignored the lined-up Dules and asked me.

Asked what kind of clothes, I did not know how to answer.

I thought a little, and answered vaguely.

"Clothes that fit each of their airs, please. The rest I leave to you."

Not just the rest. I was leaving it entirely to her.

I thought as I said it that it might have been a bad way to put it, but I also thought it might be better for the one making them.

"Certainly. Then I will measure at once."

In fact, Doris seemed to have her motivation up.

But when she stood in front of Muriel, she suddenly started chanting a spell.

"Wha, hey!"

Caught off guard, I grabbed Doris’s arm.

"Magic for measuring."

Doris grimaced, and explained that.

"Is that so. Sorry."

I apologized and let go of her arm.

Come to think of it, the air was similar to the magic Sophia used to measure length.

Doris let out a quiet sigh, then chanted the spell again.

Once she cast the magic, she went to the desk as she was, and set a hand on the crystal ball placed on it.

Then she headed for Sophia, next.

She had said measuring, but did the values go into that?

"Next is me."