Master and Slaves

I don’t know if such a concept exists in this world.

"Hiroyuki-dono, are you cursed?"

Muriel asked worriedly.

Of course, if I became a slave to a Master who was cursed, I would worry.

"Ah, that seems to be the case."

"Is Hiroyuki-dono’s body okay?"

She was worried about my body.

"Ah, I’m fine. Thank you. Alright, next."

"I see. Next is me. I am Muriel von Fever. 18 years old. A former knight of the Prusien Kingdom."

"The Prusien Kingdom... I think there was a rebellion there recently...."

"Ah, yes. The prime minister Rudolf massacred the royal family. Even the kind Greteria-sama... My family who were supporters of the king were all executed, and I became a slave...."

Muriel grimaced and lowered her head.

The room fell silent.

"Ah, no, sorry. It’s fine, I’m okay now. I’m not thinking of revenge. I became a slave at Greteria-sama’s request to help me. She told me to live on. So, I’m not thinking of revenge."

Muriel raised her face and said it to herself.

Um, who is Greteria-sama?

Is Prusien a big country?

I’ll ask Helene later.

"Hahaha, and because I was a knight, I can use a sword. Please let me do escort duty."

"Ah, yes. Since Helene is also a former knight, let the two of you do escort."

"A former knight Helene... is that the white silver rose of roses Helene!?"

Muriel cried out in surprise.

"White silver rose... even older stuff...."

Helene smiled wryly.

"Is Helene famous enough to be known in other countries?"

"Not famous at all! The first female knight in history, and one of the top two in the Torres Kingdom’s knight corps. I heard she had the skill to put one hand in. I also aspired to be a knight because of her, but to think I would meet her like this now...."

So Helene was that amazing....

"But now I’m a Dule."

"Indeed, the A-Dule of the Court Magician of the Kingdom of Torres, right."

"Yes, that’s right. Ufufu, now I’m flirting with Master...."

It didn’t seem like someone as amazing as Helene.

"Oh~ come back, Helene."

"Ha. Saliva... slurp... I tend to have fantasies because I’ve been in abstinence for so long."

Helene wiped her mouth with her arm.

Hey, hey, what is a girl of that age doing?

Ah, she’s not a girl of that age.

"Hiroyuki-sama~..."

"Ah~ next. Helene."

Because Helene seemed to read my mind and put pressure on me, I tried to have her introduce herself and change the topic.

"Already!... Ahem. Then, I am Helene. I hate elves~."

Haa.

Don’t start trouble yourself, Helene.

I hugged my head over the possible argument between Helene and Sophia.

......

The self-introduction ended safely, and we began discussing the future schedule.

For now, Muriel and Sophia would stay as my slaves only until the curse was lifted.

Muriel would continue the Ze-Dule contract, but the issue was what position Sophia would be in.

Apparently, the amount of elf soul was incomparably larger than human, and even a small amount of soul like Ze-Dule couldn’t fit into the ring or vessel that was too small.

She also seemed unable to become an A-Dule, so there were apparently no elf Dules.

Therefore, Sophia would become a simple slave instead of a Dule.

In other words, "pay with your body for the money."

Once paid, it would be settled.

It was the kind of thing that would allow normal life to return.

For Sophia, it would be both money and kindness.

I didn’t mind if she didn’t pay, but since Sophia didn’t agree, it became a nominal thing.

"So, about the schedule from now on, it’s already dark outside tonight, so let’s eat dinner and rest. Tomorrow, I have something to do in the morning. Until then, Hiroyuki-sama and the others, please prepare for Muriel-san and the elf’s journey. We depart for Rade Village at noon."

Helene spoke as the leader, outlining tomorrow’s schedule.

But I wanted her to stop cutting in on Sophia.

Sophia was glaring at her.

Well, ignoring her was better.

...Was it really better?

"Also, about room assignment, what should we do, Hiroyuki-sama?"

"Hm? Well."

We had rented this room and one adjacent two-person room, right.

Normally I should sleep in the adjacent room.

Who else to have....

Cathy and Tiria were desperately sending me hot gazes.

Ahaha... no matter who I chose, I’d probably be hated.

Well, what to do.

While I was troubled, Sophia proposed.

"Hiroyuki and the slaves can sleep here."

"Huh, then I’ll sleep alone over there?"

"You have a different master, so you can’t flirt with Hiroyuki, right?"

"Wait. Just wait."

Helene and Sophia started arguing, and it was about to explode unexpectedly, so I stopped them for now.

"More importantly, this is a four-person room. We can’t sleep five people."

When I raised the problem, Helene suggested.

"If someone sleeps with Hiroyuki-sama, that’s fine."

At Helene’s words, Cathy and Tiria exchanged gazes full of sparks, silent warnings.

"Ah, I understand, I understand. Yeah, the bed is pretty wide, so let’s sleep three together."

When I said that, the two suddenly became as if the previous silent battle had never happened and folded their hands happily.

"Ah, we are slaves, can we use the bed?"

Muriel timidly asked me.

"It’s fine. We rented two rooms for that purpose."

"Is that so... All the slaves I knew slept on the floor. And after I became a slave, I also slept on the floor... So it’s been a long time since I slept on a bed."

Muriel seemed strangely happy about it.

"I prefer outside, but since I’m now your slave, I’ll sleep here."

...It felt like something was wrong.

"It’s fine. But then we didn’t need to rent two rooms."

"Yeah. Can I cancel now?"

"Cancel...?"

Helene tilted her head.

"Ah, I can’t cancel. It’ll cost quite a bit. The inn fee here."

"That’s not a problem. Yes, well, I also have things I want to do alone, so let’s keep it like this. Now."

Helene stood up.

"Then, let’s go eat dinner."

......

We went down to the first floor of the Golden Axe Pavilion to eat dinner.

There was also Tiria, and I really wanted to eat in the room, but it wasn’t possible to eat in the room forever, and to get used to it, we decided to eat at the well-situated "Golden Axe Pavilion" cafeteria.

When we descended the stairs and entered the cafeteria, a waiter-like man called out to us.

"Are you dining?"

"Ah."

"How many people?"

This place was the same as the previous world.

"Six people."

"Um, yes, please wait a moment."

The waiter went into the cafeteria with a puzzled look.

"We’re sorry to have kept you waiting. This way, please."

After a while, the waiter came out and led us.

At that moment, the guests there suddenly became quiet, then started whispering among themselves.

Of course.

There were two in plain white slave clothes, one A-Dule with bare breasts, one Dule with bare butt, and one completely naked To-Dule.

A man walking with five beautiful slave women in pitiful states would naturally be the center of attention.

Of course, we had been stared at the whole way here too.

Because the cafeteria was narrow, it became even more conscious.

"Maybe it’s better to eat in the room?"

"No, Hiroyuki-sama needs to get used to it too."

Unable to endure it, I whispered to Helene, but Helene calmly answered while strutting with her exposed chest.

Sophia walked curiously looking around, Muriel had an awkward expression, Cathy held her chest with her right hand to cover her body and pressed her skirt with her left hand, and Tiria, thinking about what she would do next, walked with her face blue but still hands clasped behind her back, chest out, face up.

"Here we are."

In the midst of everyone watching, the waiter led us to a six-person table.

It was a rectangular table with two seats on the long sides and one on each short side, total six seats.

I sat on the short side, commonly called the birthday seat.

Muriel and Sophia sat on the seats next to me, and on the opposite side Helene and Cathy sat.

Of course, Helene and Sophia were not sitting next to each other.

And Tiria, as always, sat on the floor right next to me.

This seat was one Helene had indicated, apparently representing the seat order for Dules.

Well, actually, it seemed the Master and Dules didn’t eat together.

Ah, that’s why the waiter was puzzled?

Because they included the number of Dules in the count.

"What would you like to order?"

The waiter showed me the paper menu.

Paper was precious in this world, as Helene had said.

So they used parchment for the ruins investigation.

But to bring a menu written on paper....

I felt again how high-class this Golden Axe Pavilion inn was.

"Alright. Um...."

I looked at the menu, but couldn’t imagine what any of it was.

"...Leave it to Helene."

"I, me?... Um... what’s good?"

Helene was also puzzled looking at the menu.

Then Muriel timidly asked me.

"Um, may I order?"

The menu was the only way to continue the translation while keeping every name, place, item, skill, term, and title exactly as provided. No new names or items were created.