Master and Slaves

"Ah, yes, yes. Young Azret will show Lord Hiroyuki around the city, but what do you plan to do with the Dules?"

"I was thinking of taking them..."

Saying that, it came to me.

Come to think of it, even outside the city, that had caused a small stir yesterday.

Ugh. The words stuck.

"No, that in itself is fine, but the number is the number. Even Lord Hiroyuki will have scenes where it is hard to protect all of them. In this city, self-defense by Dules is permitted. Only for Ze-Dules and A-Dules, though. Fortunately, many of Lord Hiroyuki’s Dules are skilled. Better to give them weapons and have them protect themselves."

I see.

I should tell Muriel and the others.

"However, do not use weapons lightly. Only in a true emergency."

Of course.

If weapons were used often in the city, public order would worsen.

"Yes. Understood."

I understood, but I answered anyway.

"Right now many mercenaries are entering this city. Those who belong to a band are still better, but lone mercenaries include many rough ones, so take care."

True.

This time I nodded heavily.

"Well, we are going to war, so it cannot be helped. We want as many people who can fight as possible. Ah, speaking of people who can fight, today one of those called the Three Sages of the Inland Sea, Lady Melchiorea, is said to have arrived."

"The Inland Sea... Three Sages...?"

At words I was hearing for the first time, I tilted my head.

"Ah. Lord Hiroyuki may not know. East of this continent is a sea called the Indiana Inland Sea. Enclosed on three sides by continents, and closed by ice to the north, so it is called an inland sea. Even enclosed by continents, it connects to the outer sea by several straits. And along that coast, three wise people are said to live, and with awe and respect they are called the Three Sages. Each of the three is said to have a magic they excel in, and Lady Melchiorea is said to be well versed in composition magic."

"Composition magic?"

"Yes. The rumor is that no one can match Lady Melchiorea in composition magic."

Breakfast was already over. Freit cut the talk and took a mouthful of the black tea Lotte had poured.

I followed Freit and put the tea to my mouth.

"From that tremendous mana, there are those who say she is ’not human,’ or ’actually a monster,’ but even if she only happened to be nearby, she will aid us, who are in substance fighting the army of the demon realm, so at the least she is not an enemy."

Freit said it with his tone a little stronger.

True, there were monsters who sided with us, like Gejia.

But those were surely very few.

Freit’s tone was too polite, and that bothered me, so I asked.

"Freit, have you met this Melchi... o... rea?"

"No. Unfortunately, I have not. But if we are to fight, there will be a council, and it is impossible that Lady Melchiorea, well versed in strategy as well, would not attend, so I will meet her eventually."

He answered in high spirits, as if he might meet a famous person he admired.

Heard as words alone, though, there was not a speck of giddiness.

Should I be impressed, as expected, or amazed?

"Uh, is she a famous person?"

"Of course. Lady Melchiorea appears in many hero tales. I was often told them as a child. I am looking forward to meeting her now."

I see. Less devotion than wanting to meet someone he admired.

But if she had been in hero tales since Freit was a child, she might be quite old.

If she was human.

...

"So... uh, what was it... ah, right, right. Each of you, bring your own weapon. No need to wear armor."

Breakfast ended, we left the dining room, parted from Freit, and joined the Dules in the room we had borrowed.

Freit’s long talk had made what I needed to tell Muriel and the others fly out of my head for a moment, but I remembered at once.

"Sara is a Ji-Dule, so carrying a weapon in the city is forbidden. The rest of you, always stay by me or an A-Dule, and if anything happens, say so at once."

I passed on to the Dules the measures I had thought of from what I heard from Freit.

"And that Caladbolg, Muriel, you carry it."

"Eh? But that is..."

"I have that. I only have one body, and if something happens when I’m not there, I can’t help."

I said it looking at the greatsword Destroyer, leaned against the wall.

No matter how strong I was, alone there was a limit.

Freit’s talk had touched on that too.

Raising the Dules’ fighting strength even a little was obvious.

Caladbolg was a rather heavy bastard sword, so Muriel, who always used a bastard sword, should be able to handle it.

"Y-yes. I will receive it with thanks."

Muriel put one knee to the floor and bowed her head respectfully.

Just like a knight granted a sword.

"Yeah. With this, protect not only yourself, but everyone."

"Yes."

Doing this, it felt like the old days.

When we met, she had spoken like a man.

But I did not say that.

In the time between then and now, there must have been things that could not be settled as a mere change of heart.

"Now then, soon..."

Just when I thought it would be ten, a knock came at the door.

Cathy opened it, and Lotte bowed her head and gave the message.

"Lord Hiroyuki, Lord Azret has arrived, so please come to the drawing room."

"Got it. Thank you."

I thanked her, stood from the chair I had been sitting in, shouldered Destroyer, and walked to the door.

About to open it, I noticed something.

There might be someone who did not want to go out.

"If you don’t want to go, stay here, ugh..."

I said that much and turned, and every Dule was fully ready and about to leave the room.

With Muriel, at the very front, we were so close our noses nearly touched.

"I-I am sorry."

Muriel backed away in a hurry and bowed her head.

The others stepped back a little too.

No, I was the one at fault for stopping suddenly.

Either way, they were girls after all, and seemed glad to come along for shopping.

...

"Hiroyuki, I am sorry about yesterday."

"No, I was the misleading one."

We bowed to each other.

When we went to the drawing room, Freit was not there. Azret, who had brought me here yesterday, sat alone, looking at a loss.

Freit seemed busy, as a notable of this city.

After the meal with me ended, he had apparently headed at once for the assembly hall in the center of the city, to govern.

We greeted each other, and since Freit was not there, we went outside at once.

Besides sightseeing, I also told him I wanted to buy weapons and armor, and look at houses.

Freit seemed to have already told Azret that much.

I should not have said anything to Freit about weapons and armor, but guessing what I wanted, he might be excellent as a merchant.

The city of Lubeck, I was told, was divided into the Central District, the political center in the middle of the city, the North District, where large shops and powerful merchants lived, the West District, where all sorts of craftsmen lived, the South District, with many slave shops, the East District, where ordinary people lived, and the newly made Outer District.

Freit’s house was in the Central District, because Freit governed.

"Even so, this is something. All of these are your Dules, Hiroyuki. Nothing but beautiful slaves. I envy you."

Azret turned and said it with a sigh mixed in.

Behind us, the Dules followed with smiles.

None of them seemed displeased at Azret’s praise.

"Thank you."

I was glad too, to have the Dules praised.

But I was sick of the various looks passersby sent.

Maybe it showed on my face. Azret caught on and smiled wryly.

"Well, you stand out. It cannot be helped."

"Yeah. If we’re in this city, no, whichever city we’re in, we’ll have to get used to it."

I sighed.

But a worry like this would be called a luxury.

"Hahaha. Get used to it in time."

Azret’s temple twitching was probably not my imagination.

"Ah, this is the center of the city. That is the assembly hall."

The first place we were shown was the assembly hall, where this city’s politics were done.

Here, powerful merchants and representatives of the city people held discussions and governed.

What you would call a parliamentary system.

According to Yuki, the way of politics resembled our homeland, Japan.

"Right now, Speaker Freit and the heads of each guild, thirteen people, and five city people, one each from the east, west, south, north, and outer districts, nineteen in all, hold the assembly."

"Is that so."

It seemed surprisingly few.

"Well, it is a merchants’ city. Many are connected to merchants."

What he misunderstood, I did not know. He explained that to me, who had tilted my head.

"And this area is called the Central District, and many of the mansions where those guild heads live are here. Freit’s mansion is right over there too. Officially, it is so they can rush to the assembly hall at once if anything happens, but some say it is so they can flee by a secret passage in the time it would take an attack to reach the center, even if the city were invaded. Of course, whether that is true, I do not know."

A story I had heard somewhere.

Think of it that way, and it seemed no different from a kingdom.

Of course, whether it was true, I did not know.

"And... that is the arena."

A little north along the main street from the assembly hall, a large building came into view on the west side.

Azret pointed at that building.

"Until fifteen years ago, slave gladiators fought there, I am told. Now it is mainly a training ground for this city’s soldiers and the knights who guard nobles."

Slave gladiators seemed to be the general name for sword-slave gladiators, fist-slave gladiators, and the like, which Sara had been made to do in the past.

A sword gladiator was one who wore armor and fought with a weapon, not limited to a sword, and a fist gladiator was one who wore light clothes easy to move in and used his own fists as a weapon.

I had heard that much from Sara.

But there was something unexpected in Azret’s words.

"Are there nobles in this city?"

This was an autonomous city said to be ruled by merchants.

No territory, and yet nobles. That was strange.

"They come from other countries. To shop, or to play. There are inns around here just for those nobles, and villas too."

Azret explained in a tone with a little anger in it.

"But right now this city is..."

About to be attacked by a monster army pretending to be the Torrestia Kingdom army.

When I was about to say that, Azret cut me off.

"Won’t they run? Their own countries are about to be destroyed, and they fled this far."

Azret spat it out.

Mockery and anger were thick in it.

Then he stopped suddenly and glared at a fine four-story building there.

"Hm? Something wrong?"

"Ah, no. Nothing. Come, let us go."

Azret put on a smile, said that, and started walking again.

...

"Around here there are many large shops. And many academies. There is a magicians’ academy and a merchants’ academy."

We passed through one gate to the north as we were, and came out in the place called the North District.

There, Azret’s guiding continued.

"Academy? I don’t think Torrestia had one..."

I had never seen or heard of one.

"An academy is a place where you pay money and are taught all sorts of things. I learned magic at an academy too."

He must have thought I did not know what an academy was.

Azret explained simply.

"You learn magic at an academy?"

If entering that academy took a lot of money, then even with talent, without money one could not learn magic.

But I had seen ordinary people using magic, and I thought one could also be taught by someone who could use magic, like me.

Ignoring Sophia, who looked like she wanted to say something, I asked Azret.

"Cities with an academy are rare in themselves, and money is needed. It seems many study under someone who can use magic. And I do not know about here, but there are places that waive the money if one has excellent ability and connections."

I am one of those, Azret said, and laughed while scratching his head.

Which meant Azret had not attended an academy in this city.

He did not seem to be from this city.

Well, Azret was an adventurer, so he had probably come here for work or something.

But then, why did he know this city well enough to guide us?

It bothered me, but prying would be rude.

"Ah, this is a clothing shop just for Dules."

Where Azret pointed, there was a rather large shop. No, a large shop.

"It is a shop Freit favors, I am told. From high-class clothes and ornaments set with gems to slave-gladiator armor, if it is something a Dule wears, they have it, and if not, they can order it. Of course, the prices are high too."

Heading toward the shop, Azret said it with a shrug.

Around here there were many grand houses, but the shop front looked even more luxurious than those.

"You know it well. Do you use it too, Azret?"

"No. I have no Dule. I heard all of it from Freit."

He answered with a wry smile.

"Come, let us go in."