Master and Slaves

The girl had been glaring hard at Ruhen, who had come first, but when we came to the front of the cell she showed a surprised face for an instant, then soon glared at us.

"Master."

Ruhen noticed us and bowed his head.

"I see. You seem to have recovered."

Enrico raised a hand to Ruhen and spoke to the girl while smiling.

But the girl did not answer, still glaring.

"Where is this?"

Instead she asked Enrico in different words.

Enrico did not seem to understand what she was saying, and only tilted his head.

Here was my turn.

"This is... ah, the West Land? The city of Lubeck."

The girl had come from a place far enough that the language differed.

Simply saying the city of Lubeck, she probably would not understand.

But even so I did not know what to say, and it became a foolish way of speaking.

But the girl was wide-eyed in surprise, as if that were a small thing.

"Y-you, are you a human of Yogen?"

"Yo... gen?"

I had never heard of it at all.

I looked at Yuki, and she was tilting her head too.

"Yuki."

"Y-yes. Uh, ’Do you understand my words too?’"

I gave Yuki permission and had her speak to the bandaged girl.

"...Yeah, I understand."

The girl went red, wore a suspicious face, and still nodded looking at Yuki.

"I understand the words, but... why are you dressed like that?"

Then she looked Yuki from bottom to top, and as if something had occurred to her, she glared and looked at my face, Azret’s, and Enrico’s.

When her gaze turned to Enrico, she glared harder still.

But soon that gaze turned weak.

"Will I be made to do something that painful too?"

"This was done by my previous master. From there, Master saved me. You will not be made to dress like this."

Spoken to first when she had been about to answer, Yuki, who had been listening in silence, smiled gently and answered the girl’s question.

"Then why are you still dressed like that? True, there do not seem to be others, but something worse..."

"This body will not return to what it was. But Master loves me, so I am happy."

This time she cut into the girl’s words and spoke.

"I was late to introduce myself. I am Yuki. I am the Te-Dule of the one over there, the one who spoke with you just now."

"Te-Dule?"

"Yes. The lowest rank even among Dules. Ah, do you know of Dules?"

"Yes, I know."

The talk between Yuki and the girl went on.

At first, maybe because she was wary, her tone was a man’s, but gradually the words grew soft.

"I am Ito. I lived in the village of Ikou in Yogen. People of the country of Ga attacked there..."

It was good they had opened up, but Yuki glanced at me, asking what to do, at the girl, Ito, who started speaking of her own circumstances.

The purpose of having Yuki talk had been to match what Yuki knew with what the girl knew, but we would learn all sorts of things about the girl.

When I nodded to Yuki, Yuki nodded too and continued the talk as it was.

"I see. That must have been hard."

"That is fine. People like that deserve to perish. But I was separated from my friends, only I was caught, made a slave and sold to a foreign land... fufu, I sheltered a person who was being treated terribly, and I was done like this..."

Toward the end she spoke with a self-mocking tremor in her voice.

"I see. Then you must return to that place called Yogen. Your friends are worried too."

I spoke to Ito.

If she wanted to go back, I wanted to let her go back...

"I have no attachment there. I heard that friend is safe too. And even if I go back, I will only be killed."

"Killed?"

"Yes. Killed to seal my mouth. But this far away I have no value, and they do not seem to come this far, so it is all right, I think."

In other words, she held some important information.

Better not to get involved in this sort of thing, but having taken Ito in, I could not turn my palm and drive her out.

It seemed unrelated here, so once things settled I would ask.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Oops. I had forgotten to say it.

"Nice to meet you. I am Hiroyuki Asahi, who will be your master from now. No, maybe I should say Asahi Hiroyuki."

...

I told Ito herself and Enrico that we would come for Ito on the way back, and we left The Merciful Shepherd.

"That girl looked down. What were you talking about?"

Sophia asked about Ito.

Wanting to know about others. Rare.

"Hm? Ah, I said she became my slave. She spoke as if she was prepared, so I thought it was fine."

Had I been too hasty?

"No. She would know someday. If she knows soon, she can prepare her heart soon."

Muriel said it in a somewhat cold way.

No, her mood seemed to have worsened after hearing my talk.

"To begin with, what dissatisfaction is there in becoming Master’s slave."

She seemed to be holding her tone down, but I could tell she was fuming.

I see. So that was why she was angry.

"It cannot be helped. She does not know Lord Hiroyuki yet."

Rosina came out in Ito’s defense, but more than that, the drawn-out tone seemed to throw Muriel off.

Muriel smiled wryly.

"But is it all right? Leaving her."

Sophia asked.

"We can’t drag her around in that body. And for that, I had Sophia cast translation magic."

That there was magic that convenient, I wished she had said sooner. I did not say it.

"That’s why we brought Hexa. She’s energetic, this girl."

Lilli muttered.

The content seemed convinced, but the tone was prickly.

Everyone else looked at Hexa with a harsh gaze too.

No wonder. From the time we left Enrico’s shop, she had not let go, arms wrapped around mine.

It was already hard to walk, and she walked looking at my face the whole time with a full smile, which made it harder still.

Unable to watch, Muriel opened her mouth.

"Lady Hexa, Master seems to be having trouble walking, so I think it would be better if you kept a little more distance."

For form, Hexa was above Muriel in rank, so she admonished Hexa in polite words, with plenty of unspoken meaning loaded on.

"Eh, it’s easier to walk this way."

But Hexa said that and hugged my arm tighter still.

Ah. Muriel’s cheek was twitching.

...Hah.

"Hexa. For now, let’s walk apart."

"Okaaay..."

When I cautioned her she answered in a dissatisfied voice, and reluctantly let go of my arm.

Well, at this rate it would be pitiful.

Not Muriel. Hexa.

"Lively."

Maybe he thought things had settled. Azret spoke to me.

"Sorry."

"No, no. I am an adventurer too, so I like lively. But my companions are all men, so I envy you."

He scratched his head and spoke with a smile, but his eyes glanced at the Dules, especially their chests.

A man, so I could not say I did not understand, but I also wanted him to hold back.

Even so, being envied did not feel bad, and it was a complicated mood.

"Ah, next is that shop."