Master and Slaves

"Then let’s begin. Haaa!"

Helene held her sword in a low guard position on the right side and thrust forward at me.

But...

A busty female knight like this...

Her sword, held with both hands at the low guard, allowed her breasts to spill out between her arms.

And because she was running, they bounced and jiggled.

This alone would be a lethal weapon for male soldiers.

My son woke up and...

My nose was about to bleed...

"Where are you looking?!"

Helene shouted, raised her arm, and brought her sword down from above my head.

But I kept my gaze locked on her breasts while swinging my right arm upward and to the left, forming a block with the tip pointing right.

I tilted my sword just before meeting Helene’s and deflected it downward to the right while shifting left at the same time.

Helene stepped forward with her left foot, stopped her sword just barely scraping the ground, and slashed diagonally upward toward me.

I had seen it coming and moved further left, circling around behind her.

The moment Helene’s sword swung into empty space, I switched my sword to my left hand, pressed its tip against the gap in her armor at the neck.

"Eh! Impossible...."

Helene looked genuinely surprised.

She froze, letting out a startled voice.

"...Um, surrender?"

"...Y-Yes. I surrender."

I suppressed my urge to grope Helene’s breasts with full force, withdrew my sword, and returned to my original position.

Even though I said that, I hadn’t really moved much.

The surrounding soldiers watching us also stood stunned in silence.

"Amazing! Amazing! Master is amazing!"

Only Tiria was cheering with sparkling eyes.

"Um, could we do it one more time?"

"Hm? Sure. What’s the next bet?"

I asked Helene with a grin.

...I must have caught the soldiers’ vibe.

"I’ll offer my body this time."

"Huh?"

For a moment I froze at Helene’s words.

"N-No, no, no, no! That’s too much. Helene is Mateus-sama’s Dule. I’d lose my place."

I mentally added That’s not the problem at all.

"Uuu... My money would probably run out too... and I have nothing else to bet..."

Helene crouched on the spot and started fidgeting with the ground with her fingers.

Wait, is she going to use all her money for a collar?

That’s terrible, me.

"N-No, betting is fine. Let’s do another round."

"Eh? It’s okay?"

"Hahaha. I bet on the collar because I wanted the money. Next one, no bet, but are you up for it?"

"Yes!"

Helene answered enthusiastically and returned to her position, re-creating her stance.

"Hm? Helene, why aren’t you coming?"

"I’ll defend this time."

"Hmm, understood. Then I’ll go."

I pointed the tip of my sword forward and charged at Helene with all my strength. Right before impact, I stopped, thrust my sword into Helene’s chest.

Helene deflected it to the left and swung her sword down toward me.

"Got it!"

Helene shouted loudly.

But that was the exact position I had predicted she would attack.

I must have read that she would either stop from the weight of my sword or rotate to avoid it.

Instead, I broke her prediction by stepping back and easily dodged her sword.

This sword was light, so my footwork was smooth.

Then Helene’s sword passed right in front of my face and was swallowed by the ground.

...I didn’t hold back this time... right?

I broke into a cold sweat but circled around Helene’s right side, which was now exposed, and pressed my sword against her neck again.

"..."

"...I yield."

I smiled as I looked at Helene’s face, but Helene looked like she had bitten a bitter bug and surrendered.

"Helene~ You didn’t hold back just now."

"Eh, ah, yes. I didn’t have the composure to."

"I’ll tell Mateus-sama."

"Uuu... I’ll accept any punishment... ..."

When I whispered that, Helene’s face turned blue, tears welled up in her eyes, but she answered with resolve.

"Ah— No, that was a joke just now."

"No, you cannot hide things from Master."

I had wanted to tease her more, but her unexpected reply left me at a loss.

Even if I stayed silent, Helene was the one speaking.

Well, I’ll add a little comment.

"Tiria. Come here."

"Yes, Master."

Tiria, with her hands clasped behind her back and breasts bouncing, ran toward me.

"Master, I’m tired."

She smiled brightly and held the rope with both hands as if it were precious, then passed it to me.

She was probably offering a towel, right?

Well, since I didn’t sweat much, it was fine.

Well, there was no towel anyway.

"Thank you."

I accepted the rope from Tiria, lightly stabbed the sword into the ground... but somehow drove it all the way in.

I nearly stumbled.

Can Western swords be stabbed into the ground so easily?

Or was this how mock battles were done?

I pulled the sword out and dropped it from above.

It fell lightly onto the ground.

"Phew... Thank you. I’ll return the sword. Then let’s go, Tiria and Helene."

"Yes, Master."

"Yes, Sir Hiroyuki."

Ignoring the stunned "My Lord" and soldiers, I called out to Tiria and Helene.

Tiria followed right behind me.

After stabbing her sword into the ground, Helene bowed to "My Lord" and followed me.

"You’re really amazing. The Demon King slayer isn’t just for show."

"Yeah."

I gave a vague smile.

Even though I was a former knight, I only beat a girl. I didn’t know if I was actually amazing or not.

I had been desperate in the fight against the Demon King.

"Alright. Then let’s go shopping. Helene, lead the way."

"Yes. Sir Hiroyuki."

We left the training ground with Helene in front.

"By the way, the guy who got mad earlier — who was he?"

I hadn’t seen him before, so I asked Helene.

If he was important, he should have been at yesterday’s banquet...

"General Gepuhalt von Higgingfeld. He’s the second son of the Duke of Higgingfeld and holds the general’s position, but..."

"He lacks talent..."

"N-No! I don’t mean that!"

"Ah, it’s fine. I thought that myself. Yeah."

"Haha, hahaha."

Helene smiled bitterly and walked ahead.

"He didn’t appear at yesterday’s banquet, but normally he should, right?"

"Haa. Well, he doesn’t seem to like social gatherings much."

"Hmm, I see."

...Well, such types exist.

...

We passed through the third and fourth city gates and left the castle.

The castle town was bustling with people.

Especially the main avenue stretching from the plaza in front of the gate was full of activity.

That meant there were many pedestrians too...

The gazes we received were painful.

A mature female knight with her breasts shamelessly exposed, a fully naked beautiful blonde girl with blue eyes who was barely of age, and the man in between — me.

Holding the rope of that beautiful girl.

...Well, Helene was different, but Tiria must be embarrassed too, so I had to endure this much.

"But why is Tiria walking with her back so hunched? She did the same yesterday."

Helene turned around and spoke to Tiria.

...Hm? No reply from Tiria.

Ah, right.

I turned around. Tiria was looking at me.

"Tiria. You can answer."

"Ah, yes. Um, Helene-san said to walk with my back hunched..."

Tiria answered Helene’s question after receiving my permission.

"That’s because Master wants you to walk easily. With a height difference like yours and Sir Hiroyuki, you wouldn’t have to hunch, right?"

By the way, my height was exactly 180 cm.

Tiria was about my chest height, so probably around 150 cm.

"Eh, is that so?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"..."

Tiria looked up at me with watery eyes, as if she might cry.

Why does she look like she’s going to cry?

"...Stand up straight and try walking normally."

"...Yes."

I tried letting Tiria walk normally and see what happened.

Tiria walked with her face bright red, back straight.

......Ah, she’s embarrassed.

Everyone coming toward us looked this way without exception.

It was Helene or Tiria.

No, they were definitely both looking.

"Um, which one is better, Master?"

"Hm? Ah, yeah. ...Hm, it doesn’t really change the ease of walking. Tiria, which do you prefer?"

I walked straight while listening to Tiria’s question and stated my opinion.

"I... think standing straight is better."

"Is that so? Doesn’t it make you embarrassed?"

"Um, it is embarrassing... but... I get to see Master’s body..."

Tiria answered my question with a shy smile.

Oh, she’s adorable.

I stroked Tiria’s head.

"Wow, what a feast. We’re almost there."

With those words, Helene pointed.

There was a shop with a sign shaped like a hair accessory.

Helene entered the shop.

A bell rang klink-klink as the door opened.

"Welcome."

A young clerk greeted us with a bright smile.

He looked startled for a second when he saw naked Tiria, but quickly returned to his cheerful sales smile.

"What are you looking for today?"

She asked me, not Helene who had entered first.

"Um, I want a collar that suits this girl."

"Is that so? Please wait a moment."

The clerk went into the back.

He spoke with someone inside and came out.

"I’m sorry, but the only collar available right now is this one."

He showed a red collar.

"How much is this?"

"One gold coin."

"That’s... ..."

I didn’t know how much one gold coin was.

But when I turned around and saw Helene with both hands crossed over her chest, her face blue, tears in her eyes, and shaking her head vigorously, it was probably quite expensive.

"Um, can’t you make it cheaper?"

"I’m sorry. Materials aren’t coming in because of the war."

The clerk looked troubled and apologized.

I see.

Upon closer inspection, there were very few items in the shop.

Can’t be helped.

"Understood. Then let’s go."

""...Yes.""

I replied to the clerk, urging Helene and Tiria to come.

Both of them answered with gloomy faces.

"I’m sorry, Sir Hiroyuki."

"Hahaha, it’s fine. ...So, how high is one gold coin?"

I stroked the drooping Tiria’s head as we walked toward the castle and asked Helene about the value of gold coins.

"...It’s one hundred years of my pocket money."

"...Haa? No way. I can’t buy it."

That can’t be.

"I didn’t think it would be this expensive either. Before, there were one-minute silver coins too, so I could have paid that much."

"Hmm, what’s a one-minute silver coin worth? Since we have the chance, could you tell me about this country’s currency system?"

"Yes. There are three main coins. The cheapest is copper, then silver, and gold is the highest. One gold coin equals 100 silver coins, and one silver coin equals 100 copper coins."

"Hoh. The difference is pretty big. Exchange would be a pain, right? You’d have to count 100 silver coins for one gold coin."

"Yes. That’s why ’one minute’ was created. One minute gold coin equals one gold coin, one minute silver coin equals one silver coin."

"I see."

"Also, the highest denomination is the Rune gold coin. A Rune gold coin is equal to ten gold coins and contains magical power."

"Eh? So I wouldn’t know if it has magical power?"

"You can tell by the size and design."

"Of course."

At my question, Helene gave a bitter smile.

Of course.

They weren’t going to try scams based on the country.

...Hm?

"Is that only for this country? Other countries have different currency systems, right?"

"Eh? Currency systems are the same worldwide. The value of goods varies by country, though."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yes. All coins are made by the Urilmeks Temple."

"Urilmeks?"

"The god of commerce."

Eh? Is the currency system tied to religion?

That sounds dangerous.

"Have you ever seen prices suddenly jump or drop without warning?"

"Yes. Right now, for example. Because there’s nothing available due to the war."

"Um, not that kind of thing — is there a sudden price change without any cause or warning?"

"Um... ...I think there was one... ..."

Helene tilted her head, folded her arms, and answered.

Ah, that’s about it.

Then the currency system is actually functioning without artificial deflation or inflation.

Urilmeks has self-control. The followers of that god have it.

...I don’t have self-control, so stop exposing your breasts while folding your arms.

...Back to the topic.

"Let’s go back to the conversation. So, um, how much does a normal person’s salary get?"

"...I don’t know about salaries, but if you have two silver coins, you can live normally for a month."

"I see."

Two silver coins... about 200,000 yen?

Then one gold coin is... 10 million!!

"Haa? That collar is way too expensive!"

"Well, it’s a luxury item, and only nobles and rich people buy slaves."

Well, probably. But... it’s a rip-off.

"Helene also gets quite a bit of pocket money, huh."

"I have to buy swords and armor, so it’s necessary expenses."

"I see. So you bought them yourself."

"Eh? Ah, um, this... was bought with Master’s money..."

Helene shrank in on herself as she answered.

"That’s not necessary expenses."

"I do my own repairs."

"Hahaha, maintenance costs money too."

Armor is made to take attacks, so it probably breaks easily.

My armor broke after just one fight with the Demon Lord.

...Ah, right.

I thought of something good.

"Helene. Do you have tools for repairing armor?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. I do."

"I’m sorry, but could you bring them when we get back?"

"Yes, that’s fine, but... what for? Ah, you want to fix Sir Hiroyuki’s armor?"

"Hahaha, secret. Well then, I’ll ask you."

I smiled at Helene and ended the conversation.

We had arrived right in front of the building where I was staying.

"Yes, understood. I’ll bring them right away."

Helene bowed to me and ran toward the main tower.