Chapter 135.2: Wolfanea and slaves.

And so, we arrived at the Archogi Company. I cleaned Cidar with purification just in case. He was about the same age as me, so I lent him my clothes. He looked quite handsome with his clean appearances.

“What do I say about this…”

“It’s vulgar?”

So over the top… it feels like that. It’s glittering with golden leaves.

We were taken to the reception room. Although we are traveling incognito, we are royalty + two ladies with Dukes for fathers, so we are super VIP. Information is vital for merchants. They plan to treat us as important guests even though we are just children.

“I am sorry to have kept you waiting.”

I digress, but there is a pig beastman girl in the class next to ours. She’s chubby and adorable. They are of the same race, so why is this merchant so ugly? The pig merchant asked me with a gross smile on his face.

“What may you be looking for?”

“Ojousama wishes to buy slaves. Haku.”

“Number 321 and number 322… those two slaves pleasee.”

“Fumu… understood.”

The merchant had two skinny people brought in. One was… a bear beastman, I think. The other was perhaps a squirrel? A petite girl. Those two looked dead inside, but they were clearly shocked seeing Haku before them.

“It’s these two, correct?”

Haku nodded. I nodded too. Rabisha-chan started the negotiations.

“We will take these two slaves. How much for both?”

“Let’s see. How about 10 gold coins?”

“For such dirty slaves?”

Rabisha-chan spoke as if laughing at his ridiculousness. 1 gold coin is about 100,000 yen (~900 dollars). I later heard that he was asking for ten times the market price. I whispered to Rabisha-chan in a voice only she could hear. She nodded back.

“… That’s fine. However, could you provide us with your service? Slaves are illegal in Christia. Please remove the slave crest from them.”

“… Hou. Are you sure? Slave crest is a safety mechanism to prevent fleeing and harming the owner.”

“My Master is fine with that. You are fine with payment in gems, right?”

A gem was taken out in place of cash.

“Then, I will call the Curseman.”

A Curseman is an occupation that exists only in countries with slavery, like Wolfanea. Their main job is managing the slave crests. They are specialists in curses.

A young parrot… I think? man with cheesy-looking feathers arrived. He swiftly removed the slave crest… and got astonished after seeing Haku.

“You… why do you not have your slave crest!?”

“Eeh?”

“We don’t know. Haku didn’t have a slave crest when we picked him up.”

“… That’s not possible! My curses are perfect! There’s no way he can cancel it on his own!”

Well certainly, it was Arisa who removed it.

“No! That doesn’t matter, you are… guha!?”

He wanted to grab Haku so I struck him with harisen. The parrot man rolled on the ground. I yelled at him.

“What are you trying to do to my child! This child is my spirit of protection! I will whack you dead if you try to hurt him!”

“Don’t get in…!?”

It seemed that he wanted to use some kind of a curse, so I rebounded it. Hmph, restriction, huh. How convenient. It seems that he can still talk, so it’s probably used for interrogation?… H, huh? Aren’t the parrot’s eyes sparkling? Let’s pretend I didn’t see that. I have bad feelings about this pattern.

I looked at Haku with tears in my eyes. Haku nodded. Dirk sympathized with me.

“I will forgive your rudeness this time! Everyone, withdraw!”

Sorry but I don’t need any trouble!

I have 36 ways of escape!

I took Milfi. Haku took Mr. Bear and Miss Squirrel. Dirk grabbed Aldin-sama and Cidar and we each broke into a run. Rabisha-chan was empty-handed.

“Ueh!?”

Zilva chased in panic. However, he was quite fast himself.

We stopped in the back alley again.

“If you are, are going to run, run…. cough, cough.”

Zilva wanted to complain, but couldn’t. It might be better to reforge this fellow… for Milfi’s sake.

“Now then, are mister Bear and miss Squirrel feeling okay?”

The two nodded.

“I’m so glad you are alivee…”

Haku gently hugged the two while crying. The two patted Haku in confusion.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In fact, Haku spoke to me the day before we departed to Wolfanea. He has no family, but has friends among the salves he considers family. They might have already passed away, but he wanted to live together if they were still alive. Haku begged me in tears. I will do something about the money, he begged.

Haku is a hard worker and my good child. I had no reason to deny his request.

“You guys will be treated as live-in servants of our family. Your salary will be negotiated after I finish my business here.”

“Umm, the money these two were bought withh…”

“Let’s deduct it from the wages you have not accepted until now.”

“Eehh…”

“I won’t let you refuse. It will be used to pay for their daily necessities as well. Until they get paid themselves, at the very least.”

“As I said, wages are— ”I will think about if you persuade both me and Niisama.”

“How about you give up? It might be a bit difficult to understand, but Rosarin is saying that she will make you accept the waves by force if necessary. She’s telling you that she won’t accept any refusal.”

“It’s important to know when to give up.”

“You are working, right? Why are you refusing to receive payment for your work, Haku?”

Dirk, Milfi, and Aldin-sama made Haku all shook up.

“Auuu… that’s because I am a slavee. It’s a matter of fact for me to work, plus I can eat until I am full and sleep well… I am too happyy. Receiving wages would be beyond the treatment I deservee.”

“… Rosarin thinks that you should receive wages in exchange for the work you do. Besides, Christia has no slaves. You are simply Haku. I also think that you should get paid if you work diligently.”

“……… Okayy.”

“For now, bring those two back home. I have already informed others about it. There will be lots to talk about, but I can deceive them for a night. What do you want to do?”

“Noo, I will ask Martha-san to take care of themm. I will be right backk.”

Haku smiled, took the two in his arms and returned right away.

“I’m looking forward to returning home. Why don’t you think about what you are going to talk about when you return?”

“Rosarin-chan…”

Large drops of tears spilled from Haku’s round eyes.

“I am happy to have met youu. Thank youu… I didn’t know I could be this happyy… it’s not a dream, is itt? You won’t disappear on mee, will youu?”

“Haku…”

I extended my hand towards Haku and flicked his forehead.

“Ouchh!?”

“It’s not a dream, right? This is only the beginning. You will be only much, much happier from now on.”

“… Yeah.”

Haku smiled happily. It seems that he was feeling quite guilty to be happy because of his past experiences, but he’s this kindhearted, so I want him to be happy.

Well, I would never let any of my children be unhappy, though!