Chapter 055 - The Dark Elf, Xiah
Chapter 055 - The Dark Elf, Xiah
AUTHOR NOTE : There is no Trans.e.xual here.
A few days after the moving party.
In the morning, I slipped out of bed alone and went to the kitchen.
Wearing a pair of briefs and a shirt, I put on slippers and boiled some water.
I sliced some bread I bought yesterday and spread it with b.u.t.ter. I put some lettuce-looking vegetables and ham in between and a simple sandwich was made.
I made a salad with the leftover vegetables.
Once the water boiled, I brewed some Dragon Continent specialty light brown Chacha, that looks like oolong tea, and brought it to the bedroom.
Usually Snow and Chrisse would make breakfast but yesterday I gave it my all so I tired out both of them -- they are now still in dreamland.
As a husband, it"s my duty to show consideration for my wives" health and at least make them breakfast.
Speaking of my schedule: since my first night after moving to this house...
I spent all morning at Meiya"s workshop developing armor and accessories.
In the afternoon I meet up with Snow and Chrisse to go buy food and window-shop.
Then once night falls, I carry them both, head straight for the bed and let"s go!
This is how a standard day goes.
Regarding contraception, the girls drink a special magic potion. Being able to use that as contraception is just what I"d expect from an alternate world.
Every once in a while, I would ask Meiya"s approval and secretly receive quests and earn money in the morning with just the two of us for the sake of the bracelets I"m going to give to Snow and Chrisse.
I was able to safely have my first time with them both the way we wanted to, but… unfortunately cosplay clothes and lotions weren"t sold in this world, they don"t exist.
I want to put sailor uniforms, bloomers and army uniforms on them!
I want them to wear camo-patterned bikinis and hold AK-47s! I want to have superior officer and NCO play! China dresses exist so I did try having them put it on, and it was really exciting!
TL Note : NCO == Non-commissioned Officer
Also, I want all three of us to get in a single bathtub and flirt.
"I don"t have a bath at home after all. Of course I can"t exactly use that wash-basin. I could borrow the bath at Meiya"s house, but—nah, I can"t do that."
Even though she"s my disciple, doing lotion play in an acquaintance"s bath feels too awkward.
There"s also the fundamental problem that there are no lotions.
"—No, wait. Since I could make gunpowder then I should be able to make lotion, shouldn"t I!?"
A flash of genius!
An amazing flash of insight happened upon my grey matter!
I immediately began experiments inside my head.
First I built the mental image of "lotion".
A large part of it is made up of water, so the magic is handled a lot like water magic.
I breathed in, breathed out, and concentrated.
I detached a portion of magic from inside my body, moved it to my hand, and made it manifest.
"Ooooh! It turned into lotion!?"
It was a transparent, slimy liquid.
I rubbed it onto both my hands.
When I separated my hands, the slimy liquid made threads.
Perfect! Right now there is a perfectly made lotion in my hands!
Magic is amazing! Magic banzai! Khorosho!
This is a revolution!
If I can ask Snow or Meiya to make lots of these I can do lotion play that I only saw on DVDs in my previous life!
Ooh! Wild ideas just keep coming forth!
TL Note [Basically ‘yume ga hirogaru’ in j.a.panese means that their desires and dreams are increasing in number due to a new door being opened. Or similar such situations. I would have just written ‘Ooh! A door to new dreams and possibilities!’]
As my heart was trembling from the numerous possibilities, I heard footsteps coming down from the second floor.
It looks like those two had woken up.
I washed my hands.
The water boiled just in time, so I brewed three people"s worth of chacha.
We carried breakfast from the bedroom to the living room for a change of place.
I gave Snow and Chrisse, who were still looking sleepy, a morning greeting with a smile fresher than highland gra.s.s.
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"You know. I think we should get started working for real soon."
As the three of us sat on the living room chairs, having my special-made breakfast, Snow put out a proposal.
Certainly, no matter how we say we have an excess of funds, we"ll become useless people if we stay like this.
"You"re right. We should start working soon just like Snow says."
[That"s right. Let"s aim for level III again.]
Chrisse agreed, showing a motivated face.
"Level III, huh…."
I stroked my fingers on my chin in thought.
Exterminating monsters around town can get you up to level II, but that won"t do for level III.
The basic quests for level III are typically things like going far away to another town to deliver things, exterminating high level monsters, or guarding wagon convoys.
Things that demand an adventurer"s special expertise.
Also, from here on we"ll need to put security deposits.
It"s a system to prevent taking on quests without actually partic.i.p.ating in them. The security deposit is of course paid back after the quest is complete.
But that is exactly why I"m hesitant.
With quests that I"ve never done before, along comes trouble.
About 4 years ago, because of my lack of basic adventurer knowledge, I was tricked by fake adventurers and sold off as a slave to the Demon Continent.
Though it was good that I was able to find my wife Chrisse as a result, the trauma etched in my heart doesn"t disappear so quickly.
Wagon escort missions seem simple at first glance, but I don"t know what’d happen if I were suddenly attacked in the middle of the night by a large number of people and fell into panic. It"s one thing if it"s just me, but I have two wives I have to protect, so I can"t just recklessly fire my guns at random.
That indecision probably had something to do with the reason why I have been living the lazy life recently.
"Then you can just buy a slave and all will be fine!"
TN: Slaves, the cause and solution to all of life"s problems
"Uwaa!? M, Meiya! Since when?!"
Before I knew it, Meiya Dragoon was standing at the living room entrance.
As usual, she was in a dragon dress and holding a folding fan.
"I knocked the front door but n.o.body replied so I showed myself in!"
"Showed yourself in…. what about the key?"
"I am a genius magic tool developer second to Lute-sama. Opening that kind of lock was no trouble at all. Ahem desu!"
Don"t "ahem desu" me!
Meiya proudly puffed up her large chest.
But what she said had truth to it.
Even if they were introduced by the Adventurers" Guild, I can"t trust another adventurer so easily.
So rather than that, buying a slave, which carries no risk of betrayal, is a better plan.
Luckily I have some funds to spare.
At worst I can just borrow from Meiya.
"....... Should we try and give it a look?"
"Well, just looking is free, after all."
[Besides, there might be a person like onii-chan we might be able to pick up, too]
After getting my wives’ approval, regardless of whether or not we would end up actually buying one, we decided that we would go have a look.
"Then let"s go to the slave market today!"
Likely because she was happy her plan was accepted, Meiya enthusiastically did an air punch.
We"ll be taking a break from the armor and accessories development today.
Since we"re already going, I think we should probably do some shopping and invite Meiya for dinner after we have finished looking at the slaves.
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There’s but one place that sells slaves in this town.
A number of different slave merchants have gotten permission from the kingdom and set up together as the “Brutus Slave Market”
For defensive reasons, the [Brutus Slave Market] was set up behind the Adventurers" Guild.
It seems to have been done to make sure that any problem can be handled quickly when it happens.
We"ve been to the Adventurers" Guild several times, but other than Meiya, none of us knew where the building was.
We"ve never had any business that takes us behind the Adventurers" Guild, so we never noticed it.
The first floor of the [Brutus Slave Market] has cages for display, but the first floor had no entrances or exits.
It"s to prevent the slaves from escaping.
The same reason why I was once locked down in the bas.e.m.e.nt of [Rano Slave House].
The [Brutus Slave Market] operates by having multiple slave traders bring their slaves.
It had a system where, upon entering the market, new slave traders had to pay an entrance fee after having pa.s.sed strict examinations and are then allowed to put up their slaves for a fixed period of time.
Because of this system, the slave traders compete with each other, increase the quality of their slaves, have a wide selection of races, and there are no traders who cheat on their sold merchandise.
In the Demon Continent where I was taken to as a slave, people wanted mine slaves for digging coal, gold, silver, copper, magic stones, and such.
Of course, there is demand for mine slaves here in the Dragon Continent, too. However, in this town demand is not only for physical laborer-type slaves. There is demand for various types of slave.
Since bringing together many slavers means the quality and species of slaves becoming more diverse, this system was adopted.
The second floor is the reception area.
We went up the stairs and inside the room, and saw that similar to the Adventurers’ Guild they did business behind counters here too.
Meiya explained how it all worked.
As I thought, this is not a place just anyone can come to.
At least, there are age limits.
Adults, over 15 years of age.
We were 14 and 13 years old so we normally couldn"t come inside, but since there is a guardian, Meiya, there seems to be no problem.
It seems you present the kind of slave you want at the desk, then they give you a listing of slaves that meet the criteria.
Afterwards, you go down the stairs connecting the second floor to the first.
There were numbers placed on the cages, so you go there and confirm the actual thing, and negotiate with the official standing by the cage. This is done to let it not become an exhibition, prevent raillery, because the typical slaves are lightly dressed or naked.
The reason the slaves were lightly dressed is because getting them to strip for evaluation each time would be a pain, and it would ruin their physical condition to have them keep wearing clothes and stripping, which would harm their value as merchandise.
Because of that the first floor had its temperature raised with magic.
The reason the first floor is entirely walled in is not just to prevent the slaves from escaping, but also so that the room temperature doesn"t go down.
The receptionist noticed Meiya and immediately stood up and rushed over.
Then, without saying a thing we were taken behind the reception desk—to a reception room.
A total VIP treatment….
It seems when you"re someone of Meiya"s cla.s.s, you don"t go and see the slaves, but mention your requirements and the slave would be taken along to this room.
As expected from the Magic Stone Princess, whose name is known not just in the Dragon Continent, but throughout the world.
In under 10 minutes, the man in charge of the [Brutus Slave House] showed up.
Talking about slave traders you’d picture a guy with a scary face, but this guy’s face seemed like the goodness of humanity itself. He had a protruding belly, making him look much like a Daikoku.
TL Note : G.o.d of wealth. "Welcome, welcome, Meiya-sama. I"m the representative in charge of the [Brutus Slave House]. My name is Enos. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"How do you do, Enos?"
Meiya exchanged a handshake with Enos.
Then I shook hands with him as well.
Meiya sat down in the seat of honor, while the three of us sat on the sofa opposite of Enos.
"Well then, Meiya-sama, what kind of slave do you hope to see today?"
"It"s not me today, it"s my master Lute who"s coming to see some slaves. I"m only escorting him."
"Hoo, so you are Meiya-sama"s rumored master!"
Having been introduced by Meiya, Enos stared at me, eyes wide in wonder.
"If you"re Meiya"s master, then we as well have to give our all and introduce you to our recommended slave."
Enos laughed, his large belly shaking.
"Then what kind of slave do you hope to see?"
"Umm, one with adventurer experience, aged 15 - 20, and I don"t care about magic ability."
"How about the gender?"
"Female! ——————————But it"s just a preference, so if there"s one that meets the conditions, I don"t mind if he"s male, okay?"
I unintentionally said so but immediately made an addendum.
There"s no change in the att.i.tudes of Snow and Chrisse sitting to my left and right.
On the contrary, that scares me.
But see, a young male would be unpleasant in lots of ways.
Which is why I chose female…… I don"t have any ulterior motives okay?
TL Note : Suuuuuuuure. - larvyde
TL Note : You just dont want getting NTR’d. rei_hunter
As I was making up excuses in my mind, Enos racked his brains for a slave that met my requirements.
After some time he seemed to have thought of something, raised his face and said with a smile.
"There is one who meets your requirements. She"s a slave I"m handling, her name"s Xiah. She"s 16 years old, she was an adventurer for 3 years since she was 12, and is a level III. She"s a female from the Fairy Race, Dark Elf Clan, and a B-plus ranked magician."
"A B-plus ranked magician slave, so she"d be worth about 500 gold, I think?"
I was amazed at the cost Meiya mentioned.
(F, five hundred gold!? That"s about 50 million in j.a.panese yen, right? Screw that. I don"t have that kind of money!)
I quickly gave up on buying her.
As expected, it would be better to have just the three of us adventuring and raising our levels.
She"s too expensive, no matter how you look at it.
"Normally I would offer her to you for that amount, but… if you"re willing to take her I don"t mind handing her over for 250 gold."
"Half off from the normal price? That"s quite a discount."
Enos smiled bitterly at my cynical remark.
"Of course, I don"t intend to deceive Meiya-sama"s master. She"s in good condition, no s.e.xual experience, a virgin. She can properly handle magic, too."
Oi, why are you emphasizing the virgin part?
Well, it"s an important part, in a way.
"It"s just that Xiah is a strange one… she sold herself off as a slave."
"Sold herself off?"
"We get those sometimes. People that got too poor and were willing to be a slave even for free. Being a slave they don"t have the right to their life anymore but they can escape the fate of dying from starvation tomorrow or the day after. If they"re lucky they can get bought by a good master and live a peaceful life. Only… Xiah freely gave herself up as a slave on one condition."
And that condition is?
"It was [Only sell me to a master I consider acceptable]. With that contract, a friend of mine took Xiah as a slave, but after about 1 year there was no master she would accept and soon there were no longer any buyers. Obviously, my friend was astounded and gave her over to me saying [I can"t handle her anymore!]"
"I see… so if this Xiah girl would accept me as her [Master], you are willing to sell her to me for half the usual price?"
"Yes, that"s how it is."
Certainly, she"s a strange one.
No, I"m not sure I can just call her "strange", she"s more of an eccentric.
“Are there any attributes she wants, or any particular basis for who she’s willing to have as her master?”
With a troubled look, Enos shook his head.
"That is simply, to quote the person herself, "I"ll only be sold to a master I recognize myself", a single point. Since that contract is there, I cannot sell her on other conditions…. So therefore, if it"s Meiya-sama"s master, I thought for sure that Xiah would recognize you, so how about it?"
I see why he"s selling her dirt cheap at half the market price.
Well of course she"s in a sense a bargain slave, but I don"t think she"s likely to accept me as her master.
It"s no use anyhow, so should I refuse, I wonder?
"How about you at least meet her for now?"
Enos asked, his face looking like he"s pleading me.
Judging from the way he looked, it seems she"s unsellable dead stock that just takes up maintenance costs. He"s clinging on the slight possibility that Meiya"s master might be recognized by the eccentric Xiah as her master.
If all goes well, if Xiah were really pleased with me, he might be able to sell her off before he expends too much capital.
Honestly, I myself want to see what kind of girl she is.
Trying is free after all, I don"t think I"ll do anything more than see her.
"....... All right. Let"s just try and see her. Don"t complain if she won"t recognize me as a master, okay?"
"Of course! Please wait a little while."
Enos gleefully stood up from the sofa and left the reception room.
After about 10 minutes, he brought along a girl held between two guards.
"Thank you for waiting. This is Xiah who we talked about earlier."
I turned my eyes towards her.
Her eyes carried a strong will. She was about as tall as Snow, probably a little shorter. She had sharp eyes but if she put her face in order I could call her cute.
On her neck there is a magic prevention collar. Her hands and feet are restrained with st.u.r.dy chains, and held from both sides by the guards. All in all they"ve prepared measures to be sure.
The clothes she"s wearing are worn out, top and bottom. Her navel is visible. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are just a little larger than average. About D-cup I guess?
Her black hair is cut to shoulder length. Her pointed ears, characteristic of Elves, peeked out from under her hair.
This seems to be Xiah, the eccentric Fairy Race, Dark Elf Clan girl.
"This person is the one who is willing to buy you. Go on, say hi."
Um, I haven"t decided on buying her, though….
With her sharp gaze, Xiah stared at us as if she was evaluating us.
We"re getting our roles reversed here.
"....... My name"s Xiah, pleased to meet you."
TN: She uses "boku"
After she was finished with her evaluation, she curtly greeted us.
A Dark Elf and a [bokukko]!?
TL Note : It’s a j.a.panese Slang for Girls who use the boy-like words to represent herself. (or the usage of boku)
That’s some character.
“Good grief, don’t you know any manners?”
“I’ve worked for a man of high social standing you know? It’s not quite that I don’t know any. I just don’t bother.”
“Really, you …”
Enos tiredly sighed.
He introduced her to us again.
“This is the Lute-sama who will buy you. The teacher of that Magic Stone Princess Meiya-sama. How’s that? He’s a fitting person to be your master, isn’t he?”
(Told you I haven’t decided that I would buy her yet)
Xiah shrinks her pupils at that introduction with great interest.
“Really, so you are Lute huh.”
Her reaction is almost like someone I know.
But I have no recollection of meeting her before?
“Erm … Have we met somewhere before ?”
“I wonder …”
Xiah began to giggle.
As I desperately tried to remember her, she dropped a bomb that blew my mind.
“Tanakakouji -- Don’t you remember hearing that ?”
Tanakakouji--- Tanaka Kouji!?
TL Note : This is a word play using katakana and finally kanji (or a name). rei_hunter
Suicide, letting one die, bully, delinquent, stabbed to death, hanging by the neck -- the trauma in the distant past became a black tsunami and painted out my soul.
“UwaAaAaaaaaaaaAAAaaaaAaaaaa!!!”
My scream reverberates in the reception room.
I lost my consciousness afterwards.
That was once the name of a friend who was in part the reason I abandoned everything in the previous world, became a hikkikomori, and died.