Half-Dragon Slave Life

Chapter 8

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Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Merchant

「Uwaa……」

When I realized that I had just exterminated a bunch of scoundrels in the blink of an eye, I was a bit astonished.
I had also thought this back in Sokaris, but this body’s capabilities were abnormally high.

「EIR, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!」(Rimuru)
「Aah, yes, Rimuru-sama. I am, all right…… but……」(Eir)

The three guards had sacrificed themselves. “If only I had arrived sooner.” I thought about what could have happened.

「For the time being, I will tend to the injured. I can use healing magic, so is it alright to leave it to me?」(Rimuru)

「Eh, aa…… aah, yes, that would be helpful. Thank you so very much.」(Merchant)

The traveler-san, who was at a loss for words after watching the spectacle of Me suddenly showing up like a hurricane and mowing down the enemies, snapped back to his senses.
I also gave my mantle to the woman whose clothes were torn.
They might see my wings and scales, but it was too late for that now.

「Thank y―― Hyaa!?」(Woman)

「Ah, even if look like this, am more or less human, I am.」(Eir)

「Eeh, ah…… I’m sorry, even though you saved me, I……」(Woman)

It seemed that seeing me for the first time was still terrifying. Since I was roughly the same gender as her, I sort of sympathized with her.

「She is a descendant from a race of dragonic humans, you see. I had also thought that they were just a myth, though.」(Rimuru)

「Hee~, why, isn’t that amazing?」(Woman)

「Will it really not be dangerous?」(Merchant)

「She is bound by a slave contract, so she will not cause any harm.」(Rimuru)

Of course, I wasn’t really a dragonic human or whatever.
It was said that the Dragon King Bahamut ate a bud from the World Tree, and he transformed from a human into a dragon. There were tales of him going around the world and wreaking havoc.
Since those legends existed, they might not have had a choice in accepting me as being an unusual existence.

「――And that’s, the last one. I am sorry for my late introduction, I am an apprentice healer by the name of Rimuru Branché. Traveling with me is my companion, Eir.」(Rimuru)

「Ooh, to think that there wouldn’t even be a scar left…… Ah yes, I am a traveling merchant by the name of Denuka Elric. This woman here is my bodyguard.」(Denuka)

「I’m an adventurer, Amy Taraka. Thank you for saving me earlier.」(Amy)

「Is okay?」(Eir)

「Yes, all because of you.」(Amy)

「Who was it that attacked you?」(Rimuru??)

「They were most likely bandits. I heard that a troll had appeared in the vicinity recently, so they were likely aiming for its leftovers.」(Denuka??)

You would think that a town would strengthen their defenses after being attacked by a monster, but in reality, there were many cases where their defenses had been weakened because they suffered losses in battle.
Especially in remote regions that did not have able bodies, there was a strong tendency for that to happen.
As they desperately attempted to ensure the town’s defenses, the shift in resources affected the average citizens. In other words, there was a lack of personnel who were able to provide services like being bodyguards for traveling merchants.
The thieves were most likely using that opportunity to attack Denuka-san.

「It is unfortunate that we were unable to save three people. Eir, let’s bury them.」(Rimuru)

「Wait. I’ll collect their adventurer cards.」 (Amy)

Amy took out a small, pocket-sized card from the men’s breast pockets.
That was probably their adventurer’s license card.

「……Yea, I have to report this back to the Guild just in case.」(Amy)

She had a sorrowful expression. Her comrades died, so I guess it was inevitable, huh.

「Hey, where are you two headed? If you are traveling to Sokaris, how about going together?」 (Amy)

「Eeeh……」(Rimuru)

Master quickly glanced in my direction.
If I was traveling with them, we would probably have to be cautious.
After all, I was a walking treasure chest.

「Let me see. The wagons appear to be alright, so if you would allow us the opportunity to use one, I would not mind going together.」(Rimuru)

「Rimuru-sama, sly.」(Eir)

He was trying to cut down on walking……

「If that is all, then please make yourself comfortable. Although it is only half a day’s travel from here, there is still quite a distance to go. I don’t think we would be able to handle being a.s.saulted again.」 (Denuka)

「We’ll be depending on you, Eir.」 (Rimuru)

Since I was being relied on by Master, I tried puffing out my chest a bit.
However, the truth was that I had only been half-confident until just a while ago. Burn-san had given me his stamp of approval, but that was my first battle, after all.

「Yes, those movements from before were too intense to be described with words…… No, I suppose it is best to say that I couldn’t take my eyes off it.」 (Denuka)

「Her base strength is on a different level, after all.」(Rimuru)

「Well, you have quite the excellent slave, to the point where I am jealous.」(Denuka)

「Yes, well……」(Rimuru)

Ah, he was making a slightly bitter expression. So he really didn’t like me being treated like a slave, huh~. He did say that he was part of the anti-slavery faction, so I guess that was to be expected.
I should be throwing him a lifeline here.

「Rimuru-sama, tool to dig hole, have?」(Eir)

「Oh, that’s right. Uhmm……」(Rimuru)

Darn, now that I thought about it, we had brought tools like shovels, but they were all in the “Other Dimension Storage”.
It would be bad to take them out in front of other people.

「If you can make do with a simple, foldable shovel, then I have one with me. Also, you can use these guys’ swords as subst.i.tute shovels, you know.」 (Amy)

「Is that so. Then, please allow us to borrow it.」 (Rimuru)

Even if Master said that, I was the only one who would be digging holes.
The merchant Denuka-san didn’t show any signs of acting in the first place. As for Master, he couldn’t exactly work next to his slave, so he didn’t move either. Although Amy-san wasn’t part of the “men who can’t work” faction, she was still a woman…… so it was decided that she would only watch.
Well, with my current strength, the job wouldn’t be too difficult for me anyway.
I used the shovel to dig through the ground like it was b.u.t.ter. With a thrust of my left arm, the shovel wedged itself up to its base and gouged out the earth.
After I placed the corpses into the finished holes, I covered them with dirt.
It only took about an hour to finish burying the three men. As for the bandit’s remains, the majority of them had been split in two, so they were left as is. The way they were now, there wouldn’t be any problems, even if they turned into undead.

「Now that I think about it, Eir-chan has wings, but can you fly with those?」 (Amy)

「Can fly, you know?」(Eir)

「That sure is convenient. You can do stuff like scouting ahead from the sky, so you would naturally make for a great adventurer.」(Amy)

「I am……」(Eir)

Since I was a slave, the dream of being an adventurer would never come true.

「Ah, that’s right. I was being thoughtless…… I’m sorry.」(Amy)

「Is okay.」(Eir)

「Can you not buy back your own freedom?」(Amy)

「Without Rimuru-sama’s agreement, impossible.」(Eir)

「And Rimuru-kun?」(Amy)

「Uhm, she is still essential to me, so……」(Rimuru)

「But for a slave, being bound by your social status like that is–」(Amy)

「I am well aware of that, but it is still impossible.」(Rimuru)

「Then, when the time comes, will you set her free?」(Amy)

「That is…I definitely will.」(Rimuru)

Master was being reprimanded with a small lecture. However, it looked like he had promised to set me free?

「In any case, I’m sure that it would be very expensive for her to buy her freedom back…… Do you, perhaps, have the money for it?」(Denuka)

「Aah, eeeh……」(Eir)

There was no way that I could say that I had enough money and G.o.d-like equipment to overthrow the world stored in my “Other Dimension Storage”……

「Uhhm…… Oh yes, scales! My scales, will become money?」(Eir)

My left arm and right leg were jam packed with dragon scales.
When we had decided to investigate it while we were in Focalor, we found that they had a considerable resistance to heat, and they were much tougher than iron.
If you took a single scale and tried scratching the surface of an iron shield with it, it would carve a gash into the shield. They were lightweight, thin, and solid.
My dragon-transformed limbs had a dulled sense of pain, so peeling off the scales wasn’t very painful. Furthermore, if only a few were peeled off, they would just grow back, since I could regenerate them.
If those scales could be sold on the market, I would have an unlimited source of income at my disposal…… Although, that would just add another reason for people to come after me.

「Hou…… May I have one?」(Denuka)

「Nn, go ahead.」(Eir)

I casually peeled a scale off of my leg and handed it to Denuka-san.
I used my transformed left hand, so it was easy to pry off, but in reality, they stubbornly clung to me.
He took the scale, flicked it with his finger, and began appraising it by eye. In the end, he went and shaved off a part of the wagon’s frame with it.

「Very light, and…… Umu, it is also st.u.r.dy…… Wonderful! Eir-san, this scale, may I purchase them for 1 gold coin apiece?」(Denuka)

I was a bit astonished by the price. 100 scales would already be worth a fortune.

「It isn’t that much, you know. If you have 50 or 60 of these scales, you can make a shield with them. It would be lightweight and st.u.r.dy, and if you consider that they are heat resistant, you could easily sell that shield for 100 gold coins.」(Denuka)

「……Rimuru-sama, will allow me to sell?」(Eir)

「Now is no good.」(Rimuru)

I tried pleading with Master, but he gave an immediate reply.

「Until we arrive at Raum…… No, even after we reach Raum, I want to have a bodyguard I can trust.」(Rimuru)

「If allowed to purchase freedom, will guard free of charge.」(Eir)

「I do trust you, Eir, but I still cannot allow it.」(Rimuru)

「Why?」(Eir)

「That is……」(Rimuru)

Master was hesitating. When it came to the subject of freeing me, he spoke in strange and obscure ways.
It was like he had some sort of secret.

「This is more convenient for me in various ways. Once everything is taken care of, I will definitely release you. So, until then……」(Rimuru)

「–Understand.」(Eir)

「……Yeah, sorry.」(Rimuru)

It felt a bit like we were having an argument. The mood dropped.
Perhaps Amy-san realized that, because she somewhat forcefully tried to change the subject.

「Oh yeah, Eir-chan can fly, right? Roughly how fast can you go?」(Amy)

「Yes, was faster than a falcon. Eyes hurt when going faster, so have not tried.」(Eir)

After saying that, I tried expanding my wings a bit.
My wings were usually small and only about 30 cm long, but when I needed to fly, I could expand them to around 2 m wide.
These wings allowed me to fly, but it wasn’t like I was flying through physical means. It seemed that magic power manifested itself when I flapped my wings and propelled me forward.
The more magic power gathered, the faster I went.
In addition, my magic power was unbelievably large. I hadn’t tried testing the limits yet, but I could probably travel at an unbelievably fast speed.

「Oh…… If hold on to Rimuru-sama, then can reach Sokaris really fast.」(Eir)

「Don’t even try it, isn’t that really scary!?」(Rimuru)

Amy-san couldn’t help letting a chuckle slip out on hearing our conversation.

「You two really get along, huh. You’re just like a pair of playful kittens.」(Amy)

「I’m more or less her Master, you know?」(Rimuru)

「Problem with dignity?」(Eir)

「That is something I’ll gain over time.」(Rimuru)

「But still, if Eir-chan can fly in the sky, then it would be alright to leave the surveillance to you, right? It would be dangerous if those bandits still had comrades left.」(Amy)

「Yes…… Hm? But if I not here, person to protect Rimuru-sama will……」(Rimuru)

「Aah, I am still an adventurer, you know? I specialize in fire-type offense magic.」(Amy)

「Oh, forgot.」(Eir)

「Eir-chan, casually heartless!?」(Amy)

So Amy-san was a magician, huh. She wasn’t wearing any armor, so she did give off that sort of feeling.

「Then, can ask of you? Incidentally, trust you will protect Rimuru-sama, even if costs your life?」(Eir)

「Uu, your trust is heavy.」(Amy)

After giving a light warning, I expanded my wings and ascended into the sky.
For some reason, I heard Rimuru-sama say something like 『Ah, I saw it.』 when I flew up, so I continued while holding down my skirt.
How embarra.s.sing……

I flew up to about 100 m in an instant and searched for enemies. In my case, I had my horn radar, so I wouldn’t really be caught off guard.
Also…as I had thought, my body really couldn’t get used to this action called “flying”. Frankly speaking, having nothing under my feet was scary.
If I had flown over during the raid, I might have been able to save one more life, but… Considering that, it would be best for me to get used to flying.
I relied on the vision of my left eye to take a look at the area around the wagons, but there weren’t any suspicious people.
I could see the rampart walls of Sokaris about 20 km away. I could also see the World Tree towering above.

The World Tree: the Dragon King ascended it, the Demon King ascended it, and the Destruction G.o.d destroyed it.
They were legends told by firsthand witnesses.
I had lost my hometown and my body had become like this, so it might be fun to try being an adventurer when I was freed.
Though, that would only be after Master finished what he needed to do, so I didn’t know when that time would come.

After enjoying swimming through the air for some time, I slowly descended, and Amy-san ran up to me.

「After seeing it for myself, flying really seems fun, huh. Next time, can you bring me along too?」(Amy)

「It seems like Rimuru-sama said it was scary, though?」(Eir)

「Women should have guts! Also, I want to see what it’s like to fly through the air, even if it’s only once.」(Amy)

「Then…right now.」(Eir)

「Heh?」(Amy)

I took advantage of the moment when she was unable to think to circle around her and lock my arms around her waist.
With a flap of my wings, I soared into the sky for a second time.

「UU, UHYAAAAaaaaa!?」(Amy)

Amy-san let out a high-pitched squeal and vigorously flailed around.

「Struggling dangerous. Will fall.」(Eir)

「D-DON’T DROP ME! I’ll stay still!」(Amy)

「Okay, then, will go faster.」(Eir)

「WHYYYYYY!?」(Amy)

We enjoyed our nauseating trip through the skies.

Footnotes

TL note: As noted in chapter 6, 1 Gold Coin is equal to 10,000 Yen. So 100 of Eir’s scales would sell for 1 million yen (about $9,000 USD by today’s conversion). As a reminder, Eir was sold to Rimuru for 80 gold coins, so a shield made from her scales already exceeds her cost.

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