Lucky Charm
When I returned home, Rutina was doing a dogeza.
I didn’t see her as a woman that would ever do that.
Roxanne must have done something.
I wonder what she did.
“W-What is this?”
“Well, after we had an honest talk, Rutina finally came to an understanding.”
Roxanne is smiling.
It looks like they had a T-A-L-K.
Did you talk properly? Or did you drive her against the wall?
“My eyes have opened thanks to Roxanne-ane-sama.”
It doesn’t look like there is a heavy feeling of emotions coming from Rutina’s words.
“That is really good.”
Unless you are hiding your displeasure.
What did you really do, Roxanne!
“Because she explained the reasons logically, it looks like Rutina came to an understanding.”
Sherry explains on behalf of Roxanne.
Looks like Sherry is taking Roxanne’s side this time.
Since it’s Sherry, I guess things really did happen in a logical manner, instead of forcing the logic on her with torture.
It would be harsh if I didn’t forgive her.
“D-Do your best, desu.”
“It will be alright, I think. Most likely.”
Miria and Vesta seem a little intimidated.
“W-Well, stand up.”
“Yes, I will reform myself from now on and devote my mind and heart completely to Michio-sama. Please treat me very well.”
I asked Rutina to stand up.
I feel like her eyes are dead.
I would be troubled if she became a broken doll.
“Take care of me as well. Are you alright?”
“I am alright.”
Was she shaken because of Roxanne’s shadow just now?
She doesn’t look fine.
She might be suffering from trauma.
What did you really do?
“Ah! Rutina, we’ll stay home today.”
“I think it will be alright to take her to the labyrinth.”
Roxanne makes a suggestion.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Rutina understands how terrifying it will be if she leaks information.”
Sherry said a terrifying thing so casually.
What did you teach her?
“B-Be careful, desu.”
“I think you need to pay attention.”
I have a feeling that Miria and Vesta are frightened.
“There is absolutely no way I will leak secret information.”
Rutina’s statement is full of conviction.
Rutina gives off a diligent feeling.
Or is it a feeling full of fear?
“It is alright. A slave who can cause harm to Master doesn’t exist.”
I look at Roxanne, but she only nods and smiles.
In the first place, Rutina hated the duke, but didn’t ask me to do anything, right?
“If Roxanne says so.”
“Yes. Aren’t you glad, Rutina.”
“Thank you very much.”
Rutina bows her head.
The sensation from her talk is amazing.
“Well, do your best.”
“If I become a Wizard by partic.i.p.ating in the labyrinth… n-no. I will do my best for Michio-sama’s sake.”
Rutina corrected her remark after a slight look from Roxanne.
I am pretty sure Roxanne got the Wild Animal Tamer job.
Nope, she didn’t.
It will be alright to take her to the labyrinth like this, right?
“Then, I’ll be counting on you.”
“Okay.”
“It is not ‘okay’.”
“C-Certainly, Michio-sama.”
Rutina corrected her words again when Roxanne spoke to her.
However, this level of subordination isn’t really necessary.
Even Roxanne and the others reply with ‘okay’ or ‘yes’.
“I wouldn’t have said anything if she had the mental readiness from the start, but in this case, I need to shape her first.”
Roxanne explains the reason.
I-I see.
It is quite hard to object.
Well, I guess it’s fine?
“If we are going to the labyrinth, then what about protective gear?”
“You can choose from the store room. Follow me, Rutina.”
“Please take care of me, Roxanne-ane-sama.”
Rutina suddenly sticks closely to Roxanne and leaves the room with her.
She has been fully trained.
Eventually, I might probably be hearing things like ‘Miria-san’.
“What happened?”
“Nothing in particular. She was taught to understand the right and wrong of things.”
I asked Sherry an abstract question when Roxanne left and she gave me an abstract answer.
When I looked at Miria, she averted her eyes.
Seems like Roxanne and Sherry did nasty torture, after all.
Aside from Roxanne, did even Sherry approve of that?
It was surely dangerous to leave her in her previous condition.
I think Sherry felt uneasy as well.
I a.s.sume everything turned out alright.
Rutina returned with Roxanne after a while as I waited.
Rutina strengthened herself with protective gear.
“Next is Sacrificial Misanga. I will tie it on your left ankle.”
As for Sacrificial Misanga, it is inside my Item Box, not the store room.
But I am losing s.p.a.ce in the Item Box because of that.
Since it is expensive, I can’t help it in this case.
“Um, Sacrificial Misanga?”
“That’s right.”
“Umm…”
Rutina looks at Roxanne, seeking help.
“It is alright. Master thinks very deeply about his companions. That’s why I said he is a great person.”
She wasn’t seeking help but approval?
With Roxanne’s approval, Rutina nervously lifted the hem of her dress up.
She has been wearing the same dress since she came last night from the Earl of Selmar’s castle.
Or rather than a dress, it has a feeling of luxury nightgown.
It was a good timing.
When Rutina lifts her dress, I see her white ankle under the hem of the long skirt.
Oh.
White.
Pure white, slender, and smooth legs.
Tender and smooth milky coloured skin.
I can’t tolerate this.
Beautiful.
Beautiful and bewitching.
I feel that something might be different.
I don’t think it is simply a matter of being raised elegantly because she was born a n.o.ble.
In her exists an absolute beauty that separates her from the others.
A pure white that is not soiled by anything.
I’ve only seen the ankle and I’m going this far. What will happen if I see the upper areas?
Unfortunately, the long skirt hem is clinging tightly to her, firmly hiding the rest.
I want to tear it and check her out.
I want to make her mine.
I must make her mine.
I must make her mine immediately.
I must make her mine at all costs.
Because it wasn’t decided that she would be mine, it makes me think about it even more.
I will make her mine. I will make her mine. I will make her mine.
If I manage to own Rutina, I will be happy. I will be happy. I will be happy.
As a practice for that time, I wrap the Misanga around her pure white skin.
“I have to buy you clothes as well. It will be clothes that commoners wear, though.”
Rutina’s dress doesn’t really have any strange appearance.
But she may not be able to move easily inside the labyrinth.
Well, it’s not like she’s the vanguard.
Oh, right. That reminds me, is it necessary to make her defeat a monster bare-handed?
I will let her do that tomorrow.
She will learn by observation today.
“No, I- Um…”
“It is alright if you receive it with appreciation.”
“O-Okay.”
Rutina’s elegant legs s.h.i.+ver for a moment.
It seems Roxanne has persuaded her.
I tie the Misanga silently.
It will be difficult to help Rutina.
Things exist in society that we are not allowed to touch.
Even so, I want to feel Rutina’s legs.
I gently touch her soft and gentle skin.
How good it will be to hug this skin tightly in the bed.
I want to hug her.
I want to hug her until she is broken.
“Is the Misanga fine?”
“Thank you very much. Also, umm…”
“This.”
Rutina hesitates and then takes something out from her dress.
It has something that resembles a pocket.
“A gold coin?”
What she took out was a gold coin.
It is not special, just an ordinary gold coin.
I looked at it, but there was no mark.
That’s normal.
“It was sewed on to this dress.”
Was she afraid of it getting discovered because I suggested changing her clothes?
And she took it out herself before that happened.
If she kept quiet and got discovered later, what type of scolding would she receive from Roxanne and Sherry?
Scary.
“Hmm. Is that so?”
“I always keep one with me because my deceased mother told me that you never know what sort of things may happen.”
It is an excellent teaching.
And looks really helpful.
A single gold coin may not help in the long run, though.
On the other hand, it’s not possible to carry several pieces.
“It might be possible to buy yourself back if you had a white gold coin.”
“Ehh…”
“You don’t have one?”
Should I do a physical checkup here?
“I am not carrying any. And I have never seen a white gold coin as you can expect.”
“I see. Well, even I carry only one of them.”
“You want to see it?”
Because her answer was doubtful, I decided to show it to her.
Didn’t Roxanne teach you not to doubt your master?
I take the white gold coin from my Item Box, and pa.s.s it to Rutina.
I am using one line in my Item Box even though I have only one white gold coin.
This is also a reason why my Item Box is crowded.
But I can’t help it since it has double the value of 50 gold coins.
“Is this a white gold coin?”
“Is it fine that you’ve brought a gold coin along?”
“Because that man said it will be alright, there is no problem.”
Surely, the Duke said I can take her back.
But he couldn’t have done a physical checkup at that time.
A white gold coin aside, the Earl’s house finance wouldn’t go down because of one gold coin.
“In case someone is sold as a slave because they are troubled with money, they sometimes sew money to their underwear. It will become the slave’s possession this way.”
There also seem to be such cases according to Sherry.
And Rutina didn’t get the Thief job either.
It is being considered as her money, not the house money.
“That settles it. You can take care of it.”
“Ah, is it dangerous holding a gold coin while naked? I will keep it for you inside my Item Box then.”
“Uhh… you will not take it?”
Rutina asks anxiously as I was returning the gold coin.
“Did you expect I would do that?”
“I don’t know anything about this case. Usually, a slave is not recognized as the owner of their clothes. The underwear is recognized as the slave’s belonging, though. So, the slave’s master prepares something appropriate and the clothes are sold with the slave. Even in the case from before, the money became the slave’s belonging because it was kept in the underwear.”
Sherry explains to me calmly.
“Is it considered my stuff even if I don’t take it?”
“I think the chance of that is big.”
The teaching of Rutina’s mother seems to be slightly insufficient.
Actually, since her mother told her to stick it on her body, it is Rutina who is wrong for not putting it in her underwear.
“I wouldn’t know if you kept silent.”
“But just now, you told me you will take off my clothes.”
I didn’t say I will take them off.
“You can’t always stay in the same clothes; you will have to change daily.”
“Y-You are right.”
“You could have done it again and put it in your underwear secretly.”
“But…”
Ah, that’s right.
I don’t know what Roxanne would do if she got discovered later.
“It would be like my trust in Master isn’t enough.”
She will receive a scolding even without getting discovered.
“Because I am not sure who this belongs to, it is fine for this gold coin to belong to Rutina.”
I declare.
This gold coin belonged to Rutina from the very beginning, so I declared it is fine for Rutina to own it even if it belongs to me now.
Will Rutina get the Thief job if she hides it inside her underwear?
In the first place, if they took something that belongs to a slave, wouldn’t the owner get the Thief job?
I already have the Thief job, though.
I wonder if there are people who own slaves that have the Thief job or something similar.
Aren’t there two?
Right, there is Thief and Bandit.
“Is it really alright?”
Even though I put it in a way even an idiot can understand, Rutina asks reservedly.
“It is alright.”
“Okay, thank you very much.”
“Do you want to hold onto the gold coin?”
“Yes, because it is a lucky charm that my mother gave me.”
She didn’t really teach her about keeping a gold coin on her body, but actually gave her one?
This gold coin doesn’t look like it was the property of the Earl of Selmar’s house. It really belonged to Rutina.
I would surely have gotten the Thief job had I taken that.
Because she originally owned it.