︻デ═一
「Well then, sign your name here, please. When the girl gets here, we will perform the slave crest ceremony.」
Since Athal had heard the gist of the procedure from Glaine and Gill the previous night, he wasn’t suspicious of the words “slave crest ceremony”. He looked over the necessary documents while listening to Buzz.
「Got it. “Athal”.」
He had no problems reading or writing in this world, as he had received the ability to do so from God, so he smoothly signed his name at the bottom.
「……Yes, that is all the paperwork. Since we have time until the girl gets here, I will explain some things about slaves. The master and slave perform the slave crest ceremony inside a magic formation, through the use of their blood. Once completed, the slave will be fundamentally unable to go against the orders of their master, sans orders forcing them to die, or in cases of inhumane treatment.」
Since it was Athal’s first time buying a slave, Buzz made sure to politely go over as much as possible, especially regarding the workings of the slave crest.
「It is also necessary to decide how to proceed in the case of the master’s untimely demise. It’s fine not to decide immediately, but the master, which would be you in this case Athal-sama. Just in case you were to suddenly pass away for whatever reason Athal-sama, I will need you to tell me how to take care of your slave afterwards. You can discuss it between the two of you afterwards and get back to me later about what you decide.」
This was the first time Athal heard anything regarding the slave’s treatment after their master disappears. It seemed the contract needed something to go by in the off chance of something going wrong.
「Is that so……How is it normally handled?」
「Right, so sometimes the slave is released from their bonds, and sometimes the slave is sent back to the slave dealer. In rare cases, though it’s a rare thing to hear about, the slave can inherit the possessions of their master.」
The shopkeeper brought up several more precedents before a knock echoed through the room.
「Excuse me.」
The man who had suddenly appeared earlier along with another woman entered the room. Since the slave being purchased this time around was a child, they probably brought a woman over just to be safe.
「Everything is ready, and here she is.」
Led along by the woman, the slave Athal was buying nervously entered the room with a frightened look on her face. Earlier Athal could only make out the fact that she was a child from looking at her, but with her clothes fixed up, it became clearly obvious that she was a girl.
「A, ano, please treat me well.」
She approached the one who would become her master, Athal, with uncertain footsteps before bowing her head to him, and greeted him with a scratchy voice. It seemed the harsh environment she came from had damaged her vocal cords.
「Ah, yeah, same here.」
Athal showed surprise for a moment when he realized how childish and high her voice was, causing a shadow to fall over her face. Her eyes wavered in anxiety over the possibility that he may decide to cancel the contract over the condition of her voice.
「I- I forgot to mention it earlier, but this girl also has damage to her vocal cords.」
Realizing he hadn’t said anything about it earlier, the shopkeeper rushed to clarify the fact, but Athal shook his head uncaringly.
「It doesn’t really matter. Sorry for being surprised, I’m your new master, Athal. Best regards.」
「I- I am Caro. Please treat me well.」
Athal took a step towards her and held out his left hand, which she hastily took with her’s for a handshake. Her hand was a boney, and a little bit cold.
「Alright, let’s get her through the slave crest ceremony right away.」
Athal plopped his hand on Caro’s head before calling out to the shopkeeper.
「I understand. In that case, follow me.」
Since it seemed that the ceremony would be held in a different room, they moved two rooms over. Since Caro seemed to be having a hard time walking, Athal lent her a hand.
「Both of you, please stand on the magic formation over there.」
The room they were led to had a magic formation drawn on the floor. The two moved on top of it as instructed.
「Next, Athal-sama, please add your blood to the master portion of this form here……」
Athal used the presented needle to prick his fingertip, and then pressed it on the designated spot, soaking the form with his blood.
「Now do the same here, Caro.」
Caro applied her blood to the form in the same way. She made a small frown when her finger was pricked, but she didn’t show any tears.
They stared at the paper in silence for a moment before it gradually began to emit light, which then took the shape of a small sphere. It looked kind of like a shining candy.
「Well, all that’s left is for Caro to swallow it and it’ll be done.」
Caro took a look at Athal’s face before timidly reaching out to the glowing sphere and resolutely swallowing it.
The moment she had done this, the magic formation on the floor cast a light, wrapping around Athal and Caro.
「Amazing……」
「Yes……」
The two of them stood dumbfounded by the beauty of dazzling, and softly warm light filling their vision before it finally settled down.
「Good work. With that, the slave mark ceremony is finished. After that, please put this collar on her. She’s required to wear it as proof of being a slave… Well then, Athal-sama, please take care of Caro.」
After confirming that Athal had put the collar around Caro’s neck, Buzz gave a silent bow.
「Got it. Alright, let’s go Caro.」
Athal lent Caro a hand and left the shop. Although her unsteady gait remained unchanged, having completed the contract already she held Athal’s hand with peace of mind.
Although she was nervous about what would happen at the start, negotiations ended peacefully and Buzz saw off the two of them from behind as they left the store.
「Well then, Caro. Although I’d like to look for some clothes for you or rest for a bit… There’s something we need to take care of before that.」
「?」
Caro tilted her head, unable to think of anything else they needed to do first.
「Well, it seems you don’t understand. For now, let’s go somewhere quiet… It doesn’t look like you can walk like that though. Here.」
Since Caro was fairly small, only coming up to around 140 centimetres, Athal easily picked her up in his arms. It was the so-called princess carry. He then wrapped her in a cloth to hide her.
Like with the bullet storage function, God also gave him a subspace item storage ability filled with the minimum necessary supplies.
「Wa, wawa, Athal-sama」
「It’s fine, it’ll just be while we’re moving. I’ll have you walk on your own on the way back.」
As she wasn’t used to being carried via princess carry, Caro tried to escape in a panic, but since she was unable to resist Athal, she eventually settled down obediently.
As they moved, they were met by curious gazes from the surroundings due to the unusual sight of a man carrying a slave in an embrace, but Athal didn’t mind it as he left the town to find a secluded place.
They left the town in that state out into the grassy plane area and continued to move until Athal found a suitably large rock, where he finally let Caro down.
「This spot should be good.」
「A, ano……」
What was he doing taking her to a place with no one else? The question bothered her, but being in the position of a slave she didn’t vocalize her worries.
「Caro, I’d like to ask you but…… Do you want those injuries healed? Your ears, face, arms, legs, and everything else.」
Caro thought that if they were curable, she wanted them to be healed. However, having long since lost hope in that possibility she shook her head. She likely didn’t want to have to go through losing hope all over again.
「… No, they can’t be healed.」
Caro said hesitantly in a weak voice.
「And if you could be healed?」
「…..! I’d want to be healed, but it’s impossible!」
Caro shouted with a hoarse voice. Tears were coming out of her eyes. She knew there was nothing that could be done about it, so why was she hearing this?
「Okay, hearing that is good enough. Caro, even though we just met…… Trust me!」
Athal pointed the barrel of his sniper rifle at Caro’s body, its muzzle reflected in her tear-filled eyes.
Having never seen a rifle before she didn’t know why it was pointing at her, but seeing the serious look in the eyes of the one who bought her, who took her along with a kind hand, Caro firmly nodded in affirmation and closed her eyes.
The next moment, as tears dripped from her eyes, a loud bang resounded and Caro received a powerful impact.
「It hurts!」
And then Caro was shocked. Not by the impact, but rather her own voice.
「Huh, what? My voice, ah- ah-, my voice! My voice works!」
Previously she could only struggle to rasp anything out, but after she made that shout her voice had returned. Her destroyed vocal cords had now unbelievably begun letting out a normal voice.
「Is it just your voice Caro?」
Putting his rifle away, Athal moved closer to her and asked, prompting her to pat around her body confirming the rest of it.
The next moment, Caro let out her voice in a wail, with tears streaming down her face as she crouched down on the spot.
「It seems the hyper healing bullet worked fine.」
Due to the effects of the bullet Athal fired, Caro’s ears and hands were restored, the burn scaring her face vanished, and the tendon on her leg went back to normal. Having given up on her body, she felt grateful to Athal from the depths of her heart.
It took an hour for the crying Caro to cry finally herself out, during that time Athal whom she restrained in her arms softly stroked her head.
︻デ═一
︻デ═一
「Well then, sign your name here, please. When the girl gets here, we will perform the slave crest ceremony.」
Since Athal had heard the gist of the procedure from Glaine and Gill the previous night, he wasn’t suspicious of the words “slave crest ceremony”. He looked over the necessary documents while listening to Buzz.
「Got it. “Athal”.」
He had no problems reading or writing in this world, as he had received the ability to do so from God, so he smoothly signed his name at the bottom.
「……Yes, that is all the paperwork. Since we have time until the girl gets here, I will explain some things about slaves. The master and slave perform the slave crest ceremony inside a magic formation, through the use of their blood. Once completed, the slave will be fundamentally unable to go against the orders of their master, sans orders forcing them to die, or in cases of inhumane treatment.」
Since it was Athal’s first time buying a slave, Buzz made sure to politely go over as much as possible, especially regarding the workings of the slave crest.
「It is also necessary to decide how to proceed in the case of the master’s untimely demise. It’s fine not to decide immediately, but the master, which would be you in this case Athal-sama. Just in case you were to suddenly pass away for whatever reason Athal-sama, I will need you to tell me how to take care of your slave afterwards. You can discuss it between the two of you afterwards and get back to me later about what you decide.」
This was the first time Athal heard anything regarding the slave’s treatment after their master disappears. It seemed the contract needed something to go by in the off chance of something going wrong.
「Is that so……How is it normally handled?」
「Right, so sometimes the slave is released from their bonds, and sometimes the slave is sent back to the slave dealer. In rare cases, though it’s a rare thing to hear about, the slave can inherit the possessions of their master.」
The shopkeeper brought up several more precedents before a knock echoed through the room.
「Excuse me.」
The man who had suddenly appeared earlier along with another woman entered the room. Since the slave being purchased this time around was a child, they probably brought a woman over just to be safe.
「Everything is ready, and here she is.」
Led along by the woman, the slave Athal was buying nervously entered the room with a frightened look on her face. Earlier Athal could only make out the fact that she was a child from looking at her, but with her clothes fixed up, it became clearly obvious that she was a girl.
「A, ano, please treat me well.」
She approached the one who would become her master, Athal, with uncertain footsteps before bowing her head to him, and greeted him with a scratchy voice. It seemed the harsh environment she came from had damaged her vocal cords.
「Ah, yeah, same here.」
Athal showed surprise for a moment when he realized how childish and high her voice was, causing a shadow to fall over her face. Her eyes wavered in anxiety over the possibility that he may decide to cancel the contract over the condition of her voice.
「I- I forgot to mention it earlier, but this girl also has damage to her vocal cords.」
Realizing he hadn’t said anything about it earlier, the shopkeeper rushed to clarify the fact, but Athal shook his head uncaringly.
「It doesn’t really matter. Sorry for being surprised, I’m your new master, Athal. Best regards.」
「I- I am Caro. Please treat me well.」
Athal took a step towards her and held out his left hand, which she hastily took with her’s for a handshake. Her hand was a boney, and a little bit cold.
「Alright, let’s get her through the slave crest ceremony right away.」
Athal plopped his hand on Caro’s head before calling out to the shopkeeper.
「I understand. In that case, follow me.」
Since it seemed that the ceremony would be held in a different room, they moved two rooms over. Since Caro seemed to be having a hard time walking, Athal lent her a hand.
「Both of you, please stand on the magic formation over there.」
The room they were led to had a magic formation drawn on the floor. The two moved on top of it as instructed.
「Next, Athal-sama, please add your blood to the master portion of this form here……」
Athal used the presented needle to prick his fingertip, and then pressed it on the designated spot, soaking the form with his blood.
「Now do the same here, Caro.」
Caro applied her blood to the form in the same way. She made a small frown when her finger was pricked, but she didn’t show any tears.
They stared at the paper in silence for a moment before it gradually began to emit light, which then took the shape of a small sphere. It looked kind of like a shining candy.
「Well, all that’s left is for Caro to swallow it and it’ll be done.」
Caro took a look at Athal’s face before timidly reaching out to the glowing sphere and resolutely swallowing it.
The moment she had done this, the magic formation on the floor cast a light, wrapping around Athal and Caro.
「Amazing……」
「Yes……」
The two of them stood dumbfounded by the beauty of dazzling, and softly warm light filling their vision before it finally settled down.
「Good work. With that, the slave mark ceremony is finished. After that, please put this collar on her. She’s required to wear it as proof of being a slave… Well then, Athal-sama, please take care of Caro.」
After confirming that Athal had put the collar around Caro’s neck, Buzz gave a silent bow.
「Got it. Alright, let’s go Caro.」
Athal lent Caro a hand and left the shop. Although her unsteady gait remained unchanged, having completed the contract already she held Athal’s hand with peace of mind.
Although she was nervous about what would happen at the start, negotiations ended peacefully and Buzz saw off the two of them from behind as they left the store.
「Well then, Caro. Although I’d like to look for some clothes for you or rest for a bit… There’s something we need to take care of before that.」
「?」
Caro tilted her head, unable to think of anything else they needed to do first.
「Well, it seems you don’t understand. For now, let’s go somewhere quiet… It doesn’t look like you can walk like that though. Here.」
Since Caro was fairly small, only coming up to around 140 centimetres, Athal easily picked her up in his arms. It was the so-called princess carry. He then wrapped her in a cloth to hide her.
Like with the bullet storage function, God also gave him a subspace item storage ability filled with the minimum necessary supplies.
「Wa, wawa, Athal-sama」
「It’s fine, it’ll just be while we’re moving. I’ll have you walk on your own on the way back.」
As she wasn’t used to being carried via princess carry, Caro tried to escape in a panic, but since she was unable to resist Athal, she eventually settled down obediently.
As they moved, they were met by curious gazes from the surroundings due to the unusual sight of a man carrying a slave in an embrace, but Athal didn’t mind it as he left the town to find a secluded place.
They left the town in that state out into the grassy plane area and continued to move until Athal found a suitably large rock, where he finally let Caro down.
「This spot should be good.」
「A, ano……」
What was he doing taking her to a place with no one else? The question bothered her, but being in the position of a slave she didn’t vocalize her worries.
「Caro, I’d like to ask you but…… Do you want those injuries healed? Your ears, face, arms, legs, and everything else.」
Caro thought that if they were curable, she wanted them to be healed. However, having long since lost hope in that possibility she shook her head. She likely didn’t want to have to go through losing hope all over again.
「… No, they can’t be healed.」
Caro said hesitantly in a weak voice.
「And if you could be healed?」
「…..! I’d want to be healed, but it’s impossible!」
Caro shouted with a hoarse voice. Tears were coming out of her eyes. She knew there was nothing that could be done about it, so why was she hearing this?
「Okay, hearing that is good enough. Caro, even though we just met…… Trust me!」
Athal pointed the barrel of his sniper rifle at Caro’s body, its muzzle reflected in her tear-filled eyes.
Having never seen a rifle before she didn’t know why it was pointing at her, but seeing the serious look in the eyes of the one who bought her, who took her along with a kind hand, Caro firmly nodded in affirmation and closed her eyes.
The next moment, as tears dripped from her eyes, a loud bang resounded and Caro received a powerful impact.
「It hurts!」
And then Caro was shocked. Not by the impact, but rather her own voice.
「Huh, what? My voice, ah- ah-, my voice! My voice works!」
Previously she could only struggle to rasp anything out, but after she made that shout her voice had returned. Her destroyed vocal cords had now unbelievably begun letting out a normal voice.
「Is it just your voice Caro?」
Putting his rifle away, Athal moved closer to her and asked, prompting her to pat around her body confirming the rest of it.
The next moment, Caro let out her voice in a wail, with tears streaming down her face as she crouched down on the spot.
「It seems the hyper healing bullet worked fine.」
Due to the effects of the bullet Athal fired, Caro’s ears and hands were restored, the burn scaring her face vanished, and the tendon on her leg went back to normal. Having given up on her body, she felt grateful to Athal from the depths of her heart.
It took an hour for the crying Caro to cry finally herself out, during that time Athal whom she restrained in her arms softly stroked her head.
︻デ═一
