Published: September 10, 2025
“With this, these slaves are now the property of Mr. Satou.”
The slave trader Nidoren said with a smile.
He was a middle-aged man who seemed kind, but his way of speaking, which seemed to sneer at basic human rights, was truly typical of a slave trader.
“Now we too can officially become Master’s slaves.”
The beast girls said happily.
Yes, when Arisa and Lulu made their slave contracts with me, Nidoren also performed the slave contract ceremony with the beast girls who hadn’t done it yet.
Of course, there was an additional fee, but apparently without it there was a chance we’d get stopped when crossing the borders, so it was a necessary expense.
While I was talking with Nidoren, the beast girls and Arisa’s group introduced themselves to each other.
“I’m Arisa, and this is my older sister Lulu. We have different mothers, but we’re still sisters.”
“I’m Liza from the lizardman tribe. These are Pochi, a dog humanoid, and Tama, a catperson.”
“…Pochi and Tama?”
Arisa gave me a look of disbelief, like “Seriously?”
“Very pretty (…)?”
“The names Pochi and Tama were given by Master!”
“They’re cute and nice names.”
“Yes, and Lulu is a good name too!”
“Well, the best names are the ones you like, right?”
Seeing Pochi and Tama talking with Lulu, Arisa’s poisonous expression softened.
“Master, are you done talking with Nidoren?”
Arisa addressed me with the new honorific.
Before the contract, she had called me Mr. Satou, but now that we were officially slaves, she was calling me “Master.”
“They said they’ll give me a paper later with the detailed rules.”
The rules about slave trading and freeing slaves seemed more complicated than I’d thought.
I wanted to quickly free them, but Nidoren said it wasn’t that simple.
“So, do you have some extra money? Because the next group over has a life magic user, and we want to get cleaned up.”
“Arisa, we’re slaves. We shouldn’t go beyond what’s due.”
Liza scolded at Arisa’s words.
“Wait, Liza. You said life magic user. Can life magic clean us up?”
“Yeah, it costs a few Large Copper Coins, so commoners don’t use it much, but it’s better to start with a… clean body, right?”
The last bit was mumbled, but if there’s a magic like a shower, I definitely want to use it.
Twenty Large Copper Coins for six people seems expensive, but it’s okay once in a while. I don’t have many Large Copper Coins, but I still have silver and gold coins, and gems to exchange.
“All right, let’s all go.”
Just as I said that and stood up, Tama’s ears twitched.
“Nyuu!”
Normally laid-back Tama’s eyes widened and her fur bristled.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something’s coming~”
“Master, please be on alert. Tama’s intuition is usually right.”
The beast girls went into battle stance.
“Something?”
Repeating Tama’s words, I glanced at the radar in the corner of my vision—
“—Geh.”
Several red dots were rapidly coming this way.
“Monsters!!!”
“Run awayyyyy!”
Beyond the darkness, the campfire was kicked over and people fled in panic.
“Sir!”
“Understood.”
Nidoren and his attendants grabbed minimal belongings and fled on donkeys.
“Let’s run too.”
“Master, it’s dangerous to run aimlessly in the dark.”
“Rocks! Climb up on the rocks!”
Arisa pointed to the large rock we’d been using as a windbreak.
With Liza’s help, I climbed, and Lulu helped climb up too. The younger ones, including Arisa, were good at climbing rocks and scrambled up without help.
“They’re coming this way?”
“They’re people we know!”
The monsters—according to the map info, they were grass demon wolves (Grass Wolves)—were chasing people toward us.
The face of the man at the front, lit by a swinging torch, was visible.
It was the thugs from before.
They’d escaped thanks to Arisa’s mental magic but ran into the territory of the grass demon wolves.
“Bringing monsters this far is such a nuisance.”
“Grass demon wolves relentlessly pursue their prey. As long as they’re chasing those guys, our campsite won’t be damaged.”