Estimated reading time: 4–5 minutes
Chapter 14
I’ve come to the slave market yet again to purchase a slave.
Whenever I come to buy slaves, I always bring Arde along with me.
I leave practically all of my personal affairs to Arde.
Domingo also comes with me as a guard.
Trouble is inevitable at the slave markets.
When push comes to shove, having Domingo around is reassuring.
「Can I have this slave?」
As usual, I select a suitable slave.
He was a man missing his right arm – a defective slave.
And as usual I go to transfer ownership of the slave.
I was trying to transfer the slave crest, representing ownership rights over the slave, from the slave trader to myself, when…
The armless slave man suddenly brandished a knife out of nowhere and lunged at me, trying to stab me.
I see – when a slave wants to rebel, the timing of the slave crest transfer is the perfect opportunity.
With the slave crest, slaves cannot harm their masters.
But in the brief period when slave crest ownership is being transferred, they can bare their fangs.
I was almost stabbed, but Arde held the man back.
「Watch out, Master!」
「Arde….?!」
In order to shield me, Arde leapt out right in front of me without any regard for her own safety.
The slave’s blade pierced Arde instead of me.
「Arde! Are you okay?」
「I-I’m fine. More importantly Master, are you unharmed?」
「I’m okay.」
Having mistakenly stabbed Arde, the slave man faltered briefly in confusion.
Domingo immediately seized the opening to grab hold of him, knocking the man to the ground and restraining him.
「You scoundrel! To Master… What do you think you’re doing?!」
「Tch… You slaves too… Why are you getting in my way?!」
「Even though we’re slaves, Master treats us with kindness. That’s the kind of person he is. I won’t forgive anyone who tries to hurt Master!」
Thanks to my slaves, I somehow managed to avoid being killed.
Arde and Domingo’s loyalty runs deep.
「Thank you both. More importantly though… We need to treat Arde’s wound…!」
「Don’t worry, I’m fine…」
「No can do. Oi, slave trader! Lend me a bed!」
「Ah, y-yes!」
I borrowed a bed from the slave trader and brought Arde to a room in the back.
She had been stabbed in the abdomen and was losing a lot of blood.
「Damn… What a mess. That slave bastard…!」
I use healing magic to heal Arde’s wound.
A wound like this should close up cleanly.
「Thank you very much, Master. Once again, you’ve come to my aid…」
「No, you’re the one who saved me, Arde. I’m truly grateful.」
I gently kiss Arde.
「M-Master… I’m overjoyed that I was able to protect you. It is my purpose in life to support you in any way I can.」
「Come now, you’re always a great help to me, Arde.」
Arde’s loyalty towards me was truly impressive.
This is thanks to how kindly I’ve treated my slaves up until now, winning them over with favor.
If my slaves resented me, I would have been stabbed back there.
And if I hadn’t trained so extensively in healing magic, I might have died then and there.
But I overcame my fate.
I thought my death flags were inevitable, but could I actually manage to avoid them…?
Domingo also performed his guard duty splendidly. Maybe I’m doing better at this than I thought.
「Domingo, you also did very well for me. There may be more incidents like this in the future… I’ll be relying on you.」
「Of course, Master. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you while I still draw breath.」
Domingo has honed his skills adventuring on quests, so average slaves are no match for him.
Just now too, he swiftly restrained that slave.
As we were having that conversation, the slave trader sheepishly approached us from the back room.
「Um… About what happened… I deeply apologize. The slave was not properly disciplined…」
「Well, no lasting harm was done so don’t worry about it. Just be more careful from now on.」
「You are too kind… Please accept this slave as a small token of my regret.」
「That’s generous of you. So what happened to that man from earlier?」
「The slave from before has been disposed of.」
「I see…」
It’s an absolute rule that any slave who bares its fangs at its master is killed.
I understand slaves are desperate to escape their lot in life by any means, but there’s nothing I can do to change that.
I’ll just have to count myself lucky I didn’t get stabbed this time.
I really owe Arde for that one.
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