Episode 23 A Certain Slâve Trader [Side Story]

Translated By: Niladri

※The first half is the side story of episode 14.

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[Gehenna’s POV]

My name is Gehenna Duke.

In a corner of a certain slâve market, I operate as a slâve trader specializing in defective slâves.

Well, defective slâves don’t sell well, so it isn’t very profitable. But I have no backing, so this is the only line of business I can pursue. I don't have any connections to acquire decent slâves.

Taking in defective slâves and either selling or disposing them... this was my daily routine.

But one day, something strange happened.

A peculiar customer started frequenting my store.

His name was Erd Schmarken. He's still only a kid of around 10 years old.

However, this kid strangely takes delight in buying defective slâves.

I don't know what he's using them for, but it's incredibly uncanny.

This Erd person always had slâves accompanying him as guards.

One was a female elf slâve. I think her name was Arday.

The other was a male dwarf slâve named Domingo, if I remember correctly.

One day, as usual, this Erd person came to my shop to purchase.

And then it happened, right in the middle of the transaction, the slâve I was selling unexpectedly pulled out a knife from nowhere.

Damn it, I made sure to conduct a thorough body check. Where the hell did this come from...?

In any case, I didn’t want any trouble.

However, the slâve brandished the knife at Erd.

Damn it, if the customer gets injured, it'll be my neck on the line...

And then it happened. The slâve accompanying Erd stood in front of their master.

“Dangerous! Master!”

“Arday……!?”

To everyone's surprise, Arday threw herself in front of Erd, without caring about her own life.

And then, the slâve's knife pierced Arday's stomach.

I was stunned by the sight.

Why would a slâve go to such lengths to protect her master!?

Even if they are escorts, ordinary slâves wouldn't go to such lengths.

What's more, unless my eyes had gone senile, this Arday seemed to be genuinely concerned about her master!?

It didn’t look like they were forced to move with the slâve crest.

I was filled with utter disbelief.

Just how much was this person Erd adored by the slâves...

Normally, when the master dies, the slâves are freed, so one would think they would just leave him be.

Furthermore, to my surprise, Domingo also immediately seized the slâve.

He pushed the man down to the ground and restrained him.

“You f**ker! To the master...! What do you think you are doing?!”

“Kuh... you guys are slâves too...! Why are you getting in my way?!”

“Even though we're just slâves, our master treats us with kindness. That's the kind of person he is. I won't let anyone hurt our master!”

It seemed that Domingo's too was exceedingly loyal.

Both Arday and Domingo were genuinely worried about their master.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe towards this kid called Erd.

The slâves not only willingly acted as shields for their master but also appeared to genuinely adore him.

What kind of training could have moulded them to be like this?

This person named Erd, he may look like an ordinary kid, but could he actually be an incredibly skilled slâve trader...!?

I see, that would explain why he's only interested in buying defective slâves.

Perhaps this person has the skill to sell even defective slâves.

And then something even more surprising happened.

Surprisingly, Erd immediately healed Arday's stab injury.

Would an ordinary master go to such lengths for a slâve...?

He seems more and more enigmatic...

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Well, that incident happened five years ago.

Since then, Erd continued to be a loyal customer who often used my shop.

Ever since then, I had been keeping an eye on this Erd, but I still don't really know who he is.

Anyway, what did know was that he's young, wealthy, and had a peculiar preference for defective slâves.

Then one day, another peculiar incident occurred.

To my surprise, it involved the female elf named Arday belonging to Erd’s entourage.

That particular day, Arday showed up at my store all by herself.

“Umm, I would like to buy slâves...”

“My my, isn't it Arday-chan from Erd-sama's place? What's the matter? Where is your master today...?

“Right, from today onwards I've been given the responsibility to handle the purchases on my own.”

“Oi oi, a lone slâve like you coming to buy slâves…. I really don't get it. Your master always does strange things, as usual!?

“E~h, well. Erd-sama is an extraordinary person, after all.”

I absolutely couldn’t believe it.

I've never heard of such a thing, where a slâve came in for buying another slâve.

What's more, her master didn’t accompany them...?

To let a slâve roam freely and even send them to buy another slâve, what kind of situation was this?

It seemed completely insane if you thought about it rationally.

“I would like to buy around 15 defective slâves...”

“Oi oi...that's quite...a big request thing...”

What's more, Arday wanted 15 slâves.

Really, what are you going to do with so many defective slâves?

I had no idea.

“Well, that's fine... So, is Arday-chan the one who would own the slâve contract?”

“Yes, that's what Eld-sama instructed.”

“What kind of master is he? I've never heard of a slâve commanding other slâves.”

Theoretically, it is possible. But of course, there's no one who would let a slâve do such a thing.

Starting from the incident five years ago, to this now -  how in the world does Erd Schmarken train and control his slâves... all of it remains a complete mystery. Damn, I'm really curious...

The level of trust and loyalty from the slâves was astonishing, but it appeared that Erd himself had a considerable amount of trust in the slâves.

I had no idea how one could build such a level of trust with slâves.

The slâve crest determined the maximum number of slâves that could be controlled, and it depends on the master's magical power.

For an average adult male, the maximum number of slâves that could be contracted at once is around 100.

Well, so if you wanted to control more slâves than that, is it possible to have the slâve contracts through other slâves like this...? It's an unconventional approach, but it might just work...?

However, it's unlikely that anyone other than Erd would come up with such an idea, let alone implement it.

Seriously, Erd had always been a man with many mysteries previously, but with this recent incident, the mysteries surrounding him had only deepened.

What could his intention possibly be in having slâves purchase other slâves...?

I’ll need to continue keeping a close watch on this Erd’s movements.

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[Arday’s POV]

As instructed by my master, I had purchased 15 slâves.

Since I was an elf with greater magical power than humans, controlling this number of slâves was a breeze for me.

“I believe I can handle slâve crests of about 1,000 people.”

Well, I don't think I'll ever need to use that many slâves…

Well, I guess with an unorthodox master like mine, anything was possible.

I’d have the purchased slâves transported to the mansion.

Then heal them up with the Healing Orb.

I’ll handle it just like how Master always did.

I needed to use a small fraction of my magic power to use the Healing Orb.

To be able to experience what master usually did, I felt deeply moved from this experience.

So this is how you had saved us, Master.

“Um... Thank you very much!” “Thank you so much!”

When I restored the disabled slâves, they all came to me and expressed their gratitude.

However, I merely used the orb. The original magic power belonged entirely to Erd-sama.

And the money also belonged to Erd-sama, so the entire credit lied with him.

“No, if you want to express gratitude, it should be directed towards Erd-sama, not me. I am just a slâve after all.”

“Eh… Master is also a slâve…!?”

“Please stop calling me master. Your master is Erd-sama.”

“The- then... thank you Erd-sama...?”

Erd-sama is not present here, but I’d have the slâves bow towards the direction where Erd-sama was.

Actually, I'd like to introduce them to Erd-sama and let them thank him in person, but Erd-sama was busy.

As Erd-sama was currently occupied, I had taken it upon myself to handle the slâve trading. It wouldn't be appropriate to burden Erd-sama with such matters.

“Uh well, I guess I’ll go ahead and list them in the catalogue...”

After that, as per Erd-sama's instructions, I proceeded to bring them to Erd-sama's father's trading post and complete their registration in the catalogue there.

With this, they should be purchased by some nobleman or noblewoman.

After some time, all of them were successfully sold.

The slâves sold by Erd-sama were highly loyal and well-behaved, and they had a great reputation. And it's no wonder, as they all came from the ranks of the defective slâves who had been saved by Erd-sama. They had a strong sense of recognition and gratitude towards him.

That's how I felt too. If it weren't for Erd-sama, I would have remained rotting in the slâve market.

Let's continue this cycle of selling more and more slâves, and increasing our profits.

By the way, the profit we gained from the 15 slâves this time amounted to 98,000G.

From time to time, we received letters at the trading post from the nobles who purchased the slâves. Most of these letters praised the training of the slâves and expressed gratitude Erd-sama.

The slâves branded with Erd-sama’s crest had become renowned even among the nobles. Thanks to that, we were receiving more and more orders.

In response to that, I continued to procure more and more orbs to meet the demand.

I wonder if I had been able to be of some use to Erd-sama with this. I hope I've been able to repay Erd-sama’s kindness, even if just a little... Helping him like this, it felt good.

T/N: Next chapter is Part 1 finale. Hope you guys are as excited to read the main story, as I am to translate it.