Chapter 50 – Part 1 Hunter – Slave (2)

“Now, wait a minute, sir.
“I know. How much is it?”
“That’s… 60 million gold…”

Man… Let’s just call this man a slave trader. It just looked like a vicious slave trader.
The slave trader said something apologetic.

“Can I give you the money? The contract?”
“Are you sure you want to buy it?”
“You said you were living earlier! Are you kidding me?”
“I’m sorry! I’ll get the contract now!”

The slave trader said so and ran away in a huff.
Only me, Melissa, and Healing Fairy were left there. The Healing Fairy grunts and heals Melissa, but it seems that she is struggling with her many scars.

“Is the young master buying me?”
“Yes.”
“…Why me…?”
“Because there was someone who wanted to save you.”

My words seemed to bring a little light back to Melissa’s lifeless eyes.

“Me? Could it be…”
“Yes. Your sisters, Minerva and Milene.”
“Ah…!”

When the names of the two were mentioned, Melissa’s expression, which seemed to have given up on everything, changed noticeably.

“Are your younger siblings all right?”
“Rather than you. It may not be all right from now on.”
“What does that mean?”
“Minerva and Milene agreed to become my slaves in return for saving you.”

I thought about whether or not to tell you, but you’ll find out soon anyway.
I decided that it would be better to say it here in advance than to find out later and become noisy.

“It’s fortunate that I have good younger siblings. Rather than letting you die in pain alone, you would rather choose the path of suffering together. How wonderful are your younger siblings?”
“Those kids…”
“I’ll tell you in advance, slaves don’t have the right to choose their masters. It’s already been decided that you and your siblings will become my slaves, so it’s useless if you refuse.”

In order to save himself, Minerva and Milene become slaves.
Knowing that fact, Melissa might as well refuse to be sold. Thinking so, I put a bluff in advance before it bothers me.

But Melissa’s reaction was beyond my expectations.

“It’s fortunate…They’ve met good guardians.”
“… Huh? Who said what?”
“The Bocchan helped her younger siblings. She truly thanks her as an older sister.”

Melissa greeted her gracefully.
I was dumbfounded.

“Did you hear me? To enslave, not to protect?”
“Thank you for being angry with me earlier. And since you treated me like this, my younger siblings will be happy to serve the gentle master.”
“…Ah~ Let’s quit. I’m stupid for thinking deeply.”

I’m speechless. It seems that not only the body but also the head are damaged by the slave life.
Melissa looked at me and smiled. She has a much more mature face than Milene or Minerva, and is more radiant. Her smile was unimaginable that she had been devastated by a slave life just a moment ago.
And she, now exhausted from curing herself, puts the Healing Fairy on the back of her hand and strokes it.

Even though her younger siblings are enslaved, she’s calm… ‘I’ll do anything, just for my younger siblings!!’ I was expecting a similar development. There are also erratic older sisters.

After waiting for a while, the vicious slave trader who went to get the contract returned.

“Hehe. You’ve waited a long time.”

After checking the contract, I handed 60 million gold, or 59.88 million gold to be precise, to the slave trader through the trading window.

“I never thought the day would come when Melissa would really sell… What to say to guests who made reservations…”
“That’s none of my business. Whether you deal with Melissa instead.”
“.. Hehe…”

The slave trader who received the money handed over the ownership of Melissa to me through a magic contract.
With this, Melissa officially became my slave.

“Then, the procedure is over. Would you like to change the necklace of servitude? There are several types of different materials.”

He sees the slave collar around Melissa’s neck. It is a thick, rough object made of iron. It seems to hurt when the skin is rubbed. Wouldn’t it be a hindrance to kissing?

“Can’t we just leave it out?”
“No. Slaves are obliged to wear a necklace of servitude by kingdom law. The necklace is also important in terms of protecting the slave. If the owner is a noble slave, it is much more dangerous than touching a commoner, so even rogues can’t touch it easily. I can’t do it. It’s easy to find the owner when it’s lost.”
“If I can’t take it out, I’ll have to change it.”
“That would be nice. Melissa is one of the most expensive slaves in Korea.

Somehow, the slave trader seemed in a much better mood than before. Even now, I am actively trying to lead the way.
Is it because you made a big deal? I’m kind of pissed off thinking I did a good job for this guy.

I walk underground, thinking about kicking the duck bottom that waddles in front of me. Inside the prison-like bars, the slaves cast their eyes this way, but they are not interested in the other slaves.
But among them, unexpectedly, there was someone who spoke to me.

“Yuz?”

Stop walking Turn your head in the direction you heard the sound.
There were blue eyes staring at me with a blank face while holding on to the bars.

“Yuz?”

Call my name again Is the country still unsure? There’s no way you wouldn’t recognize me

“Jin, you… What are you doing here?”

Jin, who was my younger sister.
An unexpected encounter with an unwanted opponent.
A dry voice came out of my mouth involuntarily.

“Yuz! Yuz!”

On the other hand, Jin looked at me and put on an expression as if he had met an oasis in the desert.

“Does anyone know?”

The slave trader asks cautiously.

“No, I don’t know.”

I’ve already called out your name, but I try to pretend.

“Yuz! It’s me! It’s Jin! Why are you pretending not to know!”

Jin said urgently.
I replied languidly.

“Ah~ Someone said it, so it must be Jin. What are you doing here? Did you start a prison cleaning part-time job?”
“That, it can’t be! Well, it’ll take a long time to explain everything… I ended up being sold as a slave because I was tricked into a fraudulent contract.”
“Slaves… What did you do in just a few days? You…”

Yes, I expected it at the point of entering the prison, but is it like that?
I can’t even breathe because I’m dumbfounded.

“This is all because of Kun! Kun was tricked by a woman into debt, and instead sold us into slavery!”
“Kun? Is that for real?”

I frowned at Jin’s additional explanation. What the hell is going on? You son of a bitch, are you insane?
Jin then put his hands together as if praying to me and said.

“Please, Yuzu. Please help me somehow. If I stay like this, I will really be sold into slavery.”
“Yes, you…”

I was a little taken aback by Jin’s attitude.

“Jin. Did you throw me away because you didn’t need me that day? You’re asking me for help because things are getting worse now?”
“That, that’s… Not like that…”
“And isn’t an apology first before asking? You’re talking as if nothing happened, but in my head, from the moment we broke up with you, we’re strangers.”
“It can’t be… Yuzu, that should be a mistake!”

Jin said nervously.
They must be afraid of being sold as slaves. Right now, Jin must feel like grabbing at least a straw.

“A misunderstanding? What a misunderstanding? It’s true that you abandoned me and chose your clan, right?”
“At that time, I thought Ray would go with Yuzu, so I thought I would only get in the way…”
“Jin. What you say is a mess. Do you think that’s an excuse?”
“But I really…!”
“It’s done. I’m going to go now, so I hope Jin will meet a good owner.”

I finished the story like that and was about to leave.

“Wait! Wait, Yuzu! Listen to me! It only takes a moment!”

Behind me as I turn around, Jin calls me anxiously.
I was going to ignore it and leave, but if I left room for it, it might bother me again later.

“Haa… What is it? Do you still have something to say?”

I decided to listen to what Jin had to say in the sense of tying the knot.
However, when Jin called her and tried to listen, she hesitated for a long time.
Just when she thought about going back, Jin barely started talking.

“Actually, I’ve always liked Yuzu… Ever since I was little.”

It was a sincere tone, as if she was making a confession of a lifetime. Jin’s slightly flushed face seemed to be ashamed of her confession, and on the contrary, she seemed to be enduring her humiliation.
Well, this would be the latter. It is her blushing humiliation at this situation where she confesses her false love, throwing away her pride and everything in order to survive. How upset will it be

“But Yuzu is only getting closer to her Ray… I can’t keep watching that, so I decided to leave Yuzu.”
“…Jin. It’s a lie, you have to say something as plausible as possible in order for people to be fooled.”
“It’s not a lie!”
“Then, what’s your attitude up until now? You started calling her Yuzu, not her brother, and you just rebelled no matter what I said, right?”
“Ugh… That’s…”
“Still, I thought it was just a temporary period of rebellion. After it passed, we would be able to get along again. It wasn’t until I was abandoned that I realized that wasn’t the case, so I was just stupid.”
“Yuz…It’s not like that…”
“So, it’s only natural that people say that they liked it now, but it doesn’t touch them, right? To me, it just sounds like they’re struggling to survive.”
“Boo…”

There is no excuse.
Gin, who was speechless at her, now began to weep at her.

“It’s no use pretending to cry. It’s already over.”

When she was little, she said that if Jin showed her tears, she would listen to anything.
But now it’s different. Now she can’t go back to those days.

“Jin. Bye then.”

I calmly turned away from Jin, who was crying.
Jin’s cries from behind grew louder and louder.

“Yuzu! Brother! I was wrong! I’m sorry brother! Forgive me!”

Jin cried out to her, but I pretended not to hear her and moved on.
And, together with the slave trader and Melissa, they got out of the underground.

“Haha, I’m sorry for this, sir. I’m putting our slaves in trouble for no reason…”

The slave trader speaks with a puzzled face.

“How much is he?”
“Yes? What do you mean?”
“He just said, Jean. How much does a slave cost?”
“Uh… Is that child real?”
“I’m not asking because I’m going to buy it. Are you arguing now?”

I made a fuss with the bewildered slave trader.
It was strangely irritating. Right now I’m in a ‘touch and bite’ state.

Everything is mad To Kun who sold out his comrades, to Jin who was deceived, and to Ray who is not here. What are you doing?

“No, that’s… He’s going to be auctioned off next month, so we haven’t set a price yet.”
“So how much?”
“…Hey, so the price is still…”
“Even if you put it up for auction, you don’t know roughly the amount that will win the bid anyway. Then you can sell it quickly at that price and put another slave up at auction. Do you do business for a day or two?”

I threatened the slave trader with my mouth and at the same time put a 100,000 gold coin in the slave trader’s jacket. It’s a stick and carrot operation.
As if this strategy had worked, the slave trader responded kindly with a suddenly subdued face. Or maybe he just likes bribes as they are.

“It’s usually between 8 million and 12 million. Even if there is a bidding competition, it rarely exceeds 15 million. Yes.”
“So, how much can I sell it for right now?”
“1300…No, 1250 or so…”
“Yes? Are you sure about the price?”

Put one more gold coin in the slaver’s pocket.

“Twelve million is enough.”

The slave trader replied with a pale face. I decided to buy gin immediately on the spot.
However, there are still procedures to be done, and it is said that it will take at least a day to take over. After signing the contract, I decided to deliver it to my house after all the procedures were completed.

“It’s just fine. Give me a little bit of scare during the procedure.”
“Yes? What do you mean?”
“I’m telling you to keep what I bought a secret, and to scare you by pretending I was sold to a very bad owner.”
“Aha! It’s a surprise, isn’t it? After making a lot of anxiety, it turns out that it’s a scenario that my brother bought for me.”
“Yes, yes. Since you’re a slave trader anyway, isn’t it your specialty to intimidate people?”
“What do you look at people for… Even if you look like this, you’re a civil servant.”

What about civil servants It’s the face of a vicious slave trader.

“However, don’t hit or touch them. Just scare them with words. When I ask them later, if they say there was physical contact, they’ll be buried without even knowing about mice or birds.”
“Ha, haha, of course, yes. I will take responsibility and prepare.”

The slave trader sweats profusely in response to my threat.
Well. With this, Jin is relieved.

Even though they broke up badly, Jin is still a family. Of course we help if we can. Otherwise, I would have no face in seeing Jin’s mother.
But Jin also needs to be scolded for this opportunity. So that she properly repents and reflects and becomes a good kid.

Never be grumpy with personal feelings!

“And another one. Is there another girl with him? She says her name is Ray.”

Jin said earlier that she “Sold us out.” That must mean Ray is here too.
But the slave trader scratched her chin in embarrassment.

“Ah… There was, but…”

I grabbed the slave trader’s collar again.

“Were there?”