Inside the circus-like tent, the slave merchant, crumbs still clinging to his lips, hurried over after hearing the guard's report.
"Zero Hero-sama, you've come to visit my humble store at this late hour. I'm both surprised and delighted."
After touring the city and learning various crafting skills, Kiriko had originally intended to return to the inn, but she suddenly remembered something and instead changed her route to the slave merchant's place.
"Am I interrupting your meal? You can finish eating first; I can wait."
"The customer is God, and your needs are my goals. Food can always wait, but a customer should never be neglected."
Kiriko nodded.
The slave merchant's words were always so pleasing to hear.
Whether or not he genuinely meant it was irrelevant.
In truth, Kiriko didn't come to the slave merchant to replace Raphtalia with another slave.
Rather, she wanted someone who could protect Raphtalia when she wasn't around.
After all, Kiriko couldn't be at her side every minute of the day.
Even if Raphtalia wasn't a demi-human, a cute little girl like her had to be wary of kidnappers.
"We just received some new merchandise today. Allow me to show you around."
...
He had failed.
The tall, muscular man sat dejectedly in a dim iron cage.
His name was Lute, born in the demi-human supremacist nation—Siltvelt, also known as the World's Shield.
He was an unquestionably powerful demi-human warrior.
Without a permanent home, he wandered freely, seeking battle with strong warriors from every country, pursuing his single-minded goal—to become the strongest in the world.
Then he came to Melromarc…
And then he was defeated…
The one who defeated him was a young man whom his followers called the Spear Hero.
The Spear Hero was one of the heroes worshipped by Melromarc's Three Hero Church, a religion hostile to Siltvelt.
But Lute didn't believe that young man was truly worthy of the title Spear Hero.
The reason was simple.
During what should have been a fair, one-on-one duel, the Spear Hero's followers used magic—specifically, sleep magic.
Even if the Spear Hero was worshipped by an enemy nation, a real Spear Hero would never stoop so low as to rely on such dishonorable tactics.
When he woke up, he had already been sold to this slave merchant.
Bang!
He slammed his fist heavily against the ground.
He couldn't accept this.
Had it been an honorable defeat, he would willingly acknowledge his weakness. But losing due to foul play, staining the sacred honor of a duel…
He would never accept it, even in death.
Yet, with the Slave Crest branded onto his body, he clearly knew that escape was nearly impossible.
All his master needed was a single snap of the fingers to make his life unbearable.
Resistance was impossible.
Merely attempting to attack his master—even without a direct order—would trigger the Slave Crest's punishment.
His fate was basically sealed.
He would become a thug or bodyguard for some noble—
Until he died on a mission or was discarded after becoming crippled, left to perish in the streets.
Legendary Shield Hero-sama, please bestow your blessing upon me…
In Siltvelt, where the Shield Hero's church was the state religion, if a true god existed in this world, it could only be the Shield Hero himself…
He knelt down, desperately praying to his god.
And then, his prayers were answered.
A silvery, bell-like voice drifted into his ears.
"Holy crap, Thousand-Year Earl, you actually have a Dogkin here?"
...
The slave merchant had taken Kiriko to see some new arrivals delivered today by the Spear Hero's followers.
At first, Kiriko thought she'd heard wrong.
After what happened at the audience hall, although it had become clear that the Spear, Sword, and Bow Heroes had intelligence comparable to Kizuna AI, she could still barely believe they were fundamentally decent people.
Even though they acted like brainless idiots, one could reluctantly argue they were "just being manipulated."
But now…
On one hand, he'd accused Naofumi Iwatani of attempting to violate a woman; on the other hand, he'd willingly sold a demi-human into slavery?
What's that supposed to mean?
Sexual assault isn't okay, but forcing someone into slavery is perfectly fine?
It had only been four days since they'd been summoned here.
Just four days, and he'd already been completely brainwashed into accepting Melromarc's twisted idea that "slavery is legal" and "demi-humans aren't humans, they're monsters"?
Still, this Dogkin was Level 50. Although its level was lower than the werewolf Kiriko had bought for Naofumi yesterday, his circumstances were different.
That werewolf had originally been a gladiator in an arena, a slave meant solely for entertainment, and only ended up with the slave merchant because of severe injuries.
Although the werewolf's level was high—Level 75—its injuries kept it from fully utilizing its strength.
Of course, it was still undoubtedly strong…
But this Level 50 Dogkin, according to the slave merchant, had merely been knocked out by sleep magic and delivered here completely unharmed.
Moreover, having arrived just today, the Dogkin hadn't suffered much, and his health was still perfect.
Hence, his price matched that of the werewolf she'd bought Naofumi.
Kiriko didn't even blink as she bought him.
With this Dogkin guarding Raphtalia, she'd feel much more at ease.
While the merchant's subordinates were branding the Slave Crest onto the Dogkin, Kiriko, bored, noticed a wooden crate placed on a nearby table.
The crate was lined with soft cloth, holding dozens of eggs inside.
When she'd visited previously, this crate definitely hadn't been here.
Noticing Kiriko's interest, the slave merchant appeared beside her instantly, as if teleporting.
"Zero Hero-sama, would you like to try your luck?"
"Try my luck?"
"These are my legitimate business goods. Although slavery is legal in this kingdom, being a slave merchant isn't exactly prestigious. Officially, I'm a monster dealer, so naturally, these eggs are monster eggs."
Monster eggs?
I see…
Back in the days when western fantasy novels were trendy, there were often plots where "the protagonist easily buys or even randomly finds legendary monsters."
But Kiriko, after countless games in her past life, had long proven her bad luck as an African chief (nonstop bad luck).
Superstition can't change fate; whaling won't cure bad luck.
She didn't think her current skin color could mask her heritage.
But, well, she had plenty of money now, so buying one egg to mess around wasn't impossible.
One egg cost 100 silver coins. The worst-case scenario was getting a Filolial egg (basically a Chocobo from Final Fantasy XIV). The best-case scenario was a dragon egg worth 20 gold coins.
Kiriko didn't expect to get lucky and pull the jackpot, but getting a Filolial egg wasn't bad either.
Final Fantasy XIV had tons of mounts, yet she'd always preferred the loyal Chocobo.
---
A/N: By the way, this proves that skills still work when there's only around a 20-level gap (don't tell me it was the Balloons' interference—a Level-40-something hero being troubled by beginner mobs is too embarrassing to even mention).
In the original story, before the first Wave, the followers of the other three heroes had already reached around Level 40 (which explains why they appeared at the Dragon Hourglass; they were taking their followers to class up). So it's entirely reasonable that a Level-50 Dogkin could be knocked out by sleep magic from Level-30-something Spear Hero followers.
Also, I know readers familiar with the anime or novels might argue the Spear Hero wouldn't do such a thing. Relax, this is foreshadowing. I'll resolve it properly in future chapters when the main character meets the Spear Hero at the right moment.
Of course, more clever readers probably already guessed what's going on.
T/N: hmm i think Lute is an OC i think...
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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