“Do you have everything packed?” I asked.
“Yes, boss!” Rya replied.
“You don’t have to call me boss, you know? Anyway, we don’t need too many rations, since we’ll be able to find many of the things in the forest, and I don’t expect to take more than a day. Is there anything we do need to pack?”
“It’d be nice if we had cutlery this time. I’m not really that good with eating with sticks.”
“Yeah, neither am I. But this time, I’ve made sure to pack some.”
The request was simple. Somewhere in the forest there was a sighting of a large creature, called the rampaging boar, the wild boar’s larger cousin, and also a monster type creature. I decided to take Rya with me to investigate and hopefully subjugate it if it was safe enough to do so. As our base of operation, we decided on the goblin village, and the goblins even offered their help. You see, taking down the rampaging boar was also beneficial for them, as such an unchecked threat would also be a danger for the village. A wild boar would already be too much for a small group of goblins, and the village wasn’t built to withstand the force of a larger creature.
Most creatures have subspecies and variants. Some came into existence through evolution, others due to magical means that happened to stick around with the offspring. Rampaging boars are examples of a form of metamorphosis akin to evolution, in that certain types of boars adapt either to a changing environment or to its living habits. It’s speculated that the large scale hunts of wild boars could result in some of them changing to survive, and the rampaging boar is one of such is the rampaging boar. The basis of this theory is that these boars aren’t uncommon, and are often seen in forests that are near cities or large towns.
Thanks to Rya’s sense of smell, we were able to track down the rampaging boar around dusk. Unexpectedly, it was a rather dense part of the forest. Wild boars themselves were already big, and because of the denseness of the forest it was fairly easy to hunt them. When we’d hunt them in a more open area, we’d have a significant disadvantage, so we’d always try to lure them to denser parts.
We decided to flank it, to limit the directions it could flee in. Not that we could entirely stop it from getting away, but at least we’d have a slight advantage. We’d decided to attack its front and back. Its range of movement was already limited by its size, and the denseness of the forest would surely help us. There’d only be two ways the boar could get away, either by attacking the one who’s in front, or by turning in either direction. In either case, though, it wouldn’t be a problem. A frontal attack can be turned into an opportunity, as we could use its own strengths against itself, and turning around, especially with its size, would slow itself down considerably.
As we approached it, the bull seemed to sense something. We didn’t come at it directly from the front and the back, but rather slightly from the side. That way, if the bull would come and attack either of us, we’d possibly have a slight edge over it. But there was another reason. By coming at it from a certain side at a certain angle, we could force the direction the boar could flee in.
You see, due to our relations with the goblins, we were able to make some good preparations. While we were flanking the rampaging boar, the goblins who’d hunt in that area were ready to make their move. The moment the boar turned around to run away, a barrage of spears came down on it. It wasn’t enough to kill it, but it did slow the beast down.
We decided to immobilize it by attacking its back legs, while the goblins kept barraging it with spears. This naturally enraged the boar, and it began thrashing around. At this point it was still able to use its back legs, and it began kicking around, but with the sword practice I got from Rya I was able to fend off most of its attacks, while Rya made quick work of its legs, until its legs finally gave out.
“Yo, boss, go for the throat!” Rya shouted.
I immediately knew what to do. While the boar was still dazed, I took a sprint towards the boar, slid under its head and stabbed my sword right below its head. Before it fell down I made sure to get out of the way by rolling to the side. If it wasn’t already dead, the weight of its head pressing the sword down into the ground would make sure of it.
It was quiet in the forest, and then suddenly, a loud cheer was heard. We took down the rampaging boar. All we needed as proof were its tusks. We decided to dismantle it in the goblin village. Tonight would be a great feast.
As the goblins began to load the boar onto a large cart, I could see Rya looking around.
“Do you hear something?” I asked.
“No, but I can smell it,” she replied. “Boss, were there supposed to be any other hunting groups in this area?”
“I don’t think so. In fact, I don’t think anybody else had seen this request before.”
“I don’t like this smell. I think we need to investigate.”
I looked at the goblins. They gave us an okay sign. They’d make sure we would get the materials we needed.
“Well then, let’s go.”
Rya led us deep into the forest, until I began to hear a caravan, which was strange. This forest didn’t exactly have roads for any caravan to travel on. Sure, the shortest way to Gatrimma would be through this forest, but the only road that led there was the road going to the south. We decided to wait for a bit. We didn’t just want to have a close encounter, we just wanted to be close enough to tail it, but far enough to not be spotted.
“Boss,” Rya said. “I can smell another group.”
“Are they hostile?”
“Nah, they smell like adventurers, possibly bounty hunters.”
“Well, what do you think, should we continue?”
“I mean, we already got this far.”
“Let’s keep our distance though, for all we know these adventurers are trailing whatever we’ve been following. I don’t want to interfere with their work.”
Another reason I wanted to keep my distance was because this sounded dangerous. The fact that I didn’t see it on the request board meant that this was a special request, given out by the guild itself. Occasionally, the guild would ask higher ranked adventurers to go on a personal request, or at least one that requires the expertise of an individual or group. This seemed like one of those cases. At first I thought it could have just been an escort mission, but after following them for a while it became clear that this adventurer group wasn’t out there to protect it, but also didn’t intend to raid it.
Knowing this all, though, made me quite a bit curious, but there was also a gut feeling,that something important was going to happen. I had to see the outcome.
About an hour later the caravan stopped. The night had already fallen, but even though we were concealed pretty well, we kept our distance. We didn’t want to be seen by this group of adventurers, so we had to wait quite a bit.
“Boss, I can smell people,” Rya whispered.
“I mean, that’s kind of obvious.”
“I mean, yeah, but I think they might be kidnapped.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know, all the scents are blending together.”
“Should we get closer?”
“Not yet.”
We waited for a few minutes until Rya notified me that the adventurers were on the move. We slowly crawled closer, and we could finally see the caravan at a cave entrance. Right there, in the shadow, we could see the faint shape of a man, inching towards somebody. I only had to blink, but suddenly the one standing next to the caravan began to collapse. Shortly after, a small group of adventurers were approaching the caravan, and they all entered the cave together.
We decided to get closer, but I wasn’t exactly prepared to see dead bodies. I mean, I did expect it, but seeing these corpses still made me quite nauseous. These just looked like normal merchants, though because it was dark, I wasn’t able to see them well.
“Yeah, these guys deserved it,” Rya said.
“How can you tell?”
“The caravan’s empty, save for some shackles. They’re trafficking humans. Let’s just leave, these adventurers can handle it.”
There was a slight disdain in the tone of her voice. I mean, it was pretty obvious why. I guess it was a wise decision of her to just back out, but there was something down there, this feeling I had, it told me to just wait for a bit.
“Rya, I know you want to leave, but I want to see this just for a short moment.”
“Well, you’re the boss,” Rya said, though you could tell that she didn’t exactly agree with this decision.
It took a while before the adventurers came out of the cave, along with quite a few people. These were all people who would have ended up as slaves if it weren’t for them, I mean, it was obvious because of their slave collars. But two people caught my eye, there was something familiar about them, though it felt like something was missing. I’d often made it a habit in my previous life to imagine glasses on women, and subconsciously I did this here as well.
I found them.
Or at least, I found two of them. These two were undoubtedly my friends. Before this moment, I began to forget what they actually looked like, but seeing them helped me remember who they were.
“What’s going to happen with these slaves?” I asked.
“They’re most likely going to be brought to Alphana, and I guess they’d go to The Residence for inspection and evaluation.”
“Hey boss,” Rya said. “You look a bit down.”
“Well, I’m not exactly down. It’s just that, I don’t know. I’m glad that I found them. My friends, I mean. I’ve been looking for them for quite a while. You know how I’m from another world, like? Well, aside from myself, three other friends have been sent to this world, I’m trying to find them all.”
“But isn’t it a happy occasion that you’ve finally found them?”
“I mean, yeah, but if I was here sooner, maybe they wouldn’t have had to endure it for this long. It’s been almost four months since I came to this world, and that’s about as much time as they have been held in captivity.”
“Yeah, but they’re free again, right?”
“Maybe, I guess. How about you though? I mean, I apologize for dragging you into this.”
“Nah, it’s okay. I guess you really had to see this. I mean, I guess I just don’t like to see these things, you know? People who do cruel things to other people, that sort of thing.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
By the time we arrived at the goblin village, the boar had already been drained and skinned, and they were now in the process of removing the tusks for us. Even though Rya was pretty skilled, she was in awe of the entire process. She’d even ask them to teach her how to do it like them, which they actually did. I mean, not on the big one, on a smaller one, which Rya didn’t really mind, she was already happy enough that she could improve her techniques.
The goblins offered us the entire rampaging boar, but we gave most of the meat to them. I guess we did look forward to yet another meat feast, and as expected, we got one. I mean, they were already planning on giving one due to the monster subjugation. I already offered part of the reward money, but they refused, saying that they had no need for that.
Rya was already asleep when I went to bed, though I had a hard time falling asleep. I had to go back as quickly as possible.
Once we arrived at Alphana we noticed that the news already spread. A few days later, I had a talk with Elincia, mainly about my two friends.
“Well, the good news is that most of the slaves can be sent back home after some counselling and rehabilitation. We’ll have them escorted by adventurers, so if you’re looking for a job, just keep a look out for request. There are a few that are broken though, so they’ll need to be evaluated. Unfortunately they’d probably need to stay in The Residence for quite some time, and I’m not sure if they’ll ever be able to lead normal lives again.”
I could see that this was heavy on her. Even though she’s a slave trader, you could tell that Elincia not just cares for her slaves and employees, but for people in general.
“Now, it does mean that some will remain slaves, possibly for the rest of their lives, but I’ll make absolutely sure that they’ll be treated right, even if it means keeping them at The Residence indefinitely. Now, aside from that, there’s the case of two particular slaves.”
“Tell me more about them.”
“Well, first of all, they claim to be sisters, which doesn’t surprise me, they do look alike.”
“That is to be expected.”
“They also seem to be average, though there are some slight inconsistencies with their stats. They might be from another world as well. Well, I guess that’s only natural, after all, you seem to know them.”
“Yes, they are most likely my friends.”
“Well, like you said, they do need glasses. I’ve made arrangements for them to measure their eyes, after which they’ll get replacement glasses.”
“That’s great. Oh, and if you need compensation, I’m willing to pay for them.”
“No need. It’s part of the service we offer at The Residence. Now, there is a slight problem.”
“And that is?”
“You know how slave collars work, right?”
“Yes, I do.”
To explain, there are several kinds of slave collars, and there isn’t just one kind. Almost all of them have a form of locating or tracking enchantment, which would allow the owner to always know where the slave is. Most also have an enchantment that would compel the slave to do the master’s bidding. The Residence doesn’t have that enchantment on theirs, they run with the principle of trust. If you can’t trust your slaves, you’re not fit to own one.
“Well, these collars are special, in that they have some dangerous enchantments. To keep it short, if we ever try to remove them, they will die.”
She could see the concerned look in my eyes.
“As they are your friends, I won’t sell them, or at least not separately,” she said. “Since I can’t just sell them to anybody, it might take a long while before they’ll ever be sold.”
There was a smile on her face that seemed to tell me something. Nevertheless, it was an assuring smile.
“Well, I guess it’d be bad form to separate a family.”
Two weeks after the incident, I was standing at the doors of The Residence again, and now I had a choice. I was originally going to purchase Rya, but I also had my promise with Elverde, and aside from that, they were my friends. Call me selfish, but I wanted to keep them as close to me as possible, and even though I knew any person could take care of them, I had to be the one to free them.
I stepped inside, after which I was greeted by Elincia.
“I see you have finally made your choice,” Elincia said.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Then follow me.”
I was escorted by some of the employees to a room. It just seemed like the door to a regular room, and you’d almost be mistaking it for a hotel or an inn. The guards opened the door, and I was greeted by two people. To be honest, for a moment I felt a bit embarrassed that I didn’t know their names, but then I remembered that their names were locked away.
“Can you ask them their names?” I asked.
“I think that’s a problem,” she said. “It appears they don’t seem to have a name, none at all. I’ve already checked it with one of my skills.”
“What skill?”
“It’s a skill called 【Judge】. It is similar to 【Status Appraise】 in that it shows me another person’s status, like their stats or their skills, but this skill does not need the consent of the other. I don’t often use it, only to judge a person. The guild always makes sure to pre-screen people for me, but I always need to be sure.”
“And I assume you can’t see their name?”
“That is indeed correct. Normally the skill would allow me to see someone’s name. Of course, the name could be concealed, in which I would only be able to see their true name if I was stronger than the other person, mentally, otherwise I’d either see a blur or a different name. In this case, there just isn’t a name.”
“That’s because their names, their true names, have been sealed by the Goddess. The name I have right now isn’t my real name, and I can’t give you my real name because I don’t remember it anymore, and neither can they.”
“So I guess they’ll need to pick a different name.”
I walked up to the sisters.
“I guess you’ve heard what we were talking about, so, what should I call you?”
It didn’t take long before one of the sisters replied. “Do you think I’m a Gilian?”
“Well, you can be if you want to be one.”
“Then I guess that’s going to be my name.”
“And what about you?”
The other sister thought for a bit, and replied. “Jeanne. You can call me Jeanne.”
I looked at Elincia, and she nodded.
“What about a last name, though?” I asked.
“A last name as in a family name? It isn’t exactly mandatory to have one, but it might be a good idea to make the bonds between these sisters stronger by tying them together by a common name.”
“Well, any ideas?”
The sisters shook their heads.
“Well, how about Fate?” I said.
“That sounds like a lovely name,” Elincia replied. “What do you two think?”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Gilian said. Jeanne just shrugged.
While the sisters got ready and packed whatever they could pack, I had to sign some paperwork. Since I never bought a slave before, I was given time to read the contract. Elincia advised me to read it thoroughly, because unlike most other slave traders, this contract was a magically binding contract. It essentially forced me to act according to the terms were I to accept the contract. Elincia decided on such contracts to protect the slaves to a certain extent, and according to her, the terms were fair and not too restrictive. The penalties also weren’t too severe, and in case the contract was violated completely, it would become void and the slave would be released.
I did have to agree that the contract was fair. They were things like providing for the slave’s basic needs, or not being allowed to harm the slave with malicious intent. I did ask about that one, as I wasn’t sure why it had to explicitly state malicious intent, but there are situations where you do have to hurt a slave, for example, to save their life. Even then, she advised me to always try to find the least harmful way to achieve something.
“I checked their stats again,” Elincia said. “They seem to have a high aptitude for magic.”
“Really?” I said. “I thought the Goddess sealed everything away.”
“While it is true that their stats seem average, there are some inconsistencies, for example, some stats seem to be pretty low, and there aren’t any that are above 11. If you really look at it, they’d be sub-average. Also my 【Judge】 is strong enough to see their true potential.”
“You could have just began with that instead of going the roundabout way.”
“I know, it is nothing more than a brag.”
I finally finished laying my final signature.
“And with that everything is done. Congratulations with your purchase, mister Neuwelt.”
“Please, just call me Rivers.”
“Very well then, Rivers. I hope you will treat them well.”
“I will.”
Shortly after that, Jeanne and Gilian entered the room, now fully dressed and ready to go. They even had glasses again.
“Make sure you don’t lose those glasses,” Elincia said, “Not only do they perfectly adjust to your eyes, they will also raise your magic aptitude.”
“Wow, can you do that for my glasses as well?” I asked, jokingly.
“Well, if you are serious, I can get in a good word with an enchanter.”
Just then, Rya entered the room, in her usual adventurer gear, though it did seem a bit new. There was a faint sadness in her face, as if she was going to say farewell.
“So, you’ve finally made a purchase, boss,” Rya said.
“Yeah, I did,” I said.
“I guess you don’t need me anymore.”
“Well, it depends on whether you want to travel with me again in the future. I mean, I might need your help again.”
“That would be nice.” There was a brief smile on her face. “So, where’re ya heading?”
“North, I guess. I plan to investigate the place where I was summoned first, after that I’ll be heading to the Benita Labyrinth.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Well, would you like to go there as well?”
“I mean, sure, but—”
Rya took a look at Elincia, who smiled at her.
“As of today, you are now the property of Rivers Neuwelt.”
“Wait, how?”
“The sale was never about these two,” I said. “Since they’re friends from my world, Elincia couldn’t bring it to sell them to me, and since she didn’t put any money in training them, she just decided to transfer the rights over to me, on the condition that I did make an actual purchase here.”
There was this sparking in Rya’s eyes, though they might have just been tears of joy.
“Well, thank you boss, for picking me.”
“Hey, you don’t have to call me boss.”
“Which reminds me,” Elincia interrupted. “There is something I need to do. Rivers expressed his wish to free you after the purchase, so from now on, you’re free again.”
“But why?” Rya said.
“Look, Rya,” I said. “I don’t want to be your owner. To be honest, I’ve always seen you as a friend, so it doesn’t really feel right to have you as my slave. Instead, I’d only ask for you to travel with me for as long as you’d want to travel with me.”
“So, what you’re saying is you want to start an adventuring party with me?”
“Yeah, I do.”