Chapter 45: Negotiation is Important

“Since her mental state is so unstable, how about 20 gold?”

“What? Selling a virgin slave for 20 gold? Are you crazy?”

“Come on, it’d be nice if you could give us a discount. If it’s cheap, we’ll come again next time.”

“No, you’re trying to buy cheaply next time too! Don’t try to pull a fast one! Even if this is the bottom of the barrel, there’s still a set price range!”

“Here’s 20 gold.”

“Why are you talking like we’ve already agreed on 20 gold! Hey! What’s wrong with your boyfriend? Don’t just watch, try to stop him!”

“Hehe.”

“Don’t just laugh, say something! What’s wrong with these people! 20 gold, my foot. Do you think this is a street market? Don’t try to lowball me to 15 gold!”

“Come on, really. You’re trying to get 35 gold for a mentally ill girl? Shopkeeper, you’re being quite unfair.”

“Argh!!!”

The slave trader grabbed his head, about to go mad.

But I couldn’t help it.

I can’t pay full price for someone who’s mentally ill.

No matter if Olivia is a possessor and knows how to conquer the labyrinth, wrong is wrong.

And the slave trader doesn’t know how valuable an asset Olivia could be.

If you don’t know, you have to learn the hard way.

Since the slave trader sees Olivia as mentally ill rather than a ‘labyrinth conquest guide’, I should buy her at the price of buying a mentally ill person.

This is how the labyrinth city normally operates.

If you don’t know, you get stabbed in the back, and it’s natural for those who know more to take advantage of fools in the labyrinth city.

If you don’t want to be taken advantage of, you need to stay alert.

“Sigh. Alright, since she’s mentally unstable. Fine. Let’s agree on 25 gold.”

“Let’s lower it to 22. Looking at her condition, it seems she hasn’t been washed properly. Her nutritional state looks bad too. Let’s make it 22, okay?”

“This is driving me crazy. You look like an Easterner. How long have you been in the labyrinth city?”

“It’s been 6 months.”

“You’ve adapted amazingly well for an Easterner. Well, I guess you’ve adapted well, that’s why Lady Yuria is by your side. Haaaaah. Okay. 22 gold it is.”

So he knows about Yuria.

Well, red-haired female swordsmen are famous in the labyrinth city.

“Good. It was a good deal.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come again next time.”

“Yes!”

Considering that virgin slaves are traded for an average of over 30 gold, this price can be seen as extremely cheap.

If Olivia had been mentally sound, I absolutely couldn’t have bought her for 22 gold. In the first place, if she was mentally sound, Olivia with her labyrinth information wouldn’t have come to a shop like this.

“Well, it’s fortunate that the buyer seems to be from the same hometown. I felt a bit sorry for her, going mad while still so young.”

The slave trader said while signing the certificate.

It seems he was internally sorry for Olivia too.

He probably cared about her even though he couldn’t manage her properly because Olivia’s self-defense mechanism was so severe.

“Here’s the slave certificate. Be careful not to lose it.”

“What happens if I lose it?”

“You lose the way to prove she’s your slave.”

“I see.”

I immediately put the slave certificate into my inventory as soon as I received it.

It was a very important item that would cause big trouble if lost.

“Well then, Olivia, make sure to eat well and be healthy over there~”

The dwarf slave trader greeted us in a lighthearted voice, as if a rotten tooth had been pulled out, after finishing the certificate paperwork.

Olivia clung tightly to my side and didn’t answer.

“Seems she rejects everyone but you.”

“Seems so.”

“Tch.. The right side is my spot.”

Yuria slightly approached from the left.

She seems jealous but can’t bring herself to tell Olivia to let go.

She probably can’t tell her to let go because Olivia’s condition is so bad.

Yuria has such a good personality.

If it was an ordinary woman, she would have immediately ordered her to let go, treating her like a slave.

“We bought her, but. Hmm. Can we use her as a household helper?”

Yuria asked casually as we left the slave shop.

She didn’t oppose my decision, but it seems she had some internal doubts.

Since Olivia can’t see and her mental state seems very unstable.

She’s probably scared that if we entrust her with housework, she might ruin the whole household.

“I didn’t buy her as a household helper.”

“Hm? Really? Then did you buy her just because she’s from your hometown?”

“No. That’s not it either.”

Olivia clings to my side silently.

I glanced at her and continued speaking.

“She knows secrets about the labyrinth that we don’t know.”

“What!? Labyrinth sec-“

“Shh!! Yuria. Someone might hear.”

“Ah. Sorry. But is it true?”

“Probably. From talking a bit with her. It’s clear she knows something.”

“So you didn’t just buy her out of pity.”

“You know I’m not someone who would spend 22 gold out of pity.”

“True. Sion has a bit of a miser? Penny-pincher? That kind of tendency.”

“M-miser and penny-pincher…!?”

Am I that bad?

I’ve spent all the money I earned for labyrinth conquest, haven’t I?

“Ah. I don’t mean you don’t spend money at all. How should I put it. You’re good at finding cheap things? You consider cost-effectiveness a lot? You know what I mean? You have that typical Easterner feeling.”

There’s a perception in the labyrinth city that Easterners are greedy for money and stingy, so maybe that combined with my tendencies makes me look like a miser.

But miser and penny-pincher are going too far, I think it would be better to say I’m cost-conscious in modern terms.

Well, it can’t be helped.

I am actually greedy for money.

In the early days after transfer, there were times I starved because I didn’t have 5 copper.

If I didn’t have the spatial pocket, wouldn’t I have starved to death long ago?

‘The spatial pocket is really the greatest blessing in my life.’

If I didn’t have the spatial pocket, I might have had my spirit broken after rolling around like a dog like Olivia.

The spatial pocket is god and invincible.

“Anyway, we should take her and wash her up. Right?”

“Her condition is pretty bad.”

“Shall we go home?”

“Let’s do that. Sorry, Yuria. We couldn’t enjoy our date properly.”

“It’s okay. The black market tour was fun. There were a lot of interesting things.”

There were a lot of interesting things indeed.

I’m glad Yuria has such an easygoing personality.

---

For now, we came to Yuria’s apartment.

We brought Olivia to wash her up and hear information about the labyrinth from her.

“Alright, get into the bathtub.”

“…”

“Olivia. Come on.”

“H-hot water… trying to boil me alive…”

Olivia shook her head in fear, looking at the steaming bathtub.

No, what on earth did she go through in the labyrinth?

What’s the reason for imagining a boiling pot when looking at a bathtub?

“No, this is outside the labyrinth. No one’s going to kill you.”

“No.. I’m scared..”

Olivia didn’t want to let go of me.

She seems to want to keep clinging to me out of joy at finding an Earthling.

This won’t do.

Maybe because her mind is half-broken, Olivia isn’t properly judging the current situation.

I didn’t pay 22 gold to buy a child to take care of.

I paid 22 gold to buy a strategy guide that will actively provide information about the labyrinth.

It’s problematic if this continues.

Sympathy or compassion is something that develops for people I’ve built some friendship with.

I’m not kind-hearted enough to unconditionally take care of a complete stranger I’ve just met.

“Yuria. Can you detach her from me? I don’t think we can leave her like this.”

“Okay! Got it. Come here! You brat!”

“Kyaaaa!!!”

Yuria roughly pulled Olivia off.

Olivia wailed like a baby bird that lost its mother.

“Olivia. If you want to be treated like a person, you need to act like one. If you keep acting crazy and regressing to childhood, we have no reason to support you. If you want to eat warm meals, move.”

“Sniff..”

“Sion, she’s crying?”

“No, Yuria. Don’t comfort her. We’re going to raise her tough.”

“Ooh. Sion, you’re a genius with daughters. Your mindset is like my mom’s. My mom used to say something when I cried as a child too.”

“That’s because Olivia isn’t our daughter. A slave and a real daughter are different.”

“Is that so? Hehe. Daughter, huh. Hehe. I’ll go get the brush and soap.”

Yuria grinned and went to get the brush and soap when I said we’re treating her coldly because she’s not our daughter.

She seemed excited at the thought of marriage after talking about children.

“Now, Olivia. I’ll undress you, so stay still. If you keep clinging to me, I’ll send you back to the slave shop. You don’t want to part with the Earthling you finally met, right?”

“Hic… Y-yes.. I don’t want to part… Don’t abandon me.. Sniff…”

“There, there, stop crying. We need to take off your clothes.”

I soothed Olivia, who was crying with hiccups, and undressed her.

A skeletal body.

Compared to Yuria or Moira, it’s a completely underdeveloped body.

Her chest and other areas were lacking, as if she hadn’t developed properly.

Unless you’re into this slender type.

I’m not into bony bodies where you can see all the ribs, so it’s a bit much.

We’ll have to feed her a lot to fatten her up.

From what I heard from the slave trader, she ended up like this because she wouldn’t eat even when given food.

When she momentarily comes to her senses, she struggles saying she needs to enter the labyrinth.

And when she’s half out of her mind, she regresses to childhood like this.

If she didn’t have information about the labyrinth, I wouldn’t have bought her.

I felt uneasy, wondering if I had brought home a burden.

I’ve already bought her, so it feels wrong to abandon her.

“Alright, Olivia. Get into the bathtub.”

“Okay..”

Olivia awkwardly got into the bathtub.

Warm water up to her collarbones.

Olivia seemed to be gradually calming down.

“How is it? Warm, right? Not hot water, see?”

“Yes.. It’s warm. It’s warm..”

Olivia’s expression softened a bit.

Soon Yuria came into the bathroom with the brush and soap.

“Wow, look at her body. She’s all bones.”

“Yeah. She might collapse from malnutrition.”

“Should I go buy some food? There’s only alcohol at home…”

“I have ingredients in my spatial pocket, so you don’t need to go out.”

“That’s good. I was too lazy to go out.”

Yuria was also shocked when she saw Olivia’s body.

“By the way, how old are you, Olivia?”

“I’m… twenty? Twenty-one..? I’m not sure…”

“I see. Then call me Yuria unnie from now on. Okay?”

“Yes.. Unnie…”

Yuria continued the conversation while washing Olivia’s hair.

I felt sorry seeing Yuria take charge of managing the slave I had unilaterally purchased.

“Sorry, Yuria.”

“Hm? For what?”

“For making you take care of her.”

“It’s fine. She knows secrets about the labyrinth, right? I’m not being blindly kind either, so don’t feel burdened.”

“Thanks.”

My burden of mind eased a bit when Yuria said this.

Still, we can’t keep taking care of her like today indefinitely.

Olivia needs to earn her keep too.

“Olivia. Let’s continue our conversation from earlier.”

“Conversation..?”

“Yes. About the labyrinth. Secrets of the upper levels, or hidden mini-dungeons in the underground city. Things like that. About updates too.”

“I-I’ll tell you what I remember..”

Olivia cautiously started sharing the information she remembered.

It was about hidden places, hidden elements, or Easter eggs that ordinary adventurers wouldn’t know about.