episode_0002

A beauty with black hair fluttering under the sun, as if a piece of the midnight sky had forgotten to leave during the day, and beneath it, her eyes shining like red stars in the night sky.

If you came across such a woman kneeling with a leash tied around her neck, the outline of her fascinating body clearly visible beyond the carefully tightened cloak…

How do most people behave?

In the 21st century Republic of Korea, in a normal case, you would probably ask if you are okay and then turn around and call the police, or you would immediately walk away and avoid getting involved.

I can turn my head for a moment, fascinated by the soft, white skin that shows through the gap in the cloak that I couldn’t hide.

However, I think it is very rare for people to do anything carelessly, whether out of conscience or practical concerns that they might get involved and get into trouble.

But what about in countries where it is common to see slaves on the streets and where the concept of slavery is taken for granted?

Surprisingly, in fact, even in this case, it is rarer than you think to directly touch a still woman. This is a fact I learned from experience.

This is because slaves are also the owner’s private property. It’s similar to not touching a good motorcycle or car just because it’s parked on the side of the road.

Especially in this empire, not only were they at a legal disadvantage, but most of those who owned slaves had some degree of wealth or were skilled adventurers who passed on troublesome chores to the slaves they purchased.

There was nothing good about arguing with them carelessly.

Of course, there are people everywhere who commit actions that others would not do for common sense reasons.

Still, I hung up a sign like this just in case such a rare case occurred.

In fact, it was written not only for her but also for those who tried to mess with her.

We had already tried to move as unnoticed as possible when heading to Jido this time, but no matter how rude and annoying these guys were, if people kept dying in the city we were staying in, things would get quite annoying.

It also partly served as a punishment for her who kept playing around.

At least, that’s what I thought yesterday when I was drunk and hung that leash and sign around her neck and wrote the words.

Of course, now I was cursing at myself from the day before.

It is not uncommon for slave owners who were harsh to the point of putting leashes around their slaves’ necks, but the content of the sign rather attracted too much attention.

Even while I was eating, the crowd of people was ‘contemplating’ her as she quietly knelt next to the table where my food was laid out.

Some people looked at the trembling woman with pity, but many more were filled with lust as they stared at her body, which was revealed even through the cloak.

The moment I made eye contact with her who was ‘pretending’ to be sad and ashamed in front of those gazes, the smile she gave me showed me that she was laughing at my mistake.

“Ha…”

I sighed and although I was already tired of eating comfortably, I still hoped to finish the meal as quietly as possible and leave as soon as possible.

“…It’s for ornamental purposes… It’s fun.”

Of course, being reborn in this world itself was completely unrelated to my will, so perhaps it is a natural law of this world that my wishes do not come true.

The giant who slowly approached me and spoke to me is faithfully following that rule.

“I lived my life as an adventurer and saw many slaves of all kinds.

They had a variety of uses, including night servants, combat, labor, and livestock slaves, but this is the first time I’ve heard of them being ornamental slaves. What on earth are slaves used for?”

“…The meaning of contemplation is the same. Watch and enjoy. That’s it. If you’re interested, I’m sorry, but I can’t sell that guy.”

“Do you already know how much I will pay and are already saying that? Yes, I know that her beauty is amazing, but isn’t that too expensive for just a human woman?”

The guy who was giggling took off what was hanging around his neck and held it out to me.

A bronze medal with the Adventurer’s Guild emblem engraved on it. It was the mark of an adventurer of the same level.

Certainly, an adventurer of that level of skill and experience could have saved up enough money to purchase even a fairly expensive and beautiful slave.

“…The price is not the problem, it is because there is already an owner and there is a prior agreement.”

There was still quite a bit of food left, but I didn’t want to attract more attention than this, so I put down my fork and stood up, clinking the iron plates of my armor.

“I’m sorry, but please excuse me. It was a mistake to hang that sign around my neck in the first place. It’s a bit difficult to get this much attention…”

However, the moment I stood up, gathered my weapons and luggage, and tried to approach Rubia, a man intervened and blocked me.

“…Could you please get out of the way?”

The giant snorted at my words, unlatched the ax from his back, grabbed it, and swept the floor of the restaurant.

“Please don’t do that, just check it once. What on earth would happen if you touched that bitch, so you put up a sign like that?”

He didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down.

While sighing at that sight, I also took my stance, holding my spear in my hand in a familiar way.

But on the other hand, even in the midst of this sudden confrontation, I couldn’t help but wonder.

‘I was on guard from the moment he first approached me and spoke to me, but… he started an argument so openly? ‘What are you thinking?’

Is it simply arrogance and rudeness that comes from overconfidence in my abilities? Or is there something else you’re aiming for?

“..Ugh…”

What interrupted my worries was a sound coming from behind the man who had blocked my path.

A short cry made by Rubia, whose red eyes were filled with tears and her body began to tremble even more.

It wasn’t originally loud enough to attract attention, but while most people were just looking at the sudden confrontation between me and that adventurer, the crying sound naturally attracted people’s attention.

“Lord.. Master.. Please don’t throw me away…”

Luvia was looking at me and pleading, holding the cloak tightly in her hands.

People who heard her voice and cries begin to tremble.

“What is it? No matter how you look at it, seeing as he put a sign on his slave’s leash, he doesn’t seem like a good owner.”

“You don’t know what. By completely breaking the slave’s spirit, he made him completely dependent on his master no matter what he did…”

“…That could be possible?”

“Of course. How scary are the slave owners and the trainers they hire… Just look at them, they are very obsessed with the slaves they own. It wouldn’t be strange if they had that kind of training.”

‘no. ‘You bastards.’

Feeling a headache from the increasing whispers and misunderstandings, I held my forehead and turned to Luvia to tell her to quickly resolve it.

Although she usually enjoys teasing me, her owner, it has never gone beyond the category of pranks.

This means that it never once interfered with the really important things.

If Luvia had already attracted attention like that when she was having an argument with a suspicious guy, it wasn’t just for fun.

Of course, to some extent, he wanted to see me embarrassed by a misunderstanding…

“Slaves should not interfere when masters are talking among themselves. I even put him on a leash, but the training isn’t as good as I thought?”

The man who had been blocking me with an ax in his hand scratched the floor lightly with the blade and turned towards Rubia.

-The goal is probably to deal with this guy quietly.

In fact, an adventurer of the same level would have been able to subdue him without much difficulty, but there was only one reason why I accepted some of his arguments without doing so.

I’m just worried that if a fight breaks out here, it might draw the attention of the guards.

Well, if they keep bothering you, it would be better to just knock them out and quickly leave the city, but if Rubia had another way…

“Look at my face and tell me? huh? Aren’t you satisfied with having me as your new owner?”

“Please don’t do this. Please…please have mercy.”

“Look at me!”

Meanwhile, the man who approached Rubia leaned down and scolded Rubia, who was trying to cover her face with her arms while turning her head away from him.

The moment Luvia, who was shaking at the sound, raised her head with a tearful expression and met his red eyes, there was a moment of silence.

-thud!

“Aaagh!”

The giant fell down and landed face first on the floor of the restaurant. Luvia screams when she sees him suddenly falling down.

She had nothing to do with the adventurer’s sudden collapse; rather, it seemed as if she was greatly surprised and scared by this situation.

“…You’re really good at acting…”

While the audience was also buzzing in surprise at the sight, I mumbled so that no one could hear, and then walked over to the man lying on the floor and Luvia, who was shaking next to him.

Because I also had to match her acting.

“Now… wait a minute! Just leave it for now-”

As I approached the fallen adventurer, onlookers tried to stop me, but I already grabbed the back of his head and lifted his face from the ground for everyone to see.

-Big…

“…What is it?”

And upon seeing that, someone said in complete bewilderment:

The exposed adventurer’s face was red and he was snoring.

“…I thought he was going to start an argument in a strange way. Were you drunk? You dealt with a drunk customer for no reason.”

I deliberately mumbled so that everyone could hear.

The atmosphere, which had been frozen with tension as if someone had collapsed and died, quickly relaxed with those words.

“What… A person who is said to have eaten some adventurer’s jjambap couldn’t even measure his alcohol intake?”

“I just watched the fight. It’s vain.”

While people were leaving the restaurant one by one, muttering in despair, I left the adventurer sprawled on the floor again and approached Rubia, who was trying to collect herself, and said,

“Good job. Let’s get out quickly.”

“Hmm… Yes, master…”

With Rubia still pretending to be a frightened slave, we were able to blend in with the departing crowd, pay for our food, and leave the restaurant unnoticed.

As I walk once more into the back alleys of the city, which are shadowed even during the day, Rubia’s acting stops.

“Phew… Did you like my acting? Master?”

As the danger of sunlight disappears from beneath the shadows, she looses her tight cloak, revealing her original, sly personality.

“Oh, well done. Rubia. It was a good decision to make him look drunk. Thanks to you, I was able to avoid suspicion. I’m much better at handling hypnosis than before.”

“Then can I take off this leash and the sign now?”

“…It’s okay to take off the sign. Because it seems like it stands out for no reason.”

As if she hadn’t expected me to take off her leash in the first place, Luvia didn’t look particularly disappointed and just took the sign off her neck.

“So where are you going now?”

“There is no particular reason to stay in this city for a long time, so let’s just buy some more food at the market and go straight back to Emma. Although there is not much left until the system, there is no harm in rushing a little.”

“It’s a pity… I wanted to enjoy more time spent alone with the owner in this dark place…”

As she turns her body, the gap in the cloak she is wearing widens, provocatively revealing what is hidden beneath it.

“Hey.. what about the clothes inside you?!…”

I cried out in surprise and tried to turn my head, but I couldn’t help but let my eyes rest on the two white peaks that were clearly exposed for a moment.

“Ha! It hurts.”

Luvia, who noticed this and was laughing, let out a strange moan on purpose when I grabbed her leash and gently dragged her away.

I don’t know if it was a mistake or a good thing, but then her body, shining white as the moon even in the shadows, flutters around and steals my attention once again.

Especially her fluttering-

“…Are you sure you were still in that state even inside the restaurant?”

I tried to stop myself from going somewhere else, turned my head, and asked the question indifferently.

“Is that possible? Only you, Master, can see my body like this.”

“…I’ll be out on the street again soon, so quickly use a shadow or something to cover my body and face well. Because I don’t want to attract attention this time.”

“Oh my, you’re making me walk naked on a leash in a back alley… you’re so bold. Breathe!!”

I tugged on the leash again, calmed my excited mind and body, and tried to give orders as calmly as possible to the strangely smiling girl.

I didn’t really want to imitate the stuffy protagonist who couldn’t eat anything.

There’s no way you’d want to refuse when a beautiful woman with that kind of appearance and body keeps tempting you.

Luvia also knows that even if she continues to act and say things like that, I can’t answer her temptations, so it’s a joke.

Seven years ago, after we first met and clashed in a burning city, we made a hasty contract to resolve the situation.

She cannot betray me or harm me, and in return I do not touch her either.

Because that was the content of the contract made with each other’s blood, in which the one who broke the contract would boil to death.

she is-

——

Inside the restaurant, where most of the people had left, the man who had been mistaken by people for being drunk was still sleeping face down on the floor.

Most people passing by just looked at him pitifully and were no longer interested.

Except for just a few people.

“Really?”

“I saw this guy’s eyes suddenly open. I’m sure… that slave is a vampire.”

They all fell silent due to the weight of that declaration.

“…Does that man, the master, know the identity of my slave?”

“I have to check it now. Because what needs to be done doesn’t change anyway.”

She said, fiddling with the silver medal around her neck.

I hope I can ram it into the head of the abominable vampire.