by Aneko Yusagi
“Another thing, Eclair. This will set an example. Slave hunters will know what to expect if they try to attack the village again.”
The attacks would never stop if there was no real punishment worth speaking of. There were likely those that would come even with the risk of execution. But what if it meant getting caught, enslaved, and being abused? If we showed them that there were punishments worse than death in this world, then any slave hunter still considering coming to the village were sure to give up. Not to mention, the village was being protected by the Shield Hero.
“Mr. Naofumi . . .” Raphtalia began.
“I’m doing this no matter how absurd you think it is, Raphtalia. I’m going to do whatever it takes to rescue your friends.”
Maybe she wouldn’t like living in a place that was built using dirty money. Sure, I wanted to save the day with honest money like the gallant hero of some novel, if possible, but I didn’t have the leeway to choose my means. The lives of the Lurolona slaves might very well have been in danger while we were here wasting time with this mess. Raphtalia believed in me and this was for her, too. Standing around waiting wasn’t an option, even if Raphtalia didn’t like the alternative.
“Bubba . . .”
Keel called out to me with uncertainty in her voice.
“Do you think less of me now? Either way, I’m the boss here. I appreciate your willingness to come forward and volunteer to fight in the coliseum, but right now you need to forget about that and focus on becoming stronger. Leave the dirty work to me.”
I turned my back to the slaves and took a step forward. That’s right. They didn’t need to get their hands dirty. They could leave that to me.
“This isn’t the time for you to be taking risks. You’re going to protect the village, right?”
“Yeah . . .”
In any case, I could probably make a good amount of money if I sold off this many slave hunters. It had been an unexpected hassle, but it worked out in our favor in the end.
I stood there, staring silently at the portal cool down time hovering in my field of vision.
Chapter Twelve: The Department Store
Each hour, I transported another batch of the enslaved slave hunters to the slave trader’s place in Zeltoble, and by the time I finished it was around noon the following day. I’d taken a nap or two, but it had been light sleep, so I didn’t feel like I had slept at all.
“I will get in touch with my relative in Siltvelt. Yes sir!”
I’d taken the slave trader back with the first batch of slave hunters and he’d contacted his relative in Siltvelt right away.
“I’ve been told that the reaction is favorable. Yes sir. Reservations from local nobility for the slaves being offered by the Shield Hero have flooded in, and apparently they are already holding an advance auction.”
“Ohhh . . .”
“In which case, we can pay you for the slaves before the trading is actually completed.”
A money order, in other words. Then again, we had the technology to send and receive communications, so I guess it wasn’t quite the same.
“This went so well that I almost want to pat myself on the back.”
“The slaves you’ve provided should be transported to Siltvelt by some time tonight. Yes sir.”
It felt like throwing meat at a bunch of drooling wild dogs that hadn’t eaten for days. I knew Melromarc was full of trash, but apparently Siltvelt was just as shady. Then again, I’m not sure what that made me since I was taking advantage of that shadiness.
Raphtalia seemed a bit disappointed. She was sighing while I was talking with the slave trader, but the slave hunters were getting a fitting punishment. And I had even secretly cleared it with the queen. Melty had showed up that morning, appalled by the fact that the queen had given the plan her unofficial blessing. Apparently she was using it as a bargaining chip for negotiations, since traitors of Melromarc were being sent to Siltvelt, which of course made Siltvelt happy.
We returned to the slave trader’s underground slave market and went over everything one more time.
“In any case, it looks like we have enough money now to bet in the coliseum.”
It was time to get together with Raphtalia, Filo, Rishia, and Raph-chan and think about how to proceed, just like we had done yesterday.
“Despite how we got it . . . I guess you’re right.”
“If we want to really hit it big in one go, then we have to be prepared to accept the risks. We need to make sure we understand the rules and other details of the coliseum that we’ll be fighting in, too, right?”
If we were going to compete in the most dangerous of the coliseums, where the outcome was literally a matter of life or death, the consequences of leaving anything to chance were just too great. And there was no way I could compete on my own and expect to win. I was the Shield Hero, after all. All I could do was defend.
I’d approached the old Hengen Muso lady about participating, too, by the way. But she had built a reputation for herself in the coliseums before and had been banned from competing. That old lady’s past was riddled with mysteries.
“As a general rule, they’re elimination tournaments. Assuming the Shield Hero will be participating, I recommend competing as a team. Yes sir.”
“Obviously.”
“In that case, you can enter as a team of three or a team of five.”
Three people . . . I guess that would be me, Raphtalia, and Filo. I wasn’t planning on having Rishia participate in the first place, so that was pretty much the only way to go. I could have Raph-chan sub in for Filo depending on the situation, though.
If we went with five people, I could take Raph-chan and . . . maybe bring Keel or someone else. Even so . . . I wanted to avoid going with five people if possible. Raph-chan wasn’t all that strong, and while Keel and the others had gotten stronger, they still lacked experience. I couldn’t face Raphtalia if something went wrong and they ended up with the kind of injury that would leave a mark.
“Having your subordinates participate in a one-on-one coliseum might be good, too. Yes sir.”
“That’s the thing . . . How competitive is the one-on-one coliseum?”
Raphtalia’s katana was a vassal weapon from another world. I was sure she could win easily, even if it was the coliseum. Umm . . . was it just me? This was starting to feel a lot like the story from a popular old fighting manga where they ended up competing in a coliseum-style fighting tournament.
“The overall stakes and prize money are generally higher for the team competitions. Yes sir.”
“Team competition it is, then. Winning little by little is too much trouble.”
If I could participate, then teaming up with Raphtalia and Filo would be the safest bet . . . as long as the matches didn’t have any strange rules, that is.
“In that case . . . I’ll have you entered into an underground coliseum tournament that will be held soon. Yes sir.”
“Are there any special requirements to enter or anything else we need to worry about?”
“We’ll give the entry a little push to make sure it goes through. Yes sir.”
How dependable. Other than that, we just needed to make sure we didn’t do anything that wasn’t allowed.
“What about the rules? If they’re too complicated or the house takes the winnings or something, then I’m calling this off.”
“Three-on-three, no level classes, no race restrictions. That’s it. Yes sir.”
“Surprisingly simple.”
Simple was nice. Oh, and then there was the issue of how the winner was decided. I’m sure the slave trader had purposefully omitted this part. He handed me a pamphlet that appeared to be the coliseum rule book. It was written in the languages of all the different countries, including the official language of Melromarc. It said that a victory would be declared when an opponent died, lost consciousness, or admitted defeat. And then, below that . . .
“The key point is there at the end. Yes sir.”
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br /> “Participants are to provide their own weapons?”
“Yes sir! The sponsor of the next coliseum fight is the weapons merchant guild. Yes sir.”
So it was an underground coliseum backed by the weapons merchant guild . . . I could only imagine what kind of powerful weapons would show up at such a competition. Of course, we were using the legendary shield and a vassal weapon from another world, so we couldn’t really complain, regardless.
“If you like, perhaps you might consider observing the underground coliseum tournament that is currently being held. It may prove to be informative, I think. Yes sir. The tournament is being held at the same time as the slave auction. What would you like to do?”
Well, that did make sense. Seeing what went on would make it easier to come up with a strategy.
“In that case . . . Raphtalia, can you go to the auction tonight and keep an eye out for any Lurolona slaves?”
I could have gotten Keel and the others to help, but showing them that kind of thing probably wasn’t a good idea, since they had been traumatized and all. Then again, the same could be said about Raphtalia . . .
“Yes. That’s fine.”
“We really should make a complete list of everyone that was in the village. Can you do that, Raphtalia?”
I gave Raphtalia a pen and something to write on. It would be more efficient if we took full advantage of the slave trader’s connections, to search for the slaves, instead of just relying on Raphtalia’s eyes.
“Oh, umm . . . yes!”
Raphtalia started making a list on the piece of paper like I had asked. After all, not all of the slaves would be appearing in the auctions. I’m sure there were some slaves being held elsewhere, too. If we made it clear whom we were looking for beforehand, it would be possible to move straight to direct negotiations later.
“Fehhh . . .”
“Alright then. Since we’ll be competing in a dangerous coliseum fight, we should give some thought to how Raphtalia should approach offense.”
“Oh, umm . . . okay.”
Right now, the katanas Raphtalia had consisted of those she had gotten from monster materials and those that she had copied in Kizuna’s world, which still worked here. That meant there were a lot of gaps in what she could use, and her weapons hadn’t been adequately powered up, either.
Thankfully she could use the weapon she had gotten from the dragon emperor materials, but her stats still weren’t high enough to make much use of the katana she’d gotten from the four holy beast materials. That’s why she’d been making do with the dragon emperor katana for the time being.
The weapons made from the dragon emperor materials were exceptional pieces of equipment—Glass and the others favored them, as well. You could probably get by with relying solely on one of those weapons, but it was also better not to underestimate the importance of basic stat improvements and uncovering new skills. Not to mention, the katana still hadn’t been fully powered up, apparently.
“Slave trader. Are you familiar with any well-known weapon shops in Zeltoble?”
“I can have you taken to one, if you like. Yes sir.”
“Hmm . . . Yeah, let’s do that.”
It was a really busy city. So getting lost was a real possibility.
“I’ll have someone take you right away, then.”
A brawny man raised his hand, volunteering himself.
“Alright then. Let’s go.”
The slave trader’s assistant took us to the biggest shop in Zeltoble. It was a huge building that looked like a department store.
“Oh? If it isn’t the Shield Hero!”
I noticed a familiar face tending the shop on the first floor.
“You’re mistaken.”
That’s right. The accessory dealer that I met a while back was beckoning me over. I acted like I didn’t know him.
“This is my shop. I would absolutely love for you to take a look around.”
I couldn’t help but feel like he was telling me, “You’ll take this shop over, one day.” If I kept ignoring him he was likely to just interpret that as acceptance. I sighed and made eye contact.
“You’ve got a big shop here, eh.”
“I sure do. Can I help you find something, Shield Hero?”
“I came to look at weapons and armor.”
“That would be the second floor. Before that, can I interest you in any of the accessories here on the first floor?”
I looked around. There was an inordinate number of glittering accessories on display throughout the shop. Honestly, I felt like I was about to go blind.
“Not interested. I make my own.”
“I knew it! Tell me, have you been using what I taught you? There may come a time when you need to make something magnificent, and you won’t be able to do that if you let yourself get rusty.”
“From time to time. It’s saved my life more than once.”
That was the truth. I had made the cap for my shield and Raphtalia’s sheath just recently. The only problem was that I hadn’t been able to make any accessories that worked as well as the ones in Kizuna’s world. The haikuikku-like effect that triggered when Raphtalia unsheathed her katana didn’t work as well here, either. It only made her about as fast as Filo when she used the skill. Apparently the materials that I used to make the sheath didn’t exist in this world, so I had been mulling over whether I should try making her one with different specifications.
Other than that, I had been making accessories for the slaves using materials from monsters. Working with monster bones was my latest obsession. They were hard, and they gave higher stats than you would have expected. What was really nice was that imbuing them didn’t degrade the quality much. The downside was that the imbued effects weren’t that great.
“Here. It’s just a rough piece, but have a look.”
I showed him an accessory that I had been working on, albeit not very seriously.
“Oh! A bone accessory!”
“Is that not a thing?”
“Oh, you do see them from time to time, but . . . Hmm, yes. It’s a bit cheap, but it’s imbued with effects that a practical adventurer would appreciate.”
“It may be cheap material, but it’s still good for working on design, right?”
“By the way, I hear that you now have a territory of your own.”
“If you want to set up shop there then why don’t you come by?”
“I’m going to hold you to that!”
The accessory dealer’s eyes twinkled devilishly as he shouted. That just made me want to make things difficult for him. That’s the kind of person I was.
“You better not get in the way of development. Also, expect to be charged a fee for doing business there.”
“Of course! Heh heh heh . . .”
It seemed like the majority of the merchants I knew were a real depraved bunch. If he really did come to the territory, I’d have to keep close tabs on him.
“How is the accessory business treating you these days?”
“Business is good! We did just have quite the catastrophe, after all. Even the civilians seem to have realized that it’s up to them to protect themselves.”
The circumstances seemed to be treating his pockets well.
“Also, I’ve gotten in on the miraculous Cal Mira accessory business that you got started, as well.”
Oh yeah . . . He was talking about the advice I’d whispered to that fraudulent merchant back then. I’d seen those accessories show up every now and then, and it always surprised me.
“Anyways, I’m going to go look at the weapons.”
“I look forward to our next meeting!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Go easy on them at the underground coliseum tournament. Of course, I fully expect you will win, so I won’t be taking part this time.”
“—!”
Shivers ran down my spine. To think he’d already heard in such a short amount of time . . . Just how connected was this guy?!
/> “I’ll be rooting for you.”
“Thanks.”
Dealing with corrupt merchants always wore me out.
“Fehhh . . . That merchant is quite famous, you know.”
“I thought that might be the case.”
“They say he’ll put you out of business if you get on his bad side.”
“Don’t worry. He likes me.”
On the contrary, I was more afraid he’d try to force me to take over his shop. Rishia and I continued chatting as we climbed the stairs up to the second floor.
“Woooow, this is grreeeat! So shiiiiny!”
It looked like a showroom, with all kinds of weapons on display. Filo couldn’t take her eyes off all the shiny objects. She may have looked like a human, but she was a bird monster, after all.
Let’s see . . . A variety of siderite weapons, like swords and spears, were lined up in a row. Ahh, they were showroom products meant to attract attention and could only be handled and looked at in the showroom. Yeah, these were definitely the weapons that the other heroes had copied. Oh? There was some Spirit Tortoise gear, too. The materials were being sold to fund reconstruction efforts, after all. I’d heard about it while peddling goods, and apparently working with the materials was difficult.
It was all pretty much the same stuff that you could buy in Melromarc, but everything was priced super high. I was a bit surprised to see that a shop this big was full of weapons that didn’t seem to have much processing done to them. I guess it was different when they were made in other countries.
Hmm . . . I looked at the shields, too, but they were pretty much the same as what the old guy had in his shop. There did seem to be a few that I hadn’t seen before, so I figured I’d try picking them up.
“Excuse me. Is it okay if I hold this shield?”
“Go right ahead.”
After making sure it was okay with an employee, I went about picking up any shields I hadn’t seen at the old guy’s shop and activated weapon copy. Spike Shield, Frisbee Shield, Jewel Shield, Platinum Shield . . . I just copied them all.
“Raphtalia, did you find any katanas?”
