The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 (7 page)

“They all seem to have severe issues.”

“These are all I can offer you in your range. If we lower the bar even more then… Well…”

The slave trader glanced quickly to the back wall. I followed his gaze.

You could tell, even from far away, the smell of death. That smell in the air at a funeral, it was strong, and it was coming from that direction. It also smelled like rot. I felt like I’d get sick just looking in the direction.

“How much are we talking?”

“From the right, 25, 30, and 40 pieces of silver.”

“Hmm. What are their levels?”

“5, 1, and 8.”

If I wanted a strong fighter, the lizard man was the best option. If I was worried about the price, then the rabbit with the genetic disease was the best option. All of them looked very skinny.

The rabbit man had a useless arm, but the rest of him looked just fine. And they all looked miserable… but so did all the other slaves in the tent.

“Why are they all so quiet?”

“Because they are punished when they make noise.”

“Makes sense.”

So he was he showing me slaves that were well trained, or slaves that couldn’t be trained? The lizard man looked like he might be good in a fight, but the other ones probably wouldn’t be.

“Why’s the middle one so cheap?”

She was skinny and scared, but she looked like a relatively normal little girl. Her face wasn’t good or bad, just normal.

“Raccoon-types aren’t popular with humans. Now, if she were a fox-type, I’d be able to get a good price for her.”

“Huh…”

Raccoons were, if you translated it, like
tanuki.
Even at that, she looked so human you’d think they could get a good price for her. But if raccoons weren’t popular, then she probably wouldn’t be worth much as a slave.

“She has panic attacks in the night. It’s a lot of work to look after her. “

“And this is the best you have in stock?”

“You really hit where it hurts.”

She wouldn’t be good for hard work, and she had the lowest level.

Was this a good thing? I wasn’t sure.

I caught the eye of the raccoon-girl. And I realized, looking into her eyes, how I felt.

Yes. This thing was a woman, the same gender as
that one
that betrayed me. I looked into her scared eyes and immediately thought that I wanted to control her. I thought I could just pretend that I’d turned Myne into a slave… If she died, it might make me feel better.

“All right then, I’ll take the middle one.”

“An excellent choice, and it makes my life easier too.”

The slave trader produced a key and opened her cage. She stepped out, and he put a collar around her neck. She let out a yelp.

I looked at her, quivering in fear, and felt a wave of satisfaction wash over me. I imagined
that other woman
quivering in fear, just like this, and it made me feel great.

The slave trader took the girl, her collar attached to a chain, and pulled her behind us as we returned to the street we came from. We exited the circus tent and were in the alley again. He called for some people who appeared immediately. They were carrying a jar that appeared to be full of ink. They transferred a little ink to small dish and pushed it in my direction.

“Hero, please give us a little blood. Then the slave registration will be complete, and she will be yours.”

“I see.”

I pressed a pen-knife into the end of my finger. As I did so, I felt my shield react, but I wasn’t being attacked, so it didn’t stop me from drawing blood. Apparently it behaved differently outside of battle.

I waited for the blood to well up, and then let a few drops drip into the small dish. One of the men dipped his brush into the liquid and then pulled back the girl’s cloak to paint the magic onto her chest.

“Gahhhh! AAHHHH!”

The pattern on her chest began to glow, and I suddenly noticed a flashing status icon in my field of vision.

Slave acquired: conditions of use as follows:

A window opened, and it was filled with conditions.

I quickly skimmed through them. Attacking me in my sleep, or any other action that entailed the refutation of my will, would be punished immediately with pain.

Also, a party member icon appeared outside of the slave menu, so I looked into that.

Slave A. I didn’t know her name, so that’s what it said.

“Now this slave is yours, Hero. Your payment, please.”

“Sure.”

I gave the slave trader 31 pieces of silver.

“You’ve overpaid, sir.”

“For the ceremony. You were going to wring more money out of me somehow, weren’t you?”

“…You are very wise.”

If I paid up-front, it made it hard for him to say anything about it afterwards. I’d like to see him try to get more out of me now.

“Very well then. You’ve helped me clear out my stock.”

“By the way, how much do you actually charge for this processing?”

“Haha, it’s included in the cost.”

“Sure it is.”

He laughed, so I laughed along with him.

“You’re really something. I’ve got goose bumps.”

“Whatever.”

“I look forward to your future visits.”

“Sure.”

I started to walk off, and called for the slave to come with me. I turned my back on the circus tent.

The slave followed behind me, wearing a miserable look on her face.

“Now then, let’s hear your name.”

“… Guh...”

She turned her face away and didn’t answer.

But that was a stupid thing to do. If the slave disobeyed my orders, she would have to pay. And so the slave punishment curse activated.

“Gu… guhhhh…”

She put her hands on her chest and seemed to be in pain.

“Come on, what’s your name?”

“Ra… Raphtalia…” Cough! Cough!

“Raphtalia it is then. Let’s go.”

She coughed out her name, and the pain faded. She took a moment to recover her breath.

I took her by the hand, and we continued to walk down the back alley.

“…”

Raphtalia looked up at me, her hand in mine. She looked terrified, but we kept on walking…

Chapter Ten: Kids’ Menu

“Oh geez…”

We’d gone to the weapon shop, and the owner leaned on the counter and sighed when he saw me come in with Raphtalia.

That’s right. I want attack power, that’s it. If I didn’t get some weapons, there would be no point to any of this.

“Give me a weapon that this girl can use. Keep it under 6 pieces of silver.”

“… Hmph,” the owner sighed again. “I don’t know if the country is wrong, or if you’ve just gone rotten. Whatever. 6 pieces of silver, right?”

“Yes. And do you have any other clothes or capes back there?”

“… Sure. You can have ‘em for free.”

The owner muttered quietly to himself as he laid some knives out on the counter.

“At your budget, this is about it.”

From the right side moving left, there was a bronze, steel, and an iron knife.

Apparently the price changed based on the type of handle.

I made Raphtalia hold them all and then chose the one I thought fit her best.

“This one.”

Raphtalia, with the knife in her hand, looked pale. She stared at the owner, then at me.

“And here’s your clothes and cape.” The owner threw them roughly in my direction before leading us to the fitting room.

I gave Raphtalia the knife and clothes and sent her in. She ducked inside, and coughed the whole time she was changing.

“We should probably get you a bath.”

There was a river that flowed through the fields. The river running through the country split into three rivers upstream, and I’d moved my hunting over in that direction recently. There were fish in the water, and if I could manage to catch one, I’d save that much on dinner.

There were fish you could grab with your bare hands, which I did once, and in doing so unlocked the Fish Shield, and its ability: Fishing plus 1.

She finished changing in silence and then ran over to me. Surely she knew that disobeying me would only result in further suffering? I kept my eyes on her, took a seat, and started talking.

“Okay, Raphtalia, this is your weapon. I expect you to use it to fight monsters. Do you understand?”

“…”

She kept her terrified eyes fixed on me and nodded.

“Okay then, I’m giving you this knife…”

I then opened my cape to reveal the Orange Balloons there. I removed one and held it out to Raphtalia.

“Stab this, and pop it.”

“Heee?!”

When I held out the balloon, she let out a shriek of surprise and seemed so taken aback that she nearly dropped her knife.

“I… uh…”

“That’s an order. Do it.”

“I… No.”

She obstinately shook her head. But she was a slave, and there was magic that would punish her for disobeying.

“Ugh…”

“See? If you don’t attack it, you’re the one who gets hurt.”

Cough! Cough!

Her face was twisted in pain, and her hands were shaking. She steadied her grip on the knife.

“You…” murmured the owner, looking down at us from the counter.

Raphtalia settled her nerves, braced herself, and stabbed at the balloon from behind.

“You’re weak! Try harder!”

“…?! But!”

She had bounced backwards from her last attack. Recovering, she steadied her footing and lunged forward for another attack.

The balloon burst with a loud pop.

EXP 1

Raphtalia EXP 1

The words appeared before me, telling me that a party member had defeated an enemy, which made me question something.

Her
. She’d never actually joined my party, so apparently she’d never had any intention of actually helping me.

“Nice one.”

I rubbed her head. She shot me a confused look in response.

“All right, next one.”

The strongest balloon had been chewing on my arm for a whole week. I tore it off and held it out to her, just as before. It must have weakened somewhat, being stuck on my arm without food or drink for a whole week. Even a weak little girl, level 1, should have been able to break it.

She gave a determined nod and narrowed her eyes before attacking the balloon from behind.

EXP 1

Raphtalia EXP 1

Huh? An icon was flashing at the corner of my vision.

“Looks like you’re up to it. Let’s get started.”

“… Cough”

I told her to sheath her weapon, and she did as I asked.

“Oh, hey, I forgot.”

“What?”

The shop owner was still glaring at me.

“You’re gonna have a hard life, and die hard.”

“Thanks a bunch.”

I answered his sarcasm with sarcasm of my own.

We left the shop and made for the fields. Walking down the main street, Raphtalia seemed amazed at all the shops. She held my hand as we walked and threw glances to the left and right. On our way through town, we were both stopped in our tracks by a delicious smell in the air.

I still had… 3 pieces of silver. Come to think of it, I was pretty hungry.

I could hear Raphtalia’s stomach grumbling along with my own.

I looked over to her and…

“Ah!”

She quickly shook her head, denying her grumbling stomach. What was she trying so hard for?

I needed Raphtalia to be strong if I was going to make any money at all. There was no point to buying a knife if I didn’t keep it sharp. If she was hungry, she wouldn’t fight as well as she could. I looked around for a quick, cheap place to eat. I picked one, and as I entered…

“Come on in!”

The place was a little beat up, and the waitress seemed a little confused as she led us to our seat. On our way to the table, Raphtalia spotted a family eating across the room. She locked her gaze on them. The kids were eating a kid’s meal, and she was staring at it enviously.

So that’s what she wanted. We took our seats, and I ordered before the waitress had a chance to get away.

“I’ll have your cheapest lunch. This one’ll have whatever that kid over there is eating.”

“What?!”

Raphtalia turned on me in shock. I didn’t see what was so surprising about it.

“Very well sir. That will be 9 bronze pieces.”

“Sure.”

I gave her a piece of silver, and received the remainder in change.

We waited quietly for our food to arrive, and Raphtalia looked all around the restaurant. I noticed a few tables casting glances in my direction while they whispered among themselves.

I hated this whole world.

“W…Why?”

“Hm?”

Raphtalia said something, so I looked down at her. She was looking up at me with that confused look back on her face. I suppose she thought it odd that I’d feed her a real meal, considering that she was a slave.

“You looked like you wanted to eat it. You want something else?”

She shook her head.

“How come you’re… feeding me?”

“I already told you… you looked like you wanted to eat.”

“But…”

She sure was stubborn.

“Anyway, eat up, and get some strength. If you walk around all skinny like that, you’ll just die on me.”

Even if she did die, I could use the money we made to buy a new slave.

“Here you are,” said the waitress, bringing our meals. She set the kid’s lunch down before Raphtalia, and a lunch of bacon in front of me. It didn’t taste like anything. Was everyone playing some kind of trick on me? Why was all the food here so bland? Everyone else looked like they were enjoying their meals, but they must have had strange tastes.

“…”

Raphtalia was staring down at her meal.

“Aren’t you going to eat it?”

“… Can I?”

“Yes, you can. Hurry up.”

Upon hearing my order, she seemed to relax a bit.

“Okay.”

She hesitated for a moment before finally attacking her meal bare-handed.

Well, she was a slave, after all. I couldn’t expect her to have good table manners.