I'm surrounded by piles of paper, my pen crunching away. I am signing the papers that Rico and the others have sent me.
I look over the papers and sign them, regarding taxes, military affairs, rural affairs, fisheries, petitions from the people, and all sorts of things.... At last I am doing lordly work.
The agricultural revival that May is leading is proving to be more successful than I had expected. The radishes, cabbages, onions, spinach, leeks, and peas that I planted in the fall have grown and harvested without problems. They taste really good. Gaining confidence from this, they are growing various kinds of vegetables on their farmland. While more and more people are moving to the area, there is no lack of problems, but we manage to cope with them. Currently, the rice paddies are growing thickly under the summer sun, and they are looking forward to the harvest in the fall.
"Now, I have three suggestions for you.
At dinner, I tell everyone about the plan I've been working on.
The first proposal is to open another restaurant in the capital.
"A store? What kind of store will you open?"
"It's a store that sells a variety of foodstuffs."
There are stores selling food in the capital, but they are all specialty stores such as rice shops, grocery stores, fish shops, and butcher stores. Because they are dispersed throughout the large city, ordinary citizens have to spend a lot of time and effort for shopping. I have always longed for something like a supermarket. And I have come to the conclusion that if there is no supermarket, we should build one. The biggest shortage in the capital is fish and vegetables. If we could sell fresh fish and vegetables, the people of the capital would appreciate it. Many of the grocery stores and fishmongers in the capital are quite rip-offs, taking advantage of the scarcity of their products. I have always disliked this attitude.
I have a list of stores in mind. There is a big warehouse about 500 meters south of my current store in the west of the capital. It seems to be a warehouse of a rice store, but it is not in use now. However, it is well taken care of and I have been curious about it for a long time because it is located near a neighborhood where many ordinary citizens live. I heard that the rice dealer also wanted to sell the warehouse, and as a result of negotiations, I was able to purchase it at a lower price than I had expected.
Akima of the brothel, Milaya, was the one who brokered the deal. She wants to open a brothel in Krumphal in the future. She gave me this information as a thank-you for my advice.
"I would like to open a brothel at the end of the fall harvest in Krumphal. I have already chosen a name for the store." Super Darke."
The name has no twist, and it may seem subtle, but it is not a problem, apparently. This was approved without any problem.
The second is to open a brothel in the town of Krumphal.
As expected, Rico did not like this.
"I was consulted by Mr. Akima of Miraya. I'm going to give you permission. However, I will place the following conditions: no minors will be employed, no slaves will be used, and the decision to work or not to work will be respected. If anything, I would like to make Mr. Akima's store like a salon for the cultured. So I'm going to ask him to make the exterior and interior elegant and glamorous."
Rico was sure that Rico would object, but he agreed without a word. In fact, Ferris and Peris agreed that it would be nice to create a place where people of culture could gather! I was surprised that he was so supportive of the project. Perhaps Liko also somehow agreed with the idea of creating a salon for people of culture.
"And thirdly, I would like to hire some slaves to work in the new salon, what do you think?"
Frankly speaking, we can't afford to send Krumfal people here. Nevertheless, I really want to make the new store a success. We have decided that slaves are the best way to achieve this. Moreover, Akima told me that the slave market would be held the day after tomorrow. First of all, I want to see the slaves here.
"And by the way, I'd like to leave the boundary stone store to the slaves if possible."
"That's right. It is better for the master to devote himself to the work of the estate. It is best to leave the store to the slaves.
"What do the rest of you think?"
"I think it's a good idea. Slaves work better.
"I think Mr. Linos' way is fine."
Since there seemed to be basically no opposition, we decided to participate in the slave market the day after tomorrow.
That night, when I entered my room, Rico suddenly hugged me and nuzzled his face into my chest.
"...Rico?"
"What are you going to do with the slave you bought?"
"It's nothing to worry about. I'm just saying, if you can handle the store to some extent, why don't you let him go?"
"Really?"
What's wrong?
"... If Rinos likes it, he will make you his consort, won't he?"
"No, probably not."
Rico looked up and saw me, breathing hard.
"Maybe? So, if you like her, there is a possibility that you will make her your concubine? No, I'm not saying no, okay? I know that a gentleman is supposed to have a lady-in-waiting, and Linos is a nobleman, even an honorary marquis, so having only one lady-in-waiting is not good for his reputation, and I am old enough now to have a young lady-in-waiting...."
"Rico? Rico! Calm down!"
I hugged Riko and rubbed her back.
"Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, because..."
"I want to be with you forever. Do you want to leave me, Rico?"
"...Please stay with me forever, forever..."
I hugged Riko again and carried her gently to bed in a princess hug.
Two days later, I was in the capital with Gon and Riko.
On the way to the slave market, we met an unexpected person. It was the slaver who was selling Mei.
"Well, well... My name is Maris of the Eula Trading Company. Thank you very much for your help. Is there any problem with the slave I sold you?
"No problem, it was a hell of a find. He is now an indispensable member of my entourage."
The slaver looked puzzled for a moment, but soon regained his composure. Then he continued.
"Are you attending the slave market today? Well, in that case, our store is right behind you. We still have some time before the market starts, so if you would like to see the slaves in our store."
Since we are here, we ask him to show us.
When I enter the store and am shown into the reception room, I am asked what kind of slave I want. I answer that I want a good-natured and sensible woman. We are looking for someone with "cultured" skills. We believe that math skills are essential to manage the store.
We're ready.
Maris leads me to another room. It was large, with large chairs and a curtain in front of them. As soon as we sat down, the curtains opened and there stood eight women in dresses. I appraised them one by one. Surprisingly, five of them had "cultured" skills.
Leaving those five, I look at each of their faces. There were two humans, two rabbit beastmen, and one cat beastman, but the humans did not seem to have any motivation at all, and their eyes were dead. One of the rabbit beastmen was still a child. And the cat beastman was quite erotic. He was looking at me with his eyes moistened with pheromones that made me think that he was the one I should choose as my s*x slave.
"All of these men know that they will be s*x slaves. However, only one of them is a live girl.
That rabbit beastie?
Yes, sir. By the way, those two rabbits and beastmen are father and son.
If you look closely, you can see the resemblance. Both have intelligent-looking faces.
"May I ask why a father and son are enslaved?"
They were the concubines and daughters of a nobleman, but because their mother was unfaithful, they were sold into slavery along with their daughters. It is rare that a father and daughter are both slaves. I'm sure they'll fetch a very high price when they go up for sale. It would be fun for the father and the daughter.
They are pushing this family a lot. They are probably the hardest to sell. I can see that he is trying to sell them to me if he can. I take a break and ask them a question.
How many numbers 1 through 10 do they all add up to? Do the math."
""55""
"Forty."
The rabbit and its offspring gave the answer instantly. The other human answered unwillingly and incorrectly at the same time.
"How did you do the math?"
"Half of 1 to 9 is 5. Multiply 5 by 9 and add 10 to get 55."
The mother of the Rabbit-Beastman replies.
"Okay. Then I'd like to buy this Rabbit-Man and his son. How much?"
"50,000 G, sir."
"That's expensive."
"We can both do the math."
No, you're doing some weird math. The answer was correct, but the calculation must have been a mess. It was just a coincidence that the answer was correct. Or can you prove that your calculations are correct?"
"No, that's not..."
"And the other one is just a kid, he can't do anything yet, can he? Considering that we have to raise and educate them before they can be of any use, it is rather expensive. And if we have to pay for both of them at once..."
"I see. You are absolutely right. How about... 25,000 gold? No, how about 20,000 gold?"
Suddenly it's less than half the price. How much are they trying to rip us off? Let's negotiate aggressively here.
"Hmmm, considering that I have to re-educate both of you..."
"Well, how about 10,000G?"
The price was further halved. Are you sure about this? I look at Rico and Gon next to me. Both Gon and Rico seem to think this is about right.
"...Well, I guess that's good enough."
"Thank you. We will proceed with the purchase.
The women leave the room and I give Maris the money. A few moments later, a rabbit beastman and his son come in, dressed in their new clothes.
"Good for you. From now on this man is your master.
"Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
"...please."
Then Maris said some incantation to me and asked me to put out my hand. I did as he said and put out my right hand, and my hand lit up. At the same time, light was emitted from the hands of the father and son.
"Now these two are your property. If there is any inconvenience to the slaves in the future, we would be happy to buy them back from you.
Without even saying hello, we left the store.
"What are your names?"
"The master will not name it for you, sir."
"No, you have the name by which you have been called. If you don't mind, I would like to call you by that.
Sonja.
I'm ... I'm Angel.
The mother, Sonja, is 28 years old and has an "education level 2". Her daughter Ange is 8 years old and has "culture level 1", which means that her daughter is probably born with the gift of culture.
"I'm going to ask you guys to take care of the store. We can talk about the details as we walk.
"...Mom's math isn't wrong!"
"Angel! . ..I'm sorry, Master."
"No, Angel is right. No, Angel is right. He said that to make the price go up. Sonja's way is not wrong, it's right. You knew it very well. You must have studied a lot."
"No, I like... I like...
"Yeah, and I'll pay you a salary. But we need you to stay with us for three years. After that, you can continue working for us or you can do something else. Until then, please."
""Yes, Master.""
They both managed to find hope for the future.
While they were talking, we arrived at the hotel where the slave market was to be held.