CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 73

"So then, everyone gather up, Aveng... Ah, no, that’s not it. Anyway, soon we’ll be heading to the place where you’ll be living and working." Having gathered all the slaves I’d bought in Zeltoble, I gave them something like an introductory briefing. "You’ll have to live together, since there aren’t that many rooms, though later I might come up with a solution for that."

I saw nothing wrong with the slaves living in the same room. Especially since they were all girls. Obviously, housing slaves of different sexes together would be stupid, even at their current age — I had no need for even potential problems.

And besides, while I bore them no contempt or prejudice, giving each slave their own room... was, let’s say, a little unreasonable. I had bought them as servants, and servants they would remain, and I was under no obligation to pamper every single being in this world. Without a doubt, I’d provide them with nearly everything they needed for a comfortable life — far better than what they had known until recently. And with that, my "duty," if you could call it that, would be fulfilled.

Perhaps in time, if the need arose, I’d try to build a separate wing for the servants, but I saw no reason to abandon the "dormitory system."

"So you’re finally relocating to Melromarc," Remus had come to see us off, accompanied by several of his own servants, one of whom carried a small suitcase in her hands.

"Yeah. It was about time I had something like a home. With my lifestyle, I won’t be there often, but at least I’ll always have a place to return to."

"Yes... But, if you’ll forgive me for saying so, Hero-sama, in your place I still wouldn’t turn down a title and lands."

"Oh, Remus." I shook my head. "I’ve already told you, I have absolutely no interest in all the privileges and problems that come with a title. That’s not for me."

"Perhaps so. But you did say you planned to stay in this world?"

"That’s right. Here I’ve already gained far more than I ever had in my previous life. I... simply have no reason to return. And no one to return to."

"I see... In that case, all the more reason for you to consider a title." Seeing my puzzled, slightly irritated look, Remus continued. "It may not interest you, but such privileges would certainly benefit your descendants. In fact, nearly all the ruling dynasties today trace their lineage back to Heroes of the past."

"Oh..." Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about that. "That... gives me something to think about."

"Consider it at your leisure, Hero-sama. After all, leaving your mark on history isn’t such a bad thing."

Truth be told... I’d never consciously thought about continuing my bloodline, but... it did sound logical, didn’t it? After all, I already had Sadeena, and if I thought about it carefully, nearly anyone in this world would want to form a connection with one of the Heroes — especially a family tie. Which meant, surely, more than one Mirelia would be eager to slip her daughter under my nose.

The problem was, I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of sleeping with just anyone. No, I wouldn’t mind a "presentation," so to speak, but I could never agree to a purely diplomatic bond. At the very least, the girl would have to appeal to me both outwardly and inwardly. Scheming aristocrat types — bleh, no thank you.

But anyway, I was digressing.

"By the way, all your equipment should be delivered to your new home by this evening, along with a small farewell gift from me. And this," Remus pointed to the suitcase, "is a replica of a Sacred Weapon. As agreed — it belongs entirely to you."

I’d almost forgotten about that. Truth be told... if I thought about it properly, I could probably come up with a few ideas on how to use such a copy.

So, to sum it all up, heading with me to the new house were: the Tiger Cub, the Wolf Pup, and the Fox Kit. I hadn’t bothered with their real names yet, but I’d correct that later. Maybe.

And when the moment of truth came, and the man assigned by Mirelia led us to what was supposed to be my new home...

"U-uh... Nott-chan, isn’t this a bit much?" Sadeena’s voice carried a mix of emotions.

"Damn it, Mirelia," I glanced at the two girls who would have to manage all of... this. Their faces had very much shifted into full-on ’holy shit’ mode. Well, except for the Fox Kit. She still couldn’t care less. "Ahem. Looks like I’ll have to pay uncle Slave Trader another visit." The girls turned their eyes toward me. "Do you have any acquaintances you’d like to help out?"

"Uh..." While the wolf-girl hesitated, darting her eyes between me and her friend, the Tiger Cub finally gathered her courage to speak first. "If Master-sama doesn’t mind, then... there’s a girl we were enslaved with. But only if you don’t mind, and..."

"Good enough." Not bothering to listen to all the timid stammering, I gave my approval right away. "The three of you can handle... this?"

"I... I’m not sure, but... We’ll do our best! Um... why the three of us?" A quick glance — and glare — at the Fox Kit.

"First I want to see what this little long-eared one can do in a fight." My eyes followed theirs to the subject of discussion, who twitched one ear amusingly as I spoke. "If the slaver wasn’t lying and she really can fight, then she’ll need to start leveling up too."

"I see..."

Alright, details could wait. After all, regular cleaning wasn’t needed everywhere, and keeping the most lived-in rooms tidy shouldn’t be too much for three girls. Especially since the supposed residents of this ’palace’ were, for the most part, decent people. Well... mostly people.

So then... Mirelia had given me a damn mansion. In terms of size it was smaller than the Pelgue family estate, but comparing them wasn’t exactly fair. If I remembered correctly, I’d asked for something fit for about five people to live in, but what I got was... a family manor... big enough to house an entire clan, had I been a typical aristocrat.

My "little mansion" now stood in the outskirts of Melromarc, not too far from the capital itself. My agreement with Mirelia included that anything necessary would be supplied directly from the palace, so there shouldn’t be any problems with food, furniture, or anything else.

From the outside, the building was crafted from high-quality timber, that much was obvious at a glance. Carved patterns and wooden ornaments decorated it here and there, with stone-paved paths framed by neatly trimmed grass, decorative shrubs, and gardens...

Luckily, it was only two stories tall. Had there been more, I feared I’d already have had to hire a proper staff of servants...

"Ooh... Inside it looks even richer than it seemed..."

I wasn’t the only one slowly but surely melting at the queen’s "gift."

"Even the head of the hakuko clan had a more modest home," Fohl spoke up.

"That’s no surprise, brother. For Nott-sama, it would be perfectly normal to live in a royal palace. Nott-sama deserves even more," declared the blind girl, Fohl’s sister, with the utmost seriousness on her face.

As I expected, by the very next day Atla was standing firmly on her own two feet, even managing at times to kick her brother hard enough to make it count — despite him being much higher level than her. I still couldn’t stop being amazed by her...

A tour of the "estate" confirmed that at the very least, furniture wouldn’t be a problem. All the main rooms like the halls and kitchen were fully furnished, and the same went for the bedrooms. Even food was no issue, thanks to the storerooms filled with the most basic and long-lasting supplies. The presence of magic and artifact craft in this world had even made something like refrigerators possible.

Well, no surprise there. After all, this world had seen plenty of people summoned from other worlds. It was only natural that those accustomed to the comforts of modern life would try to bring their science into this new, less developed one.

"Alright, the tour is complete. With that, the first floor is yours — you can choose your rooms." Turning to the soon-to-be maids, who still looked a little stunned, I gave my final instructions. "But don’t scatter too far. If you want, you can all stay in the same room, but the main condition is that your rooms must be close together. For now, you can settle in — the rooms and food are fully at your disposal."

"Y-yes... Thank you very much, Lord Nott," the tiger-girl bowed, followed by the wolf-girl’s bow.

"Thank you very much..."

Oooh... her voice was actually quite beautiful. A shame I’d heard it so rarely until now.

"And you, I take it, don’t care about which room you get, right?"

"Mm-hm," the Fox Kit nodded, tilting her head.

Damn, I still didn’t learn their names... and the girls had already scattered off... Fine, I’ll definitely find out next time.

"Well then, there’s no point in moving you in right now. So let’s pick out some equipment and see what you can do."

"Alright."

Heh, she and Night really were like two peas in a pod. The only difference was that for Night, emotions themselves weren’t something she truly understood — after all, she’d essentially been born as an empty vessel. She had reason and awareness, but no personal experiences from which a personality could be formed.

The Fox Kit, on the other hand, as far as I could tell, had grown up in a perfectly ordinary way. Her muted emotions could just as well be explained as part of her personality, or her upbringing. Or maybe something else entirely — who knew...

Not that it really mattered. I liked her as she was — that was why I bought her in the first place.

It was decided to equip the Fox Kit at the only shop I knew. Sure, I could have crafted her a weapon myself by now, but... that would’ve taken time we didn’t really have, and for now her weapon should be something simple, just to gauge the girl’s level of skill.

"Oh? Isn’t that the Scythe Guy himself? Haven’t seen you in quite a while," Elhart’s eyes went wide the moment I crossed his shop’s threshold.

And they only widened further as more and more of my group stepped inside. I saw no reason to split us up, so I’d brought along everyone who remained: Night, Sadeena, Fohl, Atla, and the Fox Kit. Quite the little crowd.

"Hah, kid. Looks like your company’s grown quite a bit since we last met."

"That’s how it is. Now then..." Taking the Fox Kit by the shoulders, I nudged her forward, placing her in front of Elhart. "She needs a weapon and some armor."

"Hm..." The weaponsmith gave the girl a scrutinizing look. His gaze lingered a moment on Night and Atla, then slid back to me... "I see. And what kind of weapon does the young lady prefer?"

"Something simple, to start with." I cut in before the Fox Kit could answer. "It needs to be her doing the monster-killing, not some overpowered magic sword."

"Oh, I see... Understood," Elhart nodded. "Well then? What’ll it be?" he asked again, looking back at the Fox Kit.

"...A katana."

"Oh?"

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

The ones surprised, in order, were: Sadeena, me, and Elhart. Each for their own reasons.

I was surprised because, in this world, katanas were... let’s say, not exactly common. They still existed — thanks to the influence of Heroes on this world. Heroes who, incidentally, were mostly Japanese. But even so, katanas had never gained real popularity here. That was why Elhart was surprised too — after all, no one in Melromarc dealt with katanas at all.

"Miya-chan, why do you want a katana specifically?" To my surprise, Sadeena crouched down in front of the Fox Kit in a friendly manner, and somehow already knew her name...

"...My mother taught me to wield all kinds of weapons, but in our family, the strongest were traditionally swordsmen who used katanas."

"’From the ruling family of some distant country,’ was it?" It was subtle, but for just a fraction of a second, Sadeena’s gaze shifted oddly after she quoted the slave trader’s words from when he had been advertising the Fox Kit.

"Yeah... Kid, this is out of my hands. For foreign weapons, you’ll need Zeltoble or Faubrey. You can find masters there who work with all kinds of weapons," Elhart said.

Setting aside Sadeena’s strange reaction for now, I turned my attention back to the weaponsmith.

"Alright, I’ll figure something out for the weapon. Any problem with armor?"

"No. That should be simpler. Given the chosen weapon and her build, nothing heavier than light armor would suit. But what about..."

"Don’t set the bar too low here. I won’t let her die no matter what, but I also don’t want to be throwing myself in front of every random crolevamp attack."

"Understood. Wait here a moment, I’ll be right back."

The old man returned with something he described as light leather armor, enchanted to have durability on par with decent steel. Beyond its visible protection, it also passively "covered" exposed areas, drawing on the wearer’s mana. Such enchantments, by the way, were among the most basic — slapped onto practically all gear above the "hobo-tier."

I suppose this world, shaped by the mind of some Japanese, had officially legalized breastplate bikinis that way...

As for the katana, I did manage to find one after all. Up until now, I hadn’t bothered pulling out the weapons and armor that dropped from slain monsters. And, as luck would have it, among that loot was a simple katana.

Honestly, that wasn’t even all that surprising. From what I’d gathered, Heroes were almost always Japanese, for whom the katana was a familiar, stereotypical weapon. And so the system, you could say, had been "Japanized"...

"Well, that’s that. Now let’s see what you’ve been taught. Ready?" Checking the system and giving one more glance at the Fox Kit’s level — eleven — I lowered my gaze to meet her eyes.

"Mm-hm."

"Then let’s go."