Good little slaves
We arrived in the town of Kazan, carrying mountains of dessert.
It was made by a food printer. Not one made by Doreca, so it wasn’t easy for me or the slaves to carry it all.
So we loaded it onto a cart, had Mya and the others guard it, and made it here.
At the town of Kazan, we met up with Valeria, who’d come out to greet us beyond the town limits.
“After such a long journey, welcome to our town.”
“I’ve brought what we promised. Please lead the way inside.”
“Yes.”
Following Valeria’s lead, we entered the town.
Along the way, a few children were playing in the mud—some cheerful, relaxed air about it.
“Huh?”
“Something wrong?”
“I just entered the town, right?”
“Yes. This is the heart of Kazan now. What’s wrong with that?”
“The feeling’s exactly the same as when I was outside the town. Feels like I’m still outside.”
“You’re referring to that?”
Valeria smiles faintly. A little too proudly, really.
“Under Lady Malta’s decree, Kazan has no Ilya’s Spring.”
The town’s essential necessity—high-end protection against monster incursions, Ilya’s Spring.
She says it with pride, as if it’s a badge.
“Why?”
“We’re a proud lineage, descended from one of the heroes who defeated the false god—the same blood as warrior Ruslan. Lady Malta’s decree is clear: no need for Ilya’s Spring. If monsters come, we just fight back.”
Fight back, she says.
“Apologies for the delay. The food supplies we received from Lord Akito were distributed to the townsfolk recently, based on how many monsters each person has slain. Priority goes to those who’ve killed more, or bigger prey.”
"Doing something like that, huh? You can go ahead and do whatever you want, but won’t there be people who don’t get anything if you do it that way?"
Well, it’s a bounty system. Kinda expected that’d happen.
"There’s no weaklings in Kazan."
"Whoa!"
Someone suddenly spoke from behind.
I jumped, turned around—there was Melta.
Melta had her hands on her hips, wearing a smug expression even more exaggerated than Valeria’s.
"We’re descended from the great warrior Ruslan. How could we possibly fall behind a monster in battle?"
"A monster, huh?"
"Exactly."
"Speaking of which—how many monsters did the one with the worst record actually kill?"
"Valeria?"
Melta turned to Valeria.
She seemed to leave the exact number to her subordinates to track.
"Twelve."
"Seriously?"
"How long? 'Cause that's a month, more or less?"
"Isn't it always the same every day?"
This time, Mirta answered without hesitation.
"Huh?"
"So, one day. Well, on average, I guess."
"Can you really take down twelve monsters in a day? Seriously?"
Uh-huh
Marta made a face that said, “So what?”
That’s gotta be a joke—wasn’t even finished thinking it when the monster showed up.
A monster approaching from afar, kicking up a storm of dust. It’s huge, shaped like a boar.
"Akito"
Mia looked at me. I nodded.
Meya and the others took up their defensive positions—just as permission was granted.
One of the children playing in the mud suddenly darted out. A child with mud-caked snot dripping from their nose.
The child dashed forward and kicked the monster.
Meya and the others were left gaping, stunned.
To me, it wasn’t all that strong—about as strong as a kid should be, really—but the will to fight was off the charts. She kept pressing forward, never stopping the assault on the monster.
After a solid minute of fighting, the child brought it down.
Meya and the others just stood there, mouths wide open.
“Che. Got beaten.”
“I was gonna go in myself.”
“Should’ve jumped sooner. That’s your fault.”
The kids went back to playing in the mud. Their conversation, in a way, was kind of brutal.
...Is this some kind of battlefield realm?
I looked at Mira, shaking my head.
“Everyone’s like that?”
“Of course.”
“If you can do something like that, you could handle gathering food yourself. You could process the prey you killed into rations, right?”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? Killing prey?”
“Yeah. Like… turning that monster lying over there into food.”
“How?”
“How do you mean…?”
Looking at Marda, then at Valeria.
You never thought of that kind of thing, did you?
Before I could finish thinking that, another monster attacked. Before the children playing in the mud could react, an old man burst out from the town—nimble as a cat—and charged the beast.
“…Wait, wait.”
Mira and the others just stared, mouths open, completely lost for words.
Guess Kazan’s already fine with this.
“Anyway, I brought what we promised.”
Giving a signal to Mira and the others, they pulled up the wagon.
Pulling back the cloth covering it, I took out a small box and handed it to Marda.
“What’s this?”
“Cake. Try it. Sweet. Delicious.”
Marda ate the cake as instructed.
Chewing. Chewing. Then—her eyes lit up.
“Delicious! This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten!”
"Is that so."
"Hey, hey, is this all, like, that sponge cake thing? So much of it?"
"Promise's promise."
Marta's eyes lit up even brighter.
☆
Back in the town of Rebeck, returning to the lord's manor.
"Welcome back, my lord."
"Yuria, from now on, people from Kazan will be bringing in monster materials. Price them and hand them out."
"Buying them?"
"That's right. Either trade goods, or use mana. Leave it to you."
"Uh-huh."
Yuria nodded.
"And Kazan's now under my protection. Handle all the paperwork—keep it smooth."
"Got it."
I sank deep into the chair, letting my body rest.
A little tired.
"My lord, report?"
"Ah."
Nodding without opening my eyes.
"Question from the townsfolk. Can they pay the resident tax in coin?"
"Good. That’ll make things easier for the other side."
Better than the old barter system.
"Understood. I’ll do that. Also, suggestion—since Kazan’s become your property, maybe we should build a bathhouse for her."
"True. I’ll go oversee the construction next time. Anything else?"
"Risha and Mira are out hunting monkeys. The forest’s full of them—sucked right in."
"Monkeys? Leave that to me. Anything else?"
Eyes still closed, listening to Yuria’s report.
She’s incredibly capable. In matters of administration, we’re practically dependent on her—can’t function without her.
"Yuria."
"Yes."
"Sit here."
"Yes."
Yuria came over and settled down beside me, perching on the floor.
"You’ve been doing well lately. Anything you’d like as a reward?"
"I just want to be useful to my master."
No hesitation. No pretense.
The truth, of course.
My slave. My eternal slave.
A race that considers collapsing from overwork a privilege, just for their master.
Wanting to be useful to me—no doubt that’s the real deal.
I thought of Yuria. The one who, even when ordered to kneel in the wilderness, would still perform her duties as a slave.
Maybe that’s fine for a slave. But I’m not that kind of person.
“Yuria.”
“Yes.”
“Arrange it. Make a day where just me and the three of you can rest. Haven’t fought with you all as swords lately. I want to do that now. All three of you together.”
“Understood. I’ll arrange it.”
“Ah.”
Nodding.
Didn’t need to charge magic. Just barely open-eyed, I saw Yuria give a faint smile.
I love my slaves. Collapsing from exhaustion is inevitable. But I’d rather keep them close and admire them up close.
Taking a different path than Shinyo.
“Yuria.”
“Yes.”
“Massage my shoulders. Continue your report after.”
“Yes!”
Pressed back a little harder. Happiness came through the touch.
Yuria massaged my shoulders. Continued with her report.
We spent a slow, quiet moment.
"Master."
"Uh?"
Woken from a drowsy haze, I opened my eyes.
A warm glow pulsed in my lap.
Doreca. I pulled it out—immediately, it blazed brighter, shifting the card's color.
Gold to platinum.
"Whoa... menu open."
--------------------------
Akitto
Classification: Platinum Card
Magic Power: 6,721,386
Item Creations: 61,343
Slaves: 3
Subjects: 5,000
--------------------------
I checked the status, and immediately understood.
A new category had been added—“Subjects”—now totaling five thousand.
That’s what triggered the Platinum Card upgrade.
"Risha and Mira,"
Yuria murmured. I nodded.
Seems like the slaves had been working while I was gone.
"Yuria."
"Yes."
"Figure out how to reward the two of them."
"...Yes."
——Magic power charged: 500,000.
Yuria, unusually, had charged her magic as commanded.
Well, well. Lucky me to have such a good slave.