En Route

And so it took five days to reach the next town from Tsuia.

Wed been proceeding down the prairie road in a horse-drawn wagon. To the right was forests as far as the eye could see. To the left was much the same of mountains, mountains not a part of the Tsuia Mountain Range Watching the unendingly similar scenery, I grew bored.

I couldnt lay down even if I wanted to go have a nap, so I wasnt even able to do that. Maybe I shouldve had at least one more wagon prepared for us?

Hey, Ichika. What was the name of the town were heading to? Now that I think about it, I dont think I ever asked?

The next towns Mikhan. The towns in a meadow, so theres tonsa sheep and stuff.

Sheep I see, so lamb chops shish kebabs

Mostly wool, tonsa wool. Well guess theres meat too. And theyre pretty behind Tsuia in most everythin else though, but theyre great at farmin.

I see.

Man am I getting tired of the wagons movements.

Goshujin-sama, this is an aristocratic wagon on a flat road ya know? Normal wagonsd shake yer butt like no tomorrow, people who cant get used to it just end up barfin.

Motion sickness, huh yeah, Ill pass.

This wagons so amazin because of its anti-shakin manufacturin.

Oooh, mind if I hop in to the conversation here, Kehma-san!?

With that, Wataru started talking with Ichika.

You know, theres a suspension system on this wagon.

Heeeh, a suspension system is that suspension system thing whats causing there to be no shaking?

Yeah, it suppresses the back-and-forth rocking by having springs around the wheel area. The Hero Studio in the capital came up with the idea.

Phew, that was close. Watarus still casually probing to see if Im a hero, huh I thought hed given up.

Come to think of it, what do you usually travel to our village with? A wagon? Or [Teleport]?

No no, theres no way I could use something like [Teleport] so readily. Id say only Haku-sama and her party could do something so crazy. I mean yeah, I wish I knew the spell, but the scrolls crazy rare, so I generally use a horse. Once I get to Tsuia, I go the rest of the way on foot.

Is he saying hes faster than a horse?

Huh? So thats where it is now?

Ah, no. I rented it out to the adventurer guild. I said I didnt mind as long as it was returned to a local guild.

Heeeh.

How did you make your way to the village of Golen, Kehma-san? Oh, I suppose it was before it was a village, huh.

My legs, really.

It was actually through a 1000 DP gacha summon though. Well, I guess I didnt exactly use a vehicle, so saying I used my legs wasnt wrong.

I got brought in a slave transport wagon.

Oh yeah, Ichika-san, you do have the Pavueran accent, huh. Is that where it happened?

Mmm, I went a biiiiiiiit overboard in the capital did stuff, fell inta debt, and got collared.

Oh, so youre a debt slave? So couldnt you buy yourself back if you used the reward we just got?

Huh?

Wait, hold up, slaves can buy themselves back?

Eh? Kehma-san, you didnt know? There are several kinds of slaves, debt slaves can even buy themselves back. Though since slaves are generally put to work with no pay, that rarely happens.

Ahhh, wait up. Ive got a few circumstances, Im not a debt slave. I dont feel like stoppin bein Goshujin-samas slave anyway, not even a bit.

S-So thats how it was? I didnt know. So there was the chance the dungeons secret couldve leaked out if I bought a debt slave that was close.

Huh? Then what kind of slave are you, Ichika?

A crime slave, I guess. Well

What the heck did you do?

Remember how I told you I earned a ton a grudges? I was innocent, but I got set up.

Come to think of it, didnt she mention something about that?1

Huh? Wait, then what kind of slave is Meat? It doesnt sound like shes a debt slave, so is she a criminal slave then? The bandits definitely did take her.

Shes probably an illegal slave, thinkin about her history. Maybe some war slave, slaves that caught in war. Theres times when people kidnap kids to enslave too, but guess that just happens sometimes.

Oh yeah, Ive heard how useful those war slaves are to adventurers. Ive never used one, though.

The war slaves used by adventurers as meat shields were generally the men. They get more by starting a war the Raverio Empire is merciless.

Honestly, I feel like the bar to return to being a civilian after being enslaved is just too high. Its to the point that I think its impossible outside of just being a contract slave.

Whats a contract slave?

Theyre slaves with pre-determined terms and conditions to their being a slave. Stuff like lover contracts, yeah?

He then went on to talk about how there were various sorts of them, all depending on the conditions like how long it would last, what their reward would be, what would happen once the master died, etcetera.

Hmm, setting aside Ichika, maybe I should change Meat into one of these contract slave things?

But well, its not really an inconvenience right now, so I guess its fine? Itd be a dead giveaway to the slave trader if I put something like [Dont talk about the dungeon] into the contract, and I dont know how effective it would be if I obfuscated my meaning. I guess I could get Haku-sans help, but asking her for anything is straight up frightening.

Actually, Kehma-san, you have slaves. Shouldnt you know more about this stuff than me? Didnt you get an explanation about all this when you purchased Ichika-san?

Right back at you, did you just look into all that for getting a night slave or something?

NoI meanum, that wasnt it. I figured it would be a good idea to know this kind of stuff as an S-Rank adventurer, so I looked into, err, common sense?

I wont tell Nerune.

Why do I feel like I have to say thanks even though Im not guilty here? Thank you.

Still though, theres a ton of types of slaves

I glanced at Meat. Rokuko was holding her and playing with her ears and tail. Yuri! Yuri! Yuri!

Then I looked over to pleasant scene of Roppu and Shikinano, Shikinas face gave off more of a feeling of wild perversion. Like [Guheheheh].

My eyes met with Meats. Meat generally didnt have an expressive face, but she looked troubled. Like she didnt know what she should do here.

Yeah, personal contact is important. Good luck.

Hey, theres some monsters out here, small fries. Whats the plan? Kill em?

Just then, Gozoh, whod been keeping watch next to the coachman, spoke.

Hearing that, Wataru quickly moved to the driving area.

Yeah, theyre small fry alright. Lets kill them for the sake of keeping public roads safe. Oh, I guess its also a good chance for a bathroom break?

I-Ill go.

Oh? Have fun, Meat.

Ill go too then, I need the bathroom break. Gozoh, could you stop the wagon?

It somehow turned into us taking a bathroom break even though monsters appeared.

I guess what appeared were on the level of goblins or something, then?

Theyre just ordinary orcs, Kehma-san. Five of them. Definitely small fry.

Wataru spoke calmly, but were those really small fry? I guess a Hero would just see them like that, but still.

Its the first time Ive seen orcs. How strong are they?

Speaking in terms of subjugation difficulty, theyre a bit easier than iron golems. A party of novice adventurers might choose to run from them, but with us, theyd need over a hundred easily. I mean, we could probably take on a dragon.

I see, so then Meat should be able to take them out herself. Still though, Wataru could take a hundred of them on? Wow.

As expected of you, Wataru-sensei! Master, I would like to go as well!

Stay here.

But why!? Is this not the perfect chance to see how much strong I have grown!?

This no-good elf has a horrible compatibility against humanoid monsters. And come on, theyre orcs. Its obvious whatd end up happening if this elf went off against orcs.

Kehma-san. Would you like us to try leaving just one to you all? Ill help out if it appears dangerous.

Hmm I guess itd be good training?

Alright, sure then. Meat, you up for it?

Yes.

Yessss! Were gettin some orc skewers tonight! My bellys already rumblin!

Wait, Ichika, youd eat orc? But its a bipedal, human-shaped pig? Wait, come to think of it, this world eats minotaur and the like, huh. I guess theyd eat orcs too.

According to Wataru, it tastes like pork. Ichika said it was even better than boar meat. I even started getting a bit hungry after listening to them.

By the way, Shikina lost big time to the orc. Wataru helped her out and kept anything else from happening, but she really was useless.

I mean, she was all pigeon-toed and fidgety the moment she stood in front of the thing. I couldnt see her face from where I stood, but I bet her face was flushed red. Freaking elf with an orc fetish.

We do have a certain goblin-fetishist, though. I cant really say anything about Shikina

To be honest, I think I may have mistranslated it back whenever this was originally mentioned. I dont recall this.