36: I think so too
I managed to survive the curious stares from the ladies and arrived at the classroom. But the moment we entered, His Highness Prince Claude came in front of us and started questioning Bridgette about why she came to school with me, looking at her worriedly, wondering what she misunderstood.
Seeing this scene, I cheered for His Highness Claude in my heart with a ‘Good, tell her more.’ However, my cheering was in vain, as Bridgette looked at him as if she was staring at something unpleasant and shunned him, saying, ‘It doesn’t matter.’
At that moment, I saw His Highness Prince Claude’s expression as if he got betrayed by someone important to him. It made me wonder if that was Kaisar’s expression when he got stabbed by Brutus.
The next moment, His Highness Prince Claude’s face turned to anger, and he glared at me with that same angry expression on his face.
Why? I have a bad feeling about it, and my back starts sweating like a waterfall from it.
Though, after thinking for a moment, could it be that this guy, who until recently thought Bridgette was in love with him, noticed her stopping approaching him and befriending another man and began to notice her as a member of the opposite s*x?
The old tactic of ‘if you can’t push, try pulling’ has been around for a long time because it is so effective, and, as if it were someone else’s problem, I wish I could escape this reality.
“You’re not satisfied with just hurting Sufia. Are you going to hurt Bridgette too? How did you brainwash Bridgette?”
“No, I didn’t brainwash her—”
“You dare to lie in front of me? Do you understand what that means if you lie to me?”
Well, even I would think that I am brainwashing Bridgette if I were to look at the current situation without knowing about how she got attached to me.
It’s even more so because Bridgette, who has a stronger sense of justice than anyone else, has always hated me and has never tried to hide it. It is only natural that he would think that I had brainwashed Bridgette in some way or another.
“If you insult my master anymore, even if it is His Highness Prince Claude, I will not forgive you.”
“What? Why, Bridgette! I’m questioning this man for your sake, Bridgette! And how dare you call this piece of s**t master!? It’s not right!”
I agree.
Bridgette is crazy.
So much so that it seems like her head must be made of muscle.
37: Even if the memories returned, garbage will be garbage
“If it’s for my sake, then leave me alone. Now, let’s go, Kaisar-sama.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Hey, wait! I’m not done talking!”
“I don’t need to listen to someone who calls my master trash.”
I wonder if this is what they mean when they say ‘’standoffish”?
I feel a little bit sorry for His Highness Prince Claude.
And since I felt guilty and uncomfortable looking at him, who was devastated, I looked away and saw Sufia with an indescribable expression on her face.
As is the case with His Highness Prince Claude, I got reminded again that someone around me was always hurt and that there will always be someone who will get hurt.
Yes, I’m garbage like His Highness Prince Claude says, but I’m still the same helpless guy who almost forgot about it just because one of my classmates, Bridgette, became my friend, even though my memories of my previous life would not erase what I have done so far.
Garbage will be garbage, whether the memory comes back or not.
That’s all there is to it.
“What happened, Kaisar-sama?”
“No, I was merely reaffirming my position. It was nothing.”
“Hm? I see. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know. I am your, Kaisar-sama’s do— Sorry, I mean sword.”
Was she about to say dog?
“Oh, thank you. Those words alone are a lifesaver.”
“You’re welcome. If it’s this much, it’s not much to ask, and I’ll tell you as much as you want, forever.”
At least there is only one person in my class who understands me (but she is a pervert) but to think that this is the only thing that can keep my heart from breaking.
◆
After a day of being gawked at like pandas, we went to where the other slaves were.
I was planning to buy a villa put up for sale by a fallen noble, and I wanted to consult with the slaves before we arrived at a decision together.
However, when I told them, they said that I did not need to listen to the opinions of the slaves, but I was glad that they seemed to agree when I said that they would be the ones spending the most time there as their home base.
After consulting with them, it was decided that I would buy the villa, and we would get referred to as a mysterious wealthy merchant.
Well, with such beautiful women and people as slaves, and with enough money to buy a villa, even if second-hand, it is unlikely that anyone will suspect the wealthy merchant’s identity, even if they try to find out who he is.
38: Just thinking about it
With the acquisition of the mansion, having so many slaves made the feeling of responsibility for their lives even stronger.
Although I knew that it was not the same as keeping a dog or cat, I guess I still felt somewhat similar to that until now.
To begin with, even dogs, cats, and small birds have a heavy responsibility to take care of their children’s lives.
It is especially true for human beings and even more so when it is about a large group of several people.
Until now, the unrealistic environment of sheltering slaves in the forest must have seemed like something else.
I feel like throwing up under the weight of the responsibility that I have now accepted as a reality, but I have to hold my ground because if I do, I might make the girls, who are my slaves, uneasy.
I can’t help but wonder if this is how it feels to be a father of a child.
I strongly thought to myself, ‘I will do my best so that the slaves can live with a smile on their faces.’
◆
[Bystanders POV]
“Look, here they come…”
“They are beautiful, aren’t they? I envy their masters. I bet they have fun every night.”
“I heard that their master has bought the villa of that fallen nobleman.”
“Ah, so that’s why we’ve been seeing so many of them around town these days.”
The always noisy Adventurers’ Guild got suddenly quieted by the entrance of four women.
Their races were varied—elves, humans, beastmen, and dragonoids— but they were all beautiful, slaves, and dressed in the same maid uniform.
In the beginning, a few tried to cause mischief to the girls because of their beauty, but they all just quietly stared at them now.
The men who have gotten involved with them have all been beaten back with things they hesitate to even describe, but let’s just say they have done something that would make their sons shrivel inside.
While they were listening to the explanation from the receptionist at the counter and choosing their quests, they saw a huge, muscular man approaching them, not even bothering to hide his disgusting expressions.
“Hey, I don’t know whose slave you are, but a man who turns women into adventurers and makes them work for him is not much of a man! What do you say? Won’t you be my slave? I can help you with that quest if you want. Of course, I’m not saying it’s for free!”
“I see, so if we complete this quest, we can take the practical test to move up one rank in our party?”
“Y-yes. That’s right, that’s right.”
“Don’t ignore me, you b*****s!”
39: Ah, as expected!
[Bystanders POV]
The slave maids ignored the man, who looked like a two-meter-tall giant, and the receptionist answered their questions with fear as the man became more and more irate.
Finally, the man in question, perhaps running out of patience, pulls out the great sword he carries on his back and readies it.
“You’d better start listening to me if you don’t want to be cut down by my sword!”
Perhaps this man had been on a long-term quest or was a newcomer, but the fact that I did not recognize his face suggests that he was a stranger.
I’m not proud of it, but I don’t work and drink cheap beverages at the bar in the guild in the morning.
That’s what I meant when I said I’d never seen him before.
I guess that he did the same thing in another town and got punished for it, so he was unable to accept any more quests there and came here.
People like him don’t change that much.
Otherwise, at his age, they would have stopped acting like that.
They think that if they have power, do whatever they want to people weaker than them, and the bad ones are the ones who don’t have much strength.
Many adventurers who rise to the top of their professions based on their skills alone are surprisingly inclined to think this way. It is so much so that they are warier than their peers than demons.
But that’s why people like me can live without working, for which I am grateful.
It’s the easiest way to make money from idiots.
“… Miss Receptionist, if we fight against this person now, it’d be justifiable self-defense, right?”
“Y-yes! The other party has also indicated that they intend to attack, and I, as part of the staff, heard and witnessed this…”
“Thank you.”
“Gahahahaha! Are you an idiot, you… Guffaw!”
One of the slave maids, a human with glasses and long black hair tucked into a bun on top of her head, asked the guild receptionist if it was self-defense if she fought back. Before the guild receptionist could finish telling her that it’d be an act of self-defense, the maid rushed toward the man who was dying to fight with them, and the next thing I knew, she was kicking him in the groin with all her might.
The act takes less than two seconds.
The man was probably unable to react due to the suddenness.
Unable to defend himself, he takes that kick directly and crumples to the floor, foaming.
The people around me who saw the scene returned to their daily routines with expressions saying, ‘Ah, as expected!’
40: I’ll still be the bad guy
Once before, one of the jerks who witnessed the same scene tried to woo them after safeguarding his crotch, but let’s just say that no one ever tried to woo them again after that.
The merciless scene caused deep trauma to all the men who witnessed it, and I am not proud to say that I was one of them.
There have been rumors circulating that the girls’ master may be a m*******t.
“Hey! Somebody helps me carry this idiot!!”
“Yes, yes.”
And this is where I and the guys I drink with come in.
This time it’s only drooling and incontinent, but sometimes there was also defecation, or worse, disposal of the corpse and clean up afterward. The wages are higher than if we took an intermediate common-level quest, so it’s a job that most people don’t want to do. But it is different in that there is no danger and that you don’t get carried away and lose sight of your surroundings and make a fool of yourself as this guy did.
People call me ‘dirty worker’ or ‘hyena,’ but as someone who wants to live a moderate life in safety, I’ll take the title in stride.
Besides, they know that if we are not there to do their dirty work for them, they will not do anything more than us.
However, I was grateful to the girls in my heart, as they had earned me a lot of money recently.
◆
[Kaisar’s POV]
“Hmmm, so now the Adventurers’ Guild is secretly overflowing with enthusiasm.”
As I listened to my brother’s voice coming from the hallway, it seemed that slaves of a wealthy merchant who had purchased the mansion of a fallen nobleman were now attending the Adventurers’ Guild.
I mean, the slave maids of the wealthy merchant who bought the mansion of the fallen aristocrat are my slaves…
‘What are my slaves doing!?’ I scream in my mind.
They did say they wanted to do something useful, so I had them make a guild card at random and registered them as a party, but I had no idea until just now that they had become so important.
The shock of learning this was so great that I wanted to clutch my head and scream. Meanwhile, my brother Gwen, who heard about the slave maids from the butler, looked as if he had found a toy.
“I like that. I’d like to own those slave maids. I wonder how beautiful they would be to be the talk of the town?”
Garbage.
This guy has always been good to the point. People around him have always said that he is an honor student and a good brother with a good personality, unlike me, but he hides the fact that he is even more garbage on the inside than I am. He just rubs it all in my face if no one is likely to find out.
And, of course, the people around me listened to my brother’s side of the story rather than my denial, and I ended up being the bad guy