~Side ???~
The head of the Moulton Company himself led Ryouma and Co. to the courtyard.
This entire store used to be the manor of a noble and had merely been renovated into a store, so the courtyard was very big.
Depending on the person it might even look deserted.
This place was probably once covered in various plants and trees, but now the ground has been made even and turned into sand. At the center of the courtyard was a line demarcated by a wall of bricks, beyond which was a line of targets for one to show off his skill in the bow or in the arcane arts. Near the door that led to the courtyard were seats meant for the guests, but there was still more than enough room for the slaves to run about and swing their weapons.
In front of the seats were the 10 slaves from before. They have already made their preparations. As Ryouma and the others got to their seats, Moulton announced the topic of the ability test.
“From here on, you will all be displaying your abilities before the customers, but there is a catch. The opponent you will be facing will come from our customers.” [Orest]
The slaves turned to Ryouma and the others. Most of them were looking at Fei.
“You will be allowed to pick from three opponents.
One is Fei-sama, who is sitting here. He is a former soldier from Zilmar and currently works as the head of security of your future employer’s store. Should you be purchased, then you will be working under him.” [Orest]
The slave candidates were concerned about the ‘three choice’, but so far, everything has been going as expected. The slaves were all calm.
“The second choice for your opponent is none other than Ryouma Takebayashi-sama himself. He is the customer for this transaction and the owner of the store, but he is also presently a D Rank adventurer.” [Orest]
Some faint but surprised voices rose up at that.
D Rank adventurers aren’t strange.
But given Ryouma’s age, he would have been considered plenty brilliant just by being an E Ranker.
“And for your third choice… You will be fighting against three monsters. Takebayashi-sama will send out three of his tamed slimes for you to fight.” [Orest]
“A slime!?” [Slave 1]
“That’s a bit…” [Slave 2]
When the slaves heard that they would be fighting three slimes, there were some among them who thought they were being taken lightly.
But Moulton extended his hand and told them all to calm down.
“I will continue. As I mentioned earlier, you have three choices for your opponents. In other words, who you choose to fight is entirely up to you. If you believe an opponent isn’t strong enough for you, then you don’t have to choose that opponent. Your objective here is to pick out an opponent and show off your skills during battle.” [Orest]