Chapter 308: Mukouda Bought Slaves (2)
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou and Onionpi
“You wish to see combat-able slaves next, yes?”
“Yes, please”
[6] After the two families were escorted out of the room, the next batch of people was brought in.
“… …” well, as expected, the people trudging in one after another were all muscular men and women in all shapes and sizes.
[9] “I have a question,” I said.
[9] “Do go on, Mukouda-sama.”
[9] “How on earth do these people end up as slaves?” I gestured at these powerful-looking people.
[4] “Ah, it’s because of debts. Money is often a big driving force behind why people are sold to slavery.”
[9] Actually, what I’d like to know is just how a country or system can hold these tough looking people as ‘slave’, debt or no, but I guess the all-purpose answer ‘magic’ is probably at work here.
The first person introduced to me was a former C Rank Adventurer. A slender man in his 30s, just a little taller than me. He’s also very muscular and has a pair of very sharp eyes.
[4] “This man was a scout in his party. He fell into debt due to gambling,”
Gambling, huh? That’s a black hole of desire that cannot be filled.
[6] Pass.
The second person was a former mercenary who came from a group of small countries. [2] Skirmishes often happen between these little countries and the people living there are often affiliated with the mercenary business one way or another. The man wore an eyepatch and was scarred all over. He looked a lot like a certain character from a famous action game. [10]
In short, he looked really strong. However…
“He got into debt after getting into a drunken rampage and destroyed a store.”
[8] A strongman who destroys things after getting drunk?
[8] Pass. [5]
Candidate number three was a former D Rank Adventurer who got into debt due to gambling.
Candidate number four was a former C Rank Adventurer who got into debt due to gambling.
Pass.
Pass.
There’s no way I’m letting drunks and gamblers into my mansion. It would just breed trouble later. [5]
Candidate number five was a young man in his early 20s. A former D Rank Adventurer. He descended from the Giant tribe, therefore, despite his age, he was very huge and muscular. He looked like he just cleared 2 meters.
He kind of reminded me of a gorilla. A really huge gorilla.
Despite his huge size, there was something about his round eyes that gave me the feeling of naiveté and innocence.
[4] “The cause of this young man’s debt is due to his mother’s illness. He spent all of his money on healing magic and potions but in the end, his mother still died. Unfortunately, debts don’t disappear as easily,”
“That sounds unfortunate,” I murmured.
[11] “Indeed, this young man was on the verge of ranking up into C, he has a promising future.”
[9] … okay, okay, I get it.
This guy’s a keeper.
The sixth candidate was… oh, a macho lady who looks like a Tiger Beastman in her late 20s with a devastating 6-pack. [1] She’s probably taller than me, maybe even taller than 180cm.
[6] The oppressive feeling she gave off reminded me of Nadia-san, the Guild Master of Avering.
“The sixth candidate got into debt due to a penalty clause that came into effect after she failed a mission request. There was no particular issue with the mission but a series of unexpected incidents happened and the mission failed.”
[6] “What? That could happen?” wait, how did I not know this? I guess all thanks to Fer & Co our party always blast through our missions without problems…
[11] “Imagine putting money into stocking up on potions and weapons but still fail the mission. That’s already a big loss but having to pay a penalty on top of that loss…” said Radoslav. “She barely has any savings left and had to sell herself into slavery in order to pay the debt.”
[6] When I first came into this world, my main concern was getting money and I’d been sensitive to prices. So I knew that things like potions and weapons are pretty expensive.
“Ugh,” I could just sort of imagine it.
Unexpectedly, candidates seven and eight were also Tiger Beastmen.
[11] “They are twin brothers, also former C Rank Adventurers. They are in the same party as their sister and naturally, they are here due to the penalty clause.”
[6] “Wait, so all three are siblings…?” I hadn’t wanted to say something gauche like ‘the Tiger Beastmen looked alike’ but it turned out they all looked alike because they were brothers and sister.
[11] “Yes, all three siblings worked together in the same party. Unfortunately, for the sake of paying off debts, they have been sold into slavery. It is rare for people to take in three fighter-type beastmen together. Thus…”
[11] “The chances of separation would be high,” I finished with a sigh. Somehow, I get the feeling that I might have been played but… I studied the twin brothers. They are both big and muscular with heights over 190cm.
I guess, if I have to hire people to work for me, it made sense to get those who are used to working together.
All three siblings looked like pretty good candidates, all things considered.
So, a pass for all three.
Candidate number nine was a former F Rank Adventurer-
[4] “I told you! Someone tricked me! It’s not my fault I was tricked into this!”
… anyway, he didn’t look very strong or trustworthy compared to the steady Tiger Beastmen.
The tenth candidate was a Dog Beastman. A former C Ranker. He looked like he’s in his mid-30s and quite strong but-
“-he’s here due to gambling debts.”
“Radoslav-san, quite a lot of people are here due to gambling debts…”
“Yes, this is especially prevalent among intermediate and upper-level Adventurers. They complete a mission, have some spare money and ended up overspending. Sometimes, they ended up in this place.”
I could sort of understand?
I mean, back when I was a white-collar worker at a large company, we have a few guys like that too. After getting their salary they would hit the [12] pachinko parlour and waste their money over those bouncing silver balls. In fact, there was this top sales guy who went as far as spending company credit on those machines.
I remember thinking how lucky I am to have never developed this terrible habit. Most of my entertainment money went into food purchases. [5]
While I was musing over these various things, Radoslav-san said, “Here’s the eleventh and final candidate. A former B Ranker, he’s a bit of a special case. He’s a good fighter but somewhat stubborn.”
[6] “Eh? Stubborn? Special case?” aren’t these red flag words?
The eleventh person turned out to be a dwarf. He’s only about 150cm tall but was broadly muscular with a full beard. [5]
His reason for being enslaved was…
[4] “Sadly, his team was also hit with a mission failure penalty. Although he could have paid the sum in full, he refuses to.”
[6] “…wait, what?” but more importantly, “why?”
“Mu, I’m not selling my battle hammer just to pay for some measly penalty nonsense, you hear?! This fine piece is something I acquired from a master craftsman in Duran after endless persuasion. It’s not something that could be exchanged for gold!” snapped the dwarf fiercely.
Fascinated, I asked, “You don’t have any savings at all?”
“Savings? Naw, all my savings went to this hammer. Everything else went to liquor.” [5]
“… I should have known,” I sighed.
The three beastmen siblings nodded as well.
What should I do now?
All those gamblers and violent alcoholics get an automatic reject, of course. So that left the innocent-looking D Rank gorilla, the three Tiger Beastmen siblings and I guess that spicy old dwarf.
The dwarf’s an alcoholic but dwarves would run out of money before they ended up drunk anyway, so I guess that’s fine?
I’d really like to take the first guy, the C Ranker scout, with his stealth skills but a gambler is…
Anyway, let’s take those five for now. If it looks like I need more people, I can always come back to Radoslav. [5]
I consulted with Radoslav and told him that I’d like to buy these five non-gamblers, non-alcoholic fighters.
[11] “Excellent choice, Mukouda-sama,” said Radoslav as he gave me their details.
Anyway, to sum it up, the Tiger lady is Tabasa-san (28) and the twin brothers are Luke and Irvine (24). The gorilla guy is Peter (20) and the stubborn dwarf, Bartel (92).
The Tiger Beastmen siblings cost 1400 gold, Peter 380 gold and Bartel the Dwarf is the most expensive at 680. Looks like fighter slaves are much more expensive than regular people slaves.
The registration went off without a hitch and I paid a total of 3470 gold for 14 people to Radoslav-san.
The contracts were quickly and efficiently drawn up and aside from the standard terms and conditions, the only thing I emphasized was strict confidentiality of anything relating to my skills and/or my origin.
The soaps and shampoos are related to my skill, so that’s covered. [5]
Anyway, as a former white-collar worker, I looked through the contract carefully before signing it.
[11] Once the contract was done, Radoslav-san smiled and said, “Well, I’ll settle this and leave you to get acquainted, shall I?”
[11] With that, he left the room. There was only me and my familiars, as well as my 14 new slaves.
“… ahem, thank you for being here. My name is Mukouda and I’m the person who bought your contracts just now. I shall introduce you to my familiars now.”
[6] I sent a quick telepathic call to Fer and Dora-chan, and even opened the leather bag containing Sui.
“This one is Fer, that one is Dora-chan. Oh, and this is Sui…”
All five of the former Adventurers all stiffened, with hands falling on their weapons automatically when Fer stared at them.
It took me a bit of time to smooth that one out.
[6] Luckily, Radoslav-san returned with my copy of the documents and it was time to leave. I could explain things further once we’re back at the mansion. [5]
“Thank you for your patronage, Mukouda-sama. Do come and see us again if you ever need a slave,” said Radoslav-san with a smile.
I guess buying up 14 people at once makes me a big customer?
Well, I don’t have plans to increase the number of help at home yet.
For the time being, our family has already increased by 14 people.
[Gumihou: Did you catch the work of Gumi’s manipulative little fingers? If you haven’t, check out Note 11]
Eguchi-san: Total gold left – 74,315
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Creative Licence Taken
[9] It’s an interesting chapter and Gumi likes the psychology of the culture clash happening to Mukouda on the issue of slavery. Adjustments are made to make sure his reactions and words are consistent with a standard white-collar Japanese worker exposed to the manga, anime and maid culture of his country.
[10] It’s Sagat from Street Fighter, lol
This link showed the evolution of Sagat from 1991 to 2019…
Gosh, Gumi feels old…
[11] Radoslav – As a slave trader who deals with the buying and selling of sentient beings at a high price, he should be sensitive to the emotions of people around him and be able to read people easily. Also, he should be like a shark who could scent blood when it comes to making deals.
Incorporated these characteristics into his dialogues.
[12] Pachinko Parlour – There are more pachinko parlours in Osaka than in Tokyo and the people actually started lining up to enter at 7:30 in the morning even though the places only open at 9 or 10… It’s crazy.
Gumi witnessed this with her own eyes.