Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Watching from the Shadows, Nika Offers Herself
Valencia, the slums.
The slums lay at the edge of the town. The houses were low and small, most of them built from packed earth and rotten wood. Their roofs were covered with torn cloth and straw, and many of the walls were cracked, barely patched up with wooden boards or stones.
The roads were dirt paths, uneven and full of potholes, with stagnant filth and garbage collecting in them and giving off a sour stench.
Weeds grew along the roadside, tangled together with old clothes and broken bits of wood.
Unlike the prosperous parts of town, everything here reeked of decay.
Inside a house on the western side of the district—
“Heh, Rod, I’m back.”
A scruffy man pushed open the outer door and stepped inside.
If Ryan had been here, he would have recognized him at once. This man was none other than Gram, the same person who had spoken to Ryan outside the Slave Merchant Guild earlier that day.
“Gram, how did it go? Any business today?”
The man inside the house was named Rod, Gram’s accomplice.
“Don’t even mention it. I ran into plenty of people, but not a single deal came through.”
“Damn it. If this keeps up, we’re going to spend all our money. We need to find some way to get our hands on more.”
“But there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Do you remember that woman we helped the noble lord capture last time?”
“Which one? We’ve taken a lot of people. How am I supposed to remember?”
“The twins. The ones who were living with their father. Later, their father was beaten to death by the noble lord’s guards.”
“Ah, those two. I remember. What about them?”
“The younger twin was sold off to another empire. The older sister was still at the Slave Merchant Guild, but today I saw someone buy her.”
“Oh? She was sold that quickly? Then we need to go take a look. The noble lord wanted them to live miserably as slaves. If her new master treats her too well and lets her live too comfortably, then the two of us are going to be in serious trouble.”
“What do you think those noble lords are even thinking? If he didn’t like her, why not just kill her? Why keep her alive as a slave?”
“You don’t get it. Sometimes staying alive is more miserable than dying. They rejected the noble lord, so they already enraged him. There’s no way they were ever going to have a good ending.”
“All right. I’ve already checked things out. The person who bought her seems to be an adventurer. He took her out of the city today to hunt monsters. That’s good news for us. It’ll be easier to keep watch on him.”
“Good. Then starting tomorrow, we’ll monitor him, find a chance to kill the adventurer, and then we’ll become her masters ourselves. Heh heh heh…”
“That’s right. Adventurers run into accidents outside the city all the time. If one or two die, no one will care. When that happens, she’ll be ours.”
“Then it’s settled. We move tomorrow!”
……
Meanwhile, Ryan returned to town with Nika.
For Nika, today had been an exceptionally rare experience.
She had left the Slave Merchant Guild and gained a new master.
Fortunately, her new master treated her very well. Not only had he bought her equipment, he had even allowed her to use powerful Magic Tools.
When she failed to hit the monsters with the gun, her master had not criticized her. Instead, he had comforted her.
That only made her feel once again that her master was treating her very well.
Faced with such a good master, she had already accepted him in her heart. Because of that, she had decided to do her utmost to serve him according to what the older woman at the Slave Merchant Guild had taught her.
At this moment, the inn was lively and bustling.
In the dining hall on the first floor, many adventurers were chatting loudly, recounting what they had seen and experienced throughout the day.
Ryan did not eat downstairs. Instead, he had a waiter bring dinner up to the room.
Then he returned to the room with Nika.
Ryan casually began taking off his mithril armor.
Seeing this, Nika stepped forward to attend to him.
At first, Ryan still was not quite used to it, but when he thought about the fact that Nika was doing it of her own accord, he stopped refusing.
What a rotten society.
Ryan had to admit that this rotten society was absolutely wonderful.
If he wanted to, he could already be living a life where clothes were handed to him the moment he reached out and food was placed before him the moment he opened his mouth.
It was just that, for now, he still wanted to go out and make his own way in the world.
A short while later, dinner was brought up.
Ryan sat down at the table, ready to eat.
Nika stood behind him, prepared to serve.
“Nika, sit down and eat with me.”
“Master, how could Nika possibly eat together with you? That would be inappropriate.”
Nika hurriedly refused.
She had learned etiquette at the Slave Merchant Guild.
As a slave, she was not allowed to eat together with her master.
When her master ate, she was supposed to stand by and serve.
“It’s fine. There are only the two of us here. It’s better if we eat together.”
“Master, this…”
Seeing that Nika was still hesitating, Ryan said, “That’s an order.”
“Uh… yes, Master.”
Nika replied softly.
Then she sat down beside Ryan and began to eat.
Only then did Ryan nod in satisfaction.
“Nika, even though you’re a slave, I also treat you as a companion. When it’s just the two of us, you can relax a little.”
“Master…”
Nika looked at Ryan with tears glistening in her eyes.
At this very moment, she felt deeply grateful that she had been able to meet Ryan.
Other slaves had never received treatment like this.
“All right, it’s nothing much. Hurry up and eat.”
Dinner was finished quickly.
Afterward, Nika insisted on clearing the table herself.
This was also something she felt strongly about.
As a slave, being allowed to eat together with her master was already an enormous act of kindness.
If she also let her master clean up the table, her conscience would not be able to bear it.
Ryan did not argue with her and simply let her do as she pleased.
Nika had clearly been trained well. In no time at all, she had cleaned the table thoroughly.
Ryan went to the washroom to bathe, intending to rest early.
There was very little entertainment at night in this world.
Aside from gambling houses and brothels, the only other options were boasting in the inn’s common room or listening to other people boast.
Ryan disliked all of those activities. He would rather rest early.
Only at times like this did he miss the life he had on Blue Star in his previous life.
Back then, nighttime was only the beginning.
Phones, the internet, games, videos, and so on—
Any one of them could fill the dull hours of the night.
But in this world, it was different.
There was very little to do after dark.
Ryan finished bathing quickly. It took him less than half an hour.
As he wiped his hair, he stepped out of the washroom.
“I’m done. Nika, go take your bath.”
Ryan spoke casually.
“All right, Master.”
Nika’s cheeks flushed red.
Ryan walked to the window and looked out into the distance. Beyond it lay Valencia at night.
A half-moon hung in the sky. Its light was not particularly bright, barely enough to outline the shape of the town.
The buildings in the distance rose and fell unevenly, with the tallest of them being the clock tower at the town center. It was built of brick and stone, with several small windows in the tower, none of them lit. Under the moonlight, the outline of the clock tower appeared blurred.
Around it stretched clusters of stone houses, most of them with pointed roofs covered in dark gray tiles.
The noise from the inn’s first floor drifted upward through the cracks in the window.
Firelight flickered in the hall below, illuminating the entire space.
More than twenty wooden tables were filled with people, most of them adventurers dressed in all manner of leather armor, some of them with weapons resting against the tables.
Most were drinking. Earthenware cups clinked sharply against one another, and liquor spilled across the tabletops and dripped over the edges onto the floor.
Farther away, the gambling house blazed with light, brighter even than the inn’s torches.
From where Ryan stood, he could see people constantly coming and going through its entrance. Most were dressed respectably—fat men who looked like merchants, as well as young nobles in silk clothing.
The gambling house rang with the rattling sound of dice, mixed with excited shouts and disappointed curses. The noise rose and fell, but it was clear that the place was packed and the atmosphere feverish.
Occasionally, an argument would break out inside, only to be swallowed up almost immediately by even louder uproar.
Farther still lay the district of brothels, where the lighting was suggestive and dim, mostly red and pink magic lamps. The glow was soft, in contrast to the bright white light of the gambling house.
Most of the brothels were two-story buildings with curtains hanging at the entrance in all sorts of colors, swaying whenever the doors opened and closed.
Several scantily dressed women stood at the entrances, beckoning to passing men. Smiles filled their faces, and their coy voices could faintly be heard even from where Ryan stood.
There was a constant stream of people coming and going from the brothels.
Carriages were parked along the street outside, with coachmen sitting at the front and smoking while they waited for their passengers to come back out.
Every now and then, a drunkard would stagger out of a brothel and be helped along by a companion, mumbling incoherently as he stumbled unsteadily toward somewhere else.
As the night deepened, the sounds of the town did not lessen. The din of the inn, the uproar of the gambling house, and the movement around the brothels all intertwined and drifted away on the night wind.
The moonlight remained pale, casting vague shadows over rooftops and streets alike. Together with the lights from every corner of town, it formed the nighttime picture of Valencia.
An hour later, Nika finished bathing and stepped out of the washroom.
Click.
The washroom door opened.
Ryan turned around and immediately widened his eyes.
Nika was wrapped in a bath towel, and her entire body gave off an irresistible air of temptation.
Gulp.
Ryan could not help swallowing.
He could not be blamed for that. The Nika before him was simply too alluring.
He was still a hot-blooded young man. The fact that he could hold himself back and not pounce on her like a beast already showed a great deal of self-control.
“Umm… Master…”
Nika lowered her head and called softly.
She did not dare raise her eyes to look at Ryan.
Just that single moment of eye contact had made it feel as though Ryan’s gaze was about to devour her.
And yet, inwardly, she felt a secret delight.
It seemed her figure really was good enough to stir Ryan’s interest.
Only then did Ryan remember.
Nika was from the fox tribe. Once she completely let go, she fully displayed her charm before him.
“Master, let me serve you…”
Nika slowly walked over to Ryan and spoke in a low voice.
“Uh… Nika, what is this?”
“Master, the older women at the Slave Merchant Guild taught me how to please my master.”
Hearing that, Ryan raised an eyebrow.
The Slave Merchant Guild taught that too?
As she spoke, Nika’s hand had already moved to Ryan’s waist.
Ryan was naturally not some saint capable of remaining unmoved in the face of temptation. He held Nika and slowly lay down with her.
The moon quietly slipped into the embrace of the clouds, leaving behind only a faint halo that flickered dimly across the horizon, as though even the night itself had softened its breathing for fear of disturbing the two people inside the room.