Chapter 4

On the way back from the guild, a crowd had gathered on the main street.

"Alright, the last item of the day is a tiger beast girl. This one is a bit of a special case, so how about two gold coins?"

It seems to be a slave trader. In this world, slaves are not just treated as labor or combat power but also as accessories that signify status. People who own good slaves are respected by others. As a result, even those who are not nobles but are reasonably wealthy buy slaves. This main street, where there are no noble residences but a row of fairly large shops, is close to the Adventurer's Guild. The trader is probably targeting such people.

The crowd murmurs; two gold coins are about 2 million yen. While it's a large sum for daily life, it's an incredibly low price for a slave. It could be as low as one-tenth of the market price. The people around must have thought the same.

"What do you mean by 'special case'?"

"This one is a 'Cursed' individual."

Upon hearing this, the people around lost interest and began to leave, one by one. Some even made obvious faces of disgust and ran away.

"Ah, don't worry! Just being near her won't do anything!"

"No way! Who would buy a 'Cursed' slave!"

'Cursed'

Just as 'Blessings' are gifts from the gods, 'Curses' are said to be gifts from the demons. Their effects are as varied as 'Blessings.' For example, they can apply modifiers to the status of people around them, like my 'Blessing,' or cause status abnormalities. However, unlike 'Blessings,' the exact nature of a 'Curse' is unknown even to the person who has it.

The biggest difference from 'Blessings' is that 'Curses' can be transferred to others. Therefore, 'Cursed' individuals are disliked. Being cursed in this world is relatively common. For example, if a dungeon treasure chest or a monster's drop item is cursed, or if a high-level magic monster curses you.

However, being 'Cursed' for a long time is rare. In such cases, the church can perform 'Exorcism.' 'Exorcism' is the church's main source of income. Therefore, some adventurers are priests or shrine maidens, and the church supports excellent adventurers. The existence of monsters and dungeons contradicts the church's teachings.

Under this pretext, priests are dispatched to each adventurer's guild, but the real purpose is to secure regular income from the irregular customers that are adventurers. Sacred classes can use healing magic and status recovery spells in addition to 'Exorcism.' Therefore, having a priest in an adventurer party significantly increases the survival rate. For adventurers, a 'priest' is a highly desired class. To secure regular income from adventurers who might be cursed at any time, the church employs priests to adventurers. They don't receive regular salaries; instead, when a priest joins a party, they go to the church and pay a donation. This ensures that those cursed by dungeons or monsters are promptly exorcised. At the very least, they can be exorcised at the church when they return to town.

However, not all curses can be exorcised. For example, if someone is born with a curse, the effect is strong, and even the church's priests cannot exorcise it.

In other words, the tiger beast girl in front of me likely has a curse from birth, which means she has a very strong curse.

Suddenly, as I stared at the tiger beast girl, my 'Blessing of the Appraisal God' seemed to activate, displaying her status.

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Aira, Level 4, Warrior, 15 years old

HP: 250 (-250)

Strength: 80 (-80)

Agility: 155 (-155)

Intelligence: 40 (-40)

Luck: 0 (-80)

'Curse of Binding' Effect: Halves the target's stats, sets the Luck stat to zero. Target: Self

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Wow, that's a powerful curse. Halving stats is brutal. Aira, noticing that I was staring at her, looked at me with a slightly dazed expression. Yeah, she's cute. She has short, bright hair and, despite being a bit dirty, she's definitely in the cute category. She has a good figure, with a well-toned body and a curvy figure.

The slave trader shouted at Aira in a slightly louder voice.

"Damn it, no one wants her!! If this is the case, I'll have to throw her into the dungeon and use her up..."

He's saying something quite dangerous. He's probably thinking of throwing her into the dungeon alone. But why did the slave trader take in such a 'Cursed' individual? He must have anticipated this outcome.

"Excuse me, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, you? Are you going to buy this girl?"

The slave trader answered somewhat dismissively, probably having given up on selling her.

"I might consider it, depending on the conditions."

"Really!? What do you want to know?"

The slave trader's eyes lit up.

"Why did you take in a 'Cursed' girl who won't sell?"

"Well, slave traders have a rule to buy anyone, no matter what."

"Is there such a rule?"

"Yeah, it's a rule to be a slave trader in this country. They want to keep track of as many 'Cursed' individuals as possible, or something like that."

I see, this country doesn't have a household registration system, so they manage 'Cursed' individuals this way. The 'Adventurer's Guild' might manage 'Blessed' individuals similarly.

"This girl was treated as useless in her village. She's weak for a tiger beast person."

Aira looked down. Being weak is fatal for a tiger beast person. After her parents died, no one in the village wanted to take care of her, so she was sold as a slave. However, I'm not sure about this. Her stats at Level 4, even with the curse weakening her, are still impressive, especially her agility, which is higher than mine.

"Anyway, she can cook and do housework. Her combat skills are weak for a tiger beast person, but she can manage. You're an adventurer, right? I think she'd be sufficient as a companion for exploration."

"I see, but the price..."

I was already determined to buy Aira but didn't show it. I really am at the limit of my funds, and I want to haggle a bit. The slave trader's attitude suggests he wants to sell quickly and might agree to a discount.

I've been alone since coming to this world, and I was feeling a bit nervous. I wanted someone to rely on. Plus, I wanted to try something.

Looking at Aira with a regretful expression, the slave trader nodded.

"Fine, if I don't sell her now, she won't sell. How about 15,000 gals?"

Wow, that's a lot cheaper. Maybe my 'Blessing of the Merchant God' worked?

"Alright, that's fine."

I took out two gold coins from my pouch.

"Oh, right!"

The slave trader quickly took the gold coins and gave me the change in large silver and silver coins.

"Here, that's your master."

He stood Aira up and pushed her toward me.

"Ah, thank you."

Aira stopped a few steps in front of me and bowed. We stood there for a moment, staring at each other, until the slave trader spoke up.

"If you need more slaves, come to me. I'm always here. The better ones are at the trading house, so feel free to visit. My shop is the Calt Trading Company, near the east gate of this city."

"Got it, thanks."

With Aira sold, the slave trader began to pack up his stall.

"Let's go, then."

I took Aira's hand and headed to my usual inn.

"Y-Yes."

Aira seemed nervous, but I'm not exactly experienced with women either. Still, I tried to act a bit more dignified as her master and straightened my back as we walked.