Chapter 34

When the girl asked me to kill her, I couldn’t believe my ears.

But no matter how I heard it, it was a request for a contract killing.

"Master, she seems to be a rental slave. If you kill a rental slave without a proper reason, you might become a thief, depending on the judgment of the heavens."

"Is that so? Well, I never intended to kill her in the first place."

Whether or not I would become a thief is up to the heavens. It’s ambiguous.

Indeed, when I looked at Carol’s slave collar, seven lights were lit.

So it’s a seven-hour rental, I guess.

"But if she’s a rental slave, why did you bury her underground? You should have taken her to the slave merchant."

I pulled Carol out of the barrel and made her stand outside.

She has long purple hair and is about 120 centimeters tall.

She’s a cute girl, but why does she want to die so much?

Is being a slave that hard?

And why was she buried underground?

"…Well, if you don’t want to say, it’s fine. Haru, let’s take apart the monster. It seems like it’s a lot of work for one person, so help me out."

I said this to Haru, approached her, and whispered in her wolf ears, "I’m going to change my job to Hunter." The experience points from dismantling a monster with the Dismantle skill go to the Hunter.

By the way, what should we do with the adventurers’ bodies?

"If an adventurer dies, their possessions become the property of the finder. Should we take their equipment?"

"No, it’s fine… I have enough money, and I don’t want to cause any trouble."

I started to skin the bear with the short sword I got from the thief.

The equipment I got from the thief is quite useful.

But the quality isn’t very good.

I was told that another monster was coming, so I decided to leave the partially dismantled monster in the item bag. It must have been attracted by the smell of blood.

I didn’t want to put the adventurers’ bodies in the item bag.

It’s not that I couldn’t treat a dead human as an item, but I just didn’t want to travel with human bodies.

Ideally, I should take them to their families.

"Carol, guide me to the town."

"…"

Carol nodded silently.

We spent an hour walking through the forest.

I could see the town in the distance. That must be the town of Velasra.

It looks bigger than the town of Florenz.

There’s a dungeon managed by Trailor here. My goal in this town is to clear that dungeon, but first, I need to take Carol to the slave merchant.

The light on the slave collar decreased by one, leaving six.

"By the way, I heard that when the rental time is over, a rental slave no longer follows the master’s orders, but can’t run away, right?"

"They are ordered not to run away and are forbidden to commit suicide. Contract killings were probably not forbidden. However, no one would kill a rental slave just because they were asked to."

It’s the thief thing, after all. There might be fines too.

In my case, the biggest problem with becoming a thief is that Unemployed would change to Thief. If that happens, Unemployed would disappear, and I wouldn’t be able to get the Unemployed skill anymore. I need to avoid that.

We walked for another 30 minutes. The gatekeeper was a burly man.

I changed my second job to Commoner. Apparently, changing to Merchant would make the entry tax cheaper, but I don’t know if setting it as a third job would change the color of the crystal ball, and I want to pay the tax.

There were two groups ahead of us, but our turn came quickly.

The gatekeeper looked at Carol and said,

"…Is she dead?"

"Yes."

"I see."

Carol nodded, and he didn’t ask any more questions.

"You brought her here. Thank you."

The man bowed and returned to his usual duties.

He placed his hand on the crystal ball to prove he wasn’t a criminal.

My entry tax was 50 cents, and Haru’s was 60 cents. Is the tax higher for slaves?

Carol didn’t have to pay the entry tax because she was confirmed to have left the town at dawn.

[The level of Commoner has increased]

The level of Commoner increased to 36.

It would be nice if the tax was a bit higher.

"The slave merchant’s shop is that brown brick building visible from here."

"It looks like a red brick warehouse."

It could be Yokohama, Hakodate, or Tsuruga.

If I saw it in Japan, it would feel historical, but in this world, it looks like a new building.

It’s a very large building.

"Is the slave trade profitable?"

"There are many debt slaves in this town because there’s a casino."

Carol explained. Selling oneself to pay off gambling debts. I can’t really sympathize. It seems that gambling and self-destruction are the same in both Japan and this world.

After walking a little, we reached the center of the square, where there was a statue of a girl I had seen before—Trailor.

Many people were praying to the statue.

It seems that Trailor’s statue is a kind of tourist spot in this town.

"Trailor is also the goddess of gambling. Since this town has a dungeon managed by Trailor, many people try to win her favor to win their bets."

But even if Trailor’s favor really exists, it’s not just for the customers. Don’t you think the organizers who run the casinos in this town also have her favor?

Well, I don’t think that lazy goddess would give her favor to just anyone.

In front of the statue, there was a donation box fixed with chains, and many people were throwing copper coins into it.

In this world, where there are no 1-yen or 5-yen coins, the smallest denomination is 1 cent, so the amount of donations would be appropriate. Like in Japan, the donation box is designed so that you can’t steal the coins by reaching in, but I wonder if the whole box could be stolen. But if you steal the goddess’s money, you’ll definitely become a thief. I guess not many people would do such a thing.

"The donation box was installed at the suggestion of a lost Japanese person over a hundred years ago. The Church of the Goddess immediately adopted it because it allowed people to make donations without the hassle of formal procedures, and it helped spread the faith. In Florenz, there’s a statue of the goddess of battle and victory, Setrans, at the entrance of the upper dungeon, and a donation box is also placed in front of it."

"Wow, I didn’t know that… Haru is quite knowledgeable."

"In my childhood, I enjoyed reading books in the palace library where my parents served."

So Haru lived in a palace with her family when she was a child.

Come to think of it, I’ve never heard why Haru became a slave, and I realize I don’t know much about Haru at all.

I haven’t even told Haru that I’m Unemployed. I should set aside some time to talk to her properly.

"Okay, let’s put some coins in the donation box."

I took three copper coins from the item bag, gave one to Haru, and one to Carol.

"Is it okay?"

Carol asked,

"Don’t worry about it, kid."

"I’m 16 years old, though."

What! Is that high school age?

She looks like an elementary school student.

"I’m a half-dwarf."

Again, Haru explained to me, who didn’t know.

Dwarves are a race that is half the height of humans.

Half-dwarves are the offspring of humans and dwarves, and they stop growing at about 120 centimeters, looking younger than humans.

"Well, 16 is still a kid to me."

"…Can I also receive one? I’m 18, but…"

Haru said hesitantly.

"…What? Haru is younger than me!?"

"…Master, did you not know my age?"

"Yeah, I thought it was rude to ask a woman’s age."

I thought she was a bit older than me because she’s so mature.

Haru’s tail drooped.

Oh, I did a bad thing. I’ll buy her some dried meat next time. Of course, I’ll wipe off the alcohol.

"Ah, Carol, Trailor is known as the goddess of pleasure and gambling, but her essence is a goddess who approves of living an easy life. I don’t know why, but instead of saying you want to die, wish for an easy life. Among all the people wishing for sure wins in gambling, if you wish for ‘a peaceful mind,’ you’ll stand out, and she might grant your wish."

I said this to Carol, making her hold the copper coin.

Then I threw my copper coin into the donation box.

The copper coin bounced once, twice, and fell to the bottom of the box.

I thanked the heavens for giving me 1/20 of the necessary experience points.

Looking to the side, Carol was clasping her small hands and praying seriously.

On the other side, Haru was wagging her tail while praying. I wonder what she’s wishing for.