Chapter 2

I wasn't a slave from the beginning.

I was just an ordinary abandoned child.

Slaves of the duke's household, who are allowed free time, sometimes go out of the duke's mansion to earn some pocket money.

Of course, with the master's permission.

After finishing their errands in the city, they go outside the city to pick medicinal herbs and exchange them for money at the guild. By the time they are entrusted with errands in the city, they have gained a certain level of trust, but slaves cannot run away from their masters because of the slave mark, even if they have that trust. However, there are still some who occasionally run away, though I haven't seen any yet.

Therefore, those sent out to the city are adult slaves close to being freed.

The reason is that they won't take unnecessary risks when they are about to be freed with a little more patience.

Among such restrictions, the slave head, who is trusted exceptionally and is allowed to be freed, still remains in the slave class and apparently picked me up.

That day, the slave head went out of the city to pick some medicinal herbs and earn some money.

It usually costs money to enter and exit the city, but since it's the master's city, the master doesn't charge his slaves, so they go for free. However, they are still thoroughly inspected, but the slaves don't mind as long as they don't have to pay.

There are apparently monsters outside the city.

I've never been outside the duke's mansion, let alone outside the city, since I started working there as a child. It's not unusual; there are other slaves who haven't seen the outside either.

The area outside the city, where monsters are said to appear, is dangerous. The master's knights occasionally patrol the roads to thin out the monsters, but they keep appearing without limit, so it's essential to have a guard when crossing the roads.

You can't return to the city unless you are strong. Is that true? The outside of the city is scary.

However, the slave head can go out and return without a weapon, and that day, he quickly entered a nearby forest.

The forest, a place where the likelihood of encountering monsters is high.

The slave head searched the shallow part of the forest for medicinal herbs and gathered a decent amount.

Since time was limited, he was about to give up if he couldn't find the next one, but he found more medicinal herbs. However, ...

Near the medicinal herbs, there was a small moving shadow.

The slave head crouched down and tried to identify it. If it was a monster, he would either escape or attack it by surprise, and if it was a small animal, he would catch it to add meat to today's meal.

As he quietly followed the small moving shadow, the sun suddenly shone brightly, and the forest was illuminated, revealing the identity of the shadow.

There was a baby, apparently munching on the medicinal herbs.

I really want to believe that I was being teased.

The slave head, who was told by the master to either take the baby to the orphanage or take care of it with the other slaves, said,

"I picked it up, so I'll take care of it."

And he decided to take care of me as if it were a found item.

Since the child of a noble is a noble, the child of a commoner is a commoner, and the child of a slave is a slave, I became a slave as the child of the slave head.

Although I am called the child of the slave head, I was actually raised by all the slaves, so I don't think of the slave head as my parent.

After understanding my status as a slave, I thought I might have been better off in an orphanage, but the treatment of the duke's household slaves, who receive food and a place to sleep, is apparently better than that of the orphanage. Some might even be sold to reduce the number of mouths to feed.

On the other hand, nobles rarely sell their slaves unless there is a significant reason. This is due to issues of financial appearance and the lack of necessity, but the main reason is that nobles don't care about their slaves. Some even say it's faster to kill them.

The position of a slave is that of a servant. They do physical labor and menial tasks. They are not even noticed.

I started working around the age of five, so I fully understand this.

By the way, it's not uncommon to abandon babies in the forest outside the city. The reason is that monsters will clean them up.

"Well, if someone living in this city abandoned the baby, they would be suspected. The gatekeepers aren't stupid. If the baby isn't there when they return, it's suspicious, right?"

That's what Tataru, who used to be an adventurer, said.

So, my parents weren't residents of this city. They were probably from some village.

"Hmm, I don't think so. If it wasn't a baby, they could have sold it to a slave trader to survive. If they couldn't even feed a baby, they wouldn't go to the forest near the city to abandon it. That's what happened in my village."

That's what Raki, a female slave who was sold from a village, said.

In the end, I couldn't find out anything about my parents. What does it mean to be often abandoned? Maybe near the village?

Well, I wasn't that strongly curious.

I don't know any other life besides my current one, so I have no complaints other than the occasional whipping. And that's only been happening recently, so the life of a slave isn't that bad.

Moreover, the slaves here teach me various things.

Jurel teaches me reading, writing, and arithmetic.

"Understand? Numbers are involved in any job. Being able to calculate means being able to do the job."

Jurel is smarter than me but lacks physical strength, so he gets tired quickly. It doesn't help much with work.

Jurel, who became a slave after getting into debt and failing to pay it off after being infatuated with a woman in a brothel.

Sadome teaches me proper speech.

"Got it? Words are magic that everyone can use. If everyone can use them, you should try to use them better. Then life will be more enjoyable."

Sadome lacks motivation and often slacks off, but he is good with words. It doesn't help much with work.

Sadome, who was allowed to become a slave after getting a reduced sentence in court for seducing a noble's daughter.

Aare, who is good at singing, and Mido, who used to be a village chief. Kukure, who is good at cooking, and Tim, who is good at hunting, and the slave head, who receives direct words from the master, and I learn various things from the duke's household slaves every day, so I have no complaints.

In the first place, I don't feel much difference between commoners and slaves. This is partly because all the slaves here are former commoners. It's also because the barrier between slaves and commoners is much thinner than the barrier between commoners and nobles. It's not impossible to cross.

However, for a commoner to become a noble, they need to perform heroic deeds like a knight in a song. Famous martial exploits and adventure tales. Even if you had a million lives, it wouldn't be enough.

Of course, commoners also dream of becoming nobles, but for a slave to become a noble is a dream.

If you value your life, it's important to live within your means.

I thank the master for my daily life and work hard every day. Being a slave is just normal.

"Ah? Ji-boku. ... Ji-bokuuuu!"

Yeah, I have no complaints about being a slave.