"T-Three gold coins?!"
I couldn't help myself, yelling the price out loud.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, he was fucking overpricing it beyond what was acceptable!
A normal slave should cost about one to two Large Silver Coins each. In short, we should be able to buy five to ten slaves with one gold. However, this man dared to hike the price to three gold coins!
"That's absurd!" I growled, angered at the merchant.
However, the thin man merely retained his relaxed smile, remaining seated as he rubbed his palms together.
"Well, unfortunately, that's the female slave's price," he clarified. "After all, she was once a noble who fell from grace. A debt slave with an absurd amount to pay back."
"Ugh…!"
At the mention of that, I couldn't help but hold my tongue.
Debt slaves.
Slaves who fell into slavery due to defaulting on their debt payments.
Normally, debt slaves had up to five Large Silvers of debt at most—an amount that could last a family of four a full year if they lived frugally. But the case of the albino woman seemed a bit too extreme.
"She was actually five gold coins originally," Slave Dealer Stan clarified, shrugging his shoulders. "But since it's the young master who wants to buy such a fine specimen—a beauty, and a virgin—then I'm willing to take the loss. A promise is a promise, after all."
"…"
Of course, with my Akashic Records, I could see all the details about a person. However, I hadn't checked that far for the albino woman earlier.
Thus, it was hard even for me to tell whether this bastard was lying or not.
"Alright, three gold coins. I'll buy her."
"Huh?"
Before I could think of other ways to lower the price, Father suddenly smiled and nodded along. "Including the three men earlier, that comes up to a total of four gold coins, correct?" he clarified.
"Y-Yes, Sir Viscount…"
Even Stan was confused by the sudden agreement. After all, unlike with the three men earlier, Father didn't even bother haggling and simply agreed!
Although I wanted to ask him why, he turned toward me with a warm smile and gently patted my head.
"Happy birthday, Rex. Think of this as my gift to you instead."
"…Oh."
Right.
It was my birthday today. That completely slipped my mind.
Still… a slave as a birthday gift? Father really has bad taste.
"Thanks, Father!" I smiled, acting childish for once.
I originally wanted to pay for her with my own money, but there was no way I could afford three gold coins. Since Father was paying for her, I could save my money to buy necessities for my slave later on instead.
Stan looked bitter.
Probably regretting missing the chance to spike the price a bit higher.
Still, with this, I finally had my very own slave…!
At last!
…
After all the paperwork was processed, Father became the owner of the three men, and I became the owner of the albino woman.
"We swear allegiance to the Grendel Family…"
All of them knelt forward, a hand to their hearts, and swore.
It was more of a formality than a ritual, however. After all, they were already bound by a magical contract sealed with both parties' blood signs.
They couldn't disobey the code written there unless they wanted to lose their lives.
I stared at the albino woman once more and checked her stats, this time focusing on the important details.
---
Name: Miranda von Icarus
Age: 10 years
Title: Rex von Grendel's Slave (New!)
Status:
STR: E-, AGI: D, INT: C+
END: E+, MP: B, LUK: S
Skills:
Noble's Etiquette Lv. 28
Dancing Lv. 75
Fencing Lv. 1
Talents:
Dancing
Precision
Sword Princess
Special Note:
Her father, a Count, was betrayed by his retainers and had to shoulder heavy debts. He died from overwork. Miranda, as the only heir, had to carry her father's debt, but soon folded under the pressure and became a slave. The total debt she shouldered is 1 gold coin.
---
Miranda…
She had three skills and three talents. Quite good for someone her age.
However, did she truly have S-ranked LUK? Judging from how her family fell, that seemed like nothing but bad luck… Still, with me having similar S-level luck, I feared for our family's future. We wouldn't fall like her family… right?
Anyway, with this, I finally had her as my slave!
This was one big step in the grand design I had for this world!
But first…
"Father, can I go with my slave to the market? I think I need to buy her a few necessities," I asked as cutely as possible.
"Hmm?" Father glanced at me, then at Miranda, before patting my head. "Alright. But be sure to be back before sundown," he warned, with a certain hint in his tone.
Of course, I had no plans to stay until evening in town. And I certainly had no intention of doing what Father was insinuating either. I just wanted to fix up Miranda's belongings, starting from her attire and everything else.
Right now, she was wearing a simple, tight-fitting khaki-brown slave dress, after all. Even if matched with her white hair and red eyes, it didn't look good at all…
Well, in a few years, that might be different, but there was nothing to look at on a ten-year-old's body.
I'm not a lolicon, for god's sake, okay?
Though I might be thinking of referencing Genji's story and raising her to my own tastes… Well, technically, I'm younger than her by six years, though. Wouldn't that make her a shotacon if I laid my hands on her…?
Anyway.
"Alright, let's go, Miranda!"
Excited after finally gaining my own slave, I pulled her by the hand and led her along the road.
For some reason, she was extremely taciturn.
Is she shy, perhaps?
Well, we can fix that slowly later.
"…"
Of course, I didn't miss the presence of Father's knights watching over us from the shadows.
Leaving his son alone with a slave and no bodyguards would be a bad move, after all. Not only would I be a prime target for kidnapping, but he might even lose a three-gold-worth slave.
One or two pairs of eyes, I could tolerate for my own safety. However…
'Did he leave the entire party of guards with me?'
I could feel about a dozen pairs of eyes on us!
You're being too overprotective, Father!