How Can Someone Be Named Chun-sik? (1)
How Can Someone Be Named Chun-sik? (1)
A few days after that.
I was lying on the cat bed I'd asked the merchant company to buy, staring up at the ceiling.
I'd gotten it so Mar could sleep in my room when she brought a cat home, but somehow it fit me perfectly.
"Haaam...."
'I'm bored. I wish the cat would hurry up.'
I'd forgotten lately, what with all the commotion, but Yune's life had always been like this. A life shut up at home day after day—mind-numbingly dull.
I wanted to ask my sisters to play with me, but...
Mar was always out and about these days, so it was hard to even see her during the day, and Albert was busy in her own way.
'Come to think of it, where has Mar been running off to lately? Could she be out buying me a present?'
—Bam.
"Little brother... no, what are you doing in there?"
The moment I thought about Mar, as if she couldn't stand being left out, the door burst open and my sister appeared.
She'd walked in with a huge grin, but the sight of me lying there made her expression go blank.
Propping my upper body up, I greeted her from the bed.
"I bought this bed for a cat to sleep in, but it weirdly fits me. So I was lying in it."
"...That's a baby bed, you know. That thing."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"Nothing. Anyway, I bought a cat, so let's go look. It's in my room."
At the mention of a cat, my eyes flew open.
"Already? Whoa, Sis. How'd you get one so fast? There aren't any shops selling cats up north, are there?"
"I put in a bit of work for my little brother. I've been going back and forth between the capital and here using the teleport magic circle."
"Teleport? The gold you spent on that is probably worth more than the cat. How much did it cost just to bring the knights along?"
The teleport magic circle was notorious: a single round trip for one person consumed magic stones worth a commoner's annual living expenses.
Of course, after buying so much through the merchant company lately, I'd been reminded exactly how much money our house had to spare... but still, wasting that much just to give me a present was a bit much.
When I scowled at her, Mar quickly waved her hands.
"I went by myself, no escort knight. So it's fine."
"...By yourself? Isn't that dangerous?"
"Unlike you, I'm not someone all that precious, so it's okay~ Besides, I won't be inheriting any titles. Charlotte is a lifesaver in that regard, seriously."
"Still, you never know. What'd I do if something happened to you?"
"Pfft. Oh, little brother. You don't need to worry about your sister, so maybe just take care of yourself, hmm~?"
"Nngh."
By now, I'd had the reason I wasn't allowed to wander around alone drummed into me so often my ears were practically callused. Honestly, worrying about Mar was more trouble than it was worth.
But even as I grumbled inwardly, I didn't let it show much. I couldn't bring myself to snap at her after she'd gone to all this trouble for me.
"Anyway. Let's go see the cat, little brother."
"Okay! Hehe, I'm so excited. Is it cute? I really want one with fluffy, thick fur."
"Eesh. This is suddenly making my conscience ache."
"...?"
* * * * * *
My heart full of anticipation for the cat, I flung open Mar's door.
I'd expected a cat to come pattering over and leap into my arms, but...
"I'm in your care, Master."
"Huh?"
The person who greeted me wasn't a cat. It was a butler.
A woman wearing what Ryu Si-u's world called a maid outfit, though here it was a butler's uniform—she lifted her skirt slightly and bowed her head.
A full bust, silver hair, golden eyes. And a peculiar little smile as she looked at me.
Just as the thought 'has a butler like this always been in the estate?' crossed my mind, I noticed something twitching on top of her head.
...Cat ears.
"Huh? A beastkin?"
"Ta-daa~ My little brother wanted a cat, so I brought home a cat beastkin! Pretty good of your sister, right?"
While I stood there dumbfounded, locked in a stare with her, Mar spoke up awkwardly from beside me.
Only then did the situation click.
...So when she said a cat that could withstand the northern winter, that's what she meant. A beastkin.
"Ah, Mar, seriously!!!"
"Pffbt. Ah, that's the reaction I was waiting for. Heh."
When exasperation got the better of me and I snapped, Mar's face relaxed as if she'd finally been reassured.
"Actually...."
After that, Mar admitted that what was really trendy among the noble young ladies in the capital wasn't keeping "pets" but hiring beastkin attendants.
She wrapped up her explanation by gushing that some nobles even collected attendants by species.
"Nngh, I'd have been a hundred times happier with a normal cat... we already have tons of attendants in the house. Why'd you go and hire another one?"
"You never had a personal attendant of your own, right? So I wanted to use this chance to get one for you, at the height of the latest trend."
"Seriously... I was so excited, I even bought a bed for it and everything, and now it's useless."
"It fit you perfectly, though. Couldn't you just use it, little brother? Pfft."
"Guess I will. Sigh."
"...Huh. He actually means to use it."
Mar looked a little dumbfounded, but I ignored her and turned my attention to the butler who'd been standing there blankly.
"Come to think of it, what's her wage? Are beastkin more expensive?"
"Huh? Ah, well, that's...."
"Ah. You don't have to pay her. I bought her with a slave certificate and all. But instead...."
"...What? A slave?"
Mar had just dropped the grim word "slave certificate."
That was when I noticed something around the woman's neck.
A collar that looked sturdy at first glance, with an iron ornament attached to it. ...Probably meant to hold a leash.
Once I realized what it meant, my eyes went round with shock and I whipped my head toward Mar.
"...'Bought' meant that? Because she's a slave?"
"Hm? Yeah. Take a look at this."
Mar pulled out a piece of parchment that looked obviously high-quality and held it out to me.
I snatched it up right away.
The instant I read the words "Slave Certificate" written on it...
—Rip. Riiip.
"H-Huh?"
I tore it right up. The parchment was a bit tough, so it didn't tear cleanly all at once, but still.
Maybe it had some magical treatment, because afterward the paper began to crumble into ash and scatter.
Mar stared at it blankly, and the cat-eared woman's eyes widened.
In front of both of them, I hollered at the top of my lungs.
"I don't want a slave!!!"
Why had I wanted to become an adventurer? Because I couldn't stand the thought of a life with no freedom, stuck at home until I got married off.
To me, being a slave was something I could never accept.
Trapped and robbed of freedom. That was worse than Ryu Si-u in my last world—or even Yune, who used to lie sick in bed every day.
"Y-Yune? I think you're misunderstanding something."
"Anyway, I don't want a slave!!"
But I couldn't explain why I hated the idea of slavery, and besides, it didn't feel very logical for a noble like me to make a big deal of it.
So I just decided to act like I was throwing a fit.
"Anyway, you, out. Right now. You're free now."
"...No, um. Master?"
"Who's your master?! You're free, so hurry up and leave!"
I gestured for her to go, now that she was free. But the cat-eared woman wore a deeply awkward expression.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but I think there's been a misunderstanding. I came here because I wanted to."
"...Huh?"
I couldn't follow. She came because she wanted to? What did that even mean?
I stood there dumbfounded. The woman looked down at me with an awkward smile. And—
"Uh... I'm not sure what you were imagining, little brother, but it's nothing like that, so don't worry."
Mar was giving me the same awkward smile.
...What. What is this.
"Valerie, explain it to him."
"Yes."
* * * * * *
The cat-eared woman introduced herself as "Frühling Völlerei."
"...What kind of name is that?"
A name that simultaneously means Spring (Frühling) and Gluttony (Völlerei). Definitely not a common name in the Empire.
I raised an eyebrow as if to ask whether such a chuunibyou name could possibly be real, and she scratched her cheek as she answered.
"Well, it's not my real name. It's a stage name they gave me at the Imperial Arena."
"Imperial Arena?"
"Yes. It was fifteen months ago that I signed a contract with them...."
From there, she started explaining how she'd ended up a slave.
One day, when she went to the arena with her family, she realized the wild nature lying dormant inside her.
Blood-spattered combat like she'd never seen before. The thunderous cheers pouring down on the victors. The excitement drove her to want to fight right that moment—a battle where everyone went wild for the winner, just like that.
So that very day, she'd left home and headed for the arena.
"Whoa. You ran away from home? Your parents must've been worried sick."
"It's fine. Beastkin have a habit of slipping out of the house once they reach a certain age."
"Good heavens. You really are like a cat."
"Hehe. Anyway, when I asked to become a gladiator in the arena, I was told I couldn't because I'm a citizen."
After learning that only slaves could work as gladiators in the Imperial Arena, she'd been disappointed.
Then she came up with an incredible idea.
"'If only slaves can become gladiators, then wouldn't it be fine if I sold myself as a slave?'"
"...What?"
"So I signed a ten-year slave contract with the arena. On the condition that the arena fully provided my food, clothing, and shelter."
"......?"
Not only did she run away from home because she wanted to fight, she then went and signed herself into slavery?
She looked quite pleased with herself, as if she'd just said something terribly clever, and I couldn't get a single word out. Good lord, what was I even hearing right now.
With me struck speechless, she started chattering away excitedly.
"That was also when I got my name. You see, even by beastkin standards I'm a big eater—a true glutton. I easily eat twenty times what the average human woman does."
"Don't tell me that's why your name...."
"Yes. My stage name was inspired by the size of my meals. Spring's Glutton, Frühling Völlerei. Isn't it a rather dashing name?"
Once I heard the origin of her stage name, I felt so lightheaded I clutched my head.
No, seriously, who names someone like that. Just because a girl who eats a ton shows up in spring, she's called "Frühling Völlerei"?
How was that any different from calling somebody "Spring Eats" in Imperial Common?
How can a person's name be Chun-sik...?