Chapter 10
Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Gaslighting
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"......Master."
That was the first thing she said, her eyes meeting mine.
'What is this crazy woman talking about.'
I thought she'd go on and live her life after I saved her, but here she is, suddenly showing up and calling me 'Master.'
"Master, can you take me with you?"
How does she know where I'm going, asking me to take her along?
I saved you, so please, go live your own life.
"Mr. Luke. Is that... your preference......?"
A cautious tone came from in front of me.
But contrary to her cautious words, Adela was looking at me with contempt, as if I were a piece of trash.
Slavery is illegal in this world, so she must think it's some kind of roleplay.
It's not even my fault, so why do I have to endure that kind of look?
I have no reason to explain, and it's too much of a bother anyway.
"Yep."
I just answered like that.
Why not? Who knows?
Maybe I really do have such preferences.
"I knew you were strange, Mr. Luke, but I didn't realize you were so depraved......"
"Wouldn't you say I'm perfectly normal?"
I put on a dismemberment show for the entertainment of a hardworking man, and I kindly gave acupressure slippers to someone who swung a sword at me just for asking for directions.
How can she call someone like me, a paragon of normalcy, strange?
I just don't get it.
"Mr. Luke, do you happen to have a conscience......?"
"Of course."
Anyone would think I'm a psychopath.
I have a triangle in my heart, too.
I've worked hard to polish it into a circle, so now it rolls along just fine.
-Grumble.
Ugh, this isn't the time for this.
I was hungry and worked hard to hunt monsters, but this little 'Master' issue delayed me.
"I'll be going now."
I scooped up the 19 copper coins from the reception desk, stuffed them into my money pouch, and left the Adventurer's Guild, leaving behind Adela, who was staring at me like I was a madman.
As soon as I left the Adventurer's Guild, I headed for the restaurant district, and the beastkin woman was still trailing behind me.
I wanted to ignore her, but because she's a beastkin, she draws the attention of others.
And those gazes then followed to me.
'Why do I attract so much aggro?'
Once after possessing this body, when I got into a fight that was picked with me, and once in the Adventurer's Guild, when an attention seeker picked a fight with me.
Looking back, all the aggro was because someone picked a fight with me.
'So it's not my fault, is it?'
They say the world only picks on good people, and it turns out that's true.
Still, I can't just let her trail behind me forever.
After receiving so much excessive attention in one day, I felt like a monkey that had escaped from the zoo.
"Excuse me. I saved you, so why are you following me?"
"Well... I have nowhere to go."
No, if you have nowhere to go, why are you following me?
Just go home! Home!
"Can't I go with you, Master......?"
That damned 'Master' again.
A woman following you around, calling you Master?
You might call that a green light.
But the way I see it, this is gaslighting.
By constantly calling me Master, she's clearly trying to slowly brainwash me into thinking I'm her actual master.
"Don't you need to go home?"
"My home... it was all burned down when I was kidnapped......"
Oh dear. What a pity.
Then she should find someone else to help her.
Anyone but me.
"But how do you know where I'm going, to ask to come with me?"
"You're an adventurer, so aren't you going hunting?"
"And do you know how to hunt?"
"Yes. I can use some wind magic and daggers......"
Why would someone who can use magic and daggers get kidnapped?
"You know how to fight, so how did you get kidnapped?"
"My family was taken hostage."
Such a classic tactic, I'm speechless.
Her family was taken hostage, and now that she's free, she says she has nowhere to go. It seems her whole family is dead.
"I'm just asking, but you have no intention of stopping if I tell you not to follow, do you?"
"Yes."
She calls me Master, but what kind of attitude is this towards her master?
"Hah... fine, let's go, slave."
Having a woman in the party helps with morale, which is good.
Honestly, she's pretty, and every man dreams of having a harem at least once.
"Come to think of it, I don't know your name. What is it?"
"It's Luna. I'm 20 years old."
"I'm Luke, and I'm also 20."
"Yes. It's a pleasure to be with you, Master."
She always makes sure to say 'Master,' as if she wants everyone to hear.
I'm getting used to hearing it, which must mean I'm reaching the final stage of brainwashing.
"Can you not call me Master?"
"Does it make you uncomfortable?"
Yes. A lot.
In a world where slavery is forbidden, calling someone Master is a problem in itself. And didn't you see the contemptuous look Adela gave me earlier?
Is she actually a spy sent by the backers of those guys I killed, trying to ruin me socially?
"I don't care what you call me, just don't call me Master."
"Understood, Lord Luke."
Luke is clearly a commoner, but just by having one woman trailing behind him, he looks like the son of some noble.
As I walked with Luna to a street full of restaurants, the delicious smells of dinner wafted from all around, as it was getting late.
An exotic aroma, quite different from the Korean food I used to eat every day.
Everything smelled so good it was giving me analysis paralysis.
"Hey, Luna."
"Yes?"
"Pick something for us to eat."
"......What?"
The so-called 'passing the buck.'
When you can't make a choice, passing it off to someone else is the best solution.
I could see Luna was flustered, but I had no intention of taking back the task I'd given her.
"W-well, how about that place over there?"
Luna pointed to a building.
But even if she pointed......
There was no way for me to know what it was. If the food was bad, I could just blame Luna then.
We entered the building Luna pointed to, and my view was filled with countless tables bustling with adventurers and other people.
"Oh. Good choice."
How did she pick a steakhouse just by the smell?
As expected of a beastkin, her sense of smell must be sharp.
"Excuse me~"
We found an empty table and called for a waiter.
"Yes~ Are you ready to order?"
Waitresses should always be pretty.
Isn't that how you boost sales?
This place is going to be a huge success.
"Two of the recommended special, please."
"Right away."
"L-Lord Luke. I don't have any money......"
"I'm paying."
I have the 19 copper from the goblins, plus the 2 silver I got from looting the corpses.
Besides, if I let her starve, she won't be any help on tomorrow's hunt.
I have to feed her well to work her hard.
"I'm fine with starving, so please, eat by yourself, Lord Luke......"
"A slave... talking back?!"
"......I will eat it gratefully."
Where's that confidence she had when she insisted on following me? Now she has a slave mentality?
People really only speak their minds when it's convenient for them.
"By the way, Luna, you said you could use wind magic, right?"
"Yes."
"Show me."
At my words, Luna placed a hand on the table where I could see it clearly and created a small gust of wind.
"Ooh..."
The first magic I've seen since I was transmigrated.
My Intelligence stat is 0, and to top it off, I'm magically impotent, so I couldn't feel a thing even when she used magic right in front of me.
In the original story, there were descriptions of seeing mana gather or feeling overwhelming amounts of mana.
From my perspective, a gust of wind just appeared out of nowhere.
'But if she has this kind of power, why was she so scared of a hostage situation?'
If it were me, I would have just taken the enemy commander hostage.
As I've said time and again, your own life comes first.
If they had to weigh their own life against some unknown slave they were planning to sell, the scales would obviously tip toward their own life.
Watching people get taken hostage and used all the time is maddeningly frustrating.
"What attribute of magic do you use, Lord Luke?"
"Me? I can't use magic."
"......What?"
"I have no mana."
If I had mana, I would have tried using every spell in the book as soon as I got here.
I might have even burned down the entire dormitory.
"You're an adventurer even without mana......?"
"What's wrong with not having mana? Is there a rule that says you can't be an adventurer without it?"
I may not have mana, but I have skills and a status window that others don't.
In the story, there were no high-ranking adventurers without mana, but that's because they weren't transmigrators.
An incarnation of effooooooort like me is on a whole different level from them.
"Lord Luke... you're amazing."
"I am pretty amazing."
"Your food is here."
While Luna and I were chatting, our food arrived.
***
Luna stared at the food before her.
'A proper meal after so long......'
Recently, while she was behind bars, she hadn't had a single proper meal.
To maintain the quality of their slaves, her captors had given her only the bare minimum to survive, and even that was just hard jerky or pig slop.
That's why she felt she couldn't control her appetite in front of the food before her.
A tomahawk steak with its handle-like bone, dripping with juice, surrounded by plated vegetables.
She wanted to put the delicious-looking food in her mouth as quickly as possible, but she glanced at Luke, worried she would look uncivilized.
When she shifted her gaze from the food, she saw Luke, eating more crudely than anyone she had ever seen.
"Delicious!"
*Chomp, chomp.*
"Delicious!"
'......'
She'd worried for nothing, she thought.
The strange thing was that Luke was only picking out the vegetables and hadn't touched the meat, making her wonder if he liked vegetables despite his appearance.
'I shouldn't worry about it. I should just hurry up and eat too.'
Finally, I can have a proper meal.
The moment she picked up her fork and knife.
-CRASH!
"You damn swindling bastard!"
"Pfft. The one who got tricked is the idiot."
At a nearby table, two male adventurers had started a fight.
"S-Sirs, you can't fight in here!"
A waitress tried to stop them from behind, but if they were the type to listen, they wouldn't have started fighting in the first place.
People who live for their own ego existed everywhere, whether they were commoners or nobles.
There were belligerent people everywhere, and it just so happened that this time, it was here.
And when she looked around to see what the other customers were doing.
"Hurry up and fight!"
"Liven things up a bit!"
No one had any intention of stopping them; they were all egging them on as if they'd found some good entertainment.
'It looks like I won't be able to eat after all......'
She thought she would have to go hungry tonight.
She was just about to suggest to Luke that they leave before they got caught in the crossfire.
-CRASH! THUD!
The two men had somehow made their way to Luke and Luna's table and began trading blows.
And then.
"Time to dig in~"
-Thwack.
-Splat.
The piece of meat in Luke's hand fell to the floor.