Bought at Full Price

"Alright. That about does it."

I finished setting up my Status Window.

Somehow I'd ended up with a job. Somehow I'd ended up with skills, too.

And then—

Yu-hwa's Status Window had started showing up as well. Her movements had been incredibly fast, but she hadn't managed to land a hit on me — maybe because the level gap wasn't all that wide. Either way, I was grateful.

"You're going to that slave trader… aren't you?"

Yu-hwa asked me in a voice so quiet it barely crawled out of her throat. She meant Ria, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I figured. Slave trader, huh.

"Yeah, well… for now."

Bringing her back had been the condition of the contract, after all.

"…Let's go."

"No."

Crack—!

"Guhhh—!"

Whenever Yu-hwa tried to disobey me, an electric shock seemed to surge through her. She dropped to her knees, writhing in pain, fat tears rolling down her cheeks like raindrops.

"S-stop that!"

I couldn't stand watching her suffer. How should I put it? Maybe it was because of this new Handler job that had appeared on my Status Window, but the fact that she was my slave was sinking in more easily than I'd expected. And because of that, I didn't want her to hurt.

"I don't really know how yet, but I'll figure something out."

That was the baseline attitude of any transmigrated hero dealing with a heroine, after all.

"Uuu…"

Damn. She was adorable.

We set off before it got any later. The moment we stepped onto the street where I'd first run into Ria, I spotted her easily — sitting outside the tavern, waiting.

"Oh."

Ria greeted us with a look of mild surprise, as if she hadn't quite expected this.

"As promised."

As I approached her, Yu-hwa ducked behind my back. I understood well enough that being a slave wasn't exactly a pleasant situation.

"Hey. You try running off again. Do you have any idea how much I paid for you…?!"

Ria glared at Yu-hwa with those emerald eyes, full of threat.

"Give."

A small, pale hand pointed at the shackle and chain around Yu-hwa's neck. Then she spread her palm wide open — a gesture that clearly said hand it over, now.

Ria might have looked like a cute little girl, but the malevolent energy rising behind her back made every cell in my body scream that I could not afford to stall.

"Ria. Hold on a second."

Even so—

"I'll buy her."

"What?"

"How much did you pay? I'll take her off your hands."

"Hey. Do you even know how expensive a dokkaebi slave is?"

The black mist I'd seen earlier in the day billowed up with force. Ria's small hands began darkening from the fingertips, and she said quietly,

"Think carefully."

I could tell at a glance. One touch from those fingers meant death.

"I'm buying her."

And yet, for some reason, I didn't want to back down. Because she was my first heroine. Because she was the slave contracted to me. Because those trembling hands were clutching the hem of my clothes.

"How much."

Ria stared at me hard. Then she flicked her fingers, and—

Fwoosh—!

A green flame bloomed, and from within ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dying fire a single scroll emerged.

"That's her deed of ownership. I paid about a hundred and twenty thousand gold for her, I think?"

Gold. Gold, huh…

In worlds like this, the usual conversion was 1 Gold to 100 Silver, 1 Silver to 100 Copper. If I roughly calculated one Copper as one won—

"1.2 billion…?"

"What are you muttering about? Anyway — are you buying or not?"

"Put it on credit."

"You shameless bastard. You think that'll fly?"

"That."

I jerked my chin toward the whip.

"We can just make a contract."

"I'm not selling. You can't pay it back. Take her and get lost. Stop pissing me off! Do you actually want to die?"

She stabbed the ground with her heel, and Yu-hwa flinched even harder, shrinking into herself. Watching that, something suddenly clicked in my head.

"Ria. Let me see that scroll."

"And what exactly are you going to do if you look at it?"

"Then you look at it yourself."

"What are you even—"

Flutter—.

Ria unfurled the ownership deed with an irritated flick, and the light drained from her eyes.

"What did you do?"

She asked me in a low voice.

"Ah, well, somehow she ended up contracted to me. I obviously had no intention of stealing her."

"…"

Ria hung her head. Before I knew it, words were tumbling out of me in a rush.

"I-I'm just as baffled! That's why I brought her back, okay? C-calm down first and let's talk this through. I'm not going to run. I mean it."

"Too late."

She slowly raised her head. It felt like looking at that truck all over again — the one that had been right in front of my face yesterday.

…I'm going to die!

"Double!!"

Ria's nails stopped a hair's breadth from piercing my throat.

"I-I'll buy her for double."

A chilling gaze pinned me in place.

"With double the money, you could buy an even sturdier dokkaebi, right? Right?"

"You can't buy dokkaebi anymore."

"W-what do you mean by—"

I understood her meaning immediately. When I turned to Yu-hwa with wide eyes, tears were already gathering at the tip of her chin.

"Haa…"

Ria pressed a hand to her forehead, then went back to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her chair and took a sip of whiskey.

"Buy her at full price."

"R-really?"

Fwoosh—.

"One year. If you don't repay it within one year, both of you become my slaves."

Another contract. But this time, I didn't hesitate.

"Deal."

One of Ria's eyebrows shot up, and she looked at me with genuine curiosity.

"Why go that far?"

"…Just because."

I scrawled my signature on the contract and turned away, supporting the still-wobbly Yu-hwa as I went.

"We made a deal, so don't worry. I'll pay it back for real."

"Good luck with that. Acting like a hundred and twenty thousand gold is nothing."

I wrapped an arm around Yu-hwa's shoulders and started walking.

"Don't worry. I'll handle it."

A strange sense of responsibility was blooming inside me. Yu-hwa looked up at me with those big eyes and didn't refuse my support. Honestly, I still didn't fully understand why Ria had let us go. I was just a little angry — at slavery, and at this weakness of mine.

"Where to now."

I didn't have a single copper to my name. And nowhere to go.

"If you don't have anywhere to stay…"

"Hm?"

Yu-hwa opened her mouth for the first time in dozens of minutes. Glad to hear her voice, I turned her around to face me.

"Where? You know a place?"

I took hold of her shoulders, and she answered with a fidgety little squirm.

"Ah, I-I, the d-dungeon, the f-first floor, I can clear it on my own…"

She stammered badly, and her words trailed off at the end. But damn, she was trying so hard. It was endearing.

"Ah, haha! The dungeon!"

I'd completely forgotten. The level listed on my Status Window, the skills, and my party member! Monsters, drop-item farming, getting rich! I'd forgotten the standard isekai growth route that every transmigrator was supposed to follow. Maybe the whole slave-chase fiasco had scrambled my brain. Still, better late than never.

I looked around. Dungeon Gates were usually located in the center of large villages. Judging by the long rows of shuttered shops, the place we were standing in was a commercial district not far from the center. The village landscape, preparing to greet twilight, was slowly being dyed in shades of violet.

"Hmm, with the time being what it is…"

"I-it'll be fine."

She nodded timidly at my muttered words. Ah, right. I'd forgotten again. Cute. I couldn't say it out loud, so I just kept repeating it to myself. Cute. So cute.

"Th-thank you…"

"Hm? For what?"

"For protecting… no, for saving…? No… um… for buying me…?"

This little—!

I wiped under my nose and said,

"C'mon, let's hurry. We need money."

"Ah, yes."

I set off quickly toward the center of the village.

"Is this it?"

It was pitch-black and pure white at the same time. Bluish and reddish all at once — a Gate spinning slowly in midair at the heart of the village.

"Yes."

"So we just go in?"

"Um… is this your first… time?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then how did you move like that…!"

She must have been talking about how I'd dodged her flurry of attacks. Hell if I knew how I'd done it either — what was I supposed to explain?

"I think I was chosen."

She ignored that and continued her explanation.

"Once you step into the Gate, you can choose which dungeon and which floor to enter. Since you're the party leader — I mean, since you're Master…"

She took a step back and gestured toward the Gate as if ushering me in. Hold on — Master?! This little—! I absolutely had to scrape together enough for lodging. Before paying off the debt, lodging came first!

I strode up to the Dungeon Gate and shoved both hands into it.

BZZZT!!

A loud crackle rang out once, and at the same time my body felt like it was floating upward.

"Whoa…"

"Th-this way."

At the sound of a soft voice and the touch of a gentle hand, I snapped my eyes open to find us drifting in a blue void, like cursors floating inside a blue screen.

"What the hell!!"

"Look over here."

Yu-hwa held my hand tightly as she swam through the blue space. At the end of where she was leading me, a kiosk-like device sat alone in the void.

Convenient…

I stared blankly at her back as she tapped through various options.

"Ah. I-I'm so sorry. I overstepped…!"

"Hm?"

"Master is supposed to choose, but I just went ahead and— I'm truly sorry."

I lifted her head from her deep bow of apology and said,

"It's fine. Wherever you're comfortable. Let's go there."

Yu-hwa looked at me in wide-eyed shock.

"Y-you're not… angry…?"

"Hm? Why would I be angry?"

She was the one who'd have to fight the monsters and clear the dungeon. There was no reason to make her any more timid than she already was.