The Prosthetic Girl
I already knew that a man named Ed Magner intended to buy a slave.
I also knew he had attached an extra condition: the cheapest of whatever no one else would take.
And I knew the slave he would end up purchasing was missing her left arm and right leg — and that Ed himself had no idea.
If my short-term analysis was correct, Ed might be indifferent at times, but he was not the sort of man who would wound a slave. Which meant there would be no problem if I taught him how to craft a prosthetic arm and leg.
Ed lived alone in a remote wooden cabin deep in the forest — the kind of place a lost traveler would naturally stumble across.
Pretend to lose my way, accept Ed's help, then repay him by teaching him how to make a prosthetic. The cabin sat in a location perfect for that exact plan.
If I showed up at night he would almost certainly offer me a bed, so just before nightfall seemed the right hour.
First I needed to change my appearance to something with a "mysterious air."
I put on adventurer's clothes, a modest hood, and a small bag. After drawing the hood up, I took a mask from the bag.
This was a mask that shifted its shape to match the wearer's expression — one I had made specially for today. Once I put it on and let the hood shadow what little of my face remained visible, I looked every bit the enigmatic adventurer in a strange mask.
Few people could refuse a gift from so suspicious yet intriguing a traveler. It would probably work out fine.
After a final check of my outfit, I approached Ed's house and knocked on the door.
"Excuse me~ I've lost my way. Do you know the path back down?"
I twisted my voice into a ridiculous clown's pitch and asked loudly. I hadn't seen him leave, so he was surely inside — and the growing sound of footsteps proved it.
The door I expected to creak opened almost silently instead, and beyond it stood Ed, holding a sheet of paper.
Blond hair, tall frame, sharp eyes that looked as if they were permanently scowling — he gave off a thoroughly cold impression.
"Are you the master of the house? Perfect timing! I've lost my way — which way is the path down?"
"…A map. I've placed a spell on it that shows your current location, so you should be able to get down without trouble."
A suitably deep, mid-low voice. Just standing there he could easily be mistaken for someone people would dislike on sight, I thought to myself.
"Oh, thank you!"
I took the map from him and slipped it into my small bag. The bag was far too small to hold a map of that size, and Ed watched with a flicker of curiosity.
"I'm not sure if this counts as proper thanks, but please take it as a token of my gratitude!"
"Ah… right."
Whether he had already decided I was a nuisance or not, Ed accepted my "thanks" without protest.
"…!?"
What I had given him was a document detailing how to craft a prosthetic arm — not quite a grimoire, but more than a simple scrap of paper. Document or not, the sheer volume of mana sealed inside it would startle any mage who touched it.
"Heh heh, it's one of my personal masterpieces! Well then, take care~! Thanks for the map~!"
Ed stood there staring blankly after me as I left. I pulled out the map, found my way, and walked on.
"Are you quite certain, sir? This one is missing an arm and a leg…"
"I'll take this child."
"…Well, I won't stand in the way of a customer's… particular tastes. If she breaks down soon, that's not on us."
"I'm aware."
After reading my document, Ed went to buy a slave the very next week.
The slave shared his blond hair. She stood only about chest-high to him, and she was missing her left arm and right leg. Since she could not stand normally, the slave girl used a worn wooden staff in place of her missing leg.
An ordinary person might have hesitated, but he wanted this child without a second thought. At a glance, he almost looked expectant.
"Yes, it's done. You may take her."
"Understood."
The newly purchased girl shuffled awkwardly to stand before Ed, and he looked her over briefly.
"…Keep up."
"I-I'm not that slow a walker… so please don't worry…"
She gripped the hard staff in her right hand and used it in place of a leg. Ed walked ahead; the girl followed.
Her pace truly was not slow, and they made it back in good time. Ed opened the door to his house, propped it so it wouldn't swing shut, and went inside.
"Sit here and wait."
"Y-yes…"
She answered in a trembling voice and sat on the single-seat sofa he indicated. The trembling was almost certainly fear. She had begun to shake a little the moment they entered the forest; by now she looked close to panic.
Ed left her there, closed the front door, and returned from somewhere carrying an iron prosthetic arm. Finished in a single week? I was briefly impressed.
He set the prosthetic on the table between the sofas and sat down across from the girl.
"We'll start with the basics. My name is Ed Magner. What's yours?"
"W-what? A name…? I think I had one, but I've forgotten…"
"Something you can be called by. Do you have a nickname?"
"O-One-Arm…"
"Stop. We're excluding that nickname."
"Ah, yes… I'm sorry…"
The oppressive atmosphere made the girl flinch. This was less an introduction than a full interrogation.
"Hmm…"
Ed looked away from her and scanned the room. His gaze stopped on a spot on the bookshelf, and he spoke again.
"I'll call you Charlotte."
"Pardon…?"
"Charlotte. I thought it a common enough girl's name, but if you dislike it I'll think of another."
"N-no, I like it…! Charlotte is a pretty name…!"
"Good. Charlotte is your name, and Charlotte is your name. Remember both."
Once Ed gave her a name, a little of Charlotte's fear subsided. Perhaps she was beginning to realize he was only cold in his words; I could sense her wariness of him gradually easing.
"Next. How did your arm and leg end up like that?"
"An a-accident… A few years ago I lost my parents and my limbs in an accident, and after this and that I finally ended up a slave."
"I'm sorry to hear it."
Ed listened, then murmured, "In that case…" Charlotte seemed to be comparing the size of the prosthetic on the table with her own right hand.
"How many times have you been purchased before?"
"I wasn't popular, so… you're my first master…"
"Your looks don't seem bad, so that's unexpected…"
At the word looks, Charlotte flinched again.
"Enough. That will do for questions. Now I'll fit the prosthetic. May I have your left arm for a moment?"
"Ah, yes…"
Having learned what he needed about Charlotte, Ed picked up the prosthetic from the table in front of him. She looked briefly startled by how large it was, but as a slave she said nothing.
Ed set the prosthetic against her left arm, closed his eyes, and activated his magic. Light spilled from the prosthetic as it tried to attach itself to Charlotte — and failed.
Why? Ed was confused, but as the creator I already knew the reason. The various adaptation spells on the prosthetic were clashing with the slave magic bound to Charlotte.
"Ugh… ah… ahhh…"
"Charlotte?"
"M-Master… my nape, suddenly…"
"Charlotte!"
On the back of Charlotte's neck was a slave brand, and the moment before the prosthetic could attach, the two magics had collided. The pain pouring from her Slave Crest was the inevitable result.
"Charlotte! What's wrong!?"
"Ah… aah…"
Before long she was curled on the floor, clutching the back of her neck with her right hand. Ed poured every healing spell he had into her, but in the end Charlotte fainted.
"What in the world…"
By then he had already gathered her into his arms, and the words slipped out as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Why had she suddenly cried out in pain? He checked the place she had indicated — and of course, the moment he saw the Slave Crest, Ed understood. The magics had clashed.
"…Damn it."
He muttered a short curse, then lifted Charlotte and carried her to the guest room. Carefully he laid her face-down on the bed, sat in the chair beside it, and rested his hand on the Slave Crest.
So he meant to remove it. Well, between the Slave Crest and my technique, it was obvious which one mattered more.
The reason I had arranged things this way was selfish, really: I didn't want Ed to treat Charlotte as nothing more than a slave. She was a child he had bought with money, yes — but watching their relationship deepen little by little would be a pleasure of its own.
Ed kept trying to undo the crest, stopping every time Charlotte flinched even slightly.
"…I'm sorry, Charlotte. Bear with me just once more."
He spoke to the sleeping girl, then poured magic into the Slave Crest again. Every so often her face twisted in pain, but Ed did not stop; he continued until the crest finally released. The agony drained from her expression, and Ed let out a long breath of relief. Then he took out the document I had given him and left the room.
He sat on the sofa and began reading it over again. Sharing a room with a young girl like Charlotte clearly made him uneasy, so he seemed intent on sleeping out here. He had already shed the coat he had worn and changed into lighter clothes — my deduction was probably right. He had even used a few cleaning spells.
If he was going to sleep, I decided I ought to at least make sure the sleep itself was peaceful — with a little magic of my own.