Chapter 78: Those Who Have Seeped into Fermaton's Darkness (8)
Chapter 78: Those Who Have Seeped into Fermaton's Darkness (8)
Objectively speaking, a slave is not someone you can easily trust.
In this world, being a slave means you were bested by someone at some point, for whatever reason.
It doesn't necessarily mean they lost their virginity, but it means they were a total sucker once and ended up falling into slavery.
Take, for example, the scam Laura fell for the moment she took her first steps as an adventurer.
After Laura was abandoned and the other adventurers conspired against her, she lost all her equipment.
If I hadn't taken her in...
If some creepy old men had approached her saying, "Hehe, we've got some good medicine," and took her away...
Laura might have been found in this cage, completely wasted on aphrodisiacs.
Even if it wasn't Laura, the story would be the same.
Regardless, those put up for sale in the slave market are people who have been easily deceived once.
While there are difficult aspects to trusting them, if you look at them as 'tools' rather than 'companions,' there is no better labor force.
"Are they virgins? You haven't let anyone run a train on them, have you?"
"We at Nine-Tail pride ourselves on thorough management. We do not handle our slaves so roughly."
"So, are they virgins?"
"We haven't touched them ourselves. And fortunately, these two have already been verified."
Charlotte pointed to the tags hanging from the ears of the two cowgirls.
"We drew their blood and commissioned a vampire to inspect it. The results confirmed it was the very fragrant blood of virgins."
"Ho, verification through a vampire, I see."
"Yes. Unfortunately, since we outsource the work, the vampire isn't here right now, but they visit regularly every month to confirm their virginity, so you needn't worry."
Virgins with quality guaranteed by a vampire.
Since there wouldn't have been any opportunity for them to lose their cherry in the time since the vampire's last visit, they were definitely virgins.
"You haven't cut their tendons or anything, have you?"
"No. We use Slave Seals to suppress their strength. There is no physical damage whatsoever. That would decrease their market value."
"Good. I'll buy them. Both of them."
The two cowgirls looked up at me and flinched.
One looked at me as if I were a savior, while the other looked at me as if I were a piece of trash lord.
Is escaping this place the only thing that matters?
Or is being by my side a worse hell than this place?
It's too early for them to judge, but the roles given to them are twofold.
"I can use them as pussies to fuck whenever I'm bored."
"......."
One is a sex slave.
Why else would I specify the conditions of being a virgin and a female?
Naturally, those conditions were set so I could have sex with them.
If I'm going to recruit people to use anyway, virgins are better.
Violating them two or three times a month should be enough.
"Sex slaves... Hehe, I understand. Then, would you like to put them to practical use right here?"
"No. I'm taking them to the Lord's Castle. I'll have them washed, then I'll strip them and eat them in bed."
"Understood. Then, Lord Ruji, would you mind waiting a moment? Hey. Bring 'those' for these two."
"Yes, Guild Leader."
Charlotte gave orders to the subordinates behind her.
One of them immediately turned away to go elsewhere, and Charlotte used magic to open the cage door.
"Would you like to come in?"
"Mm."
I followed Charlotte inside.
As I approached, the two cowgirls recoiled in terror.
"All slaves sold at Nine-Tail are handled through a 'Contract.' Currently, the ownership belongs to 'Nine-Tail.'"
'So they're owned by a corporation.'
Owned by an organization rather than an individual.
In that case, I could apply that as well.
"Whom would you like to register as the owner?"
"Ruji Fermaton. I'll purchase them under my personal name."
"Personal name..."
Charlotte gave me a look of surprise.
"You're not purchasing them under the Fermaton family name?"
"For now. Why? Is there a problem?"
"No. As long as the payment is made properly, there's no issue. The Former Count also made personal purchases for slaves he liked, rather than renting them."
"...Renting?"
I felt a sudden twist in my gut.
"Sorry. Could you explain that in detail?"
"The Former Count enjoyed group orgies with various male slaves. They did their best to get on the Count's good side, and the Count purchased some of his favorites with his own private funds."
"Ugh."
A surge of nausea rose up, but I managed to soothe my twisting stomach by swallowing hard.
"There were no such male slaves among the Fermaton assets."
"Perhaps he disposed of them personally? I don't know the details, but they might have fled somewhere after the Former Count passed away."
"...Fled?"
"Yes. Since the owner of the contract died, the effect between the Slave Seal and the contract expired."
"...Thanks for telling me."
Inside Fermaton.
Somewhere, there are hardcore gay former slaves who did those kinds of things with the Former Count.
I don't know where they are or what they're doing, but I should be careful.
'A gay guy might suddenly jump me.'
Ruji Fermaton.
He has a slender, pretty-boy look, so he'd probably be quite popular in those circles.
In fact, there was once a crazy bastard on the P.A.O. Gallery who terrorized the board with Male Protagonist x Ruji fanart.
"Whew."
My head suddenly felt dizzy, so I walked over to Laura and buried my face in her cleavage.
Sniff, huff.
"M-My Lord...?"
"This is good. It's better than aromatherapy. This is what sex is."
"I-Is this sex...?"
"Of course."
I regained my composure while taking in Laura's scent.
"Guild Leader. I've returned."
In the meantime, the subordinate who had left on Charlotte's orders returned.
He brought a heavily secured iron box, which Charlotte opened to take out a piece of paper.
"Here is the contract."
Charlotte handed me the board she was holding.
On the board was a contract regarding the purchase of the slaves, and a subtle energy seemed to flow through the paper.
"Is this... a magical contract?"
"It's the contract linked to their seals. Once you sign here, Lord Ruji, they will become your slaves."
"No reason to hesitate."
Scratch, scratch.
I immediately wrote my name on the contract.
As I did, something blue escaped from my hand and seeped into the contract, while a portion of it seeped into one of the cowgirls.
"Aaaah, aaack...!!"
The blonde cowgirl shrieked and writhed.
The Slave Seal engraved on her lower abdomen began to glow, and I could clearly feel a sensation of being 'connected' between myself and the cowgirl.
"Their names?"
"They have no names. Whatever their names were before, the names their current master gives them will be their names from now on."
"Then that one's name is 'Shiro.'"
White.
"And I'll call that one 'Kuro.'"
"...Understood."
Black.
There's no need to overthink it or give them fancy names.
I was going to call them Holstein and Hershey's Chocolate, but I just went with Shiro and Kuro for simplicity.
The origin of the names is, of course, Duktin.
I don't know how many more slaves will be added in the future, but there are plenty of names for them.
I studied Duktin just so I could properly hear the voice actors' performances, after all.
Ever heard of it?
The Galge Study Method.
"Charlotte. I'll send someone to settle the payment soon."
The price was an amount I could easily handle on my own.
Even if someone complained, I'm the one with the final say over the Fermaton household finances.
"Well then, Charlotte."
I held out my hand to Charlotte.
"Come visit the Lord's Castle sometime. I'll make sure to treat you well."
"With all due respect, I think it would be better for you to visit Nine-Tail often rather than me going to the Lord's Castle."
"Why is that?"
"There are simply too many eyes watching there compared to here."
"That's true."
"......."
Perhaps because she had openly declared she would put her life on the line for the Empire, Charlotte didn't seem to care about her surroundings at all.
"My Lord."
Charlotte looked at me with serious eyes and continued.
"The door is always open."
"Thanks."
That's a relief.
It seems my impromptu plan to create a connection to the Empire through Charlotte is working.
"In the future, we will have a large supply of virgins for you to purchase, and we will be waiting for the prospective slaves you wish to sell. As a token of our hope that you will frequent Nine-Tail..."
Charlotte took out a small business card and pressed a lipstick mark onto the back of it.
"Once you collect ten, I'll prepare a very special slave for you. Hehe."
"Now that's an enticing offer."
What, is it going to be a fallen princess or something?
"I hope there are plenty of good slaves the next time I visit. Oh, and of course..."
"They must be virgins."
"Right. And slaves with good stamina."
I glanced down at my crotch while looking at the cowgirls who were now mine.
"I have no use for weak slaves who die after one round without being able to endure it."
* * *
"Ah. Report."
"Ruji Fermaton purchased slaves from Nine-Tail."
"Two cowgirls."
"Purpose unknown. ...Likely for the purpose of rape."
"Will keep a close eye on the relationship with Nine-Tail. Requesting immediate support from the Royal Family."
"Send a virgin spy who is prepared to be raped by Ruji Fermaton."