The Rental Contract

The morning after I'd spent the entire evening tangled up with Selena, skipping dinner entirely.

Even after being put through the wringer late into the night, Selena hadn't skipped her morning blowjob. I started the day by emptying a full load into her mouth — and then had to greet Ronald, who'd shown up first thing.

"What brings you here...? Ah. Come this way, please."

I guided the thoroughly exhausted-looking Ronald to the table and sat across from him.

He stared at me with bloodshot eyes, then let out a long sigh.

"Haa... Hard to get a look at your face, isn't it. Never thought you'd go at it all day long. Youth, I suppose, but take it easy. You'll wear your bones down."

Hey now. What's this old man taking Potency S for? Ah! Jealousy, is it? Heh. Fair enough — any man stuck with ordinary stamina would envy the kind of potency that can make a cute slave scream all day long.

I decided to accept this ordinary middle-aged man's petty jealousy with the magnanimity of the open sea, and laughed heartily.

"Haha. I'll take the concern to heart. But more importantly — what brings you by so early?"

I asked with a generous smile. Ronald pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger.

"Hoo... Right, that isn't the important part. Haa... Interrogating the gang we caught thanks to you, we learned they have other bases. I was hoping for some help cleaning up the remnants. Think you can manage it?"

We're stuck here for a while anyway, and the Count's already given us plenty. That much is nothing... Hana's going to love this.

"Gladly. Shall we head out toge—"

I was about to accept Ronald's request, thinking of Hana — who loved rampaging so much you couldn't tell whether she was a Hero or a berserker — when the Goddess's words flashed through my mind: that a Slave Merchant's rank could be raised not only by buying and selling slaves, but by renting them out as well.

If I play this right... I might be able to raise my job rank...? Raise the rank and the slave slots increase... And I've got that stack of blank checks right now, so the summoning costs are covered too...

Nobody had ever said a single rental would raise the rank, but the wishful-thinking engine already spinning in my head refused to stop.

Unlimited blank checks, so I can slam attributes in however I want... Heh. What should I specialize this next slave for? We've already got a frontliner and a mage, so an archer this time? Or a healer?

Having thoroughly drunk the Kool-Aid, I suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Ronald was staring at me with a strange look as I sat there grinning to myself.

"Ahem. Of course I'll help. But formalities matter, so... let's draw up a contract."

Ronald looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

"What on earth are you talking about? A contract?"

I couldn't exactly say it was to raise my job rank, so I smiled and improvised.

"It's purely a formality. If I'm putting the girls to work, it's better to say ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we signed such-and-such a contract and ask them to help, rather than just ordering them around. And Sir Ronald won't have to feel indebted just for asking me a favor."

"Mm... I don't particularly feel indebted..."

This old man has surprisingly little conscience.

"You already received a stack of blank checks from the Count, didn't you? The steward nearly fainted when he saw how much had been withdrawn from the bank. First time he'd ever seen a private individual spend that much money in a single day. We're grateful you saved the territory, but isn't that a bit much? And while we're on the subject — do you plan to keep spending like that?"

Turns out I was the one without a conscience.

Ronald's point hit hard, but I couldn't abandon the rental contract — or the rosy future it promised. I cleared my throat.

"Ahem. Th-that's why I said a purely formal contract. Not because I'm trying to squeeze more out of anyone."

"Notice how you still won't say you won't spend like that. Fine. The Count authorized it — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not much I can do about that."

Ronald let out a shallow sigh and called toward the door.

"Bring some paper and a pen in here!"

A small voice answered from beyond the door.

"Yes, Chief."

A moment later, a knock sounded.

Knock, knock.

"I've brought the paper and pen. May I come in?"

Ronald answered the voice that followed the knock.

"Come in!"

The door opened, and a maid in a neat uniform entered — her name, confirmed via Status Window, was Nina.

"Here. The paper and pen you requested."

She approached without a single footfall, set the paper and pen on the table with a posture that radiated poise, and left the room as quietly as she'd come.

A maid through and through. Hmm. A household-specialized slave might not be bad either, instead of pure combat.

While I watched Nina's retreating figure with genuine admiration — she was the very model of a maid — Ronald set pen to paper and drafted the contract.

With a clean, fluid hand, Ronald finished the contract, added his signature, and held out the pen.

"Sign it."

I took the pen and wrote my name beneath his.

Han Mir

Yeah. No matter how many times I look at it, it's crooked.

Having signed with handwriting that couldn't generously be called good, I split the contracts with Ronald — one each.

"When do we leave?"

I asked. Ronald roughly folded his copy, tucked it into his coat, and rose from his seat.

"We'll depart as soon as the soldiers who've received the summons assemble. We need to hit them hard before the remnants catch wind and go to ground, so the sooner the better. Tell the two of them to get ready and come out as quickly as they can. I'll see you later."

With that, Ronald turned on his heel and left the room.

I watched him go, then headed for the adjoining room where Selena and Hana were resting.

"Shall I prepare a meal?"

"Mm... Bring something to this room, please. For three."

I answered Nina, who was waiting in the corridor, and opened the door. Inside, Selena — still in her underwear — was cutting a hole into the lower belly of a dress she'd bought as a temporary outfit until the custom-ordered clothes arrived. Hana was watching her from under the covers.

Spotting me as I walked in without knocking, Selena spoke up.

"Master. Just a little longer. I'm almost done."

"Take your time. It'll be a bit before the food gets here."

I sat in a chair at the table and beckoned to Hana, who was watching Selena fuss with the edges of the hole she'd cut into the dress with a peculiar look on her face.

"Come over here. Need to talk to you."

"...?"

Hana tilted her head at my words, then wriggled out of the blankets and sat across from me.

I set the freshly signed rental contract on the table.

"Help Sir Ronald out for a few days. You and Selena both."

"Rental...?"

"Yeah. Sir Ronald came by and said he wants your help taking out Raven Shaw's remnants at an outlying base."

Hana had been reading the rental contract with her head cocked, but at the word suppression her eyes lit up.

"Remnant suppression? How many are there? Any strong ones? When do we leave?"

Her reaction was almost exactly what I'd pictured when Ronald first made the request. I answered one by one.

"Yeah. Remnant suppression. Didn't hear how many. Whether there are strong ones — we'll find out when we get there, right? Leaving soon."

Hana nodded through all of it.

"Yeah, fair enough. No way to know for sure. Good, good. Half the fun is going and finding out yourself. Leaving soon, huh. Heh... Better check my gear."

Muttering with a smile that looked more villain than Hero — vaguely dangerous — Hana stood and went to inspect the swords stacked in the corner, the ones she'd seized from mercenaries the day we took down Raven Shaw.

"This one's a decent weight but a bit short... This one's long enough but a little heavy... Haa... All of them are just a little off."

While Hana stood there holding two swords, deliberating, Selena finished her alterations. She pulled on the dress — which left the slave brand on her lower belly, the uterine tattoo, fully exposed — and asked me a question.

"But Master. Why a rental?"

I answered casually, still watching Hana pick out a sword to take.

"Ah. Because I'm not going."

Selena's expression went rigid.

"M-Master's not going...? Why...?"

"If I join in, it probably won't count as a rental?"

Of course it might still count — but I wanted a guaranteed rank-up, and I wanted to summon a new slave on the Count's coin. At my answer, Selena spoke in a rush.

"Th-then Master will be in danger. Back when we stopped at that ferry landing before Hamel, while I was out hunting for a bit, you got jumped by some weirdos who weren't even proper bandits and took a beating..."

As Selena brought up the incident at the ferry landing before we'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entered Hamel, Hana — who'd settled on a heavier, longer weapon — burst out laughing.

"Pwahaha! You got rolled by neighborhood thugs? Figures. With those scrawny legs of yours, what were you gonna do? Kukukuku!"

I bristled at Hana's mockery.

"Rolled?! It was a strategic choice! I knew Selena was about to get back, so I picked the safest option! And scrawny legs?! That was just a minor incident from lack of experience!"

"Kukuku. Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Strategic, kuku. Choice! Pffft!"

Selena shot Hana a mild glare for laughing at me, then spoke in a voice thick with worry.

"So Master... wouldn't it be better if I stayed behind?"