In Search of a Home

The Black Knight, Lucas. The Lich, Testia. The Beast King, Yuri.

All three served as the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings — powerful, cruel, and dangerous beyond measure. The armies they led over from the Demon Realm had annihilated no fewer than seven nations.

And those three were the little kids standing right in front of me.

This was a very big problem.

I, Wicker, slave merchant, was a character with exactly one line to his name in the original source material. Wicker is the wicked slave merchant who once owned the Black Knight, the Lich, and the Beast King. The three of them, the lore said, suffered a near-death crisis during their enslavement, awakened their power, killed Wicker, and escaped.

I'm going back. I am absolutely going back.

Nowhere in that lore did it say a single word about them being children when they were my slaves. Their ages had never been disclosed to begin with.

So here I was: a character with not one fingernail's worth of connection to the hero's party, transmigrated thirteen years before the original timeline, face to face with the three people fated to kill me. And to top it all off, a slave contract had been forcibly formed without my consent.

What exactly did I do to deserve this? At this level, isn't it less bad luck and more a personal vendetta from the universe itself? I was becoming genuinely curious about who was behind it.

Telling the three apart was easy enough, since their hair colors were all different. Yellow, Black, and White — respectively the Black Knight, the Lich, and the Beast King. Their appearances were nothing like the forms I knew, but their races lined up more or less: human, dark elf, and puppy beastkin.

I was still racking my brain over how to untangle this mess when a low, wary voice reached me.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on us."

Black, the dark elf, stepped forward and shielded Yellow and White behind her back.

I found myself prodding the back of my skull to check for a hole. The sharpness of her glare made it feel as though my brain had burst clean out of it.

Whew. Stay calm.

If I got tangled up with these three, my death would become a matter of when, not if. I needed to cut ties as fast as humanly possible.

"…Hic."

A small sob drifted out from inside the cage. White, the puppy beastkin, was curled into a tight ball, trembling all over.

I knew perfectly well these kids were villains — future Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's army. But looking at them with my own eyes, an involuntary well of sympathy was also the honest truth. All three had the bodies of children around seven years old, locked in a cage like animals. Who knew how many days they'd gone unfed — their bones stuck out sharply, and their lips were cracked dry.

…Leaving them like this didn't sit quite right in the corner of my heart. Broker a placement for them through the guild, at least. That much should let me sleep at night.

"Listen up, kids — it's your lucky day. I'm just a good-natured adventurer passing through."

"Liar. That man is a slave merchant."

Damn it. Yellow could read. This is exactly why I hate kids with sharp eyes.

The Black Knight of the original story was always wrapped head to toe in armor and helmet, identity hidden behind the visor — but the voice beneath it had belonged to an androgynous human boy.

"…Hic… I'm scared…"

Black pulled the sobbing White into her arms. Both of them were girls, it seemed — they'd already become like sisters.

Black was still glaring daggers at me.

"I could tell you were a slave merchant too. The mana of a contract has been forcibly flowing toward you, human. If you think owning us as slaves means you can do whatever you like with us, you're gravely mistaken."

Hmm.

Can't I, though?

What could I do about it? The contract had already formed however it pleased. Heavenly Kings or not, before their awakening they were just tiny kids. What were they going to do, exactly? What could they possibly do besides sit there and listen to me?

…I crushed that urge to snap back with all my strength. My life was still worth saving. I resolved to desperately talk my way out of this.

"My nametag says slave merchant, but that got slapped on me against my will for… reasons. In practice, I only ever work as an adventurer."

"Liar."

"It's the truth. I didn't even know a slave contract could form on its own like this. I'll sever it right away and set you all free — got it?"

I held out both open palms, showing I meant no hostility, and tried to settle the children down.

"Status window."

At my words, the kids tilted their heads. It must have been the first time they'd ever heard the phrase.

Since I had no idea how to void a slave contract, I judged that digging through my skill window would be the faster route.

But—

"Why isn't it here?"

I combed through every skill my slave merchant job had granted me, and there was no contract severance anywhere.

"[Slave Contract], [Slave Detection]… what the hell is this?"

No way.

I immediately searched the wiki for the slave merchant's skill list. Thankfully, it was something I had clearance to view.

…I was done for.

Cold sweat broke out on its own. I stole a glance at the trio, and Black — quick-witted as ever — clicked her tongue and immediately started up again.

"I knew it! Of course that's how it is, you liar! I'm warning you one more time — just try taking a single step toward us!"

"I'm sorry!"

I bowed my head deeply toward all three of them at once.

These kids had to be scared out of their minds, too. I figured answering them honestly was the bare minimum of courtesy.

"I wasn't trying to lie to you. I'd never used any of the slave merchant's skills before, so I didn't know. I don't have the contract severance skill right now. I'll find a way to learn it and come back — so please, just wait a little while until then."

Not one of them — not Yellow, not Black, not White — gave any reply. They were simply watching me, weighing me.

"We don't believe you. Your plan is to lull us into a false sense of safety and then hand us over to the next slave merchant."

Then—

Grrrooowl—

White's puppy stomach let out a deafening roar.

A meal, hm? Now that was a fine tool for diplomacy.

A good idea struck me. I fished two loaves of buttered bread out of my bag and pushed them through the bars of the cage. White's nose twitched, twitched again — and then her mouth split into a gaping grin, drool streaming down her chin.

"Don't. How are we supposed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know what's in it?"

"But… we haven't eaten in three whole days…"

"Exactly. For all you know, it's laced with some wicked spell that makes you even hungrier."

"Steve the baker made these at noon today. Three for twenty coppers. I ate one myself this afternoon. Nothing gourmet — about the level of your average neighborhood bakery."

I tore off a corner of the bread, stuffed it into my own mouth, and chewed to prove it was safe.

Gulp!

White finally snatched up a loaf and began stuffing it into her mouth with total abandon. I quickly fished out a water bottle and passed that through as well.

"Mmf… mmf… it's delicious…"

With those little fang-like canines of hers scattering crumbs everywhere, White polished off both the bread and the water in no time at all.

Black, who had been watching the whole spectacle warily, finally took the remaining loaf from my hand, broke it neatly in half, and quietly passed one piece to Yellow sitting off in the corner.

Yellow gave a small, silent nod and chewed with her tiny mouth. A cool customer, that one.

"…Don't think a crust of bread is going to earn my trust. It's just a scrap of bread."

Black's guard remained rock-solid.

I was still turning over how best to win her over when, without warning, a frivolous man's voice floated in from behind me.

"Feeding the merchandise? Oh dear, oh dear. Sounds like there was a little internal discord, hm?"

A robed figure slid smoothly into view.

That was what floated above the man's head.

"Well, I suppose pocketing the payment all to yourself is better business. You've got a real head for the trade. Let's have a look, then — three little brats. One human, one lesser elf, one beast. Judging by their looks, they're practically top-grade."

Hans sauntered up to the cage, gave the children a long once-over, and nodded with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lecherous smile.

"Off to some noble with a taste for children, are they? Well, the payment's already in your pocket, so you'd best get ready to hand over the slave brand."

I bowed my head toward the children.

"Yellow. Black. White."

Three pairs of small eyes turned and fixed themselves squarely on my face.

"I believe this will prove my innocence."

And as the words left my mouth, I drew my sword in the same breath. Twisting my body out of the man's blind spot, I ran him through the heart in a single instant and cut downward, cleaving him in two.

Slave merchant Hans died without so much as a scream, leaving two slave merchant corpses lying neatly stacked atop one another on the ground.

Have fun selling each other down in hell. Let's see how much you fetch — a copper apiece, maybe?

I sheathed my sword and turned back to the children.

"The one who tried to sell you, and the one who tried to buy you — I've dealt with them both. Now do you believe I'm really just a passerby?"

Black shut her mouth tight. Yellow pushed in the last of her bread and rose to her feet — still eating, to my great amusement.

"Flawless logic. Handles a sword well too. We'll trust you. For now."

"But…"

"We can't stay here forever. Let's go."

Apparently persuaded by Yellow, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Black and White nodded at last.

I smashed the cage's lock and swung the door open. Yellow hopped down off the wagon first with an energetic bounce.

"…My legs feel wobbly."

"Shall I carry you?"

"I told you not to come near us."

Even as she said it, Black's legs were trembling — all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bravado, no backbone left.

I decided to take a slightly firmer line from here on out.

If these kids bolted and got lost, it would be a catastrophe. They were bound to me as property; things would only tangle up worse, and clearing up the misunderstanding would grow harder still. And one day, sure as sunrise, they'd awaken, break their contracts, and come hunting for my head.

For the time being, I had no choice but to keep them with me.

I needed that contract severance skill yesterday — but raising my slave merchant job level would presumably require trading slaves, and that was something I absolutely would not do.

…Overloaded. I decided to think about it slowly, one piece at a time.

I scooped Black and White up into either arm.

"Ugh — what are you doing?!"

"Struggle and I'll squeeze tighter."

"…Haah."

Black's rebellion petered out almost immediately. Her body was simply too exhausted to put up any real fight.

Yellow, meanwhile, was already trying to march out front. Healthy as a horse. Truly the Black Knight in the making.

"Question. Where are we going?"

I couldn't answer right away. I was the sort who slept at inns every night; I didn't have a home to speak of either.

"Around here, there's really nowhere else, is there."

And with that, I set off walking ahead of them. Not toward the city — the exact opposite. Toward the forest.