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“······Master.”

It was the first thing she said when our eyes met.

‘What is this crazy girl talking about?’

I thought that having saved her, she would manage on her own, but suddenly she shows up, calling me ‘Master.’

“Master, can you take me with you?”

What does she think I am, some kind of guide?

I rescued you, so live your life, please.

“Luke, is that your kind of taste······?”

A cautious tone came from in front of me.

But contrary to her careful tone, Adela was looking at me with a gaze that suggested I was trash.

Since slavery is illegal in this world, she probably thinks this is all just a part of the game.

Why do I have to receive such looks when it’s not even my fault?

I have no reason to explain myself, and it’s a hassle anyway.

“Yeah.”

I just answered like that.

Because, who knows?

Maybe I really do have such tastes.

“I thought you were just strange, but you’re actually low-class······.”

“Isn’t that completely normal?”

I give some entertainment for hardworking people with my dismantling shows, and when someone suddenly swings a knife after asking for directions, I kindly offer them foot massager slippers.

Where’s the weirdness in me being the epitome of normal?

I just don’t get it.

“Luke, do you have any conscience······?”

“Of course.”

If anyone hears this, they’d think I was a psychopath.

There’s a triangle in my heart too.

I’ve worked hard to turn it into a circle, and now it rolls around quite nicely.

-Growl.

Oh, this isn’t the time for that.

I just finished hunting monsters out of hunger and got stuck here due to this ‘Master’ issue.

“I’m going to head out now.”

I grabbed the 19 fairy tales on the counter and stuffed them into my money pouch, leaving behind Adela, who looked at me like I was crazy, and stepped out of the Adventurer’s Guild.

As soon as I exited the guild, I headed towards the restaurant district, only to find a beastman girl trailing behind me.

Even if I wanted to ignore it, I couldn’t help but notice the attention she drew from others due to her being a beastman.

And that attention shifted towards me.

‘Why am I attracting so much ire?’

I got into a fight over being possessed once and then got into a spat with a guy inside the Adventurer’s Guild.

Now that I think about it, it was all trouble that drew ire to me.

‘It’s not my fault, is it?’

They say the world only gives a hard time to nice people, and it seems to be true.

But I can’t keep dragging her around all day.

After a day of excessive attention, I felt like a monkey escaping from a zoo.

“Excuse me. I saved you, so why are you following me?”

“Because… I have nowhere to go.”

Well, if you have nowhere to go, why follow me?

You can just go home!

“I can’t go anywhere unless I’m with you, Master······?”

That ‘Master’ business again.

A girl calling another guy ‘Master’ and trailing him?

I guess you could call it a green light.

To me, it feels like gaslighting.

By continually calling me ‘Master,’ she’s slowly brainwashing me into believing I’m her actual Master.

“Don’t you want to go home?”

“My house… burned down when I was kidnapped······.”

Oh dear. How unfortunate.

Then you should find someone to help you, just not me.

“But how do you know I’m going somewhere?”

“Aren’t you an adventurer going hunting?”

“You can hunt?”

“Yes, I know wind magic and have some skills with a dagger······.”

If you can use magic and daggers, why were you kidnapped?

“How did you end up being captured if you knew how to fight?”

“My family was taken hostage.”

What a classic method, leaving me at a loss for words.

She said her family was taken hostage, but seeing her saying she has nowhere to go now makes it seem her family likely died.

“Just to ask, you’re not going to follow me if I tell you not to, right?”

“No.”

What’s with this attitude toward her ‘Master’?

“Ha··· fine, let’s go, slave.”

Having a girl in my party could help enhance efficiency, and honestly, she’s pretty cute. Having a harem is something every guy dreams of at least once.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t know your name. What is it?”

“My name is Luna. I’m 20 years old.”

“I’m Luke, and I’m also 20.”

“Yes. I look forward to working with you, Master.”

Is she doing this on purpose, making sure I hear her calling me ‘Master’?

The more I hear it, the more I start to get used to it—I’m nearing the final stages of this brainwashing.

“Can you stop calling me Master?”

“Does it bother you?”

Yes, very much.

The mere fact of being addressed as ‘Master’ in a world where slavery is illegal is a problem. Didn’t you see Adela looking at me with disdain earlier?

Could it be that the people I killed earlier sent a spy to socially ruin me?

“Call me whatever you want, just not ‘Master’.”

“Understood. Luke-san.”

Though Luke is definitely a commoner, dragging along a girl makes it seem like I could be some noble’s son.

As I reach the street with lots of restaurants with Luna, perhaps because it was close to dinner time, delightful smells wafted through the air.

The exotic scents were wildly different from the Korean food I always ate.

The variety of delicious scents made it hard to decide.

“Hey, Luna.”

“Yes?”

“Help me pick something to eat.”

“······What?”

This is what they call delegating decisions.

When having difficulty choosing, passing it to someone else is the best way.

I could see Luna flustered by my request, but I’m not planning to take it back.

“Then how about that one over there?”

Luna pointed to a building.

But what she pointed at was······.

There’s no way I would know, and if it turns out to be bad, I can just blame Luna later.

As I entered the building she pointed to, I was greeted by the sight of countless tables filled with adventurers and people bustling about.

“Oh. Nice pick.”

How did she choose a meat shop just by smelling it?

It seems beastmen have good olfactory senses.

“Excuse me~”

We picked a vacant table and called for a waiter.

“Yes~ What would you like to order?”

Of course, it’s right that a pretty person becomes the waiter.

That makes customers flock to the place, right?

This restaurant is destined for great success.

“I’ll have two of the recommended dishes.”

“Understood.”

“Uh, Luke-san, I don’t have any money on me······.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

I just earned 19 fairy tales from hunting goblins, not to mention the 2 coins I found on one of the corpses.

Also, if I let her starve, it wouldn’t help when I go hunting tomorrow.

I need to feed her well so she’ll work harder.

“I’m fine even if I go hungry, so you just eat, Luke-san······.”

“A slave… talking back?!”

“······Thank you for the meal.”

Just when she boldly said she would follow me, now she’s talking like a slave?

It seems people only speak well when it’s to their advantage.

“But Luna, you said you could use wind magic.”

“Yes.”

“Show me.”

At my words, Luna raised one hand so I could see and conjured a small breeze.

“Oooh···.”

The first magic I’ve seen since being possessed.

With my intelligence at zero and magical power nonexistent, I felt absolutely nothing watching her cast magic.

In the story, there were descriptions of overwhelming magical power and the gathering of energy, but from my perspective, it was just a sudden gust of wind.

‘But if you have that kind of power, why were you scared of the hostage situation?’

If it were me, I would just capture the enemy commander as a hostage.

I’ve said this time and again; people prioritize their own lives above all.

When comparing to a potential slave they don’t even know and their own life, naturally, the scales would tip towards saving themselves.

Seeing her always used as a puppet for hostage situations makes me feel like I’ve swallowed a truckload of sweet potato.

“What type of magic do you use, Luke-san?”

“Me? I can’t use magic.”

“······What?”

“I have no magical power.”

If I had magical power, I would have tried every single one the moment I possessed this body.

Who knows, I might have burned the dormitory down.

“How can you be an adventurer if you have no magic······?”

“What’s wrong with being without magic? Can’t adventurers operate without it?”

I may have no magical power, but I have skills and status screens that others don’t.

In the story, there didn’t exist a high-ranked adventurer without magical power, but that’s just for those who aren’t possessed.

As a manifestation of pure effort like myself, I’m on an entirely different level.

“Luke is··· amazing.”

“I am quite amazing.”

“Your order is here.”

As I chatted with Luna for a moment, the dishes we ordered arrived.

*

Luna stared at the food in front of her.

‘This is the first decent meal I’ve had in a long time······.’

Since being in a cage recently, she hadn’t tasted a proper meal.

To manage the quality of the slaves, they had only provided the bare minimum food sufficient to keep her alive, which was either tough jerky or gruel.

Thus, she felt she might not be able to control her appetite seeing the food in front of her.

A juicy tomahawk with bone handles, surrounded by beautifully plated vegetables.

The food looked so delicious that she wanted to put it in her mouth as soon as possible, but she was worried it might look messy, so she stole glances at Luke.

When she turned her gaze slightly from the food, she saw Luke enjoying it more grotesquely than anyone else.

“So good!”

Chomp.

“So good!”

‘······.’

Maybe it was needless to think that way.

A strange point, however, was that Luke picked only the vegetables and didn’t touch the meat, making her wonder if he actually liked veggies.

‘I shouldn’t be bothered and should just eat quickly.’

Finally, she could have a proper meal.

As she lifted her fork and knife, suddenly—

-Bang!

“What a damn cheating bastard!”

“Pff. The guy who got deceived is the fool.”

Two male adventurers near a table were getting into a fight.

“C-Customers, please don’t fight here!”

The waiter, behind, shouted at them, but if they were going to listen, they wouldn’t even be fighting in the first place.

People with superiority complexes exist everywhere, regardless of whether they are commoners or nobles.

There are always aggressive individuals no matter where you go, and all that happened was that it was here today.

And what’s the other crowd doing? I glanced around, only to see.

“Hurry up and fight!”

“Keep the atmosphere lively!”

Apparently, there wasn’t a single person wanting to stop the fight—as if they were all eager for a show.

‘I think I’m definitely not going to eat now······.’

She decided she would go hungry this evening.

Just as she was about to suggest leaving to Luke, not knowing when trouble might fly their way—

-Bam!

Before she knew it, two men were swinging at each other right near their table.

And then—

“Itadakimasu~”

-Wham.

-Plop.

The meat Luke held fell to the floor.

 

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