Chapter 33: DoubtsDay 30
I wonder if Sherry has arrived yet. A bit impolite to think about getting another sve while lying next to my current sve. Trying to expin that it’s not for lust would make it sound worse in this bizarre world. Even if I’m being foolish, I can’t avoid the guilt of dishonesty.
“Alina, I’m thinking of bringing in a new party member.”
“Uh huh, that’s nice, David.”
“Um…”
“Yes, David, it’s fine. You’re the boss. I trust you to do what’s needed. We all do.”
I’m still trying to resist this stratified society while directly benefitting from my position. In a practical sense, I should either accept the responsibility of my role or abandon them — they don’t have the social standing to simply be free. Still, can I really cim to be on the moral high-ground just by not allowing them to call me master? Yes, because words have power. As their master, I will not allow them to treat me as their master.
Satisfied with my perfect logic, I went downstairs to join my party members for breakfast.
“Good morning, everybody. I pn to go to An’s in Vale today to try to recruit a new party member.”
“David, can I help pick out the new girl?”
“It’s not like that. Well, whatever. Guys?”
Marcus replies, “Not if you don’t need us, Boss.”
Theo adds, “We’ll be happy with anyone you choose.”
“David, you need to look your best, so wait there while I get the knife.”
Not exactly what I wanted to hear right after saying that I want to bring in another woman. Still, I obediently sat while Alina dragged the very sharp knife along my cheek.
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I decided not to wear my fancy clothes. Light armor will make a better impression.
Once Alina was ready, we warped to the usual spot near An’s sve shop.
As usual, we were escorted inside and only had to wait a short time before An showed up.
“Good morning, Mr. Moreau. Are you ready for a new party member?”
Still impressed by how good this guy is with names and situations. Maybe he really is an NPC dedicated to this one task.
“Hello, An. Yes, that is indeed why I’m here. I’m looking for a woman who has the potential to help in the byrinths as well as the ability to do library research.”
“Yes, Mr. Moreau, I have been keeping an eye out for just such a sve. We have in fact recently received a girl who should meet your needs. She is not yet presentable so perhaps you could wait a few days.”
“Ah, very good. Well, since I’m here, could I perhaps see her anyway? Of course I’ll keep an open mind regarding her incomplete training.”
“Certainly, Sir.”
An spoke to an assistant and Alina whispered to me, “Watch out, David, he’ll just drive up the price once he knows you’re hooked.”
After a few minutes, An introduces me to a young, nervous dwarf:
[Sherry][Female, Age: 16][Explorer: 10]
Yes, Sherry is here. The real Sherry from the manga. OK, stop. I need to calm down. Alina’s right — I’ll lose my negotiating position. More importantly, acting like a fan-boy would almost certainly scare Sherry away or at least it should. Still, it’s really hard to ignore that huge pile of hair on such a petite frame.
Don’t know if it was my creepy grin or just the fact that I’m nearly two heads taller, but Sherry clearly has a look of fear in her eyes. I’d better fix this fast.
“An, I would like to give my companion, Alina, a moment to speak to Sherry first.”
“Oh? Well, that’s certainly alright.”
Alina is understandably surprised but recovers well. The two of them are escorted out of the room.
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“Mr. Moreau, is Sherry to be a companion for your female sve?”
“No, Sherry will not be expected to do anything of the sort with me or any member of my party.”
“Sir, there may be some misunderstanding so please allow me to expin. Sherry agreed to become a sex sve, she was not forced. The decision was made here and properly witnessed.”
(That doesn’t mean that she wants to be treated as one, you perv.) Doubt must have shown on my face because An went on to answer my unvoiced question.
“The designation ‘sex sve’ means that sex is part of the contract. It decres both willingness and some degree of expectation. Of course, a sve cannot demand sex but a master’s reluctance should be disclosed in advance. Some older sves choose not to become sex sves to acknowledge their ck of expectation and not necessarily their unwillingness.”
So, this guy is trying to convince me that ‘sex sve’ doesn’t actually mean ‘sex sve’. The servitude is certainly there, but he makes it sound like it’s just a career path. Of course, An is a literal Sve Merchant so it’s hard to take him at his word, either as a sver or a merchant. I still have my doubts, but will try to keep an open mind. I’ll speak to Sherry and try to figure out her true feelings — well, I’ll try at least, because that conversation might be a bit creepy.
The two came back into the room. Alina looked a bit smug and Sherry was notably more rexed.
“Thank you for that expnation, An. Sorry to ask for even more time, but I would like a moment to talk to Sherry. Perfectly fine for you and Alina to stay.”
“Take your time, Sir. I’ll step out for a moment.”
Alina and I sat down, but Sherry was too anxious.
“I’m sorry for my initial hesitation, Sir. I hope you’ll be willing to have me.”
“Oh, did Alina expin your potential duties?”
“No, Sir. Not as such.”
“OK. I need you to be willing to join us in the byrinths.”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Good. I would also like if you could occasionally do some library research.”
“Sir? Really? Could I possibly? Yes. Yes, I would love to do that.”
“Wonderful. Any question for me then?”
“No, Sir. But, um, as a dwarf, I feel I must tell you that I failed to become a Runesmith.” [1]
“A what? Oh, do you mean the dwarf job? That’s not a problem.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“And thanks for your candor, Sherry.”
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Sherry left and An returned. Now it’s time to see how much my leaked enthusiasm will cost me.
“Thanks for giving us the opportunity to talk to Sherry. Even with incomplete training, I can see that she could be a good addition to my party. I just, well, I have some concerns regarding her age.”
Alina nodded in honest agreement with my outright lie.
“Yes, I thought you might. But, you see, Sherry has naturally thin ears. I can assure you, it’s not due to her age.”
“Oh, OK. If you say so.”
“Considering that her training is incomplete, I’ll accept 270,000 Nars for Sherry.”
“Hmm, how about 250,000?”
“260,000. Final offer.” [2]
“Deal. And I’d like to add a release cuse.”
“Sir, are you quite certain? I should remind you of the possible outcome, rare though it may be.”
“Perfectly reasonable to warn me but I’m certain.”
“Very well, in appreciation of your understanding and continued good business, the total will be 182,140 Nars.”
Feels like I managed to keep the price low, especially with my auto-haggle. I paid in full and even managed to get rid of some of my smaller coins — helps to reduces the weight of my money bag and An should feel like he probably couldn’t have asked for much more. Still, I don’t even want to think about his profit margin on a sve he only recently accepted.
Sherry was called back and happily strutted to the table for the transfer ceremony — yet another reminder of the artificiality of this world. I doubt she’d look any happier if this was just some role-pying situation. Just like with Alina, I’ll do my best to respect her values and cultural perspective. To be honest, I would probably have trouble reting to the common sense of the real Medieval Europe as well.
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I hand Sherry a pair of shoes and we leave the establishment. We then go around the corner to the usual spot and warp back home.
“Oh, Lady Alina, you look so young. I never would have guessed.”
“I’m certainly nowhere near as old as you, Sherry, but I am an adult.”
“Huh?”
“Alina, Sherry is younger than you… by one year.”
“Becoming an Adventurer at your age, Lady Alina? That’s fantastic.”
“David is just teasing and I’m not an Adventurer, I’m a Priest.”
This was getting much too silly. “Left hands, please.”
I swapped in Knight and dispyed their Status Cards.
“Ah, David. I wanted to be called ‘dy’ a bit longer.”
“Well, you’re a dy to me. Let’s go see Marcus and Theo.”
“How did you…?”
“Sorry, Sherry. That was a bit clumsy of me. The truth is, there will be a lot of little surprises to get used to. I’ll answer your questions ter.”
“Yes, Master.”
“David doesn’t like…”
“One step at a time, Alina.”
“Then can I…”
“Nope.”
“Meanie.”
We walked outside to the garden.
“Hi, Boss. Should we get ready to head out?”
“In about 15 minutes. Let me introduce you to Sherry, our new party member. Sherry, meet Marcus and Theo.”
With a big smile and a loud voice, Marcus decres, “Welcome to the family, Sherry.”
“Eek!”
Theo gres at Marcus and then turns toward Sherry. “Nice to meet you, Sherry.”
“Hello, Sirs.”
“Sherry, let’s go upstairs and get you some equipment.”
“Yes, Master.”
Alina followed and helped Sherry pick out some starting gear while I peeked into Sherry’s list of jobs.
[Explorer: 10, Vilger: 3, Herbalist: 1]
Yep, just as expected, her Vilger job is too low. I need her to do that club thing too but that can wait.
“Alina, can you use a sword for today? I’d like to have Sherry start with a spear.”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Good and show Sherry to the room next to yours. Meet us downstairs when you’re ready.”
“Sherry, do you have anything in your item box?”
“No, Master.”
“Good, keep it empty for now.”
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With everyone assembled, I opened a portal to Nordselm’s eighth floor. Sherry seemed to be watching to see who would cast Field Walker and was notably shaken when it apparently opened by itself.
“Sherry, this portal is one of my special skills. I promise to expin everything after we get back.”
“Yes, Master.”
A bit better prepared, Sherry actually dealt with the jump directly into a byrinth pretty well.
“We’re now on the eighth floor of Nordselm’s Labyrinth. There will be some left-over corals and spiders and it looks like the new monsters are olive trees. Sherry, I know you have some experience in the byrinth, but stay back for now.”
“Yes, Master.”
Time to switch Sherry to Vilger.
The guys handled the vanguard, Alina covered the rear and I fired off firestorms.
After a few sets, I asked Sherry to step up to the spear position (middle, slightly behind the vanguard). Of course she performed as expected and it didn’t take long at all for her Vilger job to reach level five. I switched her back to Explorer and we went home for lunch.
While others prepared something to eat, I sat down with Sherry to have a little talk.
“OK, Sherry, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Go ahead and ask anything you want.”
“Thank you, Master. Then, my first question is, could you please tell me what you are?”
Alina heard this and practically ughed her ass off. “We’ve been wondering about that since we met him!”
“Huh? I don’t understand. What’s the joke?”
“I’m sorry, Master. I just don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Oh, my weird skills. Well, I’m primarily a Mage and I have some other skills like that special movement magic. More unusual is that I can use some of the skills from other jobs.”
“David, I think she, and the rest of us, are more curious about what tribe you belong to.”
“Huh?”
“You know, like I’m a cat-kin. It’s OK if you can’t tell us, but you must know we’re curious.”
“Really? Don’t I look human?”
“Yeah, well, humans don’t have powers like yours.”
“I doubt that anyone does. That’s just me though so it doesn’t mean that I’m not human.”
“What do you think, Sherry?”
“…”
“Don’t worry. I’m not upset. In fact, I’m curious.”
“Yes, Master. So, if you’re the only one, what does your family say?”
“Good question, but I haven’t seen them since I got here and I didn’t have powers before that. By the way, Sherry, now that we’re discussing what kind of creature I am, can I ask you to stop calling me master? I really don’t like that word.”
“But, I’m a sve.”
“Uh huh, so are they. It’s OK to call me that until you feel a little more comfortable, though this conversation probably doesn’t help.”
Theo says, “Sherry, it took us awhile to get used to Boss’ strange powers, but you learn to accept that it’s just how he is. The important part is, Boss treats us very well. Whatever he turns out to be, that won’t change.”
Marcus nods and Alina adds, “Yes, Sherry, he saved my life before we even met. I was awful to him, but he forgave me, stood up for me and was even nice enough to accept me into his house.”
“Come on people. Don’t make me sound that nice. Either she won’t believe you or expect me to be nice all the time. Look, Sherry, the truth is, I don’t really know what I am. My values and background are a bit different than the norm, but I’m really just trying to get by in this world.”
“This world?”
“It’s just an expression. Anyway, if all this is too much, I can take you back. You could just look back on all this as a crazy joke and move on to a more normal life. But, I’d like you to stay, if you can accept a little weirdness.”
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[1] The LN initially says Bcksmith but changes to Master Smith. The WN’s title transtes to something about being a Forging/Smithing Master/Specialist. All of these names are misleading since actual bcksmithing is probably done by a Vilger. Dwarves use chants in pce of hammers (etc) so I wanted to say something about magic.[2] Sherry is encountered on the same day in the LN, but our MC has to pay more because he couldn’t keep his cool.
