Runo forest. The giant forest located northeast of Juka Kingdom. It’s inhabited by all kinds of monsters.

Regarding monsters. They are classified by the kingdom from S rank to E rank. In Runo forest, there are monsters from A to E rank, rather wide range. Moreover, there is also Juka Mountain Range with dragons living atop the mountains; it’s extremely difficult for a human to reach such altitude. Without any alternatives, although the trade with Baitos Dukedom exists, it is happening only once a year, during the New Year celebrations.

And right now, I’m standing inside this forest. For some reason, Eril is with me. The day before I needed to go to the Runo forest she said that she will accompany me all of the sudden.

「You can meet with powerful monsters, right? You need some protection, Rinos」

This reason lacked credibility but she forced it.

Then, right before the departure, she dragged me on the horse and placed me behind herself.

「Hold on tight!」

And then we rode at full speed. There are regulations against running at full speed in the capital, though it’s not that rare for soldiers to run at full speed during the emergencies. Since it was the morning, there weren’t many pedestrians on the streets, so the chaos was avoided.

From the Versam family to the Runo forest it’s 5 hour-long walk on foot. Since I’m a kid, I tried to get ready early to save some time, bit thanks to Eril I arrived in just 30 minutes. Due to her rather rough style of riding, I bit my tongue at one moment and stealthily healed it. Let’s make it a secret.

「All right, let’s hunt some monsters!」

「My lady, I’m the one who supposed to hunt today」

「I-I mean in case you meet a monster you can’t handle」

「I see, I will do my best to avoid that」

I will try to scan the forest with the mana detection. The LV is low so the range is small, but I still can detect a number of presences. Their mana is low so it’s probably something like a goblin.

As long as it is a monster, it has mana and can be sensed. According to the theory, monsters were born from mana, and the stronger they are the more mana they have.

I enter the forest while tracking the enemy’s mana. The light dims deeper into the forest and my line of sight shortens. Although I usually maintain the barrier around me, let’s raise its strength a little.

I carefully proceed through the forest as to not to get lost. Eril just wanders around aimlessly, don’t come complaining if you get lost.

「Somehow it’s disappointing. Nothing really comes. I thought I would be assaulted the moment I entered the forest」

Just how much of a battle maniac you are.

The reason nothing attacks us is probably you, Eril. The moment they attack you, they will become the prey for your sword.

While gradually proceeding, I felt a big mana reaction. I turned my head in that direction and saw two red lights. In the next moment:

「Guooooooo」

Ridiculously big cow appeared before me. It had a horn and the body size of 3 meters.

「Curse Charole!? 」[¹]

Said Eril with surprised eyes. Is this beast that dangerous?

「It usually stays deep inside the forest, why did it come all the way to the entrance! We need to defeat it…He has a hard skin, magic and blades won’t work on him. It’s a B rank monster, so it’s impossible for you. Stay behind me」

Eril holds her sword and stands in front of me; the cow is already in position to make a dash.

「Riya~a~a~a~a」

In a moment, Eril moved. She raised her sword above her head and aimed at cow’s neck.

Gakiin!

I heard the sound of metal clashing with metal. Although her strike wounded it, it wasn’t a fatal wound. Eril decided to create some distance, but in the next moment, Curse Charole finally moved.

With the speed not the least bit inferior to Eril, it attempts to stab her with its horn.

「You fell for it!」

Toward running cow, Eril makes a deadly stab.

Paan!

There was a sound of something rupturing. Cow’s movements had stopped. However, Eril’s sword stopped too. To be able to take that stab, that can even break my barrier, it’s defense is no joke.

「Run, Rinos. It’s impossible for you」

「Etto, before I run away, I want to try something」

I pointed my left hand at the giant cow and trapped it inside the barrier.

「So you wanted to trap it inside the barrier and run away! Good idea! 」

「Please be quiet for a moment!」

I carefully manipulate the barrier. The cow tried to pounce on me, but it couldn’t move because of the barrier. Nevertheless, if this continues, there is a risk of a barrier being broken. I guess I should hurry.

The movements of the furious cow stopped. Its mouth and eyes are wide open. After a little while, the light faded from its eyes.

「Fuh. Apparently, it is a success. The control is difficult though」

「…What was that? 」

「Eh, I drew the air out of the barrier. I though it will suffocate without the air and that’s what happened. Although it was difficult to maintain the vacuum inside」 [²]

「You drew the air out….」

Eril, still with a sword in her hand, spaced out. And I was thinking how I would carry this cow back home.

「Extra fire!」

「A-a-a, hot!」

A giant fireball comes flying my way, its speed is tremendous and its temperature is high enough to melt iron. Following right after, a woman with a sword comes at me with unexpected speed.

「Complete barrier」

I held the sword in my right hand and raised my left hand to erect the barrier. It looks like a sphere, it completely envelops me. It almost looked like I was inside the transparent ball.

The fireball lands as soon as I set up the barrier. It radiates enormous heat. The grass around us was even vaporized instead of being burned. My whole body receives the shockwave. I was almost blown away, but I somehow managed to stand my ground. And then, the sword swiftly approached me, slicing through the smoke. It’s Eril.

Gakiin!

There was a sound of glass shattering. Although I managed to stop the attack, the barrier crumbled right afterwards. As if expecting this outcome, she immediately swung her sword towards my head.

Right after, I swung my sword towards Eril. The target was her arm. I tried to knock her sword down. But Eril let go of her sword, spread her arms and dodged. For a moment, my stance collapsed. Eril won’t miss this opportunity. She caught her sword again and attacked me again.

Bashii!!

Her sword stopped right before me. Of course, she didn’t give up on the attack. Right after my posture was disrupted, I deployed thin but sturdy barrier.

「Hey, Falco! Why did you stop attacking with your magic? 」

「This is impossible, my lady. Once a barrier was deployed, it’s difficult to break it」

「Tsk!」

She stared at me intensely and lowered her sword.

「Well, isn’t it fine?」

「I think so too. Congratulation, Rinos, you passed」

「Thank you very much, lady Eril, teacher」

I bent my knee and lowered my head, even more careful than usual.

「Uryaa!!」

Eril suddenly slashed at me. I couldn’t react at all. Her sword stopped before reaching me again, the barrier was still in place.

「Damn it, I can’t relax with you around. You aren’t adorable at all」

「I would have lost a few lives if I was cute. I don’t plan to part with my life until Elsa-sama permits me」

「You are speaking more and more like an adult right now. So annoying」

「Well, well, my lady. You can break my barrier that even I can’t. You can feel proud」

「That’s why I hate men. You don’t understand anything」

Eril returned to her room.

「Still, it seems we can’t afford such mock battles anymore. Else, the mansion will turn into the desert」

Despite being far from the mansion, the land is full of sand, rocks, and craters. Originally, it was a grassy plain.

Since Eril joined my training sessions, it became increasingly severe. There was teacher’s fire magic at full power (LV4) as well as the sword attacks from Eril.

Besides, these two people were perfectly coordinated. They were hitting the weaknesses in my barrier for sure. Although she had a wooden sword at first, gradually she started to use the real one. I lost count of how many times my barrier was broken by her. There were times when I received some serious injuries, almost being one step in the grave.

Besides that, the teacher told me to maintain the barrier at all times. Just like that, I’m using the barrier even in my sleep right now. Of course, the barrier was consuming MP, but it seems that my regeneration during the sleep was keeping up with the drain, although there were some losses in resilience. Although I said that, the barrier will disappear if I completely lose my consciousness. Therefore, Eril came attacking me at night from time to time. This was pure madness. On the bright side, she only used the wooden sword. Of course, she still swung at full power. She broke my face many times.

I was desperate, my sleep was interrupted and I received some serious injuries. As the result, I somehow managed to keep my barrier active for the whole night. As a side effect, I gained an ability to detect presence and mana. Right now, not just Eril, but even teacher were attacking me at night. Nevertheless, thanks to the presence and mana detection, I was able to put up a barrier unconsciously.

When we just started the training, I often ended up with zero MP. So the teacher forced me to learn, with flaming arms clutching my chest, the MP absorption and leech off him.

「Is it hot? This fire is made from mana. Suck this fire out of me! Hahaha! 」

….And I got the skill quite soon. Also, the level of my recovery magic was raised.

Eril too, I thought that she will teach me properly, but she forced me to roll around trying to dodge the incoming attacks. At first, I was tormented badly and received severe muscle pains. I do not particularly like pain, so I tried my hardest to dodge.

One year passed and I turned 10. I learned to dodge their attacks and received much fewer wounds.

By the way, my current status is like this:

Rinos (Slave Barrier Master, 10 years old)
HP: 77
MP: 213
Barrier Magic LV4 (Teacher’s fire magic (LV4) doesn’t work anymore! I can deploy the barriers however I want!)
Fire Magic LV2（I can fire large fireballs! ）
Water Magic LV2（I can create large amounts of water!）
Earth Magic LV1 (I can dig and bury holes!)
Recovery Magic LV3（I can heal severe burns and wounds! I can also heal diseases!）
Life Magic LV1
Chanting LV3
Appraisal Magic LV3
Sword Arts LV2
MP Recovery LV2
Presence Detection LV2
Mana Detection LV2
Mana Absorption LV1
Body Strengthening LV1
Evasion LV2
Etiquette LV1
Liberal Arts LV3

10 years old and I’m on the level of the royal barrier master. Everything thanks to the intense training. Good kids shouldn’t probably that though.

「I have almost nothing to teach you. I think it’s time for you to do graduation practice」

「Graduation practice??」

「Yes. In three days, depart for the Runo forest and hunt some monsters」

Really? It’s a monster nest. I might really die there.

The hot summer has ended and I turned 9 years old.

Just like in Japan, there are four seasons in this world. It is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. There are no electric devices, but heat and cold problems could be solved with magic.

I have also grown quite accustomed to the butler uniform. Right now, I am being entrusted with guiding guests of the Versam family. In the first place, the old butler, Waiton, always helps me with an advice and follows up if a need arises.

One day, there was a guest when I was training, and this guest made quite a rough entrance.

Three「Fireball」are closing in on me at high speed. With LV4, it is possible to adjust the size, distance, and power according to mana used. And teacher’s fireballs were powerful, almost on the level of the serious attack.

Against the three fireballs, coming from a different direction, I erect the thick barrier. In the next moment, a big explosion happens. It is on the level that would have been an emergency unless the garden of Versam family was any smaller (around the size of the Tokyo Dome). I managed to endure it somehow, but then, in the next moment:

「Naive」

The barrier was broken and shock ran through me, almost robbing me of my consciousness, but I managed to recover. I looked backwards and found the figure of the woman with the wooden sword in her hand.

「Quite a strong barrier you have here, but it’s uneven. Your back in full of openings」

「Lady Eril! You have returned! 」

「It was long since we last met, but you are still the same」

Lady? Is she the daughter of Mrs. Elsa? No, doesn’t look like it. Granddaughter?

「Greet the lady, Rinos. She is Versam von Eril-sama. Elsa-sama’s niece」

I immediately kneel, put a hand on my chest and bow my head.

「Forgive me for my rudeness. I’m Rinos, the slave」

「Your manners are quite good, maybe better than mine」

「From a year ago, I learned a lot by following Waiton, the butler. I can already read, write and calculate」

「You are still a child, right?! You can already cast barriers and calculate」

The lady watched me with her mouth wide open. I slowly lifted my head and looked in her eyes. Her stare is intense. Oh, her chest is quite big. [¹]

「Falco, what is the skill of this slave?」

「Fire, water, wind, earth magic is LV1, barrier magic is LV3. He can shorten the chant and can use recovery magic. He also has appraisal magic at LV3. He has quite impressive defensive potential」

「This slave is still 9 years old, right!? How does he have two LV3 skills? 」

Don’t fret, my lady. I used magic every day after all. I’m not your average slave. Under the threat of being returned back, anyone will work hard.

「So, what is his level of swordsmanship? 」

「Absolutely nothing. During these 2 years, he only learned the magic under my tutelage」

「T-this might be inconvenient in the future. After all, you should be able to fight even without magic」

「That is that. However, even if I’m not able to use a sword, I never had any problems because of that」

「Fa-falco is special. I saw this slave’s barrier and it was easily broken from behind. You should let him properly learn the swordsmanship」

「Let’s see. I guess it’s a good opportunity for Rinos. Let’s teach him the swordsmanship from now on」

Why are you casually raising the difficulty???

「I don’t mind being this slave’s opponent. But first, I will go greet the aunt」

The hell is this woman? Let’s check her skills first.

Versam Phil Eril (Licensed Swordsman, 24 years old) [²] HP: 387
MP: 77
Sword Arts LV4
Body Recovery LV4
Body Strengthening LV4
Life Magic LV1
Etiquette LV1

She is a monster. She is even licensed. Her HP completely outstrips the teacher. No wonder my barrier was broken. Wait. If this woman is to be my opponent then I will be in the world of pain!

My vision darkens. The teacher lightly tapped my shoulder, while smiling. There are only S in this world!

After that, I learned some details about Eril from the teacher.

Eril is Elsa’s sister’s granddaughter. For Elsa, who lost her child immediately after the birth, Eril is like her own granddaughter. Usually, noble children spent their time learning etiquette and such. However, Eril was interested in the sword since childhood, and she even had the talent for it. Elsa learned about her talent and supported her.

But when Eril was twelve, she married and became estranged for a while. After she turned 16 and still wasn’t able to produce children, she got divorced. In this case, it was expected of her to stay at home or become someone’s second wife, but Mrs. Elsa didn’t hesitate to recommend her as an apprentice to the famous swordmaster, Gunball. Then, after 8 years of arduous training and graduating, she returned home.

By the way, in this world, you are considered adult at 12 years old. Since the average life expectancy is 50 years old, the marriageable age became this low. Still, marrying at 12 and divorcing at 16 without giving birth to any children is amazing in a sense. That being said, the teacher speculated that she was too dominating in this relationship.

「Aunt, I’m back」

「That was fast. I expected you to return in six months, but I never expected that you would reach here in just two months」

「I wanted to arrive as soon as possible, so I almost never left the horse. Riding, riding, and riding, if horses weren’t so weak I would have arrived sooner」

「You were riding the whole day? 」

「There were times when horses collapsed under me. About 10 such times」

「…It must have been hard (for horses) 」

「There is no reason to worry anymore. I will protect the aunt with this sword. Falco can go to the royal palace with a clear mind. Let him protect the uncle and the prince」

「Oh, about that, the situation is stable right now. Let’s leave things as it is for a while」

「T-then I will…..」

「It’s all right. I’m happy with just you being here」

「Then I will bother you for a while. By the way, I heard that Falco is training the slave」

「On, it’s Rinos. He has quite the talent. He can already cast barriers, read, write and calculate. And as a butler…」

「No, aunt, you should teach him swordsmanship! A man needs to have some strength. He can’t protect everything with magic alone」

「I see. Then you can teach him if you want. Just keep in mind that we are trying to raise him as a barrier master」

「Yes」

Eril felt happy from the bottom of her heart. Rinos is strong, there is no way to tell how much stronger he will become in the future. If you practice with a strong opponent, you will become strong yourself. There in no way she will let go of this opportunity. I’m looking forward to our training. Eril thought so and went to her room.

I’m 8 years old now. I’m quite used to the life in the Versam family.[¹]

As a slave, I was prepared for the harsh treatment (training with my teacher was an act of abuse), but it was better than I expected.

As expected of a marquis’ family, they owned a big castle on the bank of the lake. But the mansion itself wasn’t that big. Apart from the building belonging to Mrs. Elsa, there were mostly dwellings for servants. Even if I said servants, there were only 4 maids, 1 butler and my teacher, Falco.

The main building is two stories tall. The first floor has a hall, reception room, dining room, kitchen, bath, and toilet; it is a floor for guests if anything. All rooms are large and the furniture is first class. The dining room is wide enough to accommodate about 100 people, or so I think. It seems that parties are held here.

The second floor is a living space, and the private room of Mrs. Elsa is placed here. There are also several other rooms, but a lot of them aren’t used.

「Our family is that of a marquise. So even with a status of a slave, you are still a part of Versam family. You should dress appropriately」

By the order of Mrs. Elsa, I received the same outfit as a butler. If fact, it looks pretty cool. The training suit was provided; there is also pajamas for the night. I have three meals every day, although the food was different from that of Mrs. Elsa. Overall, the situation with food is pretty good. There are a soup and bread every day, sometimes even something resembling a stew.

Most of the time, the marquis was staying in the office inside the castle. Even though it is called an office, it is quite spacious, with bath and toilet included. Not only that, there are also several rooms for his subordinates.

The Juka Kingdom was called the strongest in the past, but right now, it is decaying from the inside. The current king, Juka York Fan IV, 38 years old, despite his young age, has a reputation of the foolish king; he always shuts himself in the palace and disregards his duties. He surrounds himself with beauties and behaves like a spoiled child.

However, the 19 years old prince, Juka York Olren, is a very capable person, and he slowly takes charge of the political affairs inside the royal palace.

And Mrs. Elsa is the tutor of prince Olren, you can even say that she raised him. Of course, the prince trusts her greatly, in short, she is a heavyweight in the royal palace and has the right to advise the prince. And the marquis serves as the prince’s right-hand man.

The point is, the prince and the Versam couple, who raised him, carry out the kingdom’s matters. As a result, they somehow managed to stabilize the kingdom, but there are many people aiming at Versam family’s position, some of them even resort to underhanded means.

Until now, my teacher, Falco successfully dealt with all attempts on Mrs. Elsa’s life, but if someone attacked the marquis at the same time, one Falco won’t be enough. That’s why they have bought a slave with barrier skill.

Noble society is deeply involved in politics. In the Juka Kingdom, the prince’s faction holds the most influence, but the younger brother of the king, duke Hira, and the general Karugi have their own factions, you can’t let your guard down.

When I first arrived at the Versam family, I was training under Falco all the time, but recently, I also learned「Etiquette」and「Reading and Writing」.

Well, I’m 34 years old on the inside though. I learned how to read and write before I noticed it. After all, the words were Japanese and the characters were latin. I just needed to convert the words inside my head, there was no problem with pronunciation either.

「If I can raise my barrier skill further, I can become a butler and have a peaceful life」

While thinking about it, I collapsed onto my bed. Of course, this naive way of thinking was destroyed soon enough…

Rinos (Slave Barrier Master, 8 years old)
HP: 45
MP: 143
Barrier Magic LV3 (Teacher’s fire magic (LV3) doesn’t work anymore!)
Fire Magic LV1（I can create small balls of fire! ）
Water Magic LV1（I can produce water! ）
Recovery Magic LV1
Life Magic LV1
Chanting LV2
Appraisal Magic LV3
Etiquette LV1
Liberal Arts LV3（Appeared once I tried double digits multiplication)

I am now 7 years old. The content is still 34 though.

It has been a year since I was bought by the Versam family from a slave market, and I am almost dying from everyday training to become a barrier master ever since.

In the first place, the barrier master is a rare job. There are not many people with this job, but for some reason, it is not so popular. The reason is they can do nothing but defend. They cannot be in the front of the battlefield, nor do they have particular leadership capabilities. You can say that it was the unsophisticated profession.

Most of the times, the job of the barrier masters was to protect the king from arrows or magical attacks. Because of that, they can’t move around. In extreme cases, they can’t even go to the toilet. You need to keep maintaining the barrier until the order comes to dispel it, extremely mentally tiring work.

To erect a proper barrier you need to consume MP. If your MP was depleted, the barrier will disappear. It is said that even the super-class barrier master that serves the king can only maintain the barrier for 12 hours. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the right time to erect and dispel the barrier; it is not unusual to make a mistake.

So you want to know what kind of training I’m currently experiencing?

「Fireball! 」「Burst! 」

I need to survive from Falco’s magic attacks by casting a barrier.

At first, I didn’t even know how to use mana, forget about setting a barrier, that was a painful time. However, if this was accepted, that would have been a loss of 500G for the family. Well, even if I said that it would be a loss, 500G is about 50000 Japanese yen. This pitiful amount won’t even make the Versam family flinch. [¹]

Falco’s, no, teacher’s method was crude but to the point. It was quite effective.

「Be aware of the current flowing in your body. You should feel the heat. This is mana. Imagine this current flowing out of your body. Image is important」

I practiced doing it for 2 months and finally mastered the「Low Barrier」.

「Grasping「Low Barrier」in two months is good. I guess this should be relatively easy for children」

The teacher was happy, but that happiness became the bane of me. Particularly, teacher’s magic with his tension at MAX. 「Low Barrier」was quickly destroyed under the barrage. My teacher was good at「Fire Magic」and I often ended up as a daruma in the beginning. No, you could say it was an everyday occurrence. By the way, the teacher’s skills are:

Falco (Magician, 52 years old)
HP: 184
MP: 395
Fire Magic LV4
Water Magic LV3
Wind Magic LV3
Earth Magic LV2
Lightning Magic LV1
Healing Magic LV3
Appraisal Magic LV2
Life Magic LV2
Body Strengthening LV3
Chanting LV3
MP Recovery LV3
Intimidation LV3

You can be considered as the first class if you reach LV3. LV4 is the super first-class. LV 5 is considered god class, and among those of the LV4, only 1% can reach it. In other words, only one in 100 million people can achieve that. The teacher is best at fire magic, but the level of other types of magic is also high. He has a lot of MP and recovers fast, so even if he operates at full power during the day, he will recover overnight.

Therefore, teacher gladly launches spells my way when he is free. Of course, he mainly uses LV2 spells, but sometimes it’s LV3. If I am injured he will heal me with healing magic, but recently he stopped doing it. He said to fix my wounds myself. Moreover, he wants me to erect a barrier while simultaneously healing myself, what a magnificent recklessness. He said that if I become the「Moving Hospital」it would be very strategically valuable. I can understand his logic, but my MP is too little. Being hit until my barrier dissipates from mana depletion, this was a recent pattern for me.

By the way, if your mana hits rock bottom, you will be attacked by intense sleepiness. In the end, I will lose to the sleepiness, pass out, then, after I recover my mana by 1P (around 5 minutes), I will be forcibly woken up, and repeat the same thing again.

Right now, my status looked as such:

Rinos (Slave Barrier Master, 7 years old)
HP: 38
MP: 122
Barrier Magic LV2
Recovery Magic LV1
Life Magic LV1
Chanting LV1
Appraisal Magic LV3

Compared to any other child of my age it is quite high. Judging by common sense, if either you HP or MP passed 100 you reached the values of an adult person. However, compared to the teacher my MP is too little. Even though my MP is that of an adult person, I will still have 0 in the end. You can imagine how hard my training is.

For some reason, my level of appraisal magic was quite high. I desperately tried to understand when the teacher’s spell will activate and ended up being somewhat able to see his flow of mana. At this point, I’m able to perceive the true status of a person. It’s a pleasant miscalculation. As appraisal magic grows in level, you can read other people’s statuses and at the same time hide your own skills. Not just that, you can detect people and their movements in a certain area, or maybe even detect if they are allies or enemies. It seems that the founder of Versam family was able to do that, but right now, it is considered a legendary magic. I definitely want to master it.

Versam von Elsa. She is the marchioness of 60 years old. The Versam family is a famous family which excels in sorcery, and in the war with the Hedeta Empire 250 years ago, Versam family made numerous contributions to the Juka Kingdom’s victory. After that, they were granted a title of marquis and ascended from their commoner status.

…And this is a short story of my buyer, at least that’s what I heard from other people.

「Thank you very much」

She saved my life, I need to show some gratitude.

「You should refer to her as Master」

Said white-haired man beside Versam-san. Who the hell is he?

「My name is Falco. I’m a magician of Versam family. At the same time, I’m Elsa-sama’s escort. Thanks to Elsa-sama’s mercy, you are now a slave of Versam family. Rejoice」[ ¹]

「Thank you very much, master」

「Mrs. Versam, thank you very much for visiting our establishment. I will carry out the procedures to change the ownership of this slave immediately」

Before I noticed, the slave dealer was already beside me, and then he graciously asked for Versam-san’s hand and muttered something. Elsa extended her hand as asked and it shined, and at the same time, my hand shined too.

「This slave is now a property of Versam-sama. We can also repurchase slaves. Please do not hesitate to come if you ever need it」

First, he was saying that I will be disposed of, and now he talks about repurchase with respectful expression.

「That won’t be needed, please transfer the ownership to me. Also make Falco an overseer」

「Acknowledged, well then」

Elsa’s body shined again, it seems the procedure was completed.

「Madam, what should we do about this slave’s name?」
「Let’s see….Rinos. Let’s call him Rinos. All right, Falco, the rest is up to you」

Elsa turned around and entered the carriage. Apparently, there are guards inside the carriage. Falco silently follows the carriage with his gaze, and I stand beside him with a lowered head.

「I will take you to the mansion, but before that」

I was brought all the way to the well, stripped and splashed with three buckets of water. After that he passed me a piece of cloth.

「Wipe yourself. I will give this piece of cloth to you, use it however you want」

The climate wasn’t too cold or too hot, but it felt pretty cold with all this water splashed on me. A hard cloth is better than nothing at all. I washed away my dirty body and wiped myself.

Then Falco casted a spell called「Clean」. The smell and the small dirt all vanished without a trace. Apparently this spell makes something dirty clean again. [²]

「Follow me, Rinos」

It seems the servants are required to go on foot. After a while we passed by a big castle in the middle of the lake. Seeing the castle I spaced out for a little.

「This is the Juka Castle belonging to his highness the king, gaze upon it to your heart’s content」

It’s a western-style castle, but still, it’s just too big. If you ask someone, you can know that this castle is  considered impregnable. The are farms behind the wall, so until the enemy broke through the wall, the people inside will not starve. Besides that, there is only one bridge extending to the castle gates. It really is difficult to siege this castle with power alone.

「Emm……..why was I bought?」

「You don’t even know about your own skills? Well, it’s understandable. You have a「Barrier skill」. Still Lv1 though. My Versam family has a lot of political opponents. For the sake of Elsa-sama’s protection I thought of developing your barrier skill」

Eh? I can use magic? Falco looked at me with a heavy gaze.

「If you learn how to use magic, you will be able to see other people’s skills. So called「Appraisal」. You seem to have a fair amount of mana, it should be worth training you. Since you are a slave, the barrier magic might be enough for you, but still, might as well learn other kinds of magic. Prepare yourself」

Looking at the grinning man, I figured that my life would be filled with thorns from now on. I dropped my shoulders in resignation.

The market was overflowing with people.

He planned to sell 8 people here, including me. Everyone is young. There are two who look like skin and bones and there is an idol-like pretty boy too. There is also a cat beastman with a robust build, who looks like a warrior. I am the only kid here.

The owner is talking to someone in the market. Apparently, he wants to decide my price.

「Please start with a 1000G. If you want, you can lower it. His clothes……will do. Just sell him for at least a little. If he doesn’t sell……..dispose of him」

…. I’m pretty worthless, am I? Well, no one wants to buy a useless child after all. If he doesn’t sell……..dispose of him…….that might be bad.

My arm was suddenly gripped. Ouch! I’m being dragged away rather violently. You should treat kids better!

Before I noticed, I was dragged on top of the stage.

「First one. Man! 6 years old! Starting price is 1000G! 」

The noisy audience instantly became quiet. It seemed that no one wanted to buy me.

I can clearly see the audience from on top of the stage. No one meets my gaze. Well, that’s not surprising. After all, no one was looking at me. Most of the customers are looking at the entrance from where I came from. Their interest has already shifted to a slave that will come after me. Other customers are either working with documents or talking to a neighboring customer. They held no interest in me at all.

「How about 900G?….800G! ….700G! 」

Countdown started. My life will end when it reaches zero. I was reincarnated for an unknown reason and suddenly became a slave. For the last thing I will see in my life to be a slave market….

I thought of those things while dumbly staring at the audience. At that time my eyes met with a certain old lady’s. Her eyes were small but held a strong will within. But then she took her eyes off me and started talking with a white-haired man next to her.

「Then, 500G! This is the lowest price! …. Is no one interested??」

Absolute silence.

「Is it fine? All right, №1 is over! 」

I was pulled down from the stage, as violent as always. I want to run away, but his grip strength is quite something. Escape seems no longer possible.

I was violently thrown into the room. This is the place where I’ll die.

「This is the merchandise you were looking for, Mrs. Versam」

The old lady from the audience was standing there.

We finally reached the capital.

The capital is protected by the high rampart wall, so we will enter from one of the checkpoints situated in the north, east, south and west side of the city. It seems we will enter the capital from the「West Gate」, the Beard is talking with an armored gatekeeper about something.

「I’m a slave merchant! Here is the proof!」

「Umu, I see. Let me check the cargo…….Oh, only kids? All right, you can pass」

The soldier was wearing a western style armor, he also was handsome and had a blonde hair. For some reason, I felt a little irritated.

Our rattling carriage proceeded through the streets of the capital. Looking outside, I can see the variety of different people and attires. This look like a cosplay site. Soldiers in armor, ladies in dresses, priests in robes…..and so on and so forth. And I’m currently wearing a shirt and half pants made out of hard fabric, quite shabby if I say so myself. I’m really a slave isn’t it.

Apparently, this world is of the western style, there are plenty of people with blond and silver hair. By the way, my hair is black. This is the only thing that resembles my previous self.

After some time the carriage stopped and we were taken out. I can see a big building with businesslike atmosphere. It’s probably the slave store. A neat middle-aged man came from the inside of the store. He seemed to be the owner of this place.

「So it’s Gaim, you have returned. Good work. The female slaves are to do the washing. Take them to a well. The guy is……I will sell him on the market」

「All right then, I will transfer you the ownership rights right away 」

Gaim (the Beard) gripped my hand and muttered something.

「With this, this kid is in your possession. I will take the rest away. Oi! Don’t dawdle! Follow me!!」

The girls started moving. The girl who took my portion of that terrible meal didn’t look back and quietly followed after Gaim.

「Well then, come with me」

The owner started walking away and I followed after him.

Is this my chance to escape? There are plenty of people around. The owner doesn’t look like he has a lot of fighting power too. All right, let’s do it.

The owner doesn’t look back at all. This will work. I slowly increased the distance between us. This much distance should do. But the moment I thought I had a chance, an electric current assaulted my body, bringing the intense pain with it.

「Ah, the slave magic can shock you, so be careful. If will bring you pain if you are far away from me. If you think of killing me or running away, you will suffer tremendously and won’t be able to move for a while. If you don’t believe me, you can try」

I shook my head vigorously. I can’t possibly tolerate even more than this. It was already too strong.

I desperately tried to keep up with the owner. He seemed to be walking relatively slowly, but I was a child. As our strides are totally different, I had to walk quite fast. It was really hard.

While I was about to fall into a dangerous situation, the owner’s feet stopped. Apparently, we arrived at the「Market」.

I opened my eyes to the loud voice of a man.

Did I fell asleep on the toilet? I get it, stop screaming already.

Suddenly a big hand lifted me and carried me like a baggage. What the hell? I looked around and found a man with a beard. The man said:

「So you survived! You sure are annoying for a little slave!!」

The Beard violently threw me into the carriage. It hurts. Just what the hell is happening?

There were several children in the carriage. Their age was between 5 and 10 years old, and their eyes were dead. Apparently, I am the only man here, the rest are all girls. To confirm my situation, I decided to speak with the oldest girl. ⌈¹⌋

「Emm, can I have a minute of your time?」

Hearing me, the girl only directed her unfocused dead eyes my way.

「It was better for you to die there」

What the hell are you saying, kid? Her unexpected answer made me speechless.

「If you die, you can finally take things easy. It may have been your last chance to find an easy death, you know? 」

Such rude words for a kid! After a while, the coachman stopped the carriage.

「Hey, Brats!! It’s dinner! Come down! If you don’t hurry up, you will get nothing! 」

The Beard was screaming loudly. The children got off the carriage while trembling. And I too followed after them.

The food given to us tasted like s̲h̲i̲t̲. Eating even a single piece was a torture, it was at such a level. Children lifelessly stuffed the food into their mouths. And I gave my portion to the girl, who spoke with me earlier.

It seems there was a rain until a little while ago, there are puddles of water all over. The one beside me is especially big. When I looked in the puddle, I saw a child’s reflection on its surface.

The child reflected in the puddle moved according to my movements. It raised the right hand, raised the left hand, lowered the right hand.

–Is this me?

It was a figure of a 5-6 years old kid however you look at it. Just what happened to me?!

Then the Beard lifted the frozen me up.

「Ora! Time is up! Get in the carriage, damned snails!!」

I have been shoved in the carriage again. It really hurts, I must say.

In the rattling carriage, I try to understand my situation. Why am I a kid? Where is this place? What happened with my work? ⌈²⌋

「If you won’t eat, no one will buy you」

The girl who received my portion said.

「What do you mean?」

「The slave merchant said that a man should have a large build to be sold as a soldier or a miner. Did you get hurt when you fell from the carriage a while ago? You may be disposed of if you are sick or injured, you know? 」

「No, I’m not injured」

「I see. I thought you couldn’t eat because of the injury」

It seems she was worried about me, the only guy here. After that, I got a lot of information from this girl.

• The Beard is a slave merchant
• Everyone in a carriage is a slave (including me)
• Female slaves are sold to a brothel or as a maid, rarely as an adventurer
• Male slaves are sold to perform a physical labor or in the mines
• The future of slaves is determined by the owner. If you are bought by a pervert serial killer, your corpse might be found later in some ditch

The girl said that it was rare for boys of 5-6 years old to be sold as slaves. The man is a valuable worker for the village, even if his house is poor, the villagers will cooperate to raise him.

It seems that I was stuffed into the carriage, then cried for a whole night and tried to escape. There, I fell from the carriage and hit the ground with my head. And this is how we arrive at my current situation.

「It seems we will arrive in the capital by tomorrow, so I will go to sleep now. Probably, this would be my last opportunity to sleep all I want」

「You won’t run?」

「Idiot. I will just become a feed for monsters. I don’t want to end up in someone’s stomach」

Really? There are monsters in this world.

After a while, the girl quietly fell asleep. You sure are amazing to sleep in this rattling carriage. The rest of the girls seemed to be asleep too.

Apparently, I was reincarnated. In the body of the child. With a status of a slave.

In the end, I didn’t manage to fall asleep till the morning.

Help me, help me, please help me.

My name is Kubo Tamotsu. 34 years old. This is a toilet room. And my situation is bad. Seriously bad.

I am a programmer. A so-called IT warrior. And my work is not easy. ⌈¹⌋

When you manage to show some ability, you will be asked to take on a number of projects, each project with its respective deadline. We are never able to finish the project relying on the schedule (although it seems doable at the first glance), we are repeatedly working overtime and overnight to finish the work. It’s such an industry.

Today I am also suffering from a certain Daruma project. The phone on my desk rings nonstop. ⌈²⌋

「Kubo-san, I am at my limit. Please let me quit」

Does he want to retire by just calling me once? Although he thought as such, this unexpectedly happened a lot. But right now the situation is different. The deadline for this project is tomorrow, and the person on the other side of the phone is the main programmer. Without his assistance, we won’t be able to finish in time.

I don’t have a solution. First, I need to cool my head and think it through. Thinking about it, I entered the toilet and released a big sigh.

Why is this happening? What do I do? Relax. How long did I work without rest? When was the last time when I returned home regularly? I want to rest; I want to rest so much. I want to have a date with a girl. Weren’t they saying that IT industry is popular with women? I don’t understand. Aren’t all the girls looking at me with dead eyes? Just where did I go wrong? Someone, please help me, help me, help me.

Slowly, my consciousness drifts far away.