Author: SS Samurai	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: rm31439	English Source: Re:Library

“…And with this, the Red Ears, Shuu Hino and, erm… right, Rir Fún are deemed SS-Rank.”

In this ceremonial manner, we were finally acknowledged as SS-Rankers. It was over unexpectedly fast, but Rir was still trembling horribly, so I could see that it was tough for her.

With this over, can we go home…?

“Shuu, it might be a meager affair, but we have prepared lunch. Go and enjoy it. There is also a portion for your slave.”

Slave… I wish he’d stop callin’ her that. Well, from the outside, it might look like that, but it’s startin’ to piss me off.
Still, I gotta endure it.

“Once you’ve eaten, come here once more. There are things to discuss concerning sages.”
“U-Understood…”

Rir and I left the throne room and turned towards the dining hall. On the way, Kanata and Sakura came rushing at us.

“You told him that I’m a sage in advance, didn’t you?” I asked Kanata. “Thanks a bunch.”
“You’re welcome. Let’s talk a bit while we eat.”
“Alright.”

The four of us entered the dining hall. Both it and the food were insanely extravagant. Guess that’s what you’d expect at a castle. At the same time as Rir and Sakura started chatting about something, Kanata and I had a serious conversation. Or rather, to keep those around us from overhearing it, we sent messages.

[The racism in this kingdom is pretty awful, after all, ain’t it?]　
[It seems so. I think King Loukis is the worst, but there’s a high chance he’s holding himself back a lot currently.]　
[…Why’s that?]　
[It’s because you’re a sage, Shuu, someone holding legendary powers… You wouldn’t want to antagonize such a person. The king himself probably didn’t think that far, but I’m guessing that the officials around him cautioned him.]　

Come to think of it, when I checked my surroundings, I noticed those older men look worried each time the king said somethin’. So, those are the kingdom’s big shots.

[In that case, if Rir had been a normal slave, just how would he have treated her?]　
[I have no idea… Do you know about slaves that are deemed defective products?]　

When he sent me that message, Kanata looked as if he had trouble putting it into words. As a matter of fact, when I introduced Rir to them and told them how we met, I didn’t mention that she once was a defective product. It was probably fine to tell him now.

[Of course. To tell you the truth, Rir used to be one of them.]　
[…! I see…]　
[Right, the first time we met, she was sufferin’ from some eatin’ disorder, then she was missin’ one of her ears and part of her tail had been cut off… her whole body was covered with scars. That’s how she was when I got her for free from that slave merchant.]　

Kanata didn’t reply for some time¹. He looked perplexed. After taking a sip of the carrot juice that had come with our meal, he finally answered.

[…In that case, do you know what happens to slaves that are deemed defective?]　
[I do.]　
[As a matter of fact, this system was put in place by the former king, and the one who further changed it for the worse… was King Loukis.]　
[I see.]　

I’m pretty sure this kingdom’s rulership is passed down hereditarily. So, the fact that the very guy who changed the system his father implemented for the worse, and who keep’s thinkin’ of Rir as a slave, would smoothly acknowledge her as an SS-Ranker – even assumin’ that’s the rule in all of Anazumu – and offer her food is weird, after all.

From what Kanata said, it’d be natural to assume that he’s holdin’ himself back.

[Understood. I’ll be more vigilant… By the way, could you tell me about the people who were lined up at the sides of the throne room? For now.]　
[Of course.]　

After that, Kanata informed me about the employees and officials of Castle Yggdrasil, until we finished our meal. They all seemed to be mostly good people. Though he told me that he was somewhat suspicious of the woman called Dace.

Once we finished eating, we went back to the throne room. On the way, I asked Rir what she had been talking about with Sakura. The younger girl had apparently told her stories about me from before I came to Anazumu.

No clue what she told her, but… from how happy Rir looks, it can’t have been anythin’ negative.

When we arrived at the throne room, there was barely anyone there; it was just the king, the young woman called dace who talked like a grandma, and finally Thor and another man holding a hunting horn, who must’ve arrived here while we were eating.

Right after Thor noticed, he closed in on us.

“Gah-ha-ha-ha! Nakata, Shushuu! So, you met each other!”

Nakata… does he mean Kanata? Looks like this guy treats the names of men pretty haphazardly. When we met him back then, he mostly called Rir “missy” or such.

For the time bein’, it’s thanks to him that I managed to reunite with Kanata and Sakura, and find the culprit who summoned us. I gotta thank him.

“Mr. Thor, thank you so much for giving us the chance to reunite!” Kanata told him.
“It’s the same for me. Thank you a lot for helping us, Sir,” I added.
“Gah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! It’s all good! But obviously I was surprised that you became SS-Rank so soon after that, Shushuu.”

Suddenly, there was a clapping sound. When I looked where it was coming from, I saw the king, apparently in poor spirits, who was about to say something.

“Shuu. I called you here to talk to you again. To relay what I wish for you to do as a sage… Everyone except for Dace, Kanata, Sakura, and Shuu leave for now.”

TL notes:
More details about the kingdom, which also made me realized that I misread the part about Loukis father introducing the current system back then, wrongly assuming he was the one who started the whole slavery/demi human racism fad. This was likely present before him, and he just added the whole “defective product” horror on top of it.

The more we hear how supposedly racist and horrible the place is, the more we notice the conspicuous absence of any racists and bigots in the story, apart from Loukis. It’s even worse than failing to “show don’t tell”, we are told one thing and then shown something that seems to contradict it.

My best guess is that the author dislikes writing horrible characters, which in this case clashes wildly with the setting they try to build.

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