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“Guh-ho-ho-ho-ho, incidentally, who’s the boy standing next to the Svaðilfajis¹, Fred? He does have an unusual appearance…”

Is Svaðilfaji the name of these horses?
…More importantly, the merchant asked the coachman about me.

“Well, he’s a traveler I chanced upon on the road, and, as a matter of fact…”

Then he told the merchant exactly what had happened, including how he picked me up and that he had run into goblins.

“Guh-ho… and he defeated a D-Rank magic beast with a single beginner level magic attack…?”

When the merchant mumbled that, he looked at the girl he had called a defective product and the other girls, and then closed in on me while rubbing his hands and showing a contented smile².

“Guh-ho-ho-ho-ho! What do you think, Master Sorcerer³? Don’t you have need of a slave? Guh-ho-ho-ho!”

I see, he views me as a target for his business. Still, I don’t have no money. I’d love to take those girls, rather than have them placed with a cruel master, but that won’t fly.

“No, I don’t have any money, so…”
“Guh-ho-ho-ho-ho! Oh no, I assume it would be the first time for you to own a slave, Master Sorcerer. You went as far to protect our goods, so limited to just this time, it will be Free. Of. Charge! I will give you one of them, you see? Though I shall choose the slave to give to you.”

Oh, I was wrong. So, that’s what he meant. He’s tryin’ to give that girl to me, ain’t he? What do I do?

What’d be the best thing to do? …For now… let’s ask him why I’d even want a slave.

“Erm, what good would a… slave do me?”
“Guh-ho-ho-ho-ho, they’re slaves, aren’t they? They are mainly used for housework and chores. Other than killing them, the buyer is free to do anything they want with them! They can be used to provide sexual relief, satisfy violent urges, and they have lots of other uses.”

I didn’t let it show on my face when he mentioned “sexual relief” and “violent urges”, but it made me rather uncomfortable.
I wanna punch this guy… Still, in this world, I’m the abnormal one and he’s normal, ain’t he?

“Erm… Would the slave you want to give me happen to be that girl over there?”
“Guh-ho-ho… You’re right.”
“More importantly. What will happen to her, if I don’t take her?” I asked.

The merchant, who had been grinning until now, made a rather serious face.

“In that case…”

I had my breath taken away.

Is such a thing… really allowed⁴? I can’t bring myself to even repeat what he told me.

But still… The one thing I can say here and now, is that if I don’t take that wolf beastfolk into my care, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life and never forgive myself for it. There ain’t no other choice.

“…Please give her to me,” I told him.
“Guh-ho-ho-ho-ho! Thank you kindly! Guh-ho-ho-ho-ho! Then, sign the contract.”

I took the sheet of paper and the pen he gave me and signed the contract with “Shuu”⁵.

“Guh-ho-ho-ho! With this, that defective prod-… I mean slave, belongs to you. Do whatever you like with her, you can even release her. Incidentally, to free her, you need only tear up the contract. Fred, the keys.”

The coachman brought out two keys from his bag and gave them to the merchant.

“These are for her collar and manacles. On that note, the slave brand on her shoulder will only disappear if she is released.”

The merchant handed me the contract and the keys, then went to the girl and dragged her in front of me.

“Here she is, you’re welcome.
I don’t want you to tell me that.

What do I do? I… For now, I’ll release… no, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea, no matter how you look at it. In that case…

“Ugh…”

As my thoughts were going in circles, the girl suddenly collapsed powerlessly in front of me.

“H-Hey, are you alright!?”

I immediately gave her body a light shake. She didn’t react. Next, I checked her pulse and found her heart was still beating.
Good… she’s alive. Then… is she breathin’?

This time I placed my hand close to her mouth, but it seemed as if she was breathing without any issues.
In other words, she probably only lost consciousness.

I picked her up, trying to cause her as little irritation as possible, and placed her on my back.
She feels soft on my back and in my hands… and she’s breathin’ into my ear… No, I don’t have the leeway to get distracted like that. Am I an idiot…? Well, I probably am.

“…My apologies, to think that she’d suddenly cause such trouble for her master…” the merchant commented, with what sounded like genuine remorse.

Still, I didn’t fail to hear the “It’s a defective product, after all,” he mumbled afterwards.
He’s pissin’ me off… but I’m just a single person with a girl on my back, so it’s not like I can do anythin’.

“That’s right! Mr. Iled⁶, there’s something I’d like to sell to you…” the coachman told the merchant, maybe since he judged that our conversation had reached a stopping point.
“Guh-ho-ho… What might that be, Fred?”
“Well, I did tell earlier you that this boy defeated magic beasts, didn’t I? I’d like to sell their corpses to you.”
“Guh-ho-ho-ho-ho! I don’t mind. The merchant association I belong to doesn’t only trade in slaves. Well, let’s see them.”
“Thank you very much.”

The coachman took out the corpses of the nine goblins and the Don Goblin, and then then ten things that looked like balls from his bag⁷. One of the balls had a different color.

“Do you also want to sell the magic cores?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind. Is that alright for you, too, traveler?”

I don’t really get what he means. It should be fine anyway, right?
I nodded.

When the merchant saw my nod, he examined the goblin corpses and the balls that were apparently called ‘magic cores’ one by one.

“Guh-ho-ho, there are some traces of burns, but…” he said after some time. “I’ll give you 9500 bells for everything.”
“Oh~, thank you so much! Ah, could you give it to me in small coins? I’m splitting it with that boy.”
“Guh-ho, of course.”

The coachman took the jingling coins from the merchant.
How much is 9500 bells? I’ve got no clue, but… judgin’ from how happy the coachman looks, it’s probably not just on the scale of a few thousand yen.

The coachman walked to me, while grasping the coins he’d gotten from the merchant tightly.

“Here, this is your part!” he said, holding out five silver coins and seven more silver coins, that were a size larger than the others⁸.

While supporting the girl with one hand, I took them with my other hand.

There’s no helpin’ it, they’ll probably think I’m weird, but I gotta ask ’em how much money this is.

“Erm… How many apples could I buy with this again?”

I’d seen the coachman munch on an apple, while we were on the way to castle town. If I calculated under the assumption that an apple sold for 100 yen, I should be able to learn how much these coins were worth.

“Huh…? Erm… how much was that again? An apple goes for one large copper coin worth 10 bells, so… let me think…”

An apple is worth 10 bells. So, 10 bells are 100 yen. In that case, the coachman got 95’000 yen. That’s why he was so happy.

Then, those smaller and larger silver coins I got… I’ll think of the larger ones as large silver coins for now… One silver coin is worth 1000 yen, and a large silver coin 10’000 yen. So, the coachman gave me 75’000 yen!

Right, in this case, I’ll probably manage for at least three days. It’s already pretty late today, so… I’ll stay the night at some inn, and tomorrow I’ll look for a job. For the sake of the girl who’s currently on my back, right?

“…Fred, I think it’s 750 of them, you know?” the merchant told him.
“Oh, right, that’s true! It’s 750 apples!”
“T-Thank you very much!” I thanked them both.

Now, with this money, I’m somewhat ready. Though I wouldn’t have expected to end up carryin’ a girl around.

“Alright, I should be going.”
“Oh, you’re leaving. See you again.”
“Guh-ho-ho-ho, I look forward to serving you again.”

With those parting words, I walked towards the center of the town.

TL notes:
So, Shuu went from no information and no money to still almost no information, some money, and a girl on the verge of death to take care of. But at least having a slave should help him fit in (assuming he manages to keep her alive) and she might help him find out more about the world without arousing suspicion from the wrong people.

1. The original is スヴァジルファジ (suvajirufaji). スヴァジルファリ is the katakana writing for Svaðilfari, a horse from norse mythology that fathered the eight-legged horse Sleipnir with Loki (in the form of a mare).
   I slightly changed the name to account for the difference, but it’s possible this is just one of the usual typos.
2. I can already see where this is going…
3. He calls him 大魔法使い様 (“Esteemed Grand Sorcerer/Magician”) in the original.
4. I guess they found some… creative ways around the “not allowed to kill them” limitation.
5. I just hope he at least read that thing and didn’t just sign himself into slavery…
6. The original is イレド (iredo).
7. The original is 8 goblins + Don Goblin, and 8 balls. It should be 9 normal goblins (6 in chapter 207 and 3 in chapter 212-1) and 10 magic cores. Though it is possible that one of the goblin corpses was destroyed by Shuu’s fireball, but this would still mean 10 magic cores.
8. In the original its 7 normal and 5 larger coins, but since he later calculates it as 75’000 yen, it’s probably the other way around.