Part 3 – Chapter 013 (Chapter 350)
Title: The Investiture Ceremony
T/L: IonMan
Editor: Zioming, Niteskystargazer
Raw Chapter: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9511bs/404
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Year 7448, Month 8, Day 21
It was around 3PM and the sun was still shining brightly. Twenty members of Akatsuki, everyone except for Toru, were lined up in the corner of the Doran’s Knight Group’s garrison’s courtyard. Their total fines of 62 million Z (let’s just write it under losses) were paid off, and all of them officially became slaves of Toris. That made their average price over 3 million Z, which was quite a lot for a general purpose slave who wasn’t skilled at any craft. Well, it looked like some of them could at least use some magic, so I couldn’t really count it this way.
There were five people, including me, looking down at them from the window of a room borrowed from the knights. Of course, the group also included Toris and Bell, as well as my one of my slaves, Mekku. The last person was a former knight named Bilsain[1], the new head slave, whom Toris bought last month. I didn’t bring Zulu, because, as a former knight, Mekku was more accustomed to riding and fighting on horseback, and for no other reason at all. I totally didn’t leave him behind, thinking it might let him spread his wings a little. Honestly. I think.
All of the Akatsuki members had an angry expression on their faces, with a gloomy atmosphere lingering in that particular corner. It wasn’t just because they were currently surrounded by a few fully armed squires.
They have been sentenced to be whipped from three to six times at the courtroom earlier this afternoon. However, the strength of the lashes had been considerably reduced, in accordance with the instructions received from the acting lord, His Imperial Highness William. Even so, there was a considerable number of people who screamed horribly from the pain. It could be said, that, because the lighter lashes weren’t strong enough to make them faint, they actually ended up feeling more pain.
After that, Toris and Bell, who I brought along, helped me treat each person in turn. However, the treatment only closed the wounds, and nothing else. It alleviated some of the pain, but not all of it.
“So then, Al-san. We’ll be heading out first…”
After Toris said so, Bell and Bilsain also bowed to me.
“Are you really going today? It’s getting late, so I’ll be staying in Doran for the night…”
I tried to stop them from leaving with my replay.
“Well, that’s fine and all, but Madam Ronslail’s people are waiting…”
Because he suddenly obtained a large number of new slaves, I heard, that he was going to leave them in Madam Ronslail’s care for about two months, to have them re-educated. We also chartered a group of large carriages, which one might call a slave caravan, that the Ronslail Slave Company often used. Since they were a frequent customer, the charter company agreed to lend it to us at a highly discounted 120,000 Z per day, for the 3 weeks that it would take us to make a round trip. On top of that, it was estimated that the cost of re-education would also be around 3 to 4 million Z.
Note: Toris and Bell only made it from Baldukk to Doran in a day, because they were riding warhorses with magic horseshoes, which basically gave them infinite stamina. For a convoy of several heavy carriages, the same distance would take over a week to travel, and that’s not counting all the time wasted during stops with so many people.
But you know. I think the real reason was a bit different.
Eh? They probably wanted to use more healing magic, once they left the city. If they put their minds into it, Toris and Bell could easily cast another round of spells to cure most of the wounds. Still, it wouldn’t cure them completely, so the trip in a shaky carriage would still hurt quite a lot
“That so. I understand. I’ll be catching up to you soon, so please be careful.”
Toris hung his head with a wry smile, as the three left the room, when I emphasized the last part.
I gazed down, to look over the Akatsuki members, loaded into several six-man carriages, as they were heading out. They were planning to stop at a village 15 km away for the night. With the summer days being pretty long, they shouldn’t have any problems with reaching their destination by dusk.
“Please excuse me, Your Excellency. Toru is ready.”
One of the knights opened the door after knocking, and reported to me.
“Right, thank you for your hard work.”
Well then, looks like he’s ready. It was faster than I expected.
When I walked down, Toru was standing there, wearing simple clothes, and with a rope tied around his neck. Like with the other Akatsuki members, we’ve only applied enough healing magic to close his wounds and prevent further HP loss, so he should still be in a considerable amount of pain.
“Wear these shoes.”
I tossed him the cheap boots, I wore when I met him the other day, and watched him squirm in pain, as he bent over to put them on.
I thanked the knight, who’s been accompanying me, before leaving. I still had Toru’s naming ceremony to take care of, plus, I’ve been invited to a diner with the acting lord, His Royal Highness William, and his deputy, Marquis Bailus, so I would have to stay overnight. Tomorrow morning, I was planning to leave for Baldukk together with His Highness’s escort (a squad from His Highness’s platoon and an infantry platoon belonging to another battalion). As ridiculous as this story was, aside from His Highness William, I would never get to meet Marquis Bailus otherwise, so it was all worth it in the end. It appeared that the Marquis, having a territory to manage, could not attend my appointment ceremony.
…but it couldn’t be helped just by wishing so.
The Knight Group’s leader led us to a shrine, where, after an hour of waiting, it was finally Toru’s turn.
“His name is Toru. His surname is Geen. Please add his title as my slave along with the name.”
The Knight Group’s leader presented an official document signed by His Royal Highness William, Duke of Rondol, proving that Toru was a criminal slave, and explaining the circumstances (that his sentence had been completed, and that I paid the fines).
After showing my status I was asked which surname to use, so I chose Greed instead of Riguru. Otherwise, I would have to rename all my other slaves all well, which wound not only take time, but also a lot of money. Honestly, I didn’t really plan on using the name Riguru for long anyway. (ED: Since he’s aiming higher than that)
By the way, I didn’t change Toru’s name to his given name Roslar, since, after using Toru for so many years, he preferred to stick with it.
I was going to completely heal Toru’s wounds (I think it was his name back in Japan, so just I kept calling him that) and alleviate his pain before we left in the morning, however, since we didn’t have a carriage, he would have to follow us on foot all the way to Baldukk.
・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・
Year 7448, Month 8, Day 27
We parted ways with His Royal Highness at the foot of the hill surrounding the city of Baldukk, as the three of us headed for the summit.
ED Reminder: The dungeon, which was actually a buried spaceship, created a crater while crashing to the earth, in which the city of Baldukk was later founded.
We caught up with Toris’s group on the evening of the day we departed, so we stayed at the inns in the same city, but, since their travelling speed was twice as slow, it would still be 3 more days before they arrived.
It was five days since we left Doran.
Although the road was fairly well maintained, Toru would run out of breath after having to walk with his hands and legs bound for an average distance of 40 km per day. As such, he would be way too fatigued to try and run away from the inn, where we stayed for the night.
“Come on, don’t make a ruckus on a slope like this!”
Mekku reprimanded Toru, while dragging him along by the rope tied around his wrists.
Toru began complaining shortly after we started climbing the hill. It might have been because we separated with the military unit escorting His Royal Highness Williams, or, maybe he just thought he could push me and Mekku around.
“Well, let’s take a short break here.”
I decided to make a stop at the rocky area of the hill’s slope
“Oi, Toru. Don’t complain about small things like this. Think about what’s yet to come.”
Mekku removed a water bottle from his waist while talking to him, and magically filled it with water. He handed it to Toru while adding, “Drink slowly and don’t rush.”
Mekku was quite good at taking care of everyone’s needs.
“N……n ~ gu, n ~ gu, n ~ gu.”
Toru nodded in acknowledgement of Mekku’s words and began to drink slowly.
[Toru Geen/21/8/7448]
[Male/14/2/7428・Lios・Greed Family owned Slave]
[Condition: Weakened]
[Age: 20 years old]
[Level: 9]
[HP: 68 (68) (105) (139) MP: 7 (7)]
[Strength: 16 (22)]
[Agility: 20 (26)]
[Dexterity: 15 (21)]
[Stamina: 13 (21)]
[Unique Skill: Super Dexterity (MAX)]
[Special Skill: Small Magic]
[Special Skill: Instant Speed]
[Special Skill: Night Vision]
[Experience: 106,060 (110,000)]
It looked like he’d actually gained some experience points from being made to keep walking in a weakened state, when his HP and attribute values were slightly decreased. As long as you take appropriate rests (5 to 10 minutes per hour), your HP won’t decrease from walking for the same number of km as your stamina value. Then again, it’s not something you can really make use of without an appraisal skill. (ED: Since it’s the only way to check someone’s level and attribute values)
Furthermore, when running, the distance decreases the faster you go. It does seem to be connected to the stamina value to some extent, but there are still differences, even between people with the same value. The same happens when you climb a slope or carry too much weight. If you keep walking past your limit, you maximum HP will start to decrease, though it will recover pretty fast once you take a break.
However, if it falls below half of your original maximum HP, your attribute values will also start to decrease, and you will not be able to walk any more until you recuperate. At that point, even a couple of hours of rest wont be enough for you to fully recover.
This being the case, I was sure Toru was fine to walk for a bit more in his current state.
“Well now, Toru. Aren’t you trying to overtake my like this?”
“I’m not overtaking you… just, walking a bit faster… so that I can rest for a bit longer afterwards.”
Toru showed a dissatisfying expression on his face while saying so.
“Oi Mekku. Even if that’s what he’s claiming, aren’t I still being overtaken? What do you think? “
Before I asked Mekku, he already gazed at Toru with a leering look.
“That’s correct. I’m amazed he’s even able to talk back to his master like that. Even if he is a former leader of the Akatsuki, it’s unheard of for a slave… master, I don’t think it’s too late even now. Wouldn’t it better to educate him, like how Kalstalan-sama disciplined his own slaves?”
Hmm, I didn’t even think about that. I just assumed all the Akatsuki members accepted Toris as their new leader. I was going to postpone Toru’s education for now, but then again, it could be better to take care of it now while we’re alone. Plus, there were some things I still wanted to ask him about.
“Oi Toru. I won’t say it twice, so listen up. I, a noble, am now you new master. That means, you stay behind me, unless told otherwise, and you don’t talk back. You also don’t speak against me, unless permitted. If you want to complain, feel free to do so when I’m not around.”
When I mentioned that, Toru recalled, that, on top of him falling into slavery again, he was now in a position where his parents and family had been taken hostage, so he just uttered “…I understand…” with his head hung.
But it was clear he still didn’t accept it. It would probably be necessary to convince him from the bottom of his heart in the near future. The first thing to do was to use Baldukk to re-establish this guy and find out how much his [Super Dexterity] could be of actual use.
Anyway, Baldukk was just over the hill’s crest, so we were almost there.
Toru was on the verge of collapsing, as I left him to Mekku to show him to the inn, while bad news of my own were waiting for me when I arrived at Boyle Manor. (ED: The slaves stayed at a different, middle class inn)
I was waiting for a message to confirm the procedure for my appointment ceremony scheduled for mid-September, and a brief rehearsal, which got scheduled for the next Monday on September 1st. My wife Miduchi will also have to attend, together with all the people I am planning on granting nobility titles.
We can’t go visit master Mila, damn it. (ED: Al and Miduchi were planning to visit the fairy village on the 1st)
However, we probably wouldn’t be able to learn anything new anyway, since we both had yet to succeed in successfully casting the trigger spell.
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Year 7448, Month 8, Day 16
The audience room at the royal castle. It was nothing like the rooms in the towers of the second and third citadel, where I used to meet with the king in the past.
It was a magnificent spacious hall, the size of a gymnasium, in the lower part of the inner castle.
There were a total of around 200 aristocrats and invited guests in attendance (not counting dozens of guards standing by the wall) arranged in order of rank, title, position, etc. Among them there was Marquis Webdos, as well as the current Lord of Bakkudo, my older brother, who, according with his rank, was sitting in the last row.
In addition, some of the invited guests were consular officers and ambassadors from the neighbouring countries, such as the Bakuluni and Kanbitt Kingdoms, and the Glanan Empire. I heard that Tukerin, the dark elf who ran a treatment centre in the royal capital was also invited.
I was waiting outside of the main hall for a summon from the person in charge, which was yet to come.
Well, I have gone through the rehearsals, so I knew the procedure, and there were also Miduchi and the other Slaughterers for me to chatter with in a low whisper. By the way, there were six people here other than Miduchi, including Zenom, Ginger, Toris, Rodrick, Binsu, and Kamu.
While Toris and Rodrick seemed fine, the other four were extremely nervous and aggravated.
Everyone else including me, could afford to laugh at each other, as we were dressed in aristocratic outfits that we have never wore before, except for Rodrick. By the way, the official male outfit included a loose-fitting front-opening kimono with a sash, pumpkin-like shorts, and silk white tights. The shoes were half booth made of leather with wooden soles for indoor use. Women wore kimono-like jackets and skirts with frills underneath for some reason.
I was called on first while we were prattling on. My wife Miduchi picked up her skirt and followed quietly behind me.
Thankfully, the king was sitting back on his throne. He didn’t seem too pleased about having to announce, that he was granting me the title of the Count of Riguru as a reward for presenting the royal family with an armour made of scales of a wyvern we’ve defeated in the dungeon, as well as our overall contributions in Baldukk. As I didn’t want to further provoke him, I just said the fixed thank you, which I repeated after being bestowed with the title. Once I was ordered to leave, I pulled Miduchi by her hand and we both took our places at the beginning of the line of counts.
Then, somewhere from the crowd…
“It’s rare to see a first wife be from a different race.”
“It appears she’s an adventurer.”
“Hoo? Possibly one of the people who slayed that dragon?”
“That sounds right. Just like Viscount Grimson.”
“I see.”
“I heard that he runs a company that handles rubber.”
“Rubber hah? Their beds are wonderful indeed.”
The whispering voices were loud enough to hear.
Meanwhile, the King has declared the dismissal of the main aristocrats assigned below the current Count of Riguru.
It was my turn afterward.
I moved to the position in front of the group of ministers, standing in a V-shaped formation in front of the throne, while being praised by such voices along the way. The king then declared that he would now announce the replacements for the dismissed nobles. We’ve already reached an agreement on the exchange of position before the ceremony.
Then, Zenom was finally called upon.
He lined up behind me in a row (it seems there may be several lines if there are a lot of people called forward) while being praised by similar voices.
We once again exchanged formalities, as I granted him a title. He declared that his loyalty lied with me, his new lord, at the end and that was it.
Afterward, a party hosted by the king was to be held about one hour later, after a short break.
In the meantime, we were to mingle and greet out in the courtyard with an aperitif in one hand, before the time of the party, so it was a good occasion for me to say hello to some people I was interested in. I wanted to greet Marquis Webdos and my older brother, but I didn’t have much time overall.
Then, it was finally the time for the party to start, after what felt like just a couple minutes.
The atmosphere of the venue suddenly changed.
A rushed messenger arrived from the Dirt Plain bringing bad news.
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Footnotes:
[1] Bilsain (ビルサイン – Birusain) – Toris’s new head slave