ED: Although I realise that the norm is to translate these things in first-person present tense, this one definitely felt like it had to be in third-person past tense. If I switched it, the characters would’ve sounded like idiots.
Translation: NomAsh
Editor: NomAsh (minor corrections by Zioming)
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Chapter 73.5 – A White Bird Flaps its Wings
Author’s note: This is a side chapter posted alongside the main story one.
As I wrote before, it’s a horrible story. I won’t write any details, but it may be better not to read it while eating. Especially if it’s curry.
Well, it isn’t described directly.
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“Uh-, uhh… Huh, where is this?”
The woman lying on the really soft bed muttered as soon as she woke up, then tried getting up. Her memory was cloudy and she couldn’t remember what she was doing before going to bed. She could tell she was in a small room with brand-new white walls and windows, but she couldn’t remember why at all.
“Hmm? Something’s strange…”
Feeling uncomfortable, she turned her gaze downward. That was when she realised, she was wearing nothing, and was just the way she was when she was born.
“Huh?! Wh-, why am I naked…?!”
Surprised, she pulled the nearby sheets to cover herself. The sheet covered her large breasts, but it wasn’t big enough to hide her whole body by wrapping it around her.
“What happened?! Why am I naked?! Where is this?!”
“Excuse me.”
As the confused woman shouted, the door to the room opened. Through the door, a woman in a maid uniform entered. The maid had a coffee cup in her hand, and the scent of coffee drifted from the cup.
“Looks like you’re awake. Good morning. No, good evening, it’s already that time.”
“Who are you!? Where is this!? Why am I naked!?”
“Please calm down, Aisha-san. I’ll now explain everything to you step by step.”
“Ri-, right…”
The naked woman, Aisha, stood up with the sheet barely covering her body, and approached the woman wearing the maid uniform. The woman in the maid uniform kept a calm expression when Aisha confronted her, as she calmly replied.
Having calmed down after having been promised an explanation, Aisha realised those weren’t the only questions she wanted to ask. Why do you know my name when I never mentioned it? Why is it awkward to walk so much? What’s wrong with my stomach?
“But for now, I’d like to get dressed…”
“My apologies, but I cannot allow that.”
“Why…?”
Aisha was astonished to find that she had been denied the obvious request to get dressed. Looking around the room, there was nothing like a closet, and the only thing to cover herself with was the sheet.
“I will explain that as well. First of all, please sit down on that bed and calm down.”
“…very well.”
Aisha wasn’t convinced, but for some reason she obeyed and sat on the bed. As Aisha was an A-rank adventurer, she had more than just a little fighting power. Even if the woman in a maid outfit was malicious, she felt confident that she could handle her on her own. And also, unlike when she had her previous outburst, she could now feel a little bit of pain…
“How about coffee?”
“…might as well.”
Aisha didn’t know how much she had slept, but she was so thirsty that she accepted the coffee. She didn’t need to worry about poison. If they wanted to kill her by poisoning it, they could’ve simply killed her while she slept. Aisha lifted the coffee to her lips.
“Oh, it’s delicious…”
It tasted better than any coffee she had tasted before, so Aisha muttered unintentionally. After quenching her thirst, she returned the cup to the maid.
“Then, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Lucia. I am a servant of our great God.”
“Servant of God? You’re from the Goddess’ religion?”
There are several religions in this world, but the most prominent of them is the Goddess’ religion. The reason why it’s the most prominent is simple: the Goddess has been proven to exist. There’s nothing strange about putting your faith in a transcendent being that clearly exists.
Therefore, she thought that the maid Lucia, who had an attitude of certainty of God’s existence, was a part of the Goddess’ religion. But this was clearly a mistake. Aisha’s mistake was that she asked what she thought as a question.
“Excuse me?”
Lucia, who abandoned her calm expression for one that was clearly angry, asked in a terribly low voice, causing Aisha to stiffen involuntarily. It was unbecoming of a high-ranking adventurer to stiffen their body instead of taking a stance or running away. There is a reason for Aisha’s stiffness, of course.
(I can’t do it! I can’t beat her!)
In a sentence, she had lost her will to fight after being exposed to Lucia’s murderous aura. If you instinctively realised that fighting and fleeing are meaningless, then it makes sense that the only thing to do is stiffen your body.
“To be lumped in with that unpleasant religion. …… Well, I can’t blame you for not knowing… I won’t allow it to happen again. We are not from the Goddess’ religion. Got it?”
“Yes…”
Lucia’s explanation was cut short, so Aisha still didn’t know much detail. But if she were to be asked if she had any other choice but to nod at this moment, she’d say she of course didn’t.
“Then, who is Lucia’s God…?”
“Yes, let’s talk about that as well.”
“Ok…”
As she realised she wouldn’t be able to understand anything if the explanation didn’t continue, Aisha decided to listen quietly.
(If it’s not the Goddess’ religion, then that must mean it’s the second-most prominent religion… but there isn’t any symbol, so maybe it’s the third-most prominent…)
Then, in her head, Aisha tried to guess which religion Lucia belonged to from several other religions. She considered many candidates, but she didn’t realise that not one of them was correct…
“Let’s move on. First of all, Aisha, how much do you remember?”
“Before I went to sleep?… I think I lost to the Man Eater, lost all of my minions, then started eating.”
Aisha called it a Man Eater, but to be precise, it was a Giant Man Eater. The Giant Man Eater is a disaster-grade monster that appeared in a certain country of the Atto Union. It was a huge, vicious plant monster that would eat everything. Aisha had headed for the subjugation as an A-rank adventurer, but was unable to help and was forced to retreat.
Simply put, Aisha’s fighting style was as a Monster Tamer. They use the Monster Taming skill to tame monsters to fight alongside them. However, in the deadly battle with the Giant Man Eater, she had lost all of her minions.
She had heard talk of the Giant Man Eater being defeated while she was undergoing treatment after returning to the city and reporting her defeat. Feeling both sad and frustrated that another adventurer had defeated it so easily while she had lost all her minions, Aisha decided to take a shortcut and eat herself to death. Apparently, her memory was ambiguous from that point on.
“I see. I guess it was more of a burden than I thought.”
“Burden?”
“Well, to put it simply, it was a Man-Eater, or a Giant Man-Eater to use its proper name. And you were cursed by it.”
“Cursed?”
Aisha tilted her head at the unfamiliar word. She knew that there was something called Magic, but it didn’t match the impression that the Giant Man Eater gave.
“Yes. It was a curse that causes you to stay hungry no matter how much you eat.”
“Ugh!”
Aisha’s head suddenly started hurting and she crouched down, holding her head. By calmly retracing her memories, little by little, vague parts of memories returned.
“That’s right … I ate so much that I couldn’t stop eating even when someone else stopped me… Huh, did I become a slave?”
“So you finally remember. Yes. You chose to become my master’s slave.”
“You’re lying… right…?”
Aisha had an expression that showed she couldn’t believe what she’d just been told. Which was normal. Becoming a slave meant entrusting all the rights to your survival to others. No sane person would choose to do so themselves. And the fact that she chose to do so while her consciousness was muddy was nothing short of a nightmare.
“Ah, that’s right! Slave collar! …None! Slave crest! …None! What, it was just a joke…”
Those who became slaves were either given a slave collar or a slave crest. After stating each, Aisha checked her own neck and back and breathed a sigh of relief when she found neither.
“It’s not a joke or anything. Check your lower back again.”
“Eh…? But, earlier…?”
Aisha, who was told by Lucia to check her back again, became speechless when she saw the slave crest engraved there. She thought she might have overlooked it when she checked earlier, but since it wasn’t there even after such a thorough check, could only assume that it appeared after she had checked it.
“You’re an A-rank adventurer, aren’t you?”
“Ye-, yes…”
“If the slave crest became known, you’d lose your qualification. It’s a waste, so my master was considerate enough to hide the slave crest and prevent your enslavement from becoming known.”
“What the…”
Aisha didn’t know the slave crest can be hidden. She could not understand what had happened to her and was stunned.
“Next, I’ll answer your question “where is this?”. This is the Chamber’s of Advanced Commerce store in Norrkut. To be exact, it’s the residential part of it.”
“Huh? The Chamber of Advanced Commerce that’s been growing in power lately…? You say that, but Norrkut didn’t have such a store?!”
Aisha was an adventurer who was active mostly in Norrkut. If the Chamber, which was the talk of Atto Union, had a new store in Norrkut, it would have been strange if she’d never heard about it.
“Yeah. We just got permission yesterday and it was completed earlier today. Oh, you’ve already been sleeping for a day. We started building it the same day you fell asleep and it’s done now.”
“…”
After being told so many bizarre things, Aisha finally reached her limit and froze. At the same time, the sheet that was covering her body fell off, revealing her body again.
“This building was built by those who serve God like me.”
“Then… the god you mentioned, he made you build it?”
“That’s true in this case, but the other ones were built for Master.”
“By the way, you’ve been saying master for a while now, is he a different person from the god you mentioned before?”
“It’s the same person. He is your and my master, owner, and god.”
“I see… What!? It’s the same person!?”
Aisha screamed at the information about her new Master. According to Lucia, he, Aisha’s master and Lucia’s god, are the same person.
“Ah, I forgot to mention that.”
“Eh? What are you doing?”
Lucia took off her clothes and showed her exposed lower back to Aisha. She could see nothing but beautiful skin there. However, after some time, a slave crest that wasn’t suitable for a beautiful back appeared.
“No-, no way, is Lucia a slave as well?”
Aisha involuntarily touched her back. At the same time, she was convinced. If the slave crest appeared like that, it’s natural that she didn’t notice it the first time.
“Yes. I am also a slave of Master. I was saved by Master, and decided to give my faith to him.”
“… what kind of person is my master?”
Aisha involuntarily asked Lucia, who answered while getting dressed. She was sure that he’s an extraordinary being who could completely disregard any common sense which Aisha knew. And judging by Lucia’s faith, this was only the beginning.
“I will educate you about that later, so I will explain it in detail at that time.”
“Educate, what…?”
“Of course, I will teach you what you need to remember to serve Master.”
“Ugh, studying…”
Aisha flinched when she heard the word “educate”. She herself knew that she wasn’t that smart.
“In the first place, what will happen to me? What will I be made to do?”
When it comes to engaging in work which requires you to use your head, she was honestly not confident. However, if she had to say if she was good at fighting, she’d have to admit that she was worried about fighting without any monster minions.
“There are several options. The first, and naturally the most likely, is Master’s coachman.”
“Coachman?”
Aisha was surprised that the first option available to her, an A-rank adventurer, was as the common profession known as “coachman”. At the same time, she was relieved it wasn’t anything too demanding.
“Yes, as far as I know, you have the highest Horse Riding skill. Actually, this could’ve been a chance to send a maid to join them, but since there’s such a difference in Horse Riding skill level, it would be faster to train you.”
“Skill? Level? What’s that?”
“I’ll explain that later. The second option is joining the clan. Some of Master’s subordinates are adventurers. I’m thinking of having you join them. The third option is a maid. Like me, you will manage the mansion, take care of Master, and be an employee of the Chamber of Advanced Commerce.”
Lucia put Aisha’s question on hold and explained the three options.
Although she was in the position of a slave, the closest she could get to her previous life would have been the second option, joining the clan. Aisha hadn’t previously joined a clan because she preferred travelling comfortably with her monster minions. Of course, she had been invited many times before, but she declined each time.
“Of course, no matter how much you ponder those options now, Master’s words may change everything.”
“Ri-, right.”
“Yes, everything is as Master wants.”
Lucia’s statement helped Aisha understand. She basically said that “Master takes priority over everything else”.
She guessed that studying would be about that too. As she sighed due to all the information that had been crammed into her head, Lucia told her another thing.
“Oh right, it should be almost time.”
“What do you mean?”
“The call of nature.”
“It hurrrrtts?!?!”
Not knowing what Lucia had meant, Aisha tilted her head. Though, the following moment, Aisha suffered from sudden abdominal pain and crouched down, holding her stomach.
“It’s exactly as Alta predicted. Aisha, you ate a lot of food right before you became Master’s slave. Normally, food is digested and excreted about a day or more after eating. And it’s been about a day since you’ve been here. Do you see what I mean now?”
While looking at Aisha’s quickly-changing expressions, Lucia murmured indifferently. In short, Ashia had a stomach ache caused by a bowel movement. Strictly speaking, there is a bit more of a range in the time between eating and excretion, but we’ll leave that for now.
“U-, ugh, uugghhh. Wh-, where is the toilet?”
“Go out the door and go down the stairs, turn left and then right at the end of the hall. You’ll find it next to the stairs on the second floor. By the way, this is the 4th floor.”
Aisha asked for the location of the toilet, despite being hit by a tremendous urge. However, the answer was too ruthless and cruel.
“You mean, ugh, you-, you did this on purpose?!”
Even though she was now a slave and could no longer disobey her master, Aisha was originally an A-rank adventurer, and she may still act pridefully sometime later. Lucia’s duty was to ensure her master’s safety and comfortability. She couldn’t let anyone prideful near her master. So instead, Lucia decided to shatter that pride beforehand.
She removed Aisha’s clothes and left her in a white room so that if she leaked, the damage would be clearly visible. It’s embarrassing even for children to see their bed wet. Is it possible for a woman of her age to endure such a (huge) mistake becoming public?
Incidentally, coffee has a diuretic effect. It’s slightly different from encouraging bowel movement, but it suits the same purpose.
Needless to say, the room was far from the toilet.
However, it isn’t good to have such a stain in a place that is meant to be dedicated only to master (not to mention excrement). Therefore, Lucia took out an item that was both a solution and a bailout.
“If you like, please use this.”
“No way,… ugu…”
Then Lucia took out a white, bird-shaped…
“P-, Porta Potty…”
It was a Porta Potty… A portable toilet used by babies. It is often used as an in-between after the baby’s diaper is removed until the general-purpose toilet is used. Apart from being used by babies, they can also be used in times of disaster, when lifelines are interrupted, as they allow people to use the toilet even when it is difficult to do so. However, what Lucia took out is clearly something meant for babies. The Porta Potty, which is shaped like a duck, is very popular among young children. However, it’s size is large enough that it would be no problem for an adult to use. How did the maker feel about producing this?
“A-, are you telling me to use that…?”
“No, you don’t actually have to use it. It’s just an “if you’d like to”. You could use it, or not use it and leak, it doesn’t matter either way (…it’ll break your pride either way)”
Aisha was frightened by Lucia, who said it so simply, but her urges covered it up.
“Now, please choose!”
“Uuugh…”
“Now!”
“Ugh…”
“Now!”
Aisha weakly reached out and took the Porta Potty that was in Lucia’s hand…
That day, Aisha’s pride was totally broken.
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