Volume 4 - CH 5.25

「Uhm. . . . . . . . . . .  so let me see if I understand what you are getting at here. Basically, you are saying that I need to be treasuring the two of you even more than I already am because otherwise you might do something like that to me and look for some other master for yourselves?」

「No, no, no! That was not our intention at all! We only told this to master because we know that master is a good and caring person who would have never treat us badly or made us feel neglected, and we have absolutely no intention of looking for another master for ourselves! Is that not right, Sherry?!」

「I-I never intended to do something like that either!」

Both Roxanne and Sherry have made amazing progress when it comes to their levels, and if they continue to grow even more at their current pace, it will not be long before It would be pretty difficult for me to even think about replacing them with other slaves if they ever decided to leave me for some reason.

I feel like even now, saying goodbye to them and letting go of them would be something that I would simply be unable to do.

「I do not want anyone else than master to be my master, and if I had to choose between getting a new master or dying, I would have gladly chosen death!」

「M-Mee too! My thoughts are exactly the same as Miss Roxanne’s!」

But even if they did not decide to leave me, the power balance between us would have still changed nonetheless. And with that change to the power balance between us, our positions would have inevitably become reversed. And who knows what is going to happen when the both reach Lv.40 or Lv.50? Will they still want to be with me, or are they going to conclude that they no longer need me and leave me behind? That would be absolutely terrible. I do not want that! I want the three of us to stay together forever!

「I am very happy with how master has been treating us so far, and I never would have changed that for anything else in the world!」

「Me too! Master is so kind to me, not treating me any differently even though I have considered myself to be nothing but a failure throughout my life so far! That is why I want to pay master back for that kindness in any way I can!」

Such foolishness. It was foolish of me to even consider them leaving me as a possibility. I have never given them any reason to doubt me thus far. But if what we currently have keeps going, then. . . . . . . . does that mean that I will never be able to look at Roxanne with my head held high and my chest puffed out proudly, not being able to pay her back for all the things she has done, and will be doing for me? Even now I feel like no matter what I would try to do, it would still not be nearly enough to thank Roxanne for her loyal service and help for me, and I am sure that in the future, both near and far, that debt of gratitude is only going to keep on growing.

「Or maybe it is that you are not pleased with us? Is there something that we might be lacking, according to you?」

「That’s right! If we are doing something wrong, or if you find our performance to be dissatisfying, just say the word and we will do everything in our power to improve ourselves so that you could say that you are proud of us being your slaves!」

No, that is not the case at all! I think that there are no better slaves than the two of you, truly! But if there is even a shade of a chance that they think of me as a bad master, or the one that is lacking in some regard. . . . . I will not allow it, I will not allow it, I will not allow it, I am absolutely not going to allow them to think like that! And that is precisely why I am going to play a literal Uno reverse card on them right now!

「I do not think that there is anything wrong with you, but since we are already at the subject, then why do we not turn things around?」

「Turn things. . . . . . . around? What do you mean, master?」

「Umu. I want you to review my performance as a master, and I want you to be as honest about it as possible without holding anything back.」

「. . . . . . . . .  ! ! ! Of course, master! 」

「Understood! We will do it gladly!」

「Our assessment will be strict and honest to a fault, just like you wish!」

This treatment review is going to be a great pretext for me to know what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong. That way, I will be able to adapt and work on improving my position as their master.

「Uhm, so first thing’s first, the meals. I am thankful that we are allowed to eat the same things that master is eating, but at the same time I think that it is a kind of a waste to do something like that for us. To put it in other words, I think we are actually getting too good of a treatment when it comes to food, and I think that we should do something to make them display the difference in our status a bit more.」

「I am afraid that I cannot change that. All three of us fight in the Labyrinths, so I need the two of you to always have your bellies full. After all, you cannot fight at your best on an empty stomach.」

That is the rational thing to do here, and I will not have it any other way.

「Then, at least have us eat somewhere else than you!」

「We cannot collect information between meals, and eating them at different times would be straight up inefficient.」

「Then how about having us eat our meals on the floor?!」

On the floor, huh? What do I think about that? Well, I think that the answer is obvious.

「You do not have to go that far.」

「Then let us talk about clothes. I think it would be okay for us to wear something more worn out.」

「That is right. Such nice clothes are too much of a waste on us slaves!」

「Clothes? Both Sherry and Roxanne are beautiful, so I do not think there is anything wrong in buying nice clothing for you.」

I said after letting out a small sigh.

「Oh, t-thank you, master.」

「Y-Yeah, thank you.」

「You can’t wear worn out clothes. Basically, I would be happy if you kept on wearing the nice ones as you were up until now.And I also want to show you off to other guys to make them jealous, so I want you to always be at your absolute best when it comes to your looks.」

I shook my head.

「Thank you for your input, but food and clothing are going to stay exactly the same as they were.」

「Understood. The last thing we would like to talk about is the living environment.」

Yes, the living environment. Since I have rejected the girl’s proposals regarding food and clothing, the only thing that is left is the living environment, the thing from which my dignity as a master oozes out the most, because it is the thing that is the most prominent in showing how good of a master I am and making sure that my presence as one is being shown with proper strength and intensity. It is through that exact thing that I am going to make them feel the difference between our positions.

「Yeah, so. . . . . . about that. . . 」

「I am afraid that us sleeping in the same bed as master is a sign of great disrespect towards you, master.」

What. . . . . what are you saying?!

「That cannot continue.」

「Same goes for bathing together with master.」

Why. . . . . . ?

「We have to stop doing that as well.」

「And also, it is disrespectful towards master to have him was the bodies of us, slaves with the precious soap.」

No way. My daily fun. . . . . .  Do you want to take it all away from me?

「Guh. . . . no, I do not allow it.」

「Uhm. . . let me see, what else. . . .?」

Roxanne, please, just stop it already. My HP has already dropped down to zero and no matter what you’re going to do it cannot fall any lower than that.

「Ehm. . . . . . after reviewing your statements, I would like to inform you that I have found no grounds to make any changes to our current lifestyle.」

「Uhh, so things are going to proceed exactly as they did before?」

「Yes, exactly. Thank you for your continued support.」

「As long as you will be able to take what we said and improve yourself based on it, I say that this review was a very good thing indeed.」

Sherry’s follow-up has pierced directly through my heart.

I am truly grateful to have such devoted slaves who are going to do anything to make me an even better master for them.

〈To be continued in『A Harem in the Fantasy World Dungeon Volume 5』.〉