Volume 6 - CH 3.06

Sherry stands and receives some clothes that Roxanne bought for her with her expression filled with gratefulness towards her.

It also makes me happy to see that apparently Sherry decided to reduce the amount of alcohol that she drank at while being at the library this time, because she was able to handle all of the work related to cleaning after the dinner was finished without awkwardness or drunken clumsiness to her movements.

However, when we were having our fun later that night, her kiss still had that peculiar alcoholic aftertaste to it.

The next morning, after doing a bit of exploration and monster hunting in Haruba’s Labyrinths, I went to deliver another batch of Palmasque Mirrors to the Duke of Hartz, and while I was there, he shared the following information with me:

「We should be able to complete some frames for the mirrors that you brought soon.」

「I see. That’s good to hear.」

「By the way Lord Michio, I hope you’ll not hold it against me for asking you something a bit more personal….. but if I may ask, have you known a broker working for the Merchant’s Guild by the name of Luke Acid for long?」

When I put the gold coin that I received as payment for the mirror delivery away in my Item Box, Gozer asked me such a question.

「Have I known him for long? Well, he’s been my personal broker for a while now, but I cannot say that it has really been that long since we established our partnership.」

「He seems to be quite an excellent broker, which isn’t really a surprise to me, since  I employed the services of his father who was also a broker back in the day.」

「You did? Well, that is the first time when I’m hearing about it.」

So Luke’s father was a broker? That would mean that he actually continues a family tradition of working in the broker’s profession. And since his father was the one serving as the Duke of Hartz’s personal broker, then that’s some pretty powerful connection and quite a lifeline for him, even more so since it technically gives him access to doing business with both the noble family of Bode and the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy, and he probably inherited a lot, if not all of the connections that his father must’ve established. Talk about having a nice and easy start in the business.

「He’s definitely a broker whom I know that I can absolutely trust, so if I happen to have any kind of work that might require your assistance in the future, then would you mind if the details of any such work would be delegated to you through Luke?」

In other words, he wants Luke to act not only as a broker, but also as a middleman between the two of us.

「Contacting me through Luke about any future work, you say?」

「I hear that you live in Quratar, Lord Michio. To tell you the truth, going there to see you anytime when something requiring your attention would come up would be quite difficult for me, but since Luke often comes here due to carrying various messages and errands, it would be easier for me if he were the one passing the details to you on my behalf instead.」

It might be that the ten mirrors that I bought for them might not be enough after all. If they use them as gifts, then they might need to replenish them at some point, and that might be one of those times when they’d like to contact me with business that they’d want to take care off, and that’s why they want to use Luke for that purpose?

「If that’s what you think would be best thing to do here, then that’s fine with me as well.」

I okayed the Duke’s idea of making Luke our middlemen and then left Bode. Now that the matter of the mirrors was over, I killed some time in the Labyrinths until after noon, when it was finally time to visit the Slave Merchant in the Imperial City.

「Just as I mentioned earlier, I’m going to go the Imperial Capital. Do the two of you want to come with me as well?」

「Yes. I’ll come.」

「Um, is it alright for us to come with you, master?」

Sherry seemed to be a little hesitant.

「It will be a new companion for the two of you, so I want to hear your opinions about them to make sure that I’ll buy someone with whom you’ll be able to get along.」

「It’s going to be all right, Sherry.」

「Oh, right, now that I think about it, Miss Roxanne was there with master when you came to buy me. In that case, please let me come with you as well then.」

It has been decided that Roxanne and Sherry will come along with me, so the three of us go to the Adventurers Guild in the Imperial City, and from there, we made our way towards the location of the Imperial City Slave Shop, since Alan-san was kind enough to give me the directions on how to reach it.

It was a place surrounded by a high wall, with an amazing-looking building situated right behind it at the far end of my field of view.

The gate is beautiful, looking like it was made out of some pretty expensive materials. If they have something like that here, then I guess that means that this establishment must be quite profitable.

「This must be the place.」

「Yes, it definitely looks like it.」

Is the wall so high in order to prevent people from getting in, or from getting out though? Whatever the case may be, we opened it and proceeded to go towards the building. When we reached the main door, a man that looked like a servant came out to meet us straight away.

「I have come here today bearing a letter of introduction, and I would like to speak to the owner of this place about purchasing a slave. Would that be possible?」

「I understand. This way please.」

I passed the letter of introduction over to the servant and allowed him to guide us into the building, staying closely behind him the entire time. We stopped when we reached the room near the entrance, after which he turned back towards us and went to fetch his master while telling us to wait here for a bit.

「Welcome, I am the master of this establishment. I heard that you’re interested in the purchase of a slave, right, Sir?」

After waiting a while, a different man came to us and introduced himself. His Job is a Slave Merchant Lv.6.

「Yes, that’s right, I am indeed looking to purchase a slave. I look forward to doing business with you.」

「Likewise, now, if you could come with me, that would be appreciated.」

Upon the Slave trader’s indication, we followed after him, and he guided us to one of the room that were located at the back of the building, where we were invited to sit on the sofa and partake of the herbal tea that was prepared for us.

Now, notice how I said that 「we」were invited to sit on the sofa and that there were 「three」herbal teas prepared for us instead of just one? Yeah, exactly. Normally those would be nothing but small details unworthy attention, but to me that was actually a huge deal, since it shows that this Slave Merchant actually recognizes Roxanne and Sherry as my fellow companions and not just some objects or accessories to my own person, which raised my opinion of him to some extent.

As I was sitting on the sofa, I took a sip of the herbal tea. As expected of Imperial City, its taste was exquisitely delicious.

Since I gave him a letter of introduction, in which the purpose of my visit here today should be exquisitely stated, then there shouldn’t be any misunderstandings about me coming here today in order to sell Roxanne or Sherry, and that is going to save us a lot of time that would otherwise have to be wasted on needless explanations.

「Thank you very much.」

I said after taking another sip of the tea so that he would be aware that I am actually grateful to him for ordering his servants to go out of their way in order to prepare this refreshing beverage for us. That being said, considering that this guy is the owner of a business where he sells people to other people in order to make a living for himself, then I cannot bring myself to give him my unconditional trust.