77 - The 77Th Goodbye
After a short break, we are taken to the section of criminal slaves. This was to be a completely cold viewing. However, it was not impossible that we might see someone as outrageous as Mei in the previous round. It is not easy to be a fool.
A short while after the market had started, there was a commotion offstage. It seems that female criminal slaves are on the rampage. After a while, three slaves were brought out on the stage, and I was astonished to see them.
They were the stupid heroes of the cat tribe.
The she-cat cried the whole time. And the other men\'s faces were swollen, as if they had been beaten. All three were dressed in tattered clothes.
"Now, this is number 16. I\'ll start with 5,000 G!"
Surprisingly, there was no response. In the still air, a man who looks like an aristocrat raises his hand.
"Is there anything else? Is there anything else?
"10,000 G!"
I shouted and gave him a bill.
Is there anything else? Is there any?
Without waiting for the market to end, we went outside.
"Linos, why did you buy that cat person?"
"Rico, don\'t you remember? That was a tribe of cat people who claimed to be brave and caused a ruckus."
"There you are. Are you sure it was them?
Probably definitely.
We head for the room where the successful bidders are gathered. After waiting for a while, a man who looks like a slaver comes to me.
He says, "Thank you very much for your successful bid. I would like to proceed with the purchase immediately.
With that, the man led us into another room.
Just like with May, we pay him and donate my blood. Soon after, those stupid cats are brought in. Instead of the tattered clothes I saw on stage, the men were made to change into shirts and the women into one-piece dresses. They make me stand in a line and put my blood on my arms and hands. My arms glow when the slaver casts a spell.
"Now the deal is done. If you do not like this slave, I will buy him back from you.
With that, the man left the room, leaving what looked like a business card behind.
Thank you very much for buying us. We will do our best from now on.
"You\'re starting to speak the right language now, you stupid cat."
The cats look at me intently.
"Ah! You were rude that time!"
A female cat person shouts.
"It seems I always attract trouble, don\'t I? Well, it\'s a good thing I met you guys. It\'s hard to talk here. Let\'s talk outside.
We went into the hotel restaurant with Sonja and Angel, who were waiting outside with their stupid cats.
"You must be hungry. Order whatever you want, as much as you want."
But the slaves were quite puzzled. We had no choice but to order the same dishes we had ordered.
"How in the world did you become criminal slaves, anyway?
"I had a dispute with my lord. I wounded him and his men."
"Wow, that\'s..."
"That\'s why you\'re covered in scars..."
I heard that those stupid cats had quite a hard time after they left me. They traveled from village to village, sometimes being cheated by people, sometimes being attacked by demons. And when they arrived at a certain town, there was a large scale demon slaying and Bakaneko and the others were half forced to participate in it. There, Willis, who knew how to use a sword, played an active part to a certain extent, and She-Ra, who could use recovery magic, was quite useful in the rear unit. Willis became a mercenary guard for the merchants, Sheela started a business of healing the injured, and Uriel used his education to create a kind of temple school where he taught reading and writing to the children of the town and became a teacher.
They were not greedy and only needed enough money for the three of them to live, so Sheela and Uriel worked for a very low price. As a result, they received a lot of gratitude from the townspeople and lived quite a fulfilling life.
However, the lord of the town noticed Sheela and asked them to give her up as a concubine. Naturally, all three of them refused the request, but the lord was insistent. They made up their minds to leave the town and were about to embark on a journey when they were caught by the lords, where they played a major role in their capture. As a result, Willis wounded the squires of the lords, and Shelah and Uriel also wounded the lords when they were captured. As a result, they were accused of such crimes, became criminal slaves, and were sold to the capital.
"I worked for people and they thanked me. I was very happy, but now I\'m in this mess. We are not so lucky.
"Oh, no, I don\'t think so. I think it\'s fortunate for you that Llinos bought you, don\'t you?"
"You are..."
I am Licolette, First Princess of the Heedata Empire.
"Oh, that high-flying b*tc*!"
"She-Ra! Watch your language!"
Willis interrupts unintentionally. He\'s becoming quite a good big brother.
"When I saw you call the master Linos..."
"Yes, Linos and I are married."
"Marriage? Huh? Why? I thought I had become a retainer of the Princess.
Then I told him the story of how I had married Rico.
"Oh, my God. But the master is amazing. Taking a princess as his wife, becoming an honorary marquis of the empire, and managing the estate of the Second Prince.... I must have been very rude to such a person.
"If you know that, that\'s good enough for me. You\'ve had a good experience. If it doesn\'t work out, you can always start over. You\'ve grown up a lot, by the way. I think you\'ll be all right."
"I\'ve been through a lot, really. But many people helped me. The master was not wrong when he told me to talk to many people.
Then we all enjoy dessert and talk about the future.
"What I need you to do is to take care of the store. Sonja and Angel sell boundary stones. Military personnel will be there, so don\'t let them take advantage of you. And Willis and the others sell food. This store will open in the fall, so please prepare for it. Of course, if there is a shortage of workers among the stores, you will help each other out.
Everyone nodded silently.
"Your residence is the store. But it will take time to get you a bed to sleep on and other necessities, so you will stay in this hotel for the next three days. You can get your things while you\'re here. And of course, buy me some clothes. I\'ll give the money to Gon, so if you need anything, just let me know. Gon, please.
"Yes, sir.
And the next day the five slaves, accompanied by Gon, ran around the streets of the Imperial City shopping.
As a result, they had to give up living here because of the lack of space in the stores selling warding stones. On the other hand, the warehouse has an upstairs, which is used as a place to live. There is still enough space for five people. However, there is no kitchen and toilet, which was a problem, but Willis and the others bought the materials and made them by themselves. They said that they had acquired them during their travels, and they might be more reliable than they had expected.
Soon after, Sonja and her son, who had taken over from Ruara, opened the store of the boundary stones. So far, everything is going well with no major problems. On the contrary, the store is no longer kept open on my whims, and it seems to be well received, especially among the merchants. In addition, Sonja is a pretty girl. It is said that she is quite popular, with some soldiers and merchants trying to get in touch with her.
The warehouse of Willis and his family is currently empty, but preparations are steadily underway, including dividing the space into storage and sales areas and building a wall between the two. Harvested vegetables and crops are sold in front of the warehouse as if they were stalls. Willis suggested that this would be a good advertisement for the opening of the store, and if people can get a taste of the food in advance, it will attract many customers when the store opens. I decided to take him up on it and set up a transfer line to Kailik and other villages and fishing villages in the storage space of the warehouse. I also set up a freezer and a cooler inside the warehouse to keep the freshness of the fish.
Although they sell only a small amount of fish, Willis and his staff are thriving. Thankfully, many customers ask them to open earlier. Because of their hard work, the Willises have developed a certain charm, which is another reason for the customers to visit their shop.
After this, I no longer call them "stupid cats.