Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari 156 by Nero

*By Nero. Edited by Firo's Ahoge*
Fulfilled Dream

After parting with Rishia and Firo, Raphtalia and I head to the Slave Dealer.
At the end of the back alley we see a big coliseum.
In front of this stone dome-like building are sturdy men keeping watch.

Looking at the people standing in line, it seems to be quite popular.

"This way, please." [Slave Dealer]

Walking to the back door, the Slave Dealer lightly greets the men keeping watch.
The men clear the way and let us pass.

"This is just a coliseum on the surface. In the basement, we deal with slaves behind the scenes. Yes." [Slave Dealer]
"Ho~..." [Naofumi]
"Well, in this country, most coliseums are like this. Depending on the Union, the traded goods differ. Yes." [Slave Dealer]
"And what about your place?" [Naofumi]
"Needless to say, I'm mainly practicing slave trade." [Slave Dealer]

Unrelated to Humans and Demi-Humans...
After walking a bit, we get to a staircase and go down.
We can hear the cheers from above echoing.
The coliseum seems to be quite popular.

"Above us are mercenaries and slaves...... we also have monsters in the coliseum. Yes." [Slave Dealer]
"You handle quite a lot." [Naofumi]
"Because of that, I've turned down all the other fights down on that day. There will also be an eating contest. Yes." [Slave Dealer]
"I want to let Firo participate." [Naofumi]

It's worth it just to see how far that monster's appetite can go.
Free food and prize money.
Well... I wonder if there's a penalty for losing.

"That would be interesting to see. Maybe it can somehow be done. Yes." [Slave Dealer]

The Slave Dealer gives a strange signal to a bulky man with his fingers. I'll just take you by your word then.

"It would also be good for the Hero of the Shield to enter the drinking contest, otherwise some would suspect that you are a fake." [Slave Dealer]
"To become famous here is one thing but......" [Naofumi]

By eating the Rukoru Fruit raw I should be able to win... but the moment I eat it people around me get nauseated. I don't want to eat in that situation.
Also, I'm not sure to what extent I can handle alcohol.
The Hero of the Shield gets poisoned to death because of drinking too much wouldn't be funny even as a joke.
First of all, I don't really drink that much, so it shouldn't happen.

"And? Are we still not there yet?" [Naofumi]
"We should be almost there." [Slave Dealer]

Saying this while leaving the staircase to a stone corridor, numerous cages become visible.
There are more cages than in the tent of the Slave Dealer. Inside the cages are Human and Demi-Human slaves milling about aimlessly.

Inside this prison, there is a small room visible. There, a tough-looking guy and merchant are waiting.

"Oh... Melromarks-" [Slave Merchant]
"U-Uncle…" [Slave Dealer]
I doubt my eyes. This person… is happily hugging the Slave Dealer in a family reunion.
While the Slave Dealer is a strange gentleman wearing a messy tailcoat and over-sized sunglasses, the Slave Merchant has the same build with almost the same face. The only differences are the tailcoat and the glasses.

"Naofumi-sama, are my eyes fooling me?" [Raphtalia]
"What a coincidence, mine are too." [Naofumi]

Family business is one thing, but what's up with them being this similar?
Dangerous. I almost wanted to see how it would be like to have the whole family gathered together. It would be like some sort of twisted dream come true.
An anime I watched had a similar family business of sisters managing treatment facilities, it was...
Anyway, if they wore the same clothes, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

"While we're at it, I would like to introduce the Hero to my uncle. Yes." [Slave Dealer]
"Well, if this isn't the Hero of the Shield. What a strange expression and eyes… I'm about to fall in love. Yes." [Slave Merchant]
"Stop it." [Naofumi]

Ugh. I'm really getting goose bumps. I want to get away from here as soon as possible.
However, to go back just like that would piss me off, so I try to keep patient and stop my feet from retreating.

"Your voice seems to be the kind that's good at handling slaves... I'm thrilled. Would you like to marry my daughter?" [Slave Merchant]

I try to imagine a woman that looks like the Slave Dealer.

"Give me a break..." [Naofumi]
"Right! Did you call Naofumi-sama just to say such stupid things?! " [Raphtalia]

Raphtalia responds angrily.
Ah, she's looking for comrades from her village. It's understandable why she is so angry.
Please get more heated up so that he stops his idiotic jokes. (もっと拒め、そうすればうやむやにできる I don't fully understand the meaning of this one)

"Hahaha, that was a joke!" [Slave Merchant]
"Uncle is bad with people." [Slave Dealer]
"Not as bad as you." [Slave Merchant]

The two of them laugh.
Creepy...

"Back to the story." [Naofumi]
"Oh, right. What kind of goods did the Hero of the Shield want to be offered?" [Slave Dealer]
"What, straight to the point? I wanted to deepen the friendship between me and the Hero a bit more. Yes." [Slave Merchant]
"That depends on Uncle. Yes" [Slave Dealer]

Yes yes yes yes... How long will this question and answer play go on?
It's getting really troublesome. Is it okay to leave?

"Fumu... since you told me that he is the kind of person you'd fall in love with, I wondered what he was like. Now I understand." [Slave Merchant]
"How could I be so charming?!" [Naofumi]

After all, I don't understand the Slave Dealer's sense.
The reason for that is, no matter what I do, he always talks positively about it.
But, on the other hand, I always have to worry about what he does behind my back.

"Fufufu... no matter where you go, you have this sinister air around you. Yes." [Slave Dealer]
"Am I something like the incarnation of evil?" [Naofumi]
"No no, it's your quality as a slave user. It appeals to our eyes (lit. foresight)." [Slave Merchant]
"This person, instead of forcing his slaves to work under penalty of death (生かさず殺さず any better way to put this?), has the kind of charisma that makes his slaves fight to the death for him." [Slave Dealer]

Big bro~ food~.
Master~ food~.
Hero of the Shield~ food~.

Why did I suddenly think about feeding those guys?
Is this what you call charisma?
...You lose the moment you begin to mind it.

"Fumu, if it comes to this person here, let's pretend that that story never happened." [Slave Dealer]
"What?" [Naofumi]
"No no, don't mind it. Yes." [Slave Dealer]
"Did something happen? Yes." [Slave Merchant]
"Actually--" [Slave Dealer]

Both slave traders start to whisper.
Huh? Which one did we come here with again?

"Shiruru..."(シル――ル―― guess that's a whisper sound)

I couldn't even understand a bit.
What are they talking about?

"I see, of course you would refuse at such a time. Yes." [Slave Merchant]
"What are you talking about?" [Naofumi]
"How about trying it?" [Slave Merchant]
"Like that, it will be quite convincing." [Slave Dealer]
"Listen." [Naofumi]

The slave traders begin to laugh while looking at me. Stop it.

"Well with that, let us head this way please." [Slave Merchant]

The Slave Merchant of this country starts to guide us.
We follow him just like that.
What the heck did they talk about?!

"This way please." [Slave Merchant]

So, while being guided, we look at the cages and prisons from before.
It looks like in this prison, there is a female Demi-Human sitting in a moldy corner.
She has brown skin and quite a good face.
Her body is quite big.
With a large chest, you could call her an incredibly beautiful woman... right?
Her face also has quite a good complexion.
But, even saying this, she is not a slave that I am looking for.

"I'm not interested in slaves for sexual use." [Naofumi]
"No no, even among the different Demi-Human species(kikispecies?:キキ種), this one is quite good at battles." [Slave Merchant]
"Is it?" [Naofumi]

Somehow, he begins to wave his hands with a business smile on his face.
I somehow get a chill.

That slave…
She has the type of face that makes me want to involuntarily hit it.
No, with this one, there would be a lot of problems.

"It's probably too expensive. I don't need it." [Naofumi]

The slave makes a sullen expression after my reply.

"No no, I'll make you quite a cheap offer." [Slave Merchant]
"Even so..." [Naofumi]

Somehow, I don't like it. Or, to put it in a better way, I don't want to make her my slave.
Even as a slave, if I'm caught up in anything again later, her resemblance to Bitch is too high.

"Do you want to take a look at the next slave?" [Slave Merchant]
"Ah yes, my bad, but I have to refuse this one." [Naofumi]
"Why!" [Slave]

The slave yells.
Did that hurt her pride?
I don't understand the disgraceful (分際 any better way to put it?) behavior of this sex slave.

"You're just not a slave to my taste. That's all." [Naofumi]
"Pedophile!" [Slave]

Shout as much as you want (罵声が五月蠅いな just guessed here), however, while I'm at it...
I glare at the Slave Merchant.
He quickly evades my line of sight.

"Pedophile… It's almost as if she knew about me ahead of time, right?" [Naofumi]

After my reply, the Slave Merchant just keeps his mouth tightly closed.
As I thought, there has to be a reason behind it.

Even so, looking at me objectively, all the slaves I bought are children, and most of them are female.
Although it's just a coincidence, it's starting to trouble me recently.

"Uhm, Naofumi-sama? What country's language did she use there?" [Raphtalia]
"You don't know? [Naofumi]
"Yes." [Raphtalia]

I almost forgot that the shield has a translation function.
Since it seems that this world has multiple languages, it's quite useful that the shield seems to translate all of them.
As I heard the word in Melromark's spoken language... it seems like it's a word spoken in countries with many humans.
Could it be...

"Well, you don't have to concern yourself with it." [Naofumi]
"Why! Why would you reject me?!" [Slave]

Like that, we continue to follow the Slave Merchant while ignoring that self-proclaimed slave.