2-4 - Aristia, The Slave Girl

I was sitting on my bed, facing the slave girl.

How should I put this… It was incredibly awkward.

Even when I’d returned to the detached residence, Marie had given me a cold look and said, “I’ll change the sheets tomorrow, so you can just leave them as they are.” Just imagining what she must be thinking right now was depressing.

More importantly, how had this girl ended up becoming a slave…? With that thought, I looked at her again.

The first thing that caught my attention was her cherry-blossom-pink hair.

Such a hair color would have been impossible in my previous life, but it was probably natural. Her lustrous hair reflected the room’s light, creating what looked like a halo above her head.

Her large eyes were a deep, captivating blue, and the rest of her features were equally beautiful.

Her clothing was plain, as befitted a slave, but she wore a single silver ornament in her hair. Rather than looking like a slave, she gave the impression of a well-bred girl dressed in modest clothing.

Incidentally, her ears weren’t nearly as pointed as I’d expected. If someone pointed them out, I could see that they were slightly pointed, but that was about it. Also, I’d always imagined elves as slender in every sense of the word, but this girl had quite a shapely figure.

“…Um, Master?”

“Hmm? Did you say something?”

“No. You’ve been so quiet that I was wondering if something was wrong.”

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking how pretty your hair ornament is.”

“Um… This is, well… something very precious to me.”

She must have had a particularly strong attachment to it. She gently ran her fingers over the ornament, her expression turning thoughtful.

“Is it perhaps a keepsake from someone?”

“Um… yes. So please, I beg you, don’t take this away from me.”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t take something so precious from you. Actually, even if it weren’t precious, I wouldn’t take your belongings.”

“Is… that so?”

“Of course… Wait, why do you look so surprised?”

“Well… because you’re about to take my first time, aren’t you, Master?”

“…Huh?”

“No, I’ve already prepared myself, so I have no intention of begging for mercy. But please, I have one request. Before that happens, would you tell me a little about yourself, Master?”

“…Um, what are you talking about?”

“I understand that I’m asking for more than someone in my position should. But please, I beg you! I want to know what kind of person my first partner will be!”

Whatever was driving her, the girl seemed deeply distressed as she bowed her head.

“I’m not complaining or anything, so could you please raise your head for now?”

I tried telling her that, but she didn’t budge. Was she planning to keep her head lowered until I agreed to listen?

“Um, first, could you answer a question for me? If you do, I promise I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

“…Really?”

The girl timidly raised her head.

“Yeah. So there’s no need to be so anxious.”

“…Thank you, Master. You’re very kind.”

Her previously tense expression finally softened. I’d thought she had a beautiful face before, but she was adorable when she smiled. If I’d already reached puberty, I might have fallen for her on the spot.

“Anyway, you’re… Sorry, what was your name again?”

“Aristia. Please feel free to call me Alice.”

“All right, Alice. And if you don’t mind, you can just call me Leon.”

“Understood, Leon-sama?”

“No, you don’t need the honorific or the formal speech either… Ah, but there’s Marie to consider. Sorry, could you stick with that for now?”

“Of course, Leon-sama. Now, what was your question?”

“Oh, right. Claire-nee—the girl who brought you here. What exactly did she tell you?”

“Well, um… She said that you would be asking many different things of me every night, and that I should devote myself to you completely, body and soul, and serve you with everything I have…”

“~~~~!”

Damn it, Claire-neeeee! What she said wasn’t technically wrong, but the way she explained it was completely misleading!

Don’t tell me she seriously intended for me to gain experience in that department too? The frightening thing was that I could almost believe it. But there was absolutely no way I was going along with that plan!

“U-um, I know I said it would be my first time, but a woman employed as an instructor by the slave merchant taught me the necessary techniques. So, um… I-I might be clumsy at first, but I’ll learn to satisfy you quickly. So please, just spare my life—”

“Wait, wait! I have no intention of doing anything like that, so don’t worry.”

“…Huh? Um, what… do you mean?”

She tilted her head in confusion. I proceeded to explain my circumstances to Alice from beginning to end.

“Then when she said you’d be asking all sorts of things from me, did she perhaps mean…?”

“Yeah. General knowledge, and maybe knowledge about magic, if you have any.”

“O-oh, I see.”

The tension seemed to drain out of her, and Alice slumped forward. But after a moment, she suddenly lifted her head.

“I-I can’t believe I misunderstood things so badly! …H-how embarrassing. Please forget what I said earlier!”

“What you said earlier…”

N-now that she mentioned it, I felt like I’d heard quite an extraordinary confession—no, no, I couldn’t think about that.

Calm down. I needed to calm down. My body was only nine years old, and I hadn’t even started puberty. I was basically in a permanent state of post-nut clarity, so there was no reason I couldn’t overcome such thoughts.

………..Phew. I’d calmed down a little.

But thinking about it calmly, a beautiful girl who was inexperienced yet had already been trained in those techniques was pretty provocative… Wait, why was I thinking about that?

Right. I needed to change the subject.

“Come to think of it, Alice, you’re an elf, right? How did you end up becoming a human’s slave?”

“How I became a human’s slave…?”

“I’m just curious, so you don’t have to tell me if you’d rather not.”

“No, I’d be happy to tell you if you’d like to hear it, Leon-sama.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Yes. It also relates to why I wanted to know more about you.”

Hmm. She didn’t seem to be forcing herself… at least, I didn’t think so.

“Then would you tell me?”

“Of course. Though it might not be a particularly unusual story. I’ve been extremely curious ever since I was born, and I was especially interested in human cities. So as soon as I became an adult, I left my elven village. But in one of the towns I visited, I was deceived by a human I met…”

“…So you didn’t become a slave of your own free will?”

“That’s right, but… are there actually people who willingly become slaves?”

Alice tilted her head curiously.

“Well, I thought maybe you’d sold yourself for money. You seemed pretty willing to perform bedroom duties, too.”

“I was not willing!”

Her translucent skin turned bright red in an instant. But she apparently realized I was teasing her, because she quickly gave me a sulky glare.

“…I thought you were going to forget about that?”

“I never actually said I’d forget—I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Please don’t look at me like that.”

“Hmph… Will you really forget it?”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll properly forget it this time. But before I do, let me ask you one thing. You didn’t seem to have completely given up, but you weren’t trying to escape either. Why?”

“That’s… because I desperately want to be happy.”

“…You want to be happy?”

“Yes. I can’t tell you why, but I have to find happiness. So if I couldn’t escape my fate, if I had no choice but to serve someone as a slave, I decided I would try my best to grow fond of that person.”

“I see…”

I remembered what Alice had blurted out earlier.

She’d promised to satisfy me if I would only spare her life. Even after being sold to a complete stranger as a slave, Alice was still desperately struggling to find happiness.

She was just like Claire-nee and me, struggling against the political marriages arranged for us. Now that I knew that, there was no way I could keep her bound to me… was there?

“Alice, I’ll let you escape.”

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

She must never have imagined such an offer. Alice tilted her head in bewilderment.

“Exactly what I said. I’ll help you escape from here. You should be free to live your own life and find happiness.”

“That’s—!”

She finally seemed to understand what I meant, and her face filled with astonishment. She remained frozen for several dozen seconds before finally speaking.

“I’m grateful for your kindness, but if you’ll allow it, I’d rather remain by your side, Leon-sama.”

“I’d be happy about that too, but… why?”

“…Please look at this.”

Alice opened the neckline of her clothing slightly. I was startled and nearly turned away, but just before I did, I noticed something resembling a magic circle a little below her neck.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the mark of my slave contract.”

“Proof that you’re a slave? But wouldn’t you be fine as long as you didn’t show it to anyone?”

“No. This is a form of Inscription Magic. Whenever I believe I’m doing something that would betray my master, it causes me intense pain.”

“Huh… So it has that kind of effect. …Oh, but wait. If I give you permission to escape, wouldn’t that mean you weren’t betraying me?”

“Now that I know you want my knowledge, Leon-sama, if I took advantage of your kindness and ran away despite that, there’s a strong possibility the mark would cause me pain.”

…Ah, I see. I’d been wondering how the mark determined whether an action constituted betrayal, but apparently it was based on the person’s own sense of guilt.

That meant there was little risk of a slave deliberately twisting an order and murdering their master in their sleep. On the other hand, if a slave was treated too unjustly, they might stop feeling guilty about disobeying altogether.

It was a convenient system for controlling slaves, but… in this situation, it was troublesome.

No matter how often I told Alice she was free to leave, as long as she believed that part of me wanted her to stay, escaping would register as an act of betrayal.

“It would be a problem if the pain suddenly struck while I was far away. Besides, the mark also seals my Spirit Magic, so even if I escaped, I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own.”

“Then isn’t there some way to remove the mark?”

“I believe a highly skilled magician could do it. If I returned to my village, I could probably have it removed there, but…”

“But in your current condition, you can’t leave me. And I can’t exactly find a magician for you either. Sorry for getting your hopes up.”

“No, please don’t apologize. As I said earlier, I genuinely want to stay by your side, Leon-sama.”

“Not just because you can’t leave this place?”

“I thought staying with you might be interesting.”

“…You really are curious, aren’t you? Didn’t that already get you into trouble once?”

“It did. That’s why I’ve learned to be suspicious of people. And even after learning that lesson, I decided you were someone I could trust, Leon-sama.”

She was saying something very flattering, but… was this girl really going to be okay? I couldn’t help worrying that someone would trick her again.

“Hey, I’m glad you trust me, but what would you do if I betrayed that trust?”

“Nothing. Once I’ve chosen to trust you, whatever happens afterward will be my own responsibility.”

“…All right. If you’re that determined, don’t move.”

I gave Alice that instruction and embraced her. Then I pressed my lips against the side of her neck.

“…Mm.”

Alice let out a small, ticklish-sounding noise, but she didn’t move an inch. After confirming that, I gently pulled away.

“…You really didn’t resist at all. You’re pretty stubborn, aren’t you?”

“I simply trusted you, Leon-sama. But what did you just do?”

“I left a kiss mark on your neck. I know it might be embarrassing, but could you make sure Marie happens to notice it later?”

“Marie is the maid who was here earlier, correct?”

“Yeah. She’s also supposed to keep an eye on me. If she finds out I haven’t touched you, people might start getting suspicious.”

“I understand your reasoning, but… does this mean you’re allowing me to stay with you?”

“…The truth is, I desperately want to be happy too. That’s why I took a liking to you when I heard your story. Let’s find happiness together, Alice.”

I extended my hand toward Alice, but for some reason, she didn’t respond. Wondering what was wrong, I looked at her face and discovered that not only her cheeks but even the tips of her ears had turned bright red.

“…Alice?”

“U-um, Leon-sama? Was that… w-were you just proposing to me?”

For an instant, I wondered what on earth she was talking about. Then I immediately realized what I’d just said.

“N-no! That’s not what I meant! I just meant that since we’re both working toward the same goal, we should do our best together!”

“O-oh, I see. That startled me a little.”

“Sorry for putting it so confusingly. I suppose saying ‘let’s find happiness together’ could easily be mistaken for a marriage proposal.”

“No, I was surprised, but it made me very happy. I’d love for us to pursue happiness together!”

“…Haha. That sounds like such a strange thing to say.”

“That’s mean! You were the one who said it first, Leon-sama!”

“Sorry, sorry. I was only joking. I’m looking forward to having you around, Alice.”

“Yes! I’m looking forward to it too!”

And so, Alice and I began our unusual life together.