Volume 6 - Ch 3.14
The Slave Merchant lowered the price that I would have to pay for Miria by another fifty thousand Nars. Is this going to be the final price that he thinks Im going to be paying? Because if so, then it makes me question some of the things that he was previously saying. If he were so confident about being able to sell Miria for seven hundred thousand or six hundred thousand Nars at an auction, then he wouldnt have lowered her price so many times in such a relatively rapid succession.
Actually, now that I think about it, if we consider all of the factors that make up her background, theres absolutely no guarantee that he would be able to sell her at a slave auction at all, because I am fairly sure that if I myself thought that parts of her background were more than a little shady, then the regular inhabitants of this world would surely think like that as well.
He mustve realized that as well, and so now that the opportunity for him to sell such a troublesome piece of merchandise has finally presented itself, Im sure that hell do everything that he possibly can to seal the deal so that he wouldnt have to worry about her dragging his business down anymore.
Okay, I have made my decision. Im going to be buying Miria.
You will? Understood. Thank you for doing business with us, Sir.
Also, if its not going to be too much of a problem, then I would like to make changes to her will. This girl right here, Sherry, is going to be freed upon my death, so I want the changes in Mirias will to state that upon my death, she is to be inherited by Sherry instead of dying together with me.
In a world such as this where death appears to be not as heavy of a subject as it is in the modern world where Im coming from, killing others must be relatively easy for people, and thats why I have no doubt that this world probably has a myriad of inventive ways of killing to rival even the most creative ones from the Japan of the Edo period.
Disembowelment, crucifixion, beheading, being cut in half, leaving the victim to die in the scorching sun or drowned by the waves of the upcoming tide, boiling them to death, hanging, you name it, the people of Edo period most probably tried it. And I think it goes without saying that neither of the execution methods that I just listed were the ones granting an easy, non-painful death.
By default, if a master were to die, their slave would die as well. However, if a slave murders their master, they would not be able to receive the death penalty because of how that system works. But with the alterations that I have ordered, even if Miria kills me, she will not die by default. She will be inherited by Sherry, and shell keep on living in order to receive the death penalty. However, this solution is only a contingency plan, but hopefully I will not need to come up with something more foolproof in the future.
As you wish. The fee for making adjustments to the slaves will are going to cost three hundred Nars, so are you absolutely sure that this is what you want to do?
Yes, I am already well aware of how this process works, and the price doesnt matter to me, so go ahead and make the necessary changes.
As you wish. In that case, the total amount that youre going to have to pay is going to be two hundred eighty thousand two hundred ten Nars.
Well, so much for your talk about not dropping the price any lower than four hundred thousand Nars, huh? Although this time the drop was pretty much understood, since by ordering him to make the changes to Mirias will along with the price of her purchase, I was able to trigger my thirty percent discount. However, be that as it may, this entire exchange revolving around Mirias purchase has indeed shown me that Sherry was very much right in that one regard:
Merchants are not the sort that can be trusted.
That was splendidly negotiated, master!
Sherry compliments me when we left the room. After I paid the money for Mirias purchase, I was asked by the Slave Merchant to wait outside.
She doesnt seem to mind using underhanded methods against brokers. Sherry is pretty nasty when it comes to negotiation.
It was? Well, thank you then.
However, I still dont understand why the Slave Merchant lowered the price further without any apparent reason after he explicitly stated that he wont do it anymore.
Erm. That was because of my thirty percent discount, but I definitely cannot tell them that.
As you would expect from master. He definitely did that because he could see masters virtue.
Thank you for the kind words, Roxanne, but Im not exactly a man of virtue.
No, really, Im not a virtuous man at all. For example, I wouldnt have any problem at all doing it with Roxanne right here and now.
If skill could be considered the same as virtue, then I might be a virtuous man after all. From a third persons viewpoint, I may be a skilled Merchant to be able to get the price down by thirty percent with just my words alone.
Not at all. It was really splendid.
She seemed to have violated Gods sanctuary, but I dont think that this is going to be that much of a problem for us.
If master says so, then thats how its definitely going to be.
Divine Punishment is only a superstition. Had it existed, she would have received it immediately when she was fishing in the restricted area.
Sherry is rational as always, and Roxanne nods as well upon hearing it.
After a while, the slave merchant comes back with Miria.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.
Thank you very much for fish, she says.
Really? But I have yet to give her fish, so whys she saying that already? Or maybe she thinks that the contents of tonights dinner have already been decided? Is she thinking that shes skilled at negotiation or something?
Not now.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X!
She glared at me when Roxanne translated it. Did I ever, at any point said that I wont give her fish?
Then Ill rewrite the Intelligence Cards right now.
I extend my hand out upon the Slave Merchants instruction. Miria is told something as well and she reluctantly extends her hand out. Finally, after Sherry extends her hand out, the Slave Merchant rewrites the Intelligence Cards.
Kaga Michio | Male | 17 years old | Explorer | Freeman
Owned Slaves : Roxanne | Sherry (to be free upon death) | Miria (to be inherited upon death)
After our Intelligence Cards get rewritten, Miria appears in the list of my owned slaves.
After my death, she will be inherited, but the Card doesnt mention who shell be inherited by.