Volume 7 Chapter 5 PaRT 10
「Lord Michio, I have to admit that I am quite surprised by the results of this duel myself. If I may ask, then what exactly did you do to your opponent? Pardon my bluntness in this matter, but it’s just that I don’t seem to be fully understanding what exactly has transpired. The only thing that I do understand is that your opponent’s Sacrificial Misanga has been cleanly cut, which means that you must’ve hit your opponent with at least two attacks. I knew that you’re not just an ordinary Adventurer, but even so, what you did was quite something.」
Gozer is amazed of what I managed to pull of with Sabo. Also, I’m not an average Adventurer. Heck, I’m not even an ordinary Adventurer in the first place! But even despite that, is he… is he admiring me?
「He was truly a formidable opponent. If I had done any less than what I did during our duel, then the things might have became pretty dangerous for me real fast.」
「I have to admit that your companion, Roxanne, also demonstrated some pretty overwhelming abilities in quite a spectacular fashion. That being said, I think it would be best if you left early for today before the other Party comes here. You were lucky that I was present here this time, but it was only by chance, not to mention that the Duke himself is not in the castle today, so we will have to conduct a detailed discussion of today’s events some other time.
Oh, so you’d like to talk about what happened here today with the Duke, huh? In that case, I am definitely not looking forward to the next time when we’re going to meet… but there might just be no way out of it for me.
For the time being, however, I decided to go back home. It has been one hell of a long day, so the thing that I want to do first and foremost now is to lie down and have some serious rest.
「Are you all right, Roxanne?」
As soon as we arrived back at the house, I spoke to Roxanne about what happened today, since I assumed that she’s going to be the most shocked one from all of us. After all, most of the unpleasant happenings from today were related directly to her and her actions.
「Yes master, despite everything that happened today, I assure you that I am feeling quite all right. Uhm… it might be a bit presumptuous for me to say something like that, but… but about what that woman said…. You don’t have to worry about any of it.」
「About me being just a weak Human and a pathetic master? Nah, no biggie. I was never worried about that, because I heard worse insults being thrown my way before.」
Whenever there’s a woman who’s jealous of another woman who managed to get her life together despite all the difficulties and setbacks, it’s natural that situations like that are going to happen, so it’s best to just ignore it, since it only shows how spiteful and childish the other party is.
「Well, uhm , yes, that as well, but… but I meant what she said about me stealing men from other women and wrapping them around my little finger.」
「Ahh, you meant that. I don’t mind that as well, since I know that those words were just a slander and that there’s not a shred of truth in them.」
I say so, and smile at Roxanne. It was nothing but a false accusation made by that woman who was jealous of her… although I do have to admit that there was some degree of truth in what she was saying, because I cannot deny that my own eyes have been first and foremost drawn to her magnificent chest, and the same thing applies to all of the men who happen to be looking at her whenever we go out into the town. It’s just a fact that I have to get used to, which doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop wishing for everyone who dares to ogle Roxanne with their lecherous gaze to drop dead on the spot for the transgression that they committed.
Roxanne also smiles back at me as I look at her face. She says that she’s feeling alright despite everything that has happened today… but I wonder is that really true? Is she really all right, or is she just trying to put on a brave face in order not to worry the rest of us?
That night after going to bed, I heard Roxanne quietly muttering:
「I’ve probably caused a lot of trouble for my aunt and her family.」
She said that to me while the four of us were laying in bed after we finished having our daily dosage of fun.
Roxanne thinks that she was a burden for her aunt and her family after they took her in, and while I want to tell her that it was not her fault at all, it is true that because of the machinations of the woman with whom Roxanne had a duel today, the financial situation of her aunt’s family has been made pretty difficult. After all, when the income is prevented from coming to the household, tensions and unpleasant situations are bound to spring up at some point.
Are you worried about it after all, Roxanne? Because I think that there is no need for you to be tormenting yourself like that. It’s all in the past now, and you shouldn’t be dwelling on it too much, because if you start thinking about the past too much, then you will most definitely lose the sight of the future that’s still ahead of you.
「It’s fine, Roxanne. You should just forget about everything that happened today.」
「I know I should, but… there is just this one thing that I cannot stop thinking about. When my uncle finalized my purchase as a slave, he also added a certain condition to my slave contract: a condition that stated that I could not be sold to the other members of the Wolfkin Tribe. Even though my uncle was not exactly kind to me, then I think… I think he did that to protect me in some way. Or at least that is what I like to believe.」
If that woman was that hell-bent on getting revenge on Roxanne for some made-up offense, then I am pretty sure that without that rule in place, she could have just gone and bought Roxanne as her slave, just so that she could turn her life into living hell. Roxanne’s uncle might have sold her into slavery in the end, but at the very least he took some pretty smart precautions to ensure that something like that would never happen. Thinking about it now, these might have been the circumstances that Alan the Slave Merchant mentioned to me last time when I went to visit him in Vale. After all, if the condition that Roxanne’s uncle added was that she cannot be sold to any member of the Wolfkin Tribe, that also means that by extension, she also cannot be sold at a slave auction where some member of the Wolfkin tribe might have tried to purchase her.
「You know what, Roxanne? Now that I think about it, I should actually be grateful to that woman for what she did. It was definitely horrible and reprehensible, but if she didn’t perform her machinations to sell you into slavery, then it wouldn’t be possible for me to meet and buy you…. So yeah, if nothing else, then I think she at least deserves some credit for that. So as you can see, there’s no need for you to be worrying about anything.」
「Yes. Thank you for your kind words, master. I’ll do just that.」
「You and I just have continue living our lives while being as happy as we possibly can. That is going to be the best kind of revenge you could ever use against that woman.」
「To live well is the best revenge」. That is a famous Spanish proverb that I have heard somewhere while I was still living in Japan.
I lightly embrace Roxanne with one of my arms, and draw her closer to me. Roxanne silently lays her head on my shoulder without saying anything, because there is no need for words at this point. Her head is on my shoulder, and its warmth is everything that I need right now.
While feeling her weight and her gentle warmth, I soon fell asleep.
〈To be continued in『A Harem in the Fantasy World Dungeon Volume 8』〉