What is happening there?
I was a time to observe and see what was going on without approaching immediately.
“Look at this insolent boy. Since you dared to steal my slave, you must take responsibility for it.”
“I didn’t steal, I returned the kidnapped child!”
Delight shouted angrily, eyes wide open.
“The deal was already done, making the child my slave. So now you owe me. If you can’t repay the debt, then there’s no other choice; you must become my slave.”
The merchant sneered at Delight and grabbed his neck, shaking him.
“I have only one master. Someone like you can never be my master!”
“It seems like I’m at a loss, but it’s fine as long as I make a deal with your master. However, you better brace yourself.”
Despite struggling against the merchant’s strength, Delight’s voice didn’t lose its vigor. It appeared that the merchant had already decided to make Delight his slave.
In this situation, no one watching would step in to help. In the end, there was no choice but to intervene.
“Stop. Who do you think you’re calling a slave? This child is not a slave.”
Stepping out from among the crowd, I pulled Delight away from the merchant and put an arm around his shoulder.
“Humph. Are you the master of this child? He said it himself that he was following his master. You must be that master. Hand him over to me, and I’ll pay you handsomely.”
“Stop this nonsense…”
Ignoring the merchant, I tried to leave with Delight.
“You, tell me. Didn’t you say you followed your master?”
“Yes, this is my master!”
Delight shouted in a clear voice, responding to the merchant’s question.
“…….….”
“Keep better control of your slaves. Your slave boy stole the slave I purchased. What kind of business ethics is that?”
The merchant continued, assuming he could reason with me.
“How much do you want for him?”
The merchant abruptly asked for Delight’s price.
“You need to sell him to me. Otherwise, you’ll have to compensate for the loss of the slave I missed because of him.”
Threatening that I would have to pay if he didn’t sell, the merchant was confident that I couldn’t refuse.
“Judging by the looks of it, this one doesn’t seem very strong. I’ll offer you a good price, so sell him.”
“My master would never sell me!”
“Humph. There are always ones like this. Clearly, he hasn’t been properly trained by a competent master. I’ll make sure to teach him how a slave should behave.”
The merchant laughed greedily, as if ready to devour Delight immediately. It was clear he was deliberately trying to intimidate him, treating him as if he were already his slave.
‘It’s always noisy when coming to the village.’
While trying to hear the child’s response, the merchant’s loud voice was a nuisance. Especially those eyes, which were appraising Delight up and down as if already pricing him, were particularly irritating.
“It would be best if you closed those eyes first.”
Finally, my voice, now filled with power, dropped heavily in front of the merchant.
I barely managed to escape from the crowd.
The original plan was completely derailed. Only half of the necessary items were purchased, and the commotion attracted everyone’s attention.
Some people would remember the appearances of Delight and me. They might not be able to find out where I live, but leaving traces alone was enough to disrupt the plan.
The merchant who touched Delight was taught a lesson so that he would never recklessly use his eyes and hands again.
“What, ugh… Argh…! My eyes, do something about my eyes!”
“They’ll heal if you treat them diligently. But forget about the slave you lost today. I knew you had kidnapped an orphan and sold them, didn’t you?”
“Everyone knows that…!”
“What does that matter? What matters is that if rumors spread about you looking for slaves, I’ll come and cause trouble for you.”
Even without seeing the slave, it was obvious.
Kidnapping orphans and selling them as slaves had been a common practice for a long time.
Though the punishment for touching Delight seemed insufficient, it was enough to scare him properly, so the child who escaped would probably return to their original place.
Though it was satisfying, it was disappointing to have had to use magic when the intention was only to quietly buy some goods.
“That man was really bad. Thanks to Master, he won’t be able to buy and mistreat any more slaves. Master is the best!”
Delight was excitedly chattering away.
He didn’t seem to realize at all what he had done wrong.
“Keep quiet and follow me.”
The stern warning was given to Delight.
It was necessary to leave quickly before anyone followed.
As I started walking quickly, Delight hurriedly moved his short legs to keep up.
“Master, wait for me!”
For a while, the gap between them grew and narrowed repeatedly.
Thud-
“Ouch!”
A sound of someone falling was heard from behind, but it was ignored as I kept walking forward.
Naturally, the distance between me and Delight kept increasing.
A limping step.
Yet, the presence of someone persistently following was felt.
After walking for quite a while, they finally reached a secluded place, where I turned around and waited for Delight.
“Delight.”
When Delight finally arrived, he was in a terrible state.
It seemed the merchant had been quite rough with him, seeing how battered and bruised he was.
Seeing Delight’s bruised and bloodstained state made, I regret not punishing the merchant more severely.
Even with his lips pouting, the child was watching my expression. He wouldn’t admit to any fault, but it was clear he had done something wrong.
Wanting to understand what Delight had been thinking when he caused the trouble, I asked:
“Where did the child you helped go?”
“He must have escaped well.”
“Leaving you behind? You were helping a child you didn’t even know and ended up like that?”
“Isn’t it better than both of us getting caught?”
Delight answered confidently, raising his head proudly.
Still grumbling about the evil merchant, Delight showed no concern about the slave who had abandoned him and escaped.
“What? So you’re not resentful at all? No regrets?”
“He really looked like he had no one. Everyone around him was bad.”
Delight was even defending the escaped slave.
Before I knew it, I crossed my arms and looked at Delight, opening my mouth to speak.
“Then what about you?”
What if you had actually been taken and made a slave?
The frustration was overwhelming, making me angry.
“I have you, Master.”
“………….”
Look at those brazen yet sparkling eyes.
I wanted to smack him, but at the same time, I wanted to pat his small head.
I couldn’t understand my own feelings.
“What are you? Why are you going around calling me your master?”
The voice trembled with bewilderment.
“This kid doesn’t know how scary the world is!”
In the Ilnord Empire, slavery was legal.
Despite the ongoing issues, the influence of those who gained convenience from using slaves was stronger.
Slaves were considered property, not people, and could be bought and sold anytime.
So, it wasn’t strange for the merchant to make such a proposal.
But regardless of how normal it was, it still bothered me.
“Just call me ‘Aunty.’ If you don’t like that, there are plenty of other ways to address me.”
“………….”
No matter how young and naive he was, there were things one should never say. It was necessary to address this firmly.
“Do you know what happens if you’re wrongly branded as a slave?”
If I hadn’t been there, no one in the crowd would have intervened.
Slaves could be injured or killed, and the owner would simply be compensated with money.
Delight’s life was at risk.
A slave was such an existence. It wasn’t something to speak of lightly.
Did he not know this? Or did he stubbornly say it despite knowing?
“So why did you say such a thing in front of people?”
“………….”
Despite being anxious for my reaction the whole way here, he didn’t explain the reason.
“What is the real problem?”
Maybe it was because he was a kid. His moods swung wildly, and his stubbornness lacked reason.
Honestly, it was unclear how to handle this. Not having dealt with children before, it was expected.
Sigh. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken him in. It was crazy to think I could take care of a child.
As fatigue accumulated between my brows, regret crept in without me realizing it.
“‘Aunty’ is a word for others.”
Delight said something incomprehensible.
