Chapter 3.8 - Slave and Decoration

In the 5th floor village, several buildings are currently under construction.

Some companies have begun building rental or for sale houses targeting the adventurers who want to have a base on the 5th floor.

Of course, some of them are requested by Schmidt.

In this village, the land is treated as leased land by the tower manager.

There are no particular restrictions on how much time the merchants and adventurers spend on tents but if the place they set up tents to has been contracted for leasehold, they are required to leave.

If you ignore it, you will be kicked out of the tower. Two or three groups of adventurers have already been kicked out and presently, no one dared to repeat their mistake again.

Also, all procedures like that are being carried out in the temple where the teleportation gate is.

All of it will be done by the guild created by Kousuke with him as the leader soon.

He was thinking of creating the guild soon that’s why he wants to create guild cards immediately but that’s where the problem lies.

No matter how much he thinks about it, there’s not enough manpower.

Wahid was visiting the management floor to think of a solution.

「……slave?」

「Yes. I think it’s better to buy slaves to satisfy both shortage and trust.」

Kousuke has heard that there are slaves in that world but it seems to be quite different from what he imagined.

The slaves that Kousuke imagines are those who can be called criminal slaves. They are the type of people that will be subjected to hard labor and be whipped if they slack a little.

However, there are debt slaves and self-selling slaves and they are in demand in terms of employment or labor supply. Of course, their food, clothing, and shelter must be guaranteed. In addition, they won’t be sold unless they want to be sold.

For those who have a certain amount of income, buying a slave is almost no different from employing a subordinate.

In some cases, they are treated better compared to the black companies from his previous world.

Even if he already heard that much, Kousuke can’t help but resist because of the environment he grew up in.

However, considering the state of the village and the guild in the future, he is also certain that a number of trustworthy subordinates are necessary.

In the end, he decided to hire and treat them as normal people.

「……I understand. I’ll allow the employment of slaves.」

「Alright. Thank you very much.」

When Kousuke finally gave his permission, Wahid showed a relieved expression.

「So? What about the guild?」

「Right….hiring them doesn’t mean that they can already serve. We have no choice but to get them used to actual combat first. I think we’ll be ready in less than a week.」

「Alright. I’ll have the guild cards ready by then.」

「Please.」

The guild card has functions such as status information but he still hasn’t decided what kind of design it should take.

「By the way, are you going with me when I purchase the slaves?」

「That’s right….no, let’s not. I’ll show my face when they have come here.」

He doesn’t want the slave dealers to know his connection with Wahid.

Eventually, he’s going to reveal that he’s the owner of the tower but he thought it was not time yet.

「Understood.」

「How many are you going to buy?」

「It will be 10 at first. Depending on the circumstances, can I also good to buy combat slaves and make them guard our facilities?」

「Aren’t you just going to buy for the guild establishment?」

「People will definitely gather because of the rarity of the card but it will still take time to see who’s trustworthy among them…」

「….I see. That makes sense…is that all?」

Wahid nodded.

「Ah, right….when are you going to meet Schmidt-dono?」

Just the other day, he heard that it was Schmidt who opened the store for Wahid. He wanted to see him at least once.

「Ah, right. Anytime is fine. Ask him for his most convenient time and I’ll go there.」

「Alright. Then, please deal with the card.」

「I know. I’ll put it into shape before I meet Schmidt.」

For a certain purpose, he plans to show it to Schmidt.

Wahid nodded again and went back to the fifth floor.

「Are you okay with it?」

Mitsuki asks Kousuke who had seen Wahid off and is currently stroking Wanli who’s lying on his desk.

「You mean the slaves?…. I’m resistant at first. Were you surprised when I gave out the permission? Let’s see how they work first before judging them.」

「Is that so? That’s good then.」

「…..? Did something happen?」

「No. I was just curious. I know you’ll hate buying them which is a bad thing for them.」

「I see. Thank you for your concern but I think it’s okay.」

Kousuke was also surprised that he is not that reluctant to buy slaves than expected.

When he was reincarnated, he thought that there might be some correction applied in order for him to cope in this world.

Slavery aside, Kousuke is now troubled by another problem.

The guild card problem.

The material of the card itself is created by alchemy because of the function it will incorporate but it absolutely has no decoration.

Decorating it is not a simple issue. You have to decorate it in a way that will not interfere with the card’s built-in functions.

As long as it works, it doesn’t matter but it doesn’t look interesting.

Something soft pressed against the back of the head of Kousuke whose eyes are closed and arms crossed while thinking of the problem.

At the same time, he heard a familiar voice from above.

「Kousuke, what are you worried about?」

Shrine.

Ever since Shrine has started managing the 76th floor, she likes to come in contact with Kousuke and she did it in various ways.

Strangely enough, neither Kouhi nor Mitsuki who saw her advances stop her so Kousuke can only deal with her himself.

He doesn’t feel bad being in contact with a woman with a body shape no less than Kouhi and Mitsuki. There is no reason for him to do so. It is a saga of a sad man.

Kousuke, who’s stuck with Shrine, silently handed her the guild card.

「What’s this?」

「The card that I plan to use in the guild that I’m planning to make.」

Because it was the first time for Shrine to see it, he explained the functions of the card one by one. He even made a card for Shrine from scratch.

Shrine, who saw the card, showed a stunned expression.

「You’ve actually managed to make this? Perhaps in the human world, this can be considered as over technology, isn’t it?」

「No, you’re exaggerating it.」

Upon hearing his reply, Shrine sighed and even saw Mitsuki shaking her head.

「I’m exaggerating?….In the first place, there shouldn’t be anyone who can use divine power and there is no way for anyone to make a tool that can use divine power…..this thing should be considered as a divine tool, isn’t it?」

「………eh!? Really!?」

Because he just wanted to make something he thought of, he never thought of anything Shrine had said.

However, since it uses the same principle as Kousuke’s left eye to view status, it is inevitable for it to use divine power too.

「………yeah….maa, it can’t be helped.」

「Is it? Maa, Kousuke is like this but I don’t mind. Anyway, about the card decoration. Why don’t you talk to the igrid?」

「……eh? What do you mean?」

「Oya? Haven’t I said it before….? That race, probably because they lived by digging holes underground, many of them are dexterous. When it comes to decorating something, it is said that they even surpass the dwarves.」

「……….did you really said that before?」

It can’t be blamed on Shrine. Rather, it was all Kousuke’s fault for forgetting important information about the tower’s inhabitants.

They immediately decided to visit the igrid with Shrine along with the sample card.

Given Kousuke’s sudden visit, the chief of the igrid seemed afraid but she became happy upon receiving Kousuke’s order.

For them, Kousuke is the one that provides them with a safe place to live.

As for the decoration, it seems like it can be done technically without problems and they said that they will make some decorated samples later.

Kousuke managed to get back to the management floor with peace of mind….

It was the first time he met the igrid and he found them interesting.

As he heard, they are a race that looks like dolls and they talked about a lot of things like their dialect and from what region they came from.

Kousuke, who was culture-shocked, decided to make time for them next time.