Healing the girl right there in the slave cell would've been the pinnacle of stupidity. What if the slave trader hiked up the price or suddenly changed his mind about selling? And there was no real reason to flaunt my abilities unnecessarily. That's why I decided to handle her treatment in my already-prepped basement setup.
"Lay her down here," I ordered the sullen tiger cub, pointing to one of the few chairs in the room.
"Ooh… looks kinda creepy. I like it, Nott-chan!" Sadina clapped her hands, smiling as she took in the charming ambiance of my 'apartment.'
"This doesn't exactly inspire confidence…" Fohl, on the other hand, was radiating pessimism.
"Don't worry, brother. I can feel that Nott-sama possesses incredible power. You don't need to be afraid."
"You're weird. Power doesn't say anything about someone's morals," I muttered without even turning around.
"True. But I can see more than just physical strength in you. Your soul is riddled with scars — some long-healed, some still raw. But it feels like… like they've just started to mend."
"What a perceptive little girl." My lips curled into a crooked smirk on their own.
"You carry a very heavy soul, Nott-sama. And something… even heavier has merged with it."
Yeah. I'm starting to suspect what that something is.
"That's enough. Just sit still." Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Sadina's smile faltering as she glanced at me.
Among the potions I'd created, there wasn't anything particularly powerful left. Last time I was down here, I'd been trying to make something as basic as a remedy for seasickness — so it's not like any miracle cures had materialized from that batch.
The next step was checking the list of what I could craft under the Healing Potions branch. Fohl had said Atla's condition was hereditary — something embedded deep at the genetic level. And the disease itself was so severe, its effects were literally causing the girl's skin to decay. If you ask me, it looked more like a curse than a disease.
The best I could make right now was a High-Grade Healing Potion, but I doubted it would do much in a case this severe.
"Alright. First — examination."
"W-what are you planning?! Stay away from Atla!"
"Get in my way — and I'll knock you out."
"Kgh!"
I stepped up to Atla and touched her solar plexus with a finger. A soft wave of Qi rippled through her body, spreading out like sonar. With this scanning technique, I managed to pinpoint the most heavily afflicted areas… but I couldn't locate the true source of the illness. Most likely, my skill level just wasn't high enough yet. Any talk of actually curing her was completely off the table.
"Here. Drink this first." With a guiding motion, I gently opened her mouth — the girl didn't resist in the slightest — and carefully began feeding her the High-Grade potion.
There was an effect. Both visual and internal. The moment the potion touched her lips, the bottle began to glow with a bright light, and her condition started to show slight signs of improvement — but… this wasn't healing.
"It—it helped?!" Fohl immediately darted over to his sister.
"No. It just stabilized her condition a little. I can't do anything more than that right now."
But for now, that was enough. Thanks to the potion, Atla had a little more time — and that meant more options. All I needed now was to find information on higher-tier healing potions. That part wouldn't be too hard. Actually getting them, on the other hand… that might be a problem. Or maybe not.
I thought of the queen. Surely she had something like that in her vault, right?
"This is incredible… I really do feel a bit better," Atla murmured, still wrapped in bandages as she slowly lifted her hand to look at it.
"But I gave her the exact same medicine! Only once, sure, but… the effect was completely different!"
"Because I'm a Hero," I replied flatly, not even turning around.
"Huh?! What are you talking about?!"
"So you are a Hero, Nott-sama…"
"Atla, you believe him?!"
"Nott-chan is one of the summoned Heroes. The Fifth…"
Sadina graciously took on the task of explaining things to the utterly confused Fohl — a task I had absolutely no desire to handle myself. Before the trip to Cal Mira, I needed to get Atla treated, reset the levels of Fohl, Sadina, and Wyndia so I could bring them along (Wyndia being the exception, since she could be leveled on the go).
And then there was Night, still stuck at level 40 — that had been bothering me for a while. Where was that Filolial Queen, anyway? Was I really going to have to go hunt her down myself? Although…
Actually, I did have an idea that just might work. Just one more plan to toss onto the already overflowing pile. Might as well get started on it now.
"Sadina."
"Yes, yes, Nott-chan? Need something from your big sister?" There wasn't a trace of that earlier pout in her voice anymore — a relief, honestly.
"I need you to reset your level… and become my slave."
"…"
"…"
Silence hung in the room for several long seconds. I smiled. Sadina smiled. Fohl, eyes wide, was darting his gaze between our faces. Atla, I think, was smiling too… And Night? Night couldn't care less, as usual.
"I don't mind, but… why?"
"Heroes' slaves get massive stat boosts as they grow. If you return to your current level as my slave, you'll be at least twice as strong. Maybe even more."
"Ooooh," Sadina's eyes widened in wonder. "Like I said — I don't mind, but… Nott-chan, do you remember that problem I told you about?"
"You said there was one, but never gave any details."
"It's… a bit complicated…"
Which meant I ended up having to sit through a pretty long story. To summarize — she was buried in debt. I already knew Sadina was one of the people from Raftalia's village. The village had been wiped out during the first Wave, and the surviving residents were captured and sold into slavery. Sadina had been both the village's protector and its main source of fish, so she'd been out at sea that day and hadn't been able to stop what happened.
Sadina graciously took on the task of explaining things to the utterly confused Fohl — a task I had absolutely no desire to handle myself. Before the trip to Cal Mira, I needed to get Atla treated, reset the levels of Fohl, Sadina, and Wyndia so I could bring them along (Wyndia being the exception, since she could be leveled on the go).
And then there was Night, still stuck at level 40 — that had been bothering me for a while. Where was that Filolial Queen, anyway? Was I really going to have to go hunt her down myself? Although…
Actually, I did have an idea that just might work. Just one more plan to toss onto the already overflowing pile. Might as well get started on it now.
"Sadina."
"Yes, yes, Nott-chan? Need something from your big sister?" There wasn't a trace of that earlier pout in her voice anymore — a relief, honestly.
"I need you to reset your level… and become my slave."
"…"
"…"
Silence hung in the room for several long seconds. I smiled. Sadina smiled. Fohl, eyes wide, was darting his gaze between our faces. Atla, I think, was smiling too… And Night? Night couldn't care less, as usual.
"I don't mind, but… why?"
"Heroes slaves get massive stat boosts as they grow. If you return to your current level as my slave, you'll be at least twice as strong. Maybe even more."
"Ooooh," Sadina's eyes widened in wonder. "Like I said — I don't mind, but… Nott-chan, do you remember that problem I told you about?"
"You said there was one, but never gave any details."
"It's… a bit complicated…"
Which meant I ended up having to sit through a pretty long story. To summarize — she was buried in debt. I already knew Sadina was one of the people from Raftalia's village. The village had been wiped out during the first Wave, and the surviving residents were captured and sold into slavery. Sadina had been both the village's protector and its main source of fish, so she'd been out at sea that day and hadn't been able to stop what happened.
So, after she managed to buy back a few children from Rulorona — Raftalia's village — Sadina had a brilliant and simultaneously foolish idea: she placed a specific request to purchase all the children from Rulorona.
Where was the flaw? Supply and demand. The price she offered was high, which quickly triggered a spike in interest — and of course, scammers. Soon enough, slavers started pushing all kinds of random demi-human kids as supposed Rulorona survivors. Over time, the price for actual children from the village skyrocketed, but by then, Sadina was in too deep to pull out. She kept going, forced to go further into debt with every purchase.
At present, all those kids were under the "protection" of Sadina's current owner. Yes — she had a slave crest. And if she stepped out of line, the children could be put in danger. Something she absolutely could not allow.
"Interesting story… But given the current circumstances? It's a complete non-issue."
"What?"
"Sadina, darling, who do you think I am?" I smiled warmly, locking eyes with her.
"U-um… Strong, charming, handsome, irresponsible… Hero-doofus?" she guessed with the most innocent face she could muster.
"I'll take that. But that's not what I meant." I leaned in a bit. "Yes, I'm a Hero. Which already gives me the kind of power where the guy holding those kids could simply vanish if I wanted. But that's not the point either. Whose house are we in right now?"
"This is… the estate of the Pel…gue family…" Realization started to dawn in her expression.
"Yup. We're staying as guests of one of the most influential families in all of Zeltoble. A family that's loyal to me. And your 'master', if I'm not mistaken…?"
"A merchant. Wealthy, but still just a merchant… Nott-chan, you're a genius!" The orca-girl beamed and threw herself into my arms, latching onto my neck with a joyful laugh.
"Then it's settled. The kids, Melromarc, level resets, training."
Leaving Fohl with some basic instructions, Sadina, Night, and I headed off to negotiate with Pelgue. Naturally, rejection wasn't even a possibility. In fact, Pelgue went a step further — offering to crush any opposition or legal friction before it could even start. And thanks to a connection I'd managed to establish just that very day with another influential family, we had all the backing we needed.
"I didn't expect we'd see each other again so soon, Hero-sama! Oh yes!"
The slaver family had agreed to help — in exchange for the future cooperation we'd already discussed. And yet, this walking cliché of a man actually got what he wanted…
There's no point in going into too much detail about the "raid" itself. All the children were kept in one place — a building not far from the slum district.
"Hey! You'd better change your route if you value your legs," barked one of the guards standing at the entrance as we approached.
"Apologies, but I won't be adjusting my path. Phantom Hands."
"Wha—?! Wh-whoa!"
The whip of Phantom Hands burst forth from behind me, shooting forward and wrapping up every single person in our way. Normal men, not even Class Advanced… pathetic.
"Ooh! Nott-chan, I think you've gotten even stronger…"
"Ha. Circumstances."
We found the owner of the house in his office on the second floor. And since we'd already started strong, we saw no reason to knock.
"Who the hell are you?" His eyes dropped to the unconscious body lying outside the door. "Do you even know who I— Wait, you?!" He jabbed a finger at Sadina.
"Hi there!" she waved sweetly.
"Do you even understand what you're doing?! Your precious little brats—"
"That's no longer a problem. I'll pay for them." A pouch of coin landed on his desk with a heavy thud.
"What? Who the hell even are you?"
"For now? Just a buyer. Are you going to cooperate or not?"
"Ha! You think you can just storm into my house, beat up my men… and get away with it?! Forget the kids! They'll be sold off all across Zeltoble by the end of the day!"
"I wouldn't recommend doing that." Remus stepped out from behind me.
"Oh yes. That would be a very poor decision. In polite merchant society, we don't do business like this."
"Y-you…"
The merchant's eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he realized who exactly had come knocking at his door.
"This is an outrage! The Association won't just let this slide!"
"It will, my dear friend. In fact, it already has," Remus said with a smile. "So please, don't make this any more complicated than it needs to be. None of us want to waste more time than necessary."
Swallowing hard, the merchant — pale as a ghost — lifted the pouch of money.
"F-fine. Consider the deal done. Those slaves were worthless anyway…"
And with that, the incident could be considered resolved. I tried to suppress the thought that it would be really convenient if this merchant just happened to suffer a heart attack in his sleep. Lately, I was getting a little too bloodthirsty…
I left the negotiations with the freed children to Sadina and waited for them outside. Not long after, the slave crests were removed from all the kids with the help of the slaver himself. And using the same connections, Sadina's own crest was transferred — to me.
"Now I belong to you, Nott-chan… Completely under your control!" she declared, dramatically presenting her chest — where the simplest type of crest now glowed, purely symbolic. "I can already feel your… Heroic power flowing into me…"
"Riiight. Lusty orca girl. How did it even come to this?"
"Heehee."
Later that same day, I finally got the chance to hold the duplicate of the Sacred Weapon in my hands. Though… not for long.
"Ow!" The moment I so much as thought about how to use it, a sudden surge of energy struck my arm — different from the rejection I'd felt from other types of weapons.
It was a rejection — but of a completely different nature. A different kind of response. As if something had tried to pour into me at full speed but was violently repelled by some invisible barrier.
"Now that's interesting… What am I supposed to make of this?"
A scan with both Mana and Qi didn't reveal much. The artifact was clearly a complex construct, one I obviously couldn't fully comprehend with my current knowledge. Like the Legendary Weapons, this one had a Core. But there was a key difference: Legendary Cores were self-sustaining sources of energy, while the duplicate's Core was more like a battery — a container meant to store energy drawn from elsewhere.
In other words, without a massive external power supply, it was just an unusually intricate toy. And try as I might, I couldn't get it to charge.
I needed more knowledge. On artifactology, on manipulating every type of energy this world had to offer, on alchemy, and everything else in between. Somehow, I had to find a shortcut — a way to absorb it all in the shortest time possible.
With that, my business in Zeltoble was wrapped up. It had been a packed day, and I decided to move on to the next phase tomorrow. First thing in the morning, we'd reset the levels of Sadina, Fohl, and Wyndia. The first two would handle their own grinding from then on, while I'd take Wyndia under my wing. After that, I'd start working on drawing the attention of a certain bird queen.
Yeah… the to-do list was getting long. And then there was Mirelia's request, too...
"You've got business with me as well?" I asked, not even bothering to lift my head from the bed as the door creaked open.
"Ooh… your loyal slave, Master-sama, has come to fulfill her nightly duties…"
"That explains why the Birdie was late today," I muttered with a smirk.
The door gave a soft creak, and then a delicate, almost theatrical step crossed the threshold. Sadina — but this time, she wasn't wearing her usual excuse for clothing. No, tonight she was wrapped in a rather captivating black nightgown…
"The nights have been so cold lately… So I was wondering, would Master allow his slave to warm him with her body?" she said, sensually crossing her arms to hug her shoulders…
And then the nightgown slipped down, sliding to the floor with a whispering rustle, leaving nothing between my eyes and the pale, flawless skin of the woman before me — her breasts framed and just barely hidden by her arms, pushed together in the most devilish way…
"What am I supposed to do with you…" I sighed, shaking my head.
"I can offer suggestions."
"Yeah, how about… no."
Still — not a bad way to wrap up one hell of a day.