Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Chapter 2: Veil, Part 5

I returned to the Chiefs house and had dinner. After that I returned to my room and waited for a few hours, but no matter how long I waited, Teirichi-san did not come to visit me.

I knew it would be like that. I knew that well, but still some part of me wanted to believe that maybe luck would smile upon me this one time. But alas, this was not meant to be. It would be too good to be true.

I wonder if its because Im not some handsome-looking Chad?

So I just spent my night alone like a total loser, crying myself to sleep.

I feel like I was dreaming, but I cannot remember about what, exactly. To be honest, I was a little surprised that I didnt wake up to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, but instead there were the sounds of a typical countryside.

By the way, my illusion that this world was a virtual one was finally crushed when I felt like my bladder was about to explode, so I hurried to the bathroom to relieve myself. This feeling was too real to be something that was just fabricated by my brain. But of course there was always a chance that all of this is just a hallucination and I was really stuck in a coma in some hospital with machines sustaining all of my bodily functions. If something like that would end up happening, I dont know if I even want to wake up from such a dream. No, this was now the world that I would have to live in. As far as I know for now, returning back to Earth is impossible for me.

Nnnnnnnnnnn..

I slowly stretched my arms as I laid back on the bed. It was very poorly made, just a thin mattress and an even thinner blanket laid on top of simple wooden boards. I wonder if this is the standard for all people who live in this world or is it just that poor country bumpkins have to put up with something so uncomfortable?

Excuse me.

I heard the Chiefs voice outside the door.

Its the Village Chief, Michio-sama. Im sorry to be bothering you this early in the morning, but it is time for the wagon to the city of Veil to depart.

All right, Ill be there shortly.

I got up from the bed and went downstairs with all my luggage, that is a copper sword and a drawstring bag. Inside of the bag were all my money and the Intelligence Cards obtained after the battle with the Bandits. For now, those things are my entire property.

Good morning, Michio-sama.

*Yaaaaawn* Morning.

We took care of cleaning the clothes you were wearing yesterday. Here you go.

Inspecting the surroundings closely, my jersey was indeed lying on the table near the entrance.

Ah, thats right. I had this bad boy with me as well.

I cant believe I managed to forget about it so easily. Of course the sword and the bag were not my only assets! There was my trusty jersey as well!

The front door of the house were open, so I peeked outside and saw that it was still relatively dark. The sun has only just begun to rise on the horizon.

I took my jersey, which was now cleaned of all the blood that had stained it during yesterdays battle and returned the clothes the Chief had lent me to him. For the current me, this jersey felt like the second skin. I dont know what Id have done if I wasnt able to wear it anymore.

Your clothes seem to be made from some highly unusual material. It must be something highly valuable.

You think so? Its considered pretty common back where I come from.

Its just a cheap jersey, identical to the hundreds of thousands of other jerseys you can buy in Japan but judging from what he said they probably dont have clothing made of polyester fibers in here. Such a material probably doesnt even exist here.

Feel free to use this bag if you like.

And he presented me with a rather large bag which had what looked to be shoulder straps on it. Could this be a backpack?

Hooo? Thats nice.

And here is your breakfast. Please enjoy it during your journey.

Im sorry for making you do all this for me.

I politely thanked him for the backpack and the food. I placed all of my current belongings into the backpack and closed it. Well, it looked extremely cheap and worn out as heck, but hey, in my current situation I will make use of whatever I can.

Please, it is the least I can do to thank you for saving our village.

With that, he handed me another small bag.

Huh?

When I opened it, I saw it was filled with coins. They were all emitting a dull, yellowish glow. Are those gold coins? It looks like there are more than 10 of them in there.

I know its not nearly enough to fully repay you for your

No, no, its fine, this is enough, really.

Feeling a little embarrassed, I decided to accept the reward he was offering me with gratitude.

Im really sorry I cannot give you any more than that.

I once again assured him that this much was more than enough. I wanted to put an end to this embarrassing situation already while simultaneously avoiding looking like a greedy bastard who wanted to extort the poor villagers of all their savings. With my shaky situation, I wanted to avoid drawing as much attention to myself as I could, and it will certainly be better to be remembered by the entire village as a humble individual rather than someone whos just money-hungry.

With my entire luggage packed up, I placed the backpack on my shoulders and followed after the Chief to the place near the outskirts of the village where the merchant was already preparing his wagon for departure.

Good morning.

Morning.

We exchanged our greetings casually.

We will be departing as soon as it gets bright. Could I ask you to take a seat in the front beside me?

Fine by me.

I got on the wagon and took my seat beside the merchant. I just hope it wont be shaking too much.

In the back of the wagon there were several items: the equipment of all the Bandits who were defeated, the two swords belonging to Teirichi-san and a small cage that resembled a doghouse. Teirichi-sans dagger was not among the items that we were going to sell.

The cage was made almost entirely out of wooden boards, with only the front having a steel fence. I was wondering what that curious structure is, but my unspoken question has answered itself before long, when a man who was accused of the item theft yesterday was brought in and placed inside.

As a criminal he is to be taken to the city and sold to the Slave Merchant.

The Village Chief explained, probably noticing my questioning gaze.

You dont say.

Half of the sum obtained from the transaction will be paid to you, since you are this mans master, Michio-sama.

Well, since I managed to get back what was stolen from me anyway, is there really a need to go that far with admonishing this guy?

If we did that, there is always a chance that he would have done it again since he wouldnt have learned any lesson from it. This is the only way to insure such a thing wont happen again.

So thats how it is. As much as I didnt want to, I had to admit that such a reasoning was very down-to-earth. Besides, an outsider like myself should really not try to meddle in the internal affairs and traditions, so I had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Before we left, a young man approached the wagon and started talking to the caged man.

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 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 X X X X X X X X X.

Is he a relative of the stealing man?

X X X X! X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X!!!

Along with the young man came a little girl, who I presumed to be the mans daughter. Even if I didnt understand the word they were saying, I could read more than enough from the atmosphere itself. She was probably saying things like Papa! Please, dont go! Dont leave us!. They were telling the man not to give up and resign himself to his fate, but I think that deep down inside they knew that it was a futile effort.

Its gotten bright enough. Were leaving!

Merchant took his place next to me, took hold of the reigns and in the next moment the pair of horses began to move, pulling the wagon behind them.

Thank you for taking me with you.

Dont mention it.

Saying that it was bright enough for us to leave was a bit of a stretch in my opinion, because I could barely see the horses in front of us, but this guy has probably made this trip countless times already, so he must have been used to it by now.

The city of Veil, huh? I wonder what kind of town it will be?