The Slums And Slaves?

Hey, Shun here!

I'm not sure why but it looks like there is some part of me that I didn't know yet.

No, maybe it's just because I am playing an overly realistic game, which made me get used to killing.

Is it that or something else? I don't know for sure.

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(Shun's POV)

On my way to the Sleeping Songbird Inn, I suddenly remembered that I could actually just go back by myself to the dungeon back and forth in order to not waste time. Staying in this town also costs a large sum of money so there's that as well.

Hmm… Then, before I go back, I should go to the slums first to check it out. My curiosity is killing me.

Instead of going to the Sleeping Songbird Inn that's nearby the shopping district and the industrial district, I made a beeline towards the southern part of Tsia City. On my way there, I covered my face with a mask.

I also wore a blonde wig just to be sure that no one would recognize me. With this appearance, they would hardly be able to recognize me.

Why did I change my appearance even though I just said that I hate hiding myself? Well, that depends on the situation.

Right now, I'm heading to the most criminal infested part of the city so it's natural to hide the myself under the radar of these people. Getting the attention of criminals is something that I least wanted.

If they would come and attack me though, I'll be sure to preserve their bodies at the very least. I need all the DP I could get, after all.

Ah, I already arrived! Dang, sometimes, I'm just left amazed with just how fast this avatar of mine is.

There was a guard who's vigilantly watching the passerby but I just bypassed him by using [Body Flicker] and [Transformation] ninjutsus to get inside. Wait, I could have just used my [Transformation] ninjutsu to disguise myself.

Uwaahh… this is so embarrassing. I totally forgot about my [Ninjutsu] skills. Enhanced memory my ass.

While recovering from my embarrassment, I looked at the map for places I could go to in this town. There, I saw a place that caught my attention.

"Hm? Why is this place underground. This is the only place like this in this part of the city…"

Yes, there was a place indicated on the map as underground. Since the Map function of the Dungeon Menu wasn't so advanced, I was only able to see it being labled as underground, though.

"I'll go and check it out."

I'm really curious as to what's in that place. I feel like some part of my body is telling me to quickly go there.

Since I got the map to help me navigate through this part of the town, I managed to arrive at the desired location in mere minutes. I'm starting to really love this extreme speed I have.

Is this how speedy characters like Kizaru, Killua, and such feel? If so, I think I can sympathize with them now.

As an aside, my current maximum speed is already at mach 1 or so. That's just how broken my avatar from [New World Online] is.

"Huh? It looks like a lot of people are going in and out of this place right now. Wait… are those the slaves I often heard about?"

Seeing the flow of people going in and out of this establishment, I was kinda overwhelmed. I noticed it just now but it looks like there are also people passing by me who's wearing a collar on their necks.

The most concerning thing about them was the look on their faces and the many scars that they have on their bodies. Their eyes clearly showed that they've already given up on life. Just looking at their eyes made a shiver go down my spine.

What the heck's with those kind of eyes? Back on Earth, most of the people who have this kind of look on their faces were people who went through so much unspeakable things.

This is it, huh. The darkness of the fantasy world I've always yearned for.

I'm not really a hero nor do I want to pose as one but, it's like this sight is really begging me to do something about it. An overly righteous individual would probably go crazy at the sight of this passersby before me.

Unfortunately, I know for a fact that going on a killing spree just to 'free' these slaves wouldn't really cut it. You first have to know who you could and should save.

Also, if you ask me, I'm not the kind of person who could be a hero material. Like a normal person, I'll save whoever I could but nothing more.

Wait… was I always like this?

"Ah… never mind. I'll just go in and find out what's inside."

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When I got inside the premises, still with my [Transformation] ninjutsu on, I was greeted by a stone faced woman. She's above average in terms of beauty but her below freezing point demeanour would turn off any potential good impression others would have on her.

I could guess why she's like this.

"Welcome to the Dragas Slave Market. Do you need something?"

So this is really a slave market, huh. I heard that slaves from the slums suffers from maltreatment so I don't think they'd fit the bill to be helping hands on my future inn but…

"How much are the slaves here?"

"The lowest quality slaves go for one silvers each." The cold-faced miss answered monotonously.

"By lowest, you mean?"

"Beastkin…"

I thought so. Beastkin always gets the short end of the stick in this world. I noticed as much.

"Can you show me these 'lowest class' slaves?"

"Of course. Please follow me…"

We walked inside an empty room before I was told to wait for her.

During my wait, I heard a few sadistic noises from the adjacent rooms. There was some hair raising sounds of violence but I never heard a scream even once.

I'm starting to feel quite uncomfortable staying here so, thankfully the lady I was waiting for finally arrived, along with two small individuals trailing behind her. Similar to the lady in front, they both have expressionless faces and the eyes akin to a dead fish.

Seriously. What did this place do to these children that they turned into this? Based on their looks, the first one seems to be a little girl of around ten or so years old while the other seems to be around Pochi and Tama's age.

"These are the only low quality slaves we have right now… They don't move unless they're told to, that's why their price are extremely cheap—"

I can tell that, lady. Such young kids and they've already gone through this. Fantasy isn't sunshine and rainbow, I guess.

"…I'll take them with me. Here is the payment. Now, tell me how I can be recognized as their master or whatever…" Without even thinking about it for too long, I quickly cut her off.

I know I sound really impatient. That's because I am this close at going on a rampage.

"Thank you for your purchase. You can become their master just by pouring your magic power onto the collars on their necks…"

After handing over the money to her, I shuffled towards the two kids and poured my magic power onto their collars.

I heard it from one of the people who I met while delivering items, but it looks like the collars would recognize anyone who pours their magic power onto it as the master of the ones who's wearing it. I could maybe remove these through some sort of means but I'm not entirely sure.

Looking at the two pairs of bone chilling dead fish eyes that's coming from two kids, I couldn't help but grit my teeth. I quickly held the two by the hand and exited this place in a hurry.

I'm not gonna stay in this place any longer.

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After taking the two outside of that hair raising place, I made the first one climb onto my back for a piggyback while I carried the other in my arms.

"Hold tight. We're gonna be going fast so make sure you don't fall down."

"Un…"

"Nn…"

I only heard two short replies. Guess it will require a lot of time before they open up to me.

I didn't think too deeply about it as I started running out of the city. I saw a passage that doesn't require you to go through the gate on the map when I checked my Map earlier. I guess this is the passage those criminals like bandits are using.

While taking care not to bump onto anyone, I ran out of the city before taking a sharp turn and going straight towards the western area of the map, the place where my dungeon is. I've had enough of this city for now so I'll just go back two or three days later.

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※~To be continued~※

Author's Remarks:

※ I'll do the introductions later. For those who have read the light novel or the web version of this story, I'm pretty sure you already know who the younger one is.

※ I re-read this fanfic and found out there's no spice whatsoever during the first 20 chapters or so. Wonder how and why did 4.3k of you guys added this in your library… Like, seriously.