Is It Okay To Trade People?

My next few days were filled with the same routine from day 2. I would take a bunch of easy-to-do quests and finish them by the evening.

I even went to do the Rocs bird quest and my <Wind Cutter> magic was the star of the show. If you have the means to launch high-speed, high-damage, long-range attacks, even the flying opponents won't be much of a trouble.

The villagers were very happy with my work and offered me some fresh vegetables as an extra reward which I happily accepted. My Inventory was the perfect place to keep things that needed to be kept fresh since time seemed to have stopped inside for things. I had no idea how this game-like feature worked but it sure was convenient.

On a similar note, I also discovered a hidden feature of my Inventory where I could forward the time in a specific cell. It did seem to consume mana but I had that in abundance.

This feature might come in handy in the future if I need to cool something immediately or have something fast-forwarded like when cooling hot stuff or something.

The Harpy quest was something I did a day before its due date. I had honestly forgotten about it until the receptionist asked me about it. Thanks to her, I didn't have to pay any penalty.

The screams of the Harpies were pretty terrible though.

They might have faces of human females but they were rather disgusting creatures with no redeeming features. Since I defeated them, at least now they wouldn't bother the traveling merchants.

My rewards by the end of the week had piled up substantially. I didn't have many places I would spend money so it all just collected inside my Inventory and by the end, I had 40 Golds, 32 Silvers, and 150 coppers. I didn't know how much an average D-rank Adventurer made weekly but this was definitely a huge sum.

I went to the armor and weapons store at the end of the week to collect my armor piece.

"Welcome. What are you looking for?"

"I'm here to collect my armor. Here's the receipt."

"Ah, right. The Giant Viper Armor. It turned out quite well. I took help from my acquaintance and we packed with a lot of good stuff. I'm sure you'll love it. Wait here, I'll bring it for you to try. Head over that changing area."

Ooh! I'm super excited to look at my new armor. How will it look?

I was excited to finally see my new armor. I was been waiting in anticipation ever since I gave the order. The material I gave was of a high-level boss monster and its condition was great too. So, it was not wrong to assume the final product will be great.

The shopkeeper came out with a black suit which also seemed to have black pants as a set. At just one glance, I noticed how pretty it looked. I could tell that it was very carefully crafted since the design, pocket placements, and what seemed like inscriptions written on the inside were dashing. It also appeared like wearable clothing. Honestly, it was less like armor and more like a fancy battle suit.

"I've named it Black Viper Suit. I named it based on the Giant Viper monster material you provided. Due to the nature of its base material, it has some interesting enchants such as resistance against heat, cold, dirt, poison, paralysis, and to some extent basic petrification. It also has a disguise feature in its hood so if you wear it, it makes your presence thin and difficult to recognize. Of course, it doesn't compare to professional assassins but it's still there. Moreover, it is strong enough to easily take on normal sword attacks and stabs without getting so much as a scratch. And just hear this out! There's even magical resistance added to it! The scales of this Viper had really good resistance towards magic. It was fun to enhance it and create this Masterpiece. All in all, I think it'll suit you who also have some features matching it."

"The armor— no, Black Viper Suit is certainly amazing as expected. I'm honestly impressed!"

Man, it looks so fucking cool! I can't wait to wear it.

The suit was epic, but there was still a hurdle to getting it.

"So, on to the main part. How much will it cost me?"

"Hmm… This was very ambitious work done by me and my friend. We put in a lot of effort, and honestly went overboard with it. I would say... about 20 Large Silvers sounds right."

"Wow. I wasn't expecting it to be cheap but 20 Large Silvers huh."

"It's a custom-made magic armor after all. Magic armor alone sells for quite a decent price. I can even show up some samples if you're not convinced. But nothing I currently have in my shop comes even close to this beautiful work."

"No, I understand. I will pay you the price."

I took out 20 Large Silver coins from my pouch, which in reality were taken out of my Inventory.

"Are you going to pay it all at once?"

The shopkeeper was surprised to see me pay for it on the site.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, it was a huge price so I could make it into installments."

"Wouldn't that run the risk of me running away with the armor and not paying the rest of the money?"

"Hmm, that can happen. But, the installment information would be marked on your adventurer's guild card and if you run away, it'll make it nearly impossible for you to use guild facilities in this entire country, not to mention you'll get caught if you try to use your guild card anywhere. Once you get caught, you'll be turned into a crime slave if you can't pay the amount along with interest."

Wow, the security is on the same level as a credit card or something. The level of security is quite something. I didn't expect that from this place.

"That's impressive."

"That's the power of these identity cards. Furthermore, there's also divine punishment from the God of Judgement in cases of long-term theft. You'll suffer greatly depending on the type of crime you committed..."

"Wait, there are slaves in this country?!"

Did I hear that correctly?

The shopkeeper casually said it in flow but it shocked me.

"Hmm? You didn't know? There are plenty of slaves. From normal ones to loan slaves to criminal slaves, etc. It's pretty much common knowledge, you know. How sheltered and ignorant are you? Haven't you seen humans and demi-human slaves with their slave collars around? I'm sure you can find one or two around if you look. There's even a very famous brothel of sex slaves near the entertainment district of the town."

"... I had no idea."

No, I wasn't surprised about the brothels. I knew such things existed in various ages in time. What surprised me was the term "Slave".

This world had actual slaves. Why? It's slavery, you know? It was a bad practice that was boycotted by the people of my world due to its ruthless, discriminating and sadistic nature.

Heck, if the UN heard this, they'll go nuts with human rights and whatnot.

And like, I do understand their feelings as well. Slavery is a horrible thing. And here they run it like a normal business? What a load of bullshit!

"That's quite a horrible expression you're making there. Do you not like slaves or anything?"

"I mean, what's there to like about slavery as a whole? It's people being confined and sold without rights to their freedom. What kind of awful lives must they live? What about their basic human, or uh, demi-human rights?"

"You seem to have a really bad impression of the whole business, but it's not as bad as you think. The country allows slavery on the condition that their owners will treat them properly and provide them with at least basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothing. Sometimes they are even set free by the Masters after a certain time passes or if their Master dies and leaves in their will that they wish to free their slaves. Alternatively, if slavery didn't exist, the slums will get even bigger, filled with poor people who are unable to get jobs and earn money. They would die of starvation. The country can't fix that so slavery exists as a mediator and job provider."

Hah. That's a strange way to put it. Makes it almost seem like a good thing. Are you telling me slavery is the best they could do to come up with a solution to unemployment? I'm disappointed in this country's leaders, those kings, and nobles, or whatever.

Seeing my grim expression, he continued.

"Well, it's true that this has its negative sides. Slavery has been around for centuries on this continent and it isn't going anywhere. Honestly, things have improved a lot for them in the past century or so. It's better if you don't think too harshly about it. I've seen happy slaves. Even if slaves, some of them can find meaning in their life."

Sigh. The values of this world and mine are different. I expected it honestly, but still.

I couldn't fully understand the mindset of people of this world but if they thought slavery was something only natural, then I couldn't alone change their opinion. In the first place, I was no revolutionary. I hadn't come here to this place to educate people and make them abolish bad practices like slavery and such. I was just a victim of a cruel joke played by some powerful entity.

No, even if I started something, it wouldn't necessarily be something people might like. Even if I somehow erased slavery, it won't erase the hungry poor people. And I have no confidence in coming up with job opportunities. They'll probably end up committing crimes and such to feed their stomach.

I had to swallow this truth and live with it.

Sigh.

"Well, we got a little side-tracked but, as I said I'll be paying the whole amount."

Yeah, let's focus on my own life for now.

"Thank you for your patronage. And listen, young man, don't let it get to your head."

"Yes, thank you."

I collected my suit after trying it on once and making some fine adjustments and learning how to care for it. I also bought some oil and a cloth to polish my sword. Apparently, One needed to periodically do maintenance on their equipment or they'll start to lose their edge early from all the use.

No wonder I felt this sword has gotten dull over time.

My Katana never needed maintenance though.

When I reached the inn room, I lay down on the bed and summoned Shiro. There were still some lingering questions about slavery in my head but I had decided on the

way to follow the shopkeeper's advice and not think too deeply about it.

I was never the type to meddle too deeply into complicated things like politics, religion, and such. Some things have no end and some things just take time and change in the mindset of the entire populous to take effect. Maybe in the future, just like on Earth, there would be no slavery in this world. But that was irrelevant right now.

I changed my thought process to a different topic. I had collected a lot of money now. And if I kept the pace, I would have even more. My spending was pretty meager, other than that magic armor I just bought, and I had been wanting to do something but hesitating to do so since I feared it'll be costly.

It was about time I visited the brothels— I mean, Adventurer's Guild.

There's no way I'll ever visit brothels. Absolutely not! How much do they charge for service though, I wonder. No! I'll not even think about such nonsense. That is completely out of question.

So, don't you dare show a reaction, junior!

Leaving nonsensical thoughts aside, I actually wanted to start looking for a house. While I was fine with the inn accommodation, I wanted something more private and secure.

Not to mention last night— or was it before?— I heard some really loud moaning coming from the room next to mine. It was so uncomfortable to hear that.

With my own house, I could freely live and not worry about paying rent every few days. And in general, it was better to have one's own home rather than living in inns.

I still will be living alone though.

My loneliness was going strong as usual.

Well, at least Shiro can stay and jump around all it wants there. I won't have to worry about noise or neighbors next door.

The rooms of the inn weren't as thick as I would have liked so I would try not to make loud noises. Even Shiro could only jump on the bed.

Ah, I can even have my private bathtub! That's definitely a plus. How long has it been since I took a proper warm bath?

In reality, all my cleaning was done using the <Clean> spell and some towel wiping at night. But having an actual bath would be quite refreshing mentally.

"It's final! I'm going to look for a house!"

With that determination, I unsummoned Shiro and went to the only place I knew to gather information.

"Ah, Mr. Rio. Welcome back."

"Hello. Miss Kenny, I'm here to ask you how one buys a house in this town and whom to contact."

They probably had a different method of buying than in my world.

"Oh, a house. Of course, with your earnings, it was only a matter of days. Thanks to you doing quests so fast our guild has been getting positive responses from the customers."

"I'm glad. I was just doing the job to pass my free time and also earn money for myself."

"Sounds like a perfectly symbiotic relationship then."

"Yeah."

As we were having ideal chatter, another receptionist nudged Kenny and whispered something in her ears.

"Ah! How clumsy of me! Mr. Rio, congratulations!"

"Eh, what for?"

Why was I suddenly getting congratulated? It wasn't my birthday. No, I never disclosed that information to them. Then, why?

"You've ranked up! You're now a C-rank Adventurer!"

Ohhh…!

"I only joined in 1 week ago though?"

From what I knew these things took some time. It happened way sooner than I expected.

"Yes, that's how it normally is. But your rate of quest completion has been phenomenal! Doing multiple quests daily is not an easy feat. Some of them were even quite difficult, but you delivered perfect results. So the higher-ups decided to give you a rank-up. With this, you can now form your own party with other adventurers and accept an even wider variety of quests. Ah, I have some in mind. If you ever feel like taking quests, please come immediately. I'll have them ready for you!"

Apparently, my rank went up. I was now a C-rank adventurer. I didn't know what kind of evaluation they made but it was quite surprising. I had heard from the D-rank party I saved in the forest that it takes 3-5 months of regular adventuring to upgrade from rank D to C.

Well, if they felt it was fine to upgrade my rank, I wasn't going to question them. It just meant I could take better quests now.

Kenny asked for my Adventurer's Guild card, and after a while, came back with a new card. This time it had C written in big and bold letters, and it seemed the material of the card had also changed to a slightly shinier one. I did the blood drop thingy and was all set.

Still, a party huh? But I don't even know anybody here who would like to join me.

Not to mention I had my own special circumstances. Finding trustworthy party members might be hard for me.

"By the way, about the property dealer I asked about..."

"Ah, right. We do have information on the brokers and landlords who sell houses around here. I'll give you a trustable contact. You can visit their place to know more."

"I see. Thanks."

"Well then, have a great day, Mr. Rio."

"You too. Bye."

***