Chapter 4

"Yo, shield brat."

"?"

Lyn walked past the weapon shop, already having a good feeling about how this conversation would go.

"I heard you tried to rape Spear Heroes comrade. I'm gonna hit you now."

He walked right up to me in a rage, fists clenched, with no intention of hearing me out first.

"Go ahead. Just get it over with quickly."

It's the same everywhere. Scum.

Lyn stood his ground with a blank expression on his face.

"Ugh... you..."

"Weren't you going to hit me?"

The shopkeeper relaxed his fists and sighed.

"I changed my mind."

"Alright then. Excuse me."

"Wait a minute!"

"What?"

Lyn looked at the sack the old man tossed him.

"You look ridiculous like that. Consider this a parting gift."

"Thanks." He said, shoving the sack into his shield. "How much?"

"Five copper coins. It's on clearance." But to the old man's surprise, Lyn pulled out 20 copper coins and handed it to the old man. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"You seem like a decent person. Goodbye."

"You better come back safe, brat!" The old man took the coins and walked inside his shop. Lyn walked off and started to continue his grind.

Two weeks later.

Lyn, now level 31, walked into a tavern, ordered some food and drink, and went over to an empty table in the corner, reading through his manual. It didn't contain any new information but it was more of a stress reliever more than anything else.

"Hey, Shield Hero, why don't you partner up with me?"

Somebody called out condescendingly. Lyn looked over to the person. It was a man, in his forties. His teeth were yellow, a few missing. His mustache was torn just like his clothes. He looked like an average thug and reeked of booze.

"Sure, why not. Shall we go over the terms?"

"Okay!"

"First of all, wages will be split by performance. Do you know what that means?"

"Nope!"

sigh*

"Basically, the more you work, the more you get. If you don't work, you get nothing and I keep everything."

"What the hell? Isn't that just sayin' you're gonna monopolize everything!?"

"If you do your part there's no problem, right? Assuming you're up to it."

"Well, whatever, I accept. Let's go buy equipment now, 'kay?"

"...Go buy it yourself. With my defense, any armor would be useless."

"Tch!"

You just want some equipment and then run off, don't you?

Lyn stood up, payed for the food, and walked out. After a few minutes of walking he noticed that the guy was following him with some extra lackeys.

"Hey shield hero. How bout you hand over your money, and in turn, we'll let you live?"

Before he could react, Lyn punched him in the face, knocking out any left over teeth

"Yoh basfarph. Het 'im" the man yelled to his friends. Some pulled out daggers but it was clear that they had very little experience fighting a trained person. Lyn grabbed a dagger with the intent to equip it, and it shocked both him, and the man holding it. The man dropped the dagger and Lyn smashed his head into the floor. Two other men came after him, one with a knife and one with his bare fists. Lyn grabbed the knife out of the first man's hand, and let it fly into the second man's leg. Then Lyn grabbed his shield and hit the first man in the stomach, sending him flying back. Lyn picked up the leader of the gang and threw him head first into a nearby wall.

As soon as he made sure they were immobilized, Lyn rummaged through their pockets, taking any coins and useful items they had. When he looked through all of their stuff, Lyn took one final look at them before walking off.

"My my. Who knew you would be able to take care of all of them so quickly."

"?"

An old, short man wearing a tailcoat and a silk hat stopped him.

"'I don't have enough manpower.'"

"'I can't defeat any monsters.'"

"But there is something more. You not only don't trust anyone, you are afraid of even having anyone by your side. You don't want to loose someone important."

Lyn stopped in his tracks.

"So what are you offering."

The man walked up to Lyn.

"Something both loyal and disposable. Interested?"

Lyn had a pretty good idea of what this man was offering.

"Humor me."

"A slave, of course."

Lyn paused for a bit, before nodding.

"Lead the way."

The fat man smiled widely and led Lyn to a circus tent in the middle of a dark alleyway.

"Right this way, Sir Hero."

"You have the qualities of a fine customer, both good and bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Who knows? What do you think?"

What a creepy but interesting man. He's gonna be useful.

The heavy gate opened from inside the circus tent.

The smell was horrible and Lyn recognized it immediately. The smell of death. But it stopped bothering him a long time ago.

Within the numerous cages, humanoid shadows wriggled and squirmed.

"Now, this one here is my recommendation."

Lyn glanced over the cage the old man showed.

"Grrrrrrr... GRAR!"

Inside was a beast man.

"This is a beastman. It's classified as a humanoid, more or less."

"I'm familiar. How much?"

"How does 15 gold coins sound?"

"I'm not sure about the market price... But you're stating a modest fee, I trust?"

"But of course."

The slave trader smiled.

"You are showing me your best, knowing I can't afford it to show me how high your standards are?"

"Yes. You will become a prominent person one day, and we can't have some other incompetent trader sell you inferior goods."

The slave trader pulled out a small crystal. An icon began to glow and words appeared.

"This is the status of the slave, for your reference."

Battle slave Lvl. 75. Species: Werewolf.

Other skills and techniques are displayed as well.

"It's arms and legs are broken. Even if I could afford it, it would be useless to me."

"You are quite sharp. This one fought in the coliseum but was discarded because of it's injuries."

Lyn took one final glance at the beast.

"Now that you have seen our best product, what kind of slave is to your liking?"

"Something cheap and not crippled."

"Neither for fighting nor labor? So according to the rumors..."

Lyn just glared at the trader, sending shivers down his spine.

"Hu hu hu, either way is fine with me. So what other qualities are you looking for?"

"Someone who is feisty, and has all it's limbs intact. Sex slaves excluded."

"Huh... Seems like the rumors were indeed false."

"..."

"Gender?"

"Irrelevant."

"Huh..."

The slave trader scratched his cheek.

"The quality won't be good enough to be deemed as a pet. Is that alright?"

"Also irrelevant"

"Even though its level may be low?"

"I'll train it myself."

"... A humorous answer for someone who doesn't trust in people."

"A slave is nothing more than a tool, to be strengthened and used. As long as it doesn't break, I can use it."

"You've got me there."

'Pft pft.' The slave trader held back his laughter.

"This way, please."

After walking a bit more, the slave trader stopped.

"These are the cheapest slaves which we can provide to Sir Hero."

He said while pointing to three caged slaves.

The first one was a bunny-eared guy around the age of 20 with an arm bent oddly. His potential in combat was low, and in magic, nonexistent.

The third was a blind lizard man. He radiated a strangely evil aura, however, he looked much too human to be a lizard man. And his potential was average, but his affinity was support.

The second was a bony girl around the age of 10 with circular dog-like ears and a strangely fat tail, shuddering and coughing in fear. Her affinity was Light and Dark magic, and her potential was quite high, which surprised Lyn.

"From the left, we have a rabbit..." the slave trader started. But he was quickly interrupted.

"The raccoon one. Name the price."

"30 silver coins."

"Why so cheap?"

"The raccoon species is somewhat inferior aesthetically. If it were the fox species, then it could be sold at a high price despite any problems."

"I see..."

Her level is the lowest, meaning she has the most growth potential with my shield. She also has the same eyes as her, though slightly duller.

"I'll buy her."

"Your immensely wicked smirk is very gratifying to see."

The slave holder took out the key, let the raccoon girl out of the cage, and chained her to a leash.

"Hee!?"

Dragging the girl along, the slave trader returned and called someone from inside the semi-opened circus tent to retrieve a vase.

Then, he poured some ink into a small saucer and directed it towards Lyn.

"Mr Hero, please share some of your blood. Then the ritual process will be complete, and this slave shall become yours."

Lyn slightly cut open a finger and dropped his blood into the ink.

The slave trader used a brush to soak up the ink, then he tore the slave's clothes down to her waist and painted the stigma on her body.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The slave stigma started to glow, and an icon appeared in my status window.

A message with terms of service agreement appeared.

Numerous terms and conditions are listed.

Lyn lowered the notifications, already knowing what he would see.

"Now this slave is yours, Sir Elderly Hero. Please complete your purchase."

"Yeah."

He handed over 31 silver coins.

"There's 1 extra."

"It's for the ceremony service. You were going to demand it anyways, weren't you?"

"... You know me quite well."

It was probably included, but Lyn wanted to get to grinding as quickly as possible. He poured the leftover ink into his shield, unlocking the Slave Owner Sword/Shield.

"Well, it's fine. Since we cleared out our inventory too."

"How much were you going to charge for the ceremony, by the way?"

"Haha, our services were included in the 30 silver coins."

"Is that so, who knew?"

The slave trader laughed.

"You really are too sharp! I'm shocked."

"Feel free to say whatever you want about me."

"We're looking forward to your next visit."

"I'm sure."

Lyn picked up the slave, earning a surprised squeak, and walked out of the tent.

"[All speed]."

All of Lyn's stats were transferred into speed. With this, Lyn ran towards the weapon shop where he could pick up a few things for his new companion.

Stat shift was one of his favorite abilities which he used all the time. In addition to the weapon stat shift, he could change his stats in any way he wanted. But he could only change it a few times a day. Once for every 5 levels. The limit could be increased or even broken with things like overdrive or the cursed series. But the duration is short, and it doesn't last afterwards. So all Lyn could manage right now is 6 shifts a day.

Upon opening the door, Lyn put her on her feet and walked towards the old man.

"You..."

Erhard was completely dumbstruck when he saw who Lyn brought with him to the Weapon Shop.

He should be able to recommend her a weapon.

"Give me a weapon that my companion can use."

"... Hah."

Erhard let out a deep sigh.

"Is this country really that corrupted, or did you become completely rotten to the bone... but whatever, I'm getting money out of this."

"Do you still have any clothes left?"

"... yeah. I'll add those in as a freebie."

Erhard muttered with a detested tone while bringing out several small swords and daggers.

"These should be easy to use for beginners."

From left to right, he had knives made from copper, bronze, and iron.

They all have the same attack range but different prices.

Lyn made his slave hold each of the weapons a few times before choosing the one which she was most comfortable with.

"This one's good."

Her face paled as she looked at Lyn and Erhard with a small iron dagger in her hands.

"Here, your free clothes and mantle."

Erhard handed them over with a brusque shove and guided us to the changing room.

I seized her knife and then instructed her to wear the donated clothing.

She tottered into the changing room while coughing; she then got changed.

"She still looks rather messy... let's give her a bath later on."

There was a river flowing near the meadow.

She timidly tottered over after she finished changing. Her faces was a mix of fear and confusion.

Lyn squatted down to hey eye level and spoke to her.

"What's your name?"

"Raphtalia...*Cough* *cough*!"

"Now then, Raphtalia, this here is your weapon. From now on, we will be fighting monsters together. You get what I'm saying?"

"..."

Raphtalia nodded at his words with frightened eyes.

"Now then, with that knife in your hand――"

Lyn summoned a small Orange Balloon out of his shield and placed it in front of Raphtalia.

"Hack and slash this thing."

"Hii!?"

The little balloon surprised her.

"Eh... N-...No."

Raphtalia shook her head vigorously.

The Lyn moved the balloon a bit closer, while Raphtalia took a step back.

"Don't worry, this one is summoned by me so it won't attack unless I tell it to. But I also can't just despawn it. So I need you to get rid of it."

Raphtalia shook her head again.

"Look the faster you kill it the faster we can go eat. We can't leave until it's dead and I can't kill it."

Lyn continued to look at Raphtalia.

"You..."

"Don't look at me like that. The world is in the middle of an apocalypse and those who can't fight, die."

Erhard let out another sigh and turned away.

Raphtalia poked the balloon with her knife but it just bounced off.

"That's weak! Put in some more effort!"

"..!? Ok!"

Startled, Raphtalia recoiled back for a moment. Then immediately using the momentum, she once again charged at the Balloon with great force.

POP!*

The Balloon burst with a loud noise.

Since it was a summoned balloon, it didn't give any exp.

"Good, you did well."

Lyn petted Raphtalia.

She looked up at him with a mystified expression.

"Alright, let's go."

Following his orders, Raphtalia sheathed her weapon around her waist and obediently followed Lyn.

"Hah, hey buddy. I have something to say to you."

"And that is?"

Oyaji grumbled while scowling at me.

"Don't YOU, EVER, DIE, DISHONORABLY, you hear?"

"I'll keep it in mind."

Growl*

The sound came from Raphtalia's direction.

She averted her gaze with an:

"Ah!"

Lyn went inside a random restaurant.

"Wel-...come."

Their server guided them to a table with a displeased look, due to their shabby appearance.

Along the way, Raphtalia looked over at a child who was sitting elsewhere.

With a finger to her mouth, Raphtalia seemed quite envious of the child digging into that kiddie lunch.

Guess I'll get her that.

They sat down and quickly ordered before the server left.

"I'll have the cheapest meal on the menu, while she will get the combo kids meal that kid over there has."

"!?"

Raphtalia stared at Lyn with clear astonishment.

"Understood. That comes to a total of 9 copper coins."

"Here."

Handing over the coins Lyn got out of his shield beforehand, he looked around the store absentmindedly while waiting for our lunch to be served.

People around us began to gossip after noticing my presence.

"*sigh*"

"Wh-y?"

"Hm?"

Lyn lowered his gaze towards Raphtalia.

She was staring up at him with a face full of wonder.

"You looked like you wanted that meal. Did you want to order something else?"

Raphtalia shook her head.

"Wh-, why, would you let me eat that lunch?"

"Like I told you, I ordered it since you seemed to want it."

"But..."

"I need you to fight. If I bought you just to starve you to death, then that would be a huge waste of money. Anyways, eat some food and get some nutrition so that you could fight."

"Sorry for the wait."

The meals have finally arrived.

But Raphtalia made no move to eat it.

"Don't want it?"

"... Is this really alright?"

"Just eat."

"Okay."

Raphtalia timidly began eating her kid's lunch with her bare hands.

I would have to teach her table manners later.