I Can’t Decide How To Feel

"Here you are," the carriage driver said passively as he handed Alex and I individual scrolls. "Every month, you are to hand over the stipulated provisions. If you cannot," he snorted, "you know what? You're better off not knowing. Just get it done, and, seriously," he deadpanned, "Don't try to escape, ok?"

I nodded and smiled psychotically, "Of course. I can imagine the consequences of not being useful enough to the emperor after he saved our lives."

Ha! What a joke…

"So long as you understand," the carriage driver said, leaving after sending one final farewell nod our way.

Rolling my eyes at the departing carriage, I turned to Alex. "Well, I guess we should first see what "accommodations" have been made for us," Sarcasm unabashedly bled through my tone.

As I had come to expect, Alex submissively said, "R-right." He was a rather quiet and withdrawn teen.

He followed right behind me as we walked the gravel trail branching from the countryside road to our shared farmhouse. A minute later, I produced the key to the front entrance and opened it up only to be confused.

The interior of the farmhouse was nothing like I had imagined. It wasn't some shoddy rundown excuse for shelter. Rather, it was actually well-furnished and decorated.

Walking in from the entrance, we found ourselves in the massive living room which had well-maintained wood flooring, a set of couches, chairs, a glass coffee table, and there was even a fireplace. With pots and plants adding a bit of vibrancy to the pale brown floor and white walls, and there was even a projector like the ones I'd seen in the Emperor's Mansion which was evidently this world's version of a display monitor.

To the north of the living room, there was… Well, it could be better described as a cafeteria than a combined kitchen and dining room area. Honestly, the longer I looked around, the more it seemed like this place was built for a king rather than a couple of slaves. The accomodation was just too impressive for what the empire considered "harmless trash."

I shook the pessimistic thoughts out of my head as I returned to the living room and continued to explore the house.

To the east of the living room, there was a workstation that I assumed was tailor-made for me. There were several bookshelves packed to the brim with encyclopedias and compendiums on Plant Biology, Alchemical Theory, Pill and Potion Making, and many more along with a table lined with tools I imagined only I would need to use.

To the west of the living room, there was actually a barn-shed hybrid integrated into the house, which, thankfully, didn't currently house any animals. Other than being grateful for the chance to live a couple more days, if not weeks or months, without animals stenching up the place, I was impressed by the number of tools available for Alex to make use of his innate ability.

Beside the aforementioned aspects of the house, from the stairs located in the living room, the second floor of the farmhouse was split exactly in half. One side contained the comically oversized room Alex and I would be sleeping in and the other…

"Why would anyone need a bathroom this large?" I felt my eye twitch involuntarily at the ridiculously extravagant bathroom, ignoring Alex's overt distress.

"First they arranged for our beds to be in the same room, and now we find this. This… What the fuck even is this? A bathhouse?! This has to be a prank," I cursed.

Seriously, the "bathroom" was more like a bathhouse as there were no less than five showers and a full-sized bathing pool. Was this a slave camp? Or did the Emperor actually leave us one of his personal, if obscure, retreat estates?

"Though, in fairness, I guess we should be happy considering we're supposed to be nothing more than slaves," I said after calming and finding a moment of clarity.

For a duo of slaves that were regarded as "harmless trash," we were being spoiled quite lavishly. I mean, this house I was going to be living in was countless times more impressive than the standard apartment I had lived in, in my past life… I think?

Maybe I had come down too harshly on the Emperor and his council.

…

"Nevermind..." I'd never been so wrong so quickly.

[Monthly Provision Stipulations:

10 kg — Blue Silver Grass, Clear Dew Root, Myriad Tree Branches, …

10 hundred-pill bottles — Mana Restoration Pills, Blood Burning Pills, Waking Pills…

500 liters — Vitality Potions, Fortification Potions, Formation Ink…

100 sticks — Mind Expanding Incense, Spirit Stilling Incense, Detoxification Incense…

Note: Every four months going forward, as experience, Skills and Stats increase, you are expected to provide 10% more than you did the previous quarter at a higher overall quality.]

Looking up after I finished reading my monthly provision stipulations, I noticed Alex was paling just as harshly as reality has smacked me in the face. His demands were probably just as ridiculous.

I walked over to stand behind him and after reading just a couple of listings, I gave him a pat on the back and said, "Sorry buddy, but it looks like they plan on working us to death."

I meant it as a joke, but he took it as seriously as glass was clear, as he started crying and said, "What are we going to do?!"

I didn't expect him to break down like that, so I stammered, "Er… Relax, man. I-I was joking..."

"But this is serious!" He sobbed, "How do they expect us to meet any one of these goals, let alone all of them, in such a short amount of time?!"

Yeah, to a normal person, even without knowing the context, asking us to meet any one of these requirements was ridiculous. However…

"Dude, don't forget we now live in a world with magic. Against my wishes, I felt a new crazed smile grace my face as I said, "Don't forget we have ridiculously broken innate abilities."