Talk With Blossom
Ayame and I exchange glances between each other with sour expressions. It is evident that she came to the conclusion I did previously; this girl is being seriously mistreated.
I kneel once again and put my finger under her chin and lift it gently. "Please rise, Blossom. Is it fine if I call you that? We are not at all angry with you, rather you have our eternal gratitude. If you don't intervene our chances of survival would've been basically nil."
She looks at me with uncertainty in her gaze, I can tell that she is debating whether I'm playing a trick on her so that I can 'justifiably punish her for her impudence'. I'm not even her owner, the fact that she acts like this indicates that her master lets anyone that feels like it beat her up…
"Blossom's name can be whatever the young master and mistress find pleasant on their lips."
I can only smile wryly, especially because she completely ignored my honest praise.
She finally relents and stops kowtowing as she sits sideways. Ayame glances at Blossom's feet and states; "your ankle has been dislocated. It will need a healer if you wish to have a comfortable treatment but we can also relocate it manually if you can bear with it."
Blossom panics and cries out: "no healer! Please don't heal Blossom. Master Ian says Blossom's purpose is to make money, not spend it."
I sigh tiredly. This Ian figure is getting on my nerves. You have such a charming and talented dog-kin Rogue and this is how you treat her? I'm pained just seeing how much mental torture Blossom had suffered through her enslavement. "Ayame, would you be so kind? I've never done it before."
"Of course," she answers and kneels next to Blossom. "Please grit your teeth to make sure your tongue doesn't get bitten off." She grips her feet with both hands and with one swift motion she finishes the ankle relocation.
Blossom doesn't even react to the pain, which causes a disturbed expression to emerge on Ayame's features. "You must've been through so much…" She says dejectedly.
"Blossom, might I ask where your master is?" I inquire.
"Master Ian should be located in Aldoria, either in the adventurer guild's bar or the nearby brothel."
"And why are you here then?" Ayame asks this time.
"Master Ian sent Blossom here after the guild placed a quest on eliminating nearby goblins."
Figures. He is enjoying life in town while he sends his slave to make money.
"I see… Might I be so rude as to ask how you became a slave? Feel free to refuse to answer, I swear on my life that I won't punish you in any shape or form."
She shows no sign of wishing to hide anything. "Blossom was caught by the human lord while she was hunting in the Beastman Federation's forest for food about three years ago. Master Ian then bought Blossom once she was brought over to the human kingdom."
"I see… Can you tell me how strong this Ian guy is, and how many other slaves he has?"
Ayame glances at me questioningly, but I ignore her for the time being.
"Master Ian is a level 8 Warrior. He has been ever since he bought Blossom. Master Ian has no other slaves because Blossom is bad at making money."
Bad at making money, hah! Nice excuse. I bet my left nut that my guy is spending it all on booze and whores.
I look at her calculatively for a few seconds before speaking, "hmm… I see… Then, Blossom, would you like to be free?" I ask.
Before she could reply Ayame interjects. "Quinlan, I know what you are thinking, but she is a war slave. She will not be free even if we kill this Ian scumbag. War slaves are basically treated as complete objects with no personal rights whatsoever, therefore she will become an ownerless slave should her master perish. Ownerless slaves, while not being actively hunted unless they are extremely valuable, can't live a nice life because they have to live in constant fear of a rogue detection spell or artifact usage revealing their ownerless state at which point they do become hunted and get captured. Furthermore, to make sure slaves don't become ownerless and escape to the forests and such to live a humble, foraging life, their class is sealed and stats are reduced until they become owned once again. To put it into simpler terms, the contract curses them temporarily. What's more, even if we do make her ownerless, we can't take her back to her country because the borders are heavily patrolled. We stand no chance at smuggling her back in our current state."
"The mistress is right. Blossom can't become free." She says with a lifeless expression.
"Alright, then how about becoming my slave instead?"
Her expression doesn't change as she simply shakes her head. I can tell what she is thinking; I might be nice for now but once I'm her owner I will surely reveal my true colors.
Ayame decides to speak up, "Blossom, take a look at my neck."
She does as instructed and in the next moment her eyes widen with shock. "What?! Mistress is a slave? But…"
"But my master treats me like a cherished companion, right?" She finishes Blossom's statement with a happy smile on her face.
"He-he even rushed to your side to check on your well-being and then hugged you for minutes… He didn't even whip you because you got hit during the fight… Why…?"
I counter with a question of my own. "Why would I hurt her? It makes no sense whatsoever. Even if I didn't think of her as my beloved battle partner, mistreating her would only make her hate me and furthermore diminish both her combat capabilities and monetary value as a slave. I believe your master is a useless, lazy sadist who finds joy objectifying people." I state matter-of-factly. "Tell me, has he ever forced himself on you? In a sexual way, just to be clear."