Half-Dragon Slave Life Chapter 13

h.e.l.lo all! Forgot to mention in the previous chapter, I appreciate all your comments, so whether it be criticism, requests, random commentary, or what-have-you, please feel free to speak in the comment section! I always appreciate it!

Your half of a dragon is below.

Author: Kaburagi Haruka

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Chapter 13: Registration

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

We forced the magic stone on the still-unconscious Kevin, and made up a story to tell him; "you put your life on the line in a fierce struggle, and you must have lost your memories from your heavy injuries," together with Gosun.

Luckily the logs stuck into the grand hedgehog were the ones he was planning on transporting back.

Since the lumber was for a guild request, they had been numbered, which should serve as supporting evidence… Probably.

Also, Master fully regenerated his limbs.

"But does this guy even have the arm strength to swing logs at it?"

Master was still skeptical that this would work, but I'll convince him with the ridiculous power at the scene of the action.

"But when you think about it, doesn't that sound more likely than me skewering the thing with logs?"

"Hahah! ‘Cause the girl looks so thin after all!"

"Hrm, even so, I've gotten a bit pudgy. Master Rimuru has experienced it."

"You are going to cause some serious misunderstands; could you stop?!"

The truth is, ever since that time I spent recovering, we've just been sleeping in the same bed every day.

It's the result of mentioning I've never had siblings, and dreamed of sleeping together with family.

We're getting deeper into winter, with the cold getting more harsh, so Master also seemed glad for it.

That house was pretty big for an only child, after all.

"Well then, it's about time you let us get back to fulfilling that request."

"Hey now, you're planning on going through with the test in this mess?"

"It's exactly because of this mess. I want to get it over with before this upheaval gets around, and get out of town while n.o.body knows us."

"Well we're probably gonna have to close down for a while anyway, so I would actually be grateful for that, really."

He searched the debris of the smashed-up office (my fault, sorry), for the doc.u.ments, and hands them over to Master.

"Pretty sure the transport part… Starts here. I'll need you to sign right there. Once you fill in how many logs you'll be transporting, I'll handle the rest."

"Thank you very much. Eir, how many can you carry?"

If I use "Dimensional Storage," then any amount… Is what I was about to say before I suddenly remembered.

The gift is a secret, so I would have to carry them by my own strength until we leave the lumberyard.

"If we bundle them together, I can drag six along."

"Then Gosun, put it at six."

"Got it. Dragon people sure do have some amazing strength."

The logs for transport are gathered up, and after being gathered together by rope, each one has tags stuck into them.

Without this, if we say, "we came for a guild request," and present them, then walk away for a moment, there are apparently some people who would steal them.

"Well then, Gosun, you've been a great help. I hope to work with you again if the chance arises."

"Oh come on, it's you guys who took down the disaster beast; you really saved us. But are you okay with this? If you just claimed your victory, you'd be treated as heroes."

"I have my own individual reasons that I want to avoid standing out. Eir is also an issue."

"Dragon people are pretty rare, after all… Ahh well."

"Then we'll be off now."

"Right, we'll hold a party for ya if you come by again."

"Thanks, old guy."

I give a brusque reply in farewell, and lightly wave my hand.

Six logs, each one more than ten meters long. Their weight is a little over a ton, but we left the lumberyard as if it was nothing.

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

Once we couldn't see the lumberyard, I stuffed the trees into my "Dimensional Storage," and we headed back to the city with the carefree feeling of going on a walk.

"Hnn~…"

I stretch my back to relieve my cramped-up spine.

Even though my limbs are stronger, that strengthening doesn't extend very much into my back. That said, it's not as if it's not strengthened at all. Just like my brain during visual acceleration, the parts related to my dragon areas mostly seem strengthened.

Otherwise, if I swung my arm lightly, then it would go flying off mid-way. The dislocation from the time with the vulture was probably because I swung the sword at full force.

"Tired?"

"A bit. Fine now, though."

"Good work today. I'll give you a ma.s.sage tonight as a reward."

"Mm, looking forward to it."

While we exchanged our relaxed conversation, we saw a dust cloud rising up in the distance ahead.

Followed by the heavy beating of horseshoes.

"Oh, maybe its Sokaris' knights?"

"For disaster beast extermination?"

"Can't think of any other reason. Well, we know they're wasting their time, of course… Even so, they sure do move quick."

Moving an army is supposed to take a lot longer than moving as individuals. The lumberyard may be pretty close to Sokaris, but their haste is worthy of commendation.

We step off the road, and wait for them to pa.s.s. While we're waiting, I also check on my appearance.

If my dragon limbs or eye can be seen, it'll probably cause some problems.

The knights pa.s.s by in front of our eyes… And as they were, one of the knights saw us and came over.

"Are you travelers?"

"Yeah, we were just heading to Sokaris."

Master deals with him in a friendly manner. I stay silent. Since I have a collar indicating I'm a slave, I figured it would be best not to speak out too much.

"I see… You've got some bad timing. A report just came in that a disaster beast appeared in the area. We don't know when or where it's going to attack next, so hurry and get to the city."

"A disaster beast? What kind was it?"

"Uwaa—, Master has no shame—"

I meant to mutter that in my head, but I guess it silently left my lips.

Master stepped on my toes. It was my right foot, so I barely felt it though.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Ah, uhhh… "Disaster beast, how scary," is all."

"We heard this one was a grand hedgehog, but… It'll be fine; being the capital, Sokaris' knights are a group of elites. As long as we're here, the city is safe."

"So a gigantic hedgehog then. I've heard magicians with attack magic are necessary for that."

"Well… The timing didn't quite work right. There's plans for them to rush over later, so don't worry about it."

These knights plan to fight that with swords? I know this is me saying it, but that's just crazy.

When I thought that, it looked like Master was of the same opinion.

"Fighting that thing with just swords is reckless."

"Have you seen it? Well, more importantly, we're aware that it's reckless, but urgent a.s.sistance is needed. As long as there are people to rescue, that is."

"—I see, be careful."

"Yeah, thanks."

"No, thank you very much for letting us know."

The knight gave a bow and returned to the formation.

Master sees him off, tilting his head.

"Hmmm, if they're sending people off to the front lines to fight a disaster beast in spite of lacking the fighting power, I can only a.s.sume the guild here is a little too lax."

"Best not stay long?"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want them using you in any weird way. Shoving our spoils on to Kevin was probably the right choice."

"Come to think of it, he became an adventurer here, didn't he."

"If they're throwing their weight around with that kind of imprudence, then we can't rely on this guild for much."

"Sokaris was supposed to be the base of adventurers, too. Disappointed."

"Well, they say getting a lot of power leads to corruption, right?"

Master starts back on the path to the city, waving his hand dismissively.

"The labyrinth's difficulty increases, and the quality of adventurers drops. Which means the amount of treasures excavated from the labyrinth drops, and interest in rummaging through it intensifies, I guess. It's a vicious cycle."

"You know all that?"

"Just a guess, really. This is gonna sound strange coming from me, but they're letting illegal things like slave merchants get away with their business, so it seems like morals are taking a pretty harsh dive."

I guess having illegal businesses established at the base of the World Tree faith feels kinda odd, huh?

"If they don't use slaves, then exploration doesn't get anywhere. That's probably why they have to put up with it. Well, I got to meet you thanks to that, of course."

"Have to give thanks for that."

"Err, guess that did sound too much like an excuse, huh? But it's true that I'm glad to have met you, Eir."

Master, I'd prefer you didn't say that with such a serious look. The blood is gonna rush to my head.

To make sure he didn't notice, I walked ahead of Master at a fast pace, headed back to the city.

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

As soon as the city entrance is in sight, I take the lumber out from "Dimensional Storage" and carry it.

At the city gate, Master shows the guild request form. Perhaps because the disaster beast rumor had spread around, there are a ma.s.s of citizens trying to get back into the city.

Thanks to the disturbance, the mismatched sight of me carrying lumber isn't drawing much attention.

I quietly carry the logs to the construction site, feigning an obvious "I worked hard bringing these here" posture as I place them down.

Master talked to the supervisor on site, and received the confirmation seal. After that we headed to the guild.

"We've returned."

"Ah, welcome back! So you're alright."

"The disaster beast, right? We pa.s.sed by the knights."

"Yes, I was worried you had gotten caught up in it."

"Looks like we just missed it. Lucky for us."

Master shamelessly boasts. He's in perfect form.

"Mister Kevin appears to have taken some time with the loading, so I'm a bit worried."

"Ohh, that guy… We tried not to get in each other's way, but as long as he didn't do anything wild I guess."

"I suppose so… But for now we need to process the forms for you."

The receptionist woman filled in the necessary doc.u.ments, and took out a single card.

"This is the guild's certification?"

"… Huh?"

A card about the size of a business card with a red border was handed over, but… There's nothing written on it?

"If you just place your finger here… Yes, if you do that, then some words should come out, see?"

When Master placed his finger on the end part, words floated up from it.

The contents look something like this.

Rimuru Blanche      Human      Male      Age 12

Registration: Sokaris Head Office         Rank: Red

Occupation: Healer           Contributions: 0

"Wow… So just the data filled in on the doc.u.ments, huh."

"It is personal information, after all. Would you like an explanation?"

"Yes, please."

"First of all, as long as you aren't committing crimes, the guild will always back up its members, and we will guarantee your position. In other words, when crossing country borders and the like, things will be easier for you."

"That's much appreciated."

"The guild will also mediate for requests. Requests you can accept change depending on your rank, so please be careful of that."

"What's this about ranks?"

"Basically it goes along the rainbow in order the higher you get. Red is the lowest, then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet is the highest of the seven ranks. The system is set up so request forms can be identified by their color. This is the same for the guilds in any country."

"So we're red right now, then."

Looking at the card in his hand, it has a red border. That probably shows the rank.

"Is there any advantage to having a high rank?"

"As the difficulty of requests increases, so does the compensation, plus the guild will be willing to make more accommodations."

"Such as?"

"Like a premium on purchase prices, and priority on various requests? Also, since fame comes with it, the way countries treat you will change based on the color? Purple will get you treated like a hero."

"That's pretty amazing. About how many purple adventurers are there?"

"Each country is usually happy with one such party. There may or may not be six people in each country I suppose."

"Wow, so how do we raise our color?"

"That's based on your request achievements, your contributions to the guild, and also the amount of magic stones you bring in I suppose?"

That was a close one. If we brought that magic stone in, our rank would have suddenly raised.

Er, wait? That means Kevin's rank is going to increase?

"Master Rimuru…"

"We… May have messed up a bit."

"What'll we do?"

"What happens will happen… We'll leave the city by tomorrow. Yeah."

Master stares off into the day after tomorrow.

If Kevin gets authority with that personality of his, a lot of obnoxious things could happen, so that probably is our best option.

And if he gets ecstatic and takes a ridiculous request, leading to an early death, that would also leave a bad aftertaste of its own.

"Also, the card needs to be renewed once a year, so be sure to come by the guild once a year for that process, okay? Plus, if you lose it, there's a re-issuing fee of one gold coin."

"That's a pretty high price. I'll be careful."

"Oh, and just to let you know, that card can't be forged these days."

"Is there anyone who does that?"

"There apparently were in the past, but it's impossible now. Your individual magic waves are recorded when you register, so if anyone other than the owner puts their finger to it, it won't show anything."

When he hears that, Master presents the card to me.

I guessed his intentions, and put my finger on the card, but nothing appeared.

"I see…"

"Do you have any other questions?"

"What happens if we sell magic stones or other goods to places besides the guild? Normally it would be at market price, but could we get any preferential treatment based on our rank?"

"The guild presents the market price to the public, so even if thing flow into the streets, there shouldn't be a big difference in value even with the bonus. Only, your contribution to the guild wouldn't raise, so it wouldn't have any effect on raising your rank is all."

"Hmmm… I guess there's nothing else? Well then, take care of Eir's registration too please."

Master pushed me to the front, to try and let me register. But the receptionist shakes her head in refusal.

"I'm sorry, that girl is a slave, right? She's considered your property, so she can't register."

"No way—! No, I see… Yeah, I guess that's… That's how it is, huh."

Master has a bit of a let-down expression.

"Master Rimuru, I'm fine."

"Eir…"

"It's not like I wanted to be an adventurer; protecting Master is my job anyway."

"—Sorry."

I stroke my drooping Master's head. Feels like I'm an older sister consoling her saddened little brother.

"Come on, we need to prepare for the journey. Let's hurry and go?"

"Yeah, you're right. Then, please excuse us."

"Yes, I look forward to your success."

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

And so we bowed to the woman, and went over to look at the request bulletin board.

Author's Note: There is basically a reason that Rimuru doesn't want to stand out.

It's just that it feels a little early to put it out in the open, so please wait a bit longer for it.