I'm back!

In the last chapter, some people asked how Tersia could know the word "eroge", and suspected that she might be a reincarnator. To be honest, I feel that to be both heartwarming because you paid so much attention to every small detail in my story, and funny at the same time because no one ever batted an eye when they called EMIYA "sensei". And I need to remind you that the Legendary Sword has a translating function. Everything we heard and saw in this story went through the translator and came out as what EMIYA heard, so naturally there might be a word with the same meaning as "eroge" in the language which would be translated into Japanese as the thing our Counter Guardian usually heard in his past.

Also, there were notices when I called Tersia a "ladette". Yeah, I know there is the word "lass", but I would insist, she's a "ladette", not a lass. A lass is a girl, and emphasized at "girl", meaning girly girls. Tersia, while a girl, is very tomboyish and would act like a boy most of the time, even though she would still act like a normal girl sometimes, especially when she sees something cute. So, a ladette. I would have to apologize in advance if this is an offending term to anyone, because that term is coined by TVTropes, and I just reused it.

Anyway, back to the story!

Chapter 13: Slave Crest

"This is so horrible…"

Those were the only words Farrie could blurt out when she saw what was waiting for them in the tent.

After the meeting at Erhard's shop, Naofumi had finally had to relent and agree to Raphtalia's proposal of having the slave crest reapplied to her. The two had planned to go to Beloukas' tent alone, but EMIYA had insisted on following them.

"I want to see what that slave business is like."

That's what he had said.

That's why at the moment, Naofumi and Raphtalia, as well as the whole Team EMIYA were standing in the tent of the slave merchant. Slavery wasn't anything unfamiliar to the ex-Guardian; years travelling around the world had brought him to countries where slavery was still allowed to exist, and he already knew and got used to how slaves are treated under cruel owners. However, the three other members of the team weren't that (un)lucky; they were born in families of commoners, and they hadn't even known what it meant to own a slave, not to mention knowing how they were kept and treated.

Therefore, it was natural that they were horrified when they finally saw the tent filled to the brim with cages full of slaves, every one of which was in worse conditions than the mind of a human could ever think of.

Farrie's pure and innocent mind couldn't stand the sight anymore. She ran out of the tent and puked all of her breakfast to the ground. Tersia and Welt weren't as weak-minded as her, but the same disgusted expression on their faces was more than enough to show what they thought.

"Well, if it isn't the great Sir Shield Hero! What can I do for you today?"

From the shadow of the back of the tent, the owner of the shop, Beloukas, walked out with his trademark sinister smile. He looked at Naofumi's companions in surprise. "Well, isn't this Sir Sword Hero? For what reason do I have the honor to welcome you in my humble shop?"

Naofumi whispered to EMIYA, loud enough for everyone in the tent to hear. "Careful, Shirou-san. This bastard really has a way with words. Don't let him charm you into doing something you don't want to do."

The ex-Guardian whispered back. "No need to worry. I've met people with silver tongue before; this one alone is not enough to sweet talk me."

"I'm hurt, good sirs," the slave merchant held his chest in mock pain. "How could you even think that I'm trying to trick the great Sir Sword Hero?"

Naofumi glared at the trader. "We don't have time for useless flirtation. We're here because we have some business with you, so just get on with the work already."

Beloukas' eyes twinkled behind his glasses. "Truly, Sir Shield Hero is always a man of work, aren't you? How can I help you then, good sirs? I really hope that you're planning to sell your slave. Who could ever think that she was such a diamond in the rough?"

"Why are you assuming that he's here to sell me?!" exploded Raphtalia angrily.

The slave trader ignored her. "How about… 20 gold pieces? She certainly is a beauty, but if she's still a virgin, then I would be glad to pay 50 gold pieces for her."

"50 pieces of gold… hmm…"

Raphtalia shot Naofumi a terrified look. "Naofumi-sama!?"

Naofumi grinned and pulled Raphtalia closer to him. "I'm just kidding. How can I even think of letting go of such a wonderful girl?"

The terrified look turned into a bashful one in a blink of an eye.

"Sir Naofumi is getting much smoother with his words, eh?" Tersia nudged Welt, who nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's too bad," Beloukas shook his head. "You certainly have good taste, Sir Shield Hero. And very charming, too. Who could think that you have captured her heart in just a mere week?"

The blush on Raphtalia's face deepened in color.

"If that's not the case, then what can I do for you today, good sir?"

"I supposed you have heard about the commotion in the castle last night?"

Beloukas' mouth broke into a sinister grin. "But of course. Something about how you beat the crap out of the Spear Hero, and humiliated the whole royal family in front of every noble in the country, and then made them lift the slave crest from the girl by yourself?"

"Well, something like that," Naofumi answered with a wince. Some of those were obviously exaggerated, but he decided to ignore that. "And today I would like you to reapply the slave crest on Raphtalia."

The slave trader looked at him with a curious eye. "Now that's a surprise. Didn't you decide to have her slave crest removed by yourself in the first place?"

"I have my reason," the Shield Hero shook his head. He threw a silver coin on the counter. "So, are you going to do it for me?"

He had a reason not to share his information. With someone he knew he could trust like Shirou-san, it might be fine; however, if his way to efficiently grow slaves fell into the hand of his enemies, it would be disastrous. There's a chance that they would use that information against him.

Luckily for him, Beloukas didn't ask further. He grabbed the silver coin on the table and grinned. "But of course. Serving you is my honor, Sir Shield Hero. Now, if you're ready…"

He snapped his fingers, and a servant appeared with a bottle of slavery ink for the ceremony. Raphtalia winced when the cursed crest was once again painted on her chest, but she didn't complain; after all, this was for the sake of her dearest Master.

EMIYA didn't pay that much attention to the ceremony, though. It wasn't his business to meddle in Naofumi and Raphtalia's problem. He looked around the shop; the tent was filled with cages containing slaves of all races, from wild, feral beastmen of predator races to weak-looking demi-humans of meeker races such as rabbit, cat or dog. The ex-Guardian noticed that even though there were a lot of different types of slaves here, all of them shared the same trait, which was that they all had injuries of different severities.

"So, what brings Sir Sword Hero to my humble shop today? Are you interested in buying a slave for yourself, good sir?"

Beloukas had finished the job with Raphtalia and Naofumi, and was now approaching EMIYA with his hands rubbing together in anticipation.

"Why are all these slaves injured?" EMIYA pointed out. "I thought if you wanted to make them attractive to your customers, you would have done something to make them unblemished."

"Ah, Sir Sword Hero truly has a sharp eye," the slave trader nodded. "You see, most of the slaves I have here are ones who experienced… difficulties in their past. Some of them were gladiators in the Zeltoble colosseum who were removed from the roster because they were too old or got injured during battles. Some were resold to me by their old owners after they got bored with them and wanted to throw them away for some money. I have to say, it's their luck to have me buying them, because most of them aren't desired by anyone. They don't have anywhere to go, no one wants them because of their past, and… I trust that you understand what I'm saying here, don't you, good sir?"

EMIYA couldn't argue with that. Of course he could understand; to a lot of people, especially nobles and royalty, servants are just toys for them to play with until they decide that they don't want them anymore. Some would just sell their old slaves away to get new ones, but those are just the lucky ones. He had seen nobles killing their slaves when they were too old to serve them more, or giving them to their underlings as sex toys to relieve themselves when they were horny. Even though what the slave trader had said was cruel and he hated it, he still had to admit that it was completely correct.

"So, are you interested in any of the slaves I have here? As you can see, I have slaves of all kinds and are useful for all purposes. You can choose a warrior-type to fight for you, or a servant-type to serve you in your housework. But of course, I don't think the great Sword Hero would need any of those, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe we can just buy every slave in this store, sensei," Tersia suggested. "We have enough money to do so, don't we?"

The ex-Guardian shook his head. "That would just be a waste of money. Even if we spend thousands of gold buying all the slaves here, this guy is just going to use that money to buy even more slaves to sell. There's no way we're able to buy all the slaves in his possession forever… isn't it?" he glanced at the slave trader.

"You got me, sir," the short man grinned. "However, you can't blame me for that. The market for slaves is booming in this country. Hell, the royal family is actually one of my biggest customers. They find all sorts of ways to put them to use. Also, the governors of this country also have a very big demand for slaves. If the supply is cut abruptly, you know what will happen, sir."

EMIYA nodded. He hadn't done any research about the law of Melromarc, but from what Naofumi had mentioned the last night, he did have some idea about how things worked around here. Slavery had become some kind of culture of this country, and most of the nobility of the country had slaves under their possession. And Motoyasu apparently touched the nerves of a lot of people in the arena that night when he said that Naofumi was evil for keeping a slave of his own. That wasn't any different from saying that every single noble in this country was evil.

Maybe that was why while he still forced Naofumi into the duel, the King didn't openly approve of Motoyasu's claim on Naofumi. If the crown king of the country acts against the wishes of the people, there will be riots. Worse, a coup d'etat might happen and the royal family may not be able to hold on to the power for long.

"If you don't want to buy any slave, then maybe I can introduce me to my cover business here."

The Sword Hero followed the hand of the slave trader to see a large crate full of… eggs. He had never seen anything like that before. Each of the eggs was as big as an ostrich egg, with the shell in colors he's pretty sure couldn't exist on normal eggs.

"What are they?"

"Our cover business, sir. Besides slave trading, we also deal in monsters. We supply them to the monster trainers around. If you pay attention, the filolials around this town mostly come from our shop."

EMIYA blinked at the unfamiliar term. "Filolials?"

"They are birds trained to pull carriages, sensei," Farrie, who had just returned to the store after puking everything in her stomach out, explained helpfully. "You remember the giant birds around the town with feathers of different colors, when we went to the market to sell things? Monster trainers have ranches raising different types of monsters for a lot of purposes, including filolials for transportation."

Ah, so those birds were called filolials. The first time he saw them, EMIYA had thought that they looked very similar to a type of bird in an RPG game Blackbeard and Tomoe usually played.

Still, the idea of training monsters to become fighters is actually very tempting. In his world, magi usually have familiars created from different types of animals. Some use the corpses of animals and place apparitions of dead people with a strong will to live, as well as parts of their bodies into them to create creatures with powers they could control. Some others, meanwhile, create puppets and control them with their magical power. Even Servants themselves might be called a type of familiar, the most advanced type of familiar, in fact. But the most popular and effective way to create a familiar in his world is to use a living creature as the base for the familiar, as they are very quick to create and easier to control than other types.

Welt walked toward the egg crate. He looked at the sign in front of the crate in curiosity. "It said, 'Egg lottery! One try for 100 pieces of silver for the big prize of a Knight Dragon!'."

"So it's basically a gacha game, huh," Naofumi, who had arrived after finishing the ritual, said dryly.

EMIYA snorted. This reminded him of his time in Chaldea. Different from the Fuyuki system, the FATE summoning system of Chaldea doesn't utilize catalysts related to the Servants they want to summon, since the purpose of their summoning of Servants isn't to win a competition, but to assemble the strongest force to protect the world. Therefore, anyone they could summon, no matter what their identity was, was welcomed, and thus, everything was completely random. Because of that, the summoning of Servants in Chaldea was no different from a gacha game. Da Vinci usually joked that Ritsuka was the biggest gacha addict whenever she tried to summon a new Servant.

"What can we get from this, though?"

The slave trader's eyes twinkled under his glasses. "Just like what is written, sir. The grand prize is a Knight Dragon, one that can fly. They are very popular, so this game is a big hit with the nobility. You would need at least 20 gold pieces to buy something like that in the market, and that is just the cheaper one."

"But the rate is, what, one in a thousand?" pointed out EMIYA. "And who can be sure that in this crate there is actually a dragon egg?"

Beloukas looked offended. "How dare you, sir! I might enjoy tricking customers now and then, but to accuse me of fraud? That was an insult to my honest business, sir!"

"Then what is the actual rate?"

"The chance to get a dragon egg is 1 in 250, sir," answered the slave merchant. "Of course, besides the dragon, there are also other types of monster eggs in there too. You can get a filolial egg if you're lucky, but you might also get joke monsters such as usapil or mikon if you're not. Worst comes to worst, you would get an unfertilized egg, which is only good for cooking, but it's still something. There is also this box over here, which if you buy 10 tickets you are guaranteed to win at least once."

EMIYA looked at his companions. They all seemed very excited. He shrugged, and threw a gold coin at Beloukas, who caught it with haste. "Then..."

"Well, at least you still got something, sensei."

In the end, EMIYA did try three rolls of the egg gacha. He didn't need more companions that much; after all, these three brats were already enough headache for him. And besides the mikon egg he finally got at the third roll, he got two unfertilized eggs, which would be good enough for an omurice banquet for the whole team.

A mikon is a fox-like animal with three tails and short, triangle ears. EMIYA had seen a few of them when they went out to level up during the last month. Most of the time they avoided fighting them just because they're too cute and docile, and they're just not heartless enough to slay something as adorable as them. In terms of monsters, they're just good enough to be pets. Not that valuable if someone was looking for a fighter.

When he first heard the name mikon, he couldn't help but let out a snort. He was pretty sure if Tamamo-no-Mae hadn't been sent back to the Throne of Heroes, she would have been rolling on her bed at that moment.

No matter what they said, though, EMIYA still couldn't fathom the idea of foxes laying eggs. Seriously, everything in this world makes no sense at all. Is he in a bad fanfiction which the author would eagerly and readily bend the rules of reality to give him what they want him to have?

Also, he was a little bit pouty of what Naofumi got with his gacha. He also got three tickets just like him, but somehow he got a filolial egg for each of his rolls. THREE WINS IN A ROW. How can someone even be that lucky?!

Stupid E-rank luck.

Still, this trip to the slave trader wasn't useless. By letting the Legendary Sword absorb the slave ink, he had unlocked the Slave User Sword I and II, which gave him not only a boost in his body parameters, but also the ability to adjust the growth of people with slave crests bound to him. That is a very useful ability; no wonder why Raphtalia insisted to have the slave crest reapplied to her.

"So what are you planning to do after this, Naofumi?"

Naofumi chuckled upon hearing the question of his fellow Hero. "I guess I'm going to travel around this country for a while. From what I saw, there are still a lot of people in this world who are in need of help. I'm going to provide them with as much help as I can."

"So you plan to change this country from the inside," EMIYA noted. "That would be a very difficult route to walk on, you know."

"I know that," Naofumi agreed. "But… I still think I need to do something. You already saw it, right? The royalty doesn't care about the life of lower citizens. They need someone who would stand up to protect them. Besides, I know I'm not alone now. I have Raphtalia with me, and I know you will be there to support me if I need it, won't you?"

EMIYA grimaced a bit at this declaration of the Shield Hero. Naofumi had suffered quite a lot since he was summoned to this world, but somehow he still managed to keep a rather bright view of the world itself. That way of thinking irked him somewhat, but strangely, he didn't hate it. Mostly because it reminded him of himself.

During the Fifth Holy Grail War, he had failed to save Saber's heart, and before that fateful day when he signed the contract with Alaya to gain the power that helped him stop the meltdown of that nuclear power plant core that would have taken the lives of millions of people, he had been working together with Rin, who had tried her best to snap him out of the misery he'd had after forcing Saber to destroy the Holy Grail with his last Command Spell against her will. But while he appreciated her concern, in the end, he still left her to walk his own road, to become a Hero of Justice with the dream of saving mankind.

His dream was the same as what Naofumi had just declared, and at the same time, they were completely different. The man named Emiya Shirou had pushed away his companion to walk on his road alone, and Iwatani Naofumi accepted the hand of his companion reaching out for him. The way of thinking of the boy was naïve, but still, he didn't have the heart to make a rebuttal.

"But of course, I think I will stop by some places first," Naofumi continued. "I guess I'm going to Ryute Village to see if I can help them with something. The village is not far from here, and the Wave as well as those knights nearly bulldozed it to the ground. The citizens there would need as many hands as possible to help them rebuild the village."

The two groups had reached the inn when they were talking. "What about you, Shirou-san?" Naofumi asked. "What are you going to do after this?"

EMIYA pushed open the door leading into the inn and smiled. "How about we leave that until after dinner?"

"I lost…"

Naofumi was pretty proud of his cooking skill. In fact, Raphtalia had said that the food he cooked was the best.

However, after trying what the Sword Hero had just made for him, Raphtalia and his team, he realized that he was just a tiny fish in a giant lake.

The dish the Hero in red had made for them was literally just omurice. However, it was the strangest but tastiest omurice Naofumi had ever tasted in his life. Naofumi had tried the rice of this world before; the seeds were long, brown and difficult to soften, very different from what he was used to, but somehow the ex-Guardian had managed to make the rice as soft and fluffy as the sushi rice in Japan. What was supposed to be diced chicken was replaced by usapil meat, which gave the dish a richer umami flavor and a more tender texture than usual. The ketchup was made from a type of fruit that was very similar to tomato in flavor but also tasted a bit like tangerine, making a unique sourness that enhanced the freshness of the sauce. In the golden egg covering the rice, he could see bits of green herb which tasted suspiciously like tangerine skin, which gave the dish a strange but refreshing aroma. And the vegetables… oh god the vegetables. The ones that were supposed to be the equivalent of fresh green beans and straw mushroom in this world were so crunchy and crispy as if they were peanuts, even though they're still as sweet and rich in flavor as ever. The ex-Guardian even added something that tasted suspiciously like diced bell pepper in there, which he had never heard being used in omurice before, but the light stinging feeling it brought stimulated his tastebuds in a way that forced him to eat more and more with each bite. He had never tasted omurice with all five basic flavors in it like this one in his life. The mixture of ingredients was so… so perfectly balanced.

That was the reason why the mighty Shield Hero was slamming his head on the table in defeat. His cooking skill might be pretty good for a human, but how could he even compete with this frigging reincarnated god of cooking?!

"Phew, I can't eat another bite!" Raphtalia said happily while putting her spoon down. "This is the best meal I've ever had in my life! Er, no offense, Naofumi-sama, I still love your cooking," she glanced at her master apologetically.

"You don't have to apologize, Raphtalia," answered Naofumi sulkily. "I know I'm nothing compared to him…"

Then he looked at the Sword Hero. That man was so mysterious. A really skilled swordfighter who was related to the mythical Knights of the Round Table, a competent strategist, and now a supreme chef? There's only one person among the Knights of the Round Table Naofumi knew who might have a chance to possess all those talents.

"Shirou-san. Are you Sir Lancelot of the Knights of the Round Table?"

EMIYA choked on the water he was drinking.

"What the hell…?" he sputtered. "Where did you get that idea from?!"

"Well," Naofumi scratched his head. "You're a veteran soldier who was very skilled with the sword, and you're excellent in… you know, everything! And I can't think of anyone else but him who could be such a perfect warrior… well, someone who actually had to… go through what you had to… if you didn't lie to me, I guess," he said, obviously implying what the Sword Hero had mentioned a few weeks ago.

The ex-Guardian stared at Naofumi for a few seconds. Then he started snorting with uncontrollable laughter. "Really now? Of every person you could think about, the first person you associate me with is that… that pervert?"

Naofumi obviously didn't understand anything. "Uh… so you're not?"

"Of course I'm not," EMIYA snorted. "Even though I know the Knights of the Round Table, comparing to them, I'm just an amateur. And believe it or not, all of them have their own… quirks. But trust me, comparing anyone to Lancelot is an insult to them. Who would want to be like a pervert who goes around banging a lot of married women?"

Naofumi scowled in disgust. "So another Motoyasu, huh."

EMIYA shrugged. "Well, besides actually being terrifyingly competent and liking married women rather than teenage girls, pretty much."

Naofumi glanced at the ex-Guardian half in doubt. It's true Sir Lancelot had a notorious reputation from his adultery with Queen Guinevere, but there's no way such a famous person could be like… like the bastard Motoyasu… isn't it?

He decided to put that aside for the time being, though. He really didn't need any more crazy trivia about historical figures he knew. If this continued, he's pretty sure something even more ridiculous would come out of the Sword Hero's mouth, such as King Arthur was actually a really cute girl and Shirou-san was her boyfriend, for example.

"So what are you planning to do after this, Shirou-san?"

He returned to the question he had made before. The ex-Guardian contemplated him for a while, then sighed.

"I guess I would also travel around for a while. There are still a lot of things I don't understand about this world. I will travel to other parts of this country, maybe visit other countries, too, training and maybe recruiting more companions on the way, yeah. We need more manpower if we want to have a chance against the Waves, with the other Heroes like that."

He glanced at the mikon egg standing on the table. "Maybe some monsters that we can control are fine, too. If what that slave trader said is true, monsters are much easier to grow and train to be fighters."

Naofumi deadpanned. "Oh god, Erhard was right. You really are a paranoid nutjob."

EMIYA glared at him. "Hey, the more people we can gather, the faster we can put a stop to this, isn't it? Don't you want everything to end soon so that you can go home and get away from this hellhole of a world?"

"Now that you said that, it kinda makes sense, I guess," Naofumi admitted. "Still, I really don't know about recruiting other people. If they're anything like the companions of Itsuki or worse, Motoyasu…"

"That's why I'm planning to stay here a few more days here to get my team ready for class-up," the Sword Hero nodded. "During that time I will try to gather more information about this world's system, and then I'll go to places far away from the influence of the royal family and the Church to find potential recruitments. It will take time, but that's the only way we can be sure that we would find trustworthy people."

"Wait," Naofumi's mind suddenly went alerted at the unfamiliar term. "Class-up? What the hell is that?"

EMIYA grimaced. Of course the Church had hidden that information from Naofumi.

"You don't know about class-up, Sir Shield Hero?" Farrie blinked in surprise. "When you reach level 40, your companions will have to perform a class-up at the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era to be able to level up further. Starting from there, different routes could be taken for them to grow into; they're like jobs, you know."

"Great," Naofumi muttered. He wasn't surprised anymore, though. "Another thing they decided to hide from me to hinder my growth. Oh well, it would be long before I reach the limit anyway, but… who knows if they're going to try to stop me from classing up when the time comes or not?"

The members of Team EMIYA looked at each other awkwardly.

Suddenly the incubator started shaking. And cracks formed and started spreading all over the shell of the egg.

"Oh my god, it's hatching!" Tersia exclaimed in excitement.

"Seriously? In less than a day?" EMIYA shook his head. "Fox having eggs is already ridiculous enough, but this is just absurd. What the hell is wrong with the biology of this world?"

The cracking noise coming from the egg was getting louder and louder, and the incubator shook harder with each of the cracks. Everyone held their breaths; what is going to come out of the egg?

Finally, with an audible crackle, the shell of the egg shattered completely. And…

Peeking out of the pile of eggshell was a tiny pair of snow-white triangle fox ears. Then, following them was a tuft of white fur, and then, a pair of blue pea-like eyes. Finally, the cute small head emerged fully from the shell, followed by three white tails spreading out from under.

"OH MY GOD SHE'S SO ADORABLE!" All the girls squealed at the same time.

The little kit swept her innocent round eyes around for the first time in her life in wonder. Her gaze stopped at the white-haired hero, and the little beads widened. She let out a happy "kon~" and leaped onto his shoulder, nuzzling her cheek on his.

"Awwww," Raphtalia swooned. "She found her mama!"

The almighty Sword Hero let out a groan.

That night, EMIYA couldn't sleep. After tossing himself back and forth on the bed for a while uselessly for an hour, he finally had to accept that his mind was too busy with a lot of thoughts to rest itself.

Looking at Yuki, the newly-hatched mikon, sleeping peacefully on his pillow was heartwarming and somehow hilarious at the same time. EMIYA wasn't thrilled of being called a mama by Raphtalia that much; seriously, Mordred of all people called him that in the freakish incident involving Astolfo, Paracelsus, an attempt to copy Gilgamesh's Potion of Youth, and a bunch of Servants getting turned into kids including himself and Artoria.

However, even the most stone-faced person in the world would have to melt before the fluffy white ball of adorableness named Yuki the mikon. It didn't help that the little kit actually took a liking to him with just a single glance, and didn't want to leave his side for a second ever since.

He smiled, and gently scratched the back of the little fluffball's ear, making her mewl happily in her dream. Then, he stood up from the bed and walked out of the room, heading to the balcony for a bit of fresh air.

Of course the Legendary Sword wouldn't let him run away that easily. In a flash of white light, it disappeared from where it had been next to his bed, and reappeared on his hand with another flash. EMIYA shook his head with a chuckle.

"I'm not gonna get rid of you that easily, ain't I…?"

[The Heroes may not discard their Legendary Weapons.] The Sword beeped an answer. EMIYA rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know… I know…"

Unconsciously, he switched to the Slave User Sword, the sword he received from letting the Legendary Sword absorb a drop of the ink used to draw Raphtalia's slave crest.

[Name: Slave User Sword I – Quality: Common – Base Power: 15]

[Endurance +1. MP +50. Slave Maturation Adjustment: Low.]

[Proficiency: 0%]

[Unlocked at Level 10]

The ex-Counter Guardian grimaced when he looked at the sword on his hand. The slave crest, according to Beloukas, was something that gave the master the right to enforce absolute authority on their slaves. In a way, it was just like a type of Command Spell. Both are ways to force their subjects to bow to their owner's will. Servants, after all, are just slaves in a fancier name. And just like the Command Spells, the Legendary Weapons apparently had a way to make use of the slave crest by providing it helpful effects, tempting them to use it. And in this case, it provided growth boost. Even though it couldn't provide a powerful mystery borderline True Magic like the Command Spells, growth boost is still something incredibly useful for a setting like this.

But what mattered was… he would have to brand his companions with the slave crest in order for it to work.

Had he still been the cynical, pragmatic Counter Guardian he had been before, he wouldn't hesitate to have the crest applied on them with some sweet words to lure them in, just because it's an incredibly useful asset for him to use to finish the job quickly. He wouldn't even feel bad about lying to them, either; he was too used to lying with a straight face to even feel anything about that. However… he had to admit that the days he had spent in Chaldea had softened him up. Even though he still wanted to utilize this useful ability of the Slave User Sword, something seemed to be holding him back. His three disciples were just naïve kids who had just been exposed to the hard truths of the world for more than a month; even thinking of branding them as slaves made him feel disgusted and ashamed. Especially after they saw the condition of the slaves in Beloukas' shop. What kind of monster would he become if he forced them to become the same thing that had just scarred their innocent souls?

"Sensei? Why aren't you sleeping?"

He turned his head. Tersia was standing at the doorstep of her room in her pajamas, looking at him with her sleepy eyes.

"Sorry," he smiled apologetically. "Did I wake you up?"

"Sure as hell you did," the girl glared at him and said in a dry tone, but there didn't seem to be any anger in her voice. "Thanks to your everyday torture, now I can't seem to have a good sleep without snapping awake at even the tiniest sound."

EMIYA scratched his head awkwardly.

"You don't have to apologize, sensei," the girl's eyes softened. She crossed the corridor and arrived next to her mentor at the balcony and stretched her back lazily. "I've never met anyone like you before, to be honest. Only a month with you and I've learned way more than what I did during seventeen years I've lived in this life."

She grabbed the rail of the balcony with both hands and stared into the starry night. "Before, when I first met you, I didn't expect you to be… well, you. The other Heroes were no different from the stupid boys I usually saw; they looked so cocky and arrogant, and naïve as hell, and except for Sir Naofumi, they acted like that even now, too. But you… you're completely different from them. Not only did you not brag about your power like the other Heroes, but you were also serious about what you needed to do. You didn't go around chasing after girls or doing things to get people's attention; you spent all that time teaching us what we still lacked, to help us get stronger. I have to admit… when I first met you, I kinda hated you for your attitude, but now…" she took a deep breath, and looked at the ex-Guardian with a smile, "…you have become someone I really love. My brother… no, actually, you're just like my second Dad."

The black eyes met the blue ones, and for a while, the two just stared at each other like that in silence. Then, EMIYA's hands curled into fists, and he decided…

The three youngsters glanced at the sword lying on the table warily. "This is…"

"The Slave User Sword, which I got from the slave ink at the slave shop earlier," the Sword Hero answered. "It allows me to optimize your growth when you level up, and also gives a boost to your stat growth. Basically, it is a way for you all to get stronger quickly and effectively. However…"

He didn't have to finish the sentence, but everyone could understand the implication immediately.

"We need to have the slave crest applied to us," Farrie finished in a rather terrified tone.

"Yes," the Sword Hero nodded grimly. "And that's the reason why I need to ask you first before doing anything. To help you grow as quickly and efficiently as possible, I want you to receive the slave crest with me as the master. However," he raised his hand before any of the disciples could object, "I will only do it if you really want me to. If you don't want it, I'm not going to force you."

"If we don't follow your words… we're going to be tortured, aren't we?" Welt asked, still with the terrified voice. EMIYA shook his head.

"There would be no such thing. I'm going to turn off all the punishment conditions coming from the slave crest… except for one. The condition of absolute loyalty. The punishment will only come if you try to betray me in any way, such as trying to murder me in my sleep, poisoning my food, things like that. Unless you are having an ulterior motive, you don't have to worry about anything."

Tersia stared at the floor sadly. "So you still don't trust us…"

"I'm really sorry to say this, Tersia, but I can't completely put my trust in anyone," the Sword Hero shook his head again. "I have been betrayed so many times in my life. One of those betrayals almost took my life, and it came from the people I once considered friends."

He looked away with a guilty face. "In the past, I have done a lot of morally ambiguous things in the name of justice, to protect as many people as I could. And that gave me a lot of enemies, and that's why I cannot trust anyone completely, even though I'm not in my homeworld anymore. But you have to know that I just want the best for everyone. I want to survive this at all costs, and I also want my friends and my family to survive. That's everything I want to say about this."

With that, EMIYA stopped speaking. He looked at everyone, waiting to see what they had to say.

The three disciples looked at each other in silence. Fear could be seen clearly on their faces. Just like EMIYA had suspected, they're all afraid of the idea of being branded as slaves. Feeling defeated, he opened his mouth to tell them to forget everything he had just said…

"Please give me the slave crest, sensei!"

Everyone in the room stared at Tersia, who had just blurted out those words, in horror. Farrie sputtered, terrified.

"Tersia-chan…!"

"You don't need to decide that quickly," said EMIYA in shock. "I'm not going to force you; you can have as much time as you want to think about it first…"

"I know what I'm saying, sensei, and I've made my decision," the girl answered with a firm determination. "My dad was killed by the monsters from the Wave, and if there is a way for me to become strong enough to avenge him and stop it from happening again to the people I hold dear, then I would gladly take it!"

The ex-Counter Guardian was stunned by the declaration.

Not only him, the other two disciples, too.

"Are… are you sure about that, Tersia-san?" questioned Welt in fear and awe. "That means you are going to be a slave!"

"Yeah! So what?" answered the girl with the giant sword stubbornly. "After all, slavery is not illegal in this country! Besides, Shirou-sensei is not going to do anything to me! I have complete trust in him, and if that's the way to make him trust me, then I will gladly do it without any hesitation!"

EMIYA stared at the girl with a look full of shock and, at the same time, gratitude. He didn't expect such a reaction from any of his students, to be honest. But more than that, he was so touched by the declaration from the girl. Such a firm, unconditional trust was something he had never expected to receive from anyone in his life.

He glanced at the other two. Farrie still looked pale with fear on her face, just like before. Welt raised his voice hesitantly.

"Um… can we have some time to think about this first? I don't feel really comfortable with the idea of being a slave… yet…"

The ex-Guardian nodded. After all, that was their choice; he's not going to do anything to force them. But one of them accepting his proposal willingly without hesitation was already way more than what he had expected to receive. And that was more than enough for him.

"All right, then let's get the day started!"

And so, the first "original" original character of my story: Yuki the Vulp- the mikon, yes.

This idea came to me when I reread the first two volumes of the Shield Hero LN. When he went to the slave shop to get the slave crest reapplied on Raphtalia and get Filo's egg, he mentioned that it would be fine to him even if he got an usapil egg. So I thought, why not? If an usapil could have an egg, then why not other mammals? And the name mikon, besides being an obvious reference to Tamamo-no-Mae (the Servant I like the most in the Nasuverse), also holds another meaning: mi is written as ミ in Katakana, which has the meaning of "three" in Chinese, the species' number of tails.

And kudos to anyone who gets the reference of that freakish incident when Mordred called EMIYA "Mama Shirou" I mentioned above. Hint: It's from a pretty popular fic of FGO, which has been completed. My gratitude to GhostXavier, who delivered us such a beautiful story.

And yes, before anyone asks, I know that enslaving a human is illegal in Melromarc, and that plot would be expanded further in the next chapter.

Until next time.