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005 The Old
Woman Anneliese
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Translator : PolterGlast
Buying a slave... I
hated myself for how this turned out.
Back at the inn, I
sighed as I looked at the slave, the old woman named Anneliese, sitting weakly
in a chair.
At this inn, slaves
could stay for 100 Grill per person if they shared a room with their master.
Meals weren't included, but the portions here were large enough for two people
to be full. Well, I wasn't really short on money, so that was fine...
"What's done is
done. What now...?"
The old woman had been
nodding off for a while.
She hadn't spoken once
since I bought her. Was I not in her sight, or could she not speak? Never mind.
I skimmed through the
paperwork from when I bought the old woman and put it in my Item Box.
For now, I put
Anneliese to bed. There was only one bed, so I decided to sleep on the floor
wrapped in a blanket.
Even if Anneliese was
an old woman or a gal, I had no intention of sharing a bed without consent.
Even if we did sleep
together, I might wake up in the morning to find her cold beside me. Something
like that could happen. That would be a nightmare.
What's done is done,
so I'll at least see her through to her end properly. That's all I can do.
Come to think of it, I
haven't checked my status since then.
I'm not sleepy yet, so
I'll check my status.
【Job】 Traveler Lv1
【Skills】 Strong Legs (Minor)
【Unique Skills】 Detailed Appraisal (Low), Item Box (Low)
My Traveler level
hasn't increased. My Strong Legs skill hasn't changed either.
But my unique skills,
Detailed Appraisal and Item Box, changed from (Minor) to (Low).
When I checked the
skill information with Detailed Appraisal, it said that skill proficiency
increased in the order of Minor < Low < Medium < High < Extreme.
Skills grow, but High and above are apparently rare.
In other words, my two
unique skills had grown.
The growth of Detailed
Appraisal was hard to discern, but the Item Box clearly showed a change.
The number of storage
slots in the Item Box increased. It used to be 20 slots, but now that it's
(Low), it has 40 slots. This is very helpful.
Next, I also checked
my jobs. Currently, there are 6 types of jobs I could change to: Villager,
Cook, Merchant, Carrier, Avenger, and Reincarnated Hero. Including Traveler,
there are 7 selectable jobs.
When I checked these
jobs with Detailed Appraisal, this is what I found.
▼Detailed Appraisal Results▼
Traveler: One who
travels. Can use the Strong Legs (Minor) skill. Acquisition condition: Travel
500 kilometers on foot.
Villager: Initial
default job. No particular skills.
Cook: One who cooks.
Can use the Cooking (Minor) and Ingredient Appraisal (Minor) skills.
Acquisition condition: Cook 10,000 meals.
Merchant: One who
trades. Can use the Negotiation (Minor) and Item Appraisal (Minor) skills.
Acquisition condition: Perform 1,000 acts of buying and selling goods as a
business. Or acquire an appraisal-type unique skill.
Carrier: One who
transports goods. Can use the Item Box (Minor) skill. Acquisition condition:
Perform 100 acts of transporting goods as a business. Or acquire the unique
skill Item Box.
Avenger: One who seeks
revenge. Can use the Blade of Vengeance (Minor), Blade of Wrath (Minor), and
Limit Break (Minor) skills. Acquisition condition: Can only be acquired by
those who have suffered terrible experiences more than 100 times and maintain a
rebellious spirit without breaking.
Reincarnated Hero: A
reincarnated hero. Can use the Holy Sword Summon (Minor), Body Reinforcement
(Minor), Holy Magic (Minor), and Limit Break (Minor) skills. Acquisition
condition: Be recognized by a god and reincarnate.
I understood that I
could change to Villager since it was an initial default job, but why Traveler?
I've never traveled 500 kilometers on foot, have I? It's impossible to have traveled
500 kilometers in my entire life, right?
Ah, but I walked to
school. I walked to school from elementary to high school, so is that why? I
think it's a bit of a stretch to call commuting "travel," though...
I cooked every day, so
I think I met that condition.
Merchant and Carrier
were acquired due to unique skills.
Avenger makes perfect
sense.
I was treated like
trash and subjected to violence every day. I would never bow my head to those
guys. It was a fitting job.
Just remembering it
brings up dark emotions. By now, those guys are probably being pampered as
heroes.
Now, the problem is
Reincarnated Hero.
What unnecessary thing
did that god do? Me, a hero? That's not funny. Avenger suits me better.
Besides, if I equipped
a job like that, I would undoubtedly attract the attention of the country and
the church. I don't know if there is a church, though.
I glanced at
Anneliese. I now had to provide for a wrinkled old woman.
I regretted it many
times, but since I bought her, I would see her through to her end properly.
And since I went
through the trouble, I intended to make use of her knowledge.
I didn't know anything
about this world. She had to fill that gap for me.
Also, I needed to earn
living expenses. I had decided that from the start.
I would enter the
dungeon, defeat monsters, and earn a living.
Traveler isn't suited
for combat, so I should probably change jobs. But I don't have any
combat-oriented jobs. Avenger, which would look bad if seen by others, and
Reincarnated Hero, a god's prank, are both likely landmines.
So what should I do?
Anneliese was a Mage.
What are the acquisition conditions for a Mage?
▼Detailed Appraisal Result▼
Mage: One who uses
magic. Can use the Magic Power Increase (Minor) skill. Acquisition condition:
Use a grimoire.
What's a grimoire?
▼Detailed Appraisal Result▼
Grimoire: A grimoire
is an item rarely dropped by dungeon monsters. Or it can sometimes be found in
treasure chests.
I see, so you need
luck to become a Mage. Or are grimoires available on the market?
I wish Detailed
Appraisal had told me more details...
▼Detailed Appraisal Result▼
Grimoire: A grimoire
is an item rarely dropped by dungeon monsters. Or it can sometimes be found in
treasure chests. The probability of a monster dropping one is 1 in 10,000. The
probability of finding one in a treasure chest is 1 in 300. The market price is
1,000,000 Grill to 3,000,000 Grill.
Oh... oh... what the
heck, you can do it when you try.
However, if I buy one,
it's at least 10 million yen. That's expensive. Finding it myself also seems
very difficult, but buying it is also hard.
I should check the
acquisition conditions for other jobs. I'll get a combat job before my current
money runs out.
That aside, I couldn't
possibly take such a frail old woman into a dungeon.
I'll enter the dungeon
alone. I'll ask Anneliese for information on how to operate in a dungeon. Given
her age and being a Mage, she must have been in a dungeon before.
Anneliese was trying
to create new magic but lost control, injuring dozens of people and destroying
many houses.
I thought she was some
kind of mad scientist, but apparently, this kind of thing happens sometimes.
This world is scary.
Due to that accident,
Anneliese was sentenced to confiscation of private property and 100 years of
slavery. She definitely won't live for 100 years. I'm confident I'll be dead
too.
So, Anneliese will
apparently be freed from slavery by dying.
Also, I learned after
buying her that Anneliese was a half-elf. Her age was a shocking 318 years old.
I knew elves were
long-lived, but it seems elves in this world live about 1,000 years. Half-elves
aren't as long-lived as elves, but I heard they live about 250 years. At 318,
Anneliese could truly pass away at any moment.
This lifespan is just
a guideline, so if her elven blood is strong, a half-elf might live for about
500 years.
If Anneliese also
lives for 500 years, she'll be freed from slavery before her lifespan ends.
It's apparently quite rare, though.
Furthermore, if a
master dies, ownership of the slave transfers to the heir. At that time, the
slave might be sold again to a slave merchant, but the slave period remained
unchanged.
The next morning, when
I woke up, Anneliese was already awake. She was looking down at me as I slept
on the floor, which was quite scary. I almost felt like she was going to suck
out my life force. I might have nightmares about it.
"I'm sorry."
It was a raspy voice,
fitting her appearance.
"For what?"
"For using the
bed."
Anneliese seemed to
feel awkward about using the bed.
"It's fine. I can
sleep on the floor. More importantly, let's have breakfast."
I took Anneliese to
the dining hall.
Today, I definitely
couldn't eat that much, so we decided to share.
"Anneliese, which
do you prefer, meat or fish?"
"Fish."
Perhaps as one gets
older, fish is preferred over meat.
We sat down at a
table, and the old lady brought our food.
The bread was still
huge. And the fish was even bigger. Its head and tail were sticking out of a
plate about 40 centimeters long.
Am I the only one who
thinks this is more filling than meat?
I got a small plate
and shared it with Anneliese. If anything, I gave Anneliese more.
"Let's eat."
First, I dipped the
bread in the soup and put it in my mouth. Yesterday it was a stew-like soup,
but today it was a clear soup like consommé. It wasn't consommé, but it had a
lot of vegetables that created a gentle broth.
Next to me, Anneliese
was eating at an incredible pace.
This was an unexpected
turn of events. Could she have such an appetite at that age? Perhaps she hadn't
been fed at Golteo-san's shop? Golteo-san himself said it was illegal not to
feed slaves, so that shouldn't be the case.
Was this Anneliese's
natural appetite? She was eating at an amazing speed.
Anneliese finished
eating before I was even halfway through. Only bones remained of the fish, and
not a drop of soup was left.
"Want some
more?"
"Is that
alright?"
"If you want to
eat, just eat without holding back."
"How about meat
this time?"
"Oh, uh,
okay."
I was planning to
share mine, but I didn't expect her to order a whole new serving.
I paid and ordered the
meat set as well.
The waitress's eyes
also widened in surprise at Anneliese's appetite.
"Y-you eat a
lot..."
"A good appetite
is a sign of good health..."
I replied, but even I
was surprised by her appetite.
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