Chapter 108
Negotiation
Translator : PolterGlast
His appearance was visibly slovenly, and seeing him scratch
the belly that spilled out from his clothes made me involuntarily squint in
disgust.
"Long time no see. I'm relieved to see business is as
dead as ever."
"Shut up. None of your business. ...You seem to have
changed quite a bit yourself, Max."
"Well, a lot has happened recently."
"I've been hearing rumors lately... that you're saving
good-for-nothing scum. What exactly are you plotting? If there's a profit to be
made, let me in on it."
Johann threw
those words at him with a vulgar expression. Max seemed to find it
unpleasant and his expression distorted for a split second, but he immediately
returned to a serious face to hide it from Johann and proceeded with the
conversation.
"We can talk about me another time. More importantly, I
came to buy slaves from your shop today. Are these three in the cage the only
ones?"
"Oh! You're buying?! Those three are the only ones I
have right now! I've been in a bind because they haven't sold for ages!"
"I see. How much is the price?"
"One platinum coin per person! ...No, since it's Max,
I'll discount it to nine gold coins!"
Showing a beaming smile, Max immediately began
negotiating the price. I felt a sense of horror that people were being traded
for the low price of a single platinum coin, but apparently, Max judged
that even nine gold coins were too high and started negotiating for a further
discount.
"Impossible. One gold coin per person. I cannot pay
more than that."
"............Hah? Have you gone senile? Even if they're
defective goods, there's no way I can sell them for one gold coin!"
"I have no intention of buying for more than one gold
coin. Looking at them... they haven't sold for at least half a year, right? In
addition to the original missing limbs, their health condition is the worst.
Considering there are no other slaves being sold, they aren't going to sell and
are just waiting to die, aren't they?"
"Wh-What... wh-what could you possibly understand?!"
"If they die, you, Johann, have to deal with
disposing of the bodies. If you sell them, you save yourself that trouble and
gain three gold coins; isn't that enough?"
"Da-Damn it... taking advantage of me! T-There's no way
I can sell for that amount!!"
"Understood. If you have no intention of selling, we
will leave."
I had no intention of leaving, but Max made eye
contact with me and signaled me to act as if we were going home. ...Since I
asked him to handle the negotiations, I should do as Max says. I
followed Max, who was heading out of the shop, and made a show of
leaving—immediately, Johann called out to stop us.
"...W-Wait! Three gold coins per person... n-no, how
about two gold coins?"
"Not worth discussing. If it's not one gold coin, I
won't buy. In fact, once I leave the shop, I won't buy them
even for one gold coin."
The moment Max placed his hand on the shop door while
applying that pressure—Johann gave in
easily.
"O-Okay! I'll sell for one gold coin! ...Tch! Dammit! I
bought them for five gold coins each; it's a huge loss!"
"If this taught you a lesson, you should close down
your shop. Well then, one gold coin per person. I will buy them for a total of
three gold coins."
Max looked at
me and nodded, so I took three gold coins from my hemp sack and tossed them to Johann.
Johann couldn't catch the suddenly thrown coins, and while he was
picking up the ones that fell to the ground... I headed toward the three women
in the cage. It was locked, but I forced it open with brute strength and spoke
to the three trembling women.
"It's okay now. Let's get out of here for now. ...Can
you walk?"
One was missing a right arm, and the other two were missing
left arms; like me, it looked inconvenient, but they seemed able to walk.
...However, the beastman girl, who was still only in her mid-teens, seemed to
have no stamina left to walk and weakly shook her head left and right.
"Alright. I'll carry the one who can't walk."
"............I-I am, dirty."
"No, you aren't dirty at all."
I smiled at her and scooped the beastman girl up with one
arm, but she was so light I almost gasped aloud. It felt like she was barely
clinging to life, and my anger toward Johann boiled over even more, but
raising a hand here would only scare the three of them.
"Guild Master, please walk in a way that
protects the other two."
"Yeah, I got it."
After making
that request, we were about to leave Johann's shop, but...
"Wa-Wait a minute! Did you say Guild Master? If
that's the case, you have money, don't you! I won't sell for one gold coin
after all!"
Clutching the three gold coins I had thrown, Johann
spoke with a vulgar smile plastered on his face. ...He is scum through and
through.
"Johann, the deal is already conclud—"
I stopped Max, who was trying to attempt persuasion,
and slowly approached Johann.
"What do you want?"
"If you intend to renege on a deal that was already
concluded, I won't hesitate to use force. Max stopped me earlier... but
I intended to solve this with force from the beginning anyway."
"Hah! What can a one-armed old man do! I said I won't
sell, so I won't sell! If you think you can do it, then—"
Without listening to Johann's words to the end, I
kicked right through Johann's right knee. Max held his head
lightly, but he seemed to accept that it couldn't be helped.
"UgyaaaaAAAAAH! —M-My leg!!"
"We're leaving now. If I see you selling slaves
again... next time, I might just cut your leg off."
Leaving those words behind as I looked down at Johann,
who was writhing in agony with his leg bent in an unnatural direction, we
headed out of the shop for real this time.
"Sorry. Did I scare you?"
I spoke to the beastman girl in my arms, but she frantically
shook her head. We couldn't settle it peacefully, but since we managed to
rescue them, it should be fine.
However... I purchased slaves from a slave trader. I still
don't know if this action was the right thing to do. Even so, I swore in my
heart that I would support them with everything I have so that they would
eventually feel glad that they were saved.
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