Chapter 24
And here they are now, currently lined up in front of s.h.i.+ro, from the left is the highest price and the last part is the lowest.
Among the 16 slaves that are currently lined up in front of s.h.i.+ro, three have higher levels than his two Vampire Brides:
Nina - Tanned and has black hair. Her face immediately caught the attention of s.h.i.+ro as it doesn't resemble any of the people he had met in this world so far. He thought that maybe because it was said that she came from a barbaric tribe far to the north of this city. But nevertheless, seeing her face, s.h.i.+ro thought that she was cute.
Lumi - A demihuman that resembles snow wolves. She has two unique animal ears growing out of his head and a tail that is swinging from her backside. Of course, s.h.i.+ro didn't get much surprised by her appearance; he already knows that all kinds of races exist in this world that s.h.i.+ro had already expected to see one of her kind in this world.
Sarah - A tall girl with long blonde hair. Introducing herself earlier, she said that she came from a n.o.ble family who had sold her after they have committed a heavy crime that removed the entirety of their fortune. But nevertheless, she was a knight and has a lot of experience in combat.
The three of them are stronger than his two Vampire Brides when they're on their debuffs, and they might also come close to the hero's party.
s.h.i.+ro has plans for the three of them.
[Hmm... Right... From now own, I will become your master. My name is Vlad Alucard, call me Vlad-sama.] s.h.i.+ro had introduced himself as simple as possible.
[[Yes...]] the girls all nodded and answered.
Their eyes are looking at him with admiration but yet mixed with fear. As slaves, they are expecting that their master will treat them badly and might even do things to them that might destroy their entire being. Slaves often tend to be treated as mere toys or possessions by their masters, it has been the norm of this world and it always will be. The thought of serving someone against their will is unbearable, but they need to obey their master, or they will get killed.
The collars on their necks are imbued with magic that will kill them once they willingly disobeyed their master's wills. Disobeying their master is as close to committing suicide.
[Now...]
(They really looked they've been treated really badly...)
Looking at their pale faces, dirty bodies, and torn clothes, s.h.i.+ro could only think that might be the case.
[I think that you all already know that now that I'm your master, you will need to follow
[[Y-Yes...!]]
[Then, that's all I want to say. All you need is to follow everything that I'll say and I promise that I will treat you all well.]
Hearing his words, the slaves were only surprised. They looked at each other and then directed their eyes again to s.h.i.+ro. They weren't able to believe that their master had said that he will treat them well. They thought that he must be lying. But they felt he was serious.
[Stella, help them clean themselves up. Ayla, you prepare the dishes.]
***
After Stella had a.s.sisted them to clean themselves up in the large bathroom, the slaves came back again in the living room with their appearances completely different from what it was before. They're now clean and the dresses their wearing are clean and spotless.
And now, all 16 of them sat beside the large rectangular table. Their eyes are almost about to pop out, looking at the dishes that are served before them. But for some reason, none of them are moving or even picking up their spoons; they were silent. Instead, they're all staring at s.h.i.+ro who's sitting at the other end of the table.
[Please eat. You didn't need to wait for my permission, you know?] s.h.i.+ro said to them in a.s.surance.
But despite his words, the slaves only looked at their meals with eyes that are unbelieving.
...
..
None were saying a word... Until -
[VlVlad... sama...! Whwhat is this...!?]
A girl's voice resounded through the entire room; disturbing the silence it was earlier.
The voice came from Lumi. One of the demihumans in the group.
Unlike the other slaves who are just staring at their meals -
Lumi was already eating hers and is now close to being finished.
[...!]
Seeing her actions, the other slaves looked at her with pale faces. They're scared that she might've offended their master, and so they looked at her with dead expressions on their faces.
[Ahh...] s.h.i.+ro sighed.
Even s.h.i.+ro was surprised by her guts to eat in this situation. Her face is exited and drool is coming out of her mouth. Additionally, she was using her bare hands to eat the food, which made s.h.i.+ro even more weirded by her.
[Anyway, what are you all waiting for; go eat.] ignoring Lumi, s.h.i.+ro voiced to the group.
Hearing s.h.i.+ro's permission, and seeing Lumi's action, the other slaves found the courage to start eating too.
(Phew~ I guess that Lumi helped me with the situation... even a little...)
If it wasn't for the action Lumi had made, s.h.i.+ro thought that he might have had a very hard time convincing the other slaves to eat.
And so - the other slaves started to eat their meals too.
[[...]]
On their first taste, time seemed to have stopped. They kept the spoon on their mouths and for some reason, all of them started to tear up and started sobbing.
(...) surprised, s.h.i.+ro was only able to stare at them with a blank poker expression.
To them, it was the first time they have tasted a proper meal for a very long time. The hot meal and soup they have put on their stomachs created a feeling of warmth on their chests.
Eating their meals, the slaves thought: " This must be a dream, right?" This was the only thing that they have on their minds as they eat their food. And thinking that what is currently happening might be a dream, they continued to gobble their meals up, removing the shame and fear they have towards s.h.i.+ro earlier.
The sound of people sobbing with joy and happiness of eating a delicious meal dominated the silence of the room.
...
...
But after a while, an even louder voice interrupted.
[Ccan I have seconds!]
Finis.h.i.+ng her meal, Lumi stood up and raised a hand to s.h.i.+ro.
(What's with this girl...!? Can't she at least read the situation a little!)
Seeing her action, the slaves have stopped eating their meals again and turned pale. They stopped daydreaming and realized again that they're in front of their master.
[Do-Don't worry about it.] s.h.i.+ro muttered to the slaves, wanting them to continue eating.
After, he turned his eyes to the standing Lumi who has her ears twitching and her tail swaying.
[Yes, you can have seconds. Ayla?]
[Of course, Vlad-sama.] Ayla nodded to his words and served Lumi with another plate.
(Well... it's not bad to have one weird person in every group...) s.h.i.+ro thought as he looked at the figure of the excited demihuman.