The Story Of A Certain Family (7)
“Is it alright to not say it, Hardt-sama?”
“Say what?”
On the way back to the castle after settling the business of Mars who newly became a subordinate, Mylene who’s clinging to my arm asked me something like this. Mylene peeks into my face from below and continues while smiling.
“He who was called Darl, the actual reason why he sold his family to the noble”
“Aa, that huh. It’s because I thought it’s unnecessary to tell him that”
I say what I thought honestly. The actual reason why Darl sold Mars and the others. That is, because he wanted to protect Tierra, the girl Mars saved.
That noble desired Tierra and threatened Darl. Whether to present Tierra for the sake of letting his family live or let his family be assaulted and murdered by ruffians and let them bring Tierra over forcibly.
Darl who’s unable to go against the noble’s authority, chose the path that everybody can live. That’s the incident this time. In addition to that, it also coincides with my demand so everybody except for Tierra gets handed over to me……was how it should’ve been.
Over there, those fellows who were hired by the nobles got greedy. They thought that something like the population of those fellows in the slums isn’t clearly known so they pretended that those sellable girls don’t exist and sold them to the slave trader.
Well, they were unlucky. I suppose it’d be fine even if the number decreases if this is just something that’s just handed over to the royal family in ordinary circumstances but, they sold off the things that are to become mine as they please. Of course, I have them receive their retribution. At this time, I suppose the Crimson Ripper’s lesser species, Red Ripper, is heading over and killing them.
“Hardt-sama?”
“Aa, at the end of the day, saying it or not, the fact that Darl sold the other family members for the sake of saving Tierra remains unchanged. If so, I thought that rather than telling him about Darl and letting him pity Darl, Mars will be able to resolutely sever his attachment if I didn’t tell him about it”
At the end of the day, it doesn’t change that Darl sold his family. If Mars’ killing intent is to grow dull due to that, I think he’ll feel better if I don’t tell him.
“Fhuーn, I shall leave it at that”
Mylene who says that and giggles at me. This rascal
“You’re getting a little bit carried away recently huh, Mylene”
“Heh? Th, there is no such thing!?”
“There is no use arguing about it! This requires a little bit of punishment huh”
“Kyaa!?”
I grasp Mylene’s slender waist, carry her on my shoulder and return to the castle. Mylene is screaming but I ignore it. After I returned to our room, I gave Mylene some slimy and sticky punishment.
◇◇◇
“Ora, you kids, it’s your meal”
A large man says that and leaves two rye bread inside the cage that we are being imprisoned in. Ever since we were brought here and made into slaves, this is our only meal that comes once a day.
Inside the cage are Mint and myself, adding up the even younger children, there are seven people. It’s naturally not enough if it’s just two of such rye bread but, we tear that into tiny pieces and divide it amongst everybody.
We tear bigger pieces for the little children while Mint and I bear with it. Even during the time when we were together as a family, there were occasionally times when we can’t eat but, it wasn’t as harsh as now. I think that Mars-niichan, Tierra-neechan and the others had probably distributed it to us like we are currently doing.
……I miss them. Although I was about to cry reflexively, I close my eyes tightly and endure it. Because it’ll spread to everybody if I cry.
When we are dividing up the little food amongst everybody in that manner and eating, talking voices could be heard on the other side of the door. And then the one who came when the door opened was, the manager of this shop.
Furthermore, the shop manager who yells at us, he brought someone along while smiling and rubbing his hands together. I wonder if it’s someone who pays considerably well?
The person he brought along was, a white hair Oji-san1 whose age is roughly in the 50s. Holding a black cane in his right hand, he would appear gentle in normal circumstances but, right now, he looks at us like he’s glaring.
“Over here are the goods that Okyaku-sama2 wished for”
“Seven people in total?”
“Yes, although their stamina might be slightly low, I think you will be able to enjoy them”
‘Gufufu’, the shop manager who gives a repulsive smile. Without even worrying about that, the Oji-san looks at us. And then, without looking at the other slaves
“I shall buy them”
, he made up his mind. The shop manager who smiles broadly when he hears those words, calls for another employee with a delighted voice and lets us out of the cage.
We who were let out of the cage were made to wear clothes that preserved the minimum cleanliness and we were brought to the room where the Oji-san is. After that, in the blink of an eye, it ended with us leaving the store and we are currently following behind the Oji-san.
Anxious about where exactly they are being taken to, the younger children grab onto Mint’s and my clothes and won’t let go. The Oji-san just walks without saying anything.
After we follow behind the Oji-san for a while, we finally arrived at a mansion somewhere. Although we were surprised by the largeness that we’ve never been in before until now, the Oji-san proceeds without paying it any mind.
We also follow along behind in a hurry. We are moving our faces restlessly, looking all over the place and, we came out to a large spacious room.
When the Oji-san knocks the ground with his cane at the centre of that, the ground moves all of a sudden and a hole appears. We stood surprised without even being able to let out a single voice and
“Follow along”
, he says just that and went into the hole. When we move closer to the hole as well in a hurry, it looks like the inside of the hole became a stairway and the Oji-san gone down this stairway. Although I’m a little scared, I take the lead and enter the hole.
When we walk for a while after that, the stairway finally ends and we came out to a place that’s like a basement. A fairly spacious space stretches before our eyes. However, what we were even more surprised by was, the fact that monsters that actually shouldn’t be at a place like this were around.
Skeletons and zombies that we see for the first time. There are also those that we’ve never seen before, we were terrified and were on the verge of tears. The young children bury their faces into Mint’s and my body so that they don’t see it. Aa, we are going to die here. When I had given up like that
“Emma! Mint!”
We heard a voice calling out to us. We look to the direction of the voice and over there were the figures of Mars-niichan, Tierra-neechan and the others waving.
I could no longer hold it in any longer after seeing those figures. My tears flow ceaselessly. Before I know it, I was running towards Nii-chan and the others.
“I’m sorry. I guess you were scared huh?”
“Un, I was terribly scared! So hug me even more tightly!”
“Good grief, even though you always say to not treat you like a child”
I know no such thing! I ignore Nii-chan’s words and stick even closer to him. I remain like that for a while and
“Thanks for your hard work, Nero”
“It is no big deal, Creator. Leaving that aside, is Mylene not around?”
Someone who’s about the same age as Nii-chan and the others came. And then, he speaks to the Oji-san who bought u……eh? Even though he was an ordinary Oji-san until just now, he became a skeleton halfway through……is this person also a monster?
“The person who’s about the same age as us is our master, Hardt-sama. And the person who bought everybody is Nero-sama. They are the people we will be much obliged to from now on so make sure not to be rude”
……I wonder if we will be able to survive?
「The Boy Who Swore Revenge On The World 」will be on a weekly or biweekly schedule with another series taking its place from this chapter onwards. This is because the original work’s pace has slowed down and I want to avoid catching up to it.
I will probably be posting more details on twitter afterwards when I decide on the schedule and the series that’s taking its place so check it out if you’re interested.
- おじさん: Oji-san. Old man
- お客様: Okyaku-sama. A way of calling the customer. お: O is to make it polite or formal. 客: Kyaku means guest, visitor, customer. さま: Sama is an honorific
