“Alright, so that just about settles things with their registration.” Figuro sighed like he had just run a marathon. “What other things can I help you with today.”
“Great…” I smiled wryly. “Now is it possible to release them as slaves?”
“Ah!” The girls made strange noises of protest, but I ignored them.
“Wh-what!?” Figuro made a face. “I just finished all their paperwork! Now you want the mark removed?”
“Haha… well, the paperwork was just a safety precaution. I’m not sure if you’d be able to remove their slavery, and even if you could, that will have to wait. I’m just preparing for the worst while hoping for the best, is all.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“Well, you remember that Lord Tibult guy, right?”
He jerked for a second and the name but then nodded. “What of him?”
“I ended up being put into a master-slave challenge against him. It was made up by the prince. If I fail, I need to free the girls. This isn’t a problem for me. As you know, I’ve desired their freedom for a while. What is a problem is that I was cursed in a manner where I can’t give up my slaves. The prince has a few solutions, but they require mutilating me or hurting the girls, and so a third option is definitely desired.”
As I spoke, the girls behind me were very quiet. Whenever I spoke of releasing them, they typically lowered their heads and became quiet. It was probably a taboo subject for a slave. If they let themselves show excitement over being freed, that would naturally put a lot of discomfort on their Master. It was nice that they were considering my feelings, but I really wished they’d be more expressive towards seeking their freedom.
“The Prince Aberis and Lord Tibult, you’ve encountered some interesting people yourself since coming to the Capitol.”
“Ah… well, it wasn’t intentional. Things just sort of happened that way.”
“Alright… well, I can tell you there may be an option. There is a special rune formation which nullifies bonds.”
“Nullifies, you say?”
He nodded. “Slaves, pets, coercion… it was created a long time ago after the end of some war against a Demon Lord. He used a lot of bonds to force people into his employment, and the country was getting a major headache trying to determine who was a legit follower of the demon lord and who was just brainwashed or forced into doing it. In the end, this circle was made. All bonds are effectively severed while the rune is in effect. During that time, it may be possible to sever their bonds.”
“Really, then…”
“But!” He held up a finger. “The ingredients to make the rune are extremely rare and hard to find. You’d need to have a lot of wealth to build the rune. At least 10,000 gold, and even then, you’d have to be lucky to find all the ingredients or have a lot of resources. I heard a while ago someone had the parts for such a rune, but those were just rumors.”
I lowered my head. “So, it’s probably impossible then.”
Even someone like me who had already had accumulated a nice wealth, 10,000 gold was still far outside my realm of affordability.
“Alright, then, I guess I’d like to look at your slaves.”
I am starting to have a problem with this MC. He has been repeatedly told, directly to his face: "Have you asked if your girls want to be free?". In addition to this, MC constantly 'claims' that he is in love and wants to respect them, instead of treating them as a slaves, so is it not even more important to ask their opinions on this matter?
1. He has a skill that allows him to know if they are lying.
2. He has a skill that he can use to FORCE them to speak only truth.
So why not ask? Well the author might put it up on him having a low-self esteem, being a wuss, being afraid of the answer or whatever. But would it matter for the MC? Based on how he has been behaving so far, I would say: No. He would cry like a little girl whose lollipop has been stolen if any of the girls would answer that they want to leave him, but he would respect their answers anyway.
This is getting boring and repetitive. MC wants to 'set them free' just because he 'doesn't want them to be slaves', hurting them every time he gets these sprouts of 'righteousness' just for his own self satisfaction. Without caring about the girls at all. And he is aware of it obviously, but instead of resolving this the easy way, author takes the long route just to repeat the theme constantly. Even when the girls are under 'orders' to speak their will, none of them are actually doing that, because author. I would call it sloppy writing but I actually like this novel, so I wont.
TLDR; MC doesn't really care about the girls. Girls are acting against orders. Author is milking the subject way too much, making me uncomfortable.
He won't ask because he thinks it is pointless. He believes their opinion of him is being influenced by his skills and social norms of this world that he doesn't understand. This has been stated many times now.
@OldSoul211 You did not disagree that he doesn't care about the girls either.
So.... when do you think the girls are going to tell him about not wanting to be free?
I ask because it honestly seems like it’s building up to one of those scenes of Shield Hero where after their freed they’ll put the slave seals back on for him.
Yeah MC does seem to have the blinders on when it comes to this topic. And an almost complete lack of self awareness, letting his entire mindset be controlled by who he used to be instead of what he is now. True Dungeon Delver for 3 dungeons (despite circumstances with the third) is f*cking impressive enough when pretty much no one has this job for a very long time, to the point some think the job is a myth. Dude needs to get a reality check and understand that he is actually different from past him
Mentality goes a long way unless yours is weak. Then it can snap at any sec at any point for anything that makes you stumble.