After finishing breakfast, Roxanne and I Warped to Vale’s Adventurer’s Guild.
We had a lot to sell--making much more gold than I had made in the 10 days that I was saving up for Roxanne; the Quratar’s Dungeon allowed our income to drastically increase, well, we did also make it to the 9th floor.
I quickly store the gold coins in my Ring, putting the silver and copper coins into drawstring bag.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, master.”
None of the Adventurer’s Guild staff commented on the amount of money involved in the trade, they also didn’t seem surprised; which was probably because they would be used to dealing with Adventurers with high incomes--as well as newbies.
Leaving the Adventurer’s Guild, I had my first walk through Vale in a long time, of course, there haven’t been any major changes.
When Roxanne and I arrived in front of the Slave Trader’s, we quickly spoke to the apprentice in front of the building.
“This way, please.” Then man went into the building for a few seconds--before coming back out to lead Roxanne and I.
We were lead to the back room.
I wonder why?
When I came here for the first time, this is the room that I was taken to when I went to sell the thief; maybe they thought that I came here to sell Roxanne.
I sat down, but Roxanne remained standing behind me.
“You’re still standing?”
“Yes, master. I think that it gives a better impression.” Her tone was strangely respectful.
I nodded to her, leaving her to do whatever she planned.
“Welcome, Alex.” Alan came into the room a few minutes later.
A female employee, in a maid dress, politely knocked on the door. After waiting for permission, she entered with two cups of tea.
“Roxanne has been doing very well. You’ve sold me a great warrior, and you have my gratitude.” I made sure to word it in such a way that he knew that I wasn’t planning on selling Roxanne.
“That’s great.” Alan responds with a nod and grin.
“Since Roxanne has worked out so well, I’m thinking about buying another slave of a similar calibre.”
“I understand.”
“Is it possible to purchase a Master Blacksmith?”
“Well, it isn’t impossible, but it’s quite…difficult.”
It would probably be difficult, since I’m asking for a specific Class.
“I understand.”
“Master Blacksmith is very difficult to get mainly because Dwarves who get enslaved are forced to change their Classes, so that someone can’t just buy a large number of people able to enchant equipment and flood the market…the Class change is also done through a special Dwarven Temple, which locks the Class; the owner would then have to pay a lot, and get a special license, to change the Class to Master Blacksmith.”
“So, there are no Master Blacksmith slaves?”
“Well, it isn’t like there aren’t any…but they sell at an increased price.”
“I see.”
“How about a normal Dwarf, one who isn’t a Master Blacksmith? They may be useful as a vanguard.”
It’s still worth trying, especially because I have a Special Skill that allows me to change the Class of my Party Members. And, while I can only use it while in a party, the changed Class stays set, I learned this through experiments with Roxanne.
“Dwarves make good vanguards because they are one of the strongest races.” Alan said.
“I see.”
Roxanne had told me some of this, she also told me that not only did that apply to Status values, but in practise as well; they could utilize more of their strength.
“However, we only have one Dwarf here at the moment. Unfortunately, I don’t think, based on her personality, that she’s cut out to be a fighter.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“I can write a letter to introduce you to other shops. Why not try some of those--check if they have a good Dwarf.”
“You don’t mind it I go to your competition?”
“It’s fine.” He grinned, “This business doesn’t really lack purchasers--what I really need is people selling merchandise to me. Shops that are stocked in different regions aren’t really competitors, we even help each other out when it’s needed.”
“I’ll introduce to a business that I’m close to, in the Imperial Capital, though--they may be low on stock as well.”
“Why?”
“There are two seasons that the slave trade declines during: Winter and Spring.”
“Ahh, I see.”
“Even if they don’t have a Dwarf, they might still have a good vanguard for sale.”
“Alright, I will take a look.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Oh, I’d still like to see your Dwarf as well.” I said to Alan.
“She just arrived recently. But, her memory is good, and she not only knows Common and Dwarfish, she also learned Brahim--but the rest of her education is lacking.”
Hmm?
He seems slight flustered, his response is hurried.
Alan warned me, and then left to prepare.
When he left the room, I gestured for Roxanne to sit down next to me, and passed her the tea that I hadn’t even touched.
“Do you have any specific requests?” I ask her.
“I think it’ll be fine if they are to your liking, master.” Roxanne looked at me with trust in her large eyes.
The Slave Dealer returns soon after, followed by a quiet knocking on the door.
“Enter.” Alan looks over, with a slightly troubled look.
“The preparations are complete.” Another female employee, also dressed like a maid, peers in.
“Bring her in.”
“Yes.”
After hearing Alan’s order, the woman brings a girl into the room.
It’s a short girl, the top of her head only reaches the woman’s chest.
The girl is probably around 4ft 5in.
Name: Sherry
Age: 15
Sex: Female
Class: Explorer
Level: 10
Oh?
She is a year older than Roxanne, but looks about 2 or so years younger. Well, height wise, but her body-shape is mature.
Obviously, she’s small because she’s a Dwarf.
Unlike the Dwarves from Earth, her body is well-proportioned. Although she is thin and petite, her hips flair nicely, her chest is well-developed. Her face is very cute.
Her hair is a strange shade of purple--and quite thick, slightly puffy; she has it cut in a bob, ending at her petite shoulders.
She has a cute face, with a small nose, big eyes, and rather full lips.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Sherry is the only Dwarf here at the moment. Sherry, come here.” Alan explains, before gesturing to the Dwarven girl.
“Okay.” Sherry responds in a polite tone, before sitting next to the Slave Dealer, on the couch in front of me.
Not only is she a Dwarf, she’s a beautiful girl--strangely, I don’t feel the almost consuming desire I had when I saw Roxanne for the first time…it makes me wonder if that desire was completely natural.
However, her feeling of obedience gives a good impression.
“Are you fine with going into the Dungeon?” I ask her.
“Yes. I’ll happily go to the Dungeon when possible.”
“I see.”
I had to ask her about it, but she doesn’t seem worried about fighting in the Dungeon--I wonder what the Slave Dealer meant about her making a bad vanguard.
“Umm…” Sherry is hesitating to say something, looking over at Alan--who nods to her.
“Yes?” Now I am curious.
“I’m a level 10 Explorer.” She paused, seeming to gather her courage, “It’s only until level 10 in the Explorer Class that a Dwarf can get the Master Blacksmith Class--however, not all Dwarves can become one.”
“So, since you didn’t get the Class; you can’t now?”
“...Yes.” Sherry looks down at my question.
Having a Dwarf as a vanguard isn’t a problem, but I did want a Master Blacksmith.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Yes, please do.” Sherry looks up again.
Her face is cute.
It would be a shame to decline her just because she doesn’t have the Master Blacksmith Class. Again, I am not sure if Set Party-Members Class will work.
“If you don’t become a Master Blacksmith before Explorer Lv10, is it completely impossible? I’m also wondering if there are other conditions.”
“I…I don’t know.” Sherry looks at me, before tilting her head.
Well, even if she doesn’t obtain Master Blacksmith after I buy her, I do have room for more party members. But, even the chance that she can get the Class means that it’s worth taking the risk.
“I was one of the strongest people in my village, I can show you--in the Dungeon.” Sherry bows.
Hmm, I wonder why she is promoting herself suddenly--is it the Slave Trader’s orders?
“Is that enough?” Alan asks me.
“Yes.”
When I nod, Alan gestures to Sherry and the two of them leave the room.
“Do you think it will be alright?” I turn and ask Roxanne.
“I think that her condition is good.”
“What condition? Her ability to enter the Dungeon?”
“Well, she spoke about the Dungeon to promote herself, I was like that as well.”
“So, you think she is promising?”
It was only after asking this that I realized that Alan had left the room to give me the chance to consult with Roxanne.
“Yes, even if she doesn’t know much yet, or seem to have talent, she displays the resolution needed for training.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“However, might not last long, but if the price is low, she isn’t a bad choice.”
Roxanne said some strange words.
“She might not last long?”
“Well, she might be quite old, so you may want to check her age.”
Author’s Note:
I decided to keep Dwarven ages indicated by ear length--but there are rare mutations like Sherry. But the use of the Intelligence Card shows the truth; but if the Slave Dealer wants to get rid of a slave (for any reason. In the case of Alan, it’s because he owes a favour to the people who sold her (which is backstory that I may or may not include)) the Slave Dealer can lower the price if the Dwarf has the Long-Ear Mutation.
“Oh?”
Appraisal showed that Sherry is only 15, a year older than Roxanne.
“As a Dwarf ages, their ears increase in length--and she had ears almost as long as an Elf…so it’s possible that she is old.”
Roxanne noticed that I looked confused, so she explained.
Well, Roxanne did once tell me that different races show their ages differently.
Even the virtually-immortal Elves show age. Though they have an optimal lifespan of tens-hundreds of thousands of years, the lighter the shade of their hair, the older they are. They all have black hair until they are twenty, and pure white hair when they reach one-thousand--other than that, the Intelligence Card is important.
“Ahh, I see.” I grin at Roxanne, gently stroking her fluffy ears, “Don’t worry, she is 15.”
A few minutes later, the Slave Trader returns, along with the woman who brought Sherry here.
“Master, may I speak to that woman for a bit? I’m indebted to her, since she looked after me when I was here.” Roxanne looks up at me.
“Sure, that’s fine.”
Roxanne nods to me, and Roxanne leaves with the woman.
Alan sits down on the couch opposite me, “So, what do you think?”
“Depending on the price, she might be alright.”
“I see. Sherry is 15 years old, and even though she isn’t a Master Blacksmith--she has agreed to become a sex slave.”
I wonder why all girls seem to agree to that?
Then again, it would usually be safer to be a sex slave than a combat slave--which would usually be the case; however, I want them for both, so maybe it’s not because of that.
“Is that so?”
“I don’t know how much you know about the other races, Alex. Sherry has the Long-Ear Mutation, which is usually the feature of an old Dwarf--it can also indicate that there is Elf blood in her family somewhere. I will be lowering the price because of that, and she will be quite affordable.”
That’s surprisingly honest.
Then again, the most important thing for a merchant is trust.
“I understand.”
“Yeah, so I will sell her for around 20 gold coins.”
That’s almost half of what I bought Roxanne for.
Well, that’s fairly cheap.
“Alright.”
With this I complete the deal.
I quickly take out 20 gold coins, and paid for Sherry.
“Really? That’s good then.” Alan responded with a grin.
Receiving the money, Alan leaves the room and soon returns, “Come here, Sherry.”
Sherry walks over from behind Alan, she bows, “Please look after me.”
“Of course.”
“I’m Roxanne, master’s slave.” Roxanne nods to her with a welcoming smile.
“You were a slave after all? I thought that you may be his wife?” Sherry seems surprised.
I notice that the leather armour that Roxanne is wearing, hides the gem on her Slave Collar, so it would have looked like she is wearing a leather choker.
“I was mistaken because your cloths are so nice, you look very healthy.” Sherry speaks up.
“It’s because master is a wonderful person. You won’t have to worry about food, clothing or shelter.”
After this quick discussion, we carry out the enslavement ceremony and Slave Collar is wrapped around her slim neck.
“Alright, everything is completed.”
Alan gave us a receipt, and we left the Slave Traders.
The items that the Demons on the lower floors are fairly common
Have?
Drop.
I can't find the mistake. When you point out an error, please include the chapter number.
@Tek Chapter 43. I'll try and do better.
@Blizzisme Thank you.
Thanks for the chapter. Now I remember that him sleeping with both at the same time (or same night?) was the requirement for the human racial class. With the mc's nature the abstinence strike was completely ridiculous that he even bothered trying it(after one day of abstinence, lol). It also made like 0 sense anyway, the class would have been better served with a non combat ability. Like jobless life magic
I agree with that.
I also liked Jobless's 'life' (sex) Magic, the author did well with that.
Maybe some kind of passive increase to "Stamina", or add a new Attribute called Charm or something.
Thanks for the input.
@Tek There was a lot of things the author in Jobless did that I really liked, centered around the classes, system, world setting/dungeons. The characters and the plot were the main failures, and those are pretty big ones. There were a lot of good ideas with the plot too, but the misunderstandings and other common JP tropes shoved into the story (along with the 2 idiots moving through the story) pretty much ruined it for me. Also, while I liked the first two girls at first, eventually their development was pretty lame and everything kind of stagnated. The story is nearly fully translated now, but I haven't had the motivation to catch up on it past a certain point (not long after the sister comes in)
@bilinear I agree with a lot of that, but I also dislike the injustice they did to the poor sister. She was well written, and a good character, until she got overly jealous and tried to kill all the other girls as soon as she arrived. (With the stupid excuse that she was doing it for her brother...but it's worse for him if they were to die lol.)
Well, the two idiots were okay at first, they did become annoying.
Other than the wolf girl, and cute 'temptress', the first two girls, I really can't remember any of the others (meaning they were rather bland...or didn't exist and I am misremembering lol)
The problem is that in the beginning it was an internet publication, but then he got editors and a printing press and they started to demand things that would please a larger part of the public, which would be the JP tropes, the jealous yandere sister who was in fashion at the time, and the 2 "jerks" with the donkey that ate the evolution stone would be a "homage" from the author to pokemon's rocket team.
@Chouzenfox So that's why it decayed, I see. But I always wonder why would the JP Tropes, and jealous yandere sister please a larger part of the public? Almost everyone I see reviews from (other than the 5 star ones that are most likely bought or bots) seem to dislike them.
@Tek Because this is here, in japan it's well received, and even if it gets less score there is a thing of 10,000 people giving 5 stars versus 100,000 giving 3 or 4 stars.
And from the yandere sister it was because at the time there was a lot of anime and mangas about younger sisters in love and some others about yanderes, so the editors' "geniuses" decided to make the 2 together...
@Chouzenfox Ahh, I see.
To be honest, that's why I prefer writing on sites like this. While, yes I do make changes and take comments into consideration--I don't have to.
Unfortunately, it does mean I don't make money (Mainly because I don't have patreon, or can get paid for fanfics...which is what I enjoy the most lol)
@Tek I got the impression that she didn't really try to kill them - she tried to wake them up (to the premise that staying slaves is for them and not for the MC, as he would not want them to stay slaves). She had them dead to rights and she backed off or was backing off before the ship arrived to his pocket world and took her away. It did seem she was a bit jealous of their situation, as they can be with the mc in a way that she never could - so part of it was probably her blowing off some steam in regards to that. But still, I don't think she made a "real attempt" to kill them, it was more to get them to stop half-assing their dedication/taking advantage of the MC. The plot leading up to him running into the sister was just super annoying though, the enemy pirates and him wearing a voice changing helmet and fighting the wolf girl that was also disguised or whatever? then having it happen again with the sister was a bit ridiculous. It felt like a slapstick plot that probably would only work when animated, and just reading it was just childish.
I didn't read too much further, but there was that magician girl that was too shy and had to wear a mask - the other transmigrator from japan. I don't know if she ever really got with the MC romantically or not, but it seemed clear they were developing that.
@bilinear That was the excuse she used, but in her thoughts it mentioned that she was willing to kill them (if I am remembering correctly.)
Oh yeah, the masked girl, was cute at first, but became a one-trick pony (not that the MC ever 'rode' her lol); I stopped around the same point as well.
Though speaking about it makes me want to see how it would work if the tropes and idiots were removed. unfortunately, I already have 3 works going, and uni starting again in like 2-3 weeks; so I can't...until one of my works are finished anyway lol.
@Tek I feel like it'd be better to rewrite the story from scratch than to do a chapter by chapter edit if that were the case. A new MC without the sister and just exploring the world and leveling up / dungeon diving would be fun to read about. The system is arguably a lot more work than slave harem though, with multiple classes and attributes requiring a lot of extra math whenever shown. I guess it could be tweaked to make it easier, but that was a big part of the fun that I remember. Jobless was one of the first litrpg WN's I had ever read, so perhaps I might be looking back at it with rose colored glasses.
@bilinear Jobless was pretty early on for me as well, so if you have rose coloured glasses, mine are also faintly pink.
I will think about it, but--it would mean putting the others on hold if I were to do it. So people would complain, one of the problems with pandering to audiences--I have to keep y'all at least not too cranky lol.
Maths is difficult and would require extra work (and maybe even planning
).
@Tek I do think you should finish one or more of the stories first before taking anything else, unless one story is not really being read or something by any people. Also, I feel like Jobless and Slave harem are just too similar for it to be really beneficial. I mean there is even parallels between the first 2 girls of both stories. The system and setting is fun, but it'd be more like you're writing a partially original story following my advice. At least that'd allow you to put the title on KU or something like that. Also, I think resuming slave harem from beyond where there are chapters and seeing how you do would be a good test of whether you can handle writing something mostly original or not like that.
@bilinear Yeah.
Who knows what I will do. Though I have to be careful not to burn out lol.
The slave harem seems a little--boring lol. But it is a Slice of Life, most of them are like that. So to change it to be more entertaining would also be a test of writing ability.
@Tek Well, there's a lot of things that are easier to say or think than they are to do. I'm not the one writing so it's easy for me to point and say "this would make it better" but if it were that easy then I would be the one doing it, so don't take this the wrong way - I appreciate how difficult it is to put your writing out there on the internet for everyone to read it, and then sit there and have a thick skin while people sh*t on it, or in some (few) cases provide constructive feedback so that you can improve.
The slice of life moments can be used to develop some of the girl's characters or just building fluffy moments for the readers to enjoy. Just as an example, you removed the time where the main character made soap. Originally, Roxanne's lines are more or less just "Master is amazing!" or whatever so it felt like this could just entirely be removed, as there was nothing new here or developing the character in any way. Instead of removing it entirely, you could have taken that event, and had either the MC or Roxanne provide an anecdote about their past life and a parallel there, perhaps for Roxanne adding that she almost never had soap in her life and how grateful she is that Alex was the one who bought her - helping them really connect as people. You could have also had Alex talk about how he never really wanted to try to make something like this, but since he has Roxanne to help it motivates him to try things and do better. I dunno, something like that. While the event itself is boring and the original author didn't seem to take full advantage of the moment doesn't mean that you can't or have to do the same. Alternatively you could just make Roxanne act a lot cuter during the act or something. This is kinda what most slice of life elements in Death March had - the beast girls being cute all the time while they did stuff.
In addition you've already made inroads on making the combat a lot more exciting, and not wasting paragraph after paragraph on the MC changing his bonus point allocations every five seconds, so there is some improvements there making this story more exciting overall. I appreciate your efforts here as there was way more criticism I had against the original and I'm enjoying it with your modifications. Keep up the good work!
@bilinear Thanks.
I could try something similar, though doing scenes like that are simpler in hindsight (which may be why I like doing rewrites, I am using the hindsight of a reader to improve the book. Well, what I consider improvements.)
Yeah, making combat more interesting (even when not too good at writing the actual thing, so I can't describe every punch or slash lol) is easier than figuring out how to develop characters.
Actually, there hasn't been anything other than constructive criticism and suggestions with this book (I am very thankful for that), so it's not too difficult to put up here.
I plan on adding a cute girl, maybe the cat. But you can't have too much cute, the beastkin girls are definitely cute (So is Nana), but they can get annoying if they stay static; which is something I was working on. Look through Deathmarch, and while she is still cute, Pochi has grown up a lot. Tama is a bit childish, but that's more of a personality trait. So their cute isn't overly, distracting. I hope anyway.
@Tek Sure, what you ultimately do is up to you (in regards to cuteness for example, and that wasn't necessarily my preference but just an idea - I think them connecting emotionally would have been a much better use of the word count), but I was just hoping you would look at the slice of life moments as opportunities rather than wastes of time, that's all.
For me, I think what I find attractive about this story is that there isn't some world ending doom right around the corner. So many stories are actually kind of stressful to read, as it's like chase scene after chase scene or some deadline that if they don't accomplish xyz everyone's going to die or something like that - even those with a focus on some harem of girls. Then when they get around that deadline, there's another one just around the corner waiting for them! This story isn't like that. This story feels like a sandbox, where the MC can do whatever they want, find success and happiness. As readers we get to share that with the mc and explore this alternate world with them. I still enjoyed it, even with the flat/boring/lame(MC) characters, boring combat, and ridiculous system as this story was unique in many other different ways. So, look at things done poorly like the soap scene or the bath scene as opportunities to improve as well, like you've already done.
@bilinear That way of looking at it makes sense. Though the having the world as a sandbox, but without anything driving it can also be bad. It's a Balance(ing) act lol.
Whatever happens will happen. Though I'll try not to drop stories (even if I switch out a lot. I am good at the start, but not so much later lol).
@Tek Well, you have your goal of godhood or whatever in your plot you had in mind. I think the original was probably driving for him to complete his own dungeon and become a noble, potentially king eventually, which is a fine ending to the adventure if you ask me. With how safe he was taking things, it was inevitable that he would be able to conquer a dungeon. You can also always add some kind of crisis later in the story after the characters have been established - I've seen this kind of shift in many stories I've read, where it might start out slice of life and whatnot but eventually some villain is introduced. In some ways that kind of shift can be annoying, but usually that can push the plot forward towards a finale.