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Volume 12 Chapter 1 Part 7

「I often thought that my father was a cowardly person because he was wearing his Misanga all the time, but after today I realized how easy it is for the Adventurers to be hit by the monsters in the Labyrinths.」

「Well, wearing it does make you feel that much safer.」

It would be unbearable if wearing the Sacrificial Misanga was interpreted as a sign of cowardice. Even the Duke of Hartz is wearing one himself.

So Rutina used to criticize her father for wearing it, huh?

I understand wearing it in the Labyrinths, but to do so all the time? Is that something normal, or perhaps not really?

「Is that how Adventurers themselves feel about it?」

「Yes, because it really does increase your safety.」

「Is that so?」

「Wait a minute… I feel like there’s something that doesn’t quite add up in this conversation.」

.

Sherry pointed something out while Roxanne and Rutina were talking, but I thought that they were having a pretty normal conversation myself.

「Are you talking about Misanga?」

「Yes, a Misanga. That is what I was talking about.」

「They were definitely talking about a Misanga.」

I agree with Rutina. See, no problems, right?

「No. a Misanga is a regular Misanga, but what Miss Roxanne was talking about is a Sacrificial Misanga.」

「Like I said, I was talking about… a Misanga…」

「Eh…?」

Oh? Now that I think more carefully, the topics of the conversation really didn’t match.

Rutina froze in surprise at Sherry’s words.

「The one that is going to keep you safe in the Labyrinths is not a Misanga, but a Sacrificial Misanga.」

「I-Is that so? W-Well, uhm, then…」

Rutina caressed her leg with Sacrificial Misanga on it with her other foot.

The one she is wearing is a Sacrificial Misanga.

「That’s right. This is a Sacrificial Misanga.」

「… not just a regular Misanga?」

「And what good would it be if we were wearing the regular Misangas? There’s no point in wearing them, because they are undisputedly the weakest accessories there can be since they have no Skills or effects added onto them at all.」

It is like the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings of accessories.

In fact, I have confirmed the existence of the four types of accessories in this world: Misangas, earrings, rings and amulets.

Well, there surely are others, but that’s not important right now.

「Since my father was always saying that Misanga was a truly precious item, I usually wore just simple Misangas while pretending that I was wearing a Sacrificial Misanga instead.」

Ahh, so that’s why it’s being looked at as cowardly. Even if you don’t have a Sacrificial Misanga on you, you’re the only one who knows that, so you can wear a regular Misanga and still pass it on as a Sacrificial one. That way, even if an assassin were to come after you, you might still force him to give up and retreat when he sees it.

Give up? I wonder if that’s what would’ve happened, because I find it hard to believe thatcan assassin would give up their mark so easily.

「I cannot tell at all if it has any effects on it or not. I see. So that’s how it is.」

「So this is also a Sacrificial Misanga?」

「Uh-huh.」

「Such a precious thing. I had no idea at all. Please forgive me.」

「It’s okay.」

Rutina apologized to me frantically, which made me feel troubled since it was not a big deal for me.

I was just doing that to satisfy my own selfish hidden intentions.

I just wanted to touch you some more and stroke that beautiful glowing skin of yours some more.

「This is how Master treats all of his slaves.」

Yes, it is just like Roxanne is saying. This is how I treat all of my slaves, without giving any of them any form of special treatment.

Oooh, this is bad!

I was so focused on Rutina that I overcooked my scrambled eggs. I didn’t expect to be so into her that I would fail to such an extent.

「Thank you. Also, uhm…」

「Yes? What is it?」

「Take this, please.」

Rutina hesitantly took up something as she lamented her lack of knowledge. Whatever it is, she must’ve had it in her pocket up until now or something.

「Is that…a gold coin?」

What she brought out of her pocket and presented to me was a single gold coin.
It’s just a normal gold coin, with nothing out of the ordinary going on about it. I received it from her and looked at it from all possible angles, but, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find anything irregular about it.

Well, since it was just a regular gold coin, then that much should be obvious.

「I had it sewn into my clothes.」

Was there really such a thing?

「Hmm. Is that so?」

「My deceased mother once told me that I should always have at least one of them on me at all times in case that anything ever happened to me.」

That’s an incredibly good and practical thing to teach to your child. Having emergency money on you can never be a bad thing. It’s just that I think that one gold coin might not be enough to be all that helpful in the long run.

On the other hand though, she probably couldn’t afford to carry more than one of these on her without making it too obvious, and it would be too expensive to do the same with platinum coins.

「Is that so?」

「Yes, and now I thought it would be for the best if I should gave it to you.」

「Should you be giving this to me though? These are your money after all.」

「Hmm. In the case of criminal slaves, I heard that there were some cases of them having money sewn into their underwear. It is said that the money belonged to the slaves.」

When I asked Sherry, she gave me an example.

「Hee?」

「However, the owners of normal clothes are not usually considered slaves. Usually, the undergarments are allowed to be considered as a slave’s personal possession, but all the other articles of clothing are the possessions of the Slave Merchants who’re selling these clothes together with the slaves themselves. But as in that previous case, since the money has been sewn into the slave’s underwear, it has been deemed as their personal possession.」

「So the clothes can even be used in such a way, huh?」
Even though that sound kind of petty to me, if I am to be honest.

「That is right. Then, I want you to have…」

「No, you should be the one to keep it, Rutina.」

I stopped Rutina, who was offering her gold coin to me.

In the case of Rutina, she didn’t become a slave because she had trouble with money, so there shouldn’t be any problems with her keeping the money for herself, although I have no idea what the Duke of Hartz would have to say about it.

Well, there’s no way the Earl’s finances would be affected by just one gold coin, and it’s not like Rutina acquired a Thief Job because of it, so everything’s fine as far as I’m concerned.

I’ll just treat it as if she brought her own money with her when she became my slave.

「Are you sure about that?」

「Yes. You didn’t do anything wrong, so I see no reason to take it away from you. Since this is a part of what your mother taught you, then you should hold onto it, and you might even want to put it in your Item Box for safekeeping.」

「Yes.」

「If you had put in a platinum coin, then you could have bought yourself back.」

I wonder if she didn’t think about that, or… no way. Did she think that she could buy herself back with just a single gold coin?

No, unless she really has a platinum coin with her, something like that would be impossible.

「No. I have never seen a platinum coin in my entire life before.」

Is a platinum coin something so rare that you don’t see it often even if you are a member of the nobility?

Well, even if the Earl of someone from his family had it in their possession, I highly doubt that they would show it to others.

「Well,I guess that is to be expected. After all, even I only ever managed t get my hands on only one of these.」