Volume 6 Chapter 35 Extra
I came to the slave mine.
Ran into my old boss, Irankus.
I asked Irankus to gather up the slaves.
At the mine entrance.
"What's going on?" "That guy with the black hair──who is he?" "They say he's the new master of the mine." "So, is he our new boss?"
The slaves stare at me, totally lost.
Frederica steps forward and speaks.
"Attention! Your new master, Lord Act Age, has something to say."
Sudden master swap──no wonder the slaves are confused.
Irankus tries to calm everyone down.
"Hey, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Let's all keep quiet and listen."
"Well, if Mr. Irankus says so..." "I guess..."
The slaves trust Irankus, and things settle down.
Looks like he really has changed his ways.
That's nice to see.
Alright.
All eyes are glued to me.
I speak.
"Every slave here, as of today... is fired."
"""F-fired!?"""
Hm.
I thought I was pretty clear, but the slaves are shocked──panic everywhere.
"Fired?! What does that mean?!" "A-are we being executed?!"Nooo!"
Frederica lets out a long sigh.
"Everyone, please calm down..."
"Everyone, settle down."
Irankus comes up to stand at my side.
Raises his voice for everyone to hear.
"Mr. Irankus! But... did he really say we're fired...?"
Irankus looks at me and asks,
"By 'fired,' do you... mean you're setting every last slave here free...?"
"? Yeah. Any other way to take it?"
"Heh... I knew it."
Irankus grins and turns to the slaves.
"Our new master has shown mercy! Today, we are all released from slavery!"
"""No way...!!!! !!"""
The former slaves are beaming now, night and day from before.
Hm... I thought I'd said exactly the same thing earlier.
"We're free!?""Heck yeah!""No more... forced labor! We're done!"
The former slaves cried from sheer happiness.
Whew...
"Act."
"Huh?"
Irankus dipped his head, slow and deep.
"Thank you."
"What's this about, all of a sudden?"
"For setting us free."
"Hmph... Don't thank me. I did it for myself."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean...?"
Then Frederica butted in, voice a little sharp.
"Former slaves, I imagine you're uneasy about what comes next. Even now that you're free, it's normal to worry... about finding a job, making ends meet."
The ex-slaves nodded.
They got it──yeah, it made sense.
"So, Master, Act Age has a proposal. We at Adventurers' Guild, Heaven's Gift, would like to offer you all jobs."
"Adventurer...?" "Heaven's Gift──wait, isn't that an S-Rank Guild?!"
The ex-slaves buzzed in disbelief.
"B-but... we can't fight or anything!"
"Fair point. What our Guild actually needs is labor for this mine, which now belongs to our Master. You'll be paid for the work. You'll have food and a place to sleep. The Guild will cover everything else you need for daily life."
Ooooooh!
The freed slaves cheered, voices strong and bright.
"That's amazing!""Count me in!""Me too──sign me up!"
Hmm... alright.
"Got myself a new workforce."
"You're such a rough-handed man, you know that? But... you're kind. Maybe that's why you have so many people on your side."
Irankus nodded like he owned the place.
Then, he bowed his head to me.
"I'm sorry... Act Age!"
"...What's gotten into you now?"
Plip, plip... his tears started to fall.
"Let me apologize for kicking you out. I truly am sorry!"
...He actually came to my house to apologize once, right after Trueborn Hero collapsed.
Back then, he was apologizing for his own sake.
He wanted me so he could get his Guild up and running again.
But now... that selfishness was gone.
I could feel it──real gratitude, and real regret, just for me.
Frederica's doing the same, grunting "Hmph..." as she turns away.
"Don't get the wrong idea. This isn't for your sake."
"Meaning?"
"Heaven's Gift is currently being run by my daughter."
"Ah, I've heard of it. Wasn't it called Hen-Hen?"
"Yeah. Etta's got her hands full with some Adventurer now. He's got serious power, but he's a bit of a troublemaker."
"Hmph..."
"She's too busy with him to manage the lower members, so we need a sub-leader type Adventurer."
"No way..."
"Yeah. Irankus, I want to ask you to be the Guild's sub-leader."
This time, I lower my head to Irankus.
"I can trust you with my Guild now. Please."
"Act...! Lift your head up!"
Lifting my face, Irankus nods.
"Understood, leave it to me. I'll... support the things that are important to you."
"Alright. I'm counting on you."
"Yes!"
As I reach out my hand, Irankus takes it too.
And so, I... managed to make peace with him.
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