Derrick POV
I surveyed the people she picked curiously.
It was a wise choice to leave the selection to her because even I would not be able to accurately pick rough diamonds like these.
They have a very good constitution for different aspects, and those that don't still have a probability of high IQ.
The ingenuity also corresponds to the way in which they were selected. She managed to hit the center of their psyche by testing their will to live.
The control of magic is quite precise too; almost at the level I imagine myself to be.
I turned to her after subduing their rebellious spirit. Well, she balances it all out with her lack of appropriate sense.
Zee POV
This guy insulted me again, but I'm not going to care about it because it's just a feeling—especially as he's squinting at me.
"What are you going to do with them?" I asked after they got quiet.
Well, he certainly can't trust them, nor is he suitable to take care of anyone, so…
"Of course it's up to you," he said.
I wasn't shocked or annoyed because they're cute, though malnourished.
"I have a job too, you know."
I just remembered, and speaking of, my boss should be going back by now.
"Figure it out," he said, tossing me a bag of silver coins before walking away.
Twenty eyes immediately turned to the bag in my hand, but I snapped my fingers, amplifying the sound with magic.
I sat on the floor in the slums thinking of where to place such a large amount of people.
I could rent a shop, but I can't leave someone else to take care of them or leave them by themselves to run the shop.
Hmm, I might be able to hide them in the slums, but how to feed themselves is a problem.
Definitely can't leave the money to them, so should I visit every day… it feels like I'll be visiting stray cats or something.
I suddenly snapped my fingers to condense water into a rope to tie some people who thought of escaping.
I stood up and walked up to them slowly while the others moved back warily.
It seemed to have been a group of slaves, but seeing them gave me an idea.
The slave and wizard contract are quite similar, so I examined their slave mark peeping through their ragged clothes.
After five minutes I formed my own contract, then tied them all up so that they all listened to me obediently.
"Listen, I need you because we want to hire you," I said, wishing I had the protagonist halo.
All they had to do was feed them, then show pity, before all of a sudden he's crazy obsessed with her.
But I have to earnestly coax this large amount of people.
"You will have food and pay. I will not harm you unless attacked, and neither will the man you met before—because he'd kill you directly," I said to them truthfully.
Anyway, their instincts should be sharper than mine, so there's no need to arouse their doubt.
At first they were unresponsive, but then one or two came to sign.
After I told them that they might as well remain like this all day, they reluctantly agreed.
Of course, they all now had modified slave contracts, so they couldn't run anywhere that I wouldn't be able to find them.
So after that I bought a cottage and put all of them inside.
I was worried that they might end up being bullied, so I also made some scrolls to protect themselves.
Speaking of, they need a new captain to coordinate themselves.
I walked around them looking from head to toe until I spotted the most ruthless-looking one that was glaring at me.
He was also the most malnourished, but the sunken outline also had a bit of a sick beauty feeling.
"What's your name?" I asked him, but he just glared.
I rolled my eyes and handed him most of the remaining money, smiling at him while he frowned.
Now whether or not he wants to take charge doesn't matter because he will have to—unless he wants to be bullied by the others.
"Take care of this for me and spend it for the good of everyone if necessary," I said to him.
It felt a bit much, so I also picked five people who weren't completely attracted by the money the second time to be his assistants.
"No fighting amongst yourselves or you'll be punished. Don't think I won't be watching you.
Second, if you fight with anyone outside yourselves, then make sure to clean up your mess," I explained to them.
The last step was of course to create a teleportation port to the cottage because it's too far from my workplace, and a crystal ball given to the monitor to talk to me if anything happens.
I finally managed to set everything up, then I took a carriage home to the estate.
I went straight to my room after reporting that I was back so that I could finally sleep.
But I didn't forget to write my report to Derrick. Honestly, he really has to pay me for this someday.
I woke up the next day quite late, but there seemed to be no more scenes until the ball, so I was free enough to learn more magic in the wizard tower.
My favorite pastime is to watch the recording of those guys because it's really interesting.
First they just warily stared at each other.
Then they focused their attention on the money, contemplating whether to steal it or not.
They were further divided into the slaves' camp, then those in the slums, and the last group—the six people in charge.
Those six people came together to form a temporary cooperation to subdue the others, and of course a fight broke out.
The person with the most amazing performance was of course my monitor, who managed to beat most of them.
They temporarily decided to listen to him after that, and each person took care of their injuries themselves.
The video looked pretty good and it felt like watching an action movie, but now it's my turn to appear.
I can't have them die on my watch.
I teleported to the cottage then rebuked them for fighting.
I didn't completely heal their injuries either, but made it scab over so that they would handle the rest themselves.
My monitor had the most injuries, but his eyes were still sharp.
Anyway, I inexplicably found him looking 1% like Derrick, so I squeezed his cheek, chuckling—cute.
He blinked at me and moved back warily.
If it was the female lead, then that would have made him blush, but in my case I look like a pervert.
Forget it.
I took him out this time, along with three of the six people, to buy clothes and food stuff.
They didn't speak much, but I still felt good taking cute kids out.
I even rewarded them with a bag of pastries for each child.
I expected them to feel grateful, but they just warily looked at the clothes.
It's really unfair that I'm doing exactly what any female lead would do, but I'm getting paranoia instead of gratitude.
I didn't care anymore and left in a huff.
It's not my business anyway, I pouted.
It's in fact reasonable for this group of children to be suspicious.
They have witnessed the darkest hearts of people since they began to be aware, while the slaves were directly toyed with.
Then suddenly a woman brought them all together and locked them in a house.
They were prevented from running away, so how could they not be wary when they had their freedom taken away?
Though they doubted they would be harassed, they were more afraid of the man behind her.
They had seen ruthless people, but his type of darkness felt familiar to their own—but very much worse.
The conclusion was that they felt like they were lambs for slaughter.
The only person who wasn't completely drowning in fear was the monitor, who seemed to respect that person.
Zephyrine returned home with a funny thought:
I really do hope one of them isn't a target for the heroine.