In the morning, I woke up from my bed.
The futon was strangely curled up, so I flipped it over and found Shizuku asleep.
No wonder she was warm and fluffy...
Come to think of it, she did the same thing to Rogue in the original.
Can I say that she has completely let her guard down with me?
"Shizuku, wake up."
"...Mmmm, master. Good morning."
"Good morning, weren't you sleeping with Pearl?"
"Because I thought it would be nice to be with you, master."
Yeah, cute.
This is crazy... As expected of the main heroine, she has destructive power.
"Oh? It's morning already... Here we go."
Gaizen made a clicking noise in the bed next to me and got up.
Seriously, isn't this guy weird? "Gaizen, you know... why are you still in your armor? Did you sleep like that!?"
"Yeah, I know. I've told you so many times, I--"
"You're shy, aren't you? Your helmet is still on, doesn't it hurt?"
"Because I'm training. Anyway, why is Shizuku here? Weren't you sleeping in a different room from Pearl?"
"She got lonely and came to my bed. I'm her master after all."
Saying this, he strokes Shizuku's head.
She narrows her eyes and lets out a squeal of "Funyuu."
After that, we decide to meet up with Pearl and have breakfast.
For some reason, Pearl is in a bad mood and puffs out her cheeks, so when I asked her why, she said.
"Shizuku is the only one being mean. Pal also wanted to sleep with Alf!"
That's what she said.
...Me. For some reason, kids just love me... I'm not a loli or anything.
After breakfast, we head out.
Shizuku has gotten stronger, so she's walking more smoothly than yesterday.
Beastmen are a race with excellent physical strength, so they recover quickly.
"So, Alf, where are we going today?"
"First, we're going to the armory to get some equipment for Shizuku. She won't grow unless she gains some combat experience."
"Growth... She's smaller than Pearl, right? I have mixed feelings about this."
Gaizen, who loves children, speaks in a complicated tone from behind the visor of his rugged helmet.
It seems he's misunderstanding something.
At the armory shop.
"You're going to make such a tiny child fight? Alfred-san, I thought you were a good person, but after you were banished, you've completely gone back to normal."
For some reason, the owner of the armor shop complained to me.
It seems that the fact that I was banished from the [Holy Sword of Heroes] was well known throughout the country, and the reason was made fabrications.
up of things like behavior problems before I was reincarnated and
It was as if someone had been manipulating my reputation.
"Don't say bad things about my master. Even though I look like this, I'm a respectable adult for a beastman."
"What?!"
Not only the owner of the shop, but Gaizen also exclaimed in surprise.
Yes, Shizuku's real age was 15. She was secretly older than Pearl.
The reason she looked young was because of the beastman's survival instinct, which was intentionally delayed in order to make up for the lack of nutrition she was given as a slave and was not given enough food.
Therefore, if she gets some nutrition and gains experience, she will grow appropriate for her age, and eventually she'll have a curvaceous figure.
She's not the main heroine for no reason.
In the original work, it takes about a month for her to reach that stage.
Therefore, I had no choice but to explain the above to the two of them.
By the way, it seems that the knowledgeable magician Sorcerer Pearl already knew.
"I see...that was a shame, my lady. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Alfred-san. No, seriously."
"I completely misunderstood too...but wait a sec, Shizuku...you were under Alf's futon this morning, weren't you? That's not okay! Ah, no, it's fine if it's a relationship between a man and a woman...but do it somewhere else we're not around!"
"Gaizen, you're mistaken, so I'll tell you, I only welcomed Shizuku as a companion. Also, if I lay hands on her now, it'd be a crime!"
"I wouldn't mind if she was my master."
After I pointed it out, Shizuku's eyes watered with sadness.
Yeah, as expected of the main heroine, who was created to satisfy the desire for approval.
Even though she's a slave, she's too easy. It looks like she's ready.
I can tolerate it now because she's still a child, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep my sanity when she grows up. Damn you, Torimaki No. 8.
I pull myself together and buy weapons and armor for Shizuku.
I'm also thinking of the Light Warrior, a lightly armored warrior that acts as an evasive shield, and the Thief, so I bought some light equipment that makes it easy to move around in.
My weapon is a pair of daggers held in both hands.
"Thank you for coming."
I leave the store and head for my next destination.
It's about time for the show to start.
"Alf, where are we going next?"
Pearl asks.
"I told you yesterday, right? Another headhunting..."
And with that, I arrive at a tent hut.
A sign read "Freak Show."
"...Again. Alf, are you sure?"
"What's the matter, Gaizen?"
"Slaves are okay. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt... well, actually, they're not. But this place is especially bad. It's a place where they enjoy showing off stupid tricks and weird-looking races, right? If you're going to scout someone, make sure you're a better person."
"Even Pearl would be put off by something gory."
That's a very reasonable opinion.
But she should be here.
Since Shizuku actually existed, she must be here.
The girl who made Rogue into an even more monstrous person in the original work---.
"Don't worry. She's not that kind of person... well, she may be a rare race in the Kingdom of Rumirio."
As I said this, I opened the tent curtains.
Inside stood an old gentleman wearing round-lensed black glasses, likely the leader of the troupe.
"Welcome. Please take your time to look around."
After paying the viewing fee for the number of people in our group, we were let in.
"Last night, the show starts in an hour."
"We didn't come here just to look. If we like it, we can buy something, right?"
Hearing my words, the leader's mouth curls up.
"Oh, where did you get that information? I read it... I don't think you're a noble."
Yes, this is a freak show and a dangerous store that also sells people.
They take races with a history and make them into exhibits, and they also sell them to wealthy, perverted nobles for a high price.
No one knows what the fate of those sold will be.
In the worst cases, they are abused or killed by having their organs removed.
Compared to this place, slave shops might treat people like people.
"If you're an adventurer, you hear all kinds of rumors-there should be a fairy in this store."
"You know well... there's one that was captured last week. Luckily, it's still being trained and hasn't been shown to the public yet, so I think it's a good deal now... please come this way."
The leader shows us around with a hideous, disgusting smile.
He was disguised as an elderly gentleman, but this was probably his true nature.
It didn't matter... I needed to get my hands on that fairy no matter what.
After all, just being nearby had the unique skill of raising the luck of the entire party.
I was then taken around to the back of the store and brought to a warehouse-like area.
"Over there is the fairy you asked for."