Chapter 196: Hooray! It's Beautiful Girls Sticking Together!
"What an awful color."
"What an awful sight."
Freya and Kobayashi both frowned, speaking their thoughts at the same time. Afterwards, the two of them exchanged a glance.
Their words were different, but their meaning was the same.
This was a large street that extended to the center of the oasis. Looking to the right was the beautiful, quiet, and wonderful oasis. Looking to the left was the dirty, noisy slave district, full of pessimistic expressions.
One street, two classes. A world of difference.
If a goddess of purity or justice were to see this, they would probably frown deeply, and might even throw a tantrum and save the people who were crying out to her.
On the left side of the plaza, there were many canopies and high platforms, specially set up to allow buyers to carefully examine the "goods."
Among them, able-bodied men and women with better appearances and figures were arranged in conspicuous positions, and regardless of gender, all of them wore only a thin layer of gauze. This was probably to make it easier for the buyers to confirm whether they had any scars.
Of course, there might also be other intentions.
"This is really interesting."
"What?"
His words reached his ears. After coming back to his senses, he looked at Freya, only to find the Goddess of Beauty's silver eyes staring at him intently.
He turned his head slightly, not daring to meet her gaze.
She couldn't help but let out a light laugh. "I was saying that this sight is interesting. Just one street, and the classes on both sides are different. Don't you think that's strange?"
"...Is that so."
He frowned slightly. He had a feeling that this wasn't what she really meant.
"Master Kobayashi," RyuZU, who was accompanying him at his side, suddenly spoke. "If I were to be placed on a display stand, what price do you think would be appropriate? 100 million? 500 million? If we were to exchange this money for jewels and go back, Lady Aqua and the others wouldn't have to worry about money anymore."
"RyuZU! No matter what, I will not abandon you! And selling you is even more impossible!"
He forcefully interrupted her, dispelling the thoughts she shouldn't be having, and along with her, the goggle-eyed Bofman.
He held his forehead and sighed.
"Besides, why would you have such a thought?"
"It was Lady Aqua who said it."
"What?"
"Lady Aqua said that if we're out of money, we should just sell me and take the opportunity to make a large sum. In any case, with my abilities, I can just sneak back. When we're discovered, we can just say it's another unit that was manufactured, so we don't have to worry about being reported for fraud."
Just how depraved is that idiot goddess!
Compared to the Goddess of Beauty next to me, it's really hard to believe that she's a goddess.
"Are you that short on money?"
"Y-you could say that."
Her question made him slightly embarrassed.
They hadn't been short on money, but that vile lord had repeatedly made things difficult for them, which had made the party's funds tight. But even so, he would not sell RyuZU for money!
Even as a fake, he wouldn't do it!
"Besides, for a capable person, making money is very simple," he said, slightly stubborn.
For some reason, he didn't want her to look down on him. This was probably because of her divinity, which made him have a desire to show off that he shouldn't have.
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow.
He, on the other hand, said plainly and with full confidence, "For a capable person, a temporary shortage is nothing. As long as there is a suitable opportunity and one seizes it, they will surely soar to the heavens!"
He was implying something, and she seemed to be lost in thought.
Bofman suddenly cut in, "Mr. Kobayashi is right! For a capable person, making money is a very simple matter. But to want to make the most money, that is no small feat. And I... am the richest merchant in this desert!"
Bofman, whose desire to show off had also been aroused, naturally did not want to be outdone, so he began to boast.
However, she paid him no mind.
"Your eyes are quite good."
"They are far from matching your divine eyes."
The two of them were speaking in riddles.
Both were implicitly referring to the slave girl's special nature. The difference was, she had used her divine eyes to discover the abnormality, and had used her wisdom and brain to deduce it. And he had taken a shortcut, using [Spectator] to cheat and see through the slave girl's thoughts.
Escape, gather the army, counter-attack, restore the kingdom.
Her mind was full of these things.
In that case, he naturally understood that her identity was not simple.
This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!
Bofman was alarmed, and the jealousy that was rising in his heart was forcibly suppressed.
The atmosphere between him and her was just too good; he was like an outsider. If he didn't do something, he might not even have a reason to exist. At that time, could he still rely on her power to reap benefits?
I must do something! I must!
Bofman gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and in front of their gazes, he rudely pushed open the door of a certain merchant association and strode in heavily.
"Hey, Rozzo! Come out and greet the honored guest!"
His tone was not good, and it carried a haughty attitude, like the lackey of an evil young master who was trying to assert his dominance over others.
"Oh my, isn't this Bofman?"
A human man walked out of the association. He was not tall, not fat, and had an ordinary appearance. He had a striking, handlebar mustache on his upper lip. He was dressed in dazzling jewelry, so valuable that all the other merchants combined couldn't win against him.
From this point alone, it was not hard to see that this person's conditions were all above Bofman's.
...Wait!
Didn't you say you were the richest merchant in this desert?
Bofman proudly introduced him. "Rozzo, this is the famous Goddess Freya from the Labyrinth City! I advise you not to be disrespectful!"
"I remember there is a proverb in the Far East—'a fox borrowing a tiger's might.' It's talking about you, isn't it? Your merchant association is so weak it can't even afford a villa on the island. Don't tell me you're still念念 unforgetting of our organization's seats?" Rozzo mocked with a grin.
"You're just the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings!" Bofman stomped his foot in anger.
Got it. One of the richest merchants.
After humiliating him, Rozzo finally bowed respectfully to the goddess and greeted her, "Lady Freya, welcome to the slave market! This humble one is named Rozzo, and I am the manager here. If I have been neglectful in any way, please be sure to forgive my rudeness."
"It's of no concern. But that fellow over there seems to be a bit of an eyesore."
She pointed to a pot-bellied, middle-aged man who was constantly throwing a tantrum not far away.
Rozzo let out a light laugh. "I understand, Lady Freya. I will send someone to ask him to leave."
With her reputation, it was naturally easy to get rid of a pestering customer. And she hadn't paid any attention to his dispute with Bofman, but had instead asked for another person to be removed. This was also a small, insignificant favor, and at the same time, it conveyed that she had no intention of getting involved in their feud.
Rozzo was naturally happy about this.
After that, she stated the purpose of her visit.
"Among the slaves who were brought here just now, there was a child who caught my interest. Would it be possible for me to see her?"
"But of course! Hey! Hurry up and bring all the people over!"
It seemed that even before Bofman's reminder, he had already grasped the news of her arrival. Without a second word, he immediately complied and ordered his subordinates to bring the newly-arrived slaves.
"What an awful color."
"What an awful sight."
The two of them couldn't help but murmur to themselves again.
While the slaves had not yet been called, they looked around.
The merchants and customers looked radiant, but in contrast, the slaves all had their heads bowed like criminals.
These innumerable people had already lost their own honor. Their dignity had been completely trampled, and the word "despair" was not only written on their faces, but even deeply engraved in their souls.
They had sealed themselves off, abandoned everything. There was not a single slave here who was seeking salvation, nor was there anyone who wanted to pray to the gods.
An atmosphere that was suffocating.
He couldn't help but clench his fists.
"Hehe."
The goddess let out another light laugh.
The meaningless laugh made him rather annoyed. He didn't understand what she found so funny after seeing all this. However, what responded to his questioning gaze was her even more interested gaze.
"?!"
He was immediately on alert.
He lowered his head, not daring to look.
"It feels suffocating, doesn't it?"
Her whisper came from his ear. It also sounded like she was sighing.
Only Bofman had noticed this, and he was worried that he had displeased her. His expression was tense, and he was constantly and secretly observing her face.
Fortunately, she was not angry.
After a while, the slaves, under the command of the merchants, came and stood in a line under the sun.
Perhaps because they had experienced a long journey, every one of them had an exhausted expression on their face. The old and the young, who were out of stamina, looked as if they would fall to their knees at any moment.
Only Rozzo had a merchant's smile on his face. "Thank you for waiting! These are the goods you requested. They were all just delivered today. What do you think?"
She did not answer, but instead walked along the line.
He stood in place, watching her back.
She ignored any pleading or infatuated gazes, and confirmed the slaves' appearances one by one. Then, she finally found that girl from before.
A fragrant wind blew over, and only then did the slave girl notice a shadow standing in front of her.
When she looked up, she couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.
Freya curled her lips, and very domineeringly, she used her fingers to lift the girl's chin, forcing her to look at her.
"..." The girl was silent.
"Your name?"
"...Ari."
The girl, who could not resist her, stated her name concisely.
Her voice was like a harp resonating in the desert night—clear, pleasant, and beautiful.
She narrowed her eyes, very satisfied with the girl.
"Lady Freya?"
"I've decided what I want to buy."
"Oh! That's wonderful!"
To be chosen by her... Rozzo was overjoyed. It seemed this would be a pleasant transaction.
The goddess looked around. Everyone, without exception, was captivated by her every move and was also watching her.
"Well then, the product you would like is..."
"All of them."
It was as if time had stopped for all things. In that instant, all sound disappeared from the slave market. The only thing that remained unchanged was the scorching sunlight pouring down from the heavens.
Whether it was the slave girl named Ari, or the other people around, everyone suspected that they were hearing things. Their bodies stiff, they stood in place, staring blankly at her.
This was not a result of being captured by her divinity, but that her explosive words had left everyone stunned.
And Rozzo, who was being watched by her, barely managed to let out a high-pitched cry of surprise:
"—What did you say?!"
"I've already said it. Not only your current inventory, but all the children in the market... I'll take them all!"
She whimsically threw out this request.
In this slave market, where all things had come to a standstill, a stunning smile hung on the goddess's face. It was the unique smile of the Goddess of Beauty, for whom all willful and unreasonable requests would surely be fulfilled.
Only children make choices. Adults want them all.
And not only did she want the ones in the shop, but she also wanted all the others!
Only then did he understand just how beyond common sense, and how willful, she was.
Sigh—
He didn't know if he was hearing things, but he heard eight sighs of different timbres.
The goddess said loudly, "This-filthy sight is truly unpleasant. On top of that, the town is not large, so it's impossible not to see it. These slaves are too much of an eyesore! You can do as you please after I leave, but while I am here, don't let me see these unsightly things."
Following her own mood, she had made her request. That was why she had bought all the slaves.
"L-Lady Freya!" Rozzo cried out. "Please forgive this humble one's impudence, but the price of slaves is not that low. If you wish to buy all of them..."
The implication was that she might not be able to afford them.
However—
The smile on her face deepened, and she confirmed with the slave trader before her.
"Who am I?"
"...You are Goddess Freya."
"And my Familia?"
"...The Freya Familia."
"And our title is?"
"...The most beautiful and strongest, the goddess and her Familia who control all the wealth and fame in the world."
A large amount of cold sweat appeared on Rozzo's forehead.
And so, she asked one last time: "Well then, I'll be taking all the slaves?"
"...As you wish, Lady Freya!"
He could only kowtow and obey.
The other merchants, who were standing there dumbfounded, seeing this, were so scared their faces turned blue. They all imitated Rozzo's actions and knelt and kowtowed, indicating that the entire slave market was willing to submit to her.
The next instant, a deafening cheer came from the scene, as if the entire world were cheering for her.
"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh—!"
The volume was so loud that even he couldn't help but cover his ears.
Some people were celebrating, some were crying tears of joy, and some were even clasping their hands and kneeling on the ground, praying to her. The slaves, their emotions stirred, let out roars that shook the entire city.
Then, she, maintaining her usual elegant posture, instructed Bofman to pay the bill and, at the same time, to prepare for the transport of the slaves.
Bofman, his tongue twisted in knots, said, "Lady Freya, wh-where do you want to send them? Please forgive this one's incompetence, but even the properties owned by my merchant association cannot accommodate so many slaves..."
The slaves who had been bought numbered at least several hundred. He really couldn't arrange for all of them.
To this, she held up a single finger in reply. When he saw that she was pointing to the island in the oasis, or to be precise, at the largest mansion on the island, the one with the deliberate round roof that was on the scale of a castle, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
"L-Lady Freya, d-don't tell me..."
"I'm also buying that house."
"Lady Freya?!"
Bofman was so shocked, his jaw hung open as if dislocated.
He also cast frequent sidelong glances.
This whole operation... it really had the flavor of a domineering empress-type of webnovel. Even though she was a goddess, and the two "protagonists" were the same sex, he still couldn't help but frequently look at her.
After all, who could refuse a fair-skinned, beautiful, and rich, domineering goddess? And one with such charisma at that. So much so that Aqua, who was also a goddess, had no comparability to her at all.
He couldn't help but hold his forehead and sigh.
That idiot, depraved goddess... it was a success if she just didn't cause him trouble. He absolutely could not have any strange, undue expectations of her.
"...Hmm?"
In the sea of cheering, a gaze landed on him. It was familiar, fervent, and a little uncomfortable.
He looked up. The goddess retracted her gaze.
Freya, who had turned her back, walked with an elegant pace to Ari's side, forcefully took the hand of the girl who had just been freed from slavery, and led her towards the largest castle in the oasis.
And as he watched her swaying back, which was full of allure, he couldn't help but frown.
What in the world did that gaze mean?
(End of Chapter)