Yari no Yuusha no Yarinaoshi (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: A Better World 

Father’s jaw dropped. He sure looked awfully surprised every time he heard about slaves. 
“And slaves can never betray their masters because of slave seals,” I explained. “Slave seals are patterns engraved into the slave that cause them pain whenever they disobey their master.” No different from a monster seal, now that I thought about it. 
However, even without a seal, filolials would never betray their masters. That was definitely a step up from pigs. 
“That’s terrible! There’s no way I could do something like that!” Father said. 
“You said the exact same thing before,” I told him. “But in the first go-around, without any companions to rely on, you had no choice but to rely on slaves instead.” 
Big sis was one of Father’s slaves, after all. The crimson swine had tried to drive me and Father apart, as I hadn’t understood the bonds Father had nurtured with Raphtalia back then. 
“With your slaves, you were able to earn plenty of money,” I continued. “And in battle, you would defend everyone while your slaves attacked.” 
“Since I can’t attack without your help, and if I had to be on my own . . .” Father nodded in thought. “I suppose slaves would be the only way to do it.” 
Father was squeezing Sakura’s egg tight, I say! 
“So will we ask this filolial to help us sell medicine?” Father asked. 
“Well, filolials all have very different personalities,” I informed him. “Sakura was best at protecting you, Father, but maybe she can be a peddler too.” 
If I was remembering correctly, I didn’t think any of the filolials had helped out with the peddling. Filolials liked having fun, so I think selling medicine to humans could be a bit difficult for them. 
“Hmm . . . this is tricky,” Father said. 
“There’s no need to worry, I say!” 
“What?” 
“Since you were the one who taught your slaves to defeat monsters—and with a smile on your face—I’m sure you’ll have no problem with slaves this time around either. You had a whole horde of them, after all.” 
“That makes it even worse!” Father stood up and raised his voice again. “Just how evil do I become in the future? Making slaves fight and kill monsters, and even worse, brainwashing them to think that it’s fun—this is all so messed up!” 
Oho? I got the sense that Father did not quite understand the reality here. I had to tell him the truth. 
“That’s wrong, Father.” 
“What do you mean wrong?” 
“All of your slaves knew that it was your job to fight the waves of destruction. They just wanted to help you in your duty! You charmed them with your fabulous cooking. You awakened their stomachs to the light, I say!” 
“That doesn’t change what I did.” Father watched me with a suspicious gaze. 
Had I said something strange? It is true that Father cooked whatever the slaves and the filolials wanted. Filo-tan loved Father’s cooking more than anything in the world. 
Food is energy, I say. Father’s delicious food had created an environment where everyone wanted to work together. 
“Well, it seems like no one is going to join me out of their own free will, and it’s too dangerous to head to the demi-human country where they would actually support me.” Father frowned. “There may be nothing we can do about it.” He nodded. “So we might get along well enough by having a high level and strong equipment, but is it also our goal to improve our reputation here in Melromarc?” 
“I suppose so,” I said. “Back when you were a wanted criminal, it was difficult for them to catch you because you went about your business all over.” 
I thought about the time after he’d been betrayed by the crimson swine and driven out on his own. Back then, finding out where Father had run off to was almost impossible. At first, people who saw the shield hero caused him all sorts of trouble. But eventually Father became the saint of the bird god and they began to praise him. I recalled how the crimson swine had kept spreading foul rumors about Father. Trash, the high priest, and the crimson swine declared that Father was controlling the people through brainwashing, but I knew the truth! I explained what had happened to Father. 
“I see. We were able to foil the princess’s plot because I won the trust of the people.” 
“Exactly!” 
“All right, I get it now. I hate the idea of buying slaves, and peddling too, to be honest, but I’ll do it. I’m still a bit worried about getting into trouble though.” 
“You shouldn’t be, Father!” 
Was there anything else I needed to tell Father? 
Father spoke up while I was lost in thought. 
“Okay, so in that case, what do you think I should do first? If there are any tricks to getting stronger, can you teach me them?” 
“Yes, that’s it! I haven’t taught you the power-up methods yet.” 
“Shouldn’t I just carefully read the help screen?” he asked. 
“The help screen doesn’t include all of the power-up methods. There are more power-up methods in the heroes’ weapons. It depends on how much you and your weapon trust each other, and it results in composite power-ups.” 
“Really? That seems pretty complicated.” 
I went on to explain the power-up methods in detail to Father. Of course, it would take too long to explain everything to him, so I started with an explanation of the general methods available. We didn’t have nearly enough time or materials to test all of them to begin with. 
“Well, I’ll try my best,” Father said. 
“There’s one thing I’d like you to remember,” I declared. 
“What is it?” 
“I’ve tried to set a course very close to how things went in the first go-around, but I wasn’t your ally back then, so there could be a number of differences. You weren’t attacked by many assassins back then, but that could change this time around.” 
Father closed his eyes. “Even if that’s true, this is infinitely better than a cursed world, one where I don’t have any allies or friends at all.” He looked back at me. “I can bear it.” 
The most pressing matter at hand was raising Father’s level. But in order to do that, we needed the filolials. And in order to start peddling, we needed a seller. 
Father could probably handle the selling himself, but if a rumor were to spread about the shield hero selling, it could damage our business. I pretty much remembered how Father had handled peddling in the first go-around, but I couldn’t help but sense that there had been some other problem at the time. Continuing to investigate would be my best bet. 
“So let’s get your clothing—that is to say your armor, Father.” 
“Yep.” 
“Chirp!” 
Yuki and Kou agreed. 
We had to do our very best from here on, I say. We left the back room. 
“Did you finally finish your talk, kids?” the old weapon shop owner asked. 
“Yes, thanks for letting us borrow the room.” 
“Don’t worry about it. By the way, you can’t go out looking like that,” the old guy remarked, pointing to Father’s underwear. “So they stripped you of everything, even your chainmail. You want me to lend you some? No charge.” 
I knew that the old guy was inclined to help Father. He had offered to help Father in the same way even in the first go-around. 
“No thanks. I’ll pass.” 
“But you need something. You can’t go around like that,” the old guy said. 
“In the past, you bought leather armor,” I told Father. “So I’d like you to use this money to buy some.” I showed Father the money that I had set aside for him. He needed to buy what he needed. He needed to fight, after all. 
“No way! I can make do with something cheap.” 
“Please, take it. Your equipment is important.” 
Father sighed. “Okay then.” 
“Did you decide, kid? You’ve got a good friend here. By the way, Spear Kid, do you need some armor?” 
“I’m fine.” 
“Huh? Motoyasu, aren’t you buying armor?” 
“You are the priority, Father,” I told him. “I’ll buy what I can with whatever money is left over.” 
“I feel like I’m such a burden,” Father said. “I’m sorry.” 
“Don’t even think of worrying about it!” 
Did I see tears gleaming in Father’s eyes? Father rubbed his eyes to wipe them away! 
“Thank you. I’ll make it up to both of you, I promise,” Father said. 
The old guy bellowed with laughter. “Not much of a promise, but I’ll take it!” 
With that, Father selected his leather armor. It looked a bit on the cheap side. 
I turned to the old guy. “If you don’t mind, I have one more request of you.” 
“Another?” 
“Actually, legendary heroes’ weapons have a weapon copy—” 
While Father looked uncomfortable for taking up more of the old guy’s time, I went on to explain how the weapon copy skill works. I suppose it did sound a bit like I intended to commit robbery or something like that. It wasn’t much of a conversation to have with a weapon shop owner. 
“No kidding,” the old guy said. “The sword and bow heroes came here and were touching the weapons, and it seemed like they were up to something. So that’s what it was.” He shook his head. 
I did the same thing the first time around. I remember when I entered with my pig companions, feeling all high and mighty. I knew Zeltoble’s lineup of products from my knowledge of an online game. I had looked down on this store and had no problem making and taking weapon copies with me. An excess of them, at that. 
If I thought about it, it was obviously robbery. 

“I get it,” the old guy said. “It must’ve been rough for you kids too. Feel all the shields you want. It doesn’t reduce my weapon stock, so there’s no harm done.” 
“Thank you so much—” 
“Hang on, wait a second,” the old guy said and set out to the back of the store. He seemed to be looking for something on the second floor. 
Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t very many shields in the store. But given that the shield hero was an enemy in this country, it made sense that they didn’t sell a lot of shields. Besides this store, I doubted many sold shields in the first place. 
“Found it!” The old guy came back toward us. “Thanks for waiting. This is a rare shield in this country.” 
He took us into a back room and showed us a shield that I felt like I had seen before—a Zeltoble siderite shield. 
They had siderite here, of all places? 
“What do you think, Spear Kid?” 
“I say there’s no problem. He’s used a weapon of that type before.” 
“No kidding?” 
It’s hard to see something when it’s under your very nose, I say. Back when I was chasing around pigs, I thought that this was just an ordinary store. I realized that the old guy had doted on Father and helped him even when he had painful experiences, but he also had amazing equipment like siderite! 
I remembered that Father had kept this shield under guard in the village warehouse. He polished it regularly and kept it as bright as a jewel. Back then, I think he used the copy, but it still was a considerably powerful shield. 
I think that the sword Ren had used was a copy from this store too, but I wasn’t sure. 
I also had this memory about a person that Father always used to call Motoyasu II. Who had it been? But if they weren’t around now, thinking too much about it wouldn’t be any help. 
And what had I been using as a weapon in the first go-around, anyway? Eventually I had copied that spear that big sis’s older sister had. I learned Brionac by borrowing that spear, if I’m not mistaken. 
“Go ahead and copy this,” the old guy said. “It was made from a meteorite that fell from the sky. It’s a rare siderite series item purchased from a special exhibition in Zeltoble.” 
“Siderite, huh?” Father examined it. “Motoyasu, is this really that rare?” 
“You couldn’t copy something like this unless you went all the way to Zeltoble,” I said. “And even then you’d need a considerably powerful skill to do so.” 
“Wow.” Father nodded and turned to the old guy. “I really don’t know how to thank you.” 
“Don’t worry about it, kid,” he said. “Come do me a favor someday.” 
“Yes,” Father said. “I’ll come back. No doubt about it.” 
“Don’t be shy about it, kid,” the old guy said. “At least be a little more excited!” 
Father held the shield and passed it back to the old guy. 
“You’re right.” Father closed his eyes and took a deep breath. All of a sudden, he looked livelier than he had ever been. “I’m coming back, so you better look forward to it! I’ll have you make me some first-rate armor with the money that I’m going to earn!” 
The old guy was right. Father was, in truth, an excitable character. But in the previous time loops he had held back too often. Kudos to this old guy, who was able to pull that side out of him with his interpersonal skills, I say. 
I also wanted Father to let loose more around me! 
“That’s the attitude, kid!” The old guy smiled. “I’ll see you soon, then!” 
“See you next time!” 
“Farewell!” 
And with that, we left the weapon shop. 
Meanwhile, Yuki and Kou were chirping and playing, trying to fit into the holes in Father’s armor. 
“So are we going to buy a slave now? Or are we going to level up Yuki and Kou first?” Father asked. 
“Good question.” It’s not that it would be impossible to level up while staying under the radar. But as we thought about it, it wouldn’t hurt to go find a slave. “A slave it is!” 
Father nodded with a gulp and followed after me. 
What was he so nervous about? 
If I had to say, he looked like someone attempting to muster up all of his courage to speak to a crush. 
We attracted a lot of unpleasant glances as we walked through the castle town. This happened every time we went outside. Should I dispose of them all? 
We left the main road and went to the monster trainer’s tent. In front of the tent, Father tapped my shoulder. 
“I-is this where they sell slaves?” 
“It is. They also sell monsters.” 
“M-monsters! If we just needed to get stronger, using monsters would be enough, I suppose.” 
But our objective was to acquire a salesperson. For leveling up quickly, you simply can’t beat filolials. It must have been Father’s hesitation about buying a slave acting up. 
“All right, we’re going in,” I told Father. 
“Okay.” 
As we walked into the tent, I saw the monster trainer, the same as ever. But he had a strange expression. It looked like he was also running a circus. 
Huh!? 
A filolial circus! 
Lovely sounds massaged my ears. I fell into a dream. It was the perfect evolution of a filolial farm, I say. 
“You are a new customer, I see. Yes sir.” 
“Filo-tan,” I whispered. 
“Yes . . . sir?” 
“Motoyasu, what are you going on about? Filo-tan is my future adopted child, right?” 
Oho? Suddenly we were talking about Filo-tan. Hadn’t I decided to find Filo-tan later? 
“That is incorrect,” I declared. 
The monster trainer spoke up. “By your appearance and the weapons you’re holding, I’m assuming that you are the shield and spear heroes?” 
Father hesitated and cast a suspicious glance at the monster trainer. Perhaps he was thinking that the monster trainer would try to pull something if he realized who we were. 
“But rest assured, I won’t change my prices on you just because of that. Yes sir.” 
Father nodded and took a tentative step forward. 
“So the shield hero, right? Yes sir. By the way you look, you might be thinking you have no business being in a place like this, right?” 
“Sorry, but I can’t stand being treated like a fool,” Father mumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath. 
Yes, because Father is the greatest peddler of them all! I could let him handle the negotiations with no worries at all. 
“It sounds like you think we’re fools,” Father said. 
“No, not at all! People just have a response to you. Yes sir. The shield hero . . . Ah! Sorry, that’s rude of me to talk about. Okay, heroes, what can I do for you?” 
“Coming to a place like this, shouldn’t you already know what we want?” 
“Ahh, very well. So you would like a slave. Yes sir.” 
“Show us what you have. We can negotiate later. Don’t even think about trying anything with us.” 
The monster trainer smiled suggestively at Father’s words. “Please come this way. Yes sir.” 
He took us into the back of the tent and showed us the slaves he had. 
“A lot of demi-humans, huh?” Father said. 
“In Melromarc, they follow a rule of human supremacy,” the trainer said, “so it’s quite difficult to get your hands on a human. Yes sir.” 
“I figured. I’ll have to go to a different store to get one of those,” he remarked. 
I saw that Father was gripping his own wrist to prevent his hands from shaking. 
That was the first time I heard about there being human slaves in Melromarc. Father’s wisdom was everlasting! 
Hm? But why would Father know that now? 
“So?” Father suddenly pointed at one of the slaves in the cage. “How much is this one?” 
“This slave . . .” The monster trainer explained the price. 
“Okay, I got it.” 
Father fell into deep thought. 
“That’s a lot more than the market price,” he said. 
Oho? I had never seen father buy a slave before. So how could he possibly know what the market price for a slave was?