“What do you think you’re playing at?! Do you know how enormous my losses will be if I’m too injured to work tomorrow?! Do you, punk?!”
No sooner had I released the man than he’d started screaming at me, feverishly rubbing his wrist all the while. He wasn’t actually hurt, from what I could tell, so I ignored him and turned to the girl cowering on the ground.
“Are you okay?”
Up close, I could see that her arms were bruised as well. I pressed a hand to her skin and activated [Low Heal] without delay. The injuries must have looked worse than they actually were because they vanished quickly, but there was nothing my skill could do to remove the bloodstains from her clothes. She was a sorry sight indeed.
“There,” I said. “All better.”
“Hey!” the man snarled. “First you ignore me, then you touch what’s mine without permission?”
“People aren’t possessions. I might not know the ins and outs of whatever’s going on here, but you’re supposed to care for her, aren’t you? Isn’t this a little harsh?”
The man scowled at me, still massaging his wrist. “Care for her? Can you not see the dirty little beast ears sticking out of her head? She’s not a person—she’s beastfolk.”
“So what?”
“Is this your first time seeing one, or what? Their bodies aren’t made of the same stuff as ours. A beating’s nothing to them. Besides, she’s been a debt slave since her parents’ generation. You’ve got to be strict—enforce a little discipline, you know?”
“Since her parents’ generation?”
“Pitiful, isn’t it? But you reap what you sow. Her parents kicked the bucket before they could pay off the damages they racked up, so now it’s on her. Has been since she was born.”
“But...why?”
The man stared at me as if unable to believe his ears. “What do you mean, why? What a stupid question. Children inherit their parents’ debts. The kids of criminals are criminals themselves. That’s all there is to it. She has the very important duty of working hard to atone for her parents’ sins. Get it?” Chuckling under his breath, he drew a long whip from his bag.
“What are you planning to do with that?” I asked.
“I plan to put this girl to work for a long time to come. Can’t do that unless she knows her place.” He shot me a look sharp enough to cut glass as he growled, “You’d better not try to stop me.”
The man swung his whip at the girl, but I caught it midway along its length before it could reach her. The tip snapped downward, tearing into the toe of his shoe. Immediately, his face flushed in anger.
“You no-good punk! I’ve had about enough of you! If you think paying damages is the worst you have to fear, then think again!”
Those at the front of the crowd simply continued to watch, smiles playing on their faces. Even the people behind them seemed more curious than concerned.
“Gah, it hurts so bad,” the man whined. “Thanks to you, I think my foot’s just as busted as my wrist. What are you going to do about it?”
“They both look fine to me.”
“Oh? Is that any way to treat an injured man? Looking at you, I guess you don’t know the market price for injury liability.” He turned to the crowd. “You all saw what he did, right? From beginning to end?”
“Sure did,” one of the spectators chimed in.
“Of course,” added another.
As if on cue, some of the onlookers began to encircle me. Rather than being mere bystanders, it seemed they were actually the man’s friends.
“You all know each other?” I asked. “Why didn’t you stop him, then?”
“Why would we?” one shot back. “He bought her, fair and square.”
“Don’t tell me you intend to buy out her contract,” sneered a second. “You don’t look like a guy with much to his name.”
The men around me exchanged grins. It didn’t seem like I’d be able to get through to them.
“So you were hitting her because of money?” I asked. “If you’re that desperate for coin, take mine.”
“Whoa there. You’re serious about buying out her contract, then?” The ringleader of the group eyed me closely, whip still in hand. “She’s a high-end slave, despite how she looks—six million gald at minimum market price. Throw in sundry expenses and compensation for the injuries you caused me, and I’d say it comes to ten million in all. Now, not to judge based on appearances, but I don’t think you—”
“Is this enough?” I took a single coin from my pouch and placed it in the man’s hand. He stared at it for a moment, evidently taken aback.
“A...greatgold? It’s not minted by House Sarenza, but...yeah, this is real. Where’d you get this kind of money?”
Once he was sure my coin was genuine, the look in the man’s eyes changed completely. He laughed and clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“Ha ha ha! You’ve got deep pockets, don’t you, friend? Why didn’t you say something sooner? I don’t know how you earned it, but you must be sitting on a pretty stack of coin, eh? Gambled big and won, did you?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh. Then you must be troubled for a way to spend it.”
“I am, actually.”
“Say no more. Our company’s just around the corner. Let’s have some tea and chat about how to use that fortune of yours.”
I was at a loss for how to deal with the sudden change in the men’s behavior when I heard a delighted peal of laughter from Rashid behind me. “Ah ha ha!” he exclaimed. “Things have taken a rather interesting turn, I see!”
“Who might you be?” the slave owner asked. “You aren’t laughing at me, are you?”
“Forgive me, but from the look of your armband, I gather you belong to the one and only Galen Company. As an executive, no less.”
“Oh? You’ve heard of us, have you? Now I really want to know who you are.”
“Some novice merchant brat, by the look of him,” another man provided.
“Yes, quite!” Rashid pronounced. “What discerning eyes you gentlemen have! But I’d expect no less from executives of the Galen Company, a temporary worker dispatch enterprise directly affiliated with none other than House Sarenza. I am but an inexperienced fool who lost all of his assets the other day—and as luck would have it, I was just mustering up the courage to ask a more experienced businessman to teach me the ways of his craft from scratch!”
There was a mocking quality to Rashid’s smile, and the men turned suspicious eyes on him.
“You’ve got a silver tongue, kid. For your own sake, you’d be wise not to take such a haughty tone with us. I assume you already know this, but we’ve got contracts with security firms that have primal golems in their arsenal.”
“But of course. Even as a greenhorn, I am well aware of the frightening extent of your influence. I ask only to greet the first-rate merchants of the Galen Company, hoping that I might learn from you and secure my future.”