The name’s Bareas, and I’m the slave trader of this town. Well, some call me a slave trader. Others call me “master.”
I was granted the privilege to deal in slaves by none other than the town’s lord himself, and as such, everyone around here adheres to my command. Still, it costs money to run a business like this, and since the lord forbade me from ever refusing an offer for a slave, no matter how little profit it’d make me, I’m not as well-off as most people would think.
So sometimes, I have to rely on my own power to make ends meet. Perhaps it’s a little crooked, but there shouldn’t be a problem as long as no one finds out.
Indeed—I don’t like to brag, but I have an incredible ability. No, not my talent and influence as a slave trader—that goes without saying—but this ring I wear on my finger. More specifically, the jewel inside the ring, “Dominion.” This jewel, imparted onto me by the divine, emits a sweet smell when magic is channeled into it. And all those who smell it are forced to obey my every command.
That’s not all. The more a person smells it, the more subservient to me they become. However, a good deal of time needs to pass in between doses. If I get too impatient and have them smell a great deal all at once, their brain ceases to function. Then they’re useless to me.
Long story short, I can only use it once per day. But that’s where my profession as a slave trader comes in handy—using Dominion, I can control someone and legally bind them into slavery while their consciousness is hazy. That way, even when they come to their senses, they still belong to me! And as long as I put a clause in the contract telling them not to blab, no one will find out about Dominion. By nabbing slaves for free, I can make the huge profit I deserve!
However, it only works on those with no relation to me. If they hear the conditions and refuse, I have to dispel it, but because their consciousnesses are hazy during the period they’re under Dominion’s control, there’s no danger of them going out and telling anyone there either. Plus, it’s not like anyone from the slums will be missed if they go missing. In fact, it’s more like I’m doing the town a favor by cleaning up the streets! I’m contributing to the safety of the public, just like the lord here wants me to!
Which leads me to my current situation. An incredible specimen visited me just a bit ago. She came to buy a slave, apparently, but to me, she looked completely clueless about the world. However, she didn’t look like she was starving or too poor to afford her own meals. She didn’t show me any respect either, so I guessed she wasn’t from this town. In the first place, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known about such a beauty living here.
When I first saw the quality of her clothing, I thought she was a noble from somewhere, but that apparently wasn’t the case. She asked me to show her my cheap slaves, and when I showed her the cheapest slave I had, intending to give her a scare, she didn’t even bat an eye. In fact, she even asked to buy her! A useless piece of trash like that slave would just be in the way while she’s traveling, so why would she even want it? This girl’s not part of some sting operation...right?
Then again, she had a decidedly unladylike, impure aura about her—one that I doubt even a cleansing spell would be enough to get rid of. From that, I initially suspected that she wanted the slave for sexual purposes...but that slave has curse sigils all over her that negate the effects of healing magic, so even if she bought her, the girl’d never be anything more than a burden. In the worst case, she’d just sell the slave back to me.
At any rate, I collected her personal information, telling her it was a survey that was necessary to complete before buying a slave. To my surprise, it turned out she had no one supporting her, no ties to anyone in town, and was a traveler of common status!
“I’ll ask one more time to confirm: You’re really a commoner with no connections whatsoever?”
A pause. “That’s right.”
“And no one would look for you if you were to suddenly disappear. You don’t have anyone backing your actions.”
Another pause. “Correct.”
Just to double-check, I asked her the same questions after she’d fallen under Dominion’s trance. Her answers didn’t change. So there was no doubt, then—she’d been telling the truth. Then what the hell was she planning to do with such a useless slave? When I asked her, she gave me a bizarre, incomprehensible answer:
“I’m gonna put socks on her.”
I was starting to think maybe her family had chased her out because she wasn’t right in the head.
To sum up, an excellent specimen, the likes of which I’d never seen, had come to me with the most unusual caveats I’d ever heard of.