“Oh no. You’ve gone down a dark and twisted path to adulthood. I know you don’t get any girls, but to think you’d stoop to such fiendish, evil, and inhuman methods—it breaks my heart.”
“Now hold on,” I objected. “She’s not my slave!”
“I know. I’m just kidding,” she said.
I could only imagine how sour my expression must’ve looked.
Ashley stuck her tongue out jokingly.
Of course she knew I hadn’t purchased a slave. We were required to check in at the receptionist’s window before and after diving into a dungeon, and there was no way I could’ve bought one while I was in there.
“I’ve actually seen her before. She’s the slave who was with the members of Kalanka’s Stars,” said Ashley before glancing at Scrael.
“The boss monster in the Dark Corridors, the Four-Armed Goat, killed them,” said Scrael.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. They were all wiped out by the time I arrived. Not that I feel any sympathy for them,” I confirmed.
“I see. I’ll have to report this later,” said Ashley. Then she asked Scrael, “So, what are you going to do now? Your owners are gone, but you still have your shackles.”
“I won’t go back to being a slave. Never.”
I turned around and saw that Scrael was trembling. Was it from anger? Or humiliation? Probably both. Just imagining a life of being toyed with and used by others sent a shiver up my spine.
“Let’s Dispel it then,” I said.
“Huh?”
“What?”
They both looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. They did know what a Dispel was, of course.
As the name suggested, “Dispel” was a generic magic spell that nullified the effect of other magic. I’d been refraining from using it because the amount of mana required depended on the strength of the spell it was being used against, but there was no more need for me to reserve my energy now that we were out of the dungeon. I did technically need some mana to go home, but I could recover it by resting a bit, so that wouldn’t be an issue.
As I was warming up by clenching my hands repeatedly and rotating my shoulders, Scrael said, “You can’t remove a slave collar with Dispel.”
“She’s right,” agreed Ashley. “I hate to say this, but once a collar is put on you, it won’t ever come off.”
“Says who?” I said. “It’s just another magic spell that’s keeping it on, right?”
“Is it?” she asked.
“Wait, why are you talking like you know what you’re talking about when you have no idea? How embarrassing,” I said as I dramatically hugged my shoulders and gave her a judgmental stare.
Ashley began to panic and make excuses right away. “I mean... Everyone knows a slave’s collar can’t ever be removed! It even says so in the guild manual...”
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” I shot back.
“According to who?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I’m just telling you what I’ve read in the Divers Guild Basic Information Manual,” replied Ashley.
“Uh-huh,” I said. “Casting magic is the act of connecting the cause and effect to create extraordinary results. This collar is imbued with a magic that binds her. Since the fact that she’s bound by it exists, so too does its cause, its effect, the caster, the subject—and the line between them. If we can sever that line, there’s a chance we can eliminate the result.”
It was an unusually grand speech coming from me, but I was just retelling what I’d learned from my sensei. It was because of my master that a high schooler in modern Japan like me could use magic better than many others in this world—yes, “because of,” not “thanks to.”
Scrael, who’d been quietly listening the entire time, was now watching me with a worried look.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” I said. “I’ve been saving up my mana potions just for this occasion.”
With that, I reached into my Dimension Bag instead of my safari bag, grabbed a handful of mana potions, then chugged them all at once. In case it wasn’t clear, mana potions recovered mana instead of health, unlike regular potions.
Glug glug glug.
“Ugh, gross. Man, I’ve never downed so many of these at once,” I said, trying and failing to stifle a burp.
“Whoa, whoa, those are high mana potions!” pointed out Ashley. “Those things are five gold coins a pop!”
It was totally on-brand for her to immediately recognize expensive things like that. She couldn’t ignore the fact that I’d chugged four flasks at once, which were worth about two hundred thousand yen in total. I could feel all the liquid sloshing around in my stomach.
I put the empty flasks back into my Dimension Bag, placed my hands on Scrael’s collar, then began to utter the incantations for Dispel. The collar was surrounded by a pale light, then it separated from her neck, falling to the ground with a clang.
“It worked...” she breathed.
“Boy, I’m glad I didn’t just waste two hundred thousand yen,” I said. “That’s a small fortune for a student like me.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I would’ve looked like a complete doofus if I’d failed after all that talk. Wasting those high mana potions would’ve hurt me mentally and financially. Though, I’d earned all that money from the dungeon, so I didn’t feel like it was real. I wouldn’t have missed it all that much.
I glanced over to Scrael to find her staring at the collar on the ground with a blank expression.
Ashley said, “I’m impressed, but why didn’t you do that earlier?”
“Gimme a break,” I protested. “I barely had any mana left after taking down the boss monster and healing her wounds. I had no idea how much energy I’d need to cast Dispel. What if I passed out from exhaustion in the middle of the dungeon? Even now, I’m pretty much completely drained, and that’s after downing four high mana potions!”
“Um, forget about the potions for now. Did you just say you took down the Four-Armed Goat? You didn’t flee?” asked Ashley.
“Ah...”
Crap, I thought.
I’d let my mouth slip so hard you’d think it’d stepped on a banana peel.
“I’d love to hear more about that,” said Ashley.
“No, I meant, like, it would’ve been nice if that happened...” I trailed off.
“Kudo...” she pressed.
“Fine. Yes, I did. I wouldn’t have been able to bring her back otherwise.” I caved in.
It should’ve been obvious. There’d been no way we could’ve just left without defeating that creature. Any attempt to flee would’ve been hopeless, considering how Scrael hadn’t even tried to run despite being much more agile than me.
“I can’t help but wonder,” she went on, “what level are you now? I’d love to know.”
“I’m level 33. Here’s my EXP Card.”
I handed her my EXP Card, which was a thin metallic plate that a god of this world had given me when I’d first arrived. It automatically listed my level and the number of monsters I’d defeated so far.
Ashley sighed. “You really should raise your rank by now. Do you realize how unusual it is that you’re level 33 and your rank is in the thirty thousand range?”
“I know, but it’s such a hassle.”
“You really are a strange one, Kudo.”
“Aw, shucks.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Yeah, but that was the only logical response there. I think I deserve some brownie points for setting up that punch line.”
Ashley let out another heavy sigh. She wasn’t subtle about it either.
I understood where she was coming from, but I could see myself getting dragged into unnecessary trouble if I raised my rank. I was too much of a chicken to deal with the jealousy and harassment that would surely follow. All I wanted to do was to enjoy my life as an adventurer here and level up in peace, not to deal with the harshness of this world.
“By the way,” I said to Ashley, “I know this is sudden, but would you mind registering her as a Diver?”
“Oh, sure. That’s probably a good idea. She’ll be a member of the guild as long as she’s registered, so it’ll be hard for anyone to try to enslave her again.”
Any registered Diver was considered to be under the guild’s jurisdiction and one of its human assets. We were necessary personnel who brought in valuable materials and core stones that were needed for monster wards. If anyone enslaved a guild member, they’d be picking a fight with the guild itself. After all, who wouldn’t be upset if someone claimed one of your assets as their own? No slaver would want to make an enemy out of an organization with so much money and power.
“Oh, and here’s the deposit for her registration,” I said.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“The Four-Armed Goat’s core stone.”
I handed Ashley the core stone I’d claimed from the boss monster.
Diver registrations took a lot of time and effort, so we had a duty to pay a temporary security deposit to prevent anyone from wasting a receptionist’s time. Once Scrael began her career as a Diver, I’d get the deposit back.
Monster core stones were crystals found within monsters. Because of the unique mana inside them, they were quite valuable and could be used for trading. Core stones could ward off monsters, and the larger the size, the greater the effect. Though, they had no effect without special processing, so they ended up being deadweight in the dungeons.
“Well, I have to get back to studying for my exams, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”
With that, I turned on my heel and left. It was quite tragic, but studying was a student’s duty, so I had to go home and hit the books.
As I attempted to dump everything on Ashley and skedaddle, I was stopped by a tug on my sleeve. I turned around and saw Scrael looking down at the floor with my sleeve clutched tight in her hand.
“Why did you help me? Why did you spend so much money on some slave like me?” she asked.
“I just happened to be in a position to help,” I said. “I probably wouldn’t have done it if I couldn’t afford it.”
“But—”
“There’s nothing I love more than going into the dungeons. It would’ve left a bad aftertaste if I didn’t do something. I did it for myself, so don’t worry about it.” I’d always considered any money I earned in this world to be play money anyway. But she still didn’t seem convinced, so I went on, “Okay, how about this: you can earn money as a Diver and pay me back over time.”
She finally let go of my sleeve.
As I walked away, I happened to look behind me at the guild’s exit and saw her bowing her head deeply.