LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 5: - Anneliese the Old Woman
Buying a slave… How did it come to this? Self-loathing fills my mind.
Back at the inn, I gazed at the elderly slave named Anneliese, who was sitting in a chair with no strength left, and let out a sigh.
I heard that in this inn, if the master and the slave stay in the same room, it costs 100 grill for one night. Food is not included, but the portions here are generous, so even sharing with two people is enough to satisfy your hunger. Money isn’t that big of an issue for me, so it’s fine, but…
“I can’t do anything about what I’ve already bought. What should I do from here?”
The old woman had been silently rowing the boat for a while now. She hasn’t spoken since I bought her. Is she not paying any attention to me, or can she not speak? I don’t really care.
I skim through the documents from when I purchased the old woman and stow them in my item box.
For now, I lay Anneliese down on the bed. There’s only one bed, so I decide to sleep on the floor, wrapped in a blanket. Whether she’s an old woman or a young girl, I have no intention of sharing a bed without consent.
Even if we did sleep together, I have a feeling that if I woke up in the morning, she’d be lying there cold next to me. It could turn into a nightmare.
Since I’ve already bought her, the least I can do is be there for her at the end. That’s all I can do.
Come to think of it, I haven’t checked my status since then. I’m not sleepy yet, so I might as well check.
【Job】 Traveler Lv1
【Skills】:
– Fleet-footed (Low)
– Detailed Appraisal (Low)
– Item Box (Low)
My traveler level hasn’t increased, and my Fleet-footed skill remains unchanged. However, my unique skills, Detailed Appraisal and Item Box, have both gone from (Low) to (Low).
I’ve heard that in the growth of skills, it goes from Low to Medium to High to Extreme, with each tier indicating higher abilities. Skills do improve over time, but skills of High level or above are quite rare. In other words, my two unique skills have grown.
The growth of Detailed Appraisal is a bit difficult to discern, but there’s a clear change in Item Box. The storage capacity of my Item Box has increased. It used to have 20 slots, but now that it’s (Low), it has 40 slots. This is very much appreciated.
Next, I decide to check my job. Currently, I have seven options: Villager, Cook, Merchant, Porter, Avenger, and Reincarnated Hero, in addition to Traveler.
Here’s what I found when I used Detailed Appraisal to examine these jobs:
▼ Detailed Appraisal Results ▼
– Traveler: A person who travels. Can use the skill Fleet-footed (Low). Requires traveling on foot for 500 kilometers to acquire.
– Villager: The default starting job. No special skills.
– Cook: A person who cooks. Can use the skills Cooking (Low) and Ingredient Selection (Low). Requires cooking 10,000 times to acquire.
– Merchant: A person who conducts business. Can use the skills Negotiation (Low) and Commodity Appraisal (Low). Requires engaging in buying and selling items as a business 1,000 times or acquiring an appraisal-type unique skill.
– Porter: A person who carries goods. Can use the skill Item Box (Low). Requires transporting goods as a business 100 times or acquiring the unique skill Item Box.
– Avenger: A person seeking revenge. Can use the skills Avenger’s Blade (Low), Blade of Wrath (Low), and Limit Break (Low). Only obtainable by those who have suffered over 100 cruel experiences and have an unbroken spirit.
Buying a slave… How did it come to this? Self-loathing fills my mind.
Back at the inn, I gazed at the elderly slave named Anneliese, who was sitting in a chair with no strength left, and let out a sigh.
I heard that in this inn, if the master and the slave stay in the same room, it costs 100 grill for one night. Food is not included, but the portions here are generous, so even sharing with two people is enough to satisfy your hunger. Money isn’t that big of an issue for me, so it’s fine, but…
“I can’t do anything about what I’ve already bought. What should I do from here?”
The old woman had been silently rowing the boat for a while now. She hasn’t spoken since I bought her. Is she not paying any attention to me, or can she not speak? I don’t really care.
I skim through the documents from when I purchased the old woman and stow them in my item box.
For now, I lay Anneliese down on the bed. There’s only one bed, so I decide to sleep on the floor, wrapped in a blanket. Whether she’s an old woman or a young girl, I have no intention of sharing a bed without consent.
Even if we did sleep together, I have a feeling that if I woke up in the morning, she’d be lying there cold next to me. It could turn into a nightmare.
Since I’ve already bought her, the least I can do is be there for her at the end. That’s all I can do.
Come to think of it, I haven’t checked my status since then. I’m not sleepy yet, so I might as well check.
【Job】 Traveler Lv1
【Skills】:
– Fleet-footed (Low)
– Detailed Appraisal (Low)
– Item Box (Low)
My traveler level hasn’t increased, and my Fleet-footed skill remains unchanged. However, my unique skills, Detailed Appraisal and Item Box, have both gone from (Low) to (Low).
I’ve heard that in the growth of skills, it goes from Low to Medium to High to Extreme, with each tier indicating higher abilities. Skills do improve over time, but skills of High level or above are quite rare. In other words, my two unique skills have grown.
The growth of Detailed Appraisal is a bit difficult to discern, but there’s a clear change in Item Box. The storage capacity of my Item Box has increased. It used to have 20 slots, but now that it’s (Low), it has 40 slots. This is very much appreciated.
Next, I decide to check my job. Currently, I have seven options: Villager, Cook, Merchant, Porter, Avenger, and Reincarnated Hero, in addition to Traveler.
Here’s what I found when I used Detailed Appraisal to examine these jobs:
▼ Detailed Appraisal Results ▼
– Traveler: A person who travels. Can use the skill Fleet-footed (Low). Requires traveling on foot for 500 kilometers to acquire.
– Villager: The default starting job. No special skills.
– Cook: A person who cooks. Can use the skills Cooking (Low) and Ingredient Selection (Low). Requires cooking 10,000 times to acquire.
– Merchant: A person who conducts business. Can use the skills Negotiation (Low) and Commodity Appraisal (Low). Requires engaging in buying and selling items as a business 1,000 times or acquiring an appraisal-type unique skill.
– Porter: A person who carries goods. Can use the skill Item Box (Low). Requires transporting goods as a business 100 times or acquiring the unique skill Item Box.
– Avenger: A person seeking revenge. Can use the skills Avenger’s Blade (Low), Blade of Wrath (Low), and Limit Break (Low). Only obtainable by those who have suffered over 100 cruel experiences and have an unbroken spirit.
I understand why Villager is available for changing jobs since it’s a default starting job. But why is Traveler an option? I’ve never traveled 500 kilometers on foot in my life. Isn’t 500 kilometers in total over a lifetime impossible?
Oh, but I did walk to school. I walked to school from elementary to high school, so could that be it? It still seems unlikely that commuting to school counts as traveling.
I think I met the conditions for Cook because I cooked every day.
As for Merchant and Porter, it seems like it’s related to acquiring unique skills.
I completely understand Avenger.
Being treated like trash every day and subjected to violence… I’ll never bow down to those people. This job makes complete sense to me.
Just thinking about it brings up dark emotions. By now, they’re probably being treated like heroes.
Now, the issue is the Reincarnated Hero.
What was that god thinking when they granted me the title of Hero? I can’t help but laugh. I’d be more suited for Avenger.
With this kind of job set, I’m bound to attract attention from the country or the church, assuming there is a church here.
I glanced at Anneliese for a moment. I have to support this wrinkled old lady from now on.
I’ve regretted it many times, but since I’ve bought her, I’ll make sure to be there for her at the end.
And since I have this chance, I plan to make use of her knowledge.
I don’t know anything about this world, and I need her to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.
I also need to earn a living. This has been clear from the start.
I’ll enter a dungeon, defeat monsters, and earn a living.
Traveler isn’t suitable for combat, so I should consider changing my job. However, I don’t have any jobs that are suitable for combat. Avenger, which would damage my reputation, and the god-forsaken Reincarnated Hero, both seem like landmines.
So, what should I do?
Anneliese was a magician, right? What are the conditions for becoming a magician?
▼ Detailed Appraisal Results ▼
– Magician: A person who uses magic. Can use the skill Magic Power Increase (Low). Requires using a grimoire.
What’s a grimoire?
▼ Detailed Appraisal Results ▼
– Grimoire: Grimoires are items occasionally dropped by dungeon monsters or found in treasure chests.
I see, becoming a magician requires luck. Or maybe grimoires are available in the market?
It would have been nice if Detailed Appraisal could provide more information…
▼ Detailed Appraisal Results ▼
– Grimoire: Grimoires are items occasionally dropped by dungeon monsters or found in treasure chests. The drop rate from monsters is 1 in 10,000, and the chance of discovery in treasure chests is 1 in 300. The market price ranges from 1 million to 3 million grill.
Oh… Oh… Alright, I can do this if I put my mind to it.
But if you want to buy it, you have to pay at least 10 million yen. This is expensive. It seems pretty tough to find one on your own, but it’s also tough to buy one.
Let’s check the conditions for acquiring other jobs too. I’ll get a combat job before, the money I have now runs out.
In any case, I can’t take this frail old lady into the dungeon.
I’ll go into the dungeon alone. I’ll ask Anneliese for information on how to operate in the dungeon. She’s been around for quite a while, and as a magician, she probably has experience with dungeons.
Anneliese was trying to create new magic but accidentally caused it to go wild, injuring dozens of people and causing extensive property damage.
I thought she must have been some kind of mad scientist, but it seems that such incidents happen occasionally in this world. This world is terrifying.
Due to that accident, Anneliese was sentenced to the confiscation of her assets and 100 years of slavery. There’s no way she’ll live for 100 years. I’m pretty sure I’m already dead.
So, it seems Anneliese will be freed from slavery when she dies.
What I found out after buying her is that Anneliese is a half-elf. She’s 318 years old.
I knew that elves had long lifespans, but in this world, elves can live for about 1,000 years. Half-elves don’t live as long, but I heard they can live for around 250 years. At 318 years old, Anneliese could pass away at any time.
This lifespan is just an estimate, and if you have a strong elf bloodline, even half-elves can live for around 500 years. If that’s the case for Anneliese, she’ll be freed from slavery before her natural life ends. It’s quite rare, though.
Furthermore, if the master dies, ownership of the slave is transferred to the heir. In such cases, the slave may be sold by slave traders again, but the period of slavery remains unchanged.
The next morning, when I woke up, Anneliese was already awake. She was looking down at me from the floor, which was kind of intimidating. I felt like she might suck the life out of me. It felt like a dream.
“I’m sorry,” she said in her hoarse voice.
“For what?”
“For using the bed.”
It seemed like Anneliese felt awkward about using the bed.
“It’s okay. I can sleep on the floor. Anyway, shall we have breakfast?”
I led Anneliese to the dining hall.
Today, I don’t think I can eat as much as yesterday, so we decided to share a meal.
“Anneliese, would you prefer meat or fish?”
“Fish, please.”
I wonder if fish is better than meat as you get older.
We sat down together and waited, and that old lady brought our food.
The bread was still gigantic. But even more surprising was the size of the fish. It was so big that its head and tail were sticking out of the 40-centimeter plate.
Am I the only one who thinks there’s more to enjoy in this than meat?
We received plates and shared the meal between us. I gave more to Anneliese.
“Let’s eat.”
I started by dipping the bread into the soup and putting it in my mouth. Yesterday, it was more like a stew, but today, it was a clear consommé-like soup. It didn’t taste like consommé, but it had lots of vegetables that made a flavorful broth.
While I sipped and savored the meal, Anneliese was eating at an astonishing speed.
This was an unexpected turn of events. Is it normal to have such a hearty appetite at her age? Maybe she hasn’t had a chance to eat at Gorteo’s place? That’s unlikely, though, because Gorteo himself said it would be illegal not to feed the slaves.
Is this Anneliese’s normal appetite? It’s quite impressive.
Anneliese finished her meal while I hadn’t even eaten half of mine. The fish was reduced to bones, and there wasn’t a drop of soup left.
“Do you want more?”
“Is it okay?”
“If you want to eat more, feel free to do so.”
“Maybe some meat this time?”
“S-Sure.”
I had intended to share mine, but I didn’t expect her to order a whole portion for herself.
I ordered a meat set and paid for it.
The waitress was also wide-eyed at Anneliese’s appetite.
“You eat a lot…”
“Having a healthy appetite is a sign of good health…”
I answered like that, but her appetite still surprised me.