The Indomitable Martial King

[ Chapter 30 ]

In the midst of Rakus’s busy time, one of his servants announced the arrival of a distinguished guest. At the mention of the name, Rakus was so startled that he stopped counting his gold and rushed outside.

In the reception room, a plump young man in flashy clothes was waiting with a grimace. Rakus hurriedly bowed his head.

“Ah, Teriq, welcome.”

As the successor to the Rolpein Trading Company, the second most influential trading company in the principality, and the biggest customer of the Elvenheim auction house, now was not the time to be counting money.

Teriq softened his expression at Rakus’s polite greeting.

“How have you been, Rakus?”

“It seems it has been three months. How are things going for you?”

“A new trading company named Taoban has been a bit bothersome, but no major problems.”

Taoban had recently emerged, dealing mainly in grains, which led to minor disputes with the Rolpein Trading Company. Although the Rolpein Trading Company handled a wide range of goods, its main focus was on grains and salt. With overlapping territories, Taoban kept encroaching on their market.

“So, I’ve been applying some pressure.”

It was a standard practice to suppress annoyances with money. Rakus understood immediately and let out a hearty laugh.

“With your skills, Teriq, I’m sure you’ll handle it easily. Ha ha.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Rakus quickly got to the point.

“You’ve come at a good time. I’ve been raising a female elf that I wanted to show you.”

Surprisingly, Teriq shook his head.

“Ah, not this time. I came because I want something specific.”

With a slightly furrowed brow, the plump young man looked intently at Rakus.

“I heard there was a Slayer that Beret returned a while ago?”

Rakus immediately knew what he was talking about. He couldn’t be unaware of a major failure that had been returned three times, ultimately being sold at a loss.

“Number 148?”

“I wouldn’t know the number you’ve assigned it, would I? Anyway, that one. Give it to me.”

Teriq gestured as if asking Rakus to bring a bottle of liquor from the cabinet. Under normal circumstances, Rakus would have rejoiced…

“Ah, that…”

Watching Rakus looking troubled, Teriq was puzzled.

“Huh? Is there a problem?”

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“The thing is, number 148 has already been sold.”

“What?”

“It was sold just now, less than an hour ago.”

Teriq was astonished. Normally, Slayers were so expensive that they didn’t sell easily. Selling three in a year was considered a huge success. Well, elves do have a much longer ‘shelf life’, so eventually, everything gets sold.

‘But it’s already sold? Such a coincidence?’

“Could it be that Beret noticed what I was thinking and bought it again?”

“No, it wasn’t Lord Beret………….”

Rakus shook his head.

“It was a young man I’ve never seen before.”

“Eh? What was his name?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know? Didn’t he sign something when paying with a banknote?”

“Well, the thing is, he paid entirely in cash.”

“Huh, to carry around enough money to buy a Slayer in cash?”

Even those flush with cash wouldn’t carry around hundreds of gold coins in cash. After all, everything can be settled with high-credit banknotes from the Rolpein Trading Company, so there’s no need to carry around heavy cash. Those affluent enough to buy a Slayer would all do the same.

“That Slayer was a defective product, so we just let it go at a bargain price. That seems to be the reason.”

“Eh…….”

Given the payment was made in cash, it seems a novice adventurer struck gold by fulfilling his dream on a whim. He must have been swayed by the cheap price.

“Then tell me what the buyer looked like.”

Teriq thought he should buy back the returned elf. Initially, the plan was to tease Beret, but hearing it had already been sold to someone else made him greedier. Teriq always got what he wanted.

‘Just pay a bit extra, and they’ll happily hand it over. What in the world can’t be done with money?’

Faced with Teriq’s demand, Rakus hesitated for a moment. It was the merchant’s code not to disclose the personal details of a client. It could potentially damage Elvenheim’s reputation.

However, no matter how venerable an auction house Elvenheim was, it couldn’t compare to the Rolpein Trading Company.

‘He seemed like a newcomer, so it probably won’t cause a big problem.’

“It should be easy to find him. He was a rather large young man.”

Having made up his mind, Rakus slowly described Repenhardt’s appearance.

* * *

Repenhardt, having found the largest and most extravagant clothing store in Zeppelin, pressed the owner to bring everything suitable for Siris to wear, regardless of the cost. The scent of money made the clothing store owner gleefully bring various expensive women’s clothing incessantly.

“How about it? Do you like anything?”

Repenhardt asked for her opinion. Of course, Siris only responded indifferently.

“As you wish, my lord.”

“No, it has to be something you like, what’s the point if I’m the only one who lilies it………….”

“As you wish, my lord.”

Siris repeated the same words like a parrot, making Repenhardt uncomfortable.

It seemed he wanted to buy her fancy clothes and receive gratitude, which honestly, she found laughable.

‘Did he think buying expensive clothes would make me feel touched?’

She didn’t find it odd at all that he was buying her these expensive clothes. After all, buying an elf slave and dressing them up in fancy clothes was a common occurrence. There were plenty in the world who bought beautiful elves to dress them up like dolls, enjoy the sight, and then undress them.

Repenhardt inwardly clicked his tongue at her icy demeanor.

‘Well, it’s not like she’ll open up right away.’

To him, Siris was a lover he had loved for decades, but to her, he was a stranger she had met for the first time today. It was natural for her to act this way. Though he felt slighted, he could understand it completely.

‘It’ll get better with time.’

Regardless, he had to buy the clothes. He began to seriously choose various items.

‘What color did Siris like?’

Repenhardt recalled the preferences of her from his past life, picking out clothes she would like one by one. Men usually only know their lovers’ favorite color when it comes to their clothing preferences. It’s rare for them to remember the details. So, he had trouble remembering and even used ‘artificial recap’ to recall as much as he could.

It was a bizarre scene as a burly man carefully assessed each piece of women’s clothing. The intention was good, but to others, it looked rather perverted. Sillan was so embarrassed he stayed far away.

“Ah, just pick something roughly.”

It looked as if he was meticulously dressing a slave from head to toe according to his own tastes. Why else would it take so long to choose each piece of clothing? If he were buying clothes for a lover, it might seem like a sincere gesture considering the tastes of the beloved (and indeed it was), but the one being dressed was an elf slave.

But Repenhardt maintained a frighteningly serious demeanor. It seemed as if Sillan’s complaints fell on deaf ears. Siris tilted her head in curiosity at the sight of him diligently choosing clothes.

‘It’s a bit… strange, isn’t it?’

The clothes Repenhardt selected were entirely focused on the wearer’s convenience. He completely avoided flashy or sexy attire, opting instead for practical, durable, and comfortable choices. It was baffling. If they were going to be taken off anyway, why bother with how they felt to wear?

Eventually, Repenhardt purchased various colored undergarments, several high-quality dresses for everyday wear, and for travel, blouses and black trousers, along with two pairs of boots and jackets made of deer leather. All the items were of the highest quality, the kind usually worn by the nobility. When Siris changed into these clothes and emerged, the shabby appearance of a slave was gone, replaced by the dignified look of a noble ready to embark on a journey.

“How does it fit? Does it feel right?”

Moving slightly, Siris was genuinely moved. Though she had been sold from place to place and had worn many elaborate dresses, she had never worn anything as comfortable and fitting as this. It was truly luxurious. Others had only thought about undressing her, dressing her in gaudy dresses that were actually cheap.

Moreover, she loved the colors and the designs. It was as if they perfectly matched her tastes.

‘Good…’

However, despite her internal approval, her expression remained cold. Even if things were a bit unexpected, it wasn’t enough reason to think highly of this young man.

Seeing Siris’s still cold demeanor, Repenhardt scratched his head, wondering if he had misunderstood something.

“Um, I’ll get you even better things later. For now, just wear these, even if they’re not perfect.”

Siris frowned, puzzled by his seemingly nonsensical statement after buying such fine clothes. She wondered if it was another one of his pretenses. Men!

But Repenhardt was sincere.

In her past life, Siris wouldn’t wear anything made by humans during her travels. Her entire body was covered in artifacts from the Silver Age, such as boots with spatial movement magic, trousers that activated force fields, and survival jackets with absolute survival spells. Even her underwear was enchanted by Repenhardt, who labored for a month to make it perfectly absorb all moisture and waste, providing the wearer with the ultimate comfort. These items were considered higher grade than the magical sword Altion. She literally wore a fortress.

Therefore, compared to those, it was inevitable that these unenchanted clothes would feel inferior. Repenhardt muttered an apology to himself.

‘Just bear with it a little, Siris. I’ll soon scour the dungeons and gather everything.’

After gathering the remaining clothes, Repenhardt carried the luggage himself. Leaving the slave Siris to carry nothing felt odd to her, but she said nothing, thinking it pointless to bother about what whims her soon-to-be former owner might have.

“Siris, aren’t you hungry?”

As they left the store, Repenhardt asked again. Siris frowned slightly. This master was indeed strange, constantly inquiring about the desires of a slave.

‘It’s as if he’s treating me like a human woman.’

Of course, she didn’t care. As before, Siris repeated her response like a parrot.

“Do as you wish, Master.”

“Um, don’t really think of me as your master…”

“Would you like to return me?”

“No, that’s not what I mean…”

Irritated by the sudden mention of returning her, Repenhardt clicked his tongue. Ah, how should he explain this?

“I just wish you’d see me as a companion for the journey. So, could you not call me ‘Master’ and use my name instead?”

Siris felt all her suspicions clear away like mist in the sunlight at Repenhardt’s sincere words.

‘Ah, was that the setting?’

It seemed she finally understood why he had been acting so strangely. This large young man was treating her as if she were a comrade female knight from an old adventure tale.

Adventure tales often left such a mark on people that many who dreamed of becoming adventurers aspired to have a beautiful female knight as a companion. This was also why the job class “Slayer” came into existence.

Of course, in none of those adventure tales did an elf of a slave race appear as the beautiful female knight, but realistically, since beautiful female knights hardly existed, there were quite a few who took up elves as their substitutes. It seemed this man was deep into such role-playing.

‘Well, it’s not bad to follow him for a while as thanks for the nice clothes. In a few days, he’ll realize his fantasy differs from reality and will probably start causing a fuss about returning me.’

Siris nodded obediently.

“Yes, I’ll call you Repenhardt.”

‘Uh…’

That was the voice he had longed to hear. Although it was cold, it was still the title from his memories. A wave of nostalgia and excitement washed over him.

Repenhardt began looking for a restaurant, unaware that Siris was following him with a look of disdain.

‘Humans are all the same, after all.’