Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

That second female slave was undoubtedly beautiful, but precisely because she was so beautiful, her price has been ramped up sky-high, and even though the Slave Merchant was willing to drop her total price by fifty thousand Nars, it still doesnt change the fact that even after the deduction it was still way too expensive for my tastes. Not to mention that me not being knowledgeable enough to know if that price was in line with the regular market price for similar slaves didnt help anything either.

As much as I agree that she is indeed beautiful, that price of hers is simply too much for me.

Of course, I understand. Lastly, the third slave that you interviewed could easily be sold for six hundred thousand or seven hundred thousand Nars at an auction if only she knew how to speak Brahim language properly, but since she cannot do that, her actual price has been set at four hundred and fifty thousand Nars.

Sold at an auction, he said? So, there is such a thing as the auctions for slaves? Is that the reason for why he appeared to be so annoyed back then? Was it because he knows that he couldve sold her for much more money at an auction if only she knew Brahim, but since she doesnt, he has to contend himself with selling her at a lowered price?

I see what youre getting at here, but still, there is no guarantee at all that shes going to fetch a high price at an auction, an on top of that, there are still her food expenses.

These things have already been included in the price.

Wellb-but itll take time and effort to teach her Brahim, and even if we do, then how can we know if she even has the aptitude to learn it in the first place?

This is exactly why her price has been lowered to just four hundred and fifty thousand Nars.

The Slave Merchant says while shaking his head.

All right. Then how about this: is she in her first year of slavery?

Of course she is.

He nods with confidence this time. Good. If shes in her first year of slavery, then there is a pretty high probability that shes still a virgin. It was a very important piece of information for me, because if there is one thing that I do not want to be buying, its the leftover goods that someone has already used before me. So it seems like the discount that hes offering on Miria is not the one born of the need to get rid of the obsolete or defective stock from his shop, but the fact that he is putting that big of a discount on her anyway brings another question to mind:

Would he really offer to place that much of a discount on Mirias price simply because she doesnt know how to speak Brahim? No, the answer here is obviously no. Sure, her not knowing how to speak one of the most common languages of this world is most definitely a hindrance and an inconvenience, but definitely not to such a degree to guarantee a drop of one hundred and fifty thousand or two hundred and fifty thousand Nars because of it.

But if her not being knowledgeable with the language was not the reason for the discount, then what was it, exactly?

Hmm.. maybe it was actually.. yeah, that has to be it. Now that I think about it, the Slave Merchant did mention that Miria has become a Slave because she committed a crime and becoming a slave was her punishment for it, so I think its high time to actually go and probe the Slave Merchant about what kind of crime it was, and is it going to have any lasting consequences for me if I end up becoming Mirias owner.

You mentioned earlier that she was found guilty of a crime. If it isnt too much trouble, may I ask what kind of a crime it was and what were the repercussions of it?

Certainly, since it was not my intention to be hiding such important details from you, sir. The crime that this girl have committed was the one of illegal fishing on the territory belonging to a temple. After he was caught and apprehended, the elders of her village have been summoned by the temple in order to debate on what should be done with her, and after much deliberation, it has been decided that the most fitting punishment for her transgression is going to be to turn her into a slave, which has been handled by the temple she trespassed on with the approval of her village. In addition to that, she also had a Divine Punishment placed upon her, and it is believed that this Divine Punishment is going to remain placed upon her until the moment when she will become a rightful property of someone else.

Upon my request, the Slave Merchant recounted the story of how Miria became a slave and the details of the punishment for the crime that she has committed. So she intruded upon some Gods sanctuary? If that is true, then I guess that would make her pretty similar to that one greedy fisherman who was fishing at the Grand Ise Shrine?

A greedy person, huh? I have no way of knowing if Miria trespassed onto the closed-off temple grounds out of greed, necessity or if it was perhaps by nothing but sheer accident, but it remains a fact that just like the fisherman from the story she was captured and branded as a criminal, which led to her being abandoned by her village to become a slave, but apparently that was not enough for them, so they also felt that it was necessary to place a divine punishment on her.

Even though right now the modern-day Japan doesnt believe in such things as much as it used to do in the past, Divine Punishment is feared even in this world, it seems, and a person who has committed a crime so severe as to have a Divine Punishment placed upon them as a result is probably going to be considered as a social outcast who no longer has any place for them in the world of those who uphold the law.

I guess I can kind of understand why they would do such a thing, but still, wasnt turning Miria into a slave enough of a punishment for her already? Because I definitely feel like placing a Divine Punishment on her on top of that was just so that the temple officials could rub salt into her wounds.

So anyway, this is supposed to be Mirias demerit that is responsible for such a high drop in her price?

Divine Punishment, huh?

I know what youre probably thinking, Sir. However, let me tell you this: the girl was probably not aware that the area where she was fishing was the one belonging to the temple, thus making it inaccessible to anyone not affiliated with said temple. What I am trying to say here is that her crime was the one that stemmed out of ignorance and her lack of knowledge, and I dont want you to think that shes someone with a habit of stealing things and purposefully breaking the law.

Well, okay, I understand that much.. but still, paying four hundred and fifty thousand Nars just to share the Divine Punishment with her? No matter how you look at it, its a little too much, dont you think?

Now that I know about the Divine Punishment that has been placed upon Miria, that is my main concern with her. If I were to buy her and she would officially become my slave, then to my understanding, I would have to share that Divine Punishment of hers since I bought her while being fully aware that she had it placed upon her, which means that there would be no way for me to weasel my way out if it by claiming that I didnt know anything about it, because I just asked the Slave Merchant to explain everything to me in detail.