Harem in a Labyrinth

"Anastasia, you want to come with me to the auction tomorrow?" I ask, puzzled. "You do realize there will be slaves—especially female ones—being sold off there," I add with a sigh.

To be honest, I doubt any of my girls would enjoy seeing other women treated like commodities. Even I feel uncomfortable about it. That's why, despite bringing Roxanne and Sherry along when I was first buying slaves, I haven't planned on taking them to an auction. It's just not the kind of place I want to expose them to.

And frankly, I would rather avoid the cliché scenario where some arrogant Noble Young Master asks me to my face, how much will it cost to buy the beautiful female slave I brought along. I don't think I would be able to stop myself from punching that guy in the face, as I don't give a shit if he is some Noble or some fucking Prince! 

In fact even Michio didn't bring any of his girls when he went to the auction.

"...I-I am aware of that Master," Anastasia stammers, her voice soft but determined. "But I would still like to come—if you will let me." Her blue-green eyes look up at me with a plea.

"Why?" I ask, genuinely curious. "Why do you want to come to the auction?"

"...I-I want to help, Master," she replies, placing a hand over her bare chest, sincerity in her voice. "I know the market prices and can help Master make informed decisions... so Master doesn't overbid on items or... slaves."

"... Hmm Master does tend to trust brokers too easily," Sherry murmurs thoughtfully from the side. 

I shoot her a look, not wanting to hear her biased opinions about brokers right now.

Well it does make sense to have a local Merchant with me, but I always feel like there is something else. It almost feels like my Skill: Opportunity Sense, which I got from the Level up reward of Level 20 Hero is on the verge of activating. 

There must be something more to her request! 

"Is that really the only reason, Anastasia?" I ask, leaning in a little. "Remember what we discussed before ... about honesty and sincerity," I say with a soft smile.

Anastasia avoids my gaze, lowering her head. "...I-I'm s-sorry, Master... ... I-I wasn't being completely truthfulI," she admits, her voice trembling as guilt—or maybe fear—seems to grip her.

Instantly, I see Roxanne and Sherry's expressions sharpen, while Lillia looks on in worry.

"Can you tell me the real reason now?" I ask with a small sigh, fully aware that it's not easy for a merchant to suddenly change her nature. After spending half her life keeping secrets and hiding things from others, being open and honest isn't something that happens overnight.

"...It's about the servants I used to have..." Anastasia's voice is barely a whisper. "Some of them might be up for auction tomorrow, Master. I just... I failed them, and I need to know their fate."

So it's not just her. Even her servants were sold off as slaves. This world can be harsh sometimes.

"Oh? So do you want me to buy them?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no! I would never ask that of M-master!" Anastasia shakes her head vehemently, her voice panicked. "...I-I just want to know what happened to them. I-It's my fault they are in this situation ..." She says pitifully and I can even see her eyes getting wet. 

I sigh, unable to bear seeing a girl as beautiful as her on the verge of tears. Even Sherry, normally the most serious, seems to be looking at her with pity.

"Look," I begin, "I can't promise anything. We have a decent amount of money, but I can't just spend it on anyone. Whoever I buy will become part of our family, , and you could guess the condition for them to enter my family" I say, giving her a meaningful look. "So, if—and only if—someone among them meets those conditions, then maybe I can be persuaded to buy them," I add with a small smile.

"Th-that's more than I could ask for, Master! Th-thank you! ... Thank you so much Master!" Anastasia's voice cracks as she struggles not to choke on her words. Her bluish-green eyes looking at me with endless gratitude.

"Well, it's probably good for Master to have company at the auction," Sherry says, exchanging a glance with Roxanne.

"Yes! Anastasia will be very helpful to Master," Roxanne adds, her eyes shining. I notice the two of them giving each other a subtle nod, as if preparing to have a 'talk' about tomorrow with Anastasia later.

"Master is so kind!" Lillia says looking at Anastasia with a smile, completely oblivious to the others' scheming.

With that little drama over, I look towards the only participant who is still enjoying herself blissfully ... yes its Miria who now seems to be doing laps of the Bath with her backstrokes. 

Honestly, she has been quite the distraction. When she does her backstrokes, it's like two... well... breasts are floating towards me on a platter! 

"Miria," I call out, as Anastasia is led away by Sherry.

Miria stops mid-stroke and quickly straightens up. "It's your turn to wash your hair," I say, smiling.

She swims over eagerly, probably knowing what to expect by now, having seen the others take their turn.

Roxanne moves beside her, concern in her eyes. "(Keep your eyes closed and don't open them until Master tells you to. If the bubbles go into your eyes then it will hurt)" She explains her to in detail so Miria doesn't mess up. 

"Okay-desu!" Miria responds cheerfully, tightly shutting her eyes. I smile and pat Roxanne on her wet head, getting a lovely smile in return.

I do what I have done multiple times before, making some foam and start applying it on the dark navy blue hair of Miria. Among all the party members she has the shortest hair, so it shouldn't take long to cover her whole head.

"I know Miria that you love Fish very much" I say as I give Roxanne a look, she nods understanding my intention immediately as she translates for Miria in Burner Language. 

"Fish-desu!" Miria's face lights up at the mention of her favourite thing.

"Yes, fish," I chuckle. "I know you were caught because you swam into a sacred temple's waters chasing after fish. I don't believe in divine punishment for something like that. The gods can't be that bored to punish someone for a fish, especially someone as lovely as you"

Roxanne translates as I run my fingers through Miria's soft cat ears, lathering them with foam. Her ears twitch at my touch, but she listens closely.

"Still, I want you to understand something important, Miria," I continue. "Now that you are a part of my family, you will never lack fish, if you want you can have fish in the morning and even in the evening, everyday!" I say with a chuckle, although I still wish that she can eat some vegetables too, as just eating fish everyday can't be considered healthy. 

"Haaa... F~isshh," Miria seems to be drooling from her mouth, lost in a daydream of endless fish. I can even imagine her dreaming of drowning in fish!

I pinch her soft cat ears gently, bringing her back from the fish world. "As I was saying, there will be no shortage of fish here at our home! So from now on, I don't want you to accept Fish from anyone else, I don't want you to chase after fish, and especially do not steal any fish!" I say in a strict tone.

I feel like a parent educating his child, making her understand why its bad to take candies from strangers! 

Roxanne catching on why I am doing this adds some more sentences, grilling her like her mother would, so that Miria realises that she is now my slave and can't go on doing as she pleases just for a fish. 

In fact I don't think that Miria is dumb by any means, she is more like an ADHD child who is obsessed with fish! So it is unlikely that she will ever just follow a stranger for a fish, but she might get lost swimming after a fish ... as it has already happened before!

Miria nods enthusiastically. "Understand-desu!" she says, her tone serious.

I give Roxanne a nod, and she gives me a thumbs up.

I do feel quite sorry for Miria, she likely knows already that I can speak Burner language, but I have been speaking to her in Brahim, which she can't understand, forcing her to rely on Roxanne to translate.

Still she has not questioned me why, she just went with the flow, in fact I am pretty sure she is still thinking about the delicious fish she had for dinner. 

I chuckle at my thoughts. I want to enjoy this simple intimacy with her so even after I have covered her head in foam, I continue messaging Miria's head softly, not wanting to make her session the shortest and end it so soon. 

In fact, at first I started washing Roxanne's hair because I was just copying what Michio did in the original novel. From the morning and night kiss to the body bubble bath given to me by the girls and this hair wash are all the things that he did in the original novel ... and I just copied it. 

But now that I am doing it myself, it feels very good! Like this hair washing, it feels almost therapeutic to wash their hair. Obviously I know that it feels this good because they are beautiful girls and there is also the other aspect of me 'owning' them, so it almost feel like I am cleaning my collection of waifu figurines back on my world!

That is just a comparison, as this feels almost infinitesimally better than that! Also washing their hair is a very intimate thing, it makes me feel closer to them and I hope that it does the same for them too. 

It hasn't even been a week for me in this another world and I am already 'craving' some 'human' affection! I should get a grip and stop being so emotional! 

"So, Miria, tell me more about yourself," I ask curiously. "Where's your home? Who's in your family?"

"(My village is called Nyari. It's in the east, near a river with delicious fish ... At home, there's my mother, who doesn't love fish as much as I do, my little sister who loves fish even more than me! and my aunt, who travels a lot but always brings back tasty fish!)," Miria says with a sweet smile, as she starts to drool again thinking about fish. 

"What the hell?" I exclaim aloud, catching the attention of all the girls, as I heard something which blew my mind! They look at me, startled by my sudden outburst.

"Miria... you have a little sister ? Not a brother?" I ask, gripping her shoulders, foam still dripping from my hands. "And what about your... f-father?" I stammer, turning to Roxanne with a serious look, signalling her to quickly translate everything I said to Miria.

"(Yes, Master. I have always had a little sister... And Father died when I was very small. My mom told me the river flooded, and he went to catch some fish but never came back)," Miria replies nonchalantly.

I want to ask her again if she was not misremembering... but I know that Miria is not that Airheaded! So there is no point, and I trust that she would also not lie to me. 

"Can you translate what she said Roxanne? In Brahim please" I ask hoping that it was some kind of translation mistake. 

Roxanne obediently does so shattering my illusion of it being a translation error of mine. 

I close my eyes and try to remember... no there is no problem with my memory, I clearly remember, Miria telling Michio about how she has a Mother, a Father and a little brother at her house!

That only means one thing ... the thing I had always feared! 

This... this isn't the original world of Slave Harem in a Labyrinth of Another World

It's... some kind of Alternate Universe!

"Fuck!"

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