I Became a Slave Collector in the Labyrinth City

“Young lady, now! Thrust!”

“Uh-oh. Hup!”

A rabbit charging at us.
It’s a Horn Rabbit with horns on its head.

It’s the most common beast-type monster in the breeding ground.

Yes, this is the breeding ground.
The young lady and I who were in the botanical garden were forcibly transferred to the breeding ground.

Stab!

“Ugh. I, I got it.”

“Well done.”

In front of us, six Horn Rabbits were already lying limp.
I put them all in my inventory.

The rabbit monsters have soft fur, so they sell for quite a bit.

“Huff. Huff.”

“Are you alright?”

“Huh? Ah. Yeah. I’m fine.”

“That’s good. Let’s move a bit more.”

“Okay.”

Thud.
Thud. Thud.

Just as we were about to move forward again.
A sound like something hitting the ground was heard.

I know this sound.
I’ve seen an adventurer whose neck was cut off after hearing this sound.

It’s a Bopal Rabbit.

“Kuk!!!”

Bang!!!!!!

I barely managed to block a rabbit the size of a wild dog that was flying towards my neck by raising my shield.

As a result, the wooden shield was split in half, and the black rabbit that was rushing for my neck was deflected.

Bopal Rabbit.
A crazy rabbit monster that ambushes adventurers with the horns on its legs to slice their necks.

While Horn Rabbits use simple attacks by ramming with the horns on their heads, Bopal Rabbits quietly approach and slice the opponent’s neck with the bones grown from their legs.

“Kyuik!”

The Bopal Rabbit charges again.
Since the shield was split in half and unusable, I blocked its kick with my sword.

Clang-!!

I can’t let it get to the young lady.
The young lady doesn’t have the strength to block this thing’s attack, nor the agility to dodge it.

“Hrup!”

“Kiek!!”

After forcibly twisting my sword to throw it off, I leaped towards the fallen rabbit and stabbed my sword into its belly.

I can’t give it a chance to get up again.

It’s such an agile and cunning creature that it would run away once and keep circling around us, looking for an opening.

It’s better to deal with these bastards immediately upon discovery.
Otherwise, you never know when they’ll rush for your neck.

Having to take care of the young lady and also deal with the terror of Bopal Rabbits.
It’s terrifying just to imagine.

“W-what was that just now?”

“The most dangerous rabbit in the breeding ground. It’s called a Bopal Rabbit. There are ones that go for people’s necks.”

“Huh.. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Such alien life forms are hard to see in nature.
They’re creatures that appear in mana-dense demon realms or very deep forests.

They’re rare creatures to see outside of labyrinths.

“There won’t be more coming, right?”

“Unlike Horn Rabbits, these guys roam alone. Their numbers are also few.”

“Really? Phew. That’s a relief.”

The young lady exhales deeply, seeming relieved.
By the way, a Bopal Rabbit, huh.

‘If so, this must be the 3rd or 4th floor of the breeding ground.’

While Horn Rabbits are common in the breeding ground, the appearance of Bopal Rabbits means we’re below the 3rd floor.

‘If it’s the 4th floor.. we’re done for if we encounter a Bunny Man.’

Bunny Men are like the bosses of the breeding ground.
They’re rabbit humanoids about the size of an adult male, and if we encounter one now, it would be extremely difficult for the young lady and me to survive.

They’re fast and strong.

In a situation without a proper vanguard or damage dealer, we’d just die if we encountered one.

“Let’s keep moving for now.”

“Okay. Got it.”

I put the Bopal Rabbit’s corpse into my inventory and continued walking forward.
I’m taking detours to avoid paths where we’re likely to encounter monsters.

“Phew.”

“Are you tired?”

“No. I’m still okay.”

The young lady’s stamina wasn’t very good.
If there’s anything fortunate, it’s that her mental strength is better than I expected.

Despite walking through the dark labyrinth, the young lady wasn’t cowering in fear.
She wasn’t whining either, just quietly following behind me.

“You’re adapting faster than I expected, young lady.”

“Really? Did you think I’d be crying and throwing tantrums?”

“Well. I won’t particularly deny that.”

“Hehe. You’re honest.”

The young lady tore off a piece of jerky, chewed it slowly, and then spoke again.

“How many years have you lived in the labyrinth city, porter?”

“Me? It’s been about 6 months for me.”

“What? Not even a year?”

“Yes. And I’ve been entering the labyrinth for an even shorter time.”

“No way, you became a veteran in just half a year?”

“I’m not at the level to be called a veteran. I’ve only been able to go to the threshold of the 5th floor.”

You can be called a veteran when you can roam around the 5th floor underground city.
Whether it’s the botanical garden or the breeding ground, the upper levels from the 1st to 4th floor are all beginner areas.

“I see. But how did you end up here? Porter, you don’t look like you’re from around here.”

“Ah, about that.”

There are people with Asian-like appearances in the labyrinth city too.
Most of them are people who came by ship from the East and are treated similarly to the barbarians from the North.

They’re treated as outsiders.
There are many prejudices, and there’s a strong perception that Asians are petty.

Well, it’s not that their prejudices are entirely wrong.
The Asians in this world had similar tendencies and culture to the Asians on Earth.

“I came by ship. Because life was tough back home.”

“Really?”

It’s an excuse I vaguely give whenever I’m asked about my origins.
Adventurers who don’t know much about what the Eastern lands are like usually accept this answer.

But this young lady seemed to know quite a bit about the East.
Maybe she just wanted to show off her knowledge.

“Where’s your hometown? There are many countries in the East, right?”

“Huh? Ah. I came from Ryukoku.”

“Aha. That’s the country with many swordsmen, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“If you earn a lot of money, will you go back to your hometown?”

“No. I’m planning to just live here. I don’t particularly feel like leaving the labyrinth city.”

A rich foreigner, huh.
Perfect for getting killed.

It would be safer to build up more fame, become a higher-ranked adventurer, and then settle down in the labyrinth city.

“That’s nice. Living life the way you want.”

At my answer, the young lady looked at distant mountains.
There was a sense of frustration in her eyes.

“Why did you come to the labyrinth city, young lady?”

I’m not usually one to be curious about other people’s stories.
But the atmosphere was like that, so I just asked.

“Me? I… Well. Being an adventurer was my dream.”

“Being an adventurer was your dream?”

To think this dirty and vulgar job where you never know when you might die was the dream of a noble young lady.

“Well, people like me would never have a chance to become adventurers in their lifetime.”

“Ah, I see.”

Does she mean she came to admire adventurers because she’d never have a chance to become one?

“I envied how freely they lived. They can wander around as they wish. They can marry who they want and live how they like.”

The young lady opened the cap of the water pouch and gulped down water.

As if she was drinking alcohol.

“Well, should I pour you a drink?”

“Really?”

“No. I’m joking. Alcohol in this situation?”

“Hey!”

Alcohol in this situation?
Of course it’s a joke.

I just threw out that joke because the atmosphere felt like we should be drinking.

By the way, marriage, huh.
It’s a good thing to be able to marry who you want.

I want to quickly get a slave wife and live while fondling her all day.

“It’s getting late. Get some sleep for a bit.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not sleepy yet. I’ll keep watch and wake you up. We’ll take turns.”

“Alright. I’ll sleep first.”

It was around noon when we entered the labyrinth.
We’ve been wandering around the labyrinth for hours, so it must be night outside by now.

Proper rest is important.

“Um, porter.”

“Yes?”

“Uh. That. You know..”

“Do you need to use the bathroom?”

“…”

“Let’s move a bit away from the room.”

“Yeah. Uh. Sorry…”

“No. It’s a physiological phenomenon. But. Is it big or small?”

“I-it’s small!”

Just because it’s a labyrinth doesn’t mean you don’t need to pee.
Excretion is as important as eating and sleeping.

Holding it in causes health problems.

‘If we defecate near the room, monsters will be attracted by the smell. It’s better to take care of it a bit further away.’

The monsters crawling out in the breeding ground tend to have good sense of smell or hearing.
So if we defecate near the room where we’ll spend the night, they might smell it and come.

That’s why we need to go a bit far to relieve ourselves.
But I couldn’t send the young lady alone as it would be dangerous if something happened, so I had to go with her.

“I want to die from embarrassment.”

“It’s better than actually dying, isn’t it?”

“Damn. Shit. Shit. Shit. Hey, porter. Cover your ears.”

“If I cover my ears and can’t hear monsters coming, what then?”

“Monsters? What are monsters?”

“Ah, I mean, it would be a big problem if I can’t hear monsters coming.”

“Ugh… So in the end. You’re saying you’re going to listen to me peeing.”

“I’m not listening because I want to. Look, you’re tired, so let’s quickly do it and go. This kind of thing happens often in the labyrinth. If you get embarrassed by every little thing, you can’t be an adventurer.”

“I think I’m starting to dislike the labyrinth.”

“You still liked it until now? That’s obsession.”

“Damn porter. I hate you. You’re annoying.”

The daughter of the renowned Lionel Margrave from the North started urinating while squatting down with a red face.

Trickle.

She must have been holding it for a long time.
It’s strong.

Of course, I’m not listening to this sound intently because I’m a pervert.

‘Bopal Rabbits most often target defenseless adventurers who are relieving themselves.’

Bopal Rabbits aim to cut the neck, taking advantage of situations where people can’t move.

They make a distinctive sound of hitting the ground with their feet before charging, so we need to listen carefully for that sound.

There’s nothing as ridiculous as dying while peeing.

“Are you done? Here’s something to wipe with.”

“Ugh. You, you. Uh. Damn.”

The young lady wiped herself with the cloth piece I handed her. In a world where toilet paper isn’t commonplace, people use these small, worn cloths to wipe roughly.

It doesn’t matter if you wash it or throw it away. The young lady wiped herself with the cloth and then threw it on the ground.

“Here’s water. You should wash your hands.”

“Uh. Ugh. Haaah…”

She sighed deeply after I took out a water pouch and helped her wash her hands.
She must have been quite embarrassed. I think I’d be embarrassed too if it were me.

“It’s nice to be able to wash hands even in the labyrinth thanks to the inventory, right?”

“It’s nice, but. It’s annoying.”

“Haha. Well, it is what it is.”

“You. Don’t tell anyone about this. Absolutely don’t use this as gossip. Don’t go around saying things like ‘I witnessed the Margrave’s daughter peeing’. If I hear any strange rumors, you.. I really won’t let you off easy. It’s the crime of insulting nobility. Got it?”

“I’ll keep it absolutely secret.”

“Damn porter. You answer well. It’s annoying.”

I took the young lady back to our temporary base.
A noble daughter who pees in front of a strange man and then gets embarrassed.

‘I’m getting a slight feeling.’

I felt something in my groin, but it was dark around so there was no chance of being caught.