Side: Yuki
"Cough—gah... tea went down the wrong pipe..."
What the hell? Is it normal these days for heroes to be sold as slaves?
Is this some kind of "from slavery to hero" success story?
"A-Are you alright, Advisor Yuki?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just choked on my tea."
As I'm responding, the door burst open violently.
"You! What have you done to Yuki?!"
"Yuki-san, are you okay?!"
"...Poison!? Hang in there!!"
"It's a misunderstanding. I just choked on my tea. My apologies, Asu-san. My wives tend to overreact."
"But...!"
"It's really okay. Asu-san didn't do anything."
"...Understood."
At my word, the three of them backed off.
Personally, I wouldn't have minded if they sat down with us.
...I wouldn't have minded if they sat down with us, though.
"I apologize again. My wives overreacted a bit."
"Ah, no. I think it's only natural. I take no offense."
After that, we spoke briefly, promised to have a detailed briefing and meeting tomorrow, and parted ways with Asu-san.
* * *
Um, Master? What should we do?"
The four women left in the room called out to me tentatively. Right, this is the issue.
"For now, everyone, have a seat on that sofa."
"N-No! We couldn't possibly!?"
All of them, including the Hero-to-be, shook their heads vigorously.
"It's alright. Just because you're slaves doesn't mean we'll mistreat you here. We treat everyone as a person."
"There are no whips for slaves here. Though we might scold you on occasion."
"...So, don't worry."
Relieved by the words from fellow women, they finally sat down.
Now, time for me to prepare a little mischief.
"Now that our numbers have grown, I'll prepare some tea. Listen, Eris. These girls apparently have skills like Arithmetic. I think it would be better to give them direct instruction for immediate deployment rather than sending them to the training center. Hear them out first."
"I see. If they've already acquired Arithmetic, we might be able to skip the training center."
While we exchanged words, I sent a signal that I had already confirmed their skills via Appraisal.
We had decided on a code beforehand: if I judge someone's words to be true via Appraisal, I end sentences with "apparently" or "seems like"; if it's a lie, I use different phrasing. After that, it's a matter of personality, so I'll have to leave the final judgment to Eris's interviews.
Well, there's no need to decide everything today. It's better to let them relax in Weed for a week to get used to the city first.
"Here, sorry it's just tea. Have some sweets with it."
Even I'm not superhuman enough to brew coffee or black tea in a room that only has a Japanese teapot.
The four were extremely tense—having tea poured for them by me personally—but once my wives started drinking, they finally settled down and took a sip.
"Listen while you drink. I'll explain this again later, but hearing a bit now might ease your anxiety. You see, here..."
I explained that the slave system here is essentially treated as labor to buy back one's freedom. Once the payment is complete, they are free to leave the city or continue living here as citizens. I gave them a brief rundown of how Weed works.
"So, I hope you understand there's no need to be that nervous."
"Yes."
"This place is amazing."
"I'll work my hardest!!"
"...Yes."
Only Ria, the Hero-to-be, had a weak response.
Has she been traumatized by being dropped into slavery...? It feels like she doesn't even half-believe what I'm saying. Or rather, she feels like she's in total despair. She kind of reminds me of Kaya...
Let's change the flow a bit.
"Eris, give me a second. It's a simple matter, so keep drinking your tea."
"What is it?"
I whispered to her that Ria is an unawakened Hero.
"!!!"
As expected, she's surprised.
The other two had the same reaction. Derieu actually fell over backward. Quite the feat.
* * *
After that, we had some light small talk, promised to show them around tomorrow, and parted ways.
"It seems Eris guided them to a vacant inn. Even if we were to shove them into the training grounds, that wouldn't be until next week anyway."
"...But to think that girl is a Hero."
"Well, she's only Level 4. We're still much stronger."
"Yuki, you have a mean streak. I was so shocked I flipped over."
"My bad, my bad. But we have to decide how to handle Ria very carefully."
"...That girl. She's definitely a victim of that conflict. I can tell. That look... she lost her family right in front of her. I think the whole world feels hazy and untrustworthy to her now."
"A Hero, huh... The world is truly cruel."
Kaya and Derieu stared in the direction Ria and the others had left.
* * *
Time passed, and after dinner, during a moment of relaxation:
"Onii-chan, did you really meet a Hero-sama!?"
"Nii-sama, wasn't the Hero-sama supposed to be a man?"
"...Hmm, I see. A beautiful girl who resembles me. Her chest is smaller than Eris's or Milly's, but it's still big."
"Labyris-chan, that's cheating! I want to see too!"
"Me too! Show us, Labyris-chan!!"
"...Wait, you two, that's impossible! Hey, kyahh~!?"
Labyrs was being pushed down by the two excited girls.
Her skirt flipped up, and... man, what kind of underwear is she wearing?
Since I started letting them pull clothes from the DP catalog, I told them they could get whatever they wanted, but Labyris is wearing almost exclusively sheer lingerie.
"...It's fine, isn't it?"
"No, it's not. Go play with those two."
"Che."
The three of them went back to chatting happily.
"Heh, so that's your preference."
"Back off."
"Whatever. I can just test your reaction with it later. Still... a Hero, huh."
"Something outrageous has arrived~"
"But she's Level 4, right? And unawakened. Can't we just treat her normally?"
Ratz agreed with Seraria's words, while Milly offered a suggestion.
"Well, as Milly says, if she lives out her life as a normal person, there's no problem."
"If she awakens improperly and her identity as a Hero is exposed, it will look like Weed took in a Hero as a slave and forced her to do menial labor."
"Whoa, even I can tell that's bad news."
Riel frowned as she listened to the future Seraria described.
Just as Seraria said, if that happened, before we could even talk about protecting the Hero, the fact that we had received her as a slave would be extremely problematic.
"By the way, Yuki-san. Is that Hero from another world like you or Taiki-san?"
Sheila asked, as if suddenly remembering.
Come to think of it, she wasn't an otherworlder.
"I'm pretty sure it said 'Hero of Love.' It didn't say she was from another world."
"I see. That's wonderful. To think a Hero would be born from our own continent."
"I'm happy about that, but she's a slave. Wait... Danna-sama, did you say 'Hero of Love'?"
Rurua latched onto that oddly. Why?
"Yeah, I definitely said Hero of Love."
"Then... doesn't that involve Lilyshe-sama?"
"""Ah."""
And so, we immediately summoned Lilyshe for interrogation.
By the way, unlike Luna, Lilyshe lives as a priest in the Rithea church in Weed. She had been trying to improve Rithea for a long time, but it didn't work out, leading to the current situation. Apparently, she went to the Great Cathedral several times as a simple priest to try and be heard, but she was turned away every time.
Arshtelle and Rurua nearly fainted when they heard this. I mean, slamming the door on the god you worship is beyond sacrilegious. Though, that was several generations before Arshtelle and Rurua; since then, she had been working quietly as a local priest.
Back to the main issue.
The current problem was the "Hero of Love."
"Ah, so that child has come here~? Just as I expected, she has become a Hero."
She admitted it cheerfully!
"Lilyshe-sama, could you please explain?"
"Sure, no problem. It was about ten years ago—"
She gave a brief explanation.
Each god can select one Hero associated with themselves.
Basically, they select someone they find useful or who thinks like them, creating a Hero to assist them. They receive corrections far beyond what a Saint or Holy Person gets; they can literally make a name for themselves as a Hero.
However, there's a catch: the title of Hero can't be handed out willy-nilly.
One every 100 years—That's the fastest pace.
But usually, those with the title of Hero are thrust onto the front lines of war and politics and don't live long. So, Lilyshe found Ria in the place where she was serving as a priest back then and set up the awakening conditions for her to become a Hero.
But she's a slave now!!
"Sigh... Ria-chan being a slave is sad... But since she's in Weed, she's safe. I think she can safely awaken as a Hero here."
No, it would actually be extremely inconvenient if she awakened!!
"Um, Lilyshe-sama. What exactly are the awakening conditions?"
"It's the symbol of love — having sex!! But it can't be forced, okay? If she's forced, her power will go out of control and blow everything around her away. The safety measures for that are perfect, all for Ria-chan's protection."
They're not perfect at all!!
We'd have to issue evacuation warnings for the entire residential district!!
"...Wait a moment. So Ria will eventually awaken as a hero?"
"Yes. After all, it's rare to live a life without having sex with anyone. In a life-threatening crisis, her Hero skills will trigger to protect her, so unless it's something truly extreme, Ria-chan won't die."
Hmm, it's possible that Ria survived and only ended up as a slave because of Lilyshe. Otherwise, she might have been a corpse by now.
And effectively, we can't stop the Hero's awakening. Everyone fell silent at the news that Weed might suffer collateral damage.
"Dear."
"What?"
"Seduce Ria."
"Huh!?"
"You understand, don't you? If things stay like this, her status will be exposed and Weed will be damaged. Normally, we'd let nature take its course, but we can't overlook this."
"Hey, I can't just..."
I know. That's why it'll be fine as long as you and Ria love each other."
She's serious. Her eyes are dead set.
"Danna-sama. There is no one right path for love. Just as it was for me. Please, protect her and love her."
Rurua hugged me from behind.
Well, I get what they're saying. I understand the necessity.
The problem is that I'm being told to mark my prey and take her down. I'm not some dating sim protagonist! And I have to be prepared for the surrounding area to blow up at the final climax.
What kind of difficulty level is this?!
Mission: Seduce the Bomb Girl.
Failure: Everything blows up.
Note: She has emotional scars. Details unknown. Also, since she is a beauty, the probability of other men approaching her is high.
