Starting with a Military Arms System I Rise to Dominate Another World Chapter 30 : Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Watching from the Shadows, Nika Offers Herself

Valencia, the slums.

The slums lay at the edge of the town. The houses were low and small, most of them built from packed earth and rotten wood. Their roofs were covered with torn cloth and straw, and many of the walls were cracked, barely patched up with wooden boards or stones.

The roads were dirt paths, uneven and full of potholes, with stagnant filth and garbage collecting in them and giving off a sour stench.

Weeds grew along the roadside, tangled together with old clothes and broken bits of wood.

Unlike the prosperous parts of town, everything here reeked of decay.

Inside a house on the western side of the district—

“Heh, Rod, I’m back.”

A scruffy man pushed open the outer door and stepped inside.

If Ryan had been here, he would have recognized him at once. This man was none other than Gram, the sa person who had spoken to Ryan outside the Slave rchant Guild earlier that day.

“Gram, how did it go? Any business today?”

The man inside the house was nad Rod, Gram’s accomplice.

“Don’t even ntion it. I ran into plenty of people, but not a single deal ca through.”

“Damn it. If this keeps up, we’re going to spend all our money. We need to find so way to get our hands on more.”

“But there’s sothing I need to tell you.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Do you rember that woman we helped the noble lord capture last ti?”

“Which one? We’ve taken a lot of people. How am I supposed to rember?”

“The twins. The ones who were living with their father. Later, their father was beaten to death by the noble lord’s guards.”

“Ah, those two. I rember. What about them?”

“The younger twin was sold off to another empire. The older sister was still at the Slave rchant Guild, but today I saw soone buy her.”

“Oh? She was sold that quickly? Then we need to go take a look. The noble lord wanted them to live miserably as slaves. If her new master treats her too well and lets her live too comfortably, then the two of us are going to be in serious trouble.”

“What do you think those noble lords are even thinking? If he didn’t like her, why not just kill her? Why keep her alive as a slave?”

“You don’t get it. Sotis staying alive is more miserable than dying. They rejected the noble lord, so they already enraged him. There’s no way they were ever going to have a good ending.”

“All right. I’ve already checked things out. The person who bought her seems to be an adventurer. He took her out of the city today to hunt monsters. That’s good news for us. It’ll be easier to keep watch on him.”

“Good. Then starting tomorrow, we’ll monitor him, find a chance to kill the adventurer, and then we’ll beco her masters ourselves. Heh heh heh…”

“That’s right. Adventurers run into accidents outside the city all the ti. If one or two die, no one will care. When that happens, she’ll be ours.”

“Then it’s settled. We move tomorrow!”

……

anwhile, Ryan returned to town with Nika.

For Nika, today had been an exceptionally rare experience.

She had left the Slave rchant Guild and gained a new master.

Fortunately, her new master treated her very well. Not only had he bought her equipnt, he had even allowed her to use powerful Magic Tools.

When she failed to hit the monsters with the gun, her master had not criticized her. Instead, he had comforted her.

That only made her feel once again that her master was treating her very well.

Faced with such a good master, she had already accepted him in her heart. Because of that, she had decided to do her utmost to serve him according to what the older woman at the Slave rchant Guild had taught her.

At this mont, the inn was lively and bustling.

In the dining hall on the first floor, many adventurers were chatting loudly, recounting what they had seen and experienced throughout the day.

Ryan did not eat downstairs. Instead, he had a waiter bring dinner up to the room.

Then he returned to the room with Nika.

Ryan casually began taking off his mithril armor.

Seeing this, Nika stepped forward to attend to him.

At first, Ryan still was not quite used to it, but when he thought about the fact that Nika was doing it of her own accord, he stopped refusing.

What a rotten society.

Ryan had to admit that this rotten society was absolutely wonderful.

If he wanted to, he could already be living a life where clothes were handed to him the mont he reached out and food was placed before him the mont he opened his mouth.

It was just that, for now, he still wanted to go out and make his own way in the world.

A short while later, dinner was brought up.

Ryan sat down at the table, ready to eat.

Nika stood behind him, prepared to serve.

“Nika, sit down and eat with .”

“Master, how could Nika possibly eat together with you? That would be inappropriate.”

Nika hurriedly refused.

She had learned etiquette at the Slave rchant Guild.

As a slave, she was not allowed to eat together with her master.

When her master ate, she was supposed to stand by and serve.

“It’s fine. There are only the two of us here. It’s better if we eat together.”

“Master, this…”

Seeing that Nika was still hesitating, Ryan said, “That’s an order.”

“Uh… yes, Master.”

Nika replied softly.

Then she sat down beside Ryan and began to eat.

Only then did Ryan nod in satisfaction.

“Nika, even though you’re a slave, I also treat you as a companion. When it’s just the two of us, you can relax a little.”

“Master…”

Nika looked at Ryan with tears glistening in her eyes.

At this very mont, she felt deeply grateful that she had been able to et Ryan.

Other slaves had never received treatnt like this.

“All right, it’s nothing much. Hurry up and eat.”

Dinner was finished quickly.

Afterward, Nika insisted on clearing the table herself.

This was also sothing she felt strongly about.

As a slave, being allowed to eat together with her master was already an enormous act of kindness.

If she also let her master clean up the table, her conscience would not be able to bear it.

Ryan did not argue with her and simply let her do as she pleased.

Nika had clearly been trained well. In no ti at all, she had cleaned the table thoroughly.

Ryan went to the washroom to bathe, intending to rest early.

There was very little entertainnt at night in this world.

Aside from gambling houses and brothels, the only other options were boasting in the inn’s common room or listening to other people boast.

Ryan disliked all of those activities. He would rather rest early.

Only at tis like this did he miss the life he had on Blue Star in his previous life.

Back then, nightti was only the beginning.

Phones, the internet, gas, videos, and so on—

Any one of them could fill the dull hours of the night.

But in this world, it was different.

There was very little to do after dark.

Ryan finished bathing quickly. It took him less than half an hour.

As he wiped his hair, he stepped out of the washroom.

“I’m done. Nika, go take your bath.”

Ryan spoke casually.

“All right, Master.”

Nika’s cheeks flushed red.

Ryan walked to the window and looked out into the distance. Beyond it lay Valencia at night.

A half-moon hung in the sky. Its light was not particularly bright, barely enough to outline the shape of the town.

The buildings in the distance rose and fell unevenly, with the tallest of them being the clock tower at the town center. It was built of brick and stone, with several small windows in the tower, none of them lit. Under the moonlight, the outline of the clock tower appeared blurred.

Around it stretched clusters of stone houses, most of them with pointed roofs covered in dark gray tiles.

The noise from the inn’s first floor drifted upward through the cracks in the window.

Firelight flickered in the hall below, illuminating the entire space.

More than twenty wooden tables were filled with people, most of them adventurers dressed in all manner of leather armor, so of them with weapons resting against the tables.

Most were drinking. Earthenware cups clinked sharply against one another, and liquor spilled across the tabletops and dripped over the edges onto the floor.

Farther away, the gambling house blazed with light, brighter even than the inn’s torches.

From where Ryan stood, he could see people constantly coming and going through its entrance. Most were dressed respectably—fat n who looked like rchants, as well as young nobles in silk clothing.

The gambling house rang with the rattling sound of dice, mixed with excited shouts and disappointed curses. The noise rose and fell, but it was clear that the place was packed and the atmosphere feverish.

Occasionally, an argunt would break out inside, only to be swallowed up almost imdiately by even louder uproar.

Farther still lay the district of brothels, where the lighting was suggestive and dim, mostly red and pink magic lamps. The glow was soft, in contrast to the bright white light of the gambling house.

Most of the brothels were two-story buildings with curtains hanging at the entrance in all sorts of colors, swaying whenever the doors opened and closed.

Several scantily dressed won stood at the entrances, beckoning to passing n. Smiles filled their faces, and their coy voices could faintly be heard even from where Ryan stood.

There was a constant stream of people coming and going from the brothels.

Carriages were parked along the street outside, with coachn sitting at the front and smoking while they waited for their passengers to co back out.

Every now and then, a drunkard would stagger out of a brothel and be helped along by a companion, mumbling incoherently as he stumbled unsteadily toward sowhere else.

As the night deepened, the sounds of the town did not lessen. The din of the inn, the uproar of the gambling house, and the movent around the brothels all intertwined and drifted away on the night wind.

The moonlight remained pale, casting vague shadows over rooftops and streets alike. Together with the lights from every corner of town, it ford the nightti picture of Valencia.

An hour later, Nika finished bathing and stepped out of the washroom.

Click.

The washroom door opened.

Ryan turned around and imdiately widened his eyes.

Nika was wrapped in a bath towel, and her entire body gave off an irresistible air of temptation.

Gulp.

Ryan could not help swallowing.

He could not be blad for that. The Nika before him was simply too alluring.

He was still a hot-blooded young man. The fact that he could hold himself back and not pounce on her like a beast already showed a great deal of self-control.

“Umm… Master…”

Nika lowered her head and called softly.

She did not dare raise her eyes to look at Ryan.

Just that single mont of eye contact had made it feel as though Ryan’s gaze was about to devour her.

And yet, inwardly, she felt a secret delight.

It seed her figure really was good enough to stir Ryan’s interest.

Only then did Ryan rember.

Nika was from the fox tribe. Once she completely let go, she fully displayed her charm before him.

“Master, let serve you…”

Nika slowly walked over to Ryan and spoke in a low voice.

“Uh… Nika, what is this?”

“Master, the older won at the Slave rchant Guild taught how to please my master.”

Hearing that, Ryan raised an eyebrow.

The Slave rchant Guild taught that too?

As she spoke, Nika’s hand had already moved to Ryan’s waist.

Ryan was naturally not so saint capable of remaining unmoved in the face of temptation. He held Nika and slowly lay down with her.

The moon quietly slipped into the embrace of the clouds, leaving behind only a faint halo that flickered dimly across the horizon, as though even the night itself had softened its breathing for fear of disturbing the two people inside the room.