CCM 61 – Yo, Don’t Embrace Me

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–Slave.

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Hearing Kaya’s words caught me off guard.

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[Slave, you say… This little girl?]

[Yes. Here… Look at the marking on this girl’s right arm.]

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Kaya grabs the girl’s right arm and shows it to me while speaking.

The marking she speaks of proudly shows its presence as it shines in a greenish color.

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[This… It’s a slave’s crest, isn’t it.]

[Yes. And probably…]

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A slave’s crest.

It’s a magic that implants a pattern to a slave to signify one’s ownership of the property. The area around Rastal is a peaceful one but hey, seems like there are idiots just lingering around that don’t treat their slaves properly.

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[This crest… This child must be a slave of the Ald family.]

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I can’t help but frown after hearing Kaya. It just has to be them.

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The Ald Family.

They are nobles who govern a territory near Rastal Village.

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I rarely visit the place myself but the governor’s follies still reach my ears. To be honest, I think his temper is close to that of Leon and Dudley.

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[Uhh…. ah….]

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The girl groans in pain while she remains sprawling on the grass.

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[Sorry… please… —anymore… I.. won’t… please…forgive…]

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This is just too terrible.

And just looking at this girl’s figure… It wouldn’t take a genius to guess that she hasn’t been fed properly and left to starve for several days already.

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[Damn…]

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I’d like to keep her for a while and take care of her for a bit but she’s a slave so it will definitely cause complications and several issues.

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Afterall, she is a property and is owned by her master.

Thus, she can’t be taken away by anyone else and must be returned to her owner.

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And to top it off, since her master is a well known name on top of being a noble… Taking her without permission will definitely cause a ruckus.

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But.

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[Please… forgive..me, Ald-sama…. S-spare… spare my life…atleast…please…]

[…]

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Hearing the girl’s voice filled with pain, suffering and remorse… I can’t hold myself any longer.

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[Kaya-san… Correct me if I’m wrong but, the guild’s motto is <We’re The Protector of the People>, isn’t it?]

[Yeah, that’s what I know of as well — huh, don’t tell me–]

[Yes. I want to take this child under my custody albeit temporarily.]

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We can’t leave the girl alone in this dangerous situation any further.

If we leave her just like this, she’ll definitely die from hunger. But before that could happen, chances for her to be monsters’ dinner are quite higher. As an adventurer who sworn to protect the people, I won’t allow either of those situations to occur.

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If I start to weigh things based on their gains and losses… then, wouldn’t it just make me the same as ‘him’?

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[Fufufu, really, Arios-san, you’re so…]

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Kaya looks at me and I can see her gentle eyes sparkle before she returns her gaze towards the feeble kid.

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[I understand then. If it’s just temporary, then there should be no problems even with the Ald family. I think it will be just fine as well.]

[Kaya-san… Thank you.]

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Ald family, is it…

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I’ve heard that the head of their family is a rather vexatious person but I just can’t afford to leave this little girl to die alone. Furthermore, as someone who’s been exiled from his own family, I can sympathize with her finding herself without a place where she belongs.

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[Please… forgive…. I’m so sorry…]

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The girl repeatedly says so as we carry her on our way home.

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★

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After an hour.

We decided to shelter the girl for the meantime in Rei’s house. Since this affair involves a noble, it wouldn’t be a good idea to involve other normal citizens in this problem.

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[ah…. uh….]

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The girl lays down quietly on top of the bed as she sleeps.

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Rei’s holy magic must have helped her calm down.

The magic was able to soothe her fatigue physically and mentally.

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[More importantly… This child suffered quite terrible wounds, didn’t she…]

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Rei’s expression remains saddened as she strokes the girl’s hair.

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And I agree.

The mere appearance of the girl was enough to induce hearts to break into pieces.

She… her body tells a story of how abusive her experience must be.

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Just what kind of life this girl’s been through… I can’t even dare to imagine…

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[………]

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The girl’s eyes then wobble as she starts to awaken.

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[…..W-where…?]

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The girl whispers a single word amidst her confusion.

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I clear my throat and prepare my voice to be as gentle as possible.

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[How are you feeling? We’ve seen you fallen down on the road so we decided to take you for the–]

[ah—aaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAH!!!!]

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The little girl then with an unimaginable swiftness her nimble body can do, jumps out of bed and starts to go into a dogeza’s gesture.

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[I’m so sorry, so sorry! I will start to cook immediately! Please, just don’t hit me. Please…!!]

*……………..*

[…Please calm down. I am not someone from the Ald family.]

[….eh?]

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Seems like she didn’t notice it right away.

The little girl takes a good look at my face once again.

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[I’m Arios Makuba. A beginner adventurer. We’ve seen you fallen down on the ground and decided to take care of you for the meantime.]

[Take care… ? Di-did you just help me…?]

[Well, you can say that.]

[B-but… All of you should have seen my markings and know what I am already…]

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…Oh, I see.

There must have been people who’ve already seen her but attempted to help her at first.

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But the markings on the girl’s arm signifying her as a slave of Ald family changed the story.

The family’s infamy is so terrifying people turned a blind eye to the girl’s problems and injury.

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[We don’t need to know where you are from. The only thing we know is you’ve been into a lot of troubles. So just take it easy and have a rest.]

[Uh….. ah….]

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I guess she can’t hold her emotions any longer.

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[Uuuwaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!.]

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Tears overflow from her eyelids as she jumps from her dogeza and holds me in her embrace.

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Translator’s Note:

1. The chapter was so delayeeeddddd. Will issue another couple hours later so no teaser. Ciao!

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