The Slave Heroine Appears! Part 1

The reason she was sold as a slave was a common one - to reduce the number of mouths to feed… However, in order to increase her value even a little, she disguised her gender, and by a series of coincidences, this has remained undiscovered to this day, which is unusual.

–The Mad Prince Lunatic.

Even I, who was born in a remote part of the Lombard Kingdom, had heard of the former Third Prince. He was the one who had purchased her and the other slaves.

His purpose was singular. …The development of the Land of Death. Moreover, it was not simply a matter of creating farmland and settling down. Eventually, they planned to rise as an independent power.

It seemed like an absurd plan that even his own father… no, even the spirits of his ancestors in the underworld would deem him insane for. …Until I saw this sight.

Is this the scene of the rumoured Land of Death…? According to the stories, it was supposed to be a barren land where the ground was always hot, where rain never fell, and where only miraculously adapted insects lived…

But here, where they had been brought, there was a large spring gushing forth water, and a small-scale rural landscape spread out, using it as a water source.

That was not the only surprising thing. There was a huge ship called “Mamiya” that could fly freely through the sky and even make its giant body disappear… Thanks to the various technologies and tools provided by this relic, said to have been left by ancient humans, they were able to lead such a comfortable and fulfilling life that it felt like they had wandered into the land of the gods.

The residences were built in a row house style using building materials she had never seen before, and unbelievably… each person was allocated one room. The soundproofing was perfect. Not even a draft could enter through the gaps. Moreover, a device called an air conditioner was installed, maintaining a comfortable room temperature at all times.

Turn the faucet, and clean water flows out in abundance. Using what was called a shower room installed in each room, one could wash one’s body every day. The toilets, while having a style of seat she had never seen before, were the familiar pit latrine type, as the excrement was to be utilized for various purposes.

The daily meals were also luxurious. The girl who was the princess of the ruined Beastman Country and the wife of Prince Asuru, the girl who was said to be the princess of the Elves… With their cooperation in cooking, there was always steamed rice, miso soup, salted vegetables… as well as a main dish of cooked meat or fish. Incredibly, this meat and fish was processed from soybeans grown in the fields. Using a tool called a soybean printer, they apparently achieved a texture just like the real thing.

What a wonderful treatment… Even if one were a noble, she couldn’t help but think that there were none who could lead such a life…

If that was the case, she had to respond to it. Even if she had fallen to the status of a slave, she had not lost the spirit of repaying favour with service.

For the time being, there was only one major task for her and the other slaves. –Learning. …That’s right.

The benefits brought by the tools from “Mamiya” were tremendous. With power surpassing not only humans but even cattle and horses, and with wonderful precision, they easily completed difficult tasks.

But tools were still tools in the end… Even though they could make judgments to a certain extent on their own, human intellect was ultimately necessary. In order to cultivate that intellect, the slaves spent their days learning various knowledge and how to use the various tools, with the girl with the fiendishly strange hair - Eve - as their guide.

She worked harder than anyone else towards that end. She learned a lot and ate well. All in order to repay the favour…

“What? There was a girl mixed in among the slaves?”

“Yes.”

One day… In my private room on the “Mamiya”, gazing at a tablet showing the yield status of various crops, I received an outrageous report from Eve.

“If you’re the one saying it, it’s not some kind of joke… But how did she manage to keep it hidden until now…”

“It can only be said to be the result of various coincidences coming together.”

I was told this by Eve, whose hair colour alone changed infinitely… But whose face remained expressionless, and I let out a groan.

“Well, in any case, there’s no helping it if she got mixed in. It’s not like we can drive her out at this point… Now that it’s come to this, we’ll have to treat her separately from the men, just like Uruka and the Elf girls.”

In all things, discipline is important. There are countless examples of trouble being invited by neglecting it… As I pondered, gazing at the ceiling and considering myself to have the shrewdness to at least learn from history.

“About that matter, I believe there will be no particular issues with the current situation.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“If you actually see her in person, you will understand.”

“I’m not opposed to that if you say so…”

Urged by Eve, I stood up from my seat. Well, regardless of how we treat her, nothing can begin without meeting her in person…

And so… Having come near the rice fields with Eve, I laid eyes on the person in question.

It was as if a mighty dragon had taken human form… There was no other way to describe this person with a powerful physique.

She was probably well over two meters tall… Her awe-inspiring muscular body was covered in leather fittings that clung tightly to her muscles–when did we supply those?

On her head, she wore a rugged helmet with twisted horns attached… Her countenance was truly that of a supreme ruler! Both eyes burned and glittered with inexhaustible ambition… Her face, as if directly carved from rock, made one think she had never worn a smile since the day she was born.

The slaves surrounding this person were also unusual. For some reason, they were all topless, wearing shoulder pads I had no recollection of supplying, and they all had hairstyles resembling chicken combs.

The giant figure, surrounded by the slaves who had turned into a bizarre group, raised her right hand high and looked up at the sky.

“Look to the heavens! Another clear day–a perfect day for rice farming! Everyone, follow me!”

–*Hyaahhh!*

The slaves surrounding the giant figure let out a very lackey-like cheer.

“Hey, Eve… Could it be, could it possibly be…?”

I timidly looked back at Eve by my side. Her answer was ruthless.

“Yes. The one raising her fist in the centre of the slaves is the girl I mentioned earlier–Ooga.”

…………………………………………

“Where’s the girl in thaaaaaaat!?”