Kousuke’s face became worried as he watched the husband and wife being supported by Peach and Floria.
“Um… are you alright?”
When Kousuke called out to them, the husband, Et, stood up with a splash and assumed a rigid posture.
“Y-yes! I’m fine!”
Although his face was still pale, Kousuke nodded, as he didn’t look fine at all.
Beside Et, his wife, Franca, was still collapsed, so he was distracted by her.
Kousuke asked Floria, who was patting Franca’s cheeks.
“How’s she?”
“Well, various things happened on the way here, and this was the final encounter, so the shock was probably too great. She’ll wake up soon, don’t worry too much… Oh, she’s awake now.”
Almost at the same time Floria said that, Franca opened her eyes and began looking around frantically.
Et, who was watching her, had an indescribable look on his face.
While Franca’s condition was certainly worrying, he was struggling with whether he, as a slave, should be acting so freely.
Confirming this, Kousuke said to Et as if offering a helping hand,
“Floria says she’s alright, so I think she is… why don’t you try to reassure her?”
However, Kousuke’s concern ended up being in vain. Franca, remembering the situation up until then, stood up abruptly like Et and suddenly bowed her head.
“I-I am terribly sorry! To have behaved so rudely…!”
Et, perhaps judging the situation to be reassuring, also bowed his head.
Seeing the couple’s behavior, Kousuke put a hand to his temple and looked at Floria. He judged that talking further in this state wouldn’t get them anywhere.
Floria, accurately reading his intention, looked at Et and Franca and said,
“I know this is sudden and you must be surprised, but please try to calm down? We can’t move forward with the conversation otherwise.”
“Y-yes. I apologize…”
Et, trying to calm himself down, was about to bow his head towards Floria when he suddenly made a face as if remembering something.
“…Ah! R-right! You are the first Queen of Razek Amamiya… aren’t you!?”
“Hiiuh!?”
At her husband’s words, Franca’s eyes widened again, almost to the point of fainting. Fortunately, she didn’t collapse again, but she found herself in a state like being put in a cage and surrounded by many people.
Floria, confirming Franca’s state, sighed deeply and said to Et,
“That is correct… but for now, could you please remain silent until we finish our conversation?”
Deciding that they wouldn’t be able to continue the conversation if Franca remained constantly surprised, Floria decided to proceed with their story unilaterally. That way, since Et and Franca were slaves, they wouldn’t be able to interject with unnecessary comments. After that, she thought it would be best to let the situation unfold and wait for them to recover from their shock.
At Floria’s words, Et and Franca nodded repeatedly in a flustered manner.
Floria, confirming this, began to explain the circumstances from the very beginning. However, there was only one thing Floria had to explain. They were looking for talent to work in Kousuke’s shop in the first place, so that was all she needed to say. The only problem was that the employer was an avatar.
After hearing Floria’s explanation, Et looked back and forth between Kousuke and Floria, wondering who to ask, and finally asked Floria,
“What kind of items will be placed in that shop?”
“Ah, those will be magic tools made by Kousuke… Although, I have a feeling various other things will be added later.”
Floria added, picturing Silvia’s face. Considering the Fox Inn, she was certain that Silvia would want to put items in the magic tool shop. In fact, Silvia was already starting to think about what she could put in, so Floria’s imagination wasn’t incorrect.
Shaking off that thought, Floria said,
“In any case, you can essentially think of them as magic tools.”
Although her words were ambiguous depending on how you listened, that wasn’t what caught Et’s attention.
“Magic tools… Unfortunately, that’s not our specialty?”
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. For the time being, Kousuke will be setting the prices anyway.”
As Floria said this, she looked at Kousuke, who nodded in response.
“That’s right. It would be troublesome if they were to skyrocket for no reason, so I’m planning to set owner settings for the tools as well, so you don’t need to worry too much, alright? For now, I just need you to properly handle customer service and shop management.”
“W-we think we can manage that much.”
Et momentarily glanced at Franca, confirmed her nod, and answered Kousuke with a trembling voice. Since he was directly addressed, he couldn’t avoid responding.
Floria, watching this, sighed deeply.
“…While their ability as shopkeepers is without fault, judging by this, I have some concerns.”
“That’s right~”
Peach, who had been silently observing the exchange, added to Floria’s muttering.
“Except for general goods, most of what will be placed in Mr. Kousuke’s shop will be items made by his own hand. We’ll need to inquire about the purpose of each one… will that be alright~?”
Peach asked, directing a confirming gaze towards them, leaving Et and Franca speechless. While they would normally want to answer that it would be fine, it was difficult to give an immediate answer given who they were talking to.
Floria, muttering “As expected,” shook her head.
“It can’t be helped. Until you both get used to it, we’ll have an interpreter in between.”
“…Interpreter?”
Kousuke tilted his head, not understanding what she meant. Floria grinned and said,
“You don’t need to think of it as complicated. The management layer also has slaves, you know? We can ask them.”
“…Ah!”
As if finally remembering upon Floria’s words, Kousuke clapped his hands. Cecil and Arisa were still slaves, yet they were some of the few people who treated Kousuke with normalcy. Floria was suggesting they have one of them act as an intermediary for the time being.
In the end, Et and Franca did not quickly get used to Kousuke, so they accepted Floria’s proposal and decided to have Cecil or Arisa act as an intermediary. Seeing someone of their own slave status interact with him so normally (while still showing proper respect), Et and Franca gradually became accustomed to Kousuke.
As they were subsequently surprised by the detailed explanation of the shop, further surprised by the discussion of the products to be sold, and then so astonished by the talk of prices that they were almost fainting, Et and Franca even began to request that the pricing be discussed with them. However, Kousuke, watching from the sidelines, felt a subtle unease about whether he should see this as growth.
At last, with the addition of the husband and wife slave duo, Et and Franca, Kousuke’s new shop was finally set to officially open.
It was a story about a slave couple who were constantly surprised. Although the ending is written concisely, there were many internal struggles to get there.
…But those were all drastically cut out! lol
Next, I’ll write about the shop’s opening from a customer’s perspective. …Or so I plan to. …I think.
