Chapter 3 - Episode 3: My Precious and Beloved Master
Matilda had been sold as a slave when she was not yet ten years old.
The treatment of beastfolk varied by region; there were countries where they were treated no differently than humans, countries where they were uniformly persecuted as slaves, and conversely, countries where beastfolk made up the majority of the population and discriminated against ordinary humans.
For beastfolk, the Kingdom of Roadberg could be described as a bad country, for the most part.
It was not that they were discriminated against by the legal system. Even for beastfolk, a path to success was open depending on one's talent, and though they were a very small minority, there were beastfolk nobles, knights, and scholars.
However, looking at the overall picture, they were an existence that tended to be looked down upon as a minority race and placed at the bottom of the social structure.
Matilda's parents, who lived in the southern part of the kingdom, were no exception to this; they were poor tenant farmers who barely avoided falling into slavery, possessing neither money nor education, yet as a characteristic of rabbitfolk who often have twins or triplets, they had eight children.
Naturally, there was not enough money to feed all the children satisfactorily.
The eldest son, who would inherit the house, was viewed as the most important, and the other children were inevitably neglected.
Moreover, when the youngest children reached a certain age, they were sold off to slave traders to reduce the number of mouths to feed.
Matilda, born in the utterly insignificant position of fourth daughter, was also easily torn away from her parents for a single gold coin.
In the Kingdom of Roadberg, discrimination against beastfolk was most severe in the south and most lenient in the north.
Therefore, the days of Matilda, a rabbitfolk who fell into slavery in the south and was bought by the Earl's family, who were the lords of this land, were miserable.
She was a child slave who provided little labor, and a beastfolk to boot.
She was forced to do only the jobs that others did not want to do, such as drawing water and cleaning the toilets, and was beaten for any reason they could find. If she cried, she was beaten again because that displeased them.
When she became unable to find any hope in life, reaching a state where her heart had died while her body remained alive at the age of fifteen, the new job she was given was to look after a certain boy.
"—From this point forward, do not approach the Earl's manor at all, and give all orders for your personal needs to this slave. You may treat the slave as you wish, but if you kill them, the cost of the slave will be deducted from your living expenses. That is the message from the Master."
The head maid, who had brought Matilda there as if dragging her, spoke in a polite tone, yet she directed eyes toward the boy as if she were looking at filth.
That boy, who was said to be the son of the noble head of the house, had for some reason been isolated from the manor and was to live in a small detached building at the edge of the grounds.
And it seemed she had become his caretaker.
Having said only what was necessary, the head maid departed, leaving only the boy and Matilda behind.
Ah, next this boy will hit me. If I'm unlucky, he'll kill me.
As Matilda was thinking this, the boy approached her, reached out toward her face—which was covered in bruises and scars—and
"That looks painful. You poor thing,"
he said with a gentle expression, stroking her cheek.
.....
Whether it was out of sympathy, a whim, or whether he simply held no discriminatory feelings toward beastfolk to begin with, I do not know, but Noein-sama has treated me kindly from the first time we met.
The beatings stopped, the bruises stopped appearing, and my skin became beautiful. The luster gradually returned to my messy black hair.
Not only that, Noein-sama taught me the knowledge of letters and arithmetic that he had learned before being isolated at the age of nine.
As a result, I became able to perform basic reading, writing, and calculation.
Furthermore, Noein-sama read aloud difficult manuals on combat arts to me, and broke down the training methods written there so that I could understand them.
It was apparently his own form of love, intended to let me utilize my physical abilities as a rabbitfolk. Thanks to that, although I lack practical combat experience, I was able to acquire a reasonably systematic method of fighting.
Given the first peaceful life of my existence, given knowledge, we spent our days together. We talked about many things. I learned of Noein-sama's circumstances.
Compared to my life until then, I was given so much mercy and affection that, after several years of it accumulating, it was only natural to feel that I wanted to dedicate both my body and soul to this person.
Noein-sama, who was still a child when we first met, eventually grew into a young man.
I literally dedicated everything to him, and he, in turn, accepted it with his whole being. Even if born from a distorted environment, even if there was an insurmountable difference in status between a noble and a slave, love is love.
One day, when Noein-sama reached the age of fifteen and became an adult, Earl Kivileft visited him.
It was a conversation about kicking Noein-sama out of this manor. Noein-sama had told me in advance that this would happen.
"May I take one of the Earl's slaves with me?"
"Is that the rabbitwoman who was taking care of you?"
"Yes."
"...Very well. However, the cost of that woman will be deducted from your severance pay."
"Of course, I do not mind."
Yes. Noein-sama told me that he needed me, and that he wanted me by his side even after leaving the Earl's house. He wanted me. He did not mind at all that his severance pay would be reduced; seeking nothing else, he wanted only me.
I did not care if it was the development of a frontier. As long as I could be by Noein-sama's side, I would go to a forest, a wasteland, a battlefield, or even hell.
I had resolved as much.
.....
I see, so since yesterday, we have moved our residence to Noein-sama's territory.
Matilda, who woke up in the early morning just as the sky was beginning to whiten, remembered this upon seeing that she was inside a tent.
The reason she had a dream that felt like looking back at the past was likely due to the emotion of having reached this new land.
Looking at the face of her master, who was breathing softly in sleep beside her, she felt an irrepressible affection for him and gently stroked his head.
Though he had come to this land with a determination akin to obsession, Noein-sama still retained a certain innocence; he was at an age where it would not be incorrect to call him half-boy.
Recalling him from last night, when he acted spoiled with a natural expression different from the daytime when he tried to be like an adult noble, she gathered her clothes scattered in the tent, put them on, and went outside to prepare breakfast.
She poured the milk she had bought in the town of the Viscount Koenitz territory before entering the Bezel Great Forest into a pot, started a campfire with a magic tool of [Fire Magic: Tinder], brought the milk to a boil, and added barley to make barley porridge.
To her master, who woke up to the sound and smell and poked his head out of the tent, she called out, "Good morning, Noein-sama."
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