Slime Reincarnation

Chapter 89: Let’s Teach the Saved Company That They’re Doing Black Business

We left commercial city Barlere half a day ago.

The journey to the royal capital is three days.

We’re scheduled to stay overnight in the village along the way.

Now we’re in the middle of afternoon travel after lunch.

『Still, you really got to ride such a wonderful horse, huh?』

"Red Kabuto," the Knight of Love and Justice, Gerdon, rode beside the carriage and spoke.

"Of course. Gerdon is a hero, after all. Also, it’s human language training."

『I want to be able to speak.』

Gerdon, wearing the bright red full-plate armor, is riding a big horse. He swapped the 3-meter halberd for one just under 2 meters. The original 3-meter halberd was donated as a heroic weapon that slew over 1,000 orcs to the lord. The shopkeeper was ecstatic, so we got the 2-meter one for free.

The horse was expensive, though. We had to buy a sturdy, large one because Gerdon would be riding while wearing full-plate armor.

"But a knight in bright red armor as a follower... It looks pretty impressive."

Lord Fenberg is showing sudden interest in the new companion (actually a contracted beast).

"It’s only for show, Gerdon."

『Only show.』

"Strength will come later, won’t it?"

『If I have to fight in an emergency.』

"Emergency is best not to have in the first place."

『That’s true.』

While Gerdon and I were chatting casually, Irina looked at us with narrowed eyes.

"Yabe, you acquired a contracted beast that you can talk to so casually..."

"Irina? Stop getting jealous of orcs, okay?"

I’ve already told the Coluna Frontier Count family (Irina, Sarina, Luciana, Lord Fenberg, and the others) about the orc army attack on Barlere during breakfast.

Irina, Sarina, and Luciana seemed relieved that I had a good reason for not going shopping yesterday.

Lord Fenberg just said "Again?" in a flat tone.

"Yabe-dono saves people everywhere... You’re like a detective from a mystery novel."

"Who on Earth is a plague that brings death to every place he goes!?"

I gave a soul-based rebuttal to Lord Fenberg’s careless remark.

To be clear, this unusually large monster attack isn’t my fault!

"That’s right! Thanks to Yabe-sama, we’re able to travel safely to the royal capital. If there had been many safe trips in the past, wouldn’t you have decided to go to the royal capital with only a few knights? If Yabe-sama hadn’t been there, we’d probably be dead by now!"

My wife (Lady Flora, Count Fenberg’s wife and also Luciana’s mother) followed me up.

She was only introduced to me at breakfast, so when Count Fenberg called her "Flora" I realized it was his wife’s name.

Well, it wasn’t that big a deal.

Still, the highway connecting Barlere to the royal capital is quite well maintained.

There was one slightly large forest we had to detour around on the way to the first stopover town.

(I don’t think there will be any monster attacks, but...)

Even so, we can’t be sure.

I expanded and thinly but widely.

"It’s real!!"

Everyone in the carriage jumped at my sudden loud voice.

"What’s wrong, Yabe!?"

Irina leaned out of the window and looked worried.

"Chick Captain! Situation check! I’m going out! Logan and the others, surround and block any fleeing thieves!"

『Understood!』

『Hahaha!』

"What! What happened, Yabe-dono!"

"The forest deep inside the area off the highway has a caravan being robbed. I can’t send Logan’s group in to help since they’re for people. I’m going instead! Gerdon, protect the carriage. It’s possible it’s a distraction."

I know it’s unlikely, but I still gave the instruction before flying into the forest with .

"No! Stop it! Stop!"

Inside the caravan, the best-dressed woman was pinned down by the robbers.

"Hahaha! You got betrayed! You’re now my employee! You complained about low pay and long hours, didn’t you?!"

"N-No!"

It turns out Domus, the employee who worked as a lower staff member, was rummaging through the luggage.

"Domus!"

"Hey there, boss. Give me that woman too. You made us work from morning to night for cheap wages and then said ’You’re not useful’ and ’you’re trash’! That’s nasty! Hahaha!"

"Th-That’s cruel!"

The robber leader was about to tear the woman’s clothes and assault her.

"No! Stop!"

"You can’t stop now! If you don’t want this woman killed, don’t resist! Listen, you five men who work for you — I’m selling all of them as slaves! And after I’ve had my way with this woman, I’ll sell her to the brothel!"

"Uuuuu..."

The woman’s eyes are filled with tears of despair over her grim future.

"But I think you should stop."

"Eh!?"

Grasp!

"Wha—!?"

I grabbed the back of the head of the robber leader who was straddling the woman.

"Gugyagya gyagyaga!"

I tightened my iron claw around his head.

"If I keep going like this, I’ll probably splatter his brains. What should I do?"

"Stop! Stop!"

"But you said ’stop’ earlier, so I thought I’d stop too, like ’you can’t stop now’."

Crack! Crack! Crack!

"GYAaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The robber leader screamed louder.

"Shut up."

"I-I’m sorry! It was my mistake! I won’t do it again!"

"What a shameless lowlife. Even with such a fast slap, I have nothing to say. You won’t assault people like this anymore, right?"

"I won’t! I’ll change my ways! I’m sorry!"

The robber leader apologized while sobbing and wailing.

"Okay. Fine, I’ll let you go."

I released the iron claw.

The moment I did, the robber leader pulled a knife from his waist, pinned the woman down, and pressed the knife to her throat.

"Hahaha! Idiot! You fell for it! Okay, if you don’t want this woman killed, don’t resist!"

"Wait... Didn’t you say you’d change your ways and stop doing bad things?"

I asked anyway.

"Shut up! You’re an idiot! You can’t keep promises! Hey, you guys! Now’s the time! Kill this guy!"

"Hehe~!"

"You’re a moron trying to play hero!"

"I’ll kill you!"

There were seven of the thieves, not including the leader. They weren’t a huge group. There was also a suspicious little guy rummaging through the carriage’s luggage. Five men were tied up in the back. It looked like they hadn’t been killed yet — probably so they could watch the assault. It seemed like they were still alive, which was fortunate.

"Hey! Why did you spare these thieves?! They wouldn’t keep any promises!"

The female caravan owner glared angrily, still being held hostage.

"Do you know your position? If I hadn’t come, you would have already been assaulted, right? You’re complaining to me who stopped that?"

I spoke to the woman with some exasperation.

"Still! She’s about to be killed right now! I’m...!"

She was pretty self-centered. I wonder if I was sent here by the gods to save her.

"Don’t dilly-dally and just kill this guy quickly!"

The robber leader ordered his seven men to attack.

Dobo!

I one-shot the front man with a body flash!

"Geh fuu!"

I quickly repositioned, struck another man with a spinning kick.

Bakii!

"Ga! "

I crouched low, swept the last two with a rotary foot sweep, and knocked them down. Then I shattered the front man’s jaw with a sharp kick to his face when he tried to stand. For the two delayed attackers who came with knives, I caught their wrists with both hands, twisted them, and hurled them away. Since their heads fell off, the damage was big. I finished them off with a sweeping kick when they tried to stand.

While the leader was yelling, all seven men collapsed.

"Well, I believe every human deserves a second chance. Even if they seem untrustworthy. Of course, whether they use that chance is up to them."

"Th-That’s...?"

The woman owner asked me a simple question, but the robber leader pressed the knife to her throat.

"Who are you...?"

"I don’t like liars. You no longer have a chance."

"Shut up! You can’t kill me! If you don’t want this woman dead, don’t resist!"

"How?"

"Ah? Of course with this knife..."

The robber leader’s hand holding the knife fell off.

"Gyaaaaaaaaa!"

The woman got covered in blood. Too bad for her position.

By the way, I just sliced the hand off with a thin extended slime tentacle. I don’t go easy on liars.

『Boss! The thieves here are all the ones present.』

『Boss, there are no fleeing thieves from the forest.』

Chick Captain and Logan reported from their positions. They’re reliable.

"Oii, Escort Captain, tie them up and bring them out. The reward can be spent on drinking and eating with everyone."

"That’s... not how it works, Yabe-dono..."

"It’s fine, it’s fine."

I pushed the reward money toward the reluctant escort captain. They’ve been guarding us for a long journey — they deserve some fun.

"T-Then I’ll take you up on your offer... Hey, grab some rope, lift these guys!"

"Understood!"

"With Yabe-dono here, we can drink good wine today!"

"Snacks too, I hope!"

The escort knights lifted the thieves with excitement.

"You’re all okay, right?"

I untied the five bound men while the woman owner stood there stunned.

"T-Thank you..."

"I’m saved..."

"Thank goodness..."

Everyone looked dark. They said they were saved, but their eyes were dead. They remind me of colleagues from my old company days when I worked like a salaryman with no dreams or hopes.

"Hyaa!"

It must have hit her. The woman owner screamed.

Now, the last one is suspicious.

"Escort knights, the remaining one is probably one of them too, so tie him up and take him away."

I told them not to forget the little guy still trembling and rummaging through the carriage’s luggage.

"Domus! You’re disgusting!"

The female owner was furious. Of course — she got betrayed, so of course she’d get angry.

The remaining thieves were taken to the guild first. A few had already left ahead.

After processing the luggage for bloodstains and changing into fresh clothes, the female owner came to greet me again.

"Thank you for saving me. My name is Sara Riman, the president of Riman Trading Company."

"Riman?!"

I must have made a stupid sound because Sara looked at me curiously.

"Yes, Sara Riman."

I grabbed Sara’s shoulders and shook her.

"Riman! Are you overworking? Are you sleeping properly? Don’t die from overwork!"

Sara jumped because I shook her too vigorously.

"N-N-N-N-What are you doing?!"

"What’s wrong with Riman! Many acquaintances told me that working seriously and diligently at Riman is good!"

"Eeeh!? W-Working seriously and diligently is a good thing...?"

Sara answered without understanding, but basically "working seriously is good."

"But working too seriously makes you a company slave! There’s no future!"

"What does ’company slave’ mean?"

"It’s a word you probably won’t understand. More importantly, aren’t all your employees looking dead? Are you overworking them?"

I asked with concern. Sara looked slightly annoyed and answered.

"We hire people with proper hours — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We’re actually quite conscientious."

Sara bragged, but the other employees said:

"We have to come before 8 a.m. to prepare."

"Even after closing, we can’t go home until 5 p.m. because there are many customers."

"We can’t go home right after closing because we still have to prepare for the next day."

"On days when the shop is busy, we don’t get the day off."

"Even when business is good, the pay doesn’t increase."

"Black! Blaaaaack!"

My soul screamed.

"Eh?! But if we don’t do something like this, how can we run the company?"

And the business owner says! Black business is, of course, normal!

"You need to be beaten to death about this."

"Scary! I was just saved! It’s scary!"

Sara’s eyes were a little teary. But if she cowered now, those five had no future!

"If you don’t change now, those employees’ eyes will die even more!"

"Die even more? They seem pretty dead to me already."

"Dead is too kind a word. Their hearts are dead! They can’t find any meaning in working at your company!"

I declared loudly.

"Your company needs reform in how you treat your employees!"

"Extra work after being saved! What a nosy person!"

Sara finally got angry.

"Hmm... As the company president, you’re not even willing to listen to opinions... That’s really disappointing. I can only hope those five employees won’t truly die."

"How rude! Hey, everyone! Lift the carriage! Let’s start heading to the royal capital after we check the luggage!"

"Ye-Yes..."

"Y-Yes..."

Only two of the five answered. They loaded up and left immediately.

"Well, goodbye."

I feel bad for saving them but not giving them a thank-you. I can’t tell if they ran away because of anger or forgot the thanks. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. One thing is clear — I never want to shop at their store again.

Heroic acts that leave a strong sense of helplessness are painful for my own heart too.

Someone, please heal me!