The Revenge of the Soul Eater

Ciel Alous ①

 

「U-um, master.
Is this really alright?」

 

「Mm? What are you talking about?」

 

「Um…giving me this room when I’m a slave…」

 

「It’s fine.
Since there are a lot of rooms here, it’ll just go to waste if you don’t use it」

 

Ciel was confused after she was told that like it was no big deal. 

 

It was a room the same size or even bigger than the house that her and her 8 other family members once lived in.

 

Not only was there a bed and a shelf installed in advance, there were also blankets and bed sheets ready for use, so she could start living there immediately. 

 

The wooden floor was nicely polished; it was dazzling as it reflected the sunlight that shined through the window.  

 

The room that she has been using in “The Blue Little Bird Cage” until yesterday was really nice too, but this new one was on a completely different level.

 

Even if she was told that she can use this room however she likes starting today, Ciel was at a loss of what to do.

 

She unintentionally looked up at her master, Sora, to look for help.

 

Then, Sora lightly shrugged his shoulders.

 

「Yeah, I know what you want to say.
Honestly, I felt the same way when I first saw this」

 

「R-right…? This looks like the home of some important people…like a home that nobles live in…doesn’t it?」

 

「Even the location of this place is in the high-end residential area.
I didn’t want to borrow too much from the union either so I wanted to decline it at first but…」 

 

「But?」

 

「I couldn’t do it when I saw the bath」

 

When Sora said that with a serious expression, Ciel was slightly shocked.

 

She knew what a bath was.
There are many public bathhouses on the streets of Ishka. 

 

Most of them were steam baths, but some of them had bathtubs the size of big fountains that are full of hot water.

 

The bath installed in this house was the latter type.

 

「I thought he was joking when he said that there’s a cypress bathtub.
As expected of the union, or was it thanks to Mr.Fedor’s competence and knowledge? Either way, I definitely owe him for this one」

 

「T-that bath made with cypress wood does smell really nice」

 

「Right?!」

 

She was surprised when she saw him smiling so happily like that.

 

Her face instinctively reddened, and her triangular shaped ears on her head were swaying, but Sora was too excited to notice.

 

「Even the public bathhouses don’t have cypress bathtubs! I thought it would be difficult to fill a bath that big with water, but we could get as much water as we want from the Kale river, and we can use Lunamaria’s summon salamander to heat up the bath.
This is perfect!」

 

「……Y-yes」

 

For the moment, she could at least see that her master was really excited for a change.

 

Judging from his words, it seems like he had a cypress bathtub back home and had been missing one for a long time.

 

From what Ciel knows, only nobles would have a bath in their home.
Ciel wondered if the person in front of her was actually the son of some distinguished family.

 

Sora calmed his excitement down with a cough as if he noticed Ciel’s bewilderment.

 

「W-well, putting the bath aside」

 

「Y-yes」

 

「Take care of Suzume.
I told Lunamaria as well but when Suzume wants to go outside, please go with her」

 

「Understood」

 

Ciel nodded as she thought about the young kijin girl who had started living with them since the other day.

She did not hate the kijin race nor was she wary of them.

 

In the war three hundred years ago, beastkins had also fought against the kijins like humans did.
However, to Ciel, those stories are the same thing as fairytales.
She did not harbor any hatred towards them but even if she did, she would not think of putting her hands on Suzume.

 

In the first place, if it’s about the history of racial wars in the past, humans and beastkins have also had many conflicts with each other.

 

There are some humans out there who think of beastkins as “Impurities of man and beast”.
Depending on the country or region, beastkins could be either discriminated against or oppressed.

If you ask them which side are they more cautious of, kijins or humans, most beastkins will say humans.

 

…Speaking of which, I was also cautious of master at first.

 

Suddenly, Ciel recalled the old days.

The “old days”, but it hasn’t even been three months since Sora brought her.

However, those memories in her head felt like they were from a very long time ago.

 

 

 

◆◆◆

 

 

 

Ciel was born on the west border of the Ad-Astera empire.

A village near the national border of the Canaria Kingdom.

She is 15 years old.
She lived a stable life with her parents as the oldest daughter of the 7 siblings in her family. 

Her life started to change when her father, who was a hunter, got attacked by a demonic beast in the mountains.

Her father could no longer work after he lost one of his legs, and her entire family went broke instantly.
Her family’s oldest daughter after Ciel was 10 years old, and their oldest son was 8.
Her youngest brother was just a toddler.
It didn’t take Ciel very long before she considered selling herself.

 

Since the empire recognized demi-humans as their citizens as well, there wasn’t really any open discrimination.

But still, some people out there do dislike or hate beastkins.

 

That was true even if they had citizenship.
If a beastkin were to become a slave, no one would know what kind of treatment they’ll receive.

 

She knew that, but she still visited a slave merchant’s shop nevertheless.
She sold all the rights she had and gave all the money she made to her family in exchange for the collar on her neck.

 

After Ciel was bought by the slave merchant, she heard all kinds of different stories from other slaves.

There was a rabbit girl who got stripped naked by a nasty noble before she was walked down the street like a pet.

There was a lion beastkin who got beat up really badly and was made to prostrate under the pretext of discipline. 

There were other horrific stories she did not even want to know about.
Ciel was sure that her future was dark.

 

That’s why when she was first introduced to Sora, she was so nervous that she could not even speak.

 

After Sora bought her, she went from the Empire to the Canaria kingdom, then into the city of Ishka, but she was still living in fear at that time. 

 

Even after she had arrived at Ishka, she hardly had any time to sleep since her body, her ears and tail were being stroked day after day for some reason.
When she was told by Sora that seeing worn-out girls excited him, she had headaches thinking that she was bought by an unimaginably horrible person.

 

…She knows now that he was only joking with her, but at that time, Ciel truly thought that she was done for.
A part of her still wants to tell him that he should consider the time and place when joking like that.

 

The turning point for her was probably when Lunamaria joined them.

 

Since then, Sora’s attitude towards Ciel changed.
It wasn’t just that, he had offered to set her free from slavery as well.

It would be a lie if she said that offer didn’t move her.

However, if she was released that way, even if she returns to her village, she would just have to sell herself again.

 

Ciel made a lot of money by selling herself, but to support a family of 8, it probably wasn’t even going to last more than 2 years.
If she returned home, their money would run out even faster.

 

That’s how it is for a family that didn’t have anybody who could work.

 

That’s why she has to make a lot of money.
She has to be the one supporting her family, at least until her 8-year-old brother turns to an adult (13). 

 

It was obvious, but there’s no way she could make that much money working normally for a year or two.

She won’t even be able to do that if she were to sell herself the second time.

In order to make that amount, she would have to look at some not so proper alternative methods.

 

For example…

 

To get her master, who frequently gave big tips to the inn owner’s daughter, to like her! 

 

 

Thus, Ciel changed her passive attitude that she had until then.

She also wished to spend night time together with him.

In the first place, she was a slave who sold all her rights.
She was in a position where she can’t even have her own things if that’s her master’s will.
Normally, she should have tried to serve her master much earlier to get on his good side.

 

When Ciel realized that afterward, she scolded herself as she looked up at the sky.
Her old slave friends had advised her to do that many times in the past, but she acted like it was a good thing that Sora didn’t put his hands on her.

 

With that regret in her mind as well, Ciel started to place Sora before herself.
She thought that if Sora sees how devoted she is to him, he would start liking her more and their relationship could change. 

 

She learned how to fight from Lunamaria and had completed many quests as an adventurer.
After Sora founded the clan 『Blood Spraying Sword』, she started getting paid as well.

 

Ciel sent her money through the 『Union』 back home.
Even if each payment would only last them about half a month, as long as she continued to send money back home, her siblings would not starve and her younger sisters would not think about selling themselves either.

 

Therefore, from Ciel’s point of view, there was nothing dissatisfying about her situation right now.
If the person who gave her all that wants her to take care of a kijin, she would not question it at all.