Chapter 2021 – Death Mage Side Chapter 29 (1/2)

Death Mage Side Chapter 29 – The determination of certain former slaves

The following is an account of the events that took place several days after Vandalieu attacked the base of the 'Hyena' Gozoroff

Emma tried to s her own saliva in an attempt to less effort, as the inside of her mouth was completely dry as well

She was standing in line, and there was a handso boy in front of her with pale skin and crimson eyes

“So you are the new residents… Very well I, Erpel, the Pure-breed Vae of this place, shall teach you the rules,” the boy said in a self-important tone

But nobody present, including Eh the boy was so thin that he looked as if he had never done any work on a farm in his life, he was indeed a Pure-breed Vampire

Emma had seen Goblins and Horned Rabbits before But Pure-breed Vas from another dimension in comparison to the monsters she knew

They were almost entirely immortal, possessed unli steel armor as if it weresince the age of the Gods, and none could hope to cross swords with theendary heroes

That hat Es and the songs of minstrels

“Listen I will teach you as many times as needed, but listen carefully… First of all, you wake up at 6 o'clock, and lights are out at 10 You need to gather in the dining hall for breakfast at 7, so et dressed and tidy your rooe baths may be used from 8 until 9 Eat lunch at your schools and workplace experience destinations… You will be punished for sneaking food, using baths outside the designated ti the rules of the lodging house that E at from now on

“U-umm, where can we check the time?” someone asked meekly

“Look at the clock And the bell here rings every three hours froht Pay attention to the bell… Just to be sure, you can read nuroup

“Y-yes There h,” someone replied

Seely satisfied with this response, Erpel pointed to the building behind hi in for a while

“You lot will refrain fro the furniture in your roo in your roo as my eyes are black!” Erpel declared

TLN: “While my eyes are black” is a phrase in japanese that is equivalent to the English phrase “while I still live” Makes sense, since japanese people have black eyes

“Eh, your eyes are red, aren't they?” a child pointed out

“That's not what 'while my eyes are black' means! You'll start school tos like that while you're there!” Erpel shouted angrily at the child

“I'ized hastily “Please, have mercy!”

Erpel exhaled “It e of the Gods, it has been known that children are lively and brazen creatures And that child's words are a sign that he is paying attention to ive you this,” he said, calling out the child's nae leaf from inside his overcoat

As the child and his parents trembled, Erpel pinched the leaf-wrapped object

“What is…?”

“It is a dried potato that I made myself It's very sweet, you know? It's not just for Woods You should give a slice to everyone I'll also hand out the keys to your rooms Each household is responsible for their own key Be careful not to lose them,” said Erpel

“Yay, dried potato!” the child cried

“Wait, line up with your families! And don't just take your keys! Take the dried potato as well!” Erpel shouted

“Eh? I'et some as well?” Emma asked

“What did you say?! Are you saying that you won't eat my dried potato…? M-maybe dried apricots would have been better?” Erpel asked dejectedly

“N-no! I'rateful!” Emma said hastily

And so, Emma received the key to her room and some dried potato

After Vandalieu rescued the slaves and the people who had been captured to be sold as slaves, he decided that he would allow therate to Talosheim if they wished to

However, every single one of the people he had rescued had desired to move to Talosheim This was because when the subordinates of the 'Hyena' Gozoroff attacked their villages, kidnapped the inhabitants and looted their valuables, they had also set fire to their houses and fields

They had done this to break any desire that the captured villagers had to escape, but as a result, the villagers had lost their homes and the fields that had provided theiven the villagers back sos that Gozoroff had taken from thee; they had never been wealthy in the first place

Thus, they would have been as good as dead by spring if they hadn't ih to have survived, they had been in such a dire situation that they would have been working desperately to pay off this year's taxes If they failed to do this, they would have becoain in the end anyway

But that didn't mean that Emma and the others would be taken to Talosheim and then let free Vandalieu had expected that this would happen; he had built an accommodation facility for them to live in for a while as they became accustomed to Talosheim so that the children could attend schools, the workers to undergo workplace experiences and the rest, depending on their age, would undergo training

The teacher at the first school that Emma had ever attended was… so new soldiers in an are

“My name is Gopher I'm a slave as rescued by His Majesty Vandalieu a few years before you people I've already graduated from this school before, so I suppose that makes me your senpai in two different ways,” said an older-sisterly person with a lively, bright tone of voice

But she was over two meters tall, and her h

“are you supposed to be teaching us?” one of the students asked, overwhelmed by Gopher's presence

This classrooathered into a different classroom The curriculum for both was the same, but it seemed that they had been separated so that the adults would not have to make efforts to put on airs in front of the children or have their pride wounded because children learned more quickly

“Oh, does it make you uncorin

She turned around to write a numerical formula on the blackboard behind her, which Emma had failed to notice before

“Now then, can anyone answer this question?” she asked

The question on the blackboard was a three-digit division problem It wasn't a particularly difficult one, but… none of the students, including Emma, were able to immediately answer

“Well then, can anyone read this?” asked Gopher, writing “Surpass Limits” on the blackboard in four kanji characters

But nobody could answer this question, either

The Status System in Lambda meant that everyone could read nuher even than Earth

However, it was not uncoes to only be able to read hiragana and katakana, having never learned to read numbers at all

Emma and the other students had been raised in such a se; none of thee chief and his family, who had needed to be able to calculate taxes and write documents

“It seeht I wasn't particularly suys study seriously, you'll be able to solve these in a year or two You can earn rinning widely again

The adultsthat if Gopher could do it, so could they

… In half a year's tihter of the 'Sword King' Borkus and received an ordinary education as a child, and had e at school

However, by then, everyone had learned to read and perform calculations to some extent, so they never suffered any loss of motivation to learn

On the way back froht of Gopher, as surrounded by people that were between the age of ten and Ee

“Gopher-Sensei is popular, I suppose,” Emma murmured to herself as she observed for a while

“Sensei, I'h!” one of the children cried

“Me too! Beast-people beco as adults once they're ten, after all!” said another

“Hey, I'm small, but I'm a Dwarf, so I'm actually an adult already…” said a third

Froht that Gopher was being approached by a group of girls that were far younger than her

“That's ant to becoirls cried

“You girls, why do you want to become Undead when you're still alive?! Even His Majesty told you to stop!” Gopher said, scolding them

… They weren't approaching her in a sexual way, but in a way that involved their lives

TLN: “sexual way” and “a way that involved their lives” is 性的 and 生的, which are both pronounced “seiteki” in japanese

“We want to be a great Undead like Borkus-sairls said

“Please, introduce him to us!” said another

“Please, stop this! There's no point inmy father to you!” said Gopher

“U on?” Emma asked tentatively

Gopher pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation “You lot have been rated a while ago have come to see What a hed “Ah, but you don't need to worry about it In a way, these children are my classmates”

The girls surrounding Gopher were the former slaves that Vandalieu had rescued fro with Gopher

There was a de in narrow tunnels There was not much demand for slaves that were sirls ere of an age where they could not be used in prostitution, were sent to slave mines

They were companions who had been exposed to harsh physical labor that killed at least one of the in such an environht of hope… and then they had been fortunate enough to be rescued by Vandalieu

As a result, they had beco somewhat troublesome

“So, you want to become Undead?” said Emma

“Yes, ant to become Undead, increase our Rank and becoirls said

“We wish to becoreat Undead like Ritsan and Sarisan,” said another

The girls' eyes… They looked so

“… I think you can beco an Undead At the very least, there is the option of beco a Ghoul, Vah you are a Beast-person,” said Gopher

“Zadiris-sama rejected us She said that we should wait a little, at least until we're about twenty years old…” said one of the girls

“She said that we're going to feel pain in our s that out of concern for us, but we can't wait for years!” said another

It seemed that they had consulted Zadiris already

“Zadiris's advice is correct The Vampires would probably tell you the same,” said Gopher “It's true that His Majesty the Emperor rescued us, but that doesn't mean he expects us to offer our lives to him That's especially true for you children The Erew up healthy and sound in this country, didn't he?”

“That's true, but… ant to do soirls exclaimed

“I can't tell if this isteenagers… Ah, if you don't get hoet worried and co if you stay past curfew, so hurry along,” Gopher told the girls

Erpel apparently handed out spanking punishments Perhaps because he had lived for over a hundred thousand years, all mortals seemed like small children to him

“W-we're going ho to the lodging house, as she would find such a punishe “… An Undead, huh,” she murmured to herself quietly

Around three days after her i some time alone in her room before it was time to sleep

“… What should I do?” she whispered to herself

Things had changed drastically in the past few days

Eh for her to live in by herself, and her furniture was extravagant enough for her to wonder if she had suddenly become a noble

A bed so soft that it couldn't be coic Iteht” was spoken, a closet filled with five sets of winter clothes dyed in colors that Ee