Striving For The Luxury Liner – Vol 10 Chapter 7

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Chapter 7 – Comedy?

I arrived in the Aquamarine Kingdom and promptly met a young man of high school age with bright red hair and tiger ears, who was called Ines Nee-chan?

“Well then, I’ll wait for you at the Lutto.”

Ines tries to return to the Lutto as if nothing had happened. As expected, isn’t that too unreasonable?

“Wait a minute, Ines.”

I grab Ines’ arm and prevent her from going back to the Lutto.

“Please let me go, Master. It’s too soon for me. I’m not ready!”

“Ines! I knew it, Nee-chan! Eh? Master? Huh? Slave collar? Nee-chan?”

Ines’ brother seems to be very confused. Well, I wonder what will happen from here. We all watch with bated breath. Especially Alessia-san and Ilma-san look excited. They look like a mother about to watch an exciting drama movie that they look forward to every day.

Come to think of it; they used to watch all sorts of movies like this on the DVD rentals on the ferry. I feel that Japanese culture has a strange influence on Alessia-san and the others.

If Ines had been a slave with heavy content, they would not have enjoyed it that much, but because of that, there is a part of them that looks forward to seeing how Ines will be scolded. Even if Ines deserved it, her family would not be happy.

“Nee-chan, why are you a slave? Father and Mother were worried when you didn’t come home at all!”

Ines’ brother recovered from his confusion and confronted Ines.

“Dario… Onee-chan has gone through a lot.”

Ines answers her brother’s question with a desperate look on her face.

“W-what happened to you, Nee-chan?”

“I’m sorry, Dario. It’s hard for me to even say it out loud…”

…Ines, she tries to cheat! She’s trying to cheat in this situation! What a nerve. It would be unfashionable to do that and then discover the real reason why she fell into slavery. Not only me but also Felicia and Alessia-san looked stunned.

Besides, she said earlier that she didn’t like to hide things from people she knew. Is it possible to lie to your family?

“Y-y-you did terrible things to my sister!”

Dario’s face turns red, and he comes to me. I’m getting the blame for this… What? Am I involved in this?

“Wait, Dario! These people are different; these are the people who saved me!”

Ines stops her brother with a look that makes her cry with sorrow. It smells fishy. It’s dirt cheap. Dario is a good-natured young man who comforts his sad sister. As someone who knows the whole story, I feel tears of pity for the younger brother.

“What are you going to do, Master?”

Felicia asks me with a deeply troubled look on her face as if she feels the same way I do.

“No, Felicia, even if you tell me what to do, I don’t know what to do… Alessia-san, what do you want me to do about this situation?”

At a loss for an answer, I asked Alessia-san for help, and Alessia-san and the others froze and started whispering and having secret conversations. Me and Felicia in a somewhat isolated atmosphere.

The younger brother encouraged Ines, who was obviously acting. Alessia-san and the others were having a secret conversation in a happy mood. Oh, Claretta-san is making a worried face, indicating that Alessia-san and the others’ discussion is not a good one. Alessia-san comes to me smiling as if the discussion is over.

(Wataru-san. As for Girasole’s decision, let’s keep quiet here. It would be fun to expose her out of the blue, but if that happens, I want to see how far Ines will go. But if Wataru-san says it’s a bad idea, I won’t object, okay?)

Huh? I consulted with her, and she came back with two troubling choices. I feel like it would be bad for Ines’ family if I just stood by and let it go on, but if I told them, Alessia-san and the others who are looking forward to it would be disappointed. It’s a difficult question whether to take human decency or the likeability of Alessia-san and the others… While I was wondering, Ines’ brother came over to me with a serious look on his face.

“I apologize for earlier. I heard you helped my sister. Thank you very much.”

The younger brother bowed deeply. I’m sorry. I remember buying her, but I don’t remember helping her at all. It’s hard to tell the truth when he thanks me so sincerely.

“I know it pains me to make such a request out of the blue to such a benefactor, but I will discuss it with my parents and raise as much money as I can. If it is not enough, I will work hard to pay you, so please let my sister be free somehow.”

Ines’ younger brother did everything in his power to appeal sincerely. Well, I had forgotten because, at the time of Felicia, there was no mention of buying back the slaves, but for Ines, there was an explanation that the slaves could be bought back if the master agreed…

Yikes, that’s my carelessness! I didn’t even think about Ines’ disappearance or a shred of it. What should I do, trample on the feelings of this serious and likable young man? There are two more difficult decisions…

…I’m sorry, Alessia-san and the others, but let’s tell him everything if it comes to that. Ines deserves it, and I hope she gets a hard time, really hard.

“Wait, Dario. I have no intention of leaving the side of the master who saved me. I will repay him with my life. That’s what I want to do. But I’m glad that you think so. Thank you, Dario.”

“Nee-chan…”

…As if interrupting my attempt to tell everything, Ines spoke to her brother, and a somewhat emotional atmosphere drifted around Ines and her brother. What? Is she going to tell the truth under these circumstances? I don’t remember saving her life, do I?

“More importantly, Dario. Why were you at the port?”

“Oh, I was on my way to work. I worked for the Adventurer’s Guild and had a meeting with the harbor manager.”

“I see you work hard too, Dario. Then you should prioritize that job for now. If you give me some time, I’ll visit Mom and Dad. If I don’t make it, tell them that Ines is happy. Don’t worry about me…”

“Y-yeah, okay, Nee-chan.”

The younger brother, who had reacted to Ines’ words with half a tear, turned to me.

“I am sorry for the suddenness. My parents are very concerned about my sister. I know this is a very impolite request, but would it be possible for my sister and my parents to have some time together?”

Ines’ brother looked at Ines behind him as he tried his best to make a request for her and her parents. Ines, you’re thinking of making a clean end here and somehow getting away without seeing your parents. That’s not going to happen!

“It is okay. I also wanted to say hello to Ines’ parents, and I will definitely take the time to meet them. If you want, she can go to meet her parents for a few days.”

Ines looks at me with a shocked face. Ines has a face that says, “Why are you saying such a nasty thing?” Normally I would never take the side of the handsome guy, but this time I’m taking the side of Ines’ brother. No, I’m not taking his side, but I want Ines’ lies to be exposed, and I want her to be extremely scolded.

On second thought, even if Ines is freed from slavery, I think she will probably come with me. Not because she likes me or anything, but because she doesn’t want to leave the luxury liner, which is a bit sad…

“T-thank you.”

“You’re at work now, right? See you later. We’ll also stop by the Adventurers’ Guild later, so we can make plans right away.”

“Really? Then I can show you around.”

“No, I have to take care of some things, so you have to go back first since you’re working.”

“I understand. I will wait for you.”

Ines’ brother finally bowed deeply, looked at Ines, and ran away. We watched him quietly until he was out of sight.

“H-hey, Master. Why did you make that promise? It was supposed to be a clean farewell!”

As soon as Ines’ brother was out of sight, Ines came running to me.

“Ines, if you go on like this, people will misunderstand that you had a hard time, but you’ve gotten over it and are happy now.”

“I don’t care if people misunderstand me. It’s kind of touching, isn’t it?”

What do you mean by touching? I thought Ines was so smart, manipulating information and so on in Lucca, but… can’t she think calmly when it comes to herself?

“Besides, Ines’ brother works for the Adventurer’s Guild, so he would know how long we would stay. Still, it’s impossible for me to be a good master and not give Ines time to see her parents.”

Unlike usual, I replied with a little more force.

“Felicia, Master is cold.”

“Ines. I also think Master is right.”

Ines asks Felicia for help but is kept at a distance. She turns her head to look at Alessia-san and the others.

“I rather hope that all of Ines’ bad behavior will be exposed and things will get interesting.”

Alessia-san stops Ines before she can say anything. She has a very nice smile. It seems that the Japanese DVDs have a bad influence on her.

“I have no allies!”

Ines exclaims and then collapses. Maybe if she hadn’t tried to cover up the truth, Claretta-san would have been on her side, right? I think I would have tried to follow her as best I could, too. But before I could do that, the Ines Theater opened.

“What are you going to do now, Master?”

I want to go to the Adventurer’s Guild, but I can’t leave Ines like this.

“Alessia-san, I’ll go back to the Lutto so that Alessia-san and the others can go to the Adventurers’ Guild first.”

“Ines seems rather useless, and it would be unwise for Felicia and you to go alone. We will return to the Lutto together.”

Is that okay? Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so let’s do it. I push Ines, who is reluctant to move, and we return to the Lutto. We’ve come to an interesting country, but we can’t seem to get out of the port.

＊＊＊

“Master! I can’t help but meet my parents if this happens. So help me!”

Ines, who had been mumbling and collapsed on the Lutto’s sofa, suddenly stood up and approached me.

“What do you mean, help you?”

“As I said, you have to make things right with me so that my situation doesn’t get any worse.”

This person who is cornering me is my slave, isn’t she? I am spoiling her, but it makes me think about the meaning of the word ‘slave.’

“What do you mean by making things right? I don’t have any acting talent, you know? I think it would definitely be better if you just apologized and got scolded like a normal person.”

“No, I don’t want that! I said those things to Dario. I have to hide it from him.”

She says this with strong determination, but it’s a pattern that if she tells a lie, she won’t be able to retract it and will destroy herself by telling more lies. I think I have a glimpse of what is to come.

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