Deadmeat Saga

Chapter 65 – Taking in servants. MURDER MANIAC!

Sometime later, Gerhart finished treating them all, removing their Slave Collars and healing their wounds and scars, big or small.

"Big sis! You are so pretty now!" The several youths in the camp complimented and blushed as they looked at To-Meri.

To-Meri's amputated parts, including her left eye, right ear, tail, fangs, and claws, were restored. All her scars disappeared as if they never existed.

To-Meri was tall, well-proportioned, and seductive. Her blue tail swished from side to side, and her feline ears twitched in excitement as she looked at her body with tears in her golden feline eyes. Not only was she shockingly beautiful, but she also emanated a gentle and attractive air that made one want to possess her.

It was the combination of being a Sacred Prostitute, an Auspicious Creature, and the Chosen of the Cat Goddess. On a subconscious level, anyone laying eyes on her would know she would bring good luck and fortune to those who have her.

To-Meri looked around the camp and saw the happy expressions of everyone. Gerhart kept his promise and freed and healed them all. And he even gave her a gift!

Her feline parts retracted with a thought, her blue hair dyed brown. Watching her now-human hands, if she so desired, she could live the rest of her life as a free woman. He also willingly gave it to the other slaves, beastkin or not, allowing them to change to random humans, even if only in appearance. If they wanted, they could use the wealth they accumulated through robbery to settle down somewhere. They didn't need to hide anymore.

"We don't have to hide anymore. We are now free." She happily said.

The children smiled and also transformed into different appearances. Not even their mothers would recognize them.

"To-Meri, this is a miracle. We can live normal lives now." One of the bandits, a male brown mousekin, approached her and emotionally said.

"We can settle down and raise a family! We don't need to hide anymore. I don't need to worry about my future child anymore." Another woman said, rubbing her pregnant belly.

"It is all thanks to lord Gerhart. He is such a generous lord." A man said, emotionally looking at Gerhart, who was treating the final slave.

"We owe him too much. He gave us a new life. We must repay him somehow." Another woman said, a complicated look in her eyes as she looked at Gerhart.

"Hehe... Maybe you should marry him." The man joked.

"Shut up..." The woman blushed but then glanced at the three beautiful women accompanying Gerhart, "Even if I wanted to, I am too unqualified compared to these women." She then looked at To-Meri, "But To-Meri can hold her own!"

"Hah?" To-Meri blinked her eyes.

"Yeah! To-Meri is so beautiful! The lord would certainly fancy her." The pregnant woman said. 

"Eh?" To-Meri was taken aback, not knowing what to say.

Pat*

"Good luck, To-Meri! We are cheering for you." The brown mousekin patted her shoulder and gave a thumbs up.

"EHHH?!" To-Meri wanted to retort but didn't find the words.

But then, when she looked at Gerhart, her cheeks turned red.

"I thought I hated men after what I went through... But if it is him- I-" Wild thoughts started sprouting in her mind as she recalled the moment he hugged her.

"Hehe~ Look at you. You are like a young girl looking at her crush." The woman teased.

"Ugh... Am not..." To-Meri looked away while the others were grinning.

Meanwhile, Gerhart finished treating the last villager and stood up. "That is the last of them." He said to Hope.

"Good work, Gerhart." Hope smiled. "I spoke with them and understood what they own and their skillsets. Most were household servants and laborers, with six being low-end combat slaves. With their current weapons, level, and wealth, I believe they can independently survive after arriving at the next town and working as laborers, house servants, and guards. However, there is a problem." Hope said with pursed lips.

"Hm? What?" Gerhart curiously asked.

"Although they can transform, it doesn't apply to their children. When the demihuman children are born, there will be raised eyebrows. At best, they might think of them as illicit children, but at worst, they might suspect their identities. Even if the children receive the partial transformation talent, we can't expect toddlers to use it." Hope said.

"Well, that is indeed a problem. What do you suggest we do?" Gerhart asked, feeling this was indeed problematic.

"We have several options. One, we can conquer a village or town, appoint an Envoy, and let them settle down. However, such an operation is a bit high-profile and would take time and risk exposure." Hope said.

"Hm... No, we should avoid such high-profile actions for now. Anything else?" Gerhart asked.

"Then our other option is to take them as servants." Hope smiled.

"Servants?" Gerhart raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, servants. We can rent a manor outside the city and let them be our servants. If we pretend to be powerful adventurers, having a retinue of servants is very reasonable. If we treat them well and pay them proper wages, they would only be slaves in name. It can also reinforce our claim as high-rank adventurers." Hope explained.

"Hm... I didn't consider that." Gerhart rubbed his chin and nodded.

Wealthy powerhouses hiring several servants was a regular thing. After all, many didn't have the time or patience to do chores and liked to have a fancy lifestyle when not exploring or helping their spouses and children while they were away.

A mansion might have over a hundred servants, including Cooks, Housekeepers, Butlers, Footmen, Chambermaids, Gardners, Valets, Stewards, Coachmen, Etc. Of course, not all lived inside the mansion, but many lived in nearby houses. To have a selected retinue of slave servants following them was something Gerhart saw many times in his past life.

"Okay. We can suggest it to To-Meri, and she will discuss it with the other slaves." Gerhart said.

Hope nodded and went to To-Meri and explained the situation. Around ten minutes later, To-Meri walked to Gerhart with a determined expression, "Gerhart, we will follow you as our master even if you underpay us."

Gerhart looked at the other slaves, who nodded in agreement.

"Seems like they are determined." Gerhart thought.

"Okay, you may follow us. Pack your camp." Gerhart said.

Hearing these words, they all smiled, quickly packing their camp and supplies to follow them.

Gerhart knew that this decision would likely cost him an extra day or two since they would inevitably slow down. However, it was worth it since it would reinforce their image and avoid future hassle.

An hour later, his new servants finished packing and walked to the parked wagon where Calvin and the other two waited. They placed the younger children and pregnant women in the wagon while Gerhart and the others walked on foot to increase their speed.

The group continued traveling until they reached the next town, Ffestiniog, and spent the night camping outside the walls.

Since Ffestiniog was a slave trading hub, Gerhart visited the Slave Merchant shops and converted the merchants while checking the merchandise. Unfortunately, he didn't find any noteworthy talents, so he had to continue his journey after restocking supplies.

And then, only stopping for rest and supplies, it took another five days to reach their destination, Tabarga.

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.

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Meanwhile-

A handsome, fair-skinned man with sword-like eyebrows, accompanied by a beautiful maiden, was on a wood-filled road, surrounded by blood and mutilated corpses of bandits, his sword dripping fresh blood.

His anger-filled eyes stared at the last survivor, who yielded and begged for mercy, a Dogkin.

"P-Please, don't kill me! We are just escaped slaves! We didn't have a choice but to steal to survive!" The Dogkin bandit begged.

"Hmph. Robbery, murder, betraying your master, you deserve death. If I let you live, you will continue your evil ways. Die." Ma Yang raised his sword.

"W-Wait—"

Chop* Psh*

Ma Yang chopped down, splitting the man's head in half.

"You shall do no more evil again in this life. Don't do more evil in the next." Ma Yang muttered as he retracted his sword, the bandit's body falling on the blood-soaked ground.

At the same time, Ma Yang felt himself slightly grow stronger.

"So this is the power of this unique talent, hah?" Ma Yang thought to himself.

"G-Good work, Sir Yang!" The maiden who accompanied him said with a forced smile, her beautiful face pale from the bloody spectacle.

She was Princess Ionnina Nehan, the one who summoned Ma Yang under the temple's and her father's orders.

She followed Ma Yang, this unbelievably handsome man, and slowly learned of his home culture and behavior. She knew her father let her follow him to seduce him and bear his seed for the royal family, but so far, Ma Yang was resistant to it, having silly notions of purity and decorum. Furthermore, he was a complete martial arts and cultivation fanatic, or whatever that means, and single-mindedly focused on increasing his strength. She couldn't even hold his hand or hug him, let alone kiss or embrace one another in bed. Or rather, she didn't dare try to.

That was because this man- WAS A MURDER MANIAC WITH ANGER ISSUES!

After leaving the castle, they headed to the Adventurer's Guild to register. While there, because of how handsome he was, some thuggish adventurer teased him by calling him girly. That angered Ma Yang, and he challenged the man to a duel, which he foolishly accepted. Under this context, it was usually a brawl or a friendly, non-lethal duel to happen, but what Ma Yang did was to lop the other party's head off on the spot.

Princess Ionnina had to calm the guild and compensate for the dead before teaching Ma Yang common sense. After explaining it to him, she used her authority to raise him to a Rank D adventurer. Ma Yang then picked up an investigation request on the disappearance of someone in the slum area.

She thought the request was not too dangerous and suitable for the powerful Ma Yang. After all, few above D-rank would engage in such petty activities when there were much more lucrative alternatives, and she was a B-rank powerhouse with the potential of an A-rank.

Nothing could go wrong with this. Right? RIGHT?! She soon learned just how warped Ma Yang's mind was.

Two minutes after entering the slums, a prostitute soliciting customers approached Ma Yang, thinking he was a rich and handsome young master from a wealthy family. The moment she touched his arm, he cut her hand off in disgust while calling her a filthy harlot. The princess had to compensate the poor and heavily injured prostitute and her brothel.

After this bloody episode, she had to explain to Ma Yang that people in this world were more accepting of touching and it was illegal to cut someone's hand off or beat them up without even giving a warning.

They then arrived at a shady tavern, where half the patrons were wary of them because rumors started spreading, causing them to have a hard time gathering information. And then it happened. The prostitute's half-drunk brother came to them, demanding an explanation for cutting his sister's hand off.

"The dirty harlot dared dirty my clothes and chastity, so I cut her hand off." Ma Yang coldly said.

Naturally, this caused the brother to flare up and attack. What happened next was a bloodbath! Ma Yang killed the aggressor, which caused the entire tavern to attack Ma Yang!

He killed 17 people. SEVENTEEN PEOPLE! It was as if he didn't know what proportionate retaliation was.

After doing something as ridiculous as that on his VERY FIRST DAY, the king reasonably exiled him from the city. If not for the Reverend stopping her father, they would have executed him. Even worse, her father stripped her of her interference rights as a princess. If Ma Yang fucked up another time, he would be on his own.

Luckily, Ma Yang seemed to calm down a bit after this ordeal, slowly understanding the culture of this world and using his strange Otherworlder Body Forging techniques to level up. He called it Cultivation, whatever that was. She was just happy that he was not killing people.

Well, until they encountered bandits on the road, the weakest escaped slaves type. Such bandits were cowardly weaklings that targeted lone travelers and merchants as easy pickings as Highwaymen, taking valuables and letting them go if they didn't resist. They could have easily intimidated them by killing a few, but Ma Yang had other ideas. He killed them all, sparing none.

She didn't know what kind of world he came from, but it was SCARY!

"Is everyone in his world so murderous?! Or is he just crazy?!" She asked herself, not letting it show on her poker face.

"They are dead. Let us continue to that Dungeon City you mentioned." Ma Yang said as he wiped his sword and sheathed it while walking to their destination.

"Y-Yes." Princess Ionnina shakily replied and followed.