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Miniature Garden's Stock
In the courtyard where sunlight streamed in, I looked absent-mindedly at the sky. Clouds that look like torn pieces of cotton candy are floating intermittently in the blue sky. I’m sure that there must be wind blowing at an incredible speed in the sky above. But, this courtyard is isolated from the outside world. No cold wind is blowing from outside. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
The building is surrounded by a ロ shape structure. It’s a square-shaped structure that gives you the illusion of having been transported back to the 21st century Japan. The windows are also square in shape. Within the visible range from the courtyard, everything is wide open. However, such windows are found on the second floor or higher.
I casually returned my gaze to the ground. The view of the courtyard in front of me was so bleak. That’s because the area is divided as needed, leaving no sense of extra space whatsoever. This courtyard serves as a workshop and training ground.
The best location in this building is on the south side. The reason is simple: sunlight comes into the building. For this reason, the south side of the third floor has become the living space for the master and those with a similar status. The second floor is the business negotiation space. As for the first floor, there is a large gate before me and storage rooms on the left and right sides. This gate actually has two doors. The one in front of me is the thick wooden door, but the door beyond that is another bronze gate. Incidentally, the bolt for the wooden door is not on the courtyard side but on the other side.
There are two ways to get in and out of this building. The first is to pass the double doors in front of me. When the master is going on a journey in a carriage, they are passing through there. The gate is large enough to allow a big four-horse carriage to pass through. It is wide and tall. Although it is said to be two-story, it should be as tall as a normal three-story building.
The other way is to enter the master’s bedroom. Or the room for business negotiation. There is a separate stair on the south side of the building, and if it’s from there,e you can immediately enter the room for the business negotiation. Once you go through the corridor, you will finally reach the master’s room. And you have to go through here to remove the bolt on the first floor’s gate. Connecting those areas with the second and third-floor courtyard side is a single room positioned in between; to enter and exit it, you must pass through sturdy iron bars and double doors. It is normally locked securely.
No, if you’re going to do it forcibly, there is another method. By going through the sewer. The owner of this place never takes his meal with us. But he is also a human, so he will also need to drink, eat, and go to the toilet. So, cooking for the master is done separately on the south side.
The building’s sewage exits from the southwestern corner of the building, but the internal stone partition was made narrow enough so that even children can’t pass through. But, the sewage from the second and third floors from each of the east and west sides is connected to the underground through the stone pillars laid down both in the middle of the east and west sides between the storage rooms, and the sewage flows down through them. In other words, if you could remove the stone paving around the stone pillars and enter the sewers, I reckon you can come out directly beneath the master’s room. But, there is a simple door with iron bars on the other side of those paving stones, and even if you pass through that, there are iron-barred floors between the first and second floor to prevent anyone from entering or exiting. I accidentally saw it while we were doing a major annual cleanup, but there were no footholds inside the stone pillars when I looked up at the iron bars, so it doesn’t seem like it is possible to climb it as it is.
The east side’s first floor has a kitchen, open air dining area, and the washhouse. The north side is a shed for animals such as horses. The west side has a toilet and a garbage area. So the west side’s second floor is the least popular space. Fortunately, my room is in a different location.
And so, the courtyard is being divided according to its use. The outer part of the courtyard is a path for humans and carriages. After you cross that, you can find various workspaces divided into squares. For example, the place right in front of me, on the north side, is a small field where flowers and fruit trees are planted. It’s not meant to be a source of food to be self-sufficient. Or to add color to the place. It is simply there for us to learn about taking care of them. Accordingly, there are also sturdy shrubs planted so we can trim them anytime.
Beyond that is an empty space with nothing on it, but of course, there is a purpose for that too. A select few people are training there in combat using wooden swords. There are also other - although small - facilities, such as a sawmill or a blacksmith workshop set up.
So it is a place that has only a single use and purpose, so it’s really dull. Even so, I can only take up a position here if I want to enjoy the warmth of the sun. My room is on the second floor on the north side, but there is a roofed corridor between it and the courtyard, so there is not much sunlight over there. Also, there is only one place to sleep there. It’s just as bleak as here. On top of that, you require permission to enter or exit. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
That’s right, you need permission just to enter or exit, and you also have to go through a body check. There are various tools inside. There are no real swords or spears, but there are things such as hammers for smithing or knives for woodworking. There are items for everyday use, like ropes and flints, so they are not to be taken out without permission. And so, you have to pass through two armed men standing by at the top of the stairs on the north side to go to the bedrooms on the second floor.
Although those two are just guarding, they're only there during the day. At night, an old man stays in the night duty room right next to the stairs.
I am sitting on that stair right now, enjoying the sunlight. Naturally, a two-year-old kid doesn’t have a packed schedule, work, or education plans. Well, now I’m bored because of that. It’d be great if I had someone to talk to, but everyone is busy. But first of all, I still can’t speak Fores language very well. After lunch, Jusa is going to teach me how to read and write, so I’m looking forward to that.
Regardless of how it is, living here is not that bad. I receive three meals a day, and I also receive education. I also don’t get exposed to unreasonable violence. But, there is actually just one thing I don’t like. That is, there are metal rings on both of my hands and legs…..handcuffs and shackles.
On the last day of our carriage journey, I saw this building from afar. Then, I struggled when Jusa tried to put handcuffs on me, while knowing it was a useless resistance. Knowing that I can’t shake them off by force. It was a statement of intent, asserting that I had committed no crime worthy of being handcuffed or imprisoned.
Jusa had a complicated look on his face while subduing me. He even told me, ‘Yes, you don’t do anything wrong’. ‘Then why’, I asked.
「You have become○○」
When I asked again - not knowing the meaning of that word -, Jusa thought for a moment and described it using different words.
「That is, you, being sold. By Tick family for 5 gold coins」
Being sold? 5 gold coins? Tick family?
When he saw me widened my eyes, Jusa sat down next to me and slowly explained.
It was the day I was killed by the soldiers and thrown into the river. Even after switching back to my original body, I had eventually lost all my strength from the cold of the river. After that, I was thrown out along with the wooden plank I was on, somewhere on a riverbank. Just when I was about to die, someone happened to pass by. They were the 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter of the Tick family.
Although it is the ‘Tick family’, it’s not like they are a noble family with a distinguished lineage or anything. They are just farmer you can find anywhere. At the same time, the family name of ‘Tick’ is not that uncommon in that area. They are not resident of Linga village where I lived and didn’t have any particular interaction with us. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
At the start, the Tick family’s parents told their son to throw away the child they had found when they saw me. The effect of the bad harvest had spread throughout the whole area, and it had been a serious matter even for the Tick family. They simply didn’t have the leeway to do such a thing as help a stranger’s child.
But then, good luck unexpectedly came for the Tick family, and for me. Rumors had circulated. That is, about a slave trader who is coming nearby.
For a poor farmer, slave traders are people they hate, while also people to be grateful for at the same time. When it all comes down to it, they are the ones who sell their family members. If they don’t do this, the family will starve to death, but no parents would willingly sacrifice their own child. But for the Tick family at that time, it was truly a godsend.
And sure enough, Myluc and his group happened to pass through their village. The Tick family adults were trying to sell me off, claiming that I was their child. But Myluc is a shrewd person. He pointed out the fact that I was not their biological son by looking at my appearance. At a loss for a response, they claimed they were taking care of a relative’s child. But, if so, then they are trying to sell me without my parents’ permission. Myluc then tried to withdraw since that was illegal.
It would become a problem for the Tick family if he did that. The Tick family has no plan to raise an idler of doubtful origin. So they told him that they had picked up the child two days earlier and thought that if they could sell him on the spot, it would be worth it to keep him in their home for these two days. They were completely at a loss, so Myluc tried to suggest they adopt me. Thus, I was named Chocos of Shuga village, becoming a member of the Tick family. The adoption was properly written and signed by the head of the family, Naiss. And the trade was completed on the spot. In the end, the Tick couple was dissatisfied with the much lower prices they got, yet even so, they were beaming with pride by the incidental income. On the other hand, the brother and sister who found me seemed to be sad.
「So, sooner or later, you had to be sold. Otherwise, you would have died」
Jusa explained, a sad look on his stern face. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
I was finally convinced. As soon as I woke up, Myluc started talking to me. He purchased me while I was unconscious, so he must have had various worries on his mind. Even so, he might have thought that it would be fine even if he used 5 gold coins to gamble. It’s rare to find someone who has black hair and white skin in the surrounding area, and probably not a Saharian either. That alone is enough to make me an unusual presence around here. He might even find something unexpected. The boy doesn’t look all that bad in appearance, even if he is just an average child, and there is a possibility of being sold at a high price. On the other hand, given the boy’s condition, it was also possible he might die soon.
And sure enough, Myluc was fairly pleased after seeing my response. I’m sure he must have had the impression that I am a clever child. But on one side, the boy already had a troublesome sense of defiance. It will be troubling if that is not removed properly.
After all is said and done, at that point, I was already a 「slave」.
Yes, a slave. The moment money was exchanged, I lost my qualifications as a free man. Now that it has come to this, it’s useless even if I protest.
Jusa still patiently continued to explain, even though my face looked like a dead person. He cheered me up by saying that there are many kinds of slaves, but in my case, I was in a situation of a transferred slave, so I would not be treated that badly, would be given proper meals, education, and the possibility of being released from being a slave in the future.
In any case, I gave up and held out my hand. It might not be difficult to run away with their money and goods if I were to use the Piercing Hand ability to instantly kill Jusa, Jil, or Myluc. But that would not be different from the time I ran away from the village. I have no knowledge of this world. I can’t even speak freely. Although I have the lowest position, I should endure it a little longer. In addition, I still don’t fully understand my special ability. I was worried about relying solely on that ability.
Jill - whose expression hadn’t changed since earlier - silently put the black handcuffs and shackles on my hands and legs. They were made of ordinary iron, and although it had a ring for the chains to pass through, it didn’t actually serve as any further restraint.
Then the other children and I followed Jusa’s instructions and passed through the open gate and entered this housing facility. Since then, I haven’t seen the outside even once.
The sun has risen higher. Before I knew it, a delicious smell was wafting from the kitchen. It’s noon already.
I stand up and start walking toward the lined-up wooden tables. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
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