"Please ask, Your Highness."
"Didn't you say... orcs will never be slaves?"
"Don't you know the next part of the saying?"
"What... part?"
I had a feeling I knew exactly what he was about to say.
"Orcs will never be slaves! Unless... room and board are included!!"
Fine, you win.
I'm impressed.
I looked back at Lola, and as if sensing my bewildered gaze, she habitually pushed up her glasses.
"Sake is quite greedy for money. The only reason he would work in a place like this prison is because he needs the coin."
"Heh, that's right. I'm definitely short on cash. I've got a whole family to support, and these five silver coins a month are barely enough to scrape by."
Five silver coins was roughly five hundred bucks. If they only ate black bread, it would barely keep them from starving.
"Wait... you have a wife and children?"
"Of course! My wife is a proper human woman!"
"Pfft... cough, cough! What did you say? A human?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't she be?"
The old bull looked at me as if this were the most natural thing in the world, leaving me speechless.
I looked him up and down again. Once I was certain he wasn't lying, a surge of intense curiosity rose within me.
What kind of woman would marry a tauren like Sake??
Given his physique, could she be... some kind of muscle barbie?
I was genuinely curious!
Just as I was thinking about it, Sake suddenly handed me a piece of paper.
I instinctively took it and looked back at the expressionless Lola.
For some reason... I had a very bad feeling about this.
The girl in the picture was actually quite cute?
I immediately broke out in goosebumps.
"Oh! That's a portrait of my wife. Lady Saintess, let's get one thing straight! I'm not selling it, no matter how much you offer! I'm counting on her to give me a few more little calves!!"
"...Fine."
Seeing the dead-serious expression on Sake's face, I nodded and agreed to this bizarre request.
Give him more little calves?
Forget it, I'm not going to think too deeply about that.
"Speaking of which, Sake, do you have children now?"
I was a bit curious.
"Of course, I already have two!"
As he spoke, he actually pulled two more portraits from his chest pocket and held them before my eyes.
These two portraits were clearly taken with a magic item, feeling very much like photographs.
They were essentially high-fidelity magic portraits.
And in these two portraits, there were actually two... half-beasts!
That's right, actual half-beasts.
Their limbs were almost entirely human, but on top of their heads sat two tiny little bull horns. They looked to be about three or four years old, with bovine tails behind them and fuzzy cow ears on the sides. They were exceptionally adorable.
Some parts of the skin on their limbs still had bovine patches.
Overall, they were the very cute kind of half-beasts, not the terrifying-looking bull-men.
"These... are your children?"
I could hardly believe it. How could someone as ugly as Sake produce such adorable children?
"They sure are! If you don't believe me, Lady Saintess, I'll let you deliver the baby the next time my wife gives birth!"
"Uh... that won't be necessary."
This old bull really didn't know his place.
Deliver the baby? Deliver my foot!
You think a Saintess is going to act as your midwife? Keep dreaming!
"Your Highness, half-beasts born of beastmen and humans usually resemble humans in appearance, carrying only certain beastman traits. Only a minority result in full beastman forms."
Lola was like a mind-reader. Just as I thought of the question, she provided the explanation.
Good grief... Lola, you don't actually have mind-reading powers, do you?
I stared into Lola's eyes, but she didn't answer for a long while.
Just as I was about to relax, she spoke.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I do not possess mind-reading magic."
'Liar! You just did it again!'
My every thought was being seen through by her!
I glared at Lola, but she remained expressionless, simply pushing up her glasses.
"Your Highness, it is time to return. You must preside over the Great Trial shortly."
"...Let's go back."
I frowned and glanced at Lola, suspecting she was deliberately changing the subject.
However, there were indeed important matters at hand.
I would settle the score with her later.
"Sake, hand over your duties. Consider today a holiday. Report to the Temple tomorrow."
A grin of genuine joy spread across the old bull's face, and he shouted in his muffled, booming voice:
"Fantastic! That means I'll have time to go home and make more babies with my wife!"
Cough, cough... did you have to be so blunt?
Is that something you should be saying out in the open?
And another thing!
Can a human woman even handle... that part of a beastman?
I looked at the old bull with suspicion but quickly turned away.
What is wrong with me?!
Why am I even thinking about this?
Seeing me look at him and then suddenly turn away, Sake leaned in with a look of uncertainty.
"Your Highness, today... is a paid holiday, right? You can't dock my pay! I'm counting on that money to support my wife and kids!"
"I'm not short on money, and I won't fight you over yours. It's a paid holiday. Go on."
"Oh..."
The old bull agreed, but after taking a couple of steps, he stopped and turned back. His bovine face was covered in a fawning smile as he rubbed his thick fingers together, making a raspy sound.
"Um, Your Highness... could I get a little advance?"
"What are you planning to do?"
Before I could say anything, Lola stepped in front of me like a protective tigress.
"Well... actually, I've already advanced my salary through next year. I have to pay off my debts first. And... I want to buy my wife a new set of clothes. She hasn't had anything new to wear in half a year. It breaks my heart."
Hm?
That was actually quite unexpected. Who knew this old bull was such a devoted husband?
Well, he's a good man at heart.
"Lola, give me two gold coins."
Lola was currently in direct control of the vault's funds. She didn't hesitate at my command, immediately pulling out her coin purse and handing me two gold coins.
Looking at the two gold coins in my hand, I couldn't help but sigh.
As the Saintess, I didn't even have a single gold coin to my name.
I'm so poor.
"This is a bonus for your promotion. It won't be deducted from your salary."
"Thank you, Your Highness! From now on, you're my biggest boss! I'll protect you with my life!!"
"..."
The power of room and board really is something else.
"Go on then."
"Right! Then I shall... shall what again?"
Sake raised a hand to scratch his head, his ears twitching next to his horns as he struggled to remember the word.
Lola had to provide the reminder.
"Withdraw."
Rate on N.U.
