The Past: Eclair's Sports Festival

"Fufufu… Kanan-san. Yumi-san. Thank you both for attending the party I have hosted today."

Eclair Feradria said it with a graceful smile.

"My, what flattering words. Eclair-sama. Being invited to such a wonderful event, I can only feel gratitude."

Kanan Kazami bowed elegantly to Eclair, plainly conveying her thanks.

"Yes, yes. Eclair-sama. Thank you for inviting me today. Please do feast your eyes upon the strength of myself and the Tsuchiya house."

Yumi Tsuchiya thrust out her ample chest as she spoke.

"Now then, the party held today shall be… a sports festival put on by our slaves.

"The first event is… horseback riding. Each of you shall use one of your slaves as a mount, with a rider on its back, and circle the course once."

"Understood, Eclair-sama. Behold my mount… Naoto."

"… Yes."

Hating it, thinking how degrading it was, I hung my head and got to my feet.

"Now then, I shall present my horse of distinguished bloodline. Shogo."

"Yes!"

Shogo Shiraki crisply got to his feet. With his well-proportioned build, the handsome Shogo Shiraki cut a fine figure as well.

His family was apparently of excellent standing too. Even a man like that, ordered to become a horse, would gladly comply, so being a slave really was an awful station.

When Shiraki and I got down on all fours, Kanan and Yumi mounted us.

I hated it, but the soft sensation of her bottom stirred a faint excitement and pleasure in me, which I hated about myself.

It was because I was a man.

… The other slaves shot strong, jealous looks my way. As if I wouldn't have traded places with them in a heartbeat.

I had no intention of getting a swelled head, but I felt like I got picked for things like this pretty often.

Probably because I couldn't quite hide my rebellious streak. Inwardly I didn't want to obey, yet I had no choice but to.

It was precisely because I was that sort of opponent that she found it amusing to make me obey.

Or maybe it was just process of elimination.

Kensei Yamagata was probably the most reliable presence Kanan had, but he was a heavyweight you could call her right hand. Not someone she could use lightly.

Yuma Ishiguro was also of considerably high family standing, so Kanan couldn't make use of him either.

The beautiful Sawako Aozawa, and Haru Midoriya, who only looked like a beautiful girl, didn't have the muscle to be horses.

The small Masayuki Nezu, nicknamed "Rat," likewise lacked the strength.

Masaomi Noda… his fat, large frame would have been delighted to play horse, but sitting on him was probably physiologically unpleasant.

Most likely, sitting on him would feel sticky.

But by process of elimination, the remaining two were about even.

Ichinose-kun and I were similar types. We had become Kanan's slaves for similar reasons, and our family standing wasn't all that high either. Neither of us was particularly athletic, but we were of average build and not so out of shape that we couldn't move.

However, Ichinose-kun was apparently a masochist, and over the course of being ordered around by Kanan he had genuinely come to like her, obeying her gladly from the bottom of his heart.

That was the difference between him and me.

Glancing sideways, I saw Shogo Shiraki down on all fours.

As for Yumi Tsuchiya, among her eight slaves, she clearly viewed him as special and relied on him most, picking him first whenever she had a free choice.

So as a matchup, my opponent ended up being Shogo Shiraki fairly often overall.

"Akai-kun, let's have a fair and square contest."

Shiraki-kun said it breezily. Fair and square contest, huh…

The seemingly refreshing handsome Shiraki.

Whether he wholeheartedly accepted his position as Yumi Tsuchiya's slave, I had no idea.

That said, on the surface he looked like he obeyed gladly.

When I turned my face up, Yumi Tsuchiya was looking down.

Yumi Tsuchiya straddled his back. Large, droopy eyes set in a kind-looking, beautiful face.

And yet, the fact that she could play Goshujin-sama like this without mercy was probably because she wasn't as kind as she looked.

"I'm counting on you again today, Shogo."

"Yes, leave it to me."

"If you lose, I won't let you off easy."

Kanan Kazami, true to the look of her sharp, slanted eyes, had a sharp personality. If we lost, the whip would be waiting.

A race on all fours… I had run it any number of times, but I just couldn't seem to win.

"… Understood."

Resigning myself, I broke into a run on all fours.

In the end, the gap in athletic ability couldn't be helped. Inch by inch we got pulled apart, and even when Kanan whipped me to make me speed up, I couldn't catch up.

"Yumi, splendidly done."

"Haha! I dedicate this victory to you, Eclair-sama!"

"Kanan, even though you lost, your whip-work was truly splendid. If not for the difference in horses, who knows how the match would have gone…"

Eclair praised the two equally.

"Ahh, Eclair-sama, I am honored to receive your praise! Next time I shall surely win a glorious victory!"

… It seemed this round of competition had met with Eclair's approval.

"… Naoto, to think you would shame me like this… you remember this for later…!"

But it didn't look like I was going to escape Kanan's punishment.

"Now then, to the winner of the next event, I shall grant the right to kiss my foot."

As the events went on, perhaps caught up in the mood, at one point Eclair declared that much.

Both Kanan's slaves and Yumi's slaves got worked up.

"To kiss the foot of that supreme beauty, Eclair-sama…!?"

In front of their own masters, they couldn't openly rejoice, but there could hardly be a slave who wouldn't desire it.

"… Eclair-sama."

Sario called out to Eclair. He was probably asking, Shall I enter and sweep the win, voiding the prize?

Eclair raised one hand to stop him. With Sario Shard, who boasted overwhelming ability, sitting out, the chance came around to everyone.

The event was a three-legged race once around the course, a rather peaceful one by recent standards. Though with high balance beams and the like, it was actually pretty difficult.

In a three-legged race, the two would normally reach the goal simultaneously, but a malicious rule had been added: whichever of the pair crossed the finish line first would be declared the winner.

In other words, you had to cooperate to the very end, then betray your partner at the last moment.

Three teams at a time, up to six teams could enter… which meant from our side, with Yamagata and Aozawa sitting out, the rest all entered.

I was paired with Haru-kun.

… And, as a matter of course, I won.

The other groups had no particularly close pairings and kept tripping each other up, while we cooperated harmoniously to the end.

I had intended for the two of us to cross the finish line at the same time, but Haru-kun stepped back a pace and yielded the win to me, so the victory ended up mine.

"Fufufu… Congratulations. Naoto Akai-san. Then, I shall grant you the right to kiss my foot."

With that, Eclair Feradria bared her white, slender foot.

To kiss someone's foot… it was supposed to be an act signifying submission, by no means a happy thing.

And yet, if I could kiss that soft-looking, beautiful, white bare foot, I felt I could throw away anything for the chance. This was why men were such fools.

However…

"… Eclair-sama, by 'right,' am I correct in understanding that whether or not to exercise it is up to me?"

"… Yes, that is correct."

Hearing that answer,

"Then, I shall choose not to exercise that right."

I cleanly declined.

"… May I ask the reason?"

Having the honor she had bestowed refused, Eclair appeared to be smiling kindly, but her eyes looked freezing cold.

Trembling inside, I…

"I-It's because I am the slave of Kanan Kazami-sama. I cannot serve two masters."

I gave an answer in line with their own logic.

"… My, truly splendid. Kanan, you have a fine slave."

Eclair, who valued a slave's loyalty, couldn't fault that, and instead praised Kanan on the strength of my glib words.

It seemed I had earned some favor with Kanan.

"… Do you yourself not approve of being a slave?"

Toward the end of the events, Sario Shard suddenly spoke to me.

His voice hadn't broken even as he grew, sounding like nothing so much as a woman's: a soft, mellow, calm voice.

Thanks to Haru-kun, I was somewhat used to beautiful boys who looked like beautiful girls, so I didn't get too flustered.

I calmly considered his words.

How should I answer?

He was Eclair Feradria's slave, so by ordinary thinking he was Eclair's agent.

If I answered "Of course" to this question…

And if it got reported back to Eclair, it would turn into, "Kanan, your slave seems to harbor rebellious feelings against you. Demerit," and Kanan would glare at me. Nothing good would come of it.

The model answer was probably, "No, I am Kanan-sama's slave."

… However, he had gone out of his way to call me out where no one else could hear, just the two of us. I wanted to believe it was an off-the-record, frank inquiry.

"… Sario-kun, you're someone who serves a princess as you were born to do, like a knight or such.

"With kings, nobles, and a class system being a given since the day you were born… someone like you might not understand.

"But in Japan, we're taught that heaven creates no man above another man, that all humanity is equal.

"So a system like slavery, which doesn't treat people equally, it's only natural to find it unpleasant."

I answered his words very honestly.

"Because all people are equal, you think slavery is wrong? But that is a generalization, an idealistic argument. In reality, there is joy in serving a good master, isn't there?"

Sario continued the discussion as if nothing were amiss. Then I would continue too.

"Hmm…"

But my reply trailed off.

I mean, was Kanan a good master? That hysterical woman who threw tantrums and lashed out with the whip for no reason?

… If that was the case, then was the reason I hated being a slave only because my Goshujin-sama was no good, and if I had a good Goshujin-sama, would there be no problem with being a slave?

… That didn't feel right either.

"No, good or bad isn't the issue. People dominating people is just wrong.

"At least for me. I don't want to be controlled by anyone other than myself.

"… Well, given my current situation, I guess this all sounds pretty hollow…"

I answered with a wry smile.

"People dominating people is wrong, hm. But there are also those who take pleasure in being dominated. What then?"

He posed it that way. It was rare to find someone who would seriously discuss things with me, the bottom-of-the-barrel of Kanan's slaves.

In this academy, where such a thing was rare, it made me happy.

"… In that case, it's not really my place to say anything…"

"If it is wrong for people to dominate people, then those who take pleasure in being dominated must also be wrong, no?"

Sario calmly pointed out the contradiction in my logic.

True enough. If I was indicting it on grounds of public justice, then those who accepted being slaves ought to be indicted too.

The fact that I didn't care who anyone besides me obeyed meant I wasn't actually opposing slavery for the sake of public justice.

"… Sorry. I just hated my own situation of being controlled, so I dressed it up in words generally accepted as just to attack my position. Honestly, as long as I myself am not being controlled, I don't really mind."

I admitted my pretense plainly. When Sario looked at me, somehow the urge to hedge just left me.

"… People who can honestly admit their own faults are rare.

"You are quite the impressive fellow, Naoto Akai."

Oh, I got praised… that made me happy.

"Nah, even saying that, in the end I'm still just a slave.

"I'm just a kid grumbling 'I hate it, I hate it' about something that can't be helped."

When I deprecated myself like that, Sario laughed lightly. He really did get even more adorable when he laughed…

Haru-kun was one thing, but this Sario also struck me as a kind, good person.

For that matter, Eclair Feradria, Yumi Tsuchiya, even Kanan Kazami, as people, they probably weren't bad either.

But their positions, their environments, didn't allow it. They were forced to dominate people.

The Kingdom of Feradria, despite having no notable industry to speak of, was a wealthy nation.

Famous for its abundance of beautiful women, having produced many popular actresses and models, it was said that beauties were its industry… and that wasn't wrong at all.

Behind the scenes, this country was in the business of slave exports. Top-tier slaves intended exclusively for royalty and nobility, at that. Owning a Feradrian woman as a slave had become a status symbol for the world's celebrities, who would compete to lay down enormous sums to purchase them, which was why the Kingdom of Feradria boasted financial power unimaginable for such a small nation.

The connections forged with the world's celebrities and royalty through this trade held even further value.

Wanting to take a cut of that slave trade and sip on that sweet nectar were the Kazami house and the Tsuchiya house.

Hence why their daughters were desperate to win Eclair's favor.

For someone who had lived an ordinary life, the worldview was so pitch-black it made me recoil.

But slaves… such things had demand, and so there was supply.

I had no choice but to accept, even if I couldn't comprehend it, that such a world existed.

The competition was won by Kanan's side.

"Well done, you lot. Now then, pick them up."

With that, Kanan generously scattered a wad of bills with a sweep of her hand. For once she was rewarding us slaves.

Even thinking it was unsightly, I scrambled desperately to gather them up.

If I could save up money and someday escape this situation… that was the kind of thought running through my head.