Chapter 39 - 『Names』

Rhome and Driskel stood in front of the mirror of the rest room. Their eyes glued on the white chief's uniforms with deep red handkerchiefs that they were wearing, before looking to one another.

They were brothers, two slaves which had been bought by a tall man and a young woman who healed them, shielded them from humiliation and dressed them. Their eyes were a silvery grey, their hair dirty blonde with patches of brown near the center of their scalps. Rhome was about five foot nine inches, whilst Driskel was five foot seven inches.

"My brother... This is a bit strange, isn't it?" Drisket spoke in a quiet voice, a lisp evident in his speech patterns, as he rubbed his forearm nervously

"You're not wrong… These clothes are high quality, most slaves don't wear these," Rhome gestured towards their uniforms, "Though I have no idea how he figured we were good with food... And I would've never known that the squirt that sized us with those weird instruments was so skilled..." Looking to the door, he watched as the knob turned. "Hm?"

That's when a short adult figure appeared, thin yet long pointed ears twitching slightly at the sight of the two men. It was an elf, a rather short one to be exact. She had wavy black hair and sickly white skin, with mystically elegant green eyes.

She was wrapped tightly in a fluffy white and blue towel, a dry change of clothes tucked under one of her arms.

"Oi, this is the ladies room!"

Both of the men's eyes lit up in confusion, "What?" Their voices overlapped at a high pitch.

Keeping her arms her arms loosely, her right hand hanging from the left elbow limply. "Did you not see the sign that was pinned to the door?" The elf didn't seem at all fearful of the two human males.

If anything her voice carried arrogance and a heavy sense of self-confidence.

"No.. We didn't..." Truth be told, neither of the men could read! Yet, they weren't going to say anything about it and hurried for the door and stepped out.

Taking a deep breath, the oldest brother let out a heavy sigh.

"Rhome, I don't see a sign." Driskel's eyes were staring at the wooden door of the restroom, his index finger pointing right at it.

Rhome glared at the blank door before shrugging, "Women," he almost immediately calmed down before he could get worked up. "Lets go to the Kitchen. We're supposed to meet the Master."

"Do you think he's actually nice?" Driskel bit into the interior of his upper lip, lightly tearing at the skin, getting a small taste of copper in his mouth. Oddly enough, it seemed to calm and his nerves a bit, even though he didn't just stop after he started.

"I'm sure he's a good man... Otherwise he wouldn't have given us these clothes to wear." Even though neither of these grown men could read, at least Rhome could recognize the worth of the clothes from how the fabric felt on his skin and how it was presented.

Driskel stared at the sleeve of his right arm before nodded slowly, letting his hands fall to his sides. "Why do you think he bought so many of us though...?"

Rhome just looked over at his brother with this dull looking, definitely judging him for not taking note of how big the place actually was.

Driskel tensed slightly at the judgemental look he was getting. "Alright... Dammit. I'll stop worrying!"

"Good, because it was getting worrisome," the little female elf scoffed as she walked on passed the two of them. She was dressed in a similar chief outfit, but her handkerchief was a pastel blue.

"You got changed quickly..." Rhome noted as he watched the little head of black hair waddle on down the hall. His head tilted to the side slightly, raising a brow.

"You don't usually have much time to change your clothes when you're fighting in a war." The elf chimed as she turned to face them, stopping at the door of the kitchen. "Or running from slavers for that matter... What's your names anyway?"

"Rhome," he'd introduce himself as he raised a hand slightly.

"Driskel," the other brother scratched the nape of his neck and the back of his head.

"Ah..." The elf stared up at them for a few moments before shrugging, "Just call me Cici."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Cici." Rhome stated while he watched his brother walk passed them both and enter the Kitchen. The two of them were quick to follow after him.

The moment they entered the kitchen they were able to lay their eyes on the grand island in the center of the room. There were probably about thirty different dishes freshly prepared.

Standing on the other side of the island, opposite from the three who had just entered the room. Was Eve and the man who had purchased them. Their eyes were rested on the squirt beside him, then over towards Jack himself.

He was still in the suit he had worn when he went out to get them.

When the door to the dining room opened with a soft squeak as it rubbed against the frame, the three slaves set their sights on Arche. She was still dressed in attire which made her look like the worker she was.

She even had her staff situated on her back, poking out from her mantle at a diagonal angle.

Their eyes then moved back to Jack. All of them at once had become nervous as he gestured for them to move in front of the island.

Why was there so much food?

There were baked deserts, meats and cheeses on bread, strange never seen before sauces. There also seemed to be breaded poultry, something which the three of them never laid their eyes on before.

"Welcome to your new home," Jack stated as he motioned his hand. "Having identified your personal talents, I would like to have you trained in creating dishes from my homeland."

The Elf padded on up the island, standing the closest out of the three, and reached up to poke at what appeared to be a fried banana. It was flaky, soft to the touch. "Um..."

"My name is Jack Graham. You may call me Jack."

"I'm Eve!" The person who had made their uniforms bounced a few times with a hand in the air, waving. "Call me Eve-oneesa--" She was immediately cut off by a bop to the head.

"Just call her Eve." Jack interjected with a small smirk across his lips.

Stepping forward, a pace or two ahead of Jack, "Call me Arche." She didn't give a surname, as she didn't want to be compared to her delusional parents. Even though she wanted to save them from debt, she doubted it would do any good.

The smell of the gourmet food was quickly getting to the slaves which haven't gotten much to eat.

"Cici," The elf would raise a hand with a light wave, only two fingers lifted as she did so.

"Rhome," one of the brothers stated with his hands in his pockets, his thumbs and pinkies sticking out.

With his hands folded in front of him, the other brother nodded his head. "Driskel."

Though they introduced themselves in return, their eyes hadn't left all the food here. They were supposed to learn how to make these dishes?

"I'd like you all to sample these foods. And when you're finished, I want you to recreate at least one of the dishes." Jack's order was rather direct and to the point. He figured they wouldn't be able to screw it up. "And try to pace yourselves," he'd warn as he watched them almost lunge for the island. "The food you make will be fed to your colleagues, so don't fail, and please wash your hands."

Jack would then gesture towards the faucet of the kitchen sink behind them at the row of counters where raw ingredients could be see lined upon.

As the three washed their hands, Arche and Jack walked out of the room, leaving Eve to watch over them, to instruct if necessary. That's when the two of them would enter the dining room, the other slaves which they had purchased earlier were all present in the room sitting along the waxed lengthy table with a blue table cloth with silver trimming centered across it.

"Greetings everyone!" Jack spoke with an increased volume, watching as almost all of them pretty much jumped to their feet to the sudden raising of his voice.

The two of the elves, one male and one female, were dressed in brown baggy pants held up by a black leather belt with an iron buckle with a warm tan colored hemp shirt and a tool vest with a few pouches. They looked much more comfortable than they looked.

The last three were the one elf and two half-elves, they were the ones who were capable spell casters. They were dressed in plain white double breasted tunics, baggy black pants and hard leather boots.

The two half-elves were girls and the elf was a male. The outfits were meant to be unisex, concealing their genders one way or another. The one thing that stood out though was the turquoise colored sash belts around their waists that made their clothes look almost seamless.

"I see all the clothes my little sister sized up and made for you are finely fit," Jack looked over each one of them, sounding rather chipper as he made the observation.

The elves here, unlike the one who is working in the kitchen, seemed to be instinctively touching their ears. Although he had healed them, it was clear that they were still fearful of their ears being snipped.

"Y-yes Master!"

"Call me Jack," a small chuckle escaped from his lips, his wings sprouting from his back and spreading out to their full span.

The jaws of the slaves literally dropped in sync as they stared at the dark bluish-green wings which could've matched the sashes around their waists should they have been brighter. The person who had bought them and took them in, put them in nice clothes on their backs, was not human.

The fear of losing their ears had quickly subsided. If anything, they could now relate to their master… Who rather have them address him by name than to use a title such as Master.

"Jack-sama!" They each addressed him, overlapping for a time.

Jack almost instinctively took a step back from them, an image of the NPCs from Nazarick flashing in the back of his mind. "So… What're your names?" He had the papers for each of them, but that didn't mean he read them, plus he had seen their information with the use of his Greater Identification, but he actually wanted to hear them introduce themselves. He was individualizing them, giving them back the identities which those whom had sold them suppressed.

They all looked at one another for a moment before looking to their superior.

"My name is Akuna," One of the half elves said as she bowed her head in acknowledgement.

Imitating the gesture of the other half elf, "My name is Emani."

The two of them had freckled faces and muddled auburn short fringed hair and enigmatic violet colored eyes. They were either sisters, or twins, though they weren't entirely identical. The likeliness of having a different mother was rather high so it seemed.

"My name is Odo," the male was older than both of them.

He had fashioned hair like that of a butler. Whether or not he had prepared his hair like this, it is unknown, but he didn't come this way. His hair was a very, very light blue. He had thick brows and a mustache.

If he had a beard, then he'd look like an extremely young Sebas Tian with large pointed ears and larger almond shaped cyan colored eyes.

"My favorite shapeshifter's name is Odo," Jack smirked slightly as he tilted his head, referring to a science fiction character from an old twenty-first century television series.

"You know a shapeshifter?" Arche's eyes widened as she looked up at him.

"Hm… I know a couple… But Odo is dead, has been for over a hundred years now, I've actually never met the man." Jack said with a light nod, "But he was a constable of a small remote outpost despite the prejudices against his kind."

Arche blinked a few times, "Wow… I've never heard of a story like that before," she had her thumb and index finger holding her chin in thought. "Did he read people's minds?"

"No, his body was gelatinous, like a slime."

"Gross..."

The two regular elves stood there watching Arche and Jack before looking at one another then back towards them. "My name is Kouta," the male elf spoke up, standing on his toes slightly for attention.

He had shoulder length strawberry blonde hair, no facial hair and a triangular jawline.

Jack glanced over towards them and nodded, noting the name before turning his eyes to the last remaining unnamed woman.

"M-m-my name is De-delilia," she said as she bowed her head towards him frantically. She had pastel green colored long hair which reached down to her waist. She fit the very description of a shy bookworm. She had the perfect face for thick framed hipster glasses.

"Pleasure to meet you all, I look forward to getting to know you further as you work for me. Now please, you may sit down and relax. Food and refreshments will be out shortly..." Jack's wings retracted into his back with a simple motion, his eyes smiling more than his lips.