“Keel, do you know the difference between a boy and a girl?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you see . . . boys have . . .”

Raphtalia whispered something into Keel’s ear.

“That’s ridiculous. If I were god, I sure wouldn’t make being a boy or girl that complicated.”

“Look at the other boys. No, look at Mr. Naofumi. You see differences, right? His chest is flat, isn’t it?”

“What’s your point? That thing down there doesn’t grow out until you’re an adult, and my chest is just a bit swollen. It should heal soon.”

Grow out? The kid had quite the imagination. Just what kind of home environment had Keel grown up in before becoming a slave?

I started to envision one of those little girls who talks like a boy. And then an image of Kizuna popped into my head, raising her hand, saying, “You called?” “Sorry, but no one called for you,” I yelled back at the imaginary Kizuna and told her to go away. She disappeared after telling me how mean I was.

Kizuna was no doubt that type, but at least she knew that she was a girl. How on earth did Keel not notice during her time as a slave? Maybe it didn’t really matter either way? Or maybe the slave trader that sold her kept quiet about it to make her more appealing to a certain kind of twisted clientele?

This country was rotten, after all. There was certain to be plenty of trash with depraved fetishes. Those kinds of perverts would consider someone like Keel a rare find, so they’d probably be willing to pay a hefty fee. That despicable nobleman that we fought had apparently gotten off on abusing children. Then again, all the slaves showed signs of abuse. A sadistic streak was probably something that all of the slave owners shared.

“But . . . but dad used to say that if a boy considered himself a man, then he was a man no matter what anyone else said.”

He meant a man of the sea, right? Like a sailor or fisherman? So that’s how it was. Daughter wanted to be like daddy and ended up not knowing the difference between a boy and a girl. Actually, the fact that he even said something like that was probably his way of telling her she was a girl.

“I thought Keel was a really cool boy . . . but I guess she was a girl all along.”

“I still think she’s great. Gender doesn’t matter!”

The slave girls were whispering to each other excitedly. I knew girls really went for the whole pretty lady dressed like a man thing, but a girl that wanted to be a man of the sea?

“Come on . . . What’s the point in differentiating between boys and girls in the first place?! It doesn’t make any sense!”

Keel’s gender identity had been shaken to its foundations and she didn’t know how to react.