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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘Well, before dividing the hierarchy of professions, she herself is in the position of a slave, which is ironic.’
A slave of a mercenary who captures monsters for a living says she expected her master to say her job was hopeless after seeing what she does.
…Thinking about it, it’s a ridiculous situation.
“And yet, you gave advice.”
“Just in case there was even a small possibility.”
Kayla replied indifferently.
“If you want, I can swear any damn oath. But.”
Kayla spoke with somewhat empty eyes.
“Don’t insult me more than necessary. I might give up on this wretched life.”
“More than necessary insult?”
“Yes. Given my status, I expect to receive unfair treatment. But I can’t endure insults beyond what’s necessary.”
“For example?”
“I’m in a position where I was sold for combat. It means I’m a slave who serves through force. Don’t expect anything else from me.”
“So, don’t make you do anything unrelated to force?”
“Well, household chores and such?”
“Are you pretending not to know?”
Kayla looked straight into my eyes and said.
“I’m telling you to give up on using me as a sex slave.”
Seeing her attitude, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurd situation.
‘Her past is quite complicated, isn’t it?’
Although she was once a knight, she was now a slave.
If she hadn’t accepted her current situation, she would have died long ago.
At the very least, her mind would have been broken.
However, there were no such signs in Kayla.
‘It means she has accepted her current situation.’
Despite that, she says she has no intention of accepting insults beyond what’s necessary.
‘Well, it seems Kuman treated her well.’
From Kuman’s perspective, her mana breathing techniques and aura cultivation methods were more important than her body.
Moreover, she had the knowledge and experience to raise combat slaves, so there was no reason not to grant her that much.
It was natural to treat a capable slave well.
In fact, even Albert, whose status was a slave, lived better than most freemen.
‘Combat slave.’
Well, even if Kuman and I used her similarly, I had no intention of using her for that purpose.
However, I didn’t like her attitude.
I thought about teaching her a lesson for her insolent attitude, but soon realized there was no need.
Thinking about it, such an attitude proved that she hadn’t been broken yet.
I intended to fix her leg if possible, and if that happened, she would regain her strength as a former knight.
‘For combat, a proactive person is better than a passive one.’
Therefore, I decided to let her insolent attitude slide for once.
‘I can understand that attitude too.’
The place where slaves are used the most is undoubtedly in fields that require labor.
Mining and fishing are prime examples, and some nobles also use them to manage their large farms.
Being used as a servant could also be considered being used for labor.
Some educated and talented individuals are used for other tasks, but they are a minority in terms of proportion.
The next most common use is as sex slaves, and combat slaves are surprisingly low in proportion.
Handing weapons to slaves? It’s a crazy thing to do.
Without the ability to manage them, an army made up of slaves could be considered a mere dream.
Of course, it’s not that there are no methods at all. This place wasn’t Earth, but a different world where magic undeniably existed.
There were magical engravings that made slaves unable to resist, and if one had money, they could create an army made up of slaves.
‘But people usually don’t do that.’
With that money, they would rather create knights and recruit soldiers.
The maintenance cost is the same anyway, and it’s better to pay monthly salaries than a lump sum for magical engravings.
Unless they are extreme nobles or have an excessive amount of money, they don’t do such things.
In the case of those who have awakened mana and are worth more than the magical engraving, they are usually engraved and used as soon as they fall into slavery, even if it costs a lot of money.
‘Non-human races also use magical engravings.’
Other than that, magical engravings are not commonly used.
Anyway, it was natural for Kayla to worry about falling into the position of a sex slave.
As mentioned earlier, the second most common use after labor is as sex slaves.
No, usually they overlap a lot.
They are used for labor and also as sex slaves. That’s the norm.
Therefore, it means that Kayla’s worry isn’t just some delusional concern.
‘Her appearance is indeed attractive.’
At a glance, she looks to be in her early twenties, or mid-twenties at most.
It’s the peak period when her appearance would reach its prime, so such worries are natural.
“You don’t have to worry about that. We won’t be staying alone anyway.”
“…I heard there’s another slave besides me.”
“Well.”
Now that she was no longer a slave, it was difficult to answer.
‘I don’t want to give false hope.’
She would find out soon anyway, but I wanted to receive the oath before that.
It could be seen as being overly sensitive. However, it was better to be a little sensitive on a regular basis than to show a gap by letting my guard down.
‘These things are all habits.’
In the end, Kayla had to swear to me, just like Athena, that she would not betray me.
In the process, my real name was revealed, and it became known that my original name was an alias, but it didn’t matter.
“Well, is that enough? I don’t know if it’ll be to your liking.”
Perhaps she was very disappointed to see me persistently obtaining the oath, but Kayla’s tone became even more curt.
No, maybe she was trying to hide her emotions by despairing at her miserable situation where she couldn’t refuse the oath.
As I had figured out earlier, she hadn’t been broken yet.
“I’m very pleased. Now that the preparations are complete.”
“…Preparations, you say.”
Sensing something strange in my words, Kayla questioned back.
“I’m a Warlock.”
I immediately revealed my magic, and overwhelming despair appeared on Kayla’s face.
“Oh my god… Not only a slave to a monster hunter but also a Warlock…”
The light in her eyes began to fade.
However, my next words brought back her vitality.
“Well. Wouldn’t it be even better for you? Maybe I can fix your leg?”
“My… leg, you say?”
For a moment, hope flickered in her eyes. However, she soon shook her head.
“This is an injury that even a high-ranking priest can’t heal. So how can a mere Warlock…”
“A mere Warlock, you say. Why don’t you be a little more careful? Your master is none other than that Warlock.”
Honestly, even though I was a Warlock myself, it was a fact that the majority of Warlocks were trash, so I couldn’t strongly object.
“And even if a high-ranking priest can’t heal it, I’m a bit different. Remember the slave I brought earlier?”
“I roughly know about her.”
She was also someone who lived underground. There was no way she wouldn’t know Thea.
“That child’s illness, it’s cured.”
If she knew about Thea, she would also know about her illness.
Her illness was known to be so severe that even priests couldn’t identify it and told her to seek a high-ranking priest.
So it was natural for Kayla to be surprised by the news that such an illness had been cured.
“To be precise, it was a curse. A curse that even a high-ranking priest would barely be able to detect. Naturally, the one who cured it was me. More accurately, I’m currently treating it.”
It was being treated, but I could confidently say it would be completely cured. It wasn’t a possibility like with Kayla.
That’s why I could speak with confidence.
She wasn’t a fool. She was once a knight.
It was a curse that even those sensitive to magic from the temple couldn’t identify. The fact that they told her to seek a high-ranking priest meant it wasn’t an ordinary curse.
Since I said I had cured such a thing, she would have immediately realized that I wasn’t an ordinary Warlock.
“Ah, just in case, I have no intention of using you as an experimental subject.”
I intended to make her a comrade who would never betray me until the end.
Fortunately, I held the leash as she was a slave, and she was someone who would even teach Athena.
She was useful now and had future value, and even possessed the ability to nurture future talents.
She could be considered a talent too good to acquire at the moment.
Kayla remained silent for a long time after hearing my words.
She had a serious expression, as if she were thinking about something, so I also remained silent.
Clatter, clatter.
Even during that time, we were gradually getting closer to my house.
After a long period of silence, Kayla opened her mouth as if her thoughts had been organized.
“Can you really, truly heal my leg?”
“I can’t give you a definite answer. But there’s certainly a possibility.”
“…If you heal my leg…”
A strong force filled her eyes.
“I will pledge my loyalty to you. I will become your sword, cutting down those who insult you, and I will become your shield, facing all threats that come your way.”
It wasn’t an oath on mana. However, those words just now carried more weight than that.
“Until the moment I die. No, even after I die, I will forever remain by your side as your knight.”
I don’t know what significance there is in fixing her leg.
I only vaguely realized that there was something I couldn’t fathom.
The problem was that I couldn’t be sure I could definitely fix it.
Therefore, I threw out a light remark to change the mood a bit.
“Just a moment ago, you told me not to think about using you as a sex slave, but your attitude is quite different now.”
“If you just fix my leg, I will obediently follow even if you tell me to attend to you in bed without a word of complaint.”
There wasn’t a single hint of playfulness on Kayla’s face.
She had just given up on the last line she had been defending with her life.
“As I said, I can’t be certain.”
“I have nowhere else to rely on anyway.”
She had already found out that I was a Warlock, and I had no intention of letting her go.
‘The fact that I’m a Warlock can be revealed later without issue, but…’
Not now.
“…I’ll do my best.”
“That’s enough. I will eagerly await the day to come.”
With an attitude that was quite different from before, Kayla spoke.
After a while, we arrived at the residence, and Athena and Thea came out to greet us, or more precisely, me.
“Welcome back, Inha.”
“Welcome back. But why is there so much luggage? And… there’s one more person?”
“I received a request. This is a new colleague.”
“I’m Kayla. But… there are two people.”
“Thea’s sister.”
“There was no such information… Could it be that the reason you bought Thea…”
“It was the condition of the deal with Athena.”
I looked at Athena and said.
“Greet her too. She’ll be your teacher.”
“…Teacher?”
“Master. Could it be…”
“Kayla, use the oath I received from Kuman now. Teach Athena.”
Even without the oath, she probably would have accepted my request.
However, I immediately used the oath I received from Kuman, considering it as removing one shackle.
‘Although I received it, this oath originally belonged to Kuman.’
I intended to resolve it all on this occasion.
“Understood. I will do my best.”
“Congratulations, Sister. You received help from Inha again.”
Athena had a puzzled expression, but Thea seemed to know a bit about Kayla.
It wasn’t strange. Even I knew about her existence despite not having much contact with her in the past.
“Learn well from her. She’s a former knight.”
Only then did Athena show a surprised expression.
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