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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘Well, he was openly going to screw me over with the secret passage.’
While we were having this conversation, the battle between Athena and Baldur had already reached a conclusion.
“Your physical condition is unfortunate. Let’s have a rematch when your body recovers. You’ll make a good sparring partner.”
Athena spoke while looking down at the fallen Baldur.
Baldur had a very resentful expression, but it didn’t change the situation.
“Move! I said move, Baldur!”
Kuman tried to activate the magic engraving, but Baldur could only suffer in pain and do nothing.
This was beyond his abilities.
“This moment has finally come. I only imagined it.”
Athena approached Kuman with a bright smile, and he tried to escape by putting other slaves in front of him, but it was futile.
Athena appropriately avoided and subdued those slaves and advanced forward, and eventually reached in front of Kuman and stabbed his neck.
“Ugh…”
That was the end.
Athena didn’t seem to want to hear anything else, as she killed Kuman as soon as she saw an opening, and returned to me with a very refreshed expression.
“I took care of him. Revenge is quite refreshing.”
“Ah, take this. It seems he used this to control that person.”
What she brought to me was the artifact that controlled Baldur’s magic engraving.
“Thanks.”
Kuman’s slaves no longer resisted after Kuman died.
They just looked anxious, worried that they might also be killed.
“Baldur.”
“I spared you at Kayla’s request, so if you act uncooperatively, I’ll be displeased, right?”
“For now, calm them down and stay put.”
Kang!
While I was paying attention to Baldur, it seemed they had attempted to escape, as Kayla and the skeleton were blocking the way.
The specter flew among the humans, examined a few, and soon lost interest.
It seemed there was no one with particularly great vitality.
‘Still, it would eat well if I gave it to it.’
“Did I make you wait too long?”
The lord, who had failed to escape, faced me with a humiliated expression.
“Kayla, you know what to do.”
Following my instruction, Kayla moved, and Rankbink, who hadn’t said a word until now, stepped forward to block her and opened his mouth.
“If I was going to die like this in the end…”
He didn’t beg pathetically, probably knowing that I wouldn’t change my mind with any persuasion.
“I should have fought and died earlier.”
However, it seemed he couldn’t avoid a bit of regret.
I had even openly said that I would turn Rankbink’s corpse into a skeleton.
Perhaps because of that, Rankbink’s eyes were slightly shaking.
Well, it wouldn’t feel good to know that there would be no rest even after death.
Even if it was just the body.
‘It’s not something I can do to the soul anyway.’
Just by looking at his posture, I could tell that Rankbink’s physical condition wasn’t good.
Not even aura was visible on his sword.
As a result, he missed Kayla’s movement.
Whoosh.
“…My leg…”
The instantaneous high-speed movement using the high specs of her right foot.
Rankbink, who couldn’t know that her leg had been fixed, had no way to anticipate this situation, and a moment’s gap in close combat was enough time to take a life.
At least, it seemed he had prepared a secret technique, as a faint aura was coated on his sword.
It seemed he had forcibly drawn it up the moment he missed Kayla’s movement.
Honestly, I was a bit surprised.
‘I heard he couldn’t even use mana properly…’
The fact that he forcibly did such a thing meant… there was literally no going back.
Even if he won, he would have died from the aftereffects.
However, even that resolve couldn’t overcome the difference in information and level.
Rankbink died with a hollow expression, spitting blood.
Banis let out a despicable sound, and the lord gave an order to the servants to block Kayla, which was literally impossible.
They were forced to step forward, but as a result, they all lost their lives at Kayla’s hands.
‘If they hadn’t resisted, she probably wouldn’t have killed them…’
It was the price they paid for not being able to disobey the lord’s order until the end.
Kayla seemed to think that there was no need to keep such people alive.
Summer was also a part of them.
“Oh, oh no…”
The lord’s head fell as he was stepping back.
“Ugh…”
Even at the death of his father, the lord, Banis was just frozen in fear, unable to take any action.
Kayla approached such Banis and said,
“You… Master had something he specifically wanted from you.”
Kayla’s sword entered Banis’s mouth and quickly twisted.
“Hrrk!”
A severed tongue fell out.
Unable to endure that terrible pain, Banis collapsed.
“Your words always reminded me of someone. I was also quite displeased. Don’t run your mouth recklessly even in death.”
It seemed the traitorous Young Master who had targeted Kayla came to her mind.
‘Well, she did say he coveted her.’
It was enough to remind her.
The following sword strike split Banis’s upper and lower body.
“I finished it.”
I was going to kill the lord, but Kayla was faster.
She seemed to think it was something she had to do.
‘It doesn’t matter who does it anyway.’
I instructed the skeleton to take Rankbink’s corpse and gather the rest of the corpses in one place.
“I’m sure you blocked all the secret passages, but just in case, go check and come back.”
In the meantime, I approached Mutre.
“You were a warlock.”
“Yeah. Are you surprised?”
“I can’t help but be surprised.”
“Do you also despise warlocks?”
“Well, I might have in the past. I also disliked dark elves.”
Dark elves were a race that frequently used black magic.
“However, I don’t particularly dislike you, Sir Jimnis. Maybe it’s because you treated me well before, or because you killed the humans I didn’t like.”
“That’s fortunate, at least. So, do you have any intention of working under me? As you heard earlier, I plan to make my dungeon here.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Hmm. I’d prefer if you cooperated voluntarily.”
“Hahaha. It’s a life of not being able to die anyway. If you don’t kill me, I’ll follow you.”
“Just like you worked as a slave under other humans?”
“It will be a bit better than that. In any case, you won’t treat me the same as other humans, right? Or are you going to act the same way now that I’m in your hands?”
“I have no such intention.”
“Then it will be a bit better than before. At least I won’t intentionally do a sloppy job like before.”
He seemed to be referring to the partial collapse of the secret passage.
“That’s a bit lacking though…”
The abilities of a dwarf who works with sincerity and a dwarf who does as told without any motivation are vastly different.
Moreover, Mutre seemed to be at a quite useful level even among dwarves.
It was the same with humans.
The difference in efficiency between someone who works forcibly as a slave without hope and someone who works hard for a better life while being paid is incomparable.
I wanted the latter.
“Right, you said you had a family.”
Mutre’s expression stiffened.
Was it because I was a warlock?
He seemed to be having very bad thoughts.
“You said they weren’t dead. You said they were scattered.”
“…That’s right.”
Mutre made an expression as if he regretted it.
He looked like he was worried I would curse his family or something by using him.
By the way, I can’t do such a thing either.
It’s a skill that even high-level warlocks specializing in curses can’t do.
In the first place, to curse a target whose whereabouts are unknown, you need to at least have their body.
And even then, most attempts fail, so it was impossible to do such a thing just because a blood relative fell into my hands.
“If I get the chance, I’ll save them for you.”
“Well, if it’s a situation where I have to kidnap them because they’re under a powerful force, it’ll be difficult, but if it’s a situation that can be resolved with money, it won’t be impossible.”
If they were under a hostile force, I could even consider stealing them.
“In fact, I rescued Athena’s sister in the same way. Of course, I admit the possibility is slim. But this is the best I can say for now.”
However, even that was a quite surprising statement, as Mutre’s gaze didn’t leave me for a long time.
Only after a considerable amount of time passed did Mutre open his mouth.
“It’s funny.”
“I’ve seen countless humans, but the kindest human turns out to be a warlock.”
Well, most of the humans he had met so far were probably slave hunters and the upper class, including nobles.
“And… to think I would be shaken, even for a moment, by such words with a possibility that’s slim to none.”
It was true.
In this vast world, finding Mutre’s scattered family was literally like finding a needle in a sand beach.
‘Still, the possibility isn’t completely zero.’
Dwarf slaves are rare, and therefore, there is a high possibility that high-ranking nobles possess them.
Moreover, since they are expensive, they won’t be treated recklessly, and since their lifespan is long, there is a high possibility that they are all still alive.
Although the possibility is slim, the chance of their reunion isn’t completely zero.
Of course, if they were taken to another kingdom or the underworld, it would be difficult to find them.
Moreover, if they luckily escaped, I had no way of knowing.
So it was practically a promise in words only.
However, it seemed to be a fact that Mutre was momentarily shaken.
‘It’s a kind of nostalgia.’
Hometown, family.
The more miserable the reality was, the more precious and deeply rooted the memories of them would be.
Even with a slim possibility, he must have thought of reuniting with them at my words, and he couldn’t help but be shaken.
So, I understand.
I had a similar experience.
During the first round, I missed Earth so much.
Even I would have been shaken if I had been told there was a slim but possible chance of returning during the first round.
However, I realized that I didn’t even have that sliver of hope, so I gave up on returning.
It was a miracle that I didn’t commit suicide then.
More precisely, I couldn’t even choose to commit suicide.
“…Is that promise certain?”
“I don’t lie. Within the bounds of what’s possible without overdoing it, I’ll find and save your family if I can.”
“…I’ll believe you. You’re the most peculiar and… special human I’ve ever seen.”
“Then will you do your best?”
“You can speak comfortably. And take this.”
I tossed him the artifact that controlled the magic engraving, which I had found in the lord’s possession.
“Unfortunately, I can’t remove it.”
It’s not that there’s no way, but I can’t do it.
“I know. I know better than anyone how terrible and tricky this is.”
Honestly, it was surprising that Kayla’s magic engraving had disappeared.
If the magic engraving is mishandled, the slave dies or becomes crippled.
However, Kayla was able to escape from the status of a slave without any aftereffects or side effects.
‘Well, no matter how great the magic engraving is… body restructuring is no joke either.’
It made her accept Denok’s body that I transplanted without any side effects and even created a mana heart.
At that point, it was understandable that the magic engraving had disappeared.
Therefore, rather than messing with the magic engraving despite not having the ability, I expressed my intention not to treat Mutre as a slave by simply handing over the means of control to him.
Mutre, who received the artifact I threw, showed a surprised expression for a moment, then soon laughed and answered.
“You’re indeed the most peculiar human I’ve ever seen.”
“I told you to speak comfortably.”
“I’ll handle it, so don’t worry. Ah. And you sent those two in vain. If they’re not fools, they’ll have properly collapsed the entrance. There’s that much of a device.”
“I know. I just sent them to check, just in case.”
I had experienced it once before.
There was no way I didn’t know.
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