Re-Entering the Academy as a Sex Slave? (1)

The status window I hadn't opened in a while was throwing shade at me. It took over two years for those damn titles like Butcher and Monster to register, so why the hell did it instantly slap on Sex Slave? And up until now, new traits or titles had always been marked with a polite little (New), but this cursed Sex Slave got an excited, mocking (New!) with a damn exclamation point. It was really starting to piss me off. The status window that had solidly backed me up my entire life suddenly made me want to rip it to shreds for the first time. Throw in this body and mind that refused to listen to me as a bonus.

By the time I focused my killing intent on the woman now dragging me by the hand, intending to knock her out, nothing came out—like the damn thing was broken. I'd struggled before to control my overflowing bloodlust, but I'd never had it fail to appear entirely. It left me genuinely rattled. Was this the power of the slave restraint magic?

Whether she knew about my dilemma or not, my new owner, Terina Grade, was smiling brightly as she gripped my hand and ran. Her silver hair fluttered behind her like a banner.

"Let's get out of here quickly. The people who covet Ian might attack us."

"That's not something you should be smiling about."

True enough. The group that had been following us for a while now was giving off some pretty vicious vibes. So they were after me? No, to be precise, they were probably after Terina. It felt weird saying it myself, but my body was worth more than dozens of knights. I'd been surprised by the final bid since I'd never seen a single transaction exceed a thousand gold, but thinking about it coldly, the price was absurdly cheap. A knight's full plate mail and warhorse alone easily cost a thousand gold coins, and raising a proper knight required over three thousand gold in resources. And I was the kind of monster who could slaughter thirty of those carefully raised knights on the spot.

"Pretty sloppy move for a noble auction."

"Huh? It wasn't a noble auction house. In fact, nobles were banned from entering that particular auction house today. A royal decree went out. I was able to attend because I'm a ruined noble and therefore exempt from the order."

What? A royal decree being used for something so trivial... Ah, I guess it made sense.

"Goddammit. So that's what happened. I thought it was strange that my slave contract was registered as a life sentence even though I'd never done anything ridiculous like plotting against the royal family or assassinating nobles."

I was a commoner with an unclear background, ridiculously strong, and had the glaring weakness of near-zero mana resistance. If I fell under a noble's control, the king would have many sleepless nights. It would be like putting a collar on the sharpest blade capable of breaching the royal palace.

While still running, I slightly turned my head and jerked my chin toward the armed group behind us.

"Then are those bastards connected to the royal palace?"

"Nope. Just greedy idiots. They probably plan to catch you and sell you to the nobles for a higher price. They likely joined the auction with that intention. Of course, they'd carve out the part on the back of your neck where my name is engraved in the magic circle, and this Mistress would have her neck sliced clean off~?"

"Hah, that's both brutal and strangely tempting."

In normal cases, killing one's master would be a heroic tale of granting freedom to a slave, or the final desperate act of a slave hunter seeking extreme profit. But for a slave whose brand had been set less than an hour ago, it was a bit different.

"They're aiming for the time before the brand takes root?"

"You catch on quick. As expected of Ian. Though most people want you as a sword. The number of people who want you as a sex slave like me is extremely small! Of course, there are plenty who want both, right?"

"Just want both yourself. It'd be less complicated that way."

Handsome, huh. I looked at my left hand, the one Terina wasn't holding. It was covered in scars that proved just how fiercely I'd lived. Piercing wounds from arrows, cuts from blades, bruises from blunt weapons, burns and frostbite from magic. I never wore a helmet because it obstructed my vision, so my face wasn't much different. I wasn't sure if Terina's sense of beauty was broken or if her head was. One of the two was definitely messed up. The men I'd seen on the battlefield before in those bushes—where women dragged men away for happy time—had mostly been pretty boys. If someone like me was considered handsome, then ogres must be idol trainees.

While I was running at a leisurely pace, distracted by these random thoughts, the presences chasing us had gotten quite close. Their intense desire to make me their new owner was coming through as murderous intent. Hmm, strange. If Terina died here, I'd definitely be able to escape. So why didn't I feel like it? I'd learned that the slave restraint magic had many loopholes and couldn't control the heart. It was probably because of this strange woman. Even though in two minutes a blade would be falling on her neck, she wasn't giving any orders. She'd come to buy a slave but wasn't exercising her rights. I pushed the complicated feeling onto Terina.

"Kyaa! Why did you stop?"

She yanked hard on my arm after I'd come to a halt, but there was no way her strength could... Wait, why was my body being pulled along?

"Hold on. I'm going to drive them off, so stop pulling for a second."

My body was a bit drained, but there was no way I'd be dragged by just one person's strength. Just a few days ago, this body had stopped a knight's lance charge from horseback while standing still. This must be one of the restrictions from the slave brand... No, that couldn't be right. The slave brand only restricted actions. It couldn't mess with the mind or psychological state, and killing intent was firmly in the realm of the psyche. Aside from the fact that Terina's appearance matched my ideal type, there wasn't a single thing about her that I liked.

"Step back, Terina."

The moment I decided not to direct it at Terina, my killing intent released as intended. When I glanced back, it subsided again. Just what the hell was this woman? Watching the pursuers foam at the mouth and faint, my confusion only deepened.

Stats increase through training. If a normal adult male's strength were expressed as a stat, it would probably be around 5. A trained soldier would be 7-9. A knight who could use mana would be roughly 30. My strength stat was 82. Fittingly, I boasted a massive frame. I stood 193cm tall and weighed over 130kg. There was almost no body fat—muscle and bone made up most of my body. So, the reason I'm going out of my way to brag about my physical specs is—

"Come on, sit on my lap."

"Are you crazy?"

After boarding the carriage, I ignored Terina, who kept patting her knee without pause. A 130-kilogram lap sit? That wasn't romantic, it was torture. Yeah. She was definitely insane.

"Hmm~ You don't like it? Then let's settle the title first. Go on, call me Mistress, Ian."

"Are you actually crazy?"

Or maybe she was caught up in some bizarre sexual fetish. No, this was a world where the values of men and women were completely twisted. Her thinking might differ from that of a normal woman. If I judged it by the standards of my original world, Terina's behavior right now was like a hulking, muscular woman covered in scars and carrying a weapon larger than her body wanting to keep a maid and be called Mistress. ...Yeah, she definitely wasn't normal.

"Ian is my slave. So you have to call me Mistress!"

Or maybe she was just authoritarian. The way she was throwing a tantrum like a child was completely at odds with authority, but if I ignored her again she might spout some other nonsense, so I sighed and gave in.

"Fine, Master."

"Not Master, Mistress!"

"I have no intention of speaking politely. Just punish me already."

There would be no further compromise. I crossed my arms and answered firmly. Terina shook her head as if that wasn't it.

"Your way of speaking is better the way it is now. It's one of your charms, Ian. I just meant the simple matter of the title. Come on, repeat after me. Mistress~"

An hour had already passed. The brand had taken root, so I couldn't change owners even if I wanted to. And watching Terina, who looked like she'd collapse if I left her to die, made me feel strangely unsettled.

"Mistress."

"Master."

"Mis-tress!"

"Innkeeper. One bowl of soup here."

The battle of wills between Terina and me dragged on for quite a while. It only stopped once the carriage reached its destination, but she still hadn't given up on the title issue. I could feel her stare burning into the back of my head.

The carriage that had run for about twenty minutes came to a stop. I got off and tried not to look back, turning my eyes away from Terina's gaze. Even from a quick glance, the place was painfully familiar. It was a sort of station where direct carriages to the damn Delan Royal Academy were prepared. The people gathered in small groups around us were all noble children, and the useful presences were probably their escort knights. I'd thought they were nouveau riche imitating nobles because of their rather expensive clothes, but they really were noble children. I felt like denying reality.

"Why did we come here?"

"Because I'm currently attending Delan Academy, of course. You have to come with me, Ian."

I was stunned. I'd expected her to head to the Viscounty of Aquis where the war was raging to earn achievements for rebuilding her family, or to the Count of Kertu's frontier territory that was recruiting mercenaries due to recent monster invasions. But the academy? Was the sex slave thing not a joke? It was real? And of all places, it had to be the Delan Academy where I'd left five years ago in that awkward position between early graduation and expulsion?

"Look at that. That ridiculous greatsword. Could that be the monster Ian?"

"No way. It's probably a third-rate guy carrying a hollow fake."

"Ah, that's Terina, isn't it? As expected of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ruined noble, she couldn't even bring a proper knight and had to bring a third-rate mercenary. That rugged body looks pretty sexy though. It might be useful in bed, at least?"

Not only the noble children who seemed to be current students but even the knights escorting them were whispering. The guys squealing among themselves and the women openly making dirty jokes reminded me once again that this was a gender-reversed world. It was extremely unpleasant, but I let it go in one ear and out the other as I sat down on a bench a little distance away. The insults I could still hear had no real substance. The silver lining was that there were so many third-rate mercenaries pretending to be me or copying me that they couldn't even guess I was the real Ian. Whew. Thank god. A guy who'd graduated from the academy returning as a sex slave—if that got out, I'd be mortified beyond belief.

"I~an, you should sit with your Mistress."

Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, Terina had sat beside me at some point, linked her arm with mine, and was grinning. When I glanced at her with a glare, she seemed to misunderstand something and pulled my arm closer. And of course, my body, with all its strength gone, was dragged along. No, why the hell did I keep losing in strength? In the end, my head ended up resting on Terina's shoulder, and she made a satisfied little hum.

...This was incredibly uncomfortable. From a visual estimate, Terina was just over 150cm tall. My height was 193cm, so there was at least a 40cm difference. In other words, me resting my head on Terina's shoulder was basically physically demonstrating the proverb that the riper the rice, the more it bows its head.

"Ian~ How is it? Comfortable?"

"Is this what the life of a hunchback feels like..."

As I was half-heartedly responding to Terina, I spotted a carriage in the distance.

"Everyone, the carriage bound for Delan Academy has arrived! Please gather your luggage and board in an orderly fashion!"

The woman's loud voice rang out, and the presences around us became busy. Hah. It was finally time. Damn it, I didn't want to go. As I forced my feet—which felt glued to the ground—to move, I realized I had no luggage and asked the woman stuck to my side like a piece of gum.

"Where's the luggage?"

"Right here. Since the most precious thing in the world, Ian, is with me, I don't need any luggage~"

"...What about money?"

"I spent it all buying you?"

Was this gender-reversed flirting, or was it an intelligence issue...? My evaluation of Terina shifted from an inscrutable ruined noble and alchemist to someone who might need national pension assistance. The academy provided room and board, but nothing else was supplied. Money was essential for purchasing and maintaining equipment for classes and practical training, as well as for reagents, materials, and special medicines.

"...What about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tuition?"

"I already paid for this semester. We'll have to earn the rest."

She said she was 21, but was that a lie and she was actually 7? No, had she really spent everything she had on buying me, including tuition? I was getting increasingly unsettled by Terina's concept of money, which seemed to be dropping from child to toddler, but I lifted my head as someone approached.

"Huh? It really is Ian!"

A voice loud enough to make my ears ring. A woman with brown skin and a short cut that barely reached her chin. Of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all people, it was someone I knew.

"Keep it down, Mccallan."

"I told you to call me Colin. Anyway, what are you doing here... Ah!"

The woman whose eyes widened after seeing the brand on the back of my neck was Colin de Mccallan. We'd been in the same class during my second year at the academy. Back then I'd thought her ridiculously bold and manly personality meant she had the female tomboy tag, but in this gender-reversed world, that was apparently what was considered feminine. Anyway, could she please shut up? I knew she was as tactless as she was bold, but seriously, shut your mouth. Damn it, the whispering around us was getting louder.

"I became a teaching assistant, and you're a slave. Life really is unpredictable, hahaha!"

Colin laughed heartily while naturally throwing an arm around my shoulders like in the old days. The feeling of a woman's body against mine was so embarrassing I wanted to die. On top of that, while I'd let it slide before, her hand was now subtly massaging my shoulder. You bastard, don't tell me you're...?

"So you're Ian's owner, Student Terina! I'll be counting on you to take good care of him from now on!"

"Hmph~ How boring."

After meeting Colin's eyes, Terina let out a nasal sound and smiled faintly before lightly pushing my chest. Since there was a bench behind me, I ended up sitting down again. I was about to ask what she was doing when I felt a weight settle on me and shut my mouth. Soon I felt warmth on my thighs. Red pupils filled my vision. Her breath tickled my ear. Terina had sat on my lap and was embracing me.

"It's an order. Keep your eyes closed."

It was the first order she'd given. The changed atmosphere from Terina was more bewildering than my eyelids closing against my will. The wind brushing my ears and the hot, damp flesh. There was no way her fingers would be this wet. Was this... her tongue? A shiver ran down my spine. The tingling sensation that started from my tailbone, rode up my spine, and spread out wide made me freeze for a moment. Then heat covered my lips. Though it was the first time feeling it, I instinctively knew what it was. Our breaths mingled. In the darkness, I could picture Terina with her eyes closed and her face flushed. Her pink lips, slightly reddened with excitement, caught my lower lip, sucked on it hard, then returned to their place. Her tongue gently traced my clenched teeth. Rough breathing could be heard. Breaths filled with excitement, whether hers or mine, I couldn't tell.

"Ian, I know you're a perverted man, but you shouldn't be wagging your tail at any woman other than your Mistress."

Soon her lips pulled away, and Terina's tongue licked my ear again. Then came a slightly cool remark mixed with possessive heat. Terina turned around and smiled brightly.

"Ian is my man and my sex slave, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't ogle him, Assistant Mccallan."