Bet (5)
"Anyway, there's no one left who knows you're Ariel anymore. Even if the Blue Tower produces results, everyone will just assume it's all my work. And yet, that's such a big deal for you?"
"······."
"Just hand everything over to me. The moment you give up, I'll take responsibility and run the Blue Tower. I'll make it the empire's greatest mage tower. What do you say?"
"What are you even talking about······."
—Vrrr.
Terria kept spouting this incomprehensible nonsense, and just as I was about to demand he explain it in terms I could understand, the contact crystal began to vibrate. We both checked it at the same time.
The caller was the very bastard who'd sparked the root of our conversation: Lucas.
I hesitated over whether to answer, but Terria activated the crystal as if it were the most natural thing in the world—like he had every right to decide. I opened my mouth to tell him not to pick up. I needed to unpack what he'd just said first. There was no way he'd dropped those words without intent.
His talk of handing everything over and giving up filled me with an indescribable dread. But he'd already answered, and soon enough, his face—twisted into a sleazy smirk the size of a human head—filled the crystal.
"What's the occasion?"
"Why be so cold to a guy who's recovering? A little concern wouldn't hurt. That bitch nearly got me castrated."
Lucas spat it out shamelessly.
"Maybe getting castrated right then wouldn't have been so bad. So why'd you call?"
"Ariel, you're in no position to talk like that, are you? Did you like my gift?"
"And what about it? You ran crying to daddy, greased some palms with bribes, and got your way—feeling pretty good about yourself, huh?"
"Obviously. Felt fucking great. Should've watched yourself more carefully."
Lucas seemed irritated by Terria's defiant attitude, even when he was at a disadvantage. Consistently pathetic, as always. But at the same time, it stung.
I had no parents. So I never cared when someone called me an orphan bastard. I didn't resent them either—I'd grown up just fine on my own. But moments like this made me resent them. When something was beyond my control, it hurt. Blood ties weren't something I could change.
I watched their exchange silently. The crystal didn't show me, so Lucas had no idea I was listening.
As Terria crossed his arms like he had nothing to say, Lucas spoke up in frustration.
"So, how about I give you a chance? At this rate, won't you have to fire half the mages? You can't just sit on your hands."
He wasn't wrong about the budget shortage. The mages' research output fell far short of my expectations relative to the funds invested, but they were still precious to me in their own way. I'd never even considered firing them arbitrarily.
"What kind of chance?"
"Hand over your slave to me, and I'll reconsider. You went whining to the Minister today? Why bother with that hassle? Just give her to me. Deal?"
Predictable as ever. Lucas's words didn't deviate an inch from what I'd expected. I couldn't fathom why this lunatic was so obsessed with me. But understanding wouldn't change the situation anyway.
I glanced at Terria, staring intently in the hope he'd tell the pathetic bastard off. Judging by how he'd acted with the Minister earlier, he'd surely do it. I knew he would. Tell Lucas there was no way he'd hand me over to a loser like him.
"I'll think about it."
"What······? Think about what······!"
But that's what Terria said. And in the same instant, I shouted at him without thinking.
My heart plummeted at his utterly unforeseen response.
Lucas, hearing my voice, sneered.
"What's this, that bitch is there too?"
"Yeah. I'll call you back later. Hanging up."
"Sure, think it over. No matter how pricey a slave is, she's not worth even a tenth of the Tower's budget, right?"
With that, the crystal went dark.
The moment the connection cut, I blurted out, my face drained white. I felt like a mouse before a cat, my trembling hands beyond my control.
"'Think about it'? What the hell does that mean? Why would you say that?"
"Hmm······."
"You told the Minister there's no way—that it was ridiculous. You said that, and now······?"
Suddenly, something seemed to click for him, and Terria flashed a devilish smile.
"You believe that?"
"Ah······?"
"Ariel's such an idiot."
"What do you mean······you, you. No, right?"
Terria grinned. That smile whispered that everything up till now had been an act. That he'd planned to sell me from the start but lied to the Minister to deceive me. To plunge me into despair.
It was exactly what I'd thought while walking the capital's main street earlier. The fear that even if I were kidnapped, he might not come for me—but I couldn't ask him outright.
I muttered like a madwoman.
"N-no way······you're not really going to hand me over? To that bastard? No, right? Tell me no. Don't look at me like that. Don't······."
"But you know it too, don't you? Even if we sold you at market, it wouldn't cover the budget shortfall. And the Minister's wager is such a pain. This is the simplest way."
No. He's just testing me. But I couldn't meet his eyes. If I saw even a hint that he was serious about selling me, I wouldn't stay sane.
Yet when I stole a glance, that devilish smile remained, leaving me no choice but to cling desperately. It was a cruel smile, radiating the intent to sell me to Lucas if push came to shove.
"N-no, that's not it. There has to be a better way······let's think of something."
"Eh, why should I?"
"Why? Because obviously······."
I couldn't finish, just flapping my mouth before collapsing to the floor in a daze. No words to convince him came to mind.
For a split second, I imagined breaking free alone. Resist him? How? Attack with a magic scroll? As if that would work. Run away? Where? To Cain? Impossible—I'd rejected him. Who'd want a woman who puked right before sex? No sane person would.
Clechia then? She was one of the people who hated me most. My head spun in chaos. I felt like I was going insane.
But there was no way out. No matter how I racked my brain, defying his decision seemed impossible.
So what I had to do was simple. Beg him. Approach the bastard who seemed to be enjoying this, plead not to abandon me, that I had nowhere else to go, that he'd made me this way but I had no choice but to rely on him.
And so I crawled to his feet, collapsing powerlessly and begging pathetically.
"I-I can't take that. I'd rather die than go to that Lucas bastard······I'd kill myself. Is that okay? It was your body once—it's okay if I die, right?"
But those were words I shouldn't have said. Terria's gaze turned icy.
"Oh? Are you threatening me now?"
"N-no, s-sorry. I messed up······I'm sorry. I didn't mean to threaten. I was just, just curious······if you could really throw away your old body that easily······."
"Then beg me properly?"
Terria laughed cruelly, his face saying he'd finally gotten what he wanted. Beg. So that's how it was. I had to beg. I had nowhere else. I was completely bound to him. I could do nothing.
"P-please······I'm serious, so serious······ah, ah······uuu."
That was the truth. The end. I'd realized defying Terria's will was impossible. I was a turkey aware its master might eat it—or sell it to the slaughterhouse. That turkey begged desperately.
Anything but Lucas. Better this. I wasn't just saying it—I seriously thought that if Terria sold me, suicide would be preferable. With Lucas, I'd be a sex slave for sure. And once he tired of me, as always, he'd dump me in a brothel. Then endless gang rapes until my mind broke, tossed into the streets······a horrific end.
Imagining that far, tears flowed naturally. Were they to pitifully evoke sympathy, or from lamenting my fate? I didn't know. But my quivering voice proved they were real.
"D-don't, don't abandon me······you know I hate that bastard, hic, you know······why are you doing this······. Say no. Promise you won't······just one word······hic, one word is all it takes."
"······."
"Please, please······don't abandon me, I'll do anything, anything······I'll do whatever you say······hic, uuu······anything. Whatever you command, sob······just don't abandon me······."
Thoughts of dignity or how low I'd sunk were long gone. Transparent tears poured from my blue eyes. Like a tragic romance novel heroine, I clutched his clothes and begged.
I accepted my reality. I was the slave, Terria my master. In that situation, the most rational action was heartbreakingly clear: beg the master. I finally understood his words about handing everything over, giving up. If I chose to be sold to Lucas, he'd respect my will. He'd take responsibility for the Blue Tower, achieve unrivaled feats, and spread Ariel's name across the empire.
Terria savored my sobbing like a masterpiece painting. Must've been quite the show for him. But I was too desperate to care. That sincere.
Please, say something, I kept muttering. And finally, the words I'd longed for reached my ear.
"Just kidding, Ariel."
"Ah······joke······a joke. I see······. Thank god, thank god······thank god, hic. So glad, hic, uuu······."
"Then now you have to prove you're worth more than half the Blue Tower's budget, right?"
"Prove······I'll prove it. I will······."
Terria stroked my head. Still collapsed at his feet, I accepted the touch. My mind was blank, no thoughts. Just relief that I wouldn't go to Lucas, steadying my ragged breaths as my strength ebbed away.
I was the one broken, not him. Terria gazed at his finally conquered fox with a tender expression.