Chapter 108: The Fox and the Maid (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108: The Fox and the Maid (1)
Slave or serf.
A class of people with no human rights, stripped of their personhood, closer to tools than human beings. They are classified as the property of their master, bearing the absurd fate of working their entire lives only to die.
Forget proper clothes; it was rare for them to be fed regular meals, and they usually slept in stables, not beds. Resistance was met with starvation and the lash.
None of this was strange.
In the world of TOS, which was a cosplay of the Middle Ages, this was all considered common sense.
In that respect, the relationship between Karami and his slaves was exceptionally peculiar. It was closer to an employer-employee relationship, like a CEO and his staff, than a true master-slave dynamic.
Karami had to earn his slaves' favor and resolve their issues to lead them to full liberation.
In the process, the slaves received treatment better than most commoners and were able to savor the ecstatic experience of ‘liberation,’ something outside the system’s design.
In return, Karami received points and rewards that were a great help to his progress, allowing him to take a huge step toward clearing his quest.
Mutual assistance.
A win-win for both sides!
…Or so it was from Karami’s perspective. From Rin’s point of view, it felt like nothing less than her master abandoning her.
“Please, Master. Huh? Rin will be good, so don’t abandon me!”
“I told you, I’m not abandoning you. Just because you’re no longer a slave, does that mean the thread of fate that has bound us together will simply disappear?”
Was a master-slave relationship the only kind in the world?
People who met at work could become lovers, and a strictly business relationship could evolve into a friendship. From Karami’s standpoint, Rin’s insistence on remaining a slave was completely unrelatable.
What is this? Is she a masochist?
He was reminded of a certain archmage high elf who, bored with her life, had sought to become a slave. Before he knew it, the kid had grown up strange.
But now that Rin was liberated, there was no way to fix the problem even if he knew what it was. He was in a hurry to find his next slave.
“Th-Then it’s okay if I’m not a slave, so let Rin go with you, Master!”
“Ah, that’s a bit…”
Karami made his reluctance obvious.
This was the same Rin who had pounced on him even when she wore the shackles.
Now that the shackles were gone, he had no way of controlling her. It would be a disaster if she interfered with the next slave’s story.
What about forging a new slave contract? That was meaningless, too.
The Shackles of Subjugation skill was a one-time use. Once liberated, it was over. He could use a magic tool or a brand, but a contract of that level wouldn't be enough to restrain a gumiho like Rin. Defying his orders would be child's play for her.
If she were a sub-slave like Narsha, I could just keep her with me without liberating her.
But now, with the main story unfolding in real time, he didn't have the luxury of finding and raising sub-slaves. It was one of the reasons Karami insisted on traveling alone.
“Why don’t you stay here instead? You have the Celestial Fox, and Seira, and now even Heukbi, right? They’re all good people. Oh, but whatever you do, don’t hang out with Bolt. His actions might be considered right around here, but honestly, that guy is a little…”
“Indeed. Although you have become a gumiho, you are still lacking in many ways. It will not be too late to meet him again after you have trained and honed yourself. One must experience farewells from time to time to grow as a person.”
“I, too, agree with that sentiment. I was also hoping to have a chance to speak with the gumiho of this era. And for a gumiho to be a slave is, well…”
Yuhwa and Heukbi even provided covering fire.
With the two yokai foxes backing him up, Karami’s spirits soared, while Rin chewed on her lower lip.
What? Am I the weird one?
What was so wrong with being a slave?
Karami said being a slave was a bad thing, but she couldn't sympathize with that at all.
She didn't know or care about training or any of that nonsense.
She just didn't want to be away from her master for even a moment.
Rin simply couldn't understand why Karami was trying to leave her behind. If that was how he was going to be, then she had her own methods.
“Are you saying you’re going to leave Rin behind, no matter what?”
“Regrettably, yes.”
“To meet another woman?”
“It’s a huge relief the next slave isn’t a man. Can you imagine? I might have been stuck here forever.”
Having to raise a mandatory male slave. The mere thought was horrifying.
“Rin, you can understand, right?”
Karami asked for her understanding with a gentle smile.
Rin’s expression softened.
The corners of her eyes curved like crescent moons.
And then she uttered a single sentence.
“Yeah. I understand perfectly.”
“That’s my Rin. Then I’ll just stop by the house to pack my things, and say goodbye to Seira…”
Tap.
Rin formed a hand seal.
Yuhwa and Heukbi flinched in unison.
Karami blinked at the sudden gesture.
“Rin?”
“So you’re saying you’re leaving Rin to go meet another woman, right? I understand perfectly.”
“Uh… you’re not wrong, but the nuance is a little…?”
“I will never let you go.”
Rin knew from experience.
That brilliant, ecstatic sensation she felt when she was saved by Karami.
Anyone who experienced it would fall for him without exception. She had no intention of standing by and watching other females fawn over her master.
The world outside grew dark.
It wasn't the sun setting.
It was because a black veil had begun to envelop the entire city.
“I won’t let you go anywhere, Master.”
A perfect barrier that not even a mouse could enter or escape.
As Yuhwa and Heukbi hastily drew upon their spiritual power, Rin scoffed as if they were pathetic.
“Sorry, but the two of you can’t stop Rin. No, there’s no one in this world who can stop Rin.”
The Yokai King.
Another title for the gumiho was the Fox God.
A gumiho who had reclaimed all her power was a match for a god.
“Master is going to live here happily ever after with Rin.”
The rising wall soon covered the city completely, disappearing into the darkness.
*
The Magic Tower, located at the edge of the continent.
A gathering of mages praised by the world as great, but in reality, a den of madmen who would sell their souls for mystic power.
The Magic Tower was a place inhabited only by stuffy mages who knew nothing but magic.
For the first time since its gloomy existence was revealed to the world, the Magic Tower was filled with a spring-like vitality.
All because of a single maid.
Swish, swish.
A girl in a maid outfit swept the dust with a broom.
Her wavy, navy-blue hair shimmered faintly.
There wasn't a single person in the Magic Tower who didn't know her. These magic-obsessed psychopaths, who cared for nothing besides magic, were uniquely interested in this girl.
The mages watched with fond smiles as the cute girl diligently cleaned.
She was, at best, a maid.
Even the mages, who treated ignoring others as a daily routine, were polite to her.
Because while her appearance was cute, her true identity was that of a terrifying archmage.
The master of the Magic Tower.
Magic Tower Master Mirabelle.
That was the girl’s identity.
When Mirabelle first became the Magic Tower Master, no one paid her any mind. They were, after all, magic fanatics who had no interest in anything in the world besides their own research.
But the atmosphere began to change when Mirabelle started wandering the tower, reading one magic book after another.
At first, they thought the little kid was just showing interest in things beyond her grasp, but after she finished reading a tome of several hundred pages in a single minute, she perfectly executed the magic within.
One month.
That was how long it took for Mirabelle to master all the magic in the tower.
Others would have to pour their entire lives into barely understanding a single book, yet it took her only a month.
As if being impossibly cute wasn't enough, her magical skills were outstanding?
And on top of that, she was their master?
She wandered the Magic Tower in a maid outfit?
A beautiful, young, maid archmage master?
“All hail the Magic Tower Master!”
“We love you, Magic Tower Master!”
“Magic Tower Master, please look over here just once!”
Mirabelle gave them a sweet smile.
“““KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”””
☆She was the idol of the Magic Tower☆
It took only a few days for hymns of praise for Mirabelle to be heard. She captured the hearts of everyone in the Magic Tower and became its mascot.
The slave’s shackle around her neck was strange, but they just assumed it was part of her concept. After all, there was no way a monster like her could be someone’s slave, right?
“Tower Master-niiim~”
While Mirabelle was cleaning, one of the five elders of the Magic Tower came flying toward her, calling out her name cheerfully. The witch, Morgana Sheriseine.
She wore a form-fitting dress that accentuated her voluptuous figure, revealing a long line of her navel. On her head was a giant, pointed hat, an essential accessory for any witch.
She was a woman with an impressive gaze—her eyes, slanted at the corners, seemed languid, yet made it difficult to read her inner thoughts.
Morgana, who prioritized looks over ability, followed the cute Mirabelle around whenever she had the chance.
This had caused some friction before. Edmund, the one who had recommended Mirabelle for the position of Tower Master, had confronted Morgana, telling her not to steal his spot.
That ugly bald bastard.
Morgana, a firm believer in lookism, openly disliked Edmund.
To comfortably follow Mirabelle, she needed to get Edmund out of her sight.
“Elder Edmund. Are you a pedophile?”
“Wh-What?! What are you talking about, Elder Morgana!”
“I’ve noticed you keep following the Tower Master and sniffing the air. Could it be…?”
“That’s because I have rhinitis!”
That was the end of it.
An old, bald man following a cute little girl around, sniffing her?
The truth no longer mattered.
Edmund was bombarded with a waterfall of rebukes and curses from the numerous mages who were fanatical fans of Mirabelle, and he was forced to lock himself away in a small room.
Thanks to that, Morgana could leisurely spend time with Mirabelle.
“Cleaning again?”
“Yes. The Magic Tower is quite spacious.”
“It would be over in an instant with magic, you know?”
“Magic is certainly convenient, but a tool is just a tool. It’s not good to rely on it for everything. A maid should know how to do chores without magic.”
“You still haven’t given up on that concept?”
When Mirabelle first arrived at the Magic Tower, she spent all day looking at books. Then, after a month, she spent all day doing chores.
However, compared to her magic, Mirabelle’s housekeeping skills were mediocre, and more than a few mages had been sacrificed to her monstrous cooking.
Those lunatics, however, had readily devoured it, calling it ‘a reward from the heavens, seasoned by the hands of a beautiful girl!’
Morgana had thought she would get tired of it and quit after a while, but she was still sticking to her maid concept. To Morgana’s eyes, she just looked like someone stubbornly committed to her role-play.
Like a veteran player hunting for achievements after clearing all the endgame content.
She was surely doing maid work because she had nothing else to do.
‘As a maid, cleaning is a basic skill.’
Of course, the truth was slightly different.
Mirabelle was cleaning to become a true maid. Not just cleaning, but all other household chores as well.
To become a perfect maid, one had to know how to do even the most trivial housework. Only then could she avoid being a burden to her master.
To the girl, the titles of Magic Tower Master and Archmage were just things she’d picked up ‘along the way.’ Being a maid was her main goal.
If the others were to learn the truth, they would foam at the mouth and collapse, but anyway.
It was while Mirabelle was leisurely cleaning the seemingly endless Magic Tower.
Snap.
The sensation of a thread snapping.
In an instant, Mirabelle’s senses sharpened.
‘The connection to Master has been severed…?’
No, it was slightly different.
The shackle was still there.
What had disappeared was the other end.
The beginning of the chain that Karami was supposed to be holding was gone. It was as if Karami had crossed over into another dimension.
Morgana sensed the strangeness as well. She stared intently at a certain spot.
“Something strange has appeared far to the east.”
The distance was considerable.
Yet the aura was so extraordinary that it could be felt even from here.
Mirabelle’s eyes narrowed.
“That monstrous fox has finally done it…”
The fox she had once sensed by Karami’s side through her Reaper abilities.
She had been about to eliminate the creature, a being bundled with ominous energy, but had let it go because Karami had protected it. She had been willing to spare it because it was her master’s slave, but this had crossed the line.
“Morgana. Prepare for an outing. We’re leaving immediately.”
“You’re going over there?”
“Yes.”
Mirabelle tapped her broom on the floor, and it transformed into a silver staff.
“I’m going to see my master.”