Chapter 111: Goodbye, Vestia
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 111: Goodbye, Vestia
He was reunited with his master.
They had been apart for nearly a year. It might seem short to some, or long to others, but for Mirabelle, it had felt like an eternity.
Separated from her mother, Naredi, she had wandered a world she knew nothing about, all alone in her small body.
Even though she had experience traveling, Karami had always done everything for her when they were together. It wasn't easy trying to do things she'd never done before on her own.
Moreover, Mirabelle was just a young girl. This wasn't modern-day Earth, where people would worry about a little girl traveling alone.
Her pretty, witch-like appearance was more than enough to attract the attention of certain perverts, so Mirabelle's safety was threatened wherever she went.
Thankfully, the magic she'd learned with Karami prevented any such disasters, but for a girl who had been under so much mental strain, reuniting with her master was an incredibly moving experience.
As she hugged Karami, all the fatigue she'd built up seemed to melt away…
‘…Something’s different.’
Something was different.
She was hugging Karami just like before, but there was a subtle sense of wrongness.
The scent.
It wasn't Karami's scent.
It was the distinct, alluring fragrance of a woman.
None other than the gumiho's scent clung to every inch of his body. Not only that, but there was pink fur all over his clothes.
‘How unpleasant.’
Mirabelle's face scrunched up in a deep frown.
She used a simple spell to completely erase every trace of the gumiho, from the scent to the fur. Only then did she feel the pure, untainted Karami.
Mirabelle smiled in satisfaction and rubbed her cheek against Karami's. Her soft, chubby cheeks, still full of baby fat, squished against him like mochi.
“Hehe.”
A smile kept escaping her lips. If the mages of the Magic Tower knew their idol was giving such a frivolous smile to a man, they would have unleashed a magical bombardment on Karami.
Of course, Mirabelle would have blocked it all.
“Master, have you been well?”
“I suppose so. I mean, I got a hole punched through my stomach and even died, but…”
“…………What?”
“Well, I'm fine now, at least.”
Karami's assurance that he was fine now did nothing to reassure her.
The pitch of Mirabelle's voice plummeted. Unable to control her emotions, her mana infused her voice, and the air around them grew chillingly cold.
Mirabelle shot a glare over Karami's shoulder. Her eyes, filled with killing intent, stared at Rin as if to choke the life out of her.
‘How dare she put Master in danger…!’
Mirabelle ground her teeth, a sound that didn't match her cute face.
And she was right by his side, too.
Unforgivable.
“Miss Mirabelle? I think I just heard a strange sound.”
Mirabelle instantly relaxed the atmosphere and fixed her expression.
“I think one of my baby teeth is about to fall out!”
“Ah, right. You had one near your molars.”
The memories came flooding back.
Especially the feeling of holding Mirabelle.
She fit perfectly in his arms, and her skin was so soft.
Her plump cheeks made you want to just gobble them up.
And the faint, sweet smell of milk.
The ultimate human comfort object.
He recalled how holding her while sleeping always made him drift off peacefully.
“Master, were you on a journey to bring the joy of liberation to your slaves?”
“That's right. I was just about to go meet the next one.”
“Then hurry and go! I'll take care of things here!”
Karami's eyes widened.
My god.
He thought she was a grim reaper who'd come to kill him, but it was the exact opposite!
He wouldn't refuse her help, but he still had to resolve his business with Mirabelle.
“Miss Mirabelle? I don't know what you were thinking putting those shackles on, but I need to terminate my contract with you, too.”
He wanted to terminate the contract right away, but a sense of unease remained. It was a one-sided, illegal contract, but it was one the system recognized.
Even though she had already been fully liberated, she was being treated as if she hadn't. Didn't that mean a new condition for liberation had appeared?
It would be a problem if he terminated it rashly and she wasn't considered fully liberated.
“W-Well, that's… Ah! The gumiho is getting up!”
Mirabelle, who had been hesitating, pointed at Rin, clumsily changing the subject. Rin, having gathered her spiritual power, was pulling herself together.
Her previous composure was gone, replaced by a vicious scowl.
“He's Rin's master! Don't you dare take him from Rin!”
Seeing Mirabelle in Karami's arms made her rage boil over. That spot had been Rin's until now.
“It seems you still haven't come to your senses.”
Mirabelle stepped out of Karami's embrace.
“I'd love to travel with you like before, Master, but that gumiho would definitely follow us. I'll send you outside. I'll stay here and hold her back.”
“Leaving is one thing, but I told you, I need to terminate the contract with you too! What is it that you want?”
“Well then, Master! It was only for a moment, but it was great to see you after so long! See you later!”
Mirabelle bid him a rapid-fire farewell as if shooing him away. She tapped the floor with her staff, and a hole opened up beneath Karami's feet.
“Master!”
A startled Rin frantically dashed forward at incredible speed, but she was blocked by Mirabelle's magic. In that instant, Karami fell through the hole, and it closed up.
“Phew.”
Only after sending Karami away did Mirabelle let out a sigh of relief. She had almost been abandoned again.
In contrast, Rin, now separated from her master, stared blankly at the spot where the hole had been, slowly realizing what had happened. Her face flushed red and purple as she unleashed her unbridled fury.
Pink spiritual power whipped around violently like a lash, destroying the Dream Garden.
A menacing glint, forged from pure killing intent, shot from her eyes.
“I'll never forgive you! Never!!!”
“Huhu, it seems you're not used to being separated from Master. But don't worry! Your senior will play with you instead!”
Senior!
What a nice ring it had.
Watching Rin charge at her, unable to contain her anger, Mirabelle's smile never faded.
“I won't hurt you. Because I'm… your… SENIOR!”
*
Thud.
“Oof!”
Karami fell from the ceiling and landed hard on his butt. He gently rubbed the sore spot.
“Oh, you're really back.”
Yuhwa greeted Karami, who had just dropped out of the ceiling without warning. Her words meant that the little witch had overpowered Rin.
He knew she was strong, but he never imagined she was this strong. It was hard to believe that such a girl was Karami's slave.
After the pain subsided, Karami got up and checked his surroundings. It was the same office he'd been in before Rin had captured him.
“Celestial Fox, Dark Fox. And someone I haven't met before.”
Karami's gaze, which had been sweeping across the familiar faces, stopped on Morgana. He could tell she was a witch just by looking at her appearance and attire. However, the sensual aura Morgana exuded was completely different from Mirabelle's.
“You're our Magic Tower Master's master?”
“Magic Tower Master…?”
“Your looks are my type, so you pass, but you're unbelievably plain to be the Magic Tower Master's master.”
Karami knew of the Magic Tower's existence, but he'd never heard of it having a master.
And since Morgana was calling him the Magic Tower Master's master, he could guess from the context that she was talking about Mirabelle.
‘Mirabelle is the Magic Tower Master?’
He'd sent her off to live happily with her mother, and now she was suddenly the Magic Tower Master? This was as jarring as opening what you thought was a pure love story only to get hit with an NTR plot twist.
“What happened to Rin?”
“Miss Mirabelle said she'd hold her off and told me to go.”
“Was that girl your slave as well?”
“She was. I definitely liberated her, but I have no idea why she wants to be a slave again.”
It was a mystery.
Being a slave was obviously a bad thing. Karami wondered if his way of thinking was strange, but then he remembered all the people who cried and wailed when they became slaves, and concluded that yes, it was indeed a bad thing.
Those two were the strange ones.
‘Don't tell me the other girls I freed are like this too?’
Like Narsha or Alfia.
No, that couldn't be.
One was the daughter of a noble house, and the other was a proud elf. They were the last two people who would volunteer to be slaves…
‘Though I think I did hear a rumor that Narsha had disappeared from her family home.’
He'd assumed it was a false rumor spread by the Bryan family to create a pretext for taking revenge on him for enslaving their daughter.
But if it wasn't a false rumor, and Narsha had really run away…
‘No, it can't be.’
Karami tried to shake off the rising anxiety.
“What do you plan to do now?”
“I have to leave while Miss Mirabelle is holding her back.”
The black veil that had enveloped the city was gone, and the citizens were beginning to come to their senses.
The people who had experienced paradise in the illusion couldn't remember what had happened. Illusions were as vague as dreams, so the moment they regained their senses, the memory evaporated.
Thinking they had just spaced out for a moment, they tilted their heads in confusion before quickly returning to their daily lives.
“I should get going. I'll drop by later if I have time, so please take good care of Rin until then.”
“Don't you worry. I'll pour everything I have into making her far more mature than she is now.”
“Please do…”
*
He packed his things at home and left.
He'd started so many things while progressing through Rin's story that there was more than one loose end to tie up.
Leaving Rin with Yuhwa and Heukbi was fine, but the issue with Mirabelle couldn't be solved right away.
A strange relationship had formed where she, perhaps suffering from a severe case of slave addiction, still treated him as her master but wouldn't actually listen to what he said.
For now, he had no choice but to postpone it.
It was impossible to solve, and anyway, there were still two more to go.
If he put the slave issue aside, the only thing left was the cat café.
Closing it down overnight would cause problems for the cat people, so he had another plan in mind.
“Miss Seira.”
Seira was working near the border, just like before. He had already hinted to Seira that he would be leaving soon. But since he'd shown up alone without Rin, she was looking at him with suspicion.
“Are you leaving? Where is Miss Rin? Don't tell me…”
“I left Rin at the Celestial Pavilion. Lady Yuhwa said she would look after her.”
“…”
“You're going to burn a hole through my face. Please don't stare like that. I have a favor to ask you, anyway.”
He handed Seira a bundle of documents he had prepared in advance.
“What is this?”
“As you know, I'm leaving on a long journey, so it'll be difficult to manage the café. But if I close up shop, I'm worried the cat people will be out on the streets.”
These were the important documents for the cat café.
It wasn't as busy as when it first opened, but the cat café was still doing well. The cat people were one thing, but it was a huge waste to close the business.
If this were a game, there might be a system for managing a shop from afar, but it wasn't.
So, he'd come up with the idea of hiring a manager to run the place. And that manager was none other than Seira.
“So you're just going to abandon them?”
“Hey, now. People will misunderstand if you put it like that. This isn't abandonment, it's adoption.”
“Adoption…?”
So irresponsibly abandoning beastkin slaves is a crime?
Then all I have to do is provide an environment where they can live well.
“I'm making this offer specifically because it's you, Miss Seira.”
“…”
Seira hesitated.
She seemed to be weighing her options, but her calculations weren't adding up.
“Miss Seira, this is a chance to become the manager of the best café in Vestia. You won't have to go to work at the crack of dawn, and you won't have to work overtime.”
“…!”
Seira's pupils dilated as if she'd just discovered a secret of the universe. Suddenly, a commotion could be heard from one side.
“Hey, do you know who I am? Ugh, whatever! I don't want to waste my breath on a peon like you, so go get your superior!”
It seemed some people trying to cross the border were protesting loudly. Truly, obnoxious people are the same in every world.
“That's right. You won't have to groan because of entitled citizens who are always saying 'my taxes pay your salary.' You can live a second life like a relaxed madam, sipping coffee.”
From that moment, Seira's eyes started darting back and forth.
He'd pulled the line taut; now it was time to give it some slack.
“Not interested? I won't force you. There are plenty of people who would love to be the manager. Hmm, I'll take that as a no and pass this on to Mr. Bolt.”
As he reached out to take the documents back, Seira turned her body away, deflecting his hand.
“W-When did I say I wouldn't do it?”
“Then?”
Seira cleared her throat.
She hugged the documents tightly as if she would never let them go.
“Ah, I look forward to working with you. Ahem…”
“I knew you'd accept, Miss Seira. No, I should call you Manager now.”
“M-Manager…”
The corners of Seira's mouth twitched upward as she pictured her bright future. This was his way of repaying her for taking care of him and Rin, even though she must have been busy with her own work.
He watched Seira grinning, unable to hold back her smile, until she noticed his gaze and hastily wiped the expression from her face.
It was a little too late, though. Seira cleared her throat again for no reason.
“Where will you go?”
“I'm heading north. I plan to meet a warm winter.”
“A warm winter…?”
To the northernmost part of the continent, the permafrost region of Eisengar.
To a dragon's cave in Eisengar, a land that has forgotten spring.
“A dazzlingly beautiful Ice Princess lives there.”
*
He stretched languidly as he left the city.
Perhaps because so much had happened, this story arc felt particularly long. Still, he had successfully liberated her, so he couldn't ask for more.
He had liberated three slaves.
He was more than halfway there.
Three out of five.
Five minus three.
So how many were left?
[Fully Liberate the Main Slaves. Progress: 2/5]
That's right. He'd done three, so there were three left.
…
No. He'd decided to deal with it later. When a strange situation arises, the proper way is to just power through with the standard method.
‘I didn't forget anything, did I?’
Probably not.
Maybe.
Probably…
“FUUUUUUCK!”
In the royal castle of Vestia, in the princess's bedroom.
Hilde rolled around on the floor, trying with all her might to remove her shackles, but they wouldn't budge.
While everyone else was being liberated, Hilde was still a slave.
And would be, from now on.
“FUUUUUUUCK!”