Chapter 229: The Liberated Slaves are Obsessed
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 229: The Liberated Slaves are Obsessed
“You can sit here, Master.”
Narsha guided Karami to the merchant group leader’s office, located on the top floor of the building.
It was an exceptionally large room for an office.
In fact, it was the only room on the fifth floor.
Ever since this place was built, no one had been allowed to enter except for the maids who came to clean.
Narsha herself had never conducted business here.
After all, this was a space reserved for Karami and Karami alone.
Karami took a seat. The four women—Alfia, Rin, Azyeth, and Elize—sat on the sofas opposite him.
Mirabelle, having returned to her maid duties from being a witch, stood diagonally behind Karami, holding a broom instead of a staff.
Narsha served everyone tea before settling into a single-person sofa.
“So many unique individuals have gathered here.”
Narsha glanced around the room.
Excluding herself, there were five slaves.
Each one was strikingly beautiful.
But what truly captured Narsha’s attention was the immense aura each of them possessed.
A silent, intense war of nerves was being waged with those auras, making the spacious room feel suffocating.
An ordinary person would have buckled under the pressure, foaming at the mouth and collapsing on the spot.
It was no exaggeration to call this the most dangerous place in the world. At the same time, it was also the safest.
Within a one-meter radius of Karami.
A multitude of auras formed a protective barrier around him, ensuring not even an ant could approach.
Yet, they meticulously controlled their power so that Karami wouldn't feel anything out of the ordinary.
Thanks to their efforts, Karami detected nothing amiss as he leisurely sipped his tea.
No, actually, he wasn’t so leisurely. Narsha was staring daggers at him, never once breaking her gaze.
The fact that she was smiling while giving him such a murderous look was terrifying. The hand holding his teacup trembled.
To alleviate the pressure, Karami casually started a conversation.
“Narsha. I saw the Count being dragged away. Was that your doing?”
“I apologize for showing you such an embarrassing sight. He suddenly barged in and tried to drag me away, so I sent him home.”
“Why didn’t you go with him?”
“Why would you think I would?”
“Well, of course… Never mind.”
There was no need to ask.
The room was already full of voluntary slaves.
“This time, I have a question for you. Why did you sell me off? Didn’t you promise you would be with me forever?”
“Do people normally call sending someone home ‘selling them off’?”
“You received my family’s heirloom as payment, making it a clear transaction. Thus, I believe the term ‘sold’ is not out of place.”
“Hmm…”
“And now, that heirloom is on someone else’s finger, isn’t it?”
As she spoke, Narsha glanced at Elize’s finger. Her innate merchant’s eye could not be deceived.
Narsha’s gaze, now fixed on Karami, was accompanied by a smile tinged with madness.
“How in the world did this happen, Master?”
Karami swallowed hard.
This wasn’t good.
Since they were calling themselves slaves, he had to show the dignity of a master.
“It is my decision as the master. Do you have a problem with that?”
“How could I dare? But you just said ‘the master’s decision.’ That means I am your slave, doesn’t it?”
“I meant that I am the master of the ring. You, Narsha, are your own master.”
Nod.
Karami bobbed his head.
Smooth.
He’d deflected it perfectly.
“You are correct. It is not a slave’s place to interfere with how the master uses his property.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Karami breathed an inward sigh of relief.
Was this what it felt like to be a protagonist dropped into a gender-reversed world?
A gut feeling that he’d be fucked if he misspoke shot through his mind.
“By the way, Narsha. Your way of speaking seems to have changed. It’s become… more refined.”
“It is a virtue I must uphold as the daughter of a count’s family.”
“For someone saying that, you used to speak informally and even curse when we were alone…”
“Master? Others might misunderstand if they hear that. I would appreciate it if you stopped there.”
Finding herself at a disadvantage, Narsha cut the conversation short. She skillfully changed the subject, a clear sign she’d done this once or twice before.
“We’ve been reunited after so long. Is there nothing you wish to say to me, Master?”
“I heard the news. That I’m the leader of this merchant group.”
“That is correct. I remembered you once mentioned wanting to run a merchant group during your travels, so I put it into practice. What do you think?”
From the moment she decided to establish the group, Narsha’s life had been thoroughly dedicated to it.
She woke at 6 AM.
After a light workout and a shower, she would change into a dress.
Every meal was eaten at her desk, not a dining table.
Her work began in the morning and continued until the stars appeared in the night sky. By the time she lay down in bed, it was around 2 AM.
She invested nearly every waking moment into running the merchant group.
Thanks to Narsha’s exceptional talent in the field, combined with her passion and time, the Merchants of Death had become one of the greatest merchant groups on the continent.
All for Karami.
All to hear a single word of praise from him.
But Karami’s expression was anything but pleased.
“If, by any chance, I have made a mistake, would you please tell me? I will rectify it.”
“Narsha, you seem to be gravely mistaken. When did I ever say I wanted a merchant group?”
The fun of a tycoon game was in the process of building it up from scratch.
The joy came from watching your own business grow and seeing the profits increase.
What fun was there in suddenly being handed a completed merchant group?
“I understand the sentiment, but I don’t need this. I think it would be best if you continued to run it as you have been.”
“But…”
“Next.”
Karami’s firm, emotionless voice cut her off.
At his tone, the women instantly retracted their auras and fell completely submissive.
Karami rested his chin on one hand, leaning askew against the table. He scanned the six of them with a look of displeasure.
He was done putting up with their ridiculous childishness.
“I don’t understand what you all are doing here. You were all liberated. You are free. So why do you insist on being my slaves?”
“Because… we want to be with you…” one of them murmured.
“I understand that you want to be with me, but as I’ve said repeatedly, I will not tolerate a master-slave relationship.”
Slavery was wrong. That was true from a modern perspective, and it was true from this world’s perspective.
Karami’s role was to take in such pitiful slaves and liberate them, both from their social status and their unfortunate circumstances.
“Your selfish behavior not only contradicts the attitude of the slaves you claim to be, but it also renders all my hard work meaningless. Do slaves these days disobey their master and cause such trouble?”
His words were a killing blow.
He followed up with a final strike.
“I need slaves who listen well, not slaves like you who refuse to listen to their master.”
His tone was thick with irritation and anger.
The women clamped their mouths shut. With their heads lowered, they exchanged glances, silently urging each other on.
You convince him.
You were the one talking so big earlier.
But no one could bring themselves to speak.
It was incredibly rare to see Karami angry.
Even when a slave made a mistake, he would only get mildly upset.
To openly rebuke them like this, to deny their very existence as slaves, was something that happened once in a blue moon.
Among them, only Mirabelle and Rin had ever incurred their master’s wrath. Both had been forgiven only after crying their eyes out.
Even they couldn’t step forward now. To do so would be to defy their master’s will.
Would they cease to be slaves?
Or would they remain slaves and ignore their master’s command?
It was the slave’s dilemma, with no right answer.
Only Elize remained composed.
She could simply claim to be a follower, not a slave.
After all, she still had her shackle and their blood pact remained intact.
“Miss Mirabelle.”
“Y-Yes… Master.”
“Must I remove the shackle myself, or will you do it?”
“Well…”
“I trust that a Mirabelle who listens well to her master’s commands knows what she must do.”
Karami wore his usual gentle smile.
All eyes turned to Mirabelle.
She was the diligent slave who never troubled her master, even when the others caused mischief and bickered.
Her choice was a matter of great interest to everyone.
Under the weight of their gazes, Mirabelle…
“…This is the one thing I cannot do.”
…chose the path of defying his command.
The smile vanished from Karami’s face. Just as he was about to speak, Mirabelle forced out her words in a voice thick with tears.
“But… if I take this off, you’ll leave, won’t you? To the world you came from. To a place outside this world.”
In that instant, Karami’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“How do you know that?”
An indigo light flashed, and a thick book settled into Mirabelle’s hands.
It was a tome from the Magic Tower, containing all the mysteries and secrets of the world. Mirabelle, who had mastered all such books, had turned that knowledge into magic: her unique spell, the Akashic Records.
Knowledge begets knowledge, and that knowledge intertwines with new knowledge to create yet more.
Infinite development.
An unending cycle of knowledge.
The compression of all that into a single volume was this very Book of Omniscience.
This book contained many things. The secrets of this world, and the secrets of Karami.
For example, a secret like: ‘Upon successfully completing the contracts with five specific slaves, he will earn the right to return to his original world.’
Mirabelle knew.
She knew who the five were.
She knew that only one remained, and that last one was her.
If this link was broken, she would be separated from Karami forever.
That was why Mirabelle had so desperately clung to the contract, even to the point of defying Karami’s command.
The truth Mirabelle revealed left the other slaves speechless. With looks of horror, they all turned their gazes to Karami.
“Master, is what she said true…?”
“Rami… are you leaving?”
“Darling, something’s wrong, right? It’s a lie, isn’t it?”
“Master?”
At the receiving end of their stares was Karami, who answered with a troubled expression.
“Everyone. Just as you were all liberated, don’t I deserve to be liberated, too?”
Back in his original world, Karami had played games and read webnovels.
Whenever he came across a transmigration story, he would think, ‘Why would they go back to Earth when they have all this good stuff?’
But now that it was happening to him, it was different.
Even if you stay in a fancy hotel on an overseas trip, it’s more comfortable to just roll around in your own bed scrolling on your phone.
If you eat steak every day, you start craving kimchi and miss home-cooked meals.
That was true for a trip abroad, but this was another world. And someone else’s body, at that.
Even if he might regret it later and think, ‘Ah, fuck, I should have just stayed there,’ home was a place you had to return to at least once.
And also…
“Just as I am your master, to others I am a commander, a teacher, a trainer, a traveler, a doctor, an adversary, a wanderer, a cult leader, a captain, a producer, and a master. There are so many people I still have to save. You all can understand that, right?”
Karami fired off the words like a machine gun.
The slaves looked at each other, exchanging silent signals, before finally nodding.
“Mirabelle?”
“Yes.”
Mirabelle moved her staff.
Indigo mana seeped into Narsha.
Clank.
A shackle fastened itself.
A link formed between Karami and Narsha.
“Huh?”
Before he could even grasp what was happening, Mirabelle was already moving again.
This time, the indigo light flowed toward Alfia.
“Ah~ I want to make a thousand-year vow. You’ll do it for me, right, darling?”
Clank.
At the same time, a message appeared before Karami’s eyes.
[Fully Liberate the Main Slaves. Progress: 3/5]
“Miss Mirabelle, what are you doing?”
“I-I’m sorry, Master. I’m so sorry.”
Mirabelle kept apologizing, but she continued to wave her broom.
Mana entered Rin’s soul.
“Master~ Rin wants to have baby gumihos that look just like Rin and Master. Since I’m a gumiho, nine should be enough, right? Kihi.”
Clank.
[Fully Liberate the Main Slaves. Progress: 2/5]
“Wait. Don’t do that. Please, just stop for a second.”
They weren’t listening.
Azyeth hugged her fairy tale book tightly.
“And the prince and princess… lived happily ever after.”
The moment the last of the mana entered Azyeth.
Clank.
[Fully Liberate the Main Slaves. Progress: 1/5]
Nearly four years of effort had been reset in a single minute.
With the exception of Elize, who was already shackled, all the slaves were now bound by the shackles of subjugation.
The slaves acted as if they didn’t understand what Karami was saying.
After all, slaves were stupid beings who couldn’t do anything without their master’s orders.
But they knew one thing for certain: they could not let him go.
“Do you think I will allow this? I am the master here.”
There was a limit to how much he would let them run wild.
Karami tried to cancel the contracts. But the contracts that should have been nullified wouldn’t budge. They were being blocked midway.
It was Mirabelle’s doing.
Karami’s contracts and commands were classified as magic.
Mirabelle was the Master of the Magic Tower and a Great Witch who had mastered all forms of magic.
She was the only one who could forcefully defy Karami’s commands.
“Miss Mirabelle?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. But we really can’t live without you, Master. We’re fools who can’t do anything on our own without you. We can’t live without you.”
Everyone agreed.
They were stupid, foolish, and incompetent.
Without a master to lead them, they were not a merchant leader, a witch, an elf, a gumiho, a princess, or a saint.
They were just slaves who couldn’t even take care of themselves.
This was, without a doubt, the master’s fault.
It was Karami’s fault for making them into beings who couldn’t live without him, and then trying to leave.
After all, it was the master’s duty to take responsibility for his slaves.
“Master. You know that we love you an incredible amount, right?”
Oblivious to their master’s turmoil, the slaves beamed with the most innocent smiles in the world.
Just like a bunch of mischievous children.
Karami blinked blankly, unable to accept reality. He didn’t know what had just happened, but he knew one thing for sure.
The slaves he had liberated were now obsessed with him.