Chapter 322: Slave Experience (15)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 322: Slave Experience (15)
With so many different races gathered in one place, it was like a reenactment of the race wars fought hundreds of years ago.
Azyeth, who had joined late, wore a blank expression, yet she radiated an overt hostility toward those who dared disturb Rami’s deep sleep.
The battle had become a three-way conflict.
The demons, the celestials, and Karami’s slaves.
The Duke’s forces, overwhelmed by the invaders’ might, had long since lost their will to fight and were no longer a factor.
Both Zakaril and Liliabel, despite their bold entrance, hesitated to make a rash move.
“Ice Dragon Skadia. One of the primordial elemental dragons. To think that such a being would willingly serve a mere human. Have you no shame?”
“What’s wrong with liking what I like? Don’t you lot believe in and follow your own gods?”
“To place a transcendent being on the same level as a common mortal. You truly are insane. Behold. This is the fate of one who becomes a human’s slave.”
“Hmph. You speak as if it’s someone else’s problem. Soon enough, you’ll all end up just like this.”
It was a familiar refrain.
Skadia could see it clearly.
Their future.
“Is the chatter over? I’m starting to get bored,” Liliabel said.
“Rin was just thinking the same thing.”
“A gumiho, was it? I have a cute little puppy named Cerberus in my castle. He’s been quite bored guarding the house all by himself. This will be a good chance to introduce him to a new friend.”
“Okay, I’ve decided. I’m taking that one. I’ll pin her wings to the wall so she can’t escape, and I’ll cut off her horns to use as a back-scratcher for my tails.”
“…It seems I’ll have to cut out your tongue first.”
Liliabel raised her hand.
“All forces, advance.”
Zakaril summoned his double-bladed sword.
“Everyone, advance. Eliminate all who stand against you.”
The celestials and demons charged.
“What did the Master say?”
“Make the pretty ones slaves… and for the rest… do as you see fit?”
“That sounds about right.”
Elize let out a dry laugh.
That’s so like him. What a relief.
She was curious what he looked like, now that he’d turned into a woman. She wanted to see him as soon as possible.
To do that, she first had to clean this place up.
*
BOOM!
KABOOM!
KRA-KA-KOOM!
A series of explosions erupted, so loud they threatened to deafen everyone.
A massive battle, reminiscent of the apocalypse, had broken out in the duchy.
Demons, celestials, elves, beastkin, yokai, spirits, dragons, humans—all sorts of races were entangled in the fray.
Many were renowned warriors within their own races, but before a stronger existence, they were nothing more than scarecrows.
“What? What? What?! You were all so confident. Is this really all you’ve got?”
Rin, reveling in her first real fight in a while, was on a spectacular rampage. Dozens of massive fox fires burst like fireworks at a summer festival.
The celestials couldn’t withstand the assault and plummeted from the sky.
She let out a joyous, crazed laugh as if she were blowing off steam.
“Honestly, getting all excited. Anyone would think you came here to play.”
Of course, even as she said that, Elize was busy crushing demons herself.
Watching them fall so helplessly to her divine power felt like a hundred years of resentment being washed away.
Unbeknownst to even herself, Elize harbored a deep-seated grudge against the demons.
Their power transcended dimensions.
The battlefield had already devolved into a playground for a handful of the overwhelmingly strong, while the non-combatants—the nobles and servants—were in the middle of a frantic evacuation.
“Violetta, you’re running away, but where are you going? It’s dangerous over there!”
“Go on ahead, Mother! There’s someone I absolutely must bring with me!”
Shaking off the Duchess’s attempt to stop her, Violetta headed for the underground prison. She had seen through to the cause of this conflict.
‘I need Rami!’
The terrorists currently blowing the duchy to bits were clearly after Rami.
Everyone was trying to possess her.
If she could just get Rami, she could resolve this situation. At the very least, his side would be the safest place to be.
Hiking up her skirt, her aristocratic dignity all but forgotten, Violetta ran.
She navigated the precariously shaking ground, and covered in dust, she finally reached the underground prison.
‘The cell door… it’s open?’
Besides Rami, the prison had held others who had caused trouble in the duchy or disobedient slaves who were being disciplined.
But now the cell doors were open, and all the prisoners were gone. No, to be precise, the iron bars had been cleanly sliced through.
As if by a sword.
Suppressing a rising sense of dread, Violetta went deeper inside, toward where Rami was being held.
Soon, she found him. Lying on a bed of ice, sleeping as peacefully as could be.
Sunlight streamed through a hole in the ceiling, reflecting off the ice and scattering in every direction.
“Evan?”
And nearby, she found Evan, frozen solid. His face and posture were contorted in anger, as if he hadn’t even realized he was being attacked.
No matter how much she disliked him, he was still her brother. Who dared to do this to the youngest son of the House of Lorencius?
Violetta bit her lip and strode toward Rami.
“How can you be sleeping in a situation like this? Wake up. Wake up right now!”
But Rami was so soundly asleep that he didn’t even flinch. Enraged, Violetta manifested a whip and was about to swing it when—
CLANG!
A pure white flash shot out in a straight line, piercing through the whip. It shattered helplessly.
And then, click-clack.
The sound of high heels echoed.
Startled, Violetta spun around.
“Who dares attack me, Violetta Lorencius, the eldest daughter of the House of Lorencius— Y-You are…?”
“Have you been well, Lady Lorencius? It’s been a long time. The last time we met was at the Wexley family’s autumn salon, so it has been four years and three months.”
Holding a white rapier in her right hand, Narsha approached with an elegant, clicking gait.
Her long hair, which she usually wore down, was tied back so as not to get in the way.
“N-Narsha Bryan? What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? Did you not send me a letter? You said you were holding my master and that I should come and get him. So, I have come to escort him.”
“D-Don’t be ridiculous! You were always like this, but you’ve gotten even more shameless since becoming a slave. I’ve heard all about it. The story of how you became a prostitute in the red-light district and were taken in by the Slave Reaper!”
“Oh my, did Master tell you that?”
“You slept with that man, didn’t you? A noblewoman, giving her body to a commoner. You don’t have a shred of integrity.”
“Oh my, did Master tell you that, too?”
“Shaking those vulgar breasts, mooing like a cow, being milked…!”
“…Oh my. Did Master tell you that as well?”
In her excitement, Violetta failed to notice the shift in Narsha’s demeanor and continued to prattle on.
“That Slave Reaper you serve is my slave. Therefore, as the slave of a slave, your master is me! Show some respect at once!”
Narsha smirked, one corner of her mouth lifting in a sneer.
“Did you know, Lady Lorencius? There is a very significant advantage to becoming a slave.”
“What is that, all of a sudden…?”
“As the daughter of a count, I had to live my life conscious of what the world thought of me. My parents, my vassals, my maids, the common folk, even the slaves. I had to maintain the dignity of a noble at all times, no matter where I was.”
“Do you think I don’t know your true nature?”
People knew Narsha as a pure and delicate young lady, but the reality was different. She had the makings of a bandit queen.
“It was a form of rebellion, I suppose. I wanted to betray their expectations. The wicked thrill of knowing that if I were ever caught, everything I had built up would come crashing down. Or perhaps, as you say, it was just my true nature that I had been suppressing.”
Narsha spoke calmly, a faint smile on her face as if reminiscing about a pleasant memory.
Then, her atmosphere changed completely.
“The one who liberated me from all that was my current master. He made it so I no longer have to care what anyone thinks.”
Of course, her behavior itself wasn’t drastically different from before, but the intent behind it was.
Back then, she had forced herself to act that way to not disappoint her parents. Now, Narsha did it voluntarily.
She would never allow her own selfish words or actions to tarnish her master’s reputation.
“As a slave, I am freer than I have ever been!”
Narsha smiled, her expression ecstatic.
Sensing a hint of madness in her, Violetta stumbled backward.
“You… you’re insane. A slave, free? You’ve lost your mind.”
“I understand. I was similar to you at first, Lady Lorencius. You can’t know unless you experience it yourself. How about it? For old times’ sake, I’ll give you the chance to become Master’s slave as well.”
Violetta summoned two magical whips.
“I am of the noble blood of Lorencius. I am different from you. I will never become a slave!”
“It’s alright. Once you feel it, Lady Lorencius, you too will understand…”
Narsha’s words trailed off.
The smile on her lips slowly faded, and her face hardened.
Then.
“…Violetta.”
She called Violetta’s name in a low voice.
“Wh-What is it?”
“What are those wounds?”
Narsha’s gaze was fixed on Rami. His maid outfit was torn, and small wounds were visible here and there.
They weren’t severe, but for a woman whose appearance was her life, it was harsh enough.
The red, inflamed wounds were long and thin, as if he had been scraped by something.
Just like whip marks.
Realizing she had just touched Narsha’s last nerve, Violetta’s lips curled into an exaggerated smile.
“What are they? A master gives an order, and a slave should obey, but he kept talking back and defying me. So I educated him myself. The way he screamed in pain was so amusing—”
It happened in an instant.
A blur of motion.
Narsha kicked Violetta in the stomach.
Violetta slammed into the wall and bounced off.
“Kuh… huk?!”
Just as a pained groan was about to escape her lips, Narsha closed the distance in a flash and clamped a hand over her mouth.
She untied the ribbon from her hair and stuffed it into Violetta’s mouth.
“Shut your mouth, Violetta. You’ll wake the Master.”
Wh-What?!
She couldn’t see it.
The Narsha that Violetta knew was an ordinary young lady, far removed from combat.
But what was this?
Wasn’t this a crazed warrior woman?
“Mmph…!”
Violetta struggled violently to break free.
But she didn’t budge. If anything, it only served to anger Narsha further.
SHUNK!
She slammed her rapier into the top of Violetta’s foot.
“————!”
Violetta’s head snapped back from the searing pain. She wanted to scream, but with her mouth gagged, she couldn’t.
Only a muffled groan escaped through the gaps.
And right in front of her face.
Narsha’s red eyes glinted as she stared at Violetta from so close their eyeballs could touch.
Her vacant, lifeless pupils looked like those of someone whose soul was trapped in an abyss.
Wouldn’t this be what it’s like to have your soul stolen by the Reaper?
An indescribable terror. It felt like her very existence was being devoured. Violetta trembled.
Narsha screamed at her.
“How dare you… How dare you. How dare you, dare you, dare you, dare you, DARE YOU!!! A thing like you dared to wound my master’s body? Someone like you dared?”
“Hic…!”
“I’m the fool. To even think of making a bitch like you a slave. I was the fool.”
Muttering a self-deprecating lament, Narsha glared at Violetta as if to kill her again. She whispered in a chilling voice.
“Atone. For the harm you caused my master, atone with your death.”
Narsha’s demeanor was not that of a sane person.
A fanatic.
No word could describe her better.
The fate of one who had offered her soul to the Reaper.
Confronted by a madness that devoured souls, Violetta began to convulse.
Drip… drip… drip…
Her dress began to grow damp. A puddle of pale yellow spread at her feet.
Violetta’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted.
Narsha clicked her tongue and looked down at her with contempt.
“Fucking useless trash. Going on about dignity and what-not, only to piss yourself and pass out. I feel so pathetic for even wasting my breath on a bitch like you. It’s a waste to even kill you.”
She pulled the rapier from Violetta’s foot. With a flick of her wrist, she shook off the blood as if cleansing something filthy, then sheathed her sword.
Tossing Violetta aside like a piece of garbage, she returned to Rami’s side.
The moment she saw his sleeping face, it was as if the Narsha from moments ago was a different person entirely.
Her expression softened, becoming like that of someone gazing at their lover.
“You’ve caused all this chaos, and yet you’re sleeping so peacefully. But I love that about you too, Master.”
With a delicate touch, she stroked Rami’s hair. After a moment, the constant vibrations from outside ceased.
“It seems things are wrapping up over there as well.”
It looked like the merchant group would be getting a large number of new slaves.
She would have to prepare their education.