The Terrifying Sincerity of Slave Liris

The true heart of slave Liris was terrifying.

Fighting monsters and conquering dungeons had always filled her with overwhelming fear. Living without power meant never knowing when death might claim you. Living with power meant dying in some gruesome, unrecognizable way on the battlefield. She had simply wanted to live an ordinary, happy life and pass away peacefully. But Liris was an orphan. To survive, she needed power, and by some stroke of luck she had awakened a healing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ability. At least her role kept her in the rear, supporting her allies. That was a blessing. Her healing magic could earn decent coin even when she worked alone, so she had vowed to open a small clinic and live out her days in quiet peace.

But Liris was a woman. In this empire that placed men above women, the law demanded that anyone possessing abilities must be thrown into the front lines to guard against future wars and dungeon threats. A man of outstanding talent could earn the empire’s protection through various services, but not her. Her gender sealed her fate. In the end her dream was crushed, and she was forced to assemble a party and march onto the battlefield. She became a body that could die at any moment while fulfilling the duties mandated by imperial law. A body for which death would surprise no one.

Every single day she lived trembling in terror, never knowing how she would die. That was when she met Divine. He was male, at least. Liris had wanted a knight who would protect her, but Divine possessed the ambiguous non-combat ability of command. A power that let him issue orders from behind the lines, even further back than a priestess like herself. As a man, he could retreat the moment his life was endangered. Imperial law required that men in danger must be protected at all costs. Liris had felt anxious imagining herself dying while trying to shield him.

Yet something strange happened. After Divine joined the party, everything began to go smoothly. No matter how dangerous the situation, following his commands and instructions always produced the best possible outcome. Even against unfamiliar monsters or seemingly impossible dungeons, Divine saw through their weaknesses instantly and gave precise orders. They were never one of the empire’s most famous parties, but they became quite successful in their own right.

At that point Liris started to believe that as long as Divine was with them, she would be safe. Then one day a handsome, wealthy, and highly capable man approached their party. He appeared the moment Divine was absent and promised them the very best treatment if they joined his new group. In truth he was the youngest son of a prominent noble house. Kate, Arona, and Becky accepted his offer without a moment’s hesitation.

But Liris hesitated. She believed that as the scion of a noble family he would take on far more dangerous work, and that he could never match Divine’s competence. Honestly, she wanted to stay by Divine’s side. She tried to express her feelings, but Kate, Arona, and Becky forcibly dragged her away despite their long history of fighting together. When she protested, Kate acted as if she would cut her down with her sword on the spot. Arona and Becky were no different. In the end Liris was hauled off to the noble’s party against her will and forced to face death again and again.

Unlike Divine, the noble lacked intelligence. He made constant large and small mistakes, lost his escort troops, and repeatedly put the entire party in jeopardy. Strangely, the four of them—including Liris—performed far worse than they had when fighting alongside Divine. Liris suspected that Divine’s presence had drawn out greater strength from all of them, but the others flatly denied it.

Whenever they moved outdoors, all the trivial chores were dumped onto Liris. After all, most of the escort troops were nobles or skilled warriors, and they were all men. At first Kate, Arona, and Becky helped a little, but the moment they grew tired they began tormenting Liris and shoving every dirty job onto her. Each day felt like hell, yet leaving the party now would only lead to death, so Liris endured every humiliation and menial task in silence.

A year passed, then more time slipped by. The noble’s youngest son finally grew bored and began treating the four women like pets or slaves. At that point the others decided they were sick of him and wanted to leave. They had pushed all the annoying work onto Liris, and now that things had become difficult they were trying to abandon the party. Such irresponsible, shameless behavior. Liris followed their lead only because she did not want to die.

The four women demanded better treatment in front of the noble, and he accepted. Just when it seemed things might improve, he led the party straight into the tentacle dungeon. What waited for them afterward was a nightmare beyond words. Captured by bundles of tentacles, their personalities erased, their consciousnesses plunged into deep darkness.

After finishing the meal, I listened to the story of her past directly from Liris’s lips.

As her master I could view her slave status, so there was no need to doubt the truth of her words. The status window confirmed that everything she said was fact.

“I see. So that’s what happened.”

“Now I understand that your mindset is completely different from those bitches who abandoned me without a second thought. I suppose I should listen to what they have to say as well?”

When I spoke, Liris flinched violently and looked up at me with anxious eyes.

“What? Are you scared? Afraid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those women who used to order you around will hurt you?”

“......”

She said nothing, but her expression radiated pure fear.

“Listen carefully. They will never be able to touch you. If you’re still afraid of them even now, how can I trust you? Hear me well. They cannot strike you. On the contrary, you are allowed to strike them. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Y-yes… Yes, Master.”

“Shake off ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that fear right here. I’ll help you show them that you stand above them without needing to twist your personality into that of a spoiled noblewoman.”

Liris seemed to hesitate at my words, but then she bit her lip with clear resolve.

“I understand, Master. I… I am above them now! I am not a slave anymore!”

“That’s the spirit. Face them with exactly that mindset. Got it?”

“Yes.”

I could feel Liris’s firm determination. Though her breathing was ragged, I paid it no mind and immediately restored the personalities of those women.

“You bitch, Liris! How dare you betray us?”

“Sister! No… Liris. Are you really doing this to your old party members?”

“How disappointing. Are you riding the coattails of power and spinning lies to paint us as the villains?”

To my eyes it was obvious. They were shamelessly lying. They were trying to paint Liris as the villain just to look better in my sight.

“Divine! Listen to me. Liris is the bad one here!”

“Oppa~ You know Arona likes you, right? Don’t you?”

“You still have some old affection left for us, don’t you? Let’s start over anew.”

“......”

Disgusting creatures. They had been the first to betray and abandon me, yet now they had the audacity to act like this? I glanced sideways at Liris. She had made up her mind, but the trauma still lingered on her face. Given her personality, overcoming it would not be easy. So I decided to give her a small push.

I made a slight adjustment to Liris’s personality. I helped her unleash all the anger she had bottled up until now. The moment I touched her personality, her expression crumbled. Her face went blank, then suddenly twisted into unmistakable rage. She shot to her feet.

“Liris! If you don’t help us right now, for the rest of your—”

“Shut your mouth!”

Liris strode straight up to Kate and slapped her across the face without hesitation. The sharp crack echoed through the room. The blow was so powerful that Kate’s head snapped to the side.

“Haa… Just thinking about it pisses me off. You’ve been using me all this time, haven’t you? Dumping every annoying chore on me! From now on you are all Master’s slaves. And before that, I will be supervising you. Yes… I’ll torment you even worse than what you did to me. You can look forward to it.”

Liris’s current state was pure fury. I had changed her personality from one that suppressed its anger to one that spoke its mind without yielding to anyone. This was the result.

“All of you are nothing without Master! When you joined that fancy noble party your skills were so pathetic it left me speechless! You only grew stronger thanks to Master! You stupid bitches! You don’t even realize that and now you want to defy the very Master who restored our personalities?”

Slap! Slap!

Having said that, Liris mercilessly slapped Arona and Becky across their faces as well. They looked stunned by this violent, unfamiliar side of Liris and the surprise attack.

“You… you dare slap my face?”

“Want to die? I won’t let this slide! I’ll shoot you full of arrows!”

“There is a limit to my patience. Isn’t it only natural for a vulgar priestess bitch to handle all our menial tasks?”

Instead of reflecting on their own faults, the wretched women glared at Liris and raged at her. If they could move freely they would have beaten her to a pulp. But right now they were nothing more than puppets—slaves obeying my commands.

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

Liris silently delivered another round of merciless blows to the women who had tormented her. Each strike was hard enough to whip their heads in the opposite direction. After that she stopped hitting them and turned to me with a furious expression.

“Master~ Before we enter the academy, wouldn’t it be better to properly educate these slaves first?”

Yet the moment her eyes met mine, she beamed with the adorable smile of a loyal puppy. It was proof of her devotion to me even without my direct control.