The Second Slave Summon

"You. If I get that slave of yours out, can you handle the rest of this yourself?"

Huh?

I was still wearing a blank look at the sudden question when Aiden spoke again.

"I'm asking if I pull just the slave free, can you find Count Hamel, put him back where he belongs, and bring me my toy. No. You will."

At first he said all we had to do was find the guy.

I stared at Aiden in disbelief as he casually dumped the entire mess on me.

Sensing my gaze, he let out a sigh.

"Haa... I've been thinking it over, and I really shouldn't show my face. Slave case or not, even if we try to bury it, word's going to reach the old man's ears. And the second the Count sees me, he'll start flapping his mouth about me too.

Then the old man will climb all the way out here screaming about what the hell I was doing instead of handling it, and that damn woman will use it as an excuse to start her usual shit.

Ugh. Just thinking about it stresses me out. So I'm not here. No — I won't be here. I'll pull your slave free and go wait at the temple in Stonckul, the capital of this kingdom. You bring my toy there. Got it?"

"Even if it is a slave-related case, would word of something happening all the way out here really reach the Empire? It's pretty far... Couldn't we just do what you first said — find Count Hamel for you — and let you handle the rest? No one would ever know..."

I offered the suggestion carefully, not wanting to get tangled up in anything difficult. Aiden looked at me like I was an idiot.

"You have no idea how serious the old man is about slave cases, do you? Even if a rumor about slaves pops up on some island across the sea, he sends the tracking squad. Obsessed with that damn dying wish for no good reason. Just remembering how seasick I got back then still grinds my teeth.

So quit the nonsense, wrap this up clean, package my toy nicely, and bring her. Got it? Now let's go. We're getting your slave."

-Ding.

The moment Aiden decided everything before I could get another word in and stood up, a strange sound rang out.

Huh?

I froze at the sudden noise, and Aiden, already heading for the door, glanced back.

"What are you standing around for?"

"Ah — coming."

I answered the man who clearly hadn't heard a thing despite how loud it had been, and as I started walking, something flashed through my mind.

No way?!

That sound was telling me he'd become a companion? Unbelievable. But... is this really a Crown Prince's status window? Not an assassin's? And why is his Playboy rank higher than Crown Prince? What the hell has this guy been doing?

Given Aiden's position, his stat and skill grades were overwhelmingly high — but the overall composition looked nothing like a Crown Prince's. I was still staring at it in disbelief as I moved to leave the room, then remembered that Ron, the man the fake Count Raven had assigned to me, was waiting outside.

"Uh. Come to think of it, the fake Count stuck a guy on me for surveillance and guiding..."

Aiden, just about to step out, heaved a deep sigh.

"Haa... Then you go first. I'll find my own way."

Leaving Aiden behind, I headed for the temple entrance, where Ron came straight at me.

"What took you so long? You weren't flapping your mouth about anything stupid, were you?"

I scrambled to explain under his suspicious glare.

"The procedures were complicated... I just heard the method for increasing the number of slaves I can manage and came right out."

"...Fine. Let's get back to the boss."

Still eyeing me with open distrust, Ron led the way. We climbed into the carriage, and not long after returning to the manor, we went straight to see Raven.

"Oh. Right. You didn't try anything dumb, did you?"

Raven asked, with Selena still collapsed unconscious beside him.

"Of course not. The Goddess said that if I want to manage more slaves, I need to put them to work. As it happens, a temple priest said he could use a mage's help, so I was thinking Selena and I could..."

I carefully laid out the story I'd prepared. Raven turned to Ron.

"Hey. Is that true?"

Naturally, Ron hadn't been allowed to follow me all the way to where I met the Goddess, so there was no way he could confirm or deny anything. Even if he had come along, the separate plane would have left him just as deaf and blind.

"Uh... well... the priest blocked me from coming in, so..."

Unsatisfied with the answer, Raven yanked a pen from its holder and hurled it as he shouted.

"You stupid bastard! That means that asshole could've gone in there and spilled everything to the temple people!"

"I-if he had, wouldn't the temple have arrested me?"

Ron dodged the flying pen and tried to defend himself. Raven pressed a hand to his forehead.

"I've trusted idiots like this for four years... Ah... If they grab you there, we find out we've been made and run for it — why the hell would they arrest you? You moron? Lock that guy up for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now and tighten security.

Ah. Partner. It's not that I don't trust you — I just want to be sure. So sit tight for a few days. If things stay quiet for ten days to two weeks, I'll send you to the temple with her. And I won't touch this one, so don't worry."

Yeah, sure — switch from "this bastard" and "that bastard" to "partner" in a few seconds and expect me to buy it...

Raven's fake smile was infuriating, but there was nothing I could do about it right now. I gave a small nod and let a grumbling Ron lead me to a small room.

"Fuck. This is all your fault. You should've sweet-talked that priest bitch into letting me in with you. Ahh... No dinner for you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tonight, you bastard. Sit there and think about what you did."

Even if you'd come in, you wouldn't have seen a damn thing.

I grumbled inwardly at Ron dumping the anger he'd taken from Raven onto me, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked around.

No windows, either. So why is there a ventilation shaft?

The room was so bare that having a bed at all felt like a blessing — small enough that a single candle lit the whole place. After scanning every corner, I flopped onto the mattress.

Haa... So in the end I just have to wait for Aiden to smuggle Selena out... He can handle it, right? With that many S-ranks? And how am I supposed to rescue Count Hamel and deal with Raven, anyway?

I was worrying over whether Aiden could actually get Selena out safely and turning over ways to put the real Count back in his seat when—

-Smack.

Huh?

A stinging heat bloomed across my cheek. I blinked, and an irritated voice filled my ears.

"Hey. Quit sleeping and get up."

Ah? Did I doze off?

I blinked a few more times and sat up to find Aiden standing there with a limp Selena slung over his shoulder.

"Selena!"

I called out to her slack, lifeless form. Aiden scowled.

"What? Want me to go tell the fake Count you're planning an escape?"

Mm...

"Haa... If this weren't tangled up with my toy and a slave... I'm dropping her here. Get yourselves out, handle everything, and bring my toy to Stonckul. Flash this at any checkpoint and you won't get stopped — your job won't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cause any problems."

Aiden set Selena on the floor, tossed me a small gold plaque, and vanished without a trace.

Come on, with skills like that he could've at least helped a little... Clearing out everyone in the manor wouldn't have been that hard for him.

I grumbled at Aiden, who'd disappeared so cleanly I couldn't even tell how he'd done it, and started thinking through how Selena and I were going to escape this place.

What would work... Selena's magic? But the problem is, if someone like Ronald goes after her, we're finished...

Remembering how Ronald had appeared in a blink and subdued Selena, I racked my brain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a way to protect her — and then I recalled the Summon Ticket I'd completely forgotten about in the flood of everything else.

That's right! How did I forget this? I can just summon a slave who can protect Selena! First, the conditions...

Vanguard. Swordsman. Tank. Protection. Guardian. Defense.

Since it was a free-use ticket, I piled on every condition focused on keeping us safe — and then I started padding it for personal reasons.

Virgin, obviously. Weak, so she's easy to enslave? No. Wait... she has to tank. If I put "weak" and she stays weak forever instead of just starting that way, we're screwed. Scratch weak. Obedient? Compliant? Submissive? Ah, whatever — throw them all in.

Next, sexy, and she needs a big chest so... large breasts... Should I go for massive this time? No, she's a frontliner — too big might get in the way. Just large. Slim waist or a big ass? Or a perfect figure?

Selena's a blonde with waves, so this time... black hair in a ponytail?

Now that I knew the value of each condition, I poured everything into wringing the most perfect slave possible out of a free-use ticket I might never get again.

And then.

Even teeth. Skilled with her tongue. Sexy lips. A slender jaw. That... should do it?

After cramming in dozens of conditions, I scanned the list one more time for anything missing, then activated Slave Summon.

"Heh heh... The most perfect... the slave who will protect me, Selena, and the harem to come is about to..."

While Mir was grinning to himself over the magic circle slowly taking shape, a woman sat in a room lit by nothing but the glow of a monitor.

Her messy, uncombed hair was tied back in a rough knot. Explosive curves strained against a white T-shirt and black dolphin shorts as she sprawled in her chair, hammering at a keyboard and muttering under her breath.

"Ahh... so boring... Are they not going to summon me again? I can't even swing a sword freely here... Haa..."

All motivation gone, she planted her face on the keyboard she'd just been typing on and grumbled for a long while — until she noticed the darkness behind her growing brighter.

"Oh!"

Having been through this more than once, her face lit up with anticipation as if the boredom had never existed.

Moments later a magic circle roughly two meters across finished forming, and the woman rose from her chair, walking toward the brightly glowing geometric pattern.

"Please... let this Demon King or Demon Dragon not end too easily. No half-assed tyrant trash. Please... an evil god I've never met before would be the best."

Muttering those incomprehensible words, she stepped into the center of the circle. The entire room flared with light — and when it faded, nothing remained in the monitor-lit darkness. Not a trace of the magic circle, and not a trace of the woman.