Minion
‘This isn’t the time to be sitting around.’
I hauled my heavy body up and began rummaging through the corpses.
I found a spatial expansion bag.
Some recovery potions and a bit of food, too.
And even a money pouch.
Most of the Florence Merchant Group's goods had been looted, but a few small things remained.
‘In this state… the Florence Merchant Group is done for.’
This caravan was larger than their usual operations.
The kind of venture where the leader bet everything.
But with it ending like this, their future was obvious.
‘Will Florence end up a slave, too?’
Hell, the merchant leader Florence herself might become one.
A slave trader’s boss as a slave.
A bitter smile crossed my lips.
Then, suddenly.
“Hm?”
A faint breathing sound came from under the overturned carriage.
I approached cautiously and saw a woman.
She was covered in wounds, but her breathing meant she was still alive.
‘The ring…’
As I got closer, the subjugation ring on my finger reacted.
She must have been one of the caravan’s goods.
A slave.
“What to do with her…”
My situation was precarious enough.
Memories from my hunter days had resurfaced, but I hadn’t fully adapted yet.
Hell, surviving alone in this unfamiliar place was tough.
And now a wounded slave woman?
Dead weight.
But a message chased away those thoughts.
Would you like to register as a minion?
“Minion? What’s this?”
A message I’d never seen before.
Not even in my hunter days.
I hesitated briefly, then decided.
If I don’t know, just try it.
Thinking alone changes nothing.
“Register.”
A short word.
With it, her information appeared.
I gaped at the scrolling details.
Being able to view someone else’s info was shocking.
‘Because I registered her as a minion?’
While learning this new Hunter System feature, I read her details.
Unusual stats.
Noble etiquette and multilingual skills didn’t fit a slave.
And…
‘High-rank magic affinity? Why does she have that?’
Especially magic affinity—it clashed with her slave status.
And it was high-rank, no less.
The kind even I, a mage, would covet.
‘No detailed breakdown, though…’
Unlike my info, a minion’s lacked rank specifics.
‘No slave without a backstory, huh?’
From memory, this one was a high-end product meant for… intimate purposes.
But these stats meant she wasn’t just that.
‘She’s got a story, but… not important now.’
I cast a 1st-class strength enhancement spell and lifted her.
Lighter than she looked.
Probably from poor feeding as a slave.
‘Can’t just leave a minion behind.’
Now to find a safe spot.
Shelter before nightfall.
This place reeked of blood and bodies—not safe.
Monsters would turn it into a feast at night.
I slung Sunogi over my shoulder.
Stuffed all necessities into the spatial expansion bag.
The sun was setting behind me.
The start of a new life.
And this time… I’d survive.
Invention Insight
System alerts kept ringing.
Invention Insight had auto-triggered.
Automatically granting blueprints for newly acquired items.
And as I walked, all my hunter knowledge from back then revived, one by one.
Like it happened yesterday.
I opened my eyes to a warm glow.
Rough fabric brushed my bare skin.
I wasn’t naked—bandages wrapped various spots.
‘I’m alive? Someone treated me… who?’
I tried sitting up, then froze at the breathing beside me.
A man slept holding me.
Black hair, pale skin.
A familiar face.
The Florence Merchant Group’s hired mage.
I gazed at his peacefully sleeping face.
‘Is this really that mage who just made subjugation rings for the group? He seemed barely 1st-class…’
Not only survived that horrific raid, but saved me too.
I’d been unconscious—basically shackled.
And the treatment was top-notch.
Just wait, and it’d heal fine.
‘What is he…?’
Curiosity stirred.
He’d been a nobody in the caravan.
Just maintaining slave subjugation rings—a pathetic mage.
But this was entirely different.
I carefully slipped from his arms.
Rummaged the bag for clothes and dressed.
‘How did he survive?’
I’d thought it was over.
Glad for the raid, I’d faced death willingly.
Better than a slave’s wretched life.
Yet here I was, life clinging stubbornly.
I scanned around.
A small hideout of dirt and wood.
Opened the door—camouflaged with foliage.
‘Him again? How long was I out for him to build this?’
No amateur camouflage.
Even after stepping out, spotting the entrance was hard.
Eye-deceiving level.
Blended perfectly with nature.
Though making a proper ‘door’ was oddly thoughtful.
‘Definitely not an ordinary mage.’
No magic explained this craftsmanship.
Plus healing skills and crisis survival.
No way someone like this wasted time on slave rings.
‘Hiding his abilities? Why? Unless he had to…’
Questions piled up.
My heart raced a bit.
What if.
Maybe.
Foolish hope reared up.
But I shook my head.
I’d long learned hope was a luxury.
‘Should I run…?’
Action over vain dreams.
I stared blankly at the hidden shelter, sorting my thoughts.
A delicious aroma gently tickled my nose, waking me.
The slave woman I’d rescued yesterday was cooking over a fire.
“You… know how to make a fire? Pretty handy.”
Starting a fire isn’t easy.
The bag was unpacked—she’d pulled out what she needed.
And cooking, too.
Thought she was just a sex slave, but she had skills.
‘Minion info didn’t list crafting or cooking… not everything shows, huh.’
Don’t fully trust the window.
Like hunter life—no big surprise.
What caught me off-guard was her poise.
Didn’t notice when she was out cold, but cooking, she seemed refined.
“You’re… awake?”
The hideout was small—she spotted me right away.
Awkward vibe.
Nothing wrong, but it felt off.
“Ahem. You know me, right?”
“Yes, the one who repaired the subjugation rings…”
“Theo.”
“Pardon? Ah… yes.”
I gave my name.
But no real response.
Probably cowed by her slave status.
“Your name?”
“Me? M-my name?”
“Yeah. Yours.”
She panicked at the question.
No one asks slaves their names outright.
She hesitated, but my silence urged her on.
“Lena… Lena.”
“Lena?”
“Yes, that was… before.”
Her cowering didn’t match her graceful cooking demeanor.
As the caravan’s mage, I might not care, but my hunter self hated it.
So I said what I’d planned.
Time to clarify our relationship.
“If you want, you can be free. Want me to remove the subjugation ring’s bind?”
Her hands paused at the sudden offer.
Truth was, I’d slept soundly because of that ring’s restrictions.
No risk of her harming me.
That’s its purpose.
But her reply made me a bit guilty.
“Free… you mean?”
“Yeah, go wherever. You saw the caravan’s done.”
“Then… where should I go?”
Her words choked me up.
Like she was asking me the same.
Where to go.
But thoughts didn’t deepen.
She continued.
“…I can’t survive alone. Especially here.”
Current situation hit me.
I had to nod.
No city or village—just monster-infested woods.
‘Fair point… freeing her here is basically ‘go solo.’’
I wouldn’t release the ring’s bind here either.
Why trust a woman I just met?
Mage memories said this world had no one trustworthy.
‘Even I’d say the same.’
Talking freedom here was dumb.
Too hasty from the awkwardness.
“Then… I’ll ask again when it’s safe. Give me a clear answer then.”
Lena nodded.
Calm, elegant motion.
Traces of high noble training.
Her true self emerging.
Probably realized I wouldn’t do anything vile.
‘Really meant to be a sex slave?’
Doubt flickered, but I didn’t ask.
Drop her at a city, done.
She’d want that.
Freedom over slavery.