Master and Slaves

...This place was deep darkness.

An immeasurable, bottomless darkness.

Nothing could be seen, nothing could be heard—just an abyss of black.

I was there in complete, absolute darkness where not even a single ray of light reached.

Or rather, "I had been there."

I simply existed there.

And beside me were two white things.

They felt pure white even in the deepest darkness.

Yet they were not light.

They did not emit light on their own.

They were simply white.

There were two of them beside me.

A light lit up in front of me.

It was a white light.

It was as white as the two white things beside me.

The one in front was glowing.

It radiated light itself.

It was not dazzling.

It was warm and gentle.

It was illuminating me.

Warmly, gently—illuminating me.

But that white light was being invaded by darkness from all sides.

Bit by bit, steadily, it was being consumed by the dark.

The areas that turned dark shone black.

The white light was turning into black light... and then—

After a while, the white light in front of me gave birth to two small lights.

Those two small lights, though smaller, still glowed brilliantly.

They had grown under the large light.

They kept their brightness even as they grew.

Not only did they remain bright, but they also became as warm and gentle as the original large light.

But at some point, only one of the two growing lights remained.

The other had apparently gone somewhere far away.

The light that still surrounded me warmly and gently was now only one that was growing larger and larger, plus the two smaller ones that had been born from the light and had already become smaller after being invaded by darkness.

However, even this large light began to be eaten by the darkness.

The depths of the white light turned into black light.

And the black light gave birth to something new, causing the white light to shrink rapidly.

When the two smaller lights became too small, the later-born one was rapidly devoured by darkness and became even tinier, until it was almost gone.

At that moment, the two white things beside me and I ourselves were carried away by the original light.

I don’t know where.

I don’t know how long it took.

Suddenly the surroundings became white.

It was like waking from a dream.

I had been rescued from the abyss of darkness.

...

It was dazzling.

My eyes, used to darkness, saw the white light through my eyelids.

My consciousness returned, and sounds from the outside began to reach me.

"...Sniffle... uuu..."

"How long are you going to cry? Master is fine."

Two women’s voices.

The voices I always heard.

One was still sobbing uncontrollably, while the other was scolding her.

But the one scolding also sounded tearful.

I was the one who had made them cry... wasn’t I?

Still half-dreaming, I thought that as I slowly opened my eyes.

""Master!""

Two blurred silhouettes appeared in the light-filled vision.

They gradually sharpened and became the tear-streaked faces of two girls.

Cathy and Tiria.

They were peeking at me from both sides.

Their tears fell onto my cheeks.

"C-Cathy... Ti-Tiria...."

I called their names in a hoarse voice.

"Thank goodness... you’re safe...."

"Master~!!"

Cathy whispered, and Tiria threw herself into my arms with a loud cry.

I tried to hug them both, but my arms wouldn’t move.

My belly burned with pain instead.

"It’s no good. Master has suffered a terrible injury."

Cathy wiped her tears but still gently placed her hand on my arm, which had moved a little, and tucked it back under the blanket.

So that’s why... I was injured.

Why?

I was about to ask Cathy when I noticed someone else in the room.

She looked to be in her late thirties.

She wore a long skirt that reached her ankles and a top that exposed her large breasts.

Was she an A-Dule?

Her black hair, which would be unusual for a woman in this world, was cut short and neat.

The woman opened the door and started to leave.

When she turned her face toward us in the corridor, it was a face I had seen somewhere—actually, I knew it well.

But there was something decisively different.

I called out to her just as she finished her bow.

"Muriel...."

A hoarse, small voice.

It must have reached the woman who was about to close the door.

She turned her face toward me while still bowing.

Her expression was startled for a moment, then tears welled up. She covered her mouth with her hand and stared at me fixedly.

She really did look in her late thirties.

Muriel was supposed to be 18...

But it was definitely Muriel.

"M-Master...."

She whispered in a voice barely audible to me.

"Muriel... come here."

Despite my confusion, she slowly walked toward me.

When she reached the bedside, she took Tiria’s place, knelt, and peeked at me.

"Master...."

"Muriel...."

I reached out with my arm while enduring the pain in my belly and stroked Muriel’s cheek.

"...U... kuu...."

Muriel held back her tears and placed her hand over mine, but then immediately pulled it away.

"I don’t have the right to be gentle with Master."

With that, she placed my hand back under the blanket.

"...Your body still hasn’t recovered. Please rest slowly."

She wiped her tears, stood up, and bowed her head.

"Please take care of yourself."

Muriel smiled, turned, and headed for the open door.

"Muriel! Wait!"

I tried to support myself and rise, but my strength wasn’t enough. I leaned forward.

Tiria quickly rushed over and held me up.

"Muriel, wait... Oh right, I want to hear what happened. While I was asleep, what occurred?"

I felt I had to stop Muriel from leaving or she might disappear somewhere.

So I made up any reason to keep her.

But I also really wanted to know what had happened.

Cathy and Tiria hadn’t aged.

Only Muriel had.

And Muriel was supposed to have become my Dule.

So she shouldn’t have aged.

Why...?

Muriel ignored my stopping and stopped once in front of the door before bowing toward me.

"Then... please excuse me...."

"No, Muriel. Master said he wants to hear it, so you have to speak properly."

Muriel quickly raised her head and looked outside.

A woman pushed her way in.

She was only slightly younger than Muriel.

She wore a modest yet elegant blue dress typical of nobility.

Her foot must have been injured; she was leaning on a cane and coming toward me.

"It’s been a while, Hiroyuki-sama... or should I say, it’s not as real to you?"

...Who was she?

"Oh, Muriel knows, but I don’t? Haa. I’ve known you longer than Muriel."

...Eh?

"Helene?"

"Yes."

Helene smiled brightly and nodded.

"Then let me start over. It’s been a while, Hiroyuki-sama."

She came beside me, leaned her cane against the bed, spread her skirt, and greeted me gracefully.

"..."

I was stunned.

"What’s wrong? You look like you’ve been hit by a pigeon-bean-slinging slingshot."

Helene laughed while covering her mouth.

Helene was also supposed to be my Dule.

Yet she now looked in her mid-thirties.

She wasn’t exposing her ample chest either.

Then...?

"There are many things I want to ask, but first... Muriel. Please tell us from you."

Helene took her cane and walked to Muriel’s side, patting her shoulder.

"However...."

"It’s fine. We’ll take it one step at a time. First, we have to report everything to Master."

"Yes... yes...."

Helene took Muriel’s hand and led her to my side.

"Cathy, Tiria. Bring three chairs from the next room."

"Yes, understood."

Cathy and Tiria left the room.

Helene sat on the chair beside the bed where I was lying.

"I’m sorry. I sat first."

"Helene, your leg...."

"It’s no good. Muriel goes first."

Helene warned me with a smile.

...

"Well then... Muriel, let’s begin."

"...Yes."

I had pillows behind my back and was sitting up on the bed.

On the right side of the bed, in order, were Muriel, Cathy, Tiria, and my three Dules sitting on chairs.

Helene was also seated on a chair behind them.

Cathy and Tiria were looking at Muriel’s face.

I also scanned everyone’s faces before looking at Muriel.

Muriel was looking down, as if trying to figure out how to start talking.

After a moment, she finally opened her mouth.

"When I arrived at the village... I got stuck putting my armor back on... and when we reached the village, fires were everywhere... no, smoke was rising..."