Master and Slaves

"Got it. Alright, I’ll go ahead and ask my questions now."

"Yes."

I leaned my back against the pedestal from earlier and sat cross-legged.

I was wearing simple cloth clothes and pants.

Meanwhile, Tiria was sitting formally on her knees right in front of me, leaning slightly forward with her face raised. She was wearing nothing at all.

I had been looking for clothes to fix this situation, but nothing had really changed.

Well, I had improved. I was properly dressed now.

But Tiria was still completely naked.

If anyone saw her, it would probably look even more criminal than before, in a sense.

...For now, let’s move the conversation forward.

"Um, this is the... Demon World? The Gerzile Demon Kingdom, right?"

"Yes. Specifically, we are inside the treasure vault of Demon King Geizer’s castle in the Gerzile Demon Kingdom."

Mao... Mao? Like, that demon king, right?

Sigh. So it really came to this.

Which means the "Demon World" is that Demon World.

And we’re in the treasure vault of the castle belonging to Demon King Geizer.

...

"Why am I here?"

"Um... I summoned you here."

I must have said that out loud. Tiria answered the question.

Summoning, huh. Yeah, summoning. Makes sense.

As expected, it really is like I’ve been thrown into the world of a game or a novel.

Haa, that’s an important point, but I’ll set it aside for now.

...This might be a dream, after all.

"So, Tiria, why are you in a place like this?"

"Um... to defeat Demon King Geizer."

...There it is. The classic fantasy trope.

But I had assumed Tiria was one of Geizer’s allies.

...Wait a second.

If this is the castle of the Demon King Geizer—the enemy we’re supposed to defeat—doesn’t that mean we’re right in the middle of enemy territory?

Isn’t this pretty bad?

Plus, a treasure vault should have extremely tight security.

"...Um, is it really okay for us to stay here this long?"

"Um, I think it’s fine. I sealed the door with magic and put up a barrier around the entire room. Even the Demon King cannot enter."

Tiria answered with a smile while skillfully puffing out her chest despite leaning forward.

She probably has confidence in her work.

I’m not doubting Tiria, but shouldn’t we hurry?

By now, the fact that we—Tiria, really—have infiltrated this far must be known.

The other side is definitely preparing as well.

...Hold on.

"How did you get this far, Tiria? You didn’t come alone... right?"

"Ah, yes. Um, I came with Lloyd-san, Dale-san... Lloyd-sama and Dale-sama and the others. They should have left right after I entered this room."

Lloyd-san and Dale-san are the names of her escorts?

She said "and the others," so there are more.

Still, "left" means they ran away, right?

Leaving Tiria here and escaping immediately...

But if there were that many people, the chances of the enemy knowing about the intrusion are high.

I should keep the questions to a minimum.

"...Do you know roughly how many people or monsters are in this place?"

"...Um, I don’t know. We defeated quite a few on the way here."

"How many is ’quite a few’?"

"Um... about... 50 or 60... I think."

That’s... not actually that many, is it?

But if they defeated that many, the enemy definitely knows we’re here.

Which means reinforcements have probably arrived and the enemy numbers have increased.

Security should be much tighter now too.

"One last question. How strong is Demon King Geizer?"

"Um... even Lloyd-sama and Dale-sama couldn’t stand a chance against him... apparently."

...I don’t know how strong Lloyd-san and Dale-san are, though.

"What kind of people are Lloyd-san and Dale-san?"

"Um, they are my swordsmanship instructor and my history instructor."

"Heh, so you can use a sword, Tiria."

"Yes. Um, only enough for self-defense."

Tiria answered shyly.

I see. Since she came all the way here, she’s probably the hope of her people, so they taught her at least enough to protect herself.

So the sword instructor is probably Lloyd-san. Since he can teach others, he must be pretty strong.

And the history instructor is Dale-san? What’s that about?

"Why did the history teacher come along?"

"Dale-sama is also incredibly skilled with magic. That’s why he came too."

I see. So a well-educated person can use magic too?

But why was Tiria learning history?

...Ugh, I have a bad feeling about this.

But never mind. I’ll put that aside for later too.

So we have someone amazing with the sword and someone amazing with magic.

I don’t know the rest, but they probably came with a small elite team.

And even they couldn’t do anything.

...Can I go home yet?

Haa. Well, I guess I’ll try my best.

First, let’s think about what I can do.

Magic... I can’t use it. Never have.

Weapons... never used them either.

...I can’t do anything, can I?

Oh, right. Tiria could use magic.

She also said she knows swordsmanship.

...

No, no, no. I can’t make a girl like her fight.

...

"Tiria? Can you learn to use magic right away?"

"Eh? No... it’s not that simple. ...Wait, Master, can’t you use magic?"

"Nope. In the world I came from, there was no such thing as magic."

"Is that so... Then, are you incredibly skilled with the sword?"

"No, I’ve never done it."

"But earlier, you cut that armor clean in two."

"Yeah. Maybe the katana was just that good?"

I stood up and turned around, picking up the katana that was lying on the pedestal.

"Katana? What is that?"

"Ah, this. It’s a slender, curved, single-edged sword. Only one side has a blade."

"Heh~, I see."

Come to think of it, I’ve heard that even famous katanas are hard for amateurs to cut wood with.

Wait... I cut through metal armor earlier.

Ah, but that armor was light.

No, no. It had a nice sheen and the decorations weren’t great, so it wasn’t just ornamental.

But still...

This is getting confusing.

Let’s get back on track.

"Alright, situation check."

"Yes."

"Tiria came here to defeat Demon King Geizer."

"Yes."

"And you summoned me here."

"Yes."

"So the two of us have to defeat Demon King Geizer."

"Yes."

"But Demon King Geizer is apparently very strong."

"...Yes."

That’s the gist of it.

...I’ve asked what I needed to. Time to prepare.

"Alright, let’s get ready for battle."

"Yes."

First, weapons.

I looked at the katana in my hand.

This might work as a weapon.

I held it in my left hand and positioned it at my waist.

I gripped the hilt with my right hand and lowered my stance.

"Fuu."

I exhaled, closed my eyes, and focused.

Then I opened my eyes wide, drew the blade, and slashed horizontally.

Immediately gripping it with both hands, I stepped forward and brought it down from above.

I stopped it just before it hit the floor.

It’s light, so it’s easy.

Then I turned and did a horizontal sweep.

Raised the blade and did a diagonal cut.

Stepped in and did a reverse diagonal cut.

I flowed through the motions naturally.

I never learned any of this.

I just imitated the sword fights from historical dramas my dad liked to watch and scenes from anime and manga.

But it looked pretty good.

Maybe because the katana is so light?

...

Suddenly, I flipped my wrist and tossed the katana spinning into the air.

I caught it with my right hand as it came down.

Before, at least before I came here, I would have been too scared to do that.

After all, this is the blade that cut through armor.

If I grabbed the blade, my hand would get sliced open.

But I could see it clearly.

The katana falling in slow motion.

The spinning hilt coming down.

I reached out, aiming precisely, and caught it perfectly.

Exactly where I had been gripping it when I threw it.

I stared at the hilt now resting in my hand.

I never thought I could do something like this.

No... I did think I could.

For some reason, I believed I could.

Is it because I think this is a dream?

No, that’s not it.

I’m trying to convince myself it’s a dream to escape reality.

Yes, I was calmly observing myself.

This is reality.

I understood that.

So why?

Why did I think I could do it?

...I tossed the katana into the air again.

This time I didn’t spin it, so it rose with the blade up and fell blade-down.

I caught it with the scabbard in my left hand.

Clack!

It slid perfectly into the sheath.

I thought I could do even this impossible feat.

So I tried, and I did.

It feels weird.

Like I’m not myself.

"Amazing... amazing! Amazing, amazing! You’re incredible, Master!"

Whether she knew my inner feelings or not, Tiria excitedly rushed over to me.

She clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking at me with eyes full of admiration.

"Ah, um, yeah. It is pretty amazing. ...Anyway, how are your preparations, Tiria?"

"Ah, yes. Um, I’ll take this. And maybe this too."

What she held out was the staff she had been carrying and the short sword (the one that wasn’t cursed) that had been on the pedestal.

"I see. What about clothes?"

"Um... I was thinking of going like this..."

"No, no, no. That’s bad. Extremely bad."

"Um, but there’s nothing else to wear......"

"Then wear this. That’s an order."

I picked up the plainest blouse and skirt from the pedestal and held them out to Tiria.

I said "order" because having her stay naked was clearly dangerous.

As her master, I was giving an order to my slave.

I didn’t want to, though.

"S-such... p-please forgive me for that alone. Master will be punished. Please. I’ll accept any other punishment, but that alone..."

Tiria prostrated herself before me, pressing her forehead to the floor and begging for mercy.

...Why am I suddenly the villain here?

I just want her to put on some clothes.

But Tiria said I would be punished.

There must be some law like that in this world.

It’s a stupid law, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

And there’s the saying: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

It’s one of my favorite phrases as someone who likes traveling abroad.

Tiria also said she didn’t mind being punished herself, but she didn’t want me to be punished.

...

Haa~ Can’t be helped.

I really, really don’t want to, but I’ll let her stay like this.

There are enemies swarming around, and she has zero armor.

I’ll have to protect her.

Can I even protect her?

No, I must protect her.

"...Fuu. Fine. I understand."

"Thank you, thank you so much, Master."

When I sighed and forgave her, Tiria pressed her forehead to the floor again in gratitude.

"Alright, raise your head. Stand up for now."

I grabbed Tiria’s arm and helped her up.

Then I looked at her again.

She was wearing only the short sword from earlier.

She had tied a string around her thigh and attached the scabbard to it.

The short sword inside was plain, with only a jewel-like ornament at the base of the blade.

In her hands was the staff. The tip that touched the floor was thinner than Tiria’s finger—probably sharp enough to stab someone.

The other end, pointing toward the ceiling, had several jewel-like objects attached in a ring around the staff.

Judging by the color and how easily Tiria carried it, it was probably wooden.

That was all Tiria had on her.

...

"...You can use magic, right, Tiria?"

I asked while pressing an iron plate against my chest.

I was currently trying to put on armor.

Since we’re fighting a Demon King, I’ll need it.

I also need it to protect Tiria with my own body.

What I regret most is cutting that armor clean in two.

That was a full plate armor.

Normally just called plate armor, it was mainly worn by knights.

It supposedly weighs 20–30 kg, but a well-fitted one lets you move surprisingly lightly.

However, that armor wasn’t made for me.

Obviously. It wasn’t crafted for me.

Still, since it felt light when I held it, it might have been easy to move in even for me.

Well, there’s no use wishing for what isn’t there.

So the armor I’m putting on now is the next best defensive option available here.

Even so, the only thing I found was a half-plate armor that only protected the chest, back, shoulders, groin, and rear with iron plates.

I was currently attaching the chest and back pieces.

"Yes. Um, I know several healing spells, barrier magic, search magic, and one fire spell."

Tiria answered while holding the back piece in place.

It wasn’t impossible to put on alone, but I decided we should hurry, so I had her help.

"Tell me more details."

"Ah, yes. The healing spells are: minor wound healing, cut wound healing, stab wound healing, bruise healing, and burn healing. The barrier magic is Hostile Intent Exclusion. The search magic is Cursed Item Search. The fire spell is Purgatory Flame Bullet. Oh, and the summoning magic I used to call you, Master."

Tiria counted on her fingers as she listed the spells she knew.

I was surprised there were so many healing spells. She knew five.

"...Are there other healing spells?"

"Um, yes. There are apparently several more at the lower level."

I finished attaching the chest and back pieces, then moved on to the shoulder pieces.

I fastened them to the chest and back with belts and wrapped belts around my arms too.

"Heh, I see. So if there are lower-level spells, there are mid-level and high-level ones too?"

"Ah, yes. There are, apparently. I don’t know the details though."

"I see."

Tiria helped me with the waist piece. It was a belt with iron plates on the front and back.

It was surprisingly light. By the time I finished the shoulder pieces, Tiria had finished the waist one too.

"Um, um, the Hostile Intent Exclusion barrier and the Purgatory Flame Bullet are both high-level spells!"

Tiria puffed out her chest proudly.

Her breasts jiggled.

"I see. That’s amazing."

I looked away from Tiria and picked up the leather gloves on the pedestal.

Plain dark brown leather gloves.

They were part of the half-plate armor set.

I put the right one on.

"How powerful is that Purgatory Flame Bullet?"

Next, I picked up the iron gauntlet that was also on the pedestal.

This one came from the full plate armor I had cut in two.

It covered from the upper arm to the fingertips with multiple iron plates.

"Um... I was told it can melt rocks..."

I decided to use the katana as my weapon.

Since I’ll be holding it in my right hand, I want that hand to be more mobile.

I don’t want a shield in my left hand because I might need to grip the katana with both hands sometimes.

But I still want defense.

So I put the glove on my right hand and the gauntlet on my left.

The weight balance is probably bad, but the gauntlet didn’t feel very heavy, so it should be fine.

"I see. That’s impressive."

Finally, the greaves.

These were iron boots from the full plate armor too.

I leaned against the pedestal, sat on the floor, raised my right knee, and started putting them on.

I only had the gauntlet on my left arm, but I planned to wear greaves on both legs.

"Ah, excuse me. I’ll help."

Tiria knelt on my left side and started putting the left greave on.

"Yeah. Thanks."

I thanked Tiria and continued putting on the right greave while thinking about our strategy against the Demon King—especially what I’d have Tiria do.

Tiria has zero defense. I absolutely cannot let her fight.

So...

"Hey, Tiria. I’ll defeat the Demon King, so can you stay here until then?"

"...Um, I want to go with you, Master."

"But it’ll be dangerous, right?"

"I’ll be fine! I learned swordsmanship and I can use magic. If I get hurt, I can heal myself."

"Yeah, but still..."

"Plus, if Master gets hurt, I can heal you."

"Ugh."

That is tempting.

In games, having or not having healing magic makes a huge difference in difficulty.

Hmm... what to do.

I’ll protect her with everything I have until we reach the Demon King.

Right before the fight, she can heal me.

I’ll have her put up a barrier near the entrance and stay there.

Tiria said even the Demon King can’t break her barriers.

If I get hurt, I’ll fall back there to recover.

...That should work, I guess.

I don’t have much information, so this is about as much of a plan as I can make.

...It’s barely even a plan.

"Alright. You can come, but you must follow my orders! Got it?"

"Yes!"

There was a cloth bag like a backpack on the pedestal, so I started stuffing it with useful but non-cumbersome items.

Ropes, candles, and other adventuring necessities, plus small things like glasses and earrings whose purpose I didn’t know.

Oh, and I should put Tiria’s robe in too.

"Ah, I’ll carry it."

When I picked up the now-bulging bag, Tiria grabbed my hand and said that.

"It’s fine. I’ll let you carry it when we fight the Demon King."

"Yes."

She obediently accepted.

I took Tiria’s hand and walked to the door.

There might be enemies swarming outside.

"Alright, release the barrier."

"Understood."

Tiria pressed her forehead to the tip of her staff, looked down, and concentrated.

"It’s done."

A moment later, Tiria raised her head.

The air around us felt different.

Heavier, perhaps.

"Alright, let’s go!"

From here on, it’s a battlefield.

I steeled myself and opened the door.