Master and Slaves

[A/N: Posting two extra bonus Chapters today because of reaching a milestone! Also I added the character of Hiroyuki, Muriel and Tiria, hype them up by adding popularity to it :D]

"Now, shall we join up with Harold and the others."

Without taking the hand Muriel held out, I walked firmly on purpose.

"What kind of face is that."

When we joined up, Harold threw those words at me.

"Well, if you kill that many, of course you’d get tired."

Harold muttered while looking behind me.

Apparently he was misunderstanding.

Thinking that I also looked in that direction, and there ogre corpses were piled up like a mountain.

"When this girl told me by magic I honestly doubted her sanity, but to think you’d actually do it with just the two of you. Thanks to that we could concentrate on annihilating the enemy soldiers."

After speaking as if exasperated, Harold sighed.

"Most of them were slaughtered by Master."

Muriel spoke to Harold reservedly.

"Hahaha. That’s right. But you took quite a few yourself too. My word, I was hitting on such a scary woman. Ooh, scary."

Harold stepped back playfully.

Muriel made a sullen face, but when I patted her shoulder her mood immediately recovered.

"But the real thing starts now."

Harold, who had been smirking, looked at the castle with a serious expression.

On the other side of the dry moat there was a huge gate that also served as a drawbridge.

From the battlements above it archers had drawn their bows and were aiming this way.

However, for some reason they did not shoot.

This situation was quite a pinch for the enemy, so even if they wouldn’t reach or hit, they might as well shoot for intimidation.

Or perhaps it was so as not to waste consumables because they were preparing for a siege.

"Well, this is outside our specialty. Let’s leave the rest to the knight-samas."

When I turned around together with Harold, the soldiers who had not moved until now came this way with a ground tremor, centered on Julius and Helene.

"Good work."

Julius spoke to Harold and me.

"With this, after that..."

Helene looked at the castle gate.

At that moment the gate was lowered and became a drawbridge laid across the dry moat.

What came out were two men who looked like knights holding a white flag.

They wore no swords anywhere on their backs or hips and slowly walked this way with both hands raised.

...

""""Master!""""

"Master! Are you unharmed! Are you not injured!"

The Dules all raised their voices at once.

Cathy put her hands all over my body while teary-eyed.

"Yeah, I’m fine."

While giving a bitter smile I stroked Cathy’s head.

Then the Dules all clung to my body at once.

This was inside Stahleck Castle.

All of us had entered Stahleck Castle.

The ones who welcomed us were the lord of this castle and his son.

The lord of that castle was apparently Bernfried’s friend.

This matter had apparently already been arranged in advance.

"Which means what? We were decoy dogs? Huh?"

Harold picked a fight with me, but I also had no idea what was what.

When I went to the main camp where Julius was to mention that, the Dules were there.

"Hiroyuki-sama, I am glad you are unharmed."

Helene appeared in front of me together with Julius.

"What’s going on?"

"What is?"

I pressed Helene, but Helene played dumb with a cool face.

"Are you going to play dumb?"

I spoke with anger in my voice.

"...That."

Perhaps finally resigning herself, Helene looked up at the sky and pointed.

Turning in that direction, something like a bird was flying far above.

"A bird...?"

However, what had looked like a bird had legs, a face, and hands.

I had seen it somewhere.

"A gargoyle."

Ah, that’s right. I had seen them at Demon King Geizer’s castle.

"It is probably for surveillance. We cannot stay in this castle forever from now on. Because of that we must show that we reluctantly opened the castle."

Otherwise they might think the castle had defected to us.

When we left, they would apparently treat it as having driven us out.

"...For that you made us, the mercenary band, fight?"

"If the one commanding knows this, there is a possibility the command will fall into disorder. Then..."

"It would be exposed to the enemy...?"

"Yes."

Helene nodded solemnly.

"Which means the other side as well?"

"Apparently they were the Tres Kingdom army stationed here."

Well, then they wouldn’t want to make the knights from Tres fight either.

Even if the ogres were unexpected, they were still the enemy.

"I see. Understood. But if that’s the case you should follow through to the end. I was like that too, and Harold and the others are angry saying they were deceived."

I at least felt some satisfaction.

But what about Harold and the others?

"...Let us add to the amount."

While making a slightly pained face, Helene said that.

Harold had said it too, but were mercenaries always treated this way?

"...Haa. I’ll try to soothe them somehow. Ah— and don’t do it next time. See you."

While feeling a slight stomachache, I tried to leave that place taking the Dules with me.

"Please wait, Hiroyuki-sama."

"Nn? What?"

Stopped by Helene, I turned around.

"Could you come for a moment? I heard something interesting."

Helene turned around wearing a meaningful smile.

Then she walked briskly toward the inner part of the castle.

"???"

I didn’t know what it was, but for the time being I also followed Helene taking the Dules with me.

...

"I heard from the lord of this castle that they had captured something they were having trouble disposing of. They asked us to do something about it."

Helene talked about the circumstances while walking.

However she evaded the crucial part.

We entered the inner castle and walked even further in.

Then we looked down at a lattice-shaped lifting door that was flush with the floor and locked tightly.

When the soldiers there saw us they straightened their postures.

"Good work."

Helene thanked the soldiers for their labor, unlocked the lifting door, and raised it.

"It is in here."

Saying that, Helene drew a dagger from its sheath.

The tip of the blade glowed faintly bluish-white.

Then she went down the stairs under the door.

We followed after her.

Immediately afterward, from Muriel behind me I was handed a wooden branch that glowed the same way as the dagger Helene held.

"From Cathy."

Apparently Cathy had made it glow with magic.

"Thanks."

I thanked Muriel, then spun the wooden branch a little above my head so Cathy could see as well.

After that I held the hand with the branch forward and followed Helene while lighting the way.

"Here."

We finished going down the stairs, passed through several doors, and stopped in front of a certain lattice.

Magic light had been lit on the ceiling there even before we came.

Apparently this was a jail.

I looked at the person in that cell.

She seemed to be sitting.

She had long ears and long blue-green hair hanging to the ground.

An elf... maybe?

"As I thought, it’s you. ...Fuu, you really like him."

Helene spoke to the elf inside the lattice with a voice full of sarcasm.

The elf turned this way.

"! Sophia?"

"Eh? Hiroyuki?"

The elf inside the lattice—Sophia—stood up and came this way at a short run.

"It really is Hiroyuki. ...I wanted to see you..."

Tears welled in Sophia’s eyes.

"...Fuu. So why are you here?"

Helene asked Sophia with an exasperated expression.

"I wanted to see Hiroyuki, and when I left the forest... I was caught."

Sophia answered Helene with an irritated look.

"Hey, Hiroyuki. I want you to take me with you this time."

Sophia looked into my eyes with serious eyes.

"No, even if you say you want me to take you..."

"I’ll do anything. I can use magic. I can use spirit magic and composition magic. So... please."

...Well, it wasn’t as if we were strangers.

Being able to use magic was reassuring.

Besides, she somehow seemed attached to me.

"Ah— understood."

"Thank you."

"However, you’ll listen to what I say. And get along with my Dules."

"Dules?"

Hearing my words, Sophia tilted her head slightly and looked behind me.

Of course there were Dules with their breasts fully exposed there.

"...They increased."

Sophia looked at me with half-lidded eyes.

"...Well, it just happened that way."

For some reason I felt awkward and averted my gaze.

"...Understood. Eventually I will become a Dule as well."

...Huh?

"I can’t now, but... I definitely will."

Sophia said that with force.

"Ah, yeah."

At that intensity I could only nod.

"Lady Sophia, it has been a long time."

Apparently thinking our talk had reached a pause, Muriel spoke to Sophia.

"You are... perhaps Muriel?"

"Yes."

Muriel answered happily.

"You became Hiroyuki’s Dule too?"

"Yes."

"I see. ...I can’t lose."

Sophia, who had answered Muriel’s reply, muttered in a small voice.

...Somehow I felt Sophia’s personality had changed.

...

"All right, it’s a gift from the client. Let’s go with a victory celebration!"

When Harold said that in a loud voice, cheers several times larger rose.

"I see, I see. They’ll add to it. Well, it’s danger pay. Hahaha."

Harold cheerfully laughed and drank in one gulp something like beer poured into a metal cup.

"Kuhaa~! A drink after a job is delicious. Hahaha."

While saying a line like some salaryman, he laughed in high spirits.

I was exasperated and could only move my mouth open and closed.

I couldn’t even find words.

"What, you want some too? Hey! Bring another cup!"

"No, I’m fine."

"I see, I see, you have that many Dules. Nights must always be busy. Kakakka!"

Was he that happy about the additional pay?

"Then I’ll be going around here..."

"Oh, don’t die on top of a woman on the battlefield~. Kakakka!"

After laughing for a while he drained the cup.

"...Haa. Be careful not to drink too much."

For the time being, it was still evening.

...

I tried to return to the assigned room taking the Dules with me.

I could have joined Harold and the others in their wild party, but I couldn’t help remembering those human corpses and couldn’t drink enjoyably.

If someone like me were with them, the other people wouldn’t have fun either.

"Hey, Hiroyu..."

"Um, Master?"

As I was walking, Cathy peeked at my face from below.

"Nn? Ah, it’s fine. Go enjoy yourselves together."

Just because I was down, the Dules didn’t need to keep me company.

"Well, be careful of drunks. And of getting drunk too."

I smiled at Cathy.

"No, that’s not it... is something the matter?"

Ah, that’s what it was.

She was worrying about me.

"Hmm, well, yeah."

There was no need to tell Cathy and the others about the terror I had seen.

Muriel and Sara might be used to it, but the other Dules were ordinary people, so they should not be used to this kind of thing.

Especially Cathy had been quite unsteady even in the combat after leaving Torrestia.

"I see..."

But Cathy made a disappointed expression.

Did I say something?

"Hey, Hiroyu..."

"Um, Master."

From the opposite side of Cathy, this time Sara spoke to me.

"Nn? What’s wrong?"

"Um, Rina is missing."

"Eh? Rina is?"

When I turned around, Sara was there carrying the sleeping Rine on her back, wearing a confused expression.

In a place with this many soldiers excited by victory, I did not want to leave a girl of that age alone.

"Understood. Muriel, take everyone to the room. I’ll look for Rina."

"...Yes. Understood, Master."

Muriel answered reluctantly.

"Ah— Sophia."

"What?"

Sophia puffed out her cheeks.

"Sorry, later."

"Eh? Ah, yeah, understood."

When I gently patted her head, her mood immediately recovered.

"Well then."

I parted from the Dules and went back the way I had come.