Master and Slaves

"Good. Then I’ll lead from the front this time. Muriel, please tell me the direction to go. Cathy, you’re in the rear. Tiria, you’re in the back—leave it to you."

"""Yes."""

The three voices harmonized perfectly.

...

We left the room through a different door at the back of the previous room.

That door had been left wide open and led straight into the corridor ahead.

The corridor had windows-like holes and sturdy iron doors alternately on both walls.

"Master, please wait a moment."

I called out from behind as we had walked a few steps. While watching the back carefully, I turned around.

Muriel carrying Ilma was peeking into one hole after another on the walls and shaking her head with a sigh.

"What’s wrong? Is there something there?"

Cathy and Tiria behind Muriel were also tilting their heads.

"This is the room for the women who were brought here. Each room is given to one woman... but this room and the one across are no good. Both had women, but they were already dead."

Muriel spoke with a gloomy face.

"...I see."

"But we should check the ones ahead faster... No, we’ll keep looking ahead. Is that all right?"

"Of course. That’s why we came here."

"Thank you, Master."

We kept peeking into each hole and sighing the whole way.

Cathy and Tiria walked shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the corridor instead of hugging the walls.

"Cathy, Tiria, what’s wrong?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. In places like this... ghosts tend to appear... haa..."

Ghosts?

...Ah, right. Both of them hated ghosts.

"Muriel, do they appear often?"

"Yes. The ghosts were in the rooms over there and here."

""Hii!""

Muriel pointed and answered.

Cathy and Tiria let out short screams.

Um... are they really there?

Curiosity or the desire to see a scary thing? I peeked into the hole where Muriel had last pointed.

Beyond the hole was a room, and in the back was a skinny naked woman sitting against the wall.

Both arms were raised in a victory pose and suspended from the ceiling.

Her head was hanging down.

She looked dead, as Muriel had said.

But it was horrible.

She probably hadn’t eaten properly at all.

Her thin body was covered with whip marks and blue bruises.

Red-black bloodstains clung to the wounds everywhere.

Anger began to rise in me.

At that moment, I noticed a yellowish mist flying inside the room.

Was this the ghost?

The mist suddenly disappeared and appeared right in front of my eyes.

It was the distorted, resentful face of a woman.

"Uwaaaa!!"

I instinctively shouted and fell on my backside.

"""Master!!!"""

The three Dules rushed to my side.

"What happened?"

Muriel asked me.

"U, um, something eerie...."

Muriel peeked into the hole I had been looking at.

"Ah, that’s a ghost."

Ghost...?

"Are you okay? Will it come out here?"

I asked Muriel, and Cathy and Tiria started trembling.

"It seems fine. I’ve heard that such things happen often here and magic is performed on them."

Often...?

They had been killing them like this every time?

The fear and shock from earlier vanished, and anger surged again.

I unconsciously hugged Cathy and Tiria who had been supporting me.

...

"This is the last room."

We reached the farthest point of the corridor.

Those two rooms on either side were the final ones.

We had already seen about twenty rooms.

Every room had had one woman, but none of them were alive.

Muriel, still looking defeated, peeked into the hole on the right.

"Here...?"

Muriel tilted her head while peeking.

"What’s wrong?"

"Yes, um, this looks like a warehouse."

"A warehouse?"

"Yes. Shall we go in?"

Muriel, still carrying Ilma, reached for the doorknob.

"Um, Muriel-sama. The ghosts...."

"It’s fine. There’s nothing there, so don’t worry."

Cathy, still hugging Tiria, asked Muriel uneasily.

Muriel smiled at Cathy.

"Then I’ll open it."

Muriel slowly opened the door.

It creaked with a loud sound as it opened.

I checked my stance in case I had to receive an attack and peeked inside.

The room was full of scattered items.

Shattered glass fragments, wooden pieces, parchment, everything looked like it had been through a storm.

She must have been in a hurry.

...Why was she in such a hurry?

Also, why had this place become a ruin?

It had apparently been used as a facility not long ago, maybe even a few days ago.

"Hey, Muriel. What happened to the people here?"

"Um, ’here’... you mean this warehouse? There are no people here..."

"Ah, sorry. It’s hard to explain. Why was this underground facility abandoned? Did you hear anything about abandoning this place when you were here?"

"No, I never heard that."

"That’s... ah... because... Mother... ran away... haa..."

Ilma, still in Muriel’s arms, answered my question.

"What do you mean?"

"Mother... nn... ran away... so... this place... would be... discovered... aah...."

"I see. Ilma, thank you."

"Master-sama... aaaaaaaaaah!!!"

When I stroked her head after thanking her, Ilma squirted while climaxing violently.

"S-sorry. Are you okay?"

"Ah... it’s... good... aah!!"

Still in the afterglow of her climax, she answered me in a daze.

"Master!"

Cathy, who had been searching the room for something while I was talking, called me.

"What is it?"

"This... nn... this is... the sword Master used... um... heavy...."

Cathy dragged it, or rather tried to, but it didn’t move at all.

It was the greatsword Destroyer.

The Demon King Geizer’s sword I had defeated not long after summoning this world.

I had been using it as war spoils after defeating Geizer.

"You brought it all the way here. You worked hard even though it’s heavy."

"Probably the demonic beasts carried it."

Muriel’s voice came from behind.

Maybe she had carried it to a minotaur or something.

But we couldn’t take it when we left.

Then...?

"I guess Shiranui isn’t here either."

It was convenient to use.

Unlike the greatsword Destroyer, anyone could use it.

I held Muriel’s sword in my right hand and Destroyer in my left.

"Um, Master. Shouldn’t we take this box with us?"

Muriel asked me hesitantly.

The box Muriel pointed at was about the size of a human torso—definitely a treasure chest.

"What’s inside?"

"Things related to Dules. I think it will be useful for Master."

Muriel answered with a slightly awkward tone.

"Mmm, got it. But how do we carry it?"

"For now, let’s leave it here and pick it up later. Ilma... let her walk on her own."

"No, but she has no legs."

"I can... it’s... fine... nn... I can use my... hands... and walk... nn..."

Ilma answered for herself.

"Hands too... crawling on all fours?"

"Yes... then... I think... I can walk... nn..."

"Master, is it all right?"

"Mmm, as long as she can walk, it’s fine. But don’t overdo it, Ilma."

"Yes."

"Muriel, if Ilma looks tired, pick her up."

"Yes, thank you."

Ilma and Muriel bowed to me.

"There doesn’t seem to be anything worth taking in the room."

Cathy looked around the room and spoke to me.

"Then let’s check the last room."

"""Yes."""

After Muriel and the others answered, we left the room and headed to the last room opposite.

Muriel peeked into the hole.

"!! Master! She’s alive!"

Muriel turned around and reported happily to me.

I reached for the doorknob and tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge.

"Good. Let’s open this room. Muriel and the others, wait here."

I slammed my body into the door of this room with force.

The supposedly sturdy steel door flew open easily.

"I came to save you!"

I entered the room and called out to the girl tied to the wall with chains.

The stench was so thick and foul that it made me nauseous.

"Ah... u... ta...suke...!! ...ta...suke...te..."

The girl raised her face and spoke in a hoarse voice.

At that moment, the girl’s expression changed to surprise.

But she immediately begged for help.

The face... I had seen it somewhere...?

Where...?

Anyway, I couldn’t leave the weakened girl alone, so I smashed the chains with my sword.

"Ah... thank... you...."

The girl bowed her head.

"No, let’s get out of here quickly."

I spoke to the girl and peeked at her face.

Her messy red hair covered it.

She was indeed skinny, with whip marks and bruises on her white skin, but something was off.

For safety, I poured mana into the Dragon Scale Armor I was wearing.

I had been pouring mana the whole time because I didn’t know when a demonic beast would attack, but I had been told not to use too much mana, so I only poured it during combat.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yes. I’m... fine...."

I offered my right shoulder, and the girl wrapped her left arm around it.

Then she raised her face.

"You are...!!"

At that moment, the girl slipped her right hand between her legs...?

"Gaaaaah!!"

"Master!!"

The girl’s beast-like scream overlapped with Muriel’s shout from outside the room.

I felt something hit my belly.

Instinctively I struck the girl’s right wrist with my left hand and made her drop whatever she was holding.

It fell to the floor with a dry clack.

It was a short dagger.

She had probably hidden it inside her vagina.

Muriel immediately rushed over and tackled the girl.

"Guaah!!"

The girl flew lightly and hit the wall.

"Master! Are you all right?!"

Cathy and Tiria also rushed to me.

"I’m fine."

I lightly patted the Dragon Scale Armor I was wearing for Muriel and the others.

It made a metallic sound.

The three of Muriel sighed in relief.

"!!"

"This... is... Laila’s Tear!"

Tiria found something on the floor, picked it up, and showed it to Cathy and me with a surprised face.

"Why is it here...."

And...?

"You are... after all...."