Chapter 112

Reunited with the master.

It had been nearly a year since they had been apart. Whether it was short or long, it was an eternity for Mirabel.

After parting ways with her mother Naredi, she wandered alone in a world she barely knew.

Even though she had some travel experience thanks to her time with Carami, he had handled everything while they were together. Trying to handle unfamiliar tasks on her own was far from easy.

Moreover, Mirabel was a girl. It wasn’t like modern Earth where people worry about and protect young girls going out alone.

Especially her beautiful appearance as a witch, which irresistibly caught the attention of certain perverts. As she wandered around, Mirabel was constantly under threat to her safety.

Fortunately, thanks to the magic she learned from Carami, those unfortunate incidents were avoided. But for the girl who was mentally drained, the reunion with her master was an incredibly moving experience.

As she embraced Carami, the fatigue of the past days melted away…

“…Something feels off.”

Something is different.

Even though she’s in Carami’s arms like before, there’s a subtle sense of discomfort.

The smell.

It’s not Carami’s scent.

An unmistakably feminine and alluring fragrance.

It wasn’t just that–there were pink fox hairs all over his clothes.

“Ugh, this is unpleasant.”

Mirabel furrowed her brows in annoyance.

With a simple spell, she completely erased all traces of the fox: the smell and the hairs. Now she could truly feel Carami as he was.

Satisfied, Mirabel pressed her cheek against Carami’s soft, baby-fat-laden cheek. It squished and stretched like mochi.

“Hehe…”

Smiles kept slipping out. If the mages at the Magic Tower knew that their idol was flashing such flirtatious smiles at a man, they would have bombarded Carami with magical projectiles.

Though, of course, they’d all be stopped by Mirabel.

“Master, have you been well?”

“Yes, I’ve been doing fine. Had my stomach pierced, died once, but still here.”

“…What?”

“Ah, but I’m fine now.”

Though Carami said he was fine now, it offered Mirabel no real comfort.

Her tone plunged like falling off a cliff. Unable to control her emotions, her magical power permeated her voice, chilling the surroundings.

Mirabel’s glare shot past Carami’s shoulder, fixing on Lin with a menacing look as if trying to strangle her.

‘How dare you put Master in danger…!’

Even though she was supposed to have been by Master’s side.

It was absolutely unacceptable.

“Miss Mirabel, I thought I heard something strange just now?”

Instantly, Mirabel relaxed her tense atmosphere and corrected her expression.

“It must be a baby tooth trying to fall out!”

“Aha, there was definitely one on a molar.”

Memories flowed back.

Especially this feeling of holding Mirabel.

Snuggling neatly into his arms, her skin was soft and velvety.

Her chubby cheeks begged to be squeezed.

The faint, nutty scent of milk lingered around her.

She was the epitome of someone to dote on.

When she slept next to him, it had been easy to drift into peaceful slumber.

“Master, were you on a journey to give your slaves the joy of freedom?”

“Yes. I was about to go meet the next one.”

“Then go quickly! I’ll take care of things here!”

Carami’s eyes widened in shock.

Goodness gracious.

He thought she was here to kill him, a Death God. But rather the opposite!

Nevertheless, if she intended to save him, he wouldn’t refuse, but he still needed to take care of Mirabel’s cheek issue.

“Miss Mirabel, I don’t know why you decided to put on the shackles, but we need to terminate our contract as well, right?”

He wanted to immediately terminate the contract, but there was something that made him uneasy. Though it was an illegal, unilateral contract, it was a system recognized contract.

Even though she had been fully freed, her status was processed as still enslaved. Did this mean a new release condition was created?

If he carelessly terminated the contract and she failed to be completely freed, that would be problematic.

“That… Ah! The fox is waking up!”

Hesitant Mirabel pointed her finger at Lin and deflected the topic awkwardly. Lin, who had been gathering her spirit power, was now straightening her posture.

Her previous calm demeanor was entirely gone, replaced with a menacingly furrowed brow.

“Lin’s master! Don’t take my master away from Lin!”

Watching Mirabel in Carami’s arms, Lin’s anger flared. Until now, that place had always belonged to Lin.

“It seems she hasn’t come to her senses yet.”

Mirabel stepped out of Carami’s embrace.

“Although I’d like to travel with Master as we used to, the fox will surely chase after you. I’ll keep the fox here while I send you out.”

“But you have to terminate our contract, right? What exactly do you want?”

“Then Master! It was nice to see you after such a long time, even if it was brief! See you later!”

Mirabel hurriedly bade her farewell as if shooing him away. Tapping her wand on the ground, a hole appeared beneath Carami’s feet.

“Master!”

Startled Lin rushed forward furiously but was stopped by Mirabel’s magic. By then, Carami had fallen through the hole which promptly closed.

“Hmph.”

Only after sending Carami away did Mirabel finally let out a sigh of relief. She had almost been abandoned again.

On the other hand, Lin, who had unexpectedly and permanently parted from her master, stared vacantly at the hole until gradually realizing the reality. Her complexion alternated between red and pale as uncontainable anger surged within her.

Pink spirit power slashed violently like a whip, destroying the surroundings.

Her savage gaze emanating from her eyes was terrifying.

“I will never forgive you! NEVER!!!”

“Hohoho, it seems you’re not accustomed to parting with Master. But don’t worry! I’ll keep you company instead!”

Teacher!

What an excellent word.

Watching Lin charge forward unable to control her anger, Mirabel’s smile couldn’t stop spreading.

“I won’t let you get hurt. Teacher! Student! Right?”

***

Bang.

“Ouch!”

Carami, who fell from the ceiling, landed on his buttocks. He rubbed the sore spot gently.

“Ah, so you’ve really returned.”

Yu Hwa welcomed Carami, who suddenly dropped from the ceiling. That meant the little witch had overpowered Lin.

She was certainly stronger than expected. It was hard to believe that such a girl was Carami’s slave.

After calming the pain, Carami gathered himself and confirmed his location. It was the same office he was in before being captured by Lin.

“To Mr. Thien Ho and Mr. An Ho, and I see there’s someone new as well.”

The familiar flow of Carami’s gaze stopped at Morgana. One look at her features told she was definitely a witch. However, the sensual allure she exuded was worlds apart from Mirabel’s.

“Are you the master of our Tower Master?”

“The Tower Master…?”

“Your appearance fits my type well… but it’s hard to believe you’re the master of the Tower Master.”

Carami knew of the existence of the Magic Tower but had never heard there was a Tower Master.

Based on Morgana calling him the master of the Tower Master, it was clear she was referring to Mirabel.

‘Is Mirabel the Tower Master?’

He had sent her to live peacefully with her mother, but suddenly she’s the Tower Master. It felt like walking into a pure love novel only to unexpectedly drift into an NTR plot.

“What happened to Lin?”

“Miss Mirabel said she will hold her off; you should go.”

“Was that girl also your slave?”

“She was. I clearly freed her, but I can’t fathom why she wants to be enslaved again.”

It was mysterious.

Though slavery was undoubtedly bad, when Carami thought about it, remembering how others cried and resisted, it seemed right.

The problem lied with these two.

“Could it be that the other ones I freed want the same?”

For instance, Narsha or Arfia.

Surely not.

One was a noble young lady, the other a proud elf—both worlds apart from slavery. They wouldn’t willingly choose to be slaves…

“Though, I did hear rumors that Narsha went missing from her house.”

He thought that the Briant Family spread the false rumor as part of their plans to take revenge for him using Narsha as a slave.

But, if the rumors were true and Narsha had escaped on her own…

Surely not.

Carami forcibly shook off the rising sense of unease.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“I should leave while Miss Mirabel holds her off.”

The city-shrouding darkness disappeared sometime ago, and the citizens finally snapped out of it.

The people who had been indulging in the illusion of paradise couldn’t remember what they had experienced. Illusions, like dreams, are vague and fleeting when one regains their senses.

As if mistaking it for just a brief absent-mindedness, they soon returned to their daily routines with a puzzled head scratch.

“I’ll be taking my leave now. If there’s time, I may visit later; until then, please take good care of Lin.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll pour my everything into making her far more mature than she is now.”

“Please do…”

***

She packed at home to leave.

With so many plotlines opened while progressing Lin’s story, there was a lot to tidy up.

Lin was safe in the hands of Yu Hwa and Hekbi, but Mirabel remained as an issue he could not immediately resolve.

Some severe level of “slave addiction” seemed to be the cause, as she still treated him like her master despite not heeding his commands as a peculiar relationship had formed.

It couldn’t be helped for now.

It was impossible to address immediately, and there were still two other people to handle.

If he put off the slavery issue, the only thing left was the cat café.

Abruptly closing it down would create problems for the Cat People, so he had prepared alternatives.

“Miss Seira.”

Seira, much like before, carried out her duties at the border. She was already forewarned that he was about to leave. However, when he came alone without Lin, she gave him a dubious look.

“Are you leaving? Where’s Lin? Surely, you haven’t…?”

“Lin has been left in the care of the Celestial Pavilion. Miss Yu Hwa promised to look after her.”

“…”

“That’s embarrassing. Please stop staring at me like that. In fact, there’s something I want to ask of you, Miss Seira.”

He handed over a stack of pre-prepared documents to Seira.

“What is this?”

“As you know, I’ll be going on a journey far away so managing the café will be difficult. But, I worry that the Cat People would end up homeless if I close the business.”

These are important documents from the cat café.

Business isn’t as good as it was when the café first opened, but the café still does quite well. Not to mention, the Cat People, but it would be quite wasteful to close it.

If this was a game, there might be a system to manage the shop from afar, but since it wasn’t…

He decided to hire a manager to take over the café. And that manager was none other than Seira.

“Is this ultimately about abandoning them?”

“Hey now, people will misunderstand if you say it like that. This isn’t abandonment; it’s adoption.”

“Adoption…?”

Isn’t irresponsibly abandoning sentient slaves a crime?

But if you provide a good living environment, that should suffice.

“I’m making this offer to none other than you, Miss Seira.”

“…”

Seira hesitated.

It seemed she was struggling to make a decision.

“Miss Seira, imagine being the manager of the best café in Vestia. No early morning commutes, and no overtime work.”

“!”

As if uncovering some hidden secret of the world, Seira’s pupils dilated dramatically. Then, from somewhere, the sound of commotion reached them.

“Hey, do you know who I am? I don’t care! I don’t want to talk to someone as lowly as you. Call my superior!”

It looked like people trying to cross the border were making a fuss. No matter the world, troublemakers were ever the same.

“Indeed. No more need to groan under the complaints of these problematic citizens, whose taxes fund your salary. You’ll sip coffee and live a leisurely second life as a housewife.”

That was when Seira’s eyes darted back and forth.

He had pushed her to her limits; now it was time to seal the deal.

“Are you refusing? If so, I won’t force you. There are plenty who want to become managers. Hmm, I’ll pass it on to Mr. Bolt if you reject.”

As he reached out to retrieve the documents, Seira turned her body to keep them out of reach.

“Who said I’m refusing?”

“Then?”

Seira coughed awkwardly.

She cradled the documents possessively, clearly not about to hand them over.

“A, from now on, I count on your cooperation. Aahem…”

“Of course, I knew you would accept, Miss Seira. Now I should address you as Manager.”

“Ma… Manager…?”

Her lips curled upward, painting a hopeful future. This was her appreciation for taking care of both of them despite his own busy schedule.

Being unable to hold back the laughter escaping her, she tried to wipe the smile away when she noticed him watching.

Though perhaps too late. Seira awkwardly coughed again.

“Where are you heading, may I ask?”

“I’m going north. I want to meet the warm winters there.”

“The warm winter…?”

At the northernmost part of the continent, in the permanently frozen ground of Isgangar.

In the dragon’s cave located in Isgangar which has forgotten spring.

“Lives a dazzlingly beautiful Ice Princess.”

***

Stretching out her arms, she exited the city.

With so many events, it seemed like an especially long story. Nevertheless, since the liberation went off without a hitch, it was perfect.

He’d freed three slaves.

More than half, already.

Three out of five.

Five minus three.

Thus, how many people remain?

[Free all main slaves completely. Current count 2/5]

That’s right. Since three had been freed, four remained.

…

No. Let’s deal with it later. When something abnormal occurs, it’s always best to proceed by the book.

“Nothing left behind?”

There shouldn’t be.

Surely.

Surely…

“Shit!”

Inside the royal palace of the Kingdom of Vestia, in the princess’s chambers.

Hilde rolls around on the floor trying her hardest to remove the shackles, but to no avail.

Everyone else was freed, but Hilde remained a slave.

And it would continue to be so.

“Shit!”

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