The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed

Slave or Servant.

A class devoid of human rights or personality, closer to a tool than a person. They are categorized as property of their master, living a life of endless labor until death, burdened with a fate marked by injustice.

Few are considerate enough to provide them clothes, let alone regular meals, and they often sleep not in beds but in stables. Any resistance is met with starvation and the crack of the whip.

And there’s nothing strange about it.

In Tao’sal, where they cosplay as a medieval society, such practices are considered the norm.

In this respect, Karami’s relationship with his slaves was particularly unique. It was closer to an employment contract between a boss and an employee than a true master-slave relationship.

Karami had to earn the slaves’ goodwill, solve their problems, and guide them toward complete liberation.

In the process, the slaves enjoyed treatment above that of an average commoner, relishing the euphoric experience of “liberation” as an extraordinary system outside the norm.

In return, Karami received points and rewards that significantly aided his progress, taking a large step forward toward clearing his quests.

Mutual benefit. A win-win!

...at least from Karami’s perspective. To Lin, it felt like her master was abandoning her.

"Please, Master. Huh? Lin will be good, so don’t abandon Lin!"

"As I said, I’m not abandoning you. Just because Lin is no longer a slave doesn’t mean the threads of fate that connect us will disappear, right?"

Are master-servant relationships the only ones in the world?

People can meet at work and become lovers, or evolve from strict business relationships into friendships. Karami couldn’t sympathize at all with Lin’s insistence on clinging to the concept of slavery.

What is this? Is she a masochist?

He remembered an archmage high elf who was so bored with life that he wanted to become a slave. The child had grown up strangely.

But now that Lin had been freed, even if he understood the problem, there was no way to fix it. He was already busy searching for his next slave.

"Then, even if I’m not a slave, Lin wants to go with Master!"

"Ah, that’s a bit...."

Karami looked visibly troubled.

Lin had already been quite forward when bound by the shackles. Now, with her shackles removed, he had no way to control her. If she interfered with the storyline of his next slave, it would be a disaster.

Renewing the slave contract was out of the question—it was meaningless.

The skill of the binding shackles was a one-time use. Once freed, it was over. While he could try magical tools or brands, that level of contract wouldn’t be enough to restrain Lin, who had become a Gumiho. Disobeying orders would be easy for her.

If she were a subordinate slave like Narsha, he might have been able to keep her unfreed.

But with the main storyline unfolding in real time, he didn’t have the resources to acquire and raise another subordinate slave. This was precisely why Karami traveled alone.

"How about staying here? There’s Master Yuha, Miss Seira, and even Miss Amho now. They’re all good people. Ah, but please avoid associating with Mr. Volt. His actions may be acceptable here, but frankly, that man is a bit...."

"Yes, even though you’ve become a Gumiho, there are still many things you lack, aren’t there? You’ll gain more by cultivating yourself and training, and there’s no harm in experiencing a bit of separation. It’s how people grow."

"I, too, am inclined to agree. Besides, I would very much like to converse with the present-day Gumiho. And, as a Gumiho, being a slave is...."

With Yuha and Heukbi adding their support, Karami grew bolder, while Lin bit her lower lip.

What? Is Lin the weird one here?

What’s wrong with being a slave? Karami kept saying that slavery was a bad thing, but she couldn’t understand it at all.

Forget training or whatever—that didn’t matter. She didn’t want to be separated from her master, even for a moment.

Lin couldn’t comprehend why Karami was intent on leaving her behind. If he insisted, then she had her own method.

"So, you’re saying you’ll leave Lin behind no matter what?"

"Regrettably, yes."

"To meet another woman?"

"Thank goodness it’s not a male slave. I could have ended up trapped forever!"

A necessary slave he absolutely had to raise—a male one at that? Just the thought was horrifying.

"Lin, you can understand, right?"

Karami smiled sweetly, seeking her understanding. Lin’s expression softened. Her eyes curved like crescent moons as she responded.

"Yes. I completely understand."

"As expected of Lin! Then I’ll go pack my things and drop by to say goodbye to Miss Seira...."

Smack.

Lin formed a hand seal. Both Yuha and Heukbi flinched in unison.

Karami blinked at the sudden hand gesture.

"Lin?"

"So you’re saying you’re leaving Lin to meet other women? I understand perfectly."

"Well... it’s not exactly wrong, but the way you put it...."

"I won’t let you leave."

Lin knew from experience.

The radiant, thrilling feeling she’d felt when Karami had saved her.

Anyone who experienced it would inevitably fall for him. She had no intention of watching other women fawn over her master.

The sky darkened.

It wasn’t because the sun was setting. A hemisphere of darkness was enveloping the entire city.

"I won’t let Master go anywhere."

A completely sealed barrier, impenetrable by even a single rat.

As Yuha and Heukbi hastily summoned their magic power, Lin smirked, dismissing them as insignificant.

"Sorry, but neither of you can stop Lin. In fact, no one in this world can."

Yokai King. Another title associated with the Gumiho: Fox God.

The Gumiho, who had regained her full power, was a deity in her own right.

"Master will stay here and live happily ever after with Lin."

The encroaching wall soon enveloped the city completely, vanishing into the darkness.

At the edge of the continent lay the Tower of Magic.

Praised as a gathering of the greatest wizards, though it was, in reality, a den of lunatics who would sell their souls for mysteries.

The Tower was a place filled only with drab wizards who cared about nothing but magic.

Since its establishment, this dreary place had never been so lively—almost as if spring had come.

All thanks to a single maid.

Sweep, sweep.

A girl in a maid uniform swept away the dust with her broom. Her wavy navy-blue hair shimmered gently.

There wasn’t a single person in the tower who didn’t know her. The magic maniacs of the tower, who cared only about magic, found themselves captivated by this girl.

The wizards watched her clean with affection.

Despite being just a maid. Even wizards who usually scoffed at others’ status treated her with respect.

After all, despite her cute appearance, she was a fearsome archmage on the inside.

The tower’s master. Tower Lord Mirabel.

That was her true identity.

When Mirabel first became the Tower Lord, no one paid her any mind. These magic addicts had no interest in anything beyond their own research.

But the atmosphere began to change when Mirabel started reading the magic tomes scattered throughout the tower, one by one.

Initially, they thought she was just a brat sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. But when she flawlessly executed spells from a tome over a hundred pages long in just one minute, their attitudes shifted.

A month passed. That’s how long it took Mirabel to master every form of magic in the tower.

Most wizards would need a lifetime to fully comprehend just one of those books. But she did it in a single month.

Not only was she adorable, but she was a prodigy in magic? And she was their master, walking around in a maid outfit?

A cute maid girl archmage master?

"Long live the Tower Lord!" "We love you, Tower Lord!" "Tower Lord, please look this way just once!"

Mirabel offered them a charming smile.

"““Kyaaaa!”””

☆She was now the idol of the Tower☆

It only took a few days for hymns of praise for Mirabel to be heard. She had captivated everyone in the tower, becoming its mascot.

The slave shackles around her neck were odd, but everyone assumed it was just part of her persona. After all, there was no way such a monster could truly be someone’s slave.

"Tower Lord~"

While Mirabel was cleaning, one of the five elders of the tower, the witch Morgana Cherisane, approached her cheerfully.

Wearing a form-fitting dress that accentuated her voluptuous figure, revealing her belly button and clinging tightly to her body, along with a massive pointed witch hat—Morgana was a striking figure with an unreadable gaze.

More focused on looks than abilities, Morgana often trailed after Mirabel at every chance.

This had caused some friction in the past, with Edmund, the elder who had recommended Mirabel as Tower Lord, accusing Morgana of trying to steal his position.

Ugly bald-headed guy.

Being a staunch advocate of appearance, Morgana openly disliked Edmund.

She needed to remove Edmund from her path to comfortably follow Mirabel.

—Elder Edmund, are you a pedophile?

—W-what?! What are you implying, Elder Morgana?!

—You keep sniffing around after the Tower Lord, don’t you? Could it be...?

—That’s because of my rhinitis!

That was the end of it. An old, bald man trailing after a cute girl and sniffing around?

The truth no longer mattered. Edmund was bombarded with the rebukes and curses of Mirabel’s many fans and eventually had to lock himself in his study.

Thanks to that, Morgana could leisurely follow Mirabel.

"Cleaning again?"

"Yes. The tower is quite vast."

"Magic could handle it in an instant."

"Magic may be convenient, but it’s still just a tool. Relying on it too much isn’t good. A proper maid should be able to handle household chores without magic."

"You’re still holding onto that persona?"

When Mirabel had first arrived at the tower, she’d spent all day buried in books. A month later, she spent all day doing chores.

Although her household skills were nowhere near her magical prowess, more than one wizard had fallen victim to her unusual cooking.

Those lunatics had eagerly devoured it as “a blessed industry reward flavored with a cute girl’s touch.”

Most assumed she’d grow bored and quit eventually, but she was still maintaining her maid persona. To Morgana, she was an incorrigible persona fanatic.

Just like a pro gamer completing achievements after finishing the main content. It was undoubtedly because she was bored.

Cleaning is a basic skill for a maid.

Although the truth was slightly different.

Mirabel was working to become a true maid, which meant cleaning—and not just cleaning, but handling all kinds of household chores.

To be a perfect maid, one needed to know how to handle even the simplest domestic tasks. That way, she wouldn’t be a burden to her master.

The title of Tower Lord or Archmage was merely a “side title” for her; this was her real goal.

If others learned the truth, they’d likely faint in disbelief, but nonetheless.

While Mirabel was cleaning the endless expanse of the tower at a leisurely pace.

Snap.

She felt as if a thread had snapped. Mirabel’s senses instantly sharpened.

The connection to my master is gone...?

No, it was slightly different. The shackle was still there. What had disappeared was the other end.

The starting point of the chain that Karami should have held was gone, as if he had crossed into another dimension.

Morgana, too, sensed something was wrong and looked in a certain direction.

"Something strange has appeared far to the east."

It was quite distant. But even from there, the presence was unmistakable.

Mirabel’s eyes narrowed.

"That monstrous fox finally...."

She remembered the fox by Karami’s side when she sensed him once as Death.

An entity brimming with foreboding, one she had intended to eliminate if Karami hadn’t protected it. She had let it go because it was her master’s slave, but this had crossed the line.

"Morgana. Prepare for a journey. We’re leaving immediately."

"You’re going over there?"

"Yes."

Mirabel tapped the broom on the ground, transforming it into a silver staff.

"I’m going to see my master."