The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed

The return to Cheonsangru wasn't dramatically different from before it was left behind.

The celestial realm of the Cheonho had collapsed, and in its place, the dreams of the kitsune now took root.

And with Yuhwa stepping down, Heukbi, through some reshuffling, had become the new guild leader.

For anyone running the guild, this would be a dream come true, but not for Heukbi.

"You've really become quite hollow in the time we’ve been apart."

"......"

Heukbi, stumbling out, couldn't even offer a proper greeting. The weariness clung to her face like gum, and her silvery eyes, hazy and dull, resembled a tarnished mirror.

On the other hand, Yuhwa, who had handed over the guild leader position to Heukbi, looked like she had shed decades. She hadn’t just looked younger—she had become younger. It was no longer the appearance of an old woman, but that of a young woman.

She had used shape-shifting magic.

"What is this appearance?"

"With my role as Cheonho gone, and the guild leader position handed over, don't you think it’s time I carved out my own destiny?"

"Well, are you going around meeting men now?"

"There’s no one that suits me. Just look at this form, and it makes me dizzy. Tsk tsk."

Yuhwa spoke with genuine regret in her voice. Then, she flashed a faint smile and looked at me.

"In that case, you didn’t feel any different looking at me. How about it? Want to meet me for a bit? I believe the young ones call it 'something,' right?"

Turning my back on Yuhwa as she babbled on.

"Come on, get in. I'll safely escort you to the chicken shop."

On the outside, she was as beautiful as Lin, but once you peeled away the layers, she was an ancient grandmother tied to a thousand years. Knowing that truth, there was no way I could feel any affection.

Unfortunately, Yuhwa didn’t ride the human cart.

"Why have you returned here?"

"I heard from the children that even here, the priests are going mad, running wild."

"‘Here,’ you say. It must have something to do with you again, huh?"

"Well, it turned out that way."

Yuhwa clicked her tongue.

Heukbi gave her a cold, frozen glare.

"The girl doesn’t know anything. She’s not at fault."

"I haven’t said anything yet."

"And if you're the master, please, take your slaves with you. Cheonsangru is not a daycare. Even without that, there’s a lot to do."

Heukbi spat her words out as if rapping, then staggered away after saying only her part.

So even Heukbi ends up like this when she's overwhelmed with work.

That aside...

"Everyone, what did you get into this time?"

"...No?"

"Lin doesn't know anything."

The two girls, who used to cling to me saying how much they liked me, now avoid my gaze.

You two messed up, didn’t you?

"What did you do? Tell me the truth."

"It’s nothing much. We just spread the greatness of Chuuin to the world."

"We’ve already got 10,000 members in the Reaper Cult! After this incident, there are sure to be even more!"

The Reaper Cult? How did you...?

Ah.

"It was you two, huh? Making a cult in my name without permission."

I grabbed both of their cheeks. The soft, stretchable flesh.

"Bweeeeee, we were just trying to show people the joy of liberation..."

"Chuuin, she did it too."

"We made some money."

"She healed us."

"We got them a girlfriend."

"We just did a little favor."

You really did a lot, didn’t you?

Even the word "just" doesn’t apply here.

Don’t say "just" after saving lives.

"I’ll let this go since you didn’t do anything evil, but this is a punishment for using power recklessly. Don’t you know that with great power comes great responsibility?"

"Lin made us do it..."

"They made us do it..."

Sigh.

"Sorry..."

"Sorry."

I let go of their cheeks.

I gently rubbed their bright red faces.

I can understand why Heukbi sees me as an enemy. It must be tiring with both of them acting like this when even one would be a challenge.

Still, as much as I feel sorry for Heukbi, from the standpoint of the master, I guess it’s a blessing.

They kept fighting and arguing, and I wondered what would happen next, but it looks like they’re managing okay. It’s just that they ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) get along strangely well, which is the problem.

"Master, what should I do?"

"Before that."

There’s something I need to make clear.

"Mirabel, do you know that the elder from the magic tower tried to kill me?"

"Huh?"

"The demon called Zakiriel, the troublemaker, came to see me. I had my arm torn off by a shark, remember? Thankfully, it’s all fine now, but I almost had to get a mechanical arm."

Mirabel blinked blankly, as if she was slow to understand what I meant. Her expression shifted when she finally grasped the situation.

"...Please wait for a moment."

Mirabel, with a chilling expression that showed no trace of cuteness, disappeared somewhere.

****

When Mirabel returned, she was with Zakiriel. I couldn’t tell if she had brought him through teleportation or summoned him.

Either way, it was magic of the highest level, something only a great mage could do.

Thud.

Zakiriel, bound by Mirabel’s magic, fell to the ground in front of Karami.

"Oh? The magic tower’s master’s master? We meet again?"

"It’s been a while."

"The magic tower’s master was furious and caught me, huh? Do you know why?"

"Because you tried to kill me."

"Ah, really? What for?"

Zakiriel said it as if it were no big deal. He looked around and then widened his eyes.

"Wow! An elf with a spirit inside, and some super strong foxes. This place looks like it’s full of fun stuff. Come play with me!"

He seemed either unaware of the situation or didn’t feel it was important. Zakiriel’s carefree, bright expression was met with Mirabel aiming her staff at his head.

"Don’t talk recklessly in front of the master, Zakiriel."

"Hmph."

"Answer the questions correctly. If not, I’ll take your head off."

"Scary~"

Mirabel began her interrogation.

"Why did you try to harm the master?"

"Because it seemed fun. But you’re cheating, playing hide-and-seek and calling for friends? Look! One of your wings got cut off!"

"How did you know about the master’s existence? How did you find the master?"

"Hmph! I’m not telling. If I say it, Morgana will get mad!"

"Morgana..."

The name that slipped from Zakiriel’s lips.

Mirabel, murmuring the name of the elder from the magic tower and the witch, turned her gaze to the heavens.

She tapped her staff on the floor.

Swish— a dark reaper appeared as if wrapping around Mirabel.

Holding a scythe, it waited for orders.

"Capture him." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

At that single command, the reaper passed through the wall and flew toward the sky.

As soon as Karami arrived, Morgana fled Bestia as if she were running away.

Her face twisted with irritation, and she clenched her teeth.

"How frustrating. How frustrating! It was the perfect opportunity!"

Morgana shouted in frustration.

In all her life, Morgana had never seen a being as bizarre as Mirabel.

When she first saw her, Mirabel was just a young witch, adept with magic for her age. She was cute enough that Morgana thought about taking her along to teach her some magic.

But once Mirabel started living in the magic tower, things changed. Without any effort, she mastered magic simply by skimming through books.

An astonishing capacity for learning.

Compared to legendary mages, sages, and even grand witches from history, Mirabel was in a class of her own.

If Morgana could use Mirabel, she could pull down gods and place the world at the feet of witches.

Witches no longer needed to live in hiding.

The world that had once oppressed them could be manipulated.

To do that, though, she needed to eliminate that master of hers first.

"Zakiriel, you idiot! Can't you do one thing right?!"

Morgana complained, despite whining every day about how there was nothing fun. When given something to do, she had never seen Zakiriel do it properly.

Mirabel was in Bestia, and handling one human should have been easy. No, it was her fault for assigning such a fool the task.

She needed to distance herself quickly, to a place where Mirabel’s magic wouldn’t reach. The moment she got caught, survival would be unlikely.

Luckily, there was no risk of being detected.

Only a handful of people knew that Zakiriel was a part of the magic tower. If Karami knew his identity, it would be dangerous, but he could never know.

Still, there was always the possibility, so Morgana planned to distance herself. If she said she had urgent business, Mirabel wouldn't suspect her.

As Morgana flew at high speed, passing through several cities in an instant...

"...!"

Suddenly, an overwhelming pressure from behind.

She shuddered instinctively from the pressure.

Out of caution, she looked back.

A dark reaper, holding a scythe, was chasing after her with a menacing aura.

"Tch!"

She had been spotted.

How?

No, that wasn’t the point.

Fortunately, it wasn’t coming directly after her.

It seemed like it had been ordered by the reaper she usually commanded.

"Little master of the magic tower. You’ve underestimated me, haven’t you?"

Of course, Mirabel was an extraordinary being, but Morgana was no different. A great witch capable of destroying an entire country on her own.

One reaper was nothing she couldn’t handle.

Morgana stopped fleeing, took a pipe out, lit it, and inhaled deeply, slowly exhaling.

Then the magical energy circulation accelerated sharply.

Morgana amplified her magic using a special potion she had made.

She forcibly increased the mana consumed during magic use.

The power of the magic was doubled.

With this, dealing with a reaper was no challenge at all.

Morgana cast her magic.

****

It was no use.

It wasn’t just any reaper; it was Mirabel’s reaper, the very embodiment of her magical path, her life’s work. Even Morgana, called a calamity, could never defeat Mirabel’s reaper.

Captured by the reaper, Morgana knelt like a criminal.

"Morgana! Hello!"

"Nothing is alright because of you."

Zakiriel, lying next to her, greeted her with a grin despite the situation. Morgana grit her teeth and responded through clenched jaws.

"Morgana Sherisein."

At the call of her name like a criminal’s summons, Morgana looked up.

There was Karami, and standing by him, Mirabel.

"Did Zakiriel try to harm the master on your orders?"

"Yes."

Since denying the truth would be useless and Mirabel would find it out anyway, Morgana admitted the charges.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because it’s absurd for the magic tower master to be a slave. Especially a young witch. When the master was still inexperienced, I thought that man must have been scheming something strange."

"For my sake?"

"Exactly."

"Morgana’s reasoning might have some merit, but the master is not like that. He saved me and helped me rise to where I am today. I can never forgive anyone who threatened the master’s life."

The situation was clear now.

"What will you do, Master?"

Mirabel’s role was over. She was both a slave and a reaper’s representative.

The decision was Karami’s.

Karami carefully studied Morgana, then spoke.

"It seems this incident was caused by suspicion. I understand. The world is not ready to accept my existence yet."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I will give you the opportunity to become my slave. If that’s the case, the misunderstanding should be easy to clear up."

Morgana internally sighed.

She had shed her soul and bled to become a grand witch, and now the ending was being reduced to being a slave. It would have been better to die.

"I oppose this."

But then, a dissenting voice emerged.

Arpia spoke up in an upset tone.

"Are you telling me the one who tried to kill you is now my slave? I can’t accept that."

"Lin agrees too! She made a mistake, so why are they getting a reward instead of a punishment! Lin also didn’t get to eat meat and had to eat vegetables! Well, she secretly snuck some, though."

If you commit a crime, you must pay the price. However, both of them believed that Karami’s decision was not punishment, but mercy.

But Karami was resolute.

"What else can be done? If she has a crime, then it’s the crime of not meeting me sooner. She should be given a chance."

He showed great magnanimity.

Though Morgana had a slightly different opinion.

"Pretty female characters? Can’t resist collecting them."

Morgana was a textbook witch.

Her alluring eyes, her dress that revealed her voluptuous figure, were all quite captivating.

Even though Morgana had once threatened his life, and had her arm torn off, she was fine now. So, was it okay to leave the decision to the seduction side?

Yeah. It’s fine.

"But..."

"I won’t accept any arguments."

For a slave, the master’s command was stronger than divine power.

Despite her remaining dissatisfaction, Morgana had no further objections since Karami silenced her.

Meanwhile, Morgana, who had been watching everything, thought to herself:

‘...What is this? Is the world mocking me?’

Why is there jealousy?

What opportunity?

What reward?

Are you all out of your minds?

Morgana couldn’t understand anything.

"What should we do with Zakiriel, Master?"

"Well... you handle it however you like."

In contrast to his previous interest, Karami answered casually.

‘The male characters can take care of it themselves.’