episode_0129

“Ugh… … .”

Early in the morning, I woke up clutching my stiff back.

The stamina of an active mercenary who even handles mana was not something I could withstand as I was tired from doing multiple tasks. Moreover, because we were swept away so quickly, there was no time to apply the curse of amplifying senses, so we couldn’t let Amy fall out of exhaustion first.

In the end, since I was a warlock, I had no choice but to get up from my seat in a helpless manner, like someone whose life force had been sucked out by a warlock.

On the other hand, Amy looked very lively, as if she were a warlock, and even hummed a song as if she was happy. Even though it was early in the morning, he seemed very refreshed and not feeling tired.

“Next time, I will make you stretch first.”

“Heung, why not give it a try? What if you could?”

Amy even seemed to be provocative by subtly taking a pose that emphasized her body. In response to the provocation that seemed to ask me to try as much as I could, I promised myself that I would definitely make Amy do it first.

“Are you thinking of using that curse from last time again?”

“It will just make you cry from pleasure, so you can look forward to it.”

“Can you concentrate enough to cast a curse? Hehehe… … !”

I paused for a moment when Amy said that she would make me so unconscious that I wouldn’t be able to cast a curse. This time, he tried to curse, but failed due to Amy pushing him.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way. Although it requires quite a bit of preparation, there was a way to activate the curse without having to concentrate.

I couldn’t collapse from exhaustion like this every time I slept with Amy, so I decided to do something about it right away. From what I could tell, he seemed ready to attack me the moment he slept with me, so I couldn’t help it.

The method, as I had previously explained to the two women, was to make the undead think the two women were me and listen to my orders. Since it was a form of fixing black magic to the body and soul, it was not difficult to include a curse of sensory amplification at the same time.

Of course, it wasn’t just about being dominant in bed. Because Jienna and Amy are my women, it also served as a means to protect them. I honestly couldn’t believe that the noble faction would only target me, so I had to protect the two women as well.

It was just a matter of adding a little extra functionality to something I was planning on doing anyway. Although I had a bit of a dark side, it was basically to protect Jienna and Amy, who were my women. really.

For no reason, I tried to suppress the dark feelings rising in my heart and called Amy, who was wearing leather armor as she usually wore.

“Amy, come back a little early this evening.”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“Why, you know what I said last time. There is something that makes the undead think you are me. It also has the function of protecting the soul even if an emergency occurs… … . Well, anyway, that’s it.”

“Ah! Do you want to do it today?”

I nodded, looking at Amy who opened her eyes wide as if she remembered. Aside from the slightest negative feelings, it was better to proceed as quickly as possible, so I planned to resolve it today.

After informing Amy of the schedule, I went straight to Jienna. Because Jiena started her day early in the morning, it was possible to talk even though it was a little early.

I approached Jienna, who was brushing her long golden hair with a comb, as if she was getting ready for work, and told her about tonight’s evening.

“Then, will I be able to run skeletons like the boss?”

“That’s right. It’s not exactly the same, but I’ll move as you tell me.”

“Wow! Then there will be no need to hire a handyman, right? Labor costs will decrease!”

And Jienna, who had a different position from Amy, focused more on being able to control the undead than anything else.

This is because most of the work, such as moving luggage or cleaning, had to be done by Giena or by employees. I liked that when it became possible to do the work using skeletons, labor costs were reduced accordingly.

They seemed to like it even more because they were paying a portion of the net profits from store operations as incentives.

I started my day thinking that people are truly the same.

I walked around the city to check if the skeletons were working properly, and I walked on the iron wooden fence to check for the undead spread outside the iron wooden fence. We checked whether the surveillance skeletons, as well as the skeletons placed here and there like traps, were moving properly.

I connected my mind with a surveillance skeleton a little distance away on the iron fence. Then, the situation around the place where the surveillance skeleton was located was clearly pictured in my mind. In fact, the surveillance skeleton was underground, but the surface on the ground appeared to be without any problems.

“Why the wolf… … .”

And, I could also see a wolf wandering around there. I don’t know if he had separated from the pack, but he was a wolf wandering alone.

Although it was an innocent wolf, it was not that far from the city, and there was farmland not far away, so we decided to deal with it. It was not good for the farmers who produced the food consumed in the city to get injured or die for no reason.

When I delivered the command to a skeleton buried in the ground nearby, the skeleton popped out of the ground right away! It rose up and killed the wolf. As the object happened to be buried right below where the wolf was passing by, the wolf could not react and was killed by being pierced in the abdomen by the skeleton’s arm.

The skeleton that killed the wolf disappeared into the ground again as if nothing had happened. All that was there was a dirt floor with slight traces of digging and the wolf’s carcass.

“I need to make two or three more skeleton mages and make them move automatically. Depending on the location, you should kill wild animals right away and suppress suspicious people first. Oh, we also need to set standards for surface ships… … . Ha, something to do keeps popping up somewhere.”

Even if you are a skeleton mage who can make your own decisions and move on your own, a reference point for basic behavior needs to be created. It was said that the definition of ‘suspicious’ must be established.

Otherwise, it was possible to subdue a good merchant as being suspicious, and there was a possibility that the strange man, who looked suspicious at first glance and was wearing black cloth all over his body and holding a dagger dripping with poison, would not be considered a good person. Of course, it may not actually be that much.

Anyway, after checking the newly placed skeletons, I took care of various things. Through the village chief, I listened to various opinions expressed by city residents, and paid more attention to things like development that had not yet been completed.

I don’t know if it was because I was doing so many things, but time passed so quickly. Even though we started the day early in the morning, the sun was already starting to set.

Farmers and other people who had gone outside were seen returning to the city one by one, and stores, excluding restaurants, were also seen closing down one by one. Among them was Smith Skeleton’s burial.

“I’m the boss!”

Jienna, who was about to move towards the mansion after closing the store and locking down the door, spotted me and immediately ran over to me and snuggled up next to me.

Jienna lightly crossed her arms and conveyed the feel of her soft body through the fabric, and chattered about what happened today. The main stories were about how the truth appeared and then ran away due to the appearance of a skeleton used as a mannequin, or about the sales made at the store today.

As we returned to the mansion while chatting with Jienna about various things, Amy, who seemed to have come in a little before us, appeared in comfortable clothes.

“Did you wash it first?”

“Someone told him to come early, but he didn’t come early.”

“Ha, haha… … . I had a lot of work to do. Still, didn’t you come a little earlier than usual?”

I smiled sheepishly at Amy’s sullen look and sent Jiena, who was nearby, to the bathroom. After washing it cleanly, I was able to work on it.

While Jiena went to wash, I had a skeleton mage prepare the workroom. The basic preparation was to have the necessary materials and tools brought in.

Afterwards, as I was waiting for Gienna and chatting briefly with Amy, Gienna, who had quickly washed up, approached me wearing comfortable clothes like Amy.

“Boss. By the way, what exactly are you trying to do today?”

Jienna’s eyes were full of curiosity, and Amy’s eyes seemed to be curious about her too, even though she didn’t say anything.

Looking at the two women’s gaze, I realized I didn’t explain in detail.

“Ah, to put it simply, the method itself is to engrave a stigma on your body.”

“Stigma?! You didn’t say that!”

“Well, although I am still a slave, I am still stigmatized… … .”

And, when I summarized it too briefly, the two women looked very surprised. When it comes to stigma, it is not easy to think of it in a positive way. The representative form of stigma was the seal that was often engraved on criminals who committed serious crimes or slaves who were caught while escaping.

“Calm down. To put it simply, it is a stigma. I’m not taking pictures of painters or anything like that. Yes, tattoos. Let’s call it a tattoo.”

“Tattoo… … ? Doesn’t that hurt a bit too? I heard it hurts a lot… … .”

“That’s right. When I was working as a mercenary, a mercenary with tattoos said that. I don’t want to do it again because of the pain… … .”

“It’s not that kind of tattoo. It’s a magical tattoo. That’s why it’s called a stigma. Because it affects not only the body but also the soul. Of course, once it is engraved, erasing it is difficult and almost impossible. Instead, it doesn’t hurt or anything like that.”

It was called a stigma considering its characteristics, but it was not really a form of branding. It is also called a tattoo because a type of pattern is left on the body.

It was only after I told them that it wasn’t that painful or dangerous that Gienna and Amy seemed relieved.

“Andrew, do you have to leave a pattern? It’s a bit weird to hear that pictures appear on the body.”

“I can’t help it. If you want it to be effective, you have no choice but to engrave it. The word is a pattern, you can think of it as a kind of magic circle. A magic circle drawn in great detail.”

Moreover, since they said that it was inevitable for it to be effective, much of the resistance that still remained was erased.

“Boss. So where is that pattern engraved? Isn’t it somewhere like the forehead? … Right?”

“Of course not. Say my girls walk around with tattoos on their faces. People will call me crazy? The people of the territory might run away saying they can’t live under a crazy lord.”

The two women, who seemed even more relieved by my words, burst into laughter.

“So, where do you engrave it?”

“Lower abdomen. To be exact, here.”

Seeing Amy asking me to tell her the exact location, I immediately poked her lower abdomen with my finger. About one fist below where your navel would be.

“Here… … ? How about somewhere else? Places like below the waist or buttocks. You won’t be seen by others here either, but it’s still a place where you might be seen if you move roughly. It’s a location that looks amazing to me.”

However, upon learning of the location, Amy expressed some resistance. But I shook my head.

“No. It has to be there.”

“… … Is there any reason?”

“The magical pattern engraved on the lower abdomen is a man’s dream and a provocative attractive point.”

When I was thinking about this stigma, a memory from my past life suddenly came to mind. I remember that ‘the vulva is in the lower abdomen.’

In any case, Giena and Amy nodded while sighing slightly as they expressed their intention to never change the position of the brand symbol.

“Ugh, do whatever you want.”

“If it is possible to save on labor costs by using skeletons, that much… … !”