Caught?

Caught?

I wanted to make Delia work all day if I could.

However, since Delia was also from a noble family, calling her thoughtlessly could lead to problems.

So I arranged the meeting for the early morning hours when we could sneak out if possible.

Of course, it was called a meeting, but Delia’s opinion wasn’t considered at all, so she grumbled and expressed considerable dissatisfaction, but…

‘What can you do about it?’

Having signed the contract, there was nothing she could do. Nothing at all.

I briefly spoke to Delia, who was approaching quickly from afar with her robe pulled down low.

“You’re late.”

At those words, she made an upset expression and spoke to me as if demanding an explanation.

“There’s a distance between your mansion and ours, what can I do?”

“Leave earlier. Or use magic.”

“I already used magic… Ah, forget it. What do I need to do?”

At that, I pointed to a long wooden box nearby, about the size of a coffin, and said.

“Carry as much as you can with magic and follow me.”

It wasn’t a particularly difficult request.

She nodded and said to me.

“That’s easy.”

Here’s the translated text:

Then, lifting about three boxes with magic, she speaks to me.

“By the way, what’s inside these? They’re quite heavy.”

I pondered for a moment whether it was right to tell her what was inside.

Thinking that she’d find out eventually anyway, I decided it would be better to tell her now and answered briefly.

“Corpses.”

“Oh, corpses. I thought it was something… Wait, what?”

Delia froze mid-sentence, turning her head to look at me like a stiff wooden doll.

Seeing her like that, I confirmed my kill shot.

“Corpses.”

“……”

Perhaps because of the unexpected answer, she stared blankly for a while.

After some time passed, she finally shouted at me in a frantic voice.

“C-c-c-corpses? Corpses? Corpseees?”

I knew she would be surprised, but her reaction was more extreme than I expected.

I frowned at the loudly shouting Delia, signaling her to be quiet.

Delia, her face turning pale blue, whispered to me.

“Why? Why? Why are you carrying such things?”

It seemed she wouldn’t stop her noisy chatter until I gave her an explanation.

So I sighed and gave her a somewhat plausible story.

“It’s part of research.”

At my words, Delia looked back and forth between the boxes and me.

As if she had understood something, she closed her mouth and carefully nodded.

Looking at Delia’s expression as she watched the box with sparkling eyes, I could tell that she had fallen into a misunderstanding.

‘It seems she thinks I achieved this through my magical knowledge.’

It was far from the truth.

Since it was easier to deceive her while she believed that, I didn’t bother to deny it and moved on.

*

“Oh? You’ve brought a guest.”

When I brought Delia to the Illusion Library, Ember welcomed us.

It seemed she didn’t care much who I brought, as she stood in front of me without saying much, holding a large book.

“So, what kind of story will you sell us today?”

In response to that question, I pointed to the boxes I brought and Delia, saying,

“All of this.”

“… Ah. Including this person?”

When I nodded silently, Ember let out an awkward laugh and said to me,

“Understood. However, if she strongly refuses, the story purchase will be denied. Please persuade her in advance.”

Looking at Delia, who was standing behind me with a blank expression, I said,

“Come inside.”

“… Huh?”

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

“N-no way it’s nothing! It looks extremely suspicious.”

It’s difficult for me to express that it’s nothing since I’m not selling my own story, making it somewhat tricky to explain.

So, after a brief moment of contemplation, I spoke briefly.

“What does that matter? You have to follow my orders anyway.”

“That’s true, but…! Even so, isn’t this a bit much?”

She seems to be firmly refusing.

I reluctantly continue speaking with a hardened expression.

“You say ‘this is a bit much’… Then I suppose what you were trying to do falls within an acceptable range?”

“Huh? W-what do you mean?”

“Wasn’t it you who cast suspicions on me without any evidence, and then tried to make me prove myself in front of a crowd large enough to fill the auditorium?”

“That was…”

“In the end, it passed without major issues because I won, but if I hadn’t been able to prove myself, I would have been in quite a predicament.”

As I continue to speak only the truth, she seems at a loss for words, tightly closing her mouth and hanging her head low.

Looking at her like that, I no longer feel the need to say anything more and simply point my finger towards the room.

“Go in. From now on, if you talk back or disobey my orders, both your family and you will be held greatly responsible.”

At those words, Delia finally nods and enters the room.

As I’m frowning, thinking how annoying this slave is,

Ember comes running up to me and says.

“Then I’ll proceed with the purchase right away! Let’s see… It’s a total of 2321 gold!”

An amount higher than I had imagined.

Surprised by the high price, I look at Ember with wide eyes.

Ember speaks to me with an awkward smile.

“The value of the woman you brought this time was quite high, so we were able to put a considerable price on her.”

Of course, it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to 1 million gold.

Considering that the value of the criminals brought in so far had stopped at around 10 coins, it was clear that Delia had an amazingly high worth.

While I was surprised by the unexpected amount, a sudden thought crossed my mind.

‘Could it be that the more connected to the novel’s content, the more expensive?’

In other words, if I were to sell Ariel this time…

The thought occurred to me that the guy who was trying to assault Rumi on the rooftop might fetch a pretty high price.

‘It might be good to check.’

It doesn’t matter much whether it sells for a high price or not.

I decided to experiment and called out to Delia, who was trembling with her eyes closed in the room.

“That’s enough, come out now.”

At my words, Delia hesitated, looked around, and then said with a puzzled “Huh?”

“Is this… the end?”

When I nodded, Delia blinked and looked at me.

“Why?”

“……”

She’s such a bothersome person.

I didn’t answer and walked past Delia, saying,

“Now I have to put these corpses back, so use magic to carry them and follow me.”

“O-okay.”

She followed me hurriedly, her voice sounding both relieved and confused.

* * *

“Fi-Finally, it’s over.”

Delia, seemingly quite exhausted, sprawled out on a rock and breathed heavily.

I silently watched Delia’s rough behavior, which made me wonder if she was really a noble lady.

Then I turned my gaze away and continued speaking.

“Now then, let’s head back.”

“Ah, okay.”

I wonder if it’s my imagination that she seems somewhat regretful.

I was about to ignore Delia, who was staring at me blankly, and return home.

Delia raises her head and speaks to me.

“Just a moment… I have something I want to say.”

I was going to ignore her, but since she seemed to have struggled to speak up.

I reluctantly decided to listen and turned my head.

Delia takes a light deep breath and speaks to me.

“Do you remember what you said last time, about helping me with magic modification if I behaved well?”

It was something I had thrown out there as a potential carrot.

I nodded at those words, and Delia puts on a somewhat serious expression and speaks to me.

“If you promise to really keep that promise, I’ll help you not just because of the contract, but I’ll sincerely work together with you so you can achieve your goal.”

She’s saying she’ll do it voluntarily, not because she’s being told to.

I hadn’t expected her to make such a proposal, so after pondering for a moment, I nodded and said.

“I will do so.”

There is only one reason why I accepted such a proposal despite being bound by a slave contract.

It’s because the contract is considered fulfilled as long as it is ‘just kept’, regardless of how it’s done.

‘In other words, when the contract explicitly states to help me.’

This means that even if you just pretend to do it halfheartedly instead of working hard, it’s still considered fulfilling the contract.

So, even if forced by contract, it was unreasonable to expect someone to work hard.

When they voluntarily said they would work hard, it felt like catching a fruit that had luckily fallen into my lap.

‘By the way, it seems that magic modification is quite difficult and important in this world.’

In the novel, Rumi did it without much difficulty, so I thought it was natural.

Judging by the reactions around me, it seems to be a much more challenging task than I expected.

I decided to throw some carrots while watching them work, and as I was about to leave.

Delia, who smiled for the first time today, spoke to me from behind with a voice full of laughter.

“Good job. You’re a doggy. Woof!”

That damn woof.

While thinking that I still couldn’t understand it at all, as I was moving forward.

I noticed someone looking at me with a shocked expression up ahead.

Wondering who it was, I saw Sien with a pale blue face.

Wondering why she was standing there, I made eye contact with Sien.

Sien turned her eyes away as if she had committed a crime and said to me.

“… I came to talk to Lord Deren about something, but I see you have a guest. A guest who makes dog sounds at dawn, no less.”

It seems she heard the woof sound Delia made.

I realized it was one mountain after another and let out a deep sigh.