Volume 3 Chapter 22 Epilogue： Lena’s First Job
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It’s only been a month since I left.
But it feels much longer than that.
As I looked at the rundown village, that was the first thing I felt.
A strange tightness welled up inside my chest—maybe nausea, maybe chills. Either way, it was an unpleasant feeling.
Memories I didn’t want to remember stirred inside me.
──Even so, coming back to this village was the right decision.
I slapped both of my cheeks, firm and loud, pulling myself together before heading to the village gate.
”Traveler? What’s your business here?” one gatekeeper asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
”We don’t let people in without a reason,” the other added, squinting at me.
Both of them stared, dragging their eyes across my body as if trying to strip me down with their gaze.
Even after looking that much, they still didn’t recognize me as Lena.
Not surprising. Back then, I was nothing more than skin and bone, my body covered in scars. My left eye had been crushed.
So—
”Been a while, Mr. Zel, Mr. Darm,” I said, giving them a smile. “Have your little problems gotten any better? Not that I minded, but when you finish too fast, you really can’t satisfy a woman properly, can you?”
I kept my voice as calm as possible while speaking to them.
At first, their expressions froze blankly. Then, in the next instant, both of them jumped in shock and shouted with wide eyes.
”O-Oh! You’re Lena!?”
These were the same men who once used me like an object, always demanding more even though they finished quickly.
Trying not to laugh at their pitiful state, I answered coldly, forcing any warmth from my tone.
”That’s right. I’m Lena. I’ve come today on official business from the Adventurer’s Guild. I need to speak with the village head.”
* * *
The two of them scrambled off toward the mansion like scared rabbits.
One would’ve been enough to deliver the message. Leaving the gate wide open like that… they’re completely useless.
Just remembering how people like them used me makes my skin crawl.
But yes, coming back here was definitely the right choice.
I stood alone at the gate, but this place was familiar. It was once my home.
I had lived here for years after being bought, so I knew the roads better than anyone. I turned toward the mansion. The home of the one I once called master.
Just thinking that I once respected him fills me with rage.
I walked down the dirt road between crumbling houses until I reached the farthest edge of the village.
There stood the mansion of the village head.
Though they call it a mansion, it was still in a poor village. Just a big, worn-out building.
A crowd had already gathered in the square outside, likely having heard I’d come.
Everyone looked nervous.
They must remember what the village head did before.
And seeing me return as a representative of the guild had surely added to their fear.
No one here could forget how I had been treated.
I had been abused by every single person in this village.
Their eyes burned into me.
Shock. Fear. Disbelief.
They couldn’t accept that I had changed. That I was no longer their toy.
I ignored their stares and kept walking.
Then, slowly, they moved aside, creating a path.
At the end of that path—
”Y-you… are you really Lena?” the village head said, stepping forward.
The man who once held my leash now had a sword on his hip.
Did he actually think that made him strong enough to face me now?
If he truly wanted to fight, I would happily accept.
──But he didn’t draw the sword.
Instead, he just stared at me, eyes full of something twisted.
It wasn’t fear.
It was regret.
Not for what he did—but for losing something he thought belonged to him.
I’ve learned to read faces.
And I knew that look far too well.
His eyes glued to my face, his stare disgusting—
”It’s been a while, village head,” I said, voice cold. “I’m here as an envoy of the Adventurer’s Guild. I request a formal audience.”
His face flushed deep red.
He shouted, voice trembling with anger.
”You! How dare you speak to me like that!”
How foolish.
”Is something wrong?” I asked, tilting my head.
”I am your former lord!” he barked, face twisted.
”Yes. Former lord,” I replied. “We have no ties anymore. Don’t tell me you still expected to be called Sir village head?”
”Y-you… ungrateful wretch!”
”Ungrateful?”
That single word made my body shudder. Every hair stood on end.
”Do you mean the beatings every day? Being forced to serve your filthy body with my hands and mouth? Being passed around by the entire village as a toy? Or maybe the single meal a day that wasn’t even fit for livestock?”
The village head flinched, muttering, “Ugh…”
His wife’s face paled.
Just as I thought. They were always this kind of people.
”Anyway, I’ll keep this simple,” I said, eyes sharp. “I bring a message from the Verdaine branch of the Adventurer’s Guild. ‘Due to breach of contract, the village must pay three times the original reward. Additionally, the payment made for the slave will be deducted from this amount.’”
”W-What did you say?” he gasped.
”This was clearly stated in the contract when you requested our services.
The original reward was fifteen gold coins. So the penalty is forty-five.
Now, about the amount you paid for me… Do you remember?”
He fell silent.
”If you don’t, I’ll remind you. I was sold to you for two gold and fifty silver coins. So the penalty comes to forty-two gold and fifty silver.”
As I recited the numbers, that old heaviness returned.
I was bought for so little. Used by everyone like an object.
* * *
”That’s the full amount, village head. Forty-two gold and fifty silver. I’m here to collect,” I said, stepping closer. “Think you can pay it?”
He trembled. That short, bald, bloated man glared at me like he might cry.
”Whether you can or not doesn’t matter to me,” I continued, firm. “The branch chief said that if you can’t, they’ll introduce a suitable slave trader.”
──Really, that branch chief is something else.
Having me say this… it cuts far deeper than if Sir Soyuz had delivered the message himself.
Proof was written all over their faces.
The men looked as though death had been announced.
Then—
”Don’t mess with us!” someone shouted behind me.
I turned slowly.
As expected, the village head’s three daughters stood there, their faces twisted with hate.
”We won’t become slaves!” one of them screamed, her eyes wild.
”You arrogant slave!” another snarled, baring her teeth.
”Die already!” the last one spat, throwing a stone at me.
All of them followed, hurling stones with trembling hands.
But this time—I caught every single one.
With a flick of my right hand, I plucked the stones from the air.
Compared to Sir Soyuz’s darts, these were nothing.
”As always, no manners at all, you so-called ‘ladies,’” I said, holding the stones in my palm.
With my thumb, I flicked two toward the girls standing on either side.
”Fgyah!?” one of them squealed.
”Giih!?” the other cried out, clutching her nose as blood poured.
The girl in the middle glared at me, body trembling.
”S-Stop it… I’m giving you an order…” she muttered, fear in her voice.
An order? She still thought she had that right?
I flicked the last stone.
”Higiih!?”
The stone hit her square in the forehead.
For a moment, I thought about aiming for her eye…
But Sir Soyuz’s sad expression came to mind, and I stopped myself.
”Don’t misunderstand. You no longer have the right to command me. Only one person in this world can give me orders now.”
Leaving her hunched over, clutching her forehead, I turned back to the village head.
”Now, village head. What’s your choice? Pay the penalty? Or fight me with that sword?”
His hand was already on the hilt.
I reached for the daggers at my waist.
Just give me a reason.
”…………Fine,” he whispered, defeated. “I’ll pay… just don’t take my daughters.”
Of course. It always ends this way.
Those girls will never understand how lucky they are.
* * *
In the end, the village scraped together forty-two gold and fifty silver coins.
In a place this poor, it’s a miracle they managed it.
They might not survive the winter.
But that’s no longer my concern.
Let this village rot.
What matters is that the fear, the pain, the shame I once buried deep inside me—
All of it is gone now.
Yes. I’m truly glad I returned.
The villagers and ‘master’ I once feared were just pathetic people.
Compared to them, Sir Soyuz is truly noble and kind.
From now on, I’ll never be haunted by their shadows again.
More important than any of this—
I must return quickly.
My dear master is waiting.
Thanks to Ms. Vera, Sir Soyuz won’t be lonely in that way, but… he once called me his “number one.”
To be worthy of that praise, I must serve him with all my heart.
Ah… Just thinking of it fills me with joy.
I picked up my pace and began my journey back to Verdaine.
Notes:
• Lena – Female. A young slave girl in her early teens. Her appearance is emaciated with brown skin, long black hair, and grotesque scars across her face, including one that blinds her left eye. She wears a black collar and tattered clothing. Her relationship to the protagonist is that of a rescued victim. She is silent and appears to have endured severe physical and emotional abuse.
• Verdaine – The largest local city in the region, ruled by the Margrave of Verdaine. It houses a branch of the Adventurers Guild and is the protagonist’s temporary base. Located within walking distance from the unnamed village where Lena was found.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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