Chapter 2 Instinct Before Death, and the Vanished Slave Mark
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I left my father’s office, my face showing complete hopelessness.
The hallway felt heavy, thick with the coming evening.
Walking back to my room felt like walking to my own execution. The dull sound of my footsteps on the stone floor echoed in my chest like lead. I was to die tomorrow. The thought tightened its grip around my entire body.
I had been sentenced to a duel.
And I had only one day to prepare.
Tomorrow would be the day I died. For a man with zero magic, there was nothing I could do in a day. Despair settled deep in my stomach.
My older brother, Leon Grimlock.
He was the heir to the Grimlock household, the next Margrave. In the game, he was famous as the “dark sorcerer1 hailed as the strongest in the Empire.” His name brought both awe and a certain kind of fear.
Right now, my brother was surely wearing a cold smile somewhere in this huge mansion.
He would be making soldiers from the “magic-wielding commoners” that the Grimlock house kept, choosing only the best slaves.
There are several types of slave contracts in this world.
Commoners without magic can easily be made into slaves with a “slave contract” if the other side agrees. However, commoners with enough magic for fighting will push back the effects of the contract with their own magic.
That is why nobles forcefully control them by pouring their own magic directly into the other person.
That is a “Magic Slave” (a person bound by a master’s magic).
Once a commoner becomes a slave, they are tightly bound to their master’s magic, unable to defy their will. Their freedom is stolen, and they are used merely as tools.
My brother should be able to control dozens of these Magic Slaves.
That meant, in the duel, I would be fighting multiple opponents.
Moreover, by being supplied with magic from their master, Magic Slaves can use magic so powerful it is impossible for normal commoners. The magic released by my brother’s Magic Slaves would easily break castle walls. Considering that destructive power, I had no chance of winning.
”Well then, what’m I gonna do…” I muttered to myself.
I closed the heavy wooden door of my room and lay back on the creaking bed.
I stared blankly at a stain on the ceiling. The air in the dim room was heavy and still. It was as if it reflected my own future.
As the son of a martial household, I had trained in swordsmanship.
Thanks to the harsh training I received since I was a kid, I’m fairly confident in my sword skills. Against an average knight, I’m confident I could take on several and not lose.
But that’s only when it comes to clashing swords.
Tomorrow, I’ll be up against a group of magic users firing area attacks from a distance.
These slave soldiers will be powered up by my brother’s magic, and they’ll fire off spells without mercy. Before I can even get close enough to swing my sword, I’ll be turned to ash by a barrage of magic.
Sparks flying, heat waves hitting, smoke stealing my sight —
These nightmares flash through my mind.
Strength drains from my body.
”——Hah, there’s just no helpin’ it.” I sighed, feeling the weight of the situation.
Not a single good idea comes to mind to break through this.
As I’m numbly counting the ceiling stains, a quiet knock sounds. In the silent room, the noise seems oddly loud.
”Xenos-sama, I have brought your tea,” a maid said from the other side.
It’s the maid’s voice.
A calm voice, but with a certain firmness to it.
That voice made me feel a slight sense of relief. How annoying.
”Enter,” I replied. The door opened slowly and carefully, and a single maid stepped into the room.
She was one of the maids serving the Grimlock house —
She’s always hovering around me, trying to win my favor and take care of me.
Her most noticeable feature is her ample chest.
Even through her maid uniform, you can see her amazing figure.
Every time she walks, they sway slightly, catching my eye whether I want them to or not.
Her name is… Lilia, I think.
”Too bad for you, Lilia. I’m a magic-less exile. There’s no benefit in tryin’ to get on my good side,” I said, my voice cold.
It probably sounded pretty harsh.
——I’m going to die tomorrow anyway.
I don’t want to drag anyone else into this.
She answered my words without changing her expression even a little.
Her voice was calm, hiding any emotion.
She just stands quietly before me.
”I am aware, sir. But it does not matter. I have brought your tea,” she replied with a bow.
She quietly places the teapot on the side table and holds out a steaming cup to me. The warm steam carries a faint scent to me.
A sweet, roasted smell.
In her eyes, there was no pity or mockery, just a quiet, yet firm will. Deep, clear eyes looked straight at me.
”…Hmph.”
I took the cup and drank a sip.
Not too hot, not too cold, just the right temperature.
The roasted herb scent fills my mouth, and my tense mind finds a moment of peace. Something warm flows through my body, and my stiff muscles relax just a little.
This might be the first time I’ve felt calm since remembering my past life. For just a brief moment, I felt freed from the fear of death.
After I empty the cup and return it to the table, Lilia slowly opens her mouth.
Her voice had a slightly more urgent tone than before.
”Please run, Xenos-sama. ——I will assist you.”
Run?
How would that help anything?
No matter where I flee in this kingdom, there’s no escaping the Grimlock family. Their power reaches every corner of the kingdom.
Besides, this world isn’t kind enough for a guy with zero magic to survive on his own.
Hunger, disease, or being attacked by bandits.
That’s the only future I can see.
But her words woke a sleeping instinct deep inside me.
Crawling up from a dark pit — the fear of death.
If I stay like this, I’ll be killed miserably tomorrow.
I want to live.
That simple desire numbs my brain.
My blood runs hot, and an unstoppable urge rises up.
That fear paralyzed my reason.
My body moved before I could think.
I grabbed her wrist and dragged her forcibly onto the bed. My rough, calloused fingers dug into her slender wrist. A hot breath escaped me.
”Xenos-sama!?” she cried out.
Lilia’s eyes widen in surprise.
In her voice, there was confusion, and a tiny bit of fear.
Her white skin stands out in the dim room.
Still holding her thin wrist, I try to roughly unbutton her maid uniform with my other hand.
My fingertips tremble. But——
My life is in danger.
Instinct drives me forward.
I just want to lose myself in this soft presence in front of me. What a man facing death seeks at the end. That is the feeling of being alive, and…
”You mustn’t, Xenos-sama! If you do any more, Father will notice!” she pleaded.
Lilia’s voice, almost like a scream, reached my ears.
At those words, my movements stop completely.
As if splashed with cold water, the heat drains from me.
He’ll notice?
——My father?
Through the gap in her unbuttoned uniform, her white skin is exposed.
On her chest, a strange pattern appears.
A complex, jet-black pattern spreads across her skin as if burned into it.
That is a slave brand.
Right… she’s a slave too.
Like most of the maids working in this mansion.
That fact pierces my mind.
A slave brand in this world is connected to the slave contract through magic.
If an owned slave is treated roughly, that information is sent to the mansion’s master — my father. If someone other than the owner hurts a slave or forces themselves on one, what happened is automatically added to the slave contract.
Words appear, and my father sees them.
Just imagining it makes me shudder. My ugly behavior will become fuel for my father’s mockery.
”Damn it…!”
I stopped my actions.
I deeply hate myself for acting on instinct.
Pathetic.
Shame and self-loathing swirl inside my chest.
But then, suddenly, I felt a different urge.
——This is the last goodbye.
Like being pulled by a magnet, my fingers move.
I touch her slave brand and gently stroke it.
The feel of her cool skin.
”…!?”
The moment I stroked it, something strange happened.
A faint tingle runs from my fingertips touching the brand.
The jet-black slave brand carved into Lilia’s chest fades away as if melting into water, vanishing like a lie. The dark ink spreads like it’s bleeding into water, and then quickly disappears.
Her skin returned to a smooth state, as if nothing had ever been there.
Like untouched snow——
Just white, soft skin.
The pattern that should have been carved there had vanished without a trace.
”This… what was that?”
Did I… erase her slave brand with my own hand?
A slave brand is proof of a contract firmly tied to the owner’s magic.
To rewrite it, you would need power far greater than the owner’s magic. That should be impossible.
——No, what I just did wasn’t rewriting.
Lilia’s slave brand has “disappeared.” Making a magic contract disappear like it never existed is impossible, no matter how much magic you pour into it.
That common sense crumbles right before my eyes.
It’s like a power that cancels out magic itself….
I caused a phenomenon that common sense can’t explain.
”Could it be that my magic was measured as zero because…”
Is it not that I have no magic, but the effect of this power that nullifies all magic…?
If so, that’s an incredible ability.
A strange power, completely different from the dark summoning magic the game’s final boss had.
In this world, I know of no other power that can cause such an unnatural phenomenon.
This might be the one hope that lets me avoid my death.
A surprising sign of reversal that could overturn my ruined life.
A hot, unfamiliar feeling rises in my chest.
No, none of that matters right now.
Right in front of me is a busty maid lying on the bed with her clothes undone.
Her skin is so pale and alluring.
If the slave brand is gone, she is no longer anyone’s property.
”…Are you sure?” I asked her.
I look at her with a questioning gaze.
After looking a little surprised, she quickly fixes her expression and answers immediately.
”…Yes,” she replied without hesitation.
There was no hesitation in her voice.
In her eyes, there is a quiet resolve.
If that’s the case, there’s nothing else that takes priority.
I want to bury the fear of possibly dying tomorrow with the heat of this very moment.
It’s not like I’ve decided I can beat my brother yet.
I sought a woman’s kindness and embrace to distract myself from the fear of death.
And she quietly accepted me.
In the room wrapped in darkness, two shadows overlap.
That night became the longest, and the hottest, night of my life.
—
Summary:
Xenos leaves his father’s office facing an impossible duel against his brother, Leon. He feels hopeless and resigned until his maid, Lilia, offers to help him run away. A sudden, instinctual drive for survival leads Xenos to act on his impulses, only to discover he possesses a power that can erase the Slave crest on Lilia’s chest. This revelation offers a glimmer of hope that his magic-less status is a misunderstanding of his true, unique ability.
—
Trivia:
- Xenos’s internal monologue reveals a deep familiarity with the game’s mechanics, which he refers to as his “past life.”
- The “Magic Slave” contract involves the master pouring their own magic directly into the slave to enforce control.
- Slave crests in this world are automatically updated on the contract if they are harmed or violated, which serves as a security measure for the master.
- Lilia’s Slave crest vanished when Xenos touched it, a feat that should be impossible given the rigidity of the magical contracts.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Grimlock – The military noble family to which Xenos and Gaius (his father) belongs.
• Leon – The deceased eldest son and heir of the Grimlock house, killed by Xenos. The elder son and heir of the Grimlock family. He is portrayed as possessing the strongest magical power in the house and exhibits a cold, icy gaze toward his younger brother. The heir to the Grimlock household and the next Margrave. He is a formidable dark sorcerer renowned in the game as the strongest in the Empire. The older brother of Xenos who possesses magical talent and harbors deep resentment and arrogance. He leads a squad of magic-imbued slave soldiers.
• Xenos – A reincarnated individual with zero magic power who has taken the role of a final boss. He is cunning, pragmatic, and currently surviving in a hostile noble environment by utilizing a mysterious ability called Magic Seal. A reincarnated protagonist who possesses the ability to neutralize magic with a internal seal. He is lean and physically unassuming, acting as the second son of the Grimlock family while secretly plotting to control the war. A second son of the Grimlock family with shoulder-length hair. He is a reincarnated individual from modern Japan who realizes he is the final boss of a game he previously played. He currently possesses zero magical power and faces exile. A young man who has retained the memories of his past life. He finds himself in a desperate situation as a villain with no magic, sentenced to a duel he cannot win. He is driven by a primal instinct for survival and possesses an unknown, abnormal ability. The younger brother and protagonist who lacks mana but possesses a hidden ability called Magic Seal. He is a reincarnated individual with knowledge of the original game script.
• Lilia – A maid serving the Grimlock house who possesses a bountiful, well-proportioned physique. She is a Slave crested with an intricate, jet-black tattoo on her chest, though she shows a quiet and firm resolve. A maid with absolute loyalty and deep affection for Xenos. She bears a mysterious new magic crest on her abdomen, marking her as his exclusive slave. A person with whom the protagonist spent the previous night; she is associated with a Slave crest that was erased. A servant whose slave contract was mysteriously nullified by Xenos.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply