Volume 13 Chapter 4 A Woman from Another World ④
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Soyuu, come here a moment,” Vera called.
”Mm. Thanks,” I said, giving her a light pat on the head before returning to the room in question.
Inside, I found Georgia chatting with that peculiar woman while Lena sat curled in the corner, hugging her knees. Ah, yeah… I could already guess what happened. Well, she could sulk for now; I had other things to deal with first.
”Hello there, how are you? I’m Soyuz, an adventurer—and, for better or worse, the master of these girls,” I said, introducing myself properly to the woman on the dais. Adults who couldn’t even manage a proper greeting didn’t deserve to call themselves adults.
”…Hello. I’m Chelsea. As for how I’m doing, isn’t it obvious enough just by looking?”
Well, she did return the courtesy. Judging by her reaction, the three of them had done their part—though mostly Georgia, no doubt.
”Plenty I’d like to ask you,” I went on, “but let me start with the most pressing. Are you from this world? Or from another?”
At my question, her eyes widened for a heartbeat before she gave a wry smile.
”My, impatient, aren’t you? Just like this beastkin girl here. Or perhaps she picked it up from you?”
”Since you didn’t deny it, I’ll take that as confirmation,” I said.
”Yes. And if you already know that much… then perhaps you’re with…”
”Mm. We’ve been chasing the ‘Apostles of Rebirth’ for a while now. By the way, I’m the one who blew up their base in Tortesia.”
”…So you’re the one who killed Mr. Tanaka.”
”Tanaka? Don’t know who that is. If you mean the old man strapped to that chair, then yes—I killed him. Was he important to you?”
”Important…? He gave me more than I could ever repay. And I hated him enough to want him dead. So yes… and no. Now, it hardly matters.”
”I see…”
Truthfully, I’d guessed from the very start she was from another world. No trick, no gambit—just asked outright, and my hunch had been right. But then… why had she been treated like this?
Easy enough to guess. The number of people summoned here couldn’t be very large. And for one of them to be punished so cruelly by her own kind, the reasons narrowed quickly. She must have betrayed them. Whatever she’d done, it was enough to earn her this treatment—not death, but something worse. A warning. An example. If it were me, I would’ve killed her.
Still, if I could sway her to my side, it would be a huge gain. After all, nothing solved the mystery of otherworlders better than having one as an ally.
The problem was, of course, persuading her.
First issue: to heal her, I’d need to use Life-Sharing magic.
Second: her consent.
The two were bound tightly together.
Even setting aside my own will—how could she possibly agree? A woman tortured and broken, and I tell her: “I’ll heal you, but only if you let me finish inside you.” She wouldn’t simply nod and smile. She might spit something self-destructive like, “Do as you please, I don’t care anymore,” but that was useless. Unless she opened her heart to the magic, Life-Sharing would fail.
And even if I overcame those two hurdles, there was still the third. The very real possibility that I’d have to cut off her arms and legs before the healing could begin.
…So. What to do?
”Enough,” Chelsea said, gazing at me from the dais as if I were nothing more than a pebble in her path. “Haven’t you toyed with me long enough? Just finish it.”
* * *
”…And that’s the situation. What do you think we should do?” I asked.
I’d mulled it over but decided to seek the girls’ advice. We gathered in the corner where Lena had been sulking, sitting in a rough circle. For the record, she’d been muttering “I’m worthless anyway” earlier, but once I hugged her, told her she was needed, and gave her backside a squeeze, she perked right up.
Now she looked eager, almost too eager.
”Sir Soyuz, I believe I have the perfect solution,” Lena declared.
This was already giving me a bad feeling, but I nodded for her to continue. She whipped out a dagger and grinned.
”First, I shall cut myself to pieces. Then, you shall heal me with your miraculous powers—thus proving to that woman the glory of your—”
”Rejected,” I cut her off.
Of course it was a terrible idea. She was probably just desperate to redeem herself after whatever minor blunder she’d committed earlier. She blinked up at me, eyes wide with that “What’s wrong with my plan?” look.
I pulled her close, squeezing her slender body tight and grabbing her breast firmly.
”No, Lena. Whose body is this?” I asked, my tone sharper than before, fingers rolling her nipple to make the point sting.
”I—I’m sorry, Master… Lena’s body, every hair, every drop of blood—it all belongs to you!” she cried.
”Exactly. My property. Don’t damage it carelessly. That’s an order.”
I pinched harder as I spoke the word “order.”
”Ah! Y-yes! I understand, aaahh—!”
Shaking, Lena collapsed inward on herself, thighs pressed together. Her teary eyes and ragged breath made her look like she’d just been thoroughly ravished.
”Soyuu, then she deserves a reward,” Vera chimed in.
”Yes, you’re far too soft on her,” Georgia added.
The two of them were harsher than I’d ever be with Lena, but I could guess why. So I only smiled vaguely and let it slide.
”Anyway… putting that aside,” I said, looking between them, “does anyone else have a better idea?”
”I mean, I kind of get what Lena’s saying,” Vera said. “Back then, if Master had suddenly tried that magic on Mom, she definitely would’ve misunderstood.”
”Well, yeah, that’s true,” Lena admitted.
Remembering that moment made cold sweat trickle down my back. She was right—Life-Sharing magic was doomed to be misunderstood unless you knew its true nature. At worst, it just looked like something I wanted for myself. And honestly, I couldn’t argue. It was that bad a spell. But Lena—don’t you dare smile like you’ve finally gotten through to me. I’m still not doing it.
”We could just bring her back,” Vera said brightly.
”Huh?”
”That person. Bring her back. Then we can ask the guild people, or Lydia, or whoever.”
With a proud little puff of her chest, Vera made her declaration. And—well, she wasn’t wrong. The four of us racking our brains here wasn’t likely to produce anything useful. Borrowing someone else’s wisdom wasn’t a bad idea. Not bad, but—
”But Ms. Vera, how do you expect us to ‘bring her back’ to Verdaine?” Lena asked. “Even with me and Ms. Georgia here, carrying the whole pedestal would be nearly impossible. And cutting her loose doesn’t sound much better.”
”Yeah, yeah. For once, Lena’s right,” I said.
Her body alone would’ve been one thing, but the pedestal? No way. Lena, strong as she was, was still just a southern girl. Georgia too—beastkin or not, she was still young. No miracle strength there. Even if Vera and I pitched in, we’d barely make a dent. Lena’s idea of chopping her free? Rejected outright.
”Vera’s not completely wrong,” I admitted. “But it’s still going to be tough.”
Still, she had a point. Taking Chelsea back to town was the right move. If we couldn’t manage it ourselves, then we’d just call in reinforcements. Send a runner to the guild, have them lend us a squad—
”Wait. Where’s Vera?”
Somewhere in my thoughts, Vera had vanished.
”She said something like, ‘I’ll be right back,’ and went outside,” Georgia said, pointing at the door.
Sure enough, after a moment, Vera returned, huffing out a tiny, “Heave-ho, heave-ho,” with both arms full of rocks.
”What are you doing?” I asked.
”Just wait,” she said without looking at me.
She plopped the stones down and started stacking them. None of us dared interfere—it felt like the kind of thing that would earn us a glare if we tried. After a while, a crude stone doll took shape at her feet. Then she raised both hands over it and whispered—
”Earth spirit, gnome, lend me your strength.”
Her words stirred something. The stone figure swelled, growing taller and taller until it was more than twice my height.
”The golem is complete,” Vera declared.
The massive creature bowed before her like a knight to its lord.
”Carry that one,” she commanded, pointing to Chelsea.
The golem lumbered forward with steady steps, seized the chained pedestal, and lifted it as if it were a sack of flour.
”Eh? Wha—what are you doing? Stop—no! Noooo!” Chelsea shrieked as the stone giant hefted her whole platform.
Vera nodded in satisfaction.
”Now we can bring her back,” she said, looking up at me with the smuggest face I’d ever seen.
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.
• Lydia – Sara’s master, a gentle and commanding figure possessing both male and female traits.
• 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.
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