Chapter 14: Her Story

Ayame's relaxed demeanor evaporates in an instant, replaced by the sternest expression I've seen from her so far. Her eyes, once calm, now burn with a mix of sorrow and anger. "Then I believe it is time I reveal the reason why I've been staying here for such a long time and why a lot of potential buyers backed out of the deal even at such a favorable asking price. I am, or rather, I used to be, the heir of the Fujimori clan, who centuries after their migration climbed up the nation's ladder and are the rightful rulers of the southern duchy of the Vraven Kingdom now."

Duchy?! I have a very bad feeling about this.

"My father died suddenly, despite being in perfect health. As the rightful heir, I was supposed to take over, but my younger sister, Kaede, challenged me to a honorable duel. I couldn't refuse without losing face in front of our people. Though, even if that weren't the case, I wouldn't have backed down from her challenge. Long story short, she poisoned me before our duel with some strange magical substance. There were no symptoms until our fight started. As if it was activated manually, as soon as she lunged at me I felt immense pain coursing through my body, and I was paralyzed from head to toe. I can only curse my lack of foresight, but, in my defense, poisoning your opponent before an honorable duel is the greatest disgrace a warrior of our clan can commit, so I wasn't expecting it. She used to be such a kind and loving girl. I don't know what happened to her..." Her voice cracks, after which she pauses for a moment to collect herself. Her hands, which were calmly resting on her thighs, are now clenched into tight fists.

"I'm now sure that she is also the culprit behind my father's death. I don't know who supports her from behind the scenes, but she definitely didn't invent such an intricate poison all by herself. Anyways, after my 'loss' in the duel, she not only exiled me but also brought me to this establishment as soon as I regained control over my limbs. She sold me into slavery, but perhaps thanks to some lingering affection due to our merry childhood or maybe because she felt guilty inside, she had the merchant make a lot of concessions. That is the reason why I'm not a sex slave and also why I have my own clauses added to the contract. However, she wasn't stupid. One of her clauses, which she also sent to the King himself who signed it, stated that I may never be freed from slavery. Even if, by some miracle I manage to break the magic contract, I can never be considered legally free in the Vraven Kingdom."

She locks her eyes onto mine, with deep determination shining through. "So my requirement for my owner-to-be is to make the promise that he or she will support my quest for vengeance. I'm not looking to become a duchess because, as stated, I legally can't, but I wish to eliminate her, the other traitors in my clan, and also kill her mysterious backer or backers."

I take a deep breath. Everything is clear now. Making a clan that rules over an entire duchy and is backed by the King himself into your enemy is a very big ask on Ayame's part. Yeah, she is a relatively high level girl with a rare variant class, and yes, she is an exotic beauty, but is she worthy enough to make one become hostile to an entire kingdom? Nope.

Luckily for her, I have very high aspirations. However, I'm not going to agree just like this.

"Before I give you my answer, I would like to give you a final warning. From what I've learned about you during our short talk, Ayame, you seem like an honorable warrior with a strict code of conduct. How willing are you to bend those codes of yours? I would do almost anything to grow stronger, so if you are going to give me moral lessons or worse every time I do something legally dubious, I would rather walk away right now."

She examines me for over ten seconds. I can understand from her conflicted expression that she'd rather tell me to 'fuck off, then' but I imagine going to back to her horrible living conditions, coupled with her very unlikely chances of having a future where she meets a master that she would view as a 'perfect' fit for her needs is fighting a fierce battle within her mind.

She grits her teeth. "How illegal are we talking about here exactly?"

I flash a victorious smirk at her. "I won't drink the blood of freshly harvested babies." I believe it's for the best if I inform her beforehand that I have no plans to be a heroic guy saving innocents and do other such nonsensical chores.

Her eyes widen in shock before she shudders. "So basically, anything goes… Scum…"

I don't mind her berating me a bit, I am rather shameless after all. It's best that she understands what she signs up for clearly so that we won't have annoying issues down the line.

We won't be playing by the already established rules; we will be the ones who decide what's right or wrong.

After a heated internal debate, it seems the devil on her shoulder beat the angel in the end. "... Ok…" I hear a very faint sound come out of her lips.

"Huh, what was that? Must've been the wind…" I tease.

She glares at me with great annoyance visible in her eyes. "I said! OK! I agree to become a thieving scum if that is what it takes!" Oh, the jade beauty raised her voice for the first time. My smile turns into a giant grin. I can tell having her by my side and slowly corrupting her noble warrior's spirit would be a lot of fun.

"Great! I can't say that I'm not interested in conquering your clan, as I imagine there's a lot of riches to be gained from such an endeavor, but as I said earlier, I'm terribly weak. Here's what I can offer you, Ayame: teach, train and help me level up for three years. Until that time is up, you are forbidden from acting out your revenge in any shape or form besides basic information collection through taverns and such. Once the time is up and both of us have gotten significantly stronger as well as more experienced in general, we will begin planning the downfall of your evil sister and her fellow culprits."

Silence descends on the room once more. Expecting her master to have the ability to exact revenge right off the bat is unrealistic. Even if all I did was let her do everything on her own to avoid dragging her down, she would surely fail. A giant clan shouldn't be so weak as to be toppled by a level 14 warrior.

She meets my gaze once more after a minute of inner contemplation. I can feel a strong resolve in her eyes. "I accept your terms, Master."