“Master-sama. It is time to wake up.”
“Ug-ghh…...”
As I lifted my swollen eyelids and sobered up, I could see a girl wearing a crude one-piece and a white apron looking down on me. Needless to say, she was Yuni.
Since she was learning etiquette from the maids of our residence, it wasn’t farfetched to say she was apprenticing under the maids. Of course, her appearance was also appropriate, but as a slave, she had to consider the quality of her clothes. The Obeniel Family was of a considerable standing as a House of Earl. When one becomes a servant, even if one was among the ranks of a commoner, they could be assigned to someone close to an aristocrat or a lower ranked aristocrat’s child. If one was a slave, due to their rank, it was common to see them being allowed to only wear clothing that were several ranks inferior.
“Morning, Yuni.”
“Good morning, master-sama.”
I brought my body to an upright position and exchanged morning greetings. It has been nearly half a year since I brought this child to the household. Could it be the results of her daily training? Yuni was gradually outgrowing her choice of words and the way she totters around like a child. It seems that she has been receptive and enthusiastic to the training by the servants that I borrowed from father.
She was moving in the right direction. Hammering the mould into her from the start would allow her to learn to behave and obey others slowly. It would make it easy to suppress her rebellious spirit if she possesses one. Habits that are picked up by the body cannot be easily forgotten. If I trained her to enjoy lowering her head and do her best for me, I can look forward to her having a greater loyalty towards me when she grows up.
I stretched my arms out as I got up.
“I stayed up too late yesterday…...got my hands onto a piece of interesting information and had to finish it no matter what.”
“Please have some self-love. If you hurt your health…...you are no longer a child.”
“That’s true. Before attaining my long-cherished dream of immortality, I cannot afford to die young.”
I started changing my clothes while engaging in trivial talk. Yuni bravely stripped off my pyjamas and helped me put on my shirt. Having a younger girl assist in my change of clothes did leave me with a bit of embarrassment but it was the duty of the aristocrats to allow the servants to help out in ordinary day-to-day affairs like this.
Indeed, it must be linked to creating employment but Yuni was ultimately an unpaid slave. This wasn’t good for the economy but, well, I can think of this as part of nurturing a heart for service.
“Hearing as you have obtained new information, would there be a change in today’s schedule?”
However, it wasn’t the case this time.
“Mm—, deciphering the old text would take some time. For the meantime, we shall continue with the current experiment.”
“Yes, certainly. Then I shall make the necessary preparations.”
Yuni said, as she lowered her head in a natural motion. Her gestures when giving respects were starting to look decent. Being trained by professionals really did make her learn quickly. As I smiled fondly at her progressive growth, I thought that today would be a good day.
Half a year passed.
“Guhah!?”
Thrusting forcefully a wooden pole used for training into his solar plexus, the man’s bushy area collapsed. As always, Yuni looked down with not a single hint of emotion even though she completed the achievement of beating down an adult alone with her child-like body.
One year has passed since the training programme to elevate her physical potential started. Said man was a first-generation knight, who once participated in a war and attained himself a meritorious deed, but this was the outcome.
This grown up man was defeated by a seven year old (guessing) girl, furthermore, he was given the initiation attack. No no, it was likely that she would become scarier than this.
“Thank you very much for the guidance today as always.”
“W-What guidance…...”
With quivering feet like that of a newborn fawn, the knight took close to a full minute to recover his footing. He must be enduring Yuni’s single blow to a similar extent.
After all, her strength has been augmented thanks to medicine I concocted. It was a medicine that was discovered with great difficulty. It would not inhibit a person’s skeletal growth as it does not increase the quantity of muscles but heightens the quality of the muscles. It took no less than the pointless deaths of five slaves. All of them were the cheapest; if they had no worthy skills, the slaves could even be cheaper than toys or sweets, but still, it was undesirable due to the time wasted on handling their disposals. There was this once when father found fault with my cremation of a corpse. He reprimanded me severely and brought me all the way to a church to be preached to.
However, it did bore results and it made Yuni’s physical capabilities improve to a large extent. If she were able to fight like this at 7 years old, then she might be able to handle the job of searching materials I need much earlier than expected.
Chuckling to myself as I pictured a bright future, a knight serving my family faced me with an austere expression.
“Young master…...Please let this girl’s opponent off for today.”
This voice sounded different from pain and felt like the trembling of something instead.
“Yes? Why?”
“Honestly, there is nothing more that I can teach above this. Also, if this continues everyday, my body will not hold.”
As he said, he pointed out to his stomach and wrists that had been repeatedly beaten. There were also countless of bruises on his face. Certainly, Yuni has grown much stronger than he was now. It was at a point where nothing much can be learnt from this man. Furthermore, he even allowed a child to reach all the way to his solar plexus; he has lost all of face of a knight. Considering that carefully, it should be about time to round things up.
Well, I heard that he became a first generation knight not because of his outstanding services in war but rather, because of his value as a personal valet. I did not know what was the average fighting capability for combatants but I am quite confident he wasn’t high up in the hierarchy. It might already be time that Yuni requires a much higher level teaching material.
I nodded in assent and the man scuttled off.
“Now then, what shall we do from tomorrow? Maybe I should employ an adventurer to teach magic or searching skills?”
“......Is that okay? With that, the money reserved to purchase an experimental tables and other materials —”
Ostensibly, Yuni said so admirably. Though her concerns were unnecessary.
“If you reach a competent level quickly, we can recover all that losses later. I rather you reach that point earlier; we would gain much more eventually by doing this.”
Acquiring raw materials would cost money since we would have to specially buy it from people. If we can collect these materials ourselves, the cost in that field would practically become zero.
“Well, until we make the arrangements for the new teacher, you shall be going monster hunting in the outskirts. Can you do that?”
“Yes. The likes of goblins which often appear near the town would not be any trouble. I have confidence in that.”
Yuni declared coolly. Actually, she was the one who was beating all the monsters that we came across in these plains. The knight that I borrowed earlier helped us out only at the start for approximately a month. She was capable of exploring the nearby forest but I do not know if something might happen in a real battle. It was possible that she meets a large flock of enemies at one go or fight a series of battles and become fatigued or injured in the process, thus, suffer an embarrassing defeat. To genuinely do exploration, it should be more than enough to have another two to three more years of training.
Although things may look this way, I did push forward the timeline from my initial plan. This was due to her advancing quickly, surpassing my expectations.
I am in no rush. Layering diligence over diligence, I proceeded carefully. It was because there was nobody else with her degree of talent.
I said to the her with a body inflicted with injuries here and there while treating her injuries personally.
Yuni would be able to use recovery magic to heal herself if it was just this much, but leaving behind any kind of scar would be troublesome in the future. In that aspect, I can happily brag that I am second to none in terms of leaving no scars after treatment. After all, I was the one who healed those cruel and vile injuries. There were no reasons why I couldn’t treat those battle injuries now.
“.....I have caused you trouble.”
“No no, I was the one who requested you to do this unreasonable job. You shouldn’t be apologising.”
I consoled her, whose facial expression remained unmoved as she lowered her head. No matter how much time passes, she hardly shows any emotions but that was due to the way she had socialised for many years. I could at least see that the bottom of her heart was, in any case, disheartened.
“At any rate, those teachers were bothersome……They were trying to snatch Yuni away from me.”
“Yes. If they weren’t planning that, I was thinking I should have been able graduate with a more appropriate step.”
“Good grief,” I let out a sigh of exasperation as I nodded.
“Graduation, huh. While it was true she took them by surprise, she was at a level where she could defeat both of her masters. This should be a suitable time for Yuni to head out for exploration.”
“......May I have your permission?”
Yuni lifted her head up and her eyes were fixed at me as she gazed at me. It was the same expression when I was praising her. She behaved the same way when she was given sweets or equipments. Did she really want to go adventuring that much?
She was always the quiet child, so I never expected that she would raise her voice as though she added an exclamation mark to the end of her sentence.
It appeared that she noticed that I was taken aback. She brought her head, that was elevated for an instant, back down.
“......I have acted disgracefully. Please forgive me.”
“No, I am not angry. Also, you do not have to kneel down before me in such a grandiose manner. It’s not like others are looking over here. …...C’mon, stand up, stand up.”
I let out a small sigh as I forgave her.
If one becomes an adventurer, he or she would be able to enter dangerous areas unallowed for ordinary people. So far as it goes, it seems that there are unlicensed adventurers who skip registering with the guild — either because they are some shady lot who have a serious previous conviction record, or are active criminals — ignoring standard procedures. Nevertheless, those were the root of superfluous quarrels. Being found out and getting fined was just the start of it. Coming across official adventurers while at the exploration destination might end up in a squabble, and there was also the fear that they might be accused of illegal activities like poaching. In the case of being found guilty of committing unpardonable evil deeds, one could be made the target of a subjugation just like monsters. Such troubles are not of my liking, so I would make sure to register.
“For now, let’s get the exact types of equipment ready. Do you have any special requests? The one using them would be Yuni, hence, do not hold back and give me your opinions.”
“Then, master-sama —”
After being prompted to speak at ease, she talked, but somehow with a tendency to hesitate.
“How about something like a rugged combat-ready maid uniform?”
……
She was anxiously avoiding eye contact with me, but still, that was what she said.
Exactly where and how did she come up with that kind of request I wonder. True, she was used to wearing the maid uniform and moving in them would likely be easier for her. Be that as it may, does she have the intent to wear that out while adventuring?
Perhaps this was some first rate joke by Yuni. As I considered, she stared at me earnestly.
“......That may not do?”
Her pair of upturned eyes looked uneasy as she asked me.
No, maybe she got a shock from personally taking care of her own teachers and was in a state of confusion? It left a strong unease in her, but when I was giving her treatment, I made sure to check her vitals. Her pulse and perspiration were both normal. Therefore, I could unmistakably declare that she was sane.
Thoughtlessly, I placed my hand on her forehead. I hardly troubled Yuni. She was always following my instructions. I didn’t have to use the magic on the collar or the other measures that prevents rebellion. Moreover, what you see was all the result of training. She has by far, outstripped my expectations. Such an excellent child, where and how did I make a blunder, that she would answer with “Maid uniform” when asked what she wanted for her equipment.
As I remained baffled, I said.
“.......Well, I’ll handle it.”
I am sure my face was mostly cramping up.
I drew up a plan in the back of my mind while contemplating.
As I have mentioned countless of times, the collar on the slaves that forces them to submit to me was something that could be deactivated by their magic. In order to completely overcome that, there was a need to restructure from their brains to obey me. Opening their heads with a scalpel, tampering with their brains, to the very end, all the methods used to take away their will to betray were surgical, or it could thought of as embedding the thoughts of obedience. Someone from somewhere once did used this method to mar Yuni’s face, and I later put the same method to practical use when treating Yuni. The parts that were desired were temporarily destroyed and regenerated to a desired shape.
The crux of this method was that it isn’t possible to deactivate the brainwashing by magic. After all, the brain of the subject after the operation would be healthy, so recovery magic will not be able to heal it. The only way to treat it might be to temporarily destroy the part of the brain that creates the effect of brainwashing, and then healing it to its original form. This means that the same operation has to be repeated.
Even if someone tries to dispel brainwashing magic, it wasn’t like I was controlling them by magic, hence, even the target for the magic was lacking. For argument’s sake, there might be a loophole and there might be a risk that the real brainwashing magic could overwrite the controlling rights…...but such a brainwashing magic user does not exist and therefore, I did not have to consider how to cope with this fatal magical attack and could devote myself to research.
Most importantly, it was the best measure to prevent betrayal that I wished for now.
“Congratulations, master-sama.”
Yuni reverently lowered her head, congratulating me on the success of the experiment. For no apparent reason, her cheeks were blushing faintly. Possibly, the joy she was experiencing was much greater than mine.
“By receiving this procedure, master-sama’s slaves can become more idealistic yes…...”
From day one of obtaining Yuni, I have been doubtful of the power of the collar to make the slaves submit to me. Yuni’s magic was above average, and I prescribed miracle drugs of which were gotten from experiments, further boosting her powers. That’s why even till today, I interact with her while always being on alert for hints of betrayal. Even during the experiments, mealtimes, and sleeptime too. From time to time, I would hand down some orders restricting some specific actions, also I would never let go of my protection equipment when sleeping…...well, such kind of things have been going on the whole time.
From the time I bought her, I have been teaching her to have loyalty, and yet, everyday I continue to be sceptical of it. If it was me instead, just one day would be enough for me to throw in the towel. To date, the other slaves that have been purchased with the same motive as Yuni, only except the person herself, the other useful slaves who could not sustain, ended up dead. Separating them into categories, 20 percent of them killed themselves, 10 percent broke down mentally, and the remaining 70 percent secretly planned to rebel so I sent them to their ends. All of them were capable with magic and in their own ways, were expensive slaves. Nothing beats such wastefulness.
And thus, even for her who has endured such a lifestyle without a word of complain, lately, she leaked out them like tears falling.
“Please, allow me to become a more complete slave.”
However, well, this was also a good opportunity to fix my lax mood.
“Lights are usually followed by shadows huh…...and it took us great pains to get to this final stage of the experiment too. After clearing things up, we shall have to rethink if there are any other problems.”
“I understand.”
After finishing up with the tremendous cleaning that we were both reluctant to do, we reexamined the problem areas of the experiment anew.
There were no other problems found.
Even after I closed the door, I could still hear ceaseless shrieking from inside.
Father has been always acting like this as of late. Every time he saw my face, he would expel a strange voice. It looks like he has finally lost it. Despite being ridden with an illness, he wouldn’t even let me conduct a medical examination on him.
Secluding himself to his bedroom, there was no way anyone could have met him unless they expressly made a visit. I wonder if it could be considered a blessing. If we were at our meal area and he was screaming like that, it would be out of this world.
“How pitiful.”
Good grief, the long awaited day and this messed up thing happens. Despite this being the day when she finally clears the first stage.
Well, whatever. The jeers from these people who can’t understand was as good as background noise. Rather than be preoccupied with them, I might as well speed up the procedures.
Because once this is done, I can finally complete my first pawn at long last.
The anaesthesia was adequately showing its effect. The operation will soon be finishing. The cut from opening the head has already closed and her hair looked better than ever before.
“......You’ve worked hard, Yuni.”
I muttered while stroking her hair unconsciously.
Her awakening was very much earlier that expected. Could this be because of her increasing resistance to the anaesthesia?
The once vacant jade green eyes of hers became focused, regaining an emerald glimmer.
A cool and clear awakening that reminds one of the blooming of morning glories. I greeted her while caught up in the moment.
“Morning, Yuni.”
“......Good morning, master-sama.”
——And four years passed.