Slave's Badge
I walked with Mira.
Starting from the Spring of Iris, straight ahead.
She trudged in silence, and I followed in silence.
About five minutes of walking together.
"Hey."
"What is it, master?"
"Come over here."
Mira approached from behind.
"Oh."
"You get it, right?"
"Yes."
Mira alternated her gaze between the spot in front of her and the one behind.
As if an invisible line had been drawn there.
"Here and here."
I jumped rope back and forth over that invisible line.
"Being on this side makes me feel calm. On the other side, something’s off."
"Yes."
"So this is the range of the Spring of Iris. Let’s go a little farther."
"Yes!"
I took Mira deeper to check the range.
Five minutes’ walk from the center… a circle with a radius of three hundred meters, it seemed.
So, building a town within this range, that’s the idea.
That’ll take magic, though.
“Menu open”
--------------------------
Akitto
Type: Frond Card
Magic Power: 2016
Number of Items Created: 58
Number of Slaves: 2
--------------------------
Magic’s dropped a lot. Not much left.
The sudden rush of building homes when people multiplied really took its toll.
Built fast—but still not enough houses.
Gotta boost magic more.
I looked at Mira.
“Something wrong, master?”
The girl with elven features, collar around her neck.
My slave.
A cute little thing who charges me with magic whenever she laughs or gets happy.
“Mira.”
“Yes?”
“Anything you want?”
“Want something?”
“Yeah. Name it. I’ll make it.”
“Um… well…”
Mira thought.
Tilted her head, hummed, hummed.
“Not really… nothing special.”
“Nothing?”
I frowned.
I thought I’d make something to please her, but it’s a problem if she doesn’t want anything.
“Really nothing? Don’t hold back.”
“Really… nothing special.”
“Huh.”
Mira looked down, fidgeting.
“Just being your slave… is more than enough.”
—— Magic power charged: 1000.
Her power surged the instant she spoke.
From past experience, it seemed magic charged when she laughed or felt happy.
This charge was definitely from happiness.
She said those words. Felt happy.
…Face is burning.
“…”
“S-sorry. I’m being rude, aren’t I? A slave shouldn’t be saying things like that, going against my master’s will. Um… um… something I want… something I want…”
Mira panicked and started scrambling to think.
I’m trying my hardest to find the thing I heard you say you wanted.
Cute.
The sight of her made my face burn—right up to the roots of my ears.
“Mira.”
“Y-yes?”
“Never mind that now.”
“I’m sorry, I’ll find it right away, I promise!”
“Just forget it. Focus on work. Check the range of Iris’s Spring and mark it clearly on the ground.”
“—Understood!”
Mira nodded eagerly, snatched up a nearby splinter of wood, and began sketching lines on the ground while checking the range.
—Magic power charged: 5,000.
I was a little troubled.
I’d just distracted myself with forced work to hide my embarrassment—yet somehow, it charged her magic.
Which meant this was actually a good thing for Mira.
“Could it be…?”
A thought struck me.
“Mira, go back home. Come back after you’re done.”
“Yes!”
Back home, she made the “paper” unlocked via the Fronds Card from the menu, then folded it into a medal.
The origami medal looked… average. No, not even that good.
About the quality of a kindergarten child’s craft.
Just as she finished, Mira returned.
“Master, my work is done.”
“Already? How did the drawn line turn out?”
“Round and round, it connected back to the start.”
“Ah, well done.”
“Yes.”
“Then, do this.”
I handed her the medal I’d just folded.
“What’s this…?”
“Because you did your job properly. A reward.”
I said that.
Mira, who wanted to be useful as a slave.
So, why not call this a reward for work?
…Was it too obvious?
I felt a little uneasy, so I added:
“Collect ten of these, and I’ll make you a special slave.”
I thought, what the hell is a “special slave” even supposed to mean? Even to myself.
“Thank you so much!”
——Magic power charged: 100,000.
“Whoa!”
The charge was insane. I couldn’t help but gasp, the sheer amount flooding in.