Samurai Arisa
Night. On my bed in my room.
I lay sprawled, staring at DORECA.
True Eternal Slave.
A new weapon crafted from the Enhanced Eternal Slave.
Obvious upgrade. Obvious enhancement.
Still consumes zero mana—material was slave-based, naturally.
Slaver Heart ×4.
Irrelevant. The content doesn’t matter.
Four components needed. Three of my slaves already.
Not enough.
Can’t make it. Not enough.
Probably need one more slave.
Adding slaves isn’t a problem. I’ll take any chance.
The problem is visibility.
"Hah…"
Sighed, stowed DORECA.
I couldn’t help but think of Risha’s slave from last holy night.
☆
“Permi’s town has been destroyed.”
Next morning, as I began work in the town, Yuria delivered the report.
The content was what it was, but Yuria spoke as calmly as ever.
“Where’s Permi?”
“An town beyond Beesku. Recently asked for our cooperation. We’d been sending them grain. Pusini, actually.”
“Hm.”
Not reported, but whatever.
My policy’s always been to divide Pusini wherever it’s needed—Yuria handled it just right.
“So the town’s been wiped out. By whom?”
I already had a guess.
“Maxim.”
“Figures. Why?”
“Standard procedure. Attacks, burns it to the ground, takes every human—turns them into labor.”
“Ah…”
Nodding, accepting it.
“Just like the Samuraiari.”
Samuraiari were a kind of ant. Basically, they didn’t have worker ants within their species.
Instead of worker ants, soldier ants raided other ant colonies, stealing their workers to use as labor.
Exactly like the "locust play" in the game.
Maxim’s got that down to a science. No homegrown production—just soldiers, surviving by plundering resources and labor.
Can’t let Maxim beat me anymore.
☆
I brought Mira here, to the town of Permi.
“Horrible…”
Mira covered her mouth, speechless.
Permi was nothing but ashes.
The town was a ruin. No sign of life anywhere.
“Nothing left.”
We stepped into a house that was half-burnt, side by side with Mira. Not a single valuable thing in sight.
Not even anything usable. Probably all taken.
As we scanned the inside, a voice drifted in from outside.
“What the hell do I have to come back to this place for?”
“Back in that last village, even after we burned it down, all kinds of things were left behind. Hidden treasure, kids hiding in secret rooms, you know?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly why we gotta check everything thoroughly.”
A bunch of men’s lewd voices drifted in.
We stepped outside, Mira in tow.
Three men in soldier’s garb stood there.
“Hey, you.”
“O-oh, there you are.”
“See? Stuff like this always gets left behind.”
“Is that what ‘leftovers are lucky’ means?”
They cackled.
“Are you guys under Maxim’s command?”
“Then what of it?”
“Who’s the top dog here?”
“This one’s me. So? You think bribing me’ll get you off the hook? Let me tell you—”
She touched the blue gem. Mira dissolved into the sword.
The ice slave blade. Split the other two in half, straight through.
The cut froze instantly. No blood. Just two perfect halves.
——I don’t take bribes, right?
It took the man a moment to process what was happening.
He looked at me. Then at the bodies of his two companions.
He blinked, confused. Then, as understanding set in, his face twisted into fury.
“You—!”
“Hmph.”
I swung the ice blade again.
This time, I didn’t cut. Instead, I sent a wave of cold up his legs, freezing him from the chest down.
His lower half locked in ice. Like a bundle of reeds standing upright—completely immobile.
I stood before him. He finally grasped it all. His face went pale. Fear flickered in his eyes.
“P-please… just let me go…”
“Answer. What happened to the people of this town? Did you kill them?”
“N-no… not all of them. They’re valuable labor, after all.”
“…Where did you take them?”
“A-ah… over there. There’s a squad stationed that way.”
He jerked his chin toward the town’s entrance. Couldn’t use his fingers—frozen stiff.
“How many in the squad?”
“T-thirty. That’s about how many show up when they hit a town.”
“Is that so.”
“P-please… spare me—”
I swung the ice slave sword again.
He froze mid-sentence, pleading.
Three corpses. I left them behind and stepped out of Permi’s town.
(主人様, going? )
“Yeah.”
(Okay!)
Mira said it. Felt like she nodded with more force than usual.
The cold radiating from the ice blade intensified.
After walking thirty minutes in the direction he’d pointed, it came into view.
A few tents. Maxim’s soldiers inside.
They were… something.
I crept closer, peered over their shoulders.
A sight that made my stomach twist.
The soldiers formed a circle. Inside it, a young man, hands tied behind his back, and a monkey with sharp claws—Shrebiju.
They were fighting.
“Come on, now, what’s the matter? Put some real effort into it.”
“If you beat him, I’ll free you and your wife and kids.”
“If you lose… well, the women and children all become our playthings.”
The men egged on the young man. Closer inspection revealed figures—likely his family—bound off to the side.
Outside the circle, farther away, townspeople and Shrebiju were likewise restrained.
…A sight that made my blood boil.
I spoke from behind the nearest man.
“Hey.”
“What? Can’t you see I’m watching something good?”
“…Hey.”
“I said, back off—”
“Mira.”
“Yeah!”
The blue gem. The ice slave sword.
I split the man clean in two from behind.
“What the hell?!”
“Enemy?”
"Coming alone? Foolish girl."
Soldiers, alerted by the commotion, one after another turned toward me, cursing, raising their weapons.
"About three hundred."
(Let's do it! Master!)
"That's the plan."
I swung my sword on instinct.
One, then another—cutting through.
No blood at all.
Mira, angry, her coldness intensified, producing a scattered pile of frozen corpses.
"What the hell—"
"Doing something like this for nothing—"
"Help me—"
They never finished speaking. Split clean in two, they froze instantly.
No one could even run.
I poured magic into her.
Nearly one hundred thousand units of magic poured into Mira.
The cold surged, freezing the ground beneath the soldiers, trapping them in place.
It took less than thirty minutes to wipe out all three hundred.
☆
"Everyone alright?"
I approached the captured townspeople of Permi, blade raised to cut the ropes.
"Ah—"
The man flinched, staring at the Eternal Slave改造.
"Ah, sorry."
I returned Mira to her original form.
The blade's surface reverted to metal, no longer radiating cold.
"Shouldn't freeze anymore."
I released Mira anyway—no real need, but I did it to ease his nerves.
"Human… from the sword? Wait—Eternal Slave?"
The man whose ropes were cut spoke.
"Yeah, you know it?"
"Only heard of it. First time seeing one."
"Not in Permi, huh?"
"Ah."
The man nodded. A faint disappointment flickered.
Four Slave Hearts required—so I’d briefly hoped Permi might’ve had an Eternal Slave.
Well, can't be helped.
I freed the townspeople one by one.
Each freed man helped free another.
In no time, everyone was free.
"Can't say who exactly, but thank you—really thankful."
The representative—some old man who was probably the mayor—stood before me and offered his thanks.
I was listening to the story, and then I tried to talk about what comes next.
"I am—"
Master!
Mira shouted my name from behind.
A voice full of surprise.
What’s wrong?
Turn around. Look at Mira.
Humans lay sprawled at her feet.
Not soldiers—around them, Schreivju claws are scattered.
Seems she took it upon herself to defeat Schreivij.
"Turned them back into humans. Good job."
"Anyway, my lord, this child..."
Hmm?
Approaching Mira, looking down at her.
I get it now—why Mira called me.
A woman with golden hair and pointed ears.
Like an elf’s form—Eternal Slave.
"Same as me."
Mira murmured, yeah, same as her—returned from Schreiviju, an Eternal Slave.