Fourth Slave Rirya

"First things first—collar and dress, yeah, and that slave card too."

In the lord's study, I said, watching Rirya’s outfit.

"Dress, then?"

"Yeah, that green dress the others wear—yeah, I made that one too."

"Whaaat? Big brother's good at sewing?"

"Like hell I am. Here, look—here it is."

I pulled out DORECA, drew a magic circle.

Used a sheet of paper from my pocket as material, turned it into a paper cup.

"See? Magic can make things like this."

"Amazing… what else can you make?"

"A house."

"A house?! So this whole mansion was made by big brother?!"

"Exactly."

"Wha… that’s incredible…"

Rirya was awestruck.

"Alright, collar, dress, and slave card—three things."

I drew three magic circles from DORECA.

Arrows pointed in three different directions.

I took Rirya with me and went out to search for materials.

☆

Desert wasteland. Sliced the scorpion I found in half with one stroke.

"Unbelievable. I remember that scorpion being quite vicious, yet you took it down so easily."

"Back then, I struggled hard."

I picked up the scorpion’s corpse and stared at it closely.

The thing that once took me over a dozen miracle potions to kill—now down with a single blow.

A little pride crept in.

"What’s that?"

"Menu open."

I drew a magic circle from DORECA.

I’d already placed a similar circle in the mansion as a radar, but since I wanted to make one myself right away, I made another.

Once I dropped the materials into it, the dress was complete.

Exactly the same as the one Risha and the others wore—elf-style, eternal slave, vivid green dress.

I handed it to Rirya.

"Here."

"Thank you so much!"

Rirya slipped into the dress.

"Ta-da! What do you think? What do you think?"

Having changed, Rirya spun around in front of me.

"Looks good."

"Thank you so much... but..."

"But?"

Rirya’s mood dropped suddenly. "What’s wrong?"

"It’s such a lovely dress. Feels like I was born just to wear this."

That much, huh.

"But... it’s lonely. Right here."

Rirya touched her neck.

"Feels empty. Hurts. Big brother, make me a collar soon, please."

She was asking outright.

Unexpected.

Risha, Mira, Yuria.

None of the past slaves had ever been this direct.

Even Mira, the most straightforward, had always been a little reserved.

Rirya was different. Pushing hard.

She asked for everything she wanted, one after another.

It was refreshing.

But I didn’t feel bad about it.

“I want to become your real slave as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, let’s head to the next one.”

“Yes, sir.”

I took Rirya with me and started walking toward the next material site.

☆

We’d returned to Rebek for now.

The next material site was on the opposite side of town.

As soon as we entered, three slaves who’d spotted me rushed over.

“What’s wrong?”

“Master, the outskirts’ Niteka was destroyed by someone!”

“Master! The people from Permi want to do some work!”

“From Gerashim—some residents are requesting to move to Rebek.”

Risha, Mira, and Yuria reported in that order.

I listened, then gave each of them instructions.

“Nietka can be fixed normally—top priority. I wanted to plant trees south of town and make a park, so I had the Permi people start prepping the ground. Go find out the exact reasons for the move to Rebek.”

They nodded, then each took off running.

Rirya watched them go, motionless.

“What’s wrong?”

“What was that?”

“Work. The town’s run by a lot of moving parts—busy, so I’m having them work.”

“Work!? Really!?”

Rirya gasped, exaggerating the shock.

“I’m jealous! I want work too! I want to be given a job!”

“Want to work?”

“Yes! As the Fourth Slave Rirya, I want to do real work properly!”

Rirya clenched her fist and insisted.

“What’s this ‘Fourth Slave’ thing?”

“Huh? Wait—does onii-chan have another slave? Maybe I’m actually the Fifth Slave and just didn’t know?”

“No, you’re fourth—just the phrasing is… off.”

Something about the fourth apostle, that kind of vibe.

First Slave, Risha.

Second Slave, Mira.

Third Slave, Yuria.

Fourth Slave, Rirya.

...Yeah, still can't help but mentally convert it to "apostle."

"Is there anything Rirya can do?"

"No, first we need the collar and the slave card..."

"Lord."

A villager approached. Mid-thirties, middle-aged.

Somehow had claw marks on his face.

"What happened?"

"Actually, I... wrecked my house. Got into a fight with my wife. Thought I could have the Lord fix it, like usual."

"Got it. Probably Risha will—"

"Rirya will do it!"

Rirya spoke up, raising her hand.

"You're... Eternal Slave. The Lord's new slave, right?"

"Yes! Fourth Slave, Rirya!"

"Ah, then I'll leave it to you."

"Leave it to me! Come on, let's go!"

Rirya tugged the man and dashed off.

She stopped mid-stride, turned toward me, and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Working for onii-chan! Watch me now!"

Then she was dashing again.

I snorted a laugh.

Active, unlike the other three—but doing exactly the same thing.

Wanting to serve her master as a slave. Yeah. Exactly the same.

"Cute one."

I murmured it, then stayed put.

After a while, Rirya returned, shoulders slumped.

"Welcome back. What happened?"

"...I didn’t know how to fix it."

I burst out laughing at her dejected face.

"Let me show you. Come on."

"Yes, sir!"

With the fourth slave—charging her magic with delight—I set out again, this time to collect the collar and slave card materials.