“Master, I need to talk to you about something,” Seele told me the night before we left for Ishka. Her brow was creased with worry.
At first, I considered playing dumb and pretending I didn’t know what was on her mind, but when I saw the look on her face, I reconsidered. She looked so serious that I felt it would be cruel of me not to respond in kind.
“You want to ask about what you saw that night during the battle, don’t you?”
She nodded.
I knew it. Still, I scratched my cheek, unsure how to answer. The night Jijinbou attacked, I’d collapsed after donating a great deal of my soul to Claudia. Jijinbou activating his Shinsou had jolted me awake, but I’d still been in no condition to face him. To remedy that, I’d eaten Lunamaria’s soul, the very same Lunamaria who’d been caring for me while I was down. And Seele and Suzume, who’d been assisting with my care, had witnessed the whole thing. Worse, because I was desperate to help everyone outside, I’d taken her soul rather forcefully. In the end she had collapsed, and I’d asked Seele and Suzume to look after her while I went out to face Jijinbou.
After a display like that, it was understandable that Seele (and probably Suzume too) would be wary of me. They would have picked up on the fact that Lunamaria had lost consciousness after I’d kissed her. Looking back on it rationally now, there were many better ways I could have gone about it, like at least asking Seele and Suzume to leave the room first, but I’d been so focused on getting in fighting shape that everything else had slipped my mind.
I could’ve lied to Seele and told her that I’d kissed Lunamaria no differently than usual, but I doubted she’d believe me. I could’ve used my authority as her master to order her to forget about what she’d seen, but if I was going to gather more sources besides Lunamaria to harvest soul energy from in the future, and those sources ended up living under the same roof as me and Seele, it would become harder to hide it from her anyway. So perhaps the least troublesome option for me was to just come clean. Besides, if I’d already told the Dragonauts about my Shinsou, why should I continue hiding it from Seele? In a sense, this was the perfect opportunity to fess up. Sure, I was a little worried that she’d get scared of me and want to leave, but hadn’t I already planned to free her from my servitude at some point? If it came to that, I’d just let her go back to her hometown where it was safe...as long as she didn’t spill my secret, of course. If she couldn’t keep her mouth shut, then unfortunately she, too, would become my enemy.
While keeping that in the back of my mind, I told Seele everything. She listened intently, nodding and asking for clarification when she didn’t understand something. Then, when I was finished, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I see, so that’s what’s going on! Thank you for telling me, master. I’ll explain all of that to Suzume, so don’t worry about having to repeat it to her.”
“That’s it?” I asked, puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“Well...I eat other people’s souls, you know? Don’t you find that...unsettling?”
She was afraid of ghosts, after all. But in response, she gave me a brief look of surprise, then held her head in her hands and sat down on the floor. “Aaaughhh?!”
“Wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard an interrogative scream,” I remarked, not sure how else to respond. But if she felt comfortable enough to joke around after hearing my story, I certainly wasn’t going to complain.
“There, I tried my best to be scared. How’d I do?” she asked with a smirk.
“I... No, I wasn’t saying you needed to be scared of me...but...you know, Seele, you’ve really grown. When we first met, you were so nervous, you were shaking like a leaf all the way to your ears. And now, you feel comfortable enough to tease me.”
“That’s because I wasn’t sure what kind of person my new owner was. And then you petted my tail and ears without letting me sleep for all those days afterward...so don’t blame me if it took some time to warm up to you,” she said with a hint of admonishment. I looked away bashfully, which made her smile again. “But...I do want to confirm,” she said, her grin disappearing, “you plan on eating my soul at some point too, don’t you?”
“Huh?” I cocked my head at her unexpected question.
Seele looked equally puzzled by my reaction. “Wait, you’re not? I thought for sure that the reason you were getting me stronger and leveling me up was so you could feast on my soul later.”
Hearing that, I finally understood. Seele thought the reason I’d asked Lunamaria to teach her how to fight was so her soul would be ripe for an eventual harvest. She also thought the strength I’d given her each time I’d bedded her was for that purpose. Put bluntly, she was wrong. I hadn’t even known about that ability until arriving at the royal capital; I’d only bedded her because I’d wanted sex. But now that she knew everything, she must have assumed I had an ulterior motive. I was about to tell her she was wrong, when...
“Don’t worry about me! I’m ready to go anytime!” she cried.
“R-Ready to go? Like how?”
“Like what you did to Luna! I don’t mind; I’ve already prepared myself!” She got right up in my face and gave me a serious look with upturned eyes. Whether because she was determined or because she was nervous about how I’d answer, her ocelot ears jolted straight up.
I was taken aback. “No! There’s no need for that!” I cried, waving my hands. “I don’t want to force myself on you and eat your soul!”
“Then don’t force yourself on me. I’m giving you permission. I want to help you any way I can.”
“Mmgh...” With such a sincere response, I couldn’t say anything back. If I was being completely honest with myself, I had been craving her soul. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it’d be delicious. There were more than a few times when I’d taken her to bed or watched her sleeping soundly near me when I’d been sorely tempted. But I’d already sworn to myself that I would only eat the souls of my enemies or those who’d harmed me, and Seele fell into neither of those categories.
On the other hand, I did hear a little voice in my head whispering to me that if she herself was allowing it, it would be fine. After all, I’d only imposed those conditions on myself because I didn’t want to turn into a power-hungry monster that attacked innocent people. If Seele was giving me permission, I wouldn’t be hurting anyone.
After a moment of thought, I decided to make sure she knew what she was signing up for. “I can’t promise you won’t suffer any side effects afterward.”
I’d observed that the souls I’d eaten recovered over time, but I couldn’t take that for granted. It wasn’t impossible that Miroslav, Lunamaria, or Iria might die or become severely disabled without warning. I could also safely assume that having your soul eaten repeatedly changed your personality. For example, Miroslav used to hate my guts, and now she was nauseatingly subservient to me. And though Lunamaria’s shift hadn’t been nearly as extreme, she’d warmed up to me considerably as well.
I explained all this to Seele, but the look in her eyes didn’t change. Honestly, seeing that she was so determined for my sake made me incredibly happy. I was about to chow down right away, but then my eyes fell on the slave collar on her neck, and I held myself back. As her master, I held her life in my hands. In other words, she’d have to stay on my good side if she wanted to live. She probably wasn’t giving me permission out of her own free will. She likely saw what Lunamaria was letting me do and felt pressured to do the same lest I think her worthless and expendable. And if so, exploiting that would leave a bad taste in my mouth.
So I decided to take it a step at a time.
“All right, but first, I’m going to free you. You’re no longer my slave.”
“Huh? But...” She was about to protest, but I cut her off.
“Now, still feel up to it? If so, I won’t hold back. But let’s at least hold off until we get back to Ishka.”
She looked sullen, a rare expression for her. She probably felt like I was trying to sidestep her determination. But it was true that I’d taken the wind out of her sails after she’d displayed her feelings so sincerely to me, so I couldn’t really blame her for being upset.
I’m sorry, Seele. If I took advantage of you right now, I’d be sullying what little conscience I have left.
Still, I never would have expected she’d been so willing. Don’t tell me Suzume’s going to feel the same way once she learns my secret...
At any rate, it took quite a bit of effort to get back on Seele’s good side after that. She was normally happy-go-lucky and easy to get along with, but perhaps agreeable girls were even more dangerous than the difficult ones when they got upset. Luckily, she didn’t stay mad for long, and I was relieved to see that by the next day, she was her usual cheery self on our trip back to Ishka.
As it happened, Claudia did not end up joining us after all. She’d wanted to, but the estate had only just been under attack, and she’d just recovered from her curse. It was too soon for her to make such a big move, so the duke had kept her at home. But once her condition fully stabilized, she’d be able to join us.
And so, the four of us left the royal capital behind, scars of the earlier attack still visible all over the town, and headed home. Truthfully, I’d expected either the crown prince, with his burning desire for Claimh Soras, or Corquia, with her cozying up the empire, to try and stop us or harm us, but they must have had their hands full with the Jijinbou incident, because we were able to leave in peace. Only after seeing the familiar fortress walls come into view was I finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, proving how apprehensive I’d actually been.
Thank goodness we made it back without anything happening, I thought, but as it turned out, I’d been a little too quick to relax.
When we reached the house, there was a familiar young man sitting with his back against the wall, looking haggard. The moment I saw his face, I reflexively scowled.
“Raz?”