“Master, my work is done.”
As soon as the last guildsman had fallen dead, Soulgros rushed to her beloved Master’s side. She belonged at his side in the truest sense. The sticky splashing of fresh blood at the soles of her boots hardly bothered her as she ran and peered up into his face.
Ah, what a handsome visage… Verily, there is no better remedy.
She clutched her hand to her chest. Her people weren’t supposed to have any body heat at all, yet she could swear she felt warmth spread out from her heart. When Master smiled down at her, she could feel her chest tighten and pulse. It took all her restraint to maintain her composure—that slut Laladie surely would’ve thrown herself at him then and there.
Master smiled at her and placed a hand on her hand, congratulating her on a job well done as he did so.
“Ahh…”
She could feel her legs turn to jelly, and she half-melted on the spot—not that liquefying was unusual, given her unique constitution. None of the Yerkchiran girls could withstand such an onslaught, save perhaps Corine or Leiss and their stony dispositions. Before she could hit the ground, however, Master tenderly supported her.
“M-My apologies, Master.”
Despite the composure in her voice, she noted that her body was quivering in his arms. She would never mention it to him—that was one secret she would keep. Master questioned if she was hurt, to which she swiftly shook her head and stood on her own two feet.
“I am unhurt, Master. Such rabble could not possibly lay hands on me.”
She failed to keep the joy from her voice—he was worried about her.
She wasn’t lying in saying that none of the gray guild members had hurt her, of course. Her head had spun about in full rotation on her neck, and she moved her limbs with all the power and boneless grace of a gigantic octopus. Her every finger was honed into an instrument of gruesome murder, even, meaning the guild posed close to no threat whatsoever.
As Master stroked her hair, however, she heard him apologize.
“Hm? Whatever couldst thou be sorry for, Master?”
He continued, explaining how guilty he was about making her kill her comrades.
“Er. Of course.”
She put a hand to her chin in contemplation. Evidently, he was under the impression that she’d been struggling with her feelings for the men she’d fought alongside. She frankly couldn’t care less who killed the bastards and felt nothing at ending them. There was still one thing preventing her from denying Master’s words outright.
Mayhaps this is an opportunity to have Master granteth my wish?
Soulgros already had Master’s promise that he would do any one thing she asked. Any of her guildmates would gladly kill for such a prize, but she wanted more.
Is it not better to have two desires granted instead of one?
She nodded to herself, her face scarf hiding her grin.
Soulgros made a show of falling to her knees. “Ohh, Leiss-dono… He was such a good man…”
She couldn’t remember what the last man’s name was, and she realized a moment too late that Leiss was the name of Yerkchira’s resident muscle-headed bimbo, but luckily Master was too worried for her well-being to notice the slip-up. She had even kicked away a chunk of guildsman before “collapsing” since she didn’t want to dirty her clothes with blood, but that similarly went unnoticed. Master only had eyes for her and was intent on consoling her.
She grinned. All according to plan. If that bitch Schwarte knew about this delicious situation, the same one the maid had been dreaming of for ages, she would’ve no doubt tried to kill Soulgros on the spot. She felt a pang of guilt at tricking him, but the reward was too tempting to pass up.
Finally, those words passed his lips. “I’ll do anything.”
“T-Truly…? Thou wouldst do anything?”
Once again, she found herself grateful that he couldn’t see the grin splitting across her face. The only thing left to do was cash in on the golden opportunity before her—save for one small remaining obstacle.
“Er. But what shall I do?”
In all her planning, she’d failed to consider what, exactly, she would ask of him. She was his loyal servant to a fault, and she’d never stopped to fantasize about anything more with him. She didn’t have any particular desire to keep Master all for herself, either, unlike Laladie. All she wanted was to watch the proud man’s back, and to that end, she didn’t care if Master was the thrall of some other woman—provided he consented to it, of course.
That meant that she already had all she wanted from Master. No matter where he went or what he did, she would be happy as long as she could be with him. Even if Laladie did go forward with her twisted plan to abduct Master, Soulgros would’ve gladly gone along with her—not that the alraune would allow that, of course.
“Hmm… Let us leave this place first, shall we?”
Master forced a smile and nodded. It was odd to be chatting in the middle of so much blood and gore.
“Oh… Rain…”
Upon leaving the gray guild, they found that the sky had clouded over and fat raindrops had begun to fall. The street was all but empty, save for a scant few townsfolk hurrying home under the shelter of their umbrella. None of them seemed to notice Soulgros or Master leave the building. That would prevent the death toll from rising any further, at least for the moment.
“Hrm.” Soulgros looked up at the sky with a furrowed brow.
She didn’t hate the rain—rather, she loved it. She never minded getting wet, and she was physically incapable of catching a cold. Master, however, was different. Though there were times she questioned his true identity, he was at least human enough to get sick, she thought. She found the idea of nursing him back to health appealing indeed, but she knew the entire guild would be at her throat if she did such a thing. That presented a problem.
As she thought, however, Master procured an umbrella from the stand by the door.
“Oh, what brilliance, Master! ’Tis not even stealing, given its owner already lies dead.”
Master’s brow twitched at that, but he didn’t say anything. More importantly, the problem was solved—the umbrella was only large enough to comfortably fit one, but she didn’t mind the rain, and in fact, her people loved moisture.
That made it all the more surprising when Master offered her a place under the umbrella.
“Wh-What…? Fret not, Master. I shan’t catch a cold over such a pittance.”
His smile remained unchanged, despite her continued protests. The last straw came when he insisted he’d walk without an umbrella himself if she refused.
“Fine, as thou wishest. Allow me to accompany thee.”
She slipped under the umbrella beside him. Master nodded contentedly, and the pair strode together into the rain.
Hrk…
With every step, Soulgros found herself growing increasingly uneasy. She was supposed to be watching him from behind, not from his side. Now, however, she could see the side of his face with startling clarity. It was far from the sheer bliss of following him, but she found her chest growing warmer nonetheless. It was, frankly, somewhat unsettling.
To think I would derive such pleasure from this…
She could feel her mouth shift into a bemused grin.
B-But this cannot be! I must follow him!
She was a stalker to the core, and on her pride as a stalker, she could not let this stand. Years upon years of following him were at stake, and she pointedly looked up at him to steel her resolve. He looked back at her curiously, however, forcing her to look away in an uncharacteristic bout of shyness.
“Mrgh…”
Her gaze landed on his rain-soaked shoulder. As a member of Yerkchira, it would only be proper to leave the umbrella immediately and let him cover himself properly. If she was stalking him and one of the guildmates were at his side now, she would expect her to do just that. Something odd came over her, however.
“’Tis nothing.”
Soulgros stayed resolutely at his side. Instead of leaving, she pushed closer into his side, allowing more cover for his shoulder. He asked again what was amiss, but she said nothing, pressing herself even closer. Her respectable breasts were pressed against his arm, not in an attempt to seduce him, but in order to feel even more of his warmth.
“Perhaps I could be bothered to walk at his side more often,” Soulgros mused.
As the pair walked through the rain-soaked town, huddled tightly beneath a single umbrella, they could almost be mistaken for lovers.