Liberation of The Slaves

I continued honing my Pyrolume Swordcraft while standing atop the wind platform, letting the flowing air carry me through the sky.

My blade drew burning arcs through the morning breeze. Each swing carried the heat of flame and the swiftness of wind, and I alternated between Breeze Footwork and Flamelight Footwork as naturally as breathing. One moment, my steps were light and silent, guided by the shifting current beneath me. The next, sparks danced beneath my soles, pushing my body forward with sudden bursts of speed.

At first, maintaining the wind platform while moving had taken most of my focus. Now, I could train while flying without feeling as though I might fall at any moment. I had not tested this skill in a real aerial battle yet, and I was still far from Aza’s level, but at least I could now move through the sky with ease.

The world below passed by in silence.

As always, the sky was strangely empty. The Frostwing falcons we had encountered before really seemed to be a rare sight. From time to time, the voices of monsters drifted up from the forest below. Wolves howled in the distance, and somewhere beyond the trees, larger beasts roared as they clashed with each other.

Neither Len nor I bothered to interfere.

We simply continued on our way, avoiding needless trouble whenever we could. In a way, both of us were pacifists at heart.

A soft yawn broke the calm of my training.

I turned my head and saw Len slowly sitting up, rubbing her golden eyes with the back of her hand. Her silver hair was slightly messy from sleep, and her expression still carried the hazy softness of someone who had not fully awakened.

“Good afternoon, Len.”

“Mm…”

She answered with a small mumble, her voice still heavy with sleep.

Our sleeping schedule had become rather strange. While I slept at night, Len stayed awake and kept watch over us. Then, after breakfast, I resumed our journey while she rested until around noon.

Most adventurers would never travel like this. They usually took turns keeping watch at night, then set out together after eating in the morning. Using Air Steps for long-distance aerial travel was also uncommon, especially outside of battle.

But for us, this strange routine had already become normal.

“Clean. And here’s the food.”

After using clean magic to freshen myself up, I took our meal out from my Item Storage.

Len accepted her portion with both hands, but before she began eating, her gaze lowered slightly.

“Sorry about this morning.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to tell me anything.”

“No. I don’t want to hide anything from you, darling.” Her voice was quiet, but there was no hesitation in it.

“If you say so.”

We began eating, and after a short silence, Len opened her mouth again.

“Most of the slaves I saved were non-human races. One of them was an elf princess.”

“An elf princess became a slave?”

I could not hide my surprise.

Len nodded. Her face had already lost the drowsy softness from earlier, replaced by a distant look that seemed to reach back into her memories.

“Yes. She had been visiting a border village of the Rosenwood Kingdom when she was kidnapped. That incident became one of the sparks that started the war.”

The war did not begin only because the empire attacked the village. The kidnapping of the princess also played a part. Maybe both reasons piled up until everything finally exploded.

Len held her bowl in her hands, but she stopped eating for a while.

“Fifteen years after the war began, I happened to save her by coincidence. I did not even know she had been kidnapped. My only goal was to save the villagers near the area where the battlefield would soon form. She was among them, disguised as an ordinary villager, and even the empire did not know who she truly was.”

I am more surprised that Len went near a battlefield just to save slaves she did not even know.

Len’s fingers tightened around her bowl.

“Her mind was already broken by then. Even so, the first thing she spoke about was not herself. She talked about others. She said it was cruel to drag ordinary villagers into a war.”

Her golden eyes wavered faintly.

“At first, I thought those words were just the rambling of someone who had suffered too much. But after I learned that she was a princess, her words stayed with me.”

It was remarkable. Even after falling into such a miserable situation, that princess had still thought about the people before herself.

“I see. So that’s why you felt conflicted when you learned that the Rosenwood Kingdom involved human villagers too.”

Len nodded weakly.

I could understand why it troubled her. The princess’ words must have moved Len because they matched what she herself believed. It was rare for someone in a high position in this world to think that way.

Yet the homeland of that very princess had acted against those ideals.

“Perhaps she would change the rules after ascending the throne.”

I tried to offer some reassurance, but Len shook her head.

“I do not know. But I cannot take unnecessary risks by confronting the country. Not only have I become weaker, I also do not want to endanger you.”

“Hey, you can do what you want. You do not have to worry about me so m—”

Before I could finish, Len reached out and gently pressed her finger against my lips. Her touch was soft. The wind brushed past us, stirring strands of her silver hair as our eyes met in silence.

Then she slowly pulled her hand back.

“I told you. You are my priority above anything else. There is no way I would not worry about you. It is also the promise I made in my past life.”

“Your promise?”

Len nodded. “Yes. You dislike conflict, so I swore that I would create a safe place for us in this world. A place far away from fighting.”

Her voice softened, and the faintest hint of sadness entered her smile.

“But I have not been able to fulfill that promise yet. So, at the very least, let me take care of you. Let me protect you from danger. That is my deepest wish.”

Her sincerity reached me without any need for embellishment.

Len really meant every word. Her love was heavy, almost overwhelming, but it was also warm. The way she placed my safety above everything else made my chest ache in a way I could not easily describe.

I let out a sigh and shifted the conversation before the atmosphere grew too serious.

“...You wanted to discuss which slaves to save, right?”

“Yes.”

“Are there slave merchants or auctions in this world?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. There are. Even the Rosenwood Kingdom has them.” She answered, though she looked puzzled by the sudden question.

“Even elf countries have them?”

“I never visited it, though. So I don’t know what kind of slaves they sell.”

My image of elves had been rather idealized, but reality seemed much less beautiful.

“Then it is simple. Instead of liberating slaves by force, we can buy them.”

“Buy… the slaves?” Len blinked at me, clearly caught off guard.

“Yes. That way, we can avoid unnecessary risks.”

“But why? It is not our obligation to save them. We are doing it because we choose to. So why should we spend money on them?”

Ah, right. I remember when she forced me to sleep on her bed, but she did not want to sacrifice herself by sleeping on the floor or the sofa, so we ended up sharing the bed.

I chuckled as I recalled our first meeting.

Len was kind, but her kindness was not the kind that blindly sacrificed herself for strangers. Perhaps the idea of buying slaves had never crossed her mind because she had always solved the problem by breaking the chains directly.

“Then we can buy them gradually. While we complete adventurer quests, we earn money. Once they repay the amount we spent, we release them and repeat the process. If they repay more than their original price, we might even make a profit.”

Len placed a finger near her lips and thought about it.

“That’s… a nice idea. Then we can ask whether they want to continue traveling with us or go their own way.”

“Yes. And once we have enough power, we can confront others to save more slaves like you usually do. The more people we have, the lower the risk, right?”

“Yes!”

Her expression brightened at once.

“Then it is decided. We will buy female slaves who can fight.”

“Huh? Why only females? I am fine with any gender.”

“If we bought men, you would worry that I might do something with them behind your back. So we should buy women.”

“H-Huh? But…”

Ugh. I cannot deny that.

Ever since my first ex cheated on me, I had a bad habit of overthinking. Even when I trusted someone, a small part of me still feared being betrayed again.

“But what about you? Aren’t you afraid I might do something with the female slaves?” I threw the same question back at her.

“Of course I would be scared too. I trust you, but I do not trust your desires.”

The way she said that was far too direct.

“T-Then…”

“But that’s precisely why you should let me join as well.”

“Huhhh!?”

Her suggestion struck me so suddenly that my voice came out louder than expected. Len looked completely calm, as though she had merely suggested changing our lunch menu.

“Did I not tell you that I would let you have as many wives as you wanted? If I could not endure that much, I would not have suggested it in the first place. Besides, all this time, we have already shared intimate moments with other women. There are Aza, Luna, Noir, Fia, and Nyx.”

“No. They do not count because they are just souls without bodies.”

“Even so, that does not change the fact that Aza’s voice always aroused you, right?”

“Ugh…”

I cannot deny her again.

“Don’t worry. I felt the same way.” Len admitted it far too easily, then continued before I could recover. “So that is the condition. If you ever want to do it with the slaves, I must join. And there is one more condition.”

“I do not plan to do anything with the slaves when I already have such a beautiful princess as my partner.”

I tried to tease her, but Len ignored it with a composed smile.

“You cannot force them if they are unwilling.”

“You can take the role of their master, then. That way, you do not have to worry about me forcing them.”

Len shook her head.

“No. You should be their owner. Who knows, some of them may choose to follow us. If that happens, you might need to use your Immortal Bonds on them. It would be better for you to be their owner from the start, so you can build trust with them.”

“Well, if you say so…”

I finally relented.

Len looked satisfied, but the warmth in her eyes soon changed into something more playful.

“If we are done with this topic, then let’s do it. I am getting heated after talking about it.”

She set her bowl aside and leaned closer to me.

“...Even without talking about that topic, you would still get turned on.”

I sighed, though I still put my own bowl away and returned the utensils to my Item Storage.

“If you already know that, then let’s start right away.” She urged.

“Yes, yes.” I answered casually, then leaned in and kissed her.

And so, our plan to save the slaves was decided.