The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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“Woof… Woof…”

The last remaining wolf, after a desperate bite or two, lost its life and collapsed.

Those infected by magic wouldn’t disband even if their leader was killed, growing even more feral as a result.

Taking them all down took much longer than I anticipated.

I shot arrows at those wolves, taking out one of their legs at a time, while the soldiers assisted me.

Even if they seemed crazed, not realizing they had arrows lodged in their legs, they could not move those limbs as they pleased.

I took pride in believing that I contributed to the soldiers who faced those wolves head-on.

Once the series of events concluded, Siabel stood before the most heavily corrupted wolf among those she had hunted.

Siabel’s piercing gaze scrutinized the lifeless body of the wolf, now cold.

Its fur was stained black, and the corpse of the wolf that couldn’t even close its eyes emitted a dreadful aura.

“Let’s take the corpses with us. We need to confirm their state with the priests.”

At Siabel’s command, the soldiers sequentially gathered three of the most heavily corrupted remains.

As expected of a noble.

Siabel stood by, without lifting a finger, watching over the efficient soldiers.

Carrying the heavy wolves was all the normal soldiers’ burden.

The Ashen Wolf, tainted with magic, seemed to resist being touched, staying firmly in its spot.

Just then, Shione slowly walked towards me.

Stomp stomp.

“What on earth is that?”

It was hard to tell if Shione had fought for her life against the wolf, as she was covered in blood.

Moreover, there was not a remaining foe now that all wolves were captured.

It was impressive that she approached tightly gripping her sword.

As I locked eyes with Shione, she immediately smiled faintly.

…Honestly speaking, it was a bit scary.

She looked like a madwoman.

With blood smeared from her lower face and sword firmly held in her right hand, she approached with a smile.

How could that not be frightening?

In the face of her unsettling appearance, Shione kindly inquired about my well-being.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Of course! But what about you, Princess Shione? Are you alright?”

“This much is fine. After all, I’m a Sword User’s knight.”

“Still, you look…”

…Maybe she exerted too much effort for just one wolf despite being a Sword User?

At my words, Shione checked her own appearance.

It seemed she realized she didn’t look all that great.

But that realization only lasted for a moment before she noticed my concern and eased her expression.

“You don’t have to worry. Though it might look bad… it’s not even my blood.”

“…You’re much bolder than when you faced the Cultists.”

“The wolves’ blood is not human blood, is it?”

Shione began to shake her sword, trying to remove the thickly clotted blood.

“Moreover, those were monsters infused with magic. No matter what, I won’t hesitate against such creatures.”

As Shione spoke, she frowned as blood stubbornly refused to come off her blade.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Ah.”

I felt a bit impatient watching her struggle, so I snatched the sword from her hand.

Whoosh!

I swung the sword in a crescent motion to flick off the blood.

Yet, some stubborn clots wouldn’t budge, so I wiped them off with my clothing and hands.

Clothing?

We would be returning tomorrow, so I could just change into my uniform instead of this leather armor.

If blood stained my clothes, washing it would be a hassle.

But cleaning wasn’t my job; that was for the other servants.

I checked the sword.

It had only been roughly cleaned, and some red still lingered, but I figured it would suffice since I’d be using it again multiple times.

As I held the sword and walked slowly towards Shione, she flinched.

I stepped closer as if to embrace her, then paused.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Just wait a moment.”

I drew closer and returned her sword to the sheath at her waist.

Now, at last, I felt relaxed, knowing I wouldn’t have to see Shione holding that dripping bloody sword.

But the problem was Shione.

For some reason, she looked displeased.

Even as I helped her, she shot me an indignant glare.

“Ray… you’re up to something, aren’t you?”

“Up to something? What do you mean?”

Up to something?

All I did was help a dazed Shione, nothing more.

I tilted my head at her cryptic words and voiced my thoughts.

In the end, it seemed like Shione just shook her head and decided to give up.

“Sigh… never mind.”

As she mumbled that, I quietly stood beside her, observing her show signs of exhaustion.

Then, as if waiting for the right moment, Siabel’s voice echoed.

“We return seriously. We’ll quickly reorganize and search this area, so be mindful.”

At her words, we began to descend the mountain slowly.

Shione and I walked a bit apart from the line of soldiers.

It wasn’t like there was anything to discuss with them anyway.

And considering I was the only man around lately, I could feel the soldiers’ gazes, especially after Siabel.

This way, walking apart with Shione felt more comfortable.

Moreover, the soldiers were struggling down the mountain with their captured wolves.

If I lingered too close, I could become a nuisance, which would bring troubles upon myself.

So, it was better to intuitively stay back.

As we walked a little behind, Shione subtly started to speak up.

“Um….”

What could she possibly be hesitating about this time?

There didn’t seem to be anything worth her reaction.

“What’s wrong?”

Finally, as if resolved, she mustered some courage.

“I think I got pretty close to Siabel… could you explain what happened?”

“Oh, that.”

I looked toward the backs of the soldiers ahead of us.

There was only one knight with keen hearing, Siabel, though many soldiers were around.

They were walking a bit apart while struggling under the weight of the heavy wolves.

If someone had sharp ears, they could eavesdrop on our conversation easily.

I gently grabbed Shione’s wrist.

“Let’s move a bit further away, lest someone overhear us.”

“…Is there some reason this needs to be a secret?”

“Yes, it wouldn’t be good for anyone else to hear this.”

“What is it, anyway?”

At my response, Shione’s complexion darkened.

Her shadowed face felt a bit ominous.

“…Since you say so, let’s walk a little further behind.”

We slowed our pace to distance ourselves more from the line.

At this distance, even regular soldiers wouldn’t easily eavesdrop, regardless of how good their hearing was.

“So, what’s the reason for this?”

It seemed Shione was on the same wavelength and urged for my answer once again.

If I just stayed quiet, I could easily explain things, so why was she pushing?

I took a slow breath and began to speak.

“I got exposed for being able to use magic in front of Lady Siabel.”

At my words, Shione’s expression froze.

“You were caught by my sister using magic.”

“Yes, Lady Siabel swore on Shianella’s name to keep it a secret… but…”

“If she swore on Shianella’s name, given her personality, it should be safe from anyone else’s ears.”

Shione brushed her hair back.

Seeing a small wrinkle on her forehead, it was clear that she did not feel comfortable with the idea of her sister knowing about me.

“I’ll talk to my sister about this separately.”

Sigh… Shione let out a small sigh.

“Do you know how she found out you use magic?”

“It was when the Orc charged Shione.”

“Ah.”

“I used magic because it seemed impossible to save you without it. I tried to keep it subtle, but… experts’ eyes can’t be deceived.”

“…So it was my fault.”

Shione’s brows furrowed more deeply.

“It’s my responsibility to tie this up neatly.”

“Thank you.”

“What’s it to me? It’s only natural.”

After saying that, Shione smiled at me before looking back towards the soldiers, muttering something.

…Aren’t you my slave?

“…What?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you just say something?”

“Heh, sounds like you might be hearing things.”

With that, Shione began to walk ahead with seemingly lighter steps.

That subtly brighter image of her continued on until we arrived at the camp and took a moment’s rest.

And remained until we began searching the area where we had caught the wolves again.