The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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“Does that mean… you’ll be going to the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony with Shione?”

“Yes. I will finish all the preparations within a week.”

“…I see.”

Hearing that I only had a week left to relax in the mansion drained the energy from me.

I had just recovered and started to rest a little after injuring my arm, but it had hardly been a few days.

Now, I was already hearing about another long-distance excursion looming over me.

Forget Shione; maybe I should just run away from here.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let Shione know at the appropriate time later, so just wait quietly.”

“I understand.”

There were responsibilities regarding the upcoming princess’s coming-of-age ceremony and what I had to do in the capital with Ainel.

And Ainel unilaterally listed out things I needed to keep in mind.

Everything Ainel commanded me to do in the capital revolved around inconvenient and bothersome tasks.

“…Can I join the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony?”

“You’re not just an ordinary servant; you’re Shianella’s attendant, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

The things I would be tasked with at the coming-of-age ceremony were nothing but dreadfully burdensome and nerve-wracking duties.

I wondered if Shione, who had so nonchalantly chattered about calling off her engagement, would even be able to hold a normal conversation.

To mingle with other noble offspring, too!

Those from the Count’s family and the Marquis family at that.

I couldn’t help but feel nervous about Shione, who usually reacts sharply around anyone except Siabel and me, making a mistake.

What if the misfortune of Shione’s actions splashed onto me? That thought made me anxious.

After finishing the conversation with Ainel, she issued a command without hesitation.

I quickly bowed my head and turned the doorknob to leave.

Just then, Ainel’s relaxed voice came from behind me.

“Please take good care of Shione.”

“Leave it to me.”

“In the future, I will place my oath of mana upon it. If you need a wizard, just call for one.”

“…Understood.”

I nodded at Ainel’s words.

The oath of mana.

It’s a common practice to use wizards as intermediaries when drafting important contracts back on Earth.

Despite being forced to follow the oaths, there was nothing to worry about.

I had no intention of betraying Shione or Shianella.

Since I’d only be swearing to things I had no reason to betray in the first place, I left without issue, still accepting Ainel’s words.

Once outside Ainel’s office, I walked away some distance before I could finally sigh in relief.

“Hah…”

I felt completely drained.

Being suddenly seized by Ainel and interrogated in her office was exhausting, especially with that sharp blade at my throat.

It’s no surprise I felt tired.

The fortunate part was that, as a small consolation, there was a minor reward available.

I checked the completed quest.

[Quest Completed.]

[Your physical abilities have slightly increased.]

“Not bad.”

Just as indicated in the quest, my physical abilities had risen.

However, it wasn’t significant, so I didn’t feel much different.

I felt a bit more refreshed and spirited than usual.

It wasn’t a huge difference, but having something is better than nothing.

With that in mind, I tried shaking off my fatigue, but my status window was still in my sight.

[Ainel Shianella has started to take interest in you.]

[Your mana recovery ability has increased.]

“Huh? Mana recovery ability?”

Isn’t that interesting?

I rubbed my eyes and checked the status window again.

Was this a dream or reality?

The status window confirmed I wasn’t hallucinating, still announcing that my mana recovery ability had indeed increased.

“Wow.”

A gasp escaped my lips.

An increase in mana recovery ability.

In simple terms, it was fantastic news.

Increased mana recovery meant the speed at which my empty mana refilled would rise, and it ensured faster healing and fewer aftereffects when nearing mana exhaustion.

This was an incredibly important ability for someone like me, who suffered from mana exhaustion after casting a few spells.

“I hit the jackpot.”

In light of this unexpected gain, my previously weary mind cleared up.

With this, it would be good to make a favorable impression on Ainel going forward.

As I pondered this while heading back to Shione’s room, something Ainel said suddenly sprang to mind.

“The seventh slave of the iron bars…”

Hearing her words reminded me of the first time I met Ainel in the iron bars, and I found myself lost in those memories for a moment.

*

“Huh… Let’s think this through.”

I plopped down on the cold floor, closed my eyes, and slowly began retracing the events I had experienced.

“Right, I was definitely challenging a D-rank dungeon.”

The type of dungeon was a wave.

In a dungeon that saw monsters and demons pouring out at regular intervals, I was stubbornly shooting arrows and cutting down nearby enemies.

Facing a horde of monsters at the S-rank dungeon, much more numerous than those in the A-rank dungeon I usually visited, I continued the battle.

“I could have tackled it.”

Though it was tough, I believed I could conquer it.

To tackle the S-rank dungeon, which had a limit of 50 entrants, I formed a party with 47 elite A-rank hunters and three S-rank hunters.

Among the 700 million hunters, we were easily in the top 500.

Surely, any S-rank dungeon should have been manageable for us.

And just as I thought, the party pushed through four waves of monsters of five total waves.

“Demons were a bit of a nuisance, but we managed to kill them somehow.”

But even if we were faring well, we weren’t without our crises.

Certain demons, acting as bosses in the waves, unleashed various attacks on us.

However, thanks to the dedicated support of the S-rank hunters, we managed to defeat them.

“We were on the verge of a successful raid, but the fifth wave was the real problem.”

The fifth wave was different.

The sheer number of monsters that had already been excessive instantly doubled in strength and cunning.

And that wasn’t all.

“The demon that appeared at the end.”

The fifth wave’s demon was something else entirely.

The moment it appeared, the world filled with dense magic.

The already difficult-to-deal-with monsters became further aggravated as they were consumed by magic.

Countless hunters lost their lives.

The demon hunted down the most reliable S-rank hunters.

Losing three S-rank hunters in an instant shattered the team into disarray.

As everyone fell one by one, and I was left as the last survivor, with nothing left to lose, I recklessly dashed out and shot my last arrow at the demon.

Yet, I could vividly recall being torn apart by the oncoming monsters.

“Talk about a long life line.”

As I opened my eyes again and checked myself,

I found myself trapped in a cage, dressed in ragged clothes.

Clank, clank.

To make matters worse, I had shackles around my feet, too.

Upon further inspection, this body was not my original one.

There was barely any mana left, and there was no way that this emaciated body could be mine.

“What on earth is going on?”

I couldn’t make head or tail of the situation.

Was I seeing some sort of illusion just before I died? Or had I arrived in some afterlife? As I pondered, the status window appeared.

[You’ve boarded the fate of a world destined for destruction.]

[The world’s will to exist begins to guide you toward a new destiny.]

Entering a world destined for destruction?

The world’s will to exist?

This should all tie into something comprehensible so I can understand.

Ignoring the nonsensical words of the status window, I tried to get a grasp of the situation, and soon enough, the status window finally delivered the information I longed for.

[Would you like to receive information for smooth adaptation?]

I nodded at the status window’s question.

Then, fragments of memories from this body’s owner and the basic nature of this world began to seep into me.

The fresh events about the life-changing moment were vividly clear, while the older memories appeared dim.

And the information about this land, where I was breathing and standing now, trickled in as only the simplest bits of knowledge.

I wrinkled my face while digesting the information.

It was an unpleasant feeling to have my memories forcibly overwritten, but there was nothing I could do.

To find any sort of footing in this situation, I required this information.

And subsequently, after receiving that information,

“…Shit.”

I couldn’t help but curse.

Accepting the memories of this body’s owner, I stumbled upon just how this world functioned.

I also realized I was in the former guise of that S-rank dungeon I had been raiding before.

Denying my reality amidst this incomprehensible situation,

A heavy voice echoed.

“Seventh, Ray. Lunch time.”

A plump woman approached, placing food inside the cage.

A thin soup and hard bread.

That was the meal the original owner of this body, a slave named Ray, consumed every day, imprisoned in the seventh iron cage.

I stood by, utterly astounded, thinking how anyone could possibly eat something so underwhelming,

Grrroowl.

But my own stomach loudly protested for food.

Now aware of my sorry state, realizing I had nothing to do just sitting here, I picked up the bread placed before me.

“Hah…”

I skillfully dipped the hard bread into the soup, taking a bite just as Ray would have done.

Chewing the extremely stiff bread made me reflect.

My life. It seemed overly twisted.