I equipped Slave Master and then took over Lydia's Slave status. It went rather smoothly. I pushed mana into her and shortly after, it was done. She hugged me, her melon's pressing against my arm. Afterward, having her so close made me self-conscious, so pulling some of the water from the water basin, I started to clean myself as well. Meanwhile, Lydia was grinning like a cat sitting beside me, her tail wagging happily.
[Lydia is now your slave.}
"Finally… Hehe, I'm truly Master's woman." Lydia responded excitedly.
"Mm… Master's second." Miki giggled.
"Geh!" Lydia shot Miki a tearful look. "I'm first! I was first!"
"You're number two!" Miki sniffed.
"Ah… about that…" I sighed while washing my body carefully, prompting two sets of sharp eyes to land on me. "N-never mind!"
The look in the girl's eyes were scary. I suddenly decided immediately it was better to not say anything about making Celeste a slave at the moment. In fact, I mentioned her down there, but they didn't even know she was a woman. Well, I'll take care of that when it comes to it.
"M-master…" Lydia blushed while eying my body, making me feel like covering myself with my shirt again. "You're looking very handsome these days."
"Eh?" I raised an eyebrow. "I've been in a dungeon for the last few weeks, that's impossible."
Miki nodded her head. "You're really lean and muscular now. Plus, you give off an air of manliness, it's really… ah… s-s-sexy…"
Miki turned away, also blushing. It was clear Lydia had rubbed off on her the last few weeks. Her being able to say something like I looked sexy was clearly Lydia's work. Both girls loved me and hadn't seen me for a while. Plus, they had been in a dungeon for over a week themselves. Likely, their standards on handsome were very low right now. I could look like a troll and they'd probably find me handsome right after I fed and clothed them.
We spoke for a while longer. I showed them how to register on the kiosk. Neither girl could teleport anywhere else in the dungeon since they hadn't registered at any of the other kiosks, but they were excited by learning about this possibility.
"Ah… on that note, did you guys see a library on the first floor? I skipped it."
The two girls looked at each other and then nodded. "Y-yes… we saw it."
"Did you by chance look at the mural? I'd like to know what it showed. Perhaps it will help me somehow."
"Ah… I did look at it… it's kind of confusing." Lydia admitted.
Miki shrugged. "It had to do with the destruction of Chalm. Some woman cursed the inhabitants of the mansion, and led to the ghosts taking over the mansion."
"Some woman?" I asked in surprise, "Just some woman? Not Karr? I mean, a nobleman?"
Miki shook her head. "Not a man. It was a woman… oh… but she wasn't human."
"R-really?"
Miki nodded. "She had… um… wings on her back. They were wings like a bat. And her black eyes were filled with rage. It was a scary mural. I didn't like sleeping there."
"Ah… thanks…" I smiled, but deep down it left me feeling a bit confused.
Lydia nodded, confirming that they both saw the same thing. It was possible that their interpretation was different from what I would have seen. However, I only had their testimonials to go on. Going to the fifth floor and working my way up would take a lot of time, and I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to learn any more than what they said.
"I suppose it's about time that we leave." I sighed.
"No!" The two girls threw themselves at me again.
I patted their heads and reassured them. We stayed like that for as long as I could allow. I couldn't breath easy until they were all safe, Celeste included. I didn't know when she was added to that list, but now she was just as important to me as these two girls in my arms.