Mirabelle told him all about her past.
Everything from how she was a witch, to how a priest came to her village, to what happened to her mother, to how she was sold into slavery.
It wasn't meant to be sympathetic.
My opponent is a vicious slave trader with no blood or tears, and even more vicious is Karami, the so-called Slave Reaper. Mirabelle wasn't optimistic enough to fire up her happiness circuitry to think that selling him emotion would make things work.
A child faced with reality too soon tends to grow up early.
So she planned to stay hidden for the rest of her life. The moment she was caught, she would be witch-hunted.
That's why Mirabelle had told Karami her secret on a whim....
"Why?
The answer is a question.
Even she couldn't figure out why.
But if she had to find a reason... Yes, it would be because she felt a strange warmth in his touch, in his arms.
I don't know how long it's been since I've felt warm.
It was a ridiculous story, finding favor with a slave trader. If anyone heard it, they'd say she'd lost her mind after being enslaved, but what could they say, she was.
Mirabelle glanced at Karami.
I wonder how he'll react when he finds out his slave is a witch. I'm sure he'll be embarrassed, because protecting a witch is punishable by death, or maybe he'll go ballistic.
Whatever it is, I think it will be pleasant. Karami always keeps a poker face that's hard to read, and I'm looking forward to the moment it breaks.
But contrary to Mirabelle's expectations, Karami keeps a smile on her face the entire time. Despite the fact that Mirabelle is a witch.
It's like.
"Haha, what's that supposed to mean?"
As if he didn't know the word panic.
Instead, it was Mirabelle who was flustered.
"What did you say? A witch? You'll be punished for harboring a witch, whoever she is, and I could get you killed?"
"Whether Miss Mirabelle is a witch or an evil god is irrelevant, ex-slave trader. The only thing I care about is value."
"Value...?"
Karami nodded.
"Miss Mirabelle is of incalculable value. Even I can't fathom the extent of it. To throw her away simply because she's a witch would be a fool, a slave trader."
Mirabelle's indigo eyes widened until they threatened to pop out.
Just a witch?
Did he just say "nothing"?
She'd been abandoned by her own father for being a witch, and Karami, a complete stranger, considered her 'nothing'.
Mirabelle couldn't understand.
She didn't want to be convinced.
If she admitted it, she'd be the one who'd been abandoned for nothing. Then what was this person who was family and abandoned for nothing?
Karami doesn't seem to mind that she's a witch.
When Mirabelle's eyes took on a hateful glint, Karami interrupted and whispered something sweet.
"You needn't be so resentful. The purpose of this trip is to see him, so let's go and ask him. Why did he abandon himself?"
I said.
"Until that moment comes, Miss Mirabelle, you need to focus on practicing your magic as you are now. You don't have to worry about anything else."
I must practice my magic.
To repay that man a thousandfold for the pain he caused her.
"When all is said and done. I will send Miss Mirabelle back to her mother's side."
To her mother's side, out of reach forever?
A death sentence.
Mirabelle panicked for a moment.
A snap.
The cogs of reason that make up Mirabelle's thinking begin to turn in reverse.
"Oh, right.
The girl realized, realized.
The light that was lost so long ago cannot be regained.
Even if you could turn back time.
Unless you are born as someone else.
At the point of birth as Mirabelle.
No matter how many times I repeat it, the ending is the same.
Why do I want something I know I'll never get back? No. I don't. There was no need to be tied to this world.
At his side is Karami, the so-called Slave Reaper, the only savior who can free him from this harsh reality.
"I will free you from this hell, and you can work hard until that moment comes, right?"
Total liberation.
Free from the shackles of life.
Mirabelle smiles, the brightest smile she's ever worn.
"Yes, master."
***.
"But, Master, why did you buy me then?"
Mirabelle suddenly asks a primal question.
There was no more hesitation in Mirabelle's voice. The girl who had been uncomfortable calling Karami her master was now fully acknowledging him as such.
Mirabelle realized from their conversation that Karami judged his opponents by their worth.
But when she thought about it, it was strange. She had only just discovered that she was a witch, and that she had a talent for magic in the not-too-distant past.
Until then, she was just an ordinary, worthless girl with nothing special about her. That's who Mirabelle was.
So what did Karami see in her when he bought her at the slave carnival? What did he see in her eyes, paying a thousand gold, not a penny.
"First, because I have eyes for people. When I look at this person, I can see how high they will rise, and when I look at that person, I can see how low they will fall."
"And the second?"
"Secondly, because Miss Mirabelle's eyes are dead."
Mirabelle tilts her head at this.
Karami smiles wickedly and continues her explanation.
"I love to take control of someone who is flailing in despair. I take them to the highest point they can reach, and then I set them free. The pleasure is indescribable."
It was a perverted statement.
Mirabelle had never seen anything like it.
It was the equivalent of giving a blind man sight and then plucking out his eyeballs.
A stinker of a stinker.
Anyone else would have condemned it.
But Mirabelle was different, because it gave her a chance at redemption.
"I see now.
The dozens of slaves who had passed through Karami's hands must have felt the same way she did, every one of them walking away with a happy smile on their faces, something only his slaves could relate to.
The other slaves would never know this feeling.
Alas, poor things. It was an ecstatic sensation that only his chosen ones could feel.
"Master, what do you think I should do now? I should work on my magic, shouldn't I?"
Mirabelle's will rises violently.
The man who abandoned her, who abandoned her family.
The man who abandoned her family.
She must repay him until the day of her liberation comes.
What can she, a lowly slave, do for Karami? Increase his value even further, and Karami will be even more pleased.
That is the role of a slave.
But for all Mirabelle's enthusiasm, Karami's reaction was one of indifference.
"What are you talking about, I need to wash up."
"...What?"
Mirabelle looked out the window. The world was darkened by a thick blanket of spiders.
"I've gotten complaints about magic at this hour."
"And the complaint," Karami added, "will be directed at you, the slave's master.
The deep sigh behind him, and the tired look in his eyes, hinted at a great deal of pain. As if he had a past he didn't want to remember.
Mirabelle's willpower flickered in response. She knew she shouldn't be here.
She should sleep.
***]
"Hehehe."
What's so nice.
Mirabelle snuggles into my arms and giggles.
"What the hell happened.
It wasn't until we were all ready for bed that I realized what was wrong.
Mirabelle's condition was so bad that we had to find a place to stay quickly, and we found a room with only one bed.
When she asked the innkeeper if there were any other rooms available, she was told they were full. The dungeon was rumored to be open, and adventurers were flocking to the area.
The two of them ended up sleeping in this room.
"I'll sleep on the floor, master."
"No."
I wondered what had changed in his mind.
Ever since our heart-to-heart, Mirabelle had been a faithful slave. She's as neat as if she were a maid in a noble family.
She's a bit of a creep, but she won't let it go. As a slave lover (female only), sleeping on the floor is not gentlemanly.
Besides, he might come back later and bury me in the ground and put me to sleep as 'revenge for sleeping on the ground that day'. If I sleep on the floor, I sleep, but not Mirabelle.
We came to an agreement, and we ended up sleeping in the same bed. Mirabelle is petite, so it wasn't too cramped for the two of us.
The problem was posture.
Normally, when a man and a woman who are not related lie on the same bed, they are on their backs, but Mirabelle insisted and crawled into my arms.
Then she smiled and said she liked it.
Why did her personality change so suddenly?
Was it the meeting with the priests?
Did she have a mental breakdown and give up on herself?
"This is not good.
I don't remember ever seeing Mirabelle smile so wide. If she's really feeling better, that's fine, but if not, we need to do something about it.
We're going to try to get her back on track tomorrow.