The women I set free are obsessed with me

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Rattle.

The carriage shook as it rolled along.

Another carriage journey. The difference from before was that I hadn't taken a carriage with anti-shaking enchantments to save money.

The second difference was that Mirabelle, who used to sit across from me staring at the ground, was now sitting on my lap.

Even when I told her to sit comfortably, she stubbornly maintained this position. I wondered if this was comfortable for her. Not that I minded, since I could hug Mirabelle this way.

I wrapped my arms around Mirabelle's slim waist, holding her like a teddy bear. I needed to soak up as much Mirabelle essence as I could at this moment.

During this, Mirabelle was learning magic with the Soul Grimoire open to make the most efficient use of the time.

I wondered how exactly she learned magic.

It piqued my curiosity.

"Can you understand just by looking at it?"

"Hmm, when I look at it, knowledge flows into my mind and I naturally understand. Like how you see an apple and think, 'That's an apple', I look at magic and think 'Oh, it's this kind of magic'."

"Can you really learn magic just from that?"

"When you see an apple, you can draw it right? It's the same. I draw the magic knowledge in my mind and it comes out."

Even though I was completely ignorant about magic, I could tell this wasn't normal.

Not all drawings were the same.

If I drew one, it would just be a red circle with a stem, but someone else might add depth and shading.

It usually took effort to reach that level, but Mirabelle was skipping the process and drawing a picture-perfect apple photograph.

This doesn't make sense.

In a way though, it was surprisingly accurate. Even in the game, you learned skills instantly just by clicking on a skill book. The only difference here was that it required a minimal amount of time.

"But Master, what does this have to do with taking revenge on that person?"

"It allows you to manipulate souls. In other words, you can inflict endless suffering even in death."

"Aha! As expected of Master."

Mirabelle nodded, satisfied with the simple explanation. Then she turned her eyes back to the book, learning magic even more enthusiastically than before.

She was really serious about tormenting her dad.

Well, it was good to be passionate about something.

"Passengers, we have arrived~"

The carriage stopped, and the driver announced our arrival. I got out of the carriage while still carrying Mirabelle.

"Here we are. Our destination, Fracture."

I showed Mirabelle the cityscape with an exaggerated voice and gestures.

At that moment, Mirabelle's mouth opened slightly, and her eyes trembled. Her grip on the Heavenly Covenant tightened.

It was closer to shock than admiration.

Her lips quivered as she spoke.

"Master, th-this place…"

"I received information that your father is here. He should be somewhere in this city. But… why are you making that expression?"

I spoke with a nonchalant tone, feigning ignorance. Meanwhile, the corners of my mouth twitched uncontrollably at her expected reaction.

That's right. Be surprised. Of course you'd be surprised.

Because…

…This is where Mirabelle was abandoned by her father.

***

I entered Fracture with Mirabelle.

And Mirabelle, who used to hold my hand while walking, was now clinging to me like a leech. She whipped her head around at the slightest sound, showing signs of anxiety.

Her trauma from that day was clearly at work. It was so severe that I bought a brown robe from a clothing store and put it on her.

Even that wasn't enough, as Mirabelle begged to be carried, so I had no choice but to pick her up. She wrapped her arms and legs tightly around my neck and waist.

As we passed through the square.

In that place where people constantly walked by, two decayed skulls were on display. They must have been notorious criminals.

We passed by those skulls and found the slave market.

Slaves screamed from behind iron bars.

Others shuffled in lines, bound by shackles and handcuffs.

Some were being beaten for resisting.

Naked slaves were hosed down with water, among other degrading scenes.

It was a scene straight out of an imaginary slave market, quite unpleasant to modern eyes. Of course, having synchronized with a slave trader, it felt just like home to me.

As I was looking around, a woman approached us.

"What brings you to the slave market?"

"I'm here on some business."

Our eyes met.

It was my first time seeing this woman, yet she wasn't unfamiliar. I recognized her face.

To clarify, this woman was the NPC slave trader from Fracture who had revealed crucial details in the Mirabelle Liberation storyline.

Her name was Camilla, right?

"Ah, I see. A fellow trader~"

Conversely, Camilla shouldn't have any information about me, yet she immediately recognized my profession.

Slave traders must be connected by some invisible thread. We could tell just by looking at each other. 'Ah, this bastard. That greedy look in his eyes, he must be a slave trader.'

"What brings you here? Selling? Or buying?"

As she said this, she looked at Mirabelle who was clinging to me like a koala with greedy eyes… For a moment, I was about to say something but held back.

"Haha, she's like a comfort doll, so she's not for sale. I came here to investigate something. Ah, my apologies. I should introduce myself properly."

I showed Camilla my Slave Traders Association ID. Upon seeing it, her eyes widened for a moment.

"So you're the rumored Slave Reaper! I've heard a lot about you. I'm a big fan."

"Haha, thank you."

As expected, I was quite popular in places like this.

"I really like that story, the one where you stacked a hundred beastkin to make a fire, then set it on fire to create a tower of flames. They even say the flames reached all the way to the moon?"

What are you talking about?

What kind of crazy bastard would do something so barbaric?

"And what was the other one? Ah, right. I heard you recently snatched away Count Bryan's daughter?"

"Huh?"

"They say you pretended to return her but actually stole the family heirloom. Wow, you're really something. It's not easy to pull that off with nobles."

No, I never did that.

I definitely saw her having an emotional reunion with her parents.

"I heard it caused quite an uproar in the Bryan House, with them trying to catch the Reaper and all. Be careful. The Count has even put a bounty on your head. If it were anyone else, I'd have called the Knight Order right away, but since you're a fellow trader, I won't report you. Us slave traders have to stick together."

Camila yapped off on stories I wasn't even aware of. I wanted to correct these misunderstandings immediately, but I had to address a more urgent matter.

"Thank you for your information. But we've gotten off track. I came here out of curiosity for something."

I handed Camila a silver coin. In this business, it was common sense to pay for the information you wanted.

"What is it? I'll tell you what I know."

"A few months ago, didn't a big incident occur here in Fracture?"

"Incidents happen everywhere every day. Which one?"

"Well, for example, a man selling his witch daughter as a slave?"

The moment those words left my mouth, Camilla's typical slave trader smirk vanished completely.

She stared at me like a snake, seemingly piercing through me. Her voice lowered.

"You… how do you know that? Only a select few in Fracture even have that information."

I didn't answer. Instead, I offered her a meaningful smile.

Realization soon dawned on Camila's face, and she returned the silver coin I had given her. Only then did I give her the answer she wanted.

"How could I not know? Your head could go flying for keeping a witch around. It's the kind of information a slave trader can't afford not to know."

"…You're right. Haa, I was so surprised I just lost money for nothing."

Camilla clicked her tongue as if she'd been had.

That was originally my money, you bitch.

"But why are you asking? It's not a topic I really want to bring up."

"Did something happen?"

"Don't even ask. Someone tipped off the Knight Order about a witch being sold to a slave trader, so they raided the place and hauled off all the female slaves. You know how it is. Women, especially young ones, are worth more on the market."

"Of course I know."

"And here's the kicker, they threatened to execute us for harboring witches if we refused. Our heads were on the chopping block, and we couldn't do a damn thing about it. They treated them so brutally that when we got the girls back, not a single girl was in her right mind. Can you even imagine how much we lost from that incident alone?"

Camilla grimaced and shuddered as if recalling a terrible nightmare.

"So what happened? Did they find her?"

"They did find her. She was among the slaves. They even had a public execution in the square. I take it you saw it on your way here?"

With those words, Camilla fell silent.

I flicked another gold coin her way, which Camilla skillfully caught.

"Oh, gold this time. For what?"

"For what you're hiding."

"Hiding? What do you mean? That's all I got though?"

I just smiled at her without answering, meeting her gaze. Camilla smiled back, but it didn't last long.

"Wow… You're not called Slave Reaper for nothing, huh? I'm genuinely impressed. How do you know all this?"

Muttering this, Camilla looked around and then whispered secretly into my ear.

"This is top secret… Actually, saying we found her was a lie. Cause one of the slave girls taken by the Knight Order never came back."

"Wasn't she the witch?"

Camila shook her head vigorously.

"She was a case of adventurer parents dying during an expedition, and the child becoming a slave for stealing bread. There's no way she could be a witch."

"So they switched them."

"Something like that, yeah. If people found out they let the witch escape, they'd be uneasy, and the Knight Order's honor would be dragged through the mud."

In other words, they put on a show with a slave whose death wouldn't cause much trouble.

"Then what about the real witch?"

"I don't know that far. There are plenty of slave traders in the world. She could be hiding somewhere in the city, or she might have left. Anyway, that's the end of the story. Honestly, I've given you more than your money's worth."

As Camilla turned to leave, saying she didn't want to talk anymore, I flicked another gold coin her way. It should have been in her blind spot, but Camilla caught it like a money-crazed demon.

"Let me ask one more thing."

"You're quite generous. What exactly are you after?"

"Do you know where the witch's father might be?"

Camilla let out a snort of laughter at that question.

It almost seemed like mockery.

"You're unexpectedly naive, aren't you? Wasting money on something so obvious."

Camilla turned her head to look back at the path we had walked.

"The fate of those who shelter witches is always the same."

***

The final destination in the well-known Mirabelle Liberation storyline.

We had already passed by it. Even though I knew everything already, I purposely visited the slave market to draw out the story.

Getting all this backstory for just one gold coin, isn't that a steal?

Only the main characters had voice acting.

Full voice acting would have been too expensive, I guess.

What used to be just scrolling text, I could now hear in the voice of the person involved for just a few coins. I absolutely couldn't hold myself back.

Well, while I had the selfish motive of satisfying my curiosity this way, I also wanted Mirabelle, who was hiding but listening, to catch up with the flow of events.

Mirabelle should know what she needs to know now.

In the darkness before dawn, when the sun had set and even the magic stone lamps were extinguished.

I stood with Mirabelle, who had come down from my arms, in the central square. Perhaps due to the hour, the square that had been full of life was now as quiet as a graveyard.

In the center of the square, on top of a tall pillar, two skulls were on display.

The smaller one was the slave girl who had played the role of the witch and died, as mentioned by the slave trader.

And next to that skull was…

Empty eye sockets filled with endless darkness and a mouth tightly shut as if guarding unspeakable secrets.

On a small plaque attached below these skulls, it read:

—Notorious Criminal Who Harbored a Witch—