After arriving home, I walk around to see if the girls are already done with their small tour. I stumble on a few of the elves wandering through corridors so I guess they are. When asked, they say that they are just familiarizing themselves more with their new home. Two of them are already taking their new job very seriously and I find Filue and Cinra checking the rooms and dusting them off here and there.

This makes me realize that I’ll have to think of something for them to spend their free time on. For at least a few weeks more, they won’t be able to freely go out of the mansion and I don’t want them to start feeling like they are imprisoned, even though they’d never admit something like that.

First, we need collars. Uniforms would help too. Then I need to check the castle’s library records in hopes to find some more info about breaking the slavery seals when you aren’t the owner. So far, I only have some vague information on that and my Class or skill set isn’t really helping here. With them clear of all the restrictions, it would get much safer to wander through the town. 

They definitely are at least Tier 3 since they lived for hundreds of years already so even if someone gets some weird ideas they should be able to protect themselves just fine. And it’s not like the free demi-humans are getting scooped off the streets literally all the time. The slavers almost always aim for the harmless ones or look for a less risky chance of capturing them around the borders of the kingdoms and in the wilds.

I’m a little bit too overcautious here with how strong the girls with me are. Sirgia can most likely squash your usual human into a paste if anyone tried anything against her. Safi and Emi are quite the special case since they are Slimes and just that makes them much more eye-catching than your typical non-human race person walking around. But I don’t think they mind staying here around me all the time. At least for now.

Now that I think of it, it may actually be a good idea to start registering the girls as combat slaves. I can break their seals when I’m able to, leave the collars on them and visit the guild as an adventurer, which I technically am, and make them record the fact that they are my possession, also issuing them their own, combat slave badges. They don’t check if and what type of seal is placed on the slaves. It’s not that uncommon for adventurers to buy combat slaves. It’s both efficient and safer since they can just literally abandon them if things go south, which totally irritates me when even just thinking about it.

But with that, there will exist a solid proof in guild records and also in the form of their universal combat slave badge. I think it’s a good idea. I’ll have to discuss that with everyone and hear them out. Maybe I can figure something out for Safi and Emi too. The system already says they are my familiars. I’ll need to pay a visit to the Monster Tamer’s guild. Even if this somehow works like I’m hoping for, I still wouldn’t let them go out alone, but if they would be accompanying me, that should be fine.

Anyway, that’s a plan, I need to add it to my to-do list. I should create it first. There’s so much stuff we need to take care of now that I should better start keeping track of it.

On the way to my room, I check on Sirgia to see how she’s doing. She’s working on the projects I’ve discussed with her previously, using almost all her free time on them. No matter what I say to her, she just won’t slow it down. I guess that’s just how she is. I hope she’ll allocate more of it to her own development and ideas when we are done with the workshop. I’m happy that she works so hard for me and it certainly is extremely beneficial, but I want her to think about herself much more. This might actually be quite hard to achieve with how affectionate she started being towards me.

We spend some time together in her room. I cuddle up to her on my lap while we talk about various things, like some of my ideas, her solutions and inventions to make them real, her goals or dreams and just generally about her past or artifacts. I love hearing her speak about her passion. She gets so much more lively during it. She also gets a bit less backed-off and often sneaks some kisses by herself or even voices out her thoughts about wanting them. She seems so mature and dependable and at the same time unimaginably adorable and innocent.

With a few more passionate kisses, I stop interrupting her work and go to my room to write down the list. 

First, oversee and finish the workshop in the bottom ground with Sirgia. Second, collect the maid uniforms and collars for the elf girls. Third, not forget getting my own suit from the tailor. Fourth, sit down and create a detailed set of rules for the brothel, hopefully with Cornelia’s help. Fifth, discuss the adventuring idea and make it happen if accepted. Sixth, talk with Ross about some promotion ideas for the opening day within his connections. Seventh, start holding training and teaching sessions with the lovely slimes. Eighth, investigate breaking the slave mark more. Ninth, figure out more things to do for the girls in their free time. Tenth, test my abilities with Cornelia. And I guess eleventh, train more.

I most likely forgot something, but I’ll just keep adding stuff to the list on the go. Having the notepad in my storage ring always on me makes it easier. After the dinner, Safi and Emi join me for the night. I explain to them some simple details about the teaching and they both seem eager to start whenever. We’ll create a schedule for it, most likely in the evenings, some time before going to bed.

The next two days pass uneventfully. We use that time to learn more about each other. It turns out that Neira is quite the artist type. She shows us some of her sketches she completed recently and they look amazing. I inform her that I’m adding to my list creating a small room for her to draw or paint or whatever she would like to do. And also, this gives me a nice idea for the future. I’ll have to discuss that with her in person later. Neira can’t stop thanking me even after Elea intervenes.

Roseni and Cinra are content with cooking as their hobby. Filue and Leyne don’t seem to have that much interest in anything, but they take a notice of the garden behind our mansion and ask if it’s fine for them to tend to it. I obviously wholeheartedly agree. It was left untouched till this day.

We discuss the Combat Slave idea when Cornelia has some time to join all of us. She praises me for coming up with that plan. Everyone present in the room has nothing against it. On the contrary, I can clearly see their expression brighten a lot when they hear that they could be able to gain so much freedom back. Sirgia even breaks out of her reserved mode and trots to me for a warm hug. The elves' eyes almost start sparkling and for a second, I feel like they are ready to kneel down and swear fealty to me at any moment.

And of course, my super clingy slime would not be herself if she didn’t grapple me with an overbearing hug after hearing that she might be able to walk outside by my side, so she goes and does that. Safi for once doesn’t try to tear her off and instead joins and changes it to a group hug session.

So in the end, we decide to work on that after I get rid of the elves’ seals. Elea inquires if they can use the underground training arena or if it’s my personal chamber. I didn’t think of that before, but it should be good to let others practice there too, not just with me. It will not only help us all thanks to my Class. 

Since it’s quite spacious, I give everyone green light to use it whenever. Sirgia already has her weapon so I note down what to get for others. I end up with a shopping list mentioning a longbow, spear, shortsword, two stilettos, and possibly two trinkets or artifacts for magicians. One is for Elea as she actually has the Priestess of Nature class, which is a healer with high affinity for all elements connected with nature. That’s how she was able to help me recover so much even with her mark interfering with it.

I leave trying to get us some dummies and other stuff for the training area to Cornelia since she knows much more about them than me. Sirgia suggests that she can try recreating them after the workshop gets operational so that’s great. It’s an immeasurable help having a talent such as her with you.

On the next day, a few crafters and builders show up at our doorstep. It’s obvious how they ended up here. They aren’t exactly happy seeing that many demi-humans walking around as I decided to not hide them, but after some explanation how they all are my slaves and they were sent here to work on the project and not get close with the residents, they don’t create any meaningless issues.

I don’t think they will listen to a Dwarf’s orders without grumpy snapbacks and Sirgia isn’t exactly on the level where she can casually chat with Humans, so I work as a middleman and present all the schematics and designs by myself, naturally spending a good deal of time in her room to properly learn everything to not fuck up. Most of the things look doable and they begin their work, which is estimated to take around a week, perhaps a little more. I’ll have to refrain from using the tunnel and training area for some time.

Why so long? Because it’s designed more like a forge than an artisanal workshop and the whole thing is underground. Fire and smoke don’t exactly go well with enclosed stone rooms and passages. They will have to employ help from Earth Mages to create proper chimneys leading outside. And since we don’t want some random smoking tubes shooting out of the lawn in the front yard, we came up with a plan to sneakily run them to the back and build into the mansion’s walls so that it looks like your usual chimney from a fireplace. This will take most of the time.

We let the guys work and focus on our own tasks and problems. Cornelia leaves me a note saying that she’s okay with conducting some tests today and that becomes the main thing to do. Until she arrives back home, I spend time with Sirgia, Roseni and Cinra in the kitchen, preparing a nice dinner for our whole team. We have a pleasant chat alongside it, with me doing the job of a translator between the dwarf and the elves for the most part since they aren’t good with Common. I don’t mind. It’s fun and to some extent my responsibility as someone who crammed almost all languages that were accessible in the castle’s library. It was a great decision back then.

After dinner, Cornelia leaves to change her clothes into something less exquisite than her usual robes or dresses and we agree to meet in my room. While waiting for her to come, I lay on my bed and glance through my status. Not that much changed since the big upgrade which came with Sirgia’s feelings. One thing I notice is the fact that my skills rise quite quickly. Mana Control gained another two levels, Voidal Bondage is now at 3 after some training and a few uses during the operation, and Rejuvenate is at 6. 

Even though I keep using it all the time, that’s still incredibly fast. It took a few months for the other guys to raise their respective weapon or magic arts to that level. Meanwhile, my Formless Blade Arts is already at 2. I feel like there’s something wrong here but I don’t have even the slightest idea what and why. Maybe it’s also connected to my base stats doubling instead of rising by a few points during the last tier up. 

Out of boredom, I check the Job submenu, tapping on the downwards facing arrow near my Scholar. There are a few common ones there like Cook, Soldier, Merchant, Butler, Slave Trader, Scholar…

「Wait… Slave Trader?! How? Since when? I’m pretty sure it didn’t pop up there after purchasing Sirgia so why now? I haven’t sold any slave. Did I meet some other criteria recently? Technically, I’m not even an owner of one since Sirgia’s seal was broken and the elves should still be under someone from the organization if they are alive. Anyway, since I have this Job, I should be able to gather some information from other traders now. Maybe I can learn something about the marks from one. Well, let’s equip it for the time being and check later, I can feel Cornelia closing in.」

Still slightly confused, I sit up on the bed. As I expected, she soon opens the door and walks inside. She stops in front of the door after closing them behind her and squirms a little awkwardly. Seems like she’s not used to such clothes. And they obviously aren’t her typical attire. 

Cornelia chose to switch her clothes into a clean white shirt and thigh-long grey skirt. With her hazelnut hair braided into a bun in the back and her iconic almost rimless glasses, she just emanates perfect vibes of a female teacher from Earth. Her mature aura fits this getup amazingly well.

She catches me staring intently at her.

“What? Is it that weird to see me not in robes?”

“Not in the slightest. If I knew how amazing you look in a shirt and a skirt, I’d have begged you to wear them ages ago,” I comment with an amorous smile.

“Seriously. You are such a flirt.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you look beautiful in this.”

“Did I come here so that you can court me or to help you with your skills?”

She tries to act annoyed but averting her gaze with slightly rosy cheeks and a complacent smile completely sells her out.

“Okay, so what are we going to do first? Do you have any list of ideas prepared or do I have to come up with the tests by myself?”

“I think it would be best if you controlled everything. I’ll provide you with as detailed information about the effects your skills and titles have on me as I can. That said, I’m not sure how to assure that nothing unexpected happens.”

“That’s also a decent chance to test one of my skills. Hmmm…” I look around the room and spot a bit of empty space near one of the walls, not cluttered with any furniture or other things. “Can you walk there and lean on that wall with your back?”

She follows my instruction without a word. “Spread your legs a bit more.” She raises one brow for a moment but does as told nevertheless. “Great. Now extend your arms to the sides along the wall.”

After setting Cornelia in something akin to DaVinci's diagram, just with arms a little lower, I smile at her and snap my fingers, just because I always wanted to do that while casting a spell. Four Void Chains emerge from the wall and coil around her wrists and ankles, pinning her to the wooden surface. She looks around slightly startled but soon realizes they do not harm her in any way, just restrain movements.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit weird seeing yourself chained up to a wall, hahaha.” She chuckles a bit awkwardly at me.

“Let’s try to change it a bit then.” 

I focus my mind on the existing chains and try to somehow modify them. They quickly answer my request and morph from the usual metal-looking links into something akin to leather straps, still dark purple.

“That’s handy,” Cornelia comments on the change. “I guess I won’t be able to throw myself at you now.” 

“And more than that. This is just a theory but try casting any magic.”

She starts visibly focusing while I stand some distance in front of her with crossed arms and a smug smile. Her eyes soon widen in surprise.

“I can barely gather and condense my mana. At this rate, it will take me minutes to create even a single ice lance. What’s going on?”

“Thought so. Even Safi couldn’t escape them. Looks like the Void element in those chains somehow nullifies or blocks magic and skills of the restrained person. My skill seems to be too low level to completely cut off someone as strong as you. By the way, are they uncomfortable? I switched them into the ‘fun mode’.”

“That’s insane. And no, the restraints aren’t harmful to me in any way. They seem quite pleasant on the skin while still retaining their tight grasp.” 

She wriggles a little, trying to stretch herself and the chains at different angles and purposefully create some friction, but as she said, nothing undesirable happens.

“Good to know. Shall we move onto the next step then? Can you tell me anything about how my presence makes you feel right now? Does it somehow affect your thoughts or mind? I’m currently at the usual level of holding the effects back.”

I walk closer to Cornelia so that she can judge things better. I’m pretty much standing in front of her now, just not as close as to get too intimate and make her too embarrassed. That’s not the goal here. For now at least.

She glances all over me and takes a few deep breaths. “Well, you exude a very pleasant fragrance, similar to lilac to me. I don’t think it’s affecting my mind. I do feel like it would be really nice to step closer and hug you while leaning my face against your neck, but it’s not as if something tries to incite me to do that. I think it’s the natural reaction to something this nice. It’s also quite calming. Some perfumes infused with magic can feel similar, but your scent is obviously superior.” She calmly analyzes the effect.

“Thanks for the information.”

“Ermm… Could you move a bit closer, like past the side of my face? I want to check something. Just don’t freak out, okay?” she asks a little awkwardly.

I follow her request and lean forward, almost putting my forehead against the wall. I wait for a few seconds but nothing happens. Tilting my head a bit, I can see Cornelia hesitating over something with a slightly red face. A moment later, I feel a slow and gentle lick on the side of my neck.

“Unbelievable… They were right…”

Moving back after another doesn’t happen, I glance at her trying to avoid my gaze.

“First, why would I freak out from that and second, who was right about what?” I ask curiously.

“Well… You might have gotten weirded out if I licked you out of the blue…”

“Oh, come on. Safi and Emi do it all the time. And I don’t think it’s gross or anything. I certainly don’t think less of you now.”

She exhales in relief. “They told me numerous times that you taste sweet and I was really curious if that was just how they feel you as Slimes or if there’s more to it. Now, I can confirm that you are in fact extremely sweet.”

“This Class is so fucking weird…”

“But at the same time really intriguing, don’t you think? What if your sweat has more effects than just a pleasant scent and taste. What if your seed is actually brimming with nutrients and energy as they claim it to be? It might be similar but at a lower level.” She quickly gets into her theorizing mode.

I chuckle and raise a brow at her teasingly. “Want a taste of that too?”

She gets all flushed after realizing what I’m implying. For a moment it looks like she is going to throw a decent burn at me but she stops herself just short of doing so, only averting her gaze to the side. “Jerk.”

“Hahaha, okay, take a sip and let’s finally check the full power of that title. Tell me if anything starts feeling wrong right away.”

I bring out a waterskin and help Cornelia drink some water since we already talked lots. After a short break, she nods at me to continue. I release the mental block I’ve been holding on the title. The only other time I did that, was in the slaver’s den, and it wasn’t exactly completely set free.

“Oh damn… It’s much clearer and noticeable now. I feel much more eager to snuggle up to you and it’s like I somehow know in the back of my mind that being hugged by you must be really lovely. And it’s also like I know I would be safe in your arms, that you would take good care of me. But again, it’s not forceful and it’s not trying to brainwash me, it’s more like trying to reassure me that no matter what, you would accept me as I am.”

She shares her experiences with me again, looking at me with a hint of admiration in her expression.

“It’s a little bit embarrassing to say this, but I think in the case of people close to you, it eases their worries and insecurities, giving them a little bit of courage and bringing to the surface their true thoughts which were slightly overshadowed by little bits of anxiety. It helps them be more open. I don’t feel any sudden arousal or desire to throw myself at you. I think you should keep it unlocked, but we don’t know how it exactly works on other random women.”

I ponder for a moment about Cornelia’s insight. If what she said is correct then this is actually a huge deal. It could help the more shy and reserved people break the barriers holding them back from their true feelings. And from her words, it doesn’t seem like there’s much of aphrodisiac effect mixed in, but that’s most likely thanks to the fact that it lets me control that part too, like with Sirgia that time or the woman at the bar. She pretty much came just from a light touch and getting a whiff of my scent.

“That’s quite interesting. So it’s similar to the Lion’s Resolve spell, just a tad different. Are you able to think straight?”

“Yeah, I guess so. As I said, this reassuring ‘voice’ is not invasive. I can pretty much ignore it when I’m not paying attention to it, but I am aware of it existing back there. If we were doing something requiring much more focus, like fighting, studying or even talking about stuff different than this effect, I think it wouldn’t be disruptive in any way.”

“Thanks again. I’m learning a lot.”

“No need, I’m the same. This is so fascinating.” She smiles charmingly.

“Okay, I guess it’s time for the finale.”

“Eh? There’s more?” she asks, a little bit surprised.

I take off my brown vest and begin to unpin my purple shirt. Cornelia watches me attentively. A little bit of confusion appears in her eyes. I smile reassuringly at her. She knows I won’t do anything indecent against her will.

“There’s that little part in the title saying something about ‘women not being able to avert their gaze’ after glancing at my chest so let’s see if that’s just an overstatement.”

I finish undressing and expose my quite decently chiselled torso to Cornelia. I spread my arms as if presenting the goods.

“Do you like what you see?”

Her face gets flushed pretty quickly and she tries to look away but her eyes always make their way back to me. I walk closer with an alluring step and place my hand on the wall near her head like it can sometimes be seen in some comics. She glances down at my abs while blushing furiously. I think it’s the first time she catches me completely topless.

After teasing her a little more, I back off and stop focusing my mind on that specific effect. Cornelia takes a few breaths, visibly less pressured to look at me now. Seems like if I don’t focus on that part, it won’t cause too many problems.

“I knew you were quite good looking, but… I had no idea you are actually this… hot,” she shows a wry smile. 

I see her trying to desperately pull her legs together, but the restraints don’t let it happen. “Something wrong? Did it have an unpleasant effect?”

She shakes her head, getting redder and redder with each second. “No, it was fine. It’s fine now too. It’s just that… I can feel it... dlipn dn ma lg…”

She speaks each word of the last sentence quieter and quieter until the last part is just mumbling so unrecognizable that even my Linguist doesn’t pick it up.

“Erm, I couldn’t understand the last part, so…”

She locks eyes with mine and I can tell how deeply embarrassed she is.

“I think I need a change of underwear, hahaha…” She laughs awkwardly but it’s more of a chuckle that tells me she wants to run away from this shame.

“Hahaha, oh come on, Cornelia. We both were expecting much more ferocious things than this. There’s really no need to get embarrassed over a natural bodily reaction. You get wet, I get hard. Perhaps a little quicker or stronger due to the effects, but we can’t control that.”

She looks at me, a little surprised. “You got an erection?”

“Oh, please. There’s a beautiful woman in front of me. I hung my face just above hers. I let her lick my neck. She was showering me with compliments. I even undressed in front of her. How am I supposed to not get hard from all that, huh?”

“I see… I guess you are right. And… thanks...” She gives me a bit of a side glance.

I come closer and get her off the chains, helping her walk to the bed so she can sit down to regain some strength after being bombarded with a myriad of lewd skills.

“Sorry for putting you through so much embarrassment.”

“Don’t be. I volunteered for this myself. But you could have left some of the teasing out, you rascal.” She bumps me into the shoulder.

“Hahaha, my bad.”

“Just so you know, this was all for the sake of science. I did get wet, but don’t get some weird ideas about this.”

「Looks like she’s still a bit hesitant. I could try giving her the last push now, but it would be scummy to take advantage of the current situation. I pretty much drugged her even if she says she’s thinking clearly. There’s no rush. I can clearly see her getting more comfortable around me and others.」

“I know. Thanks again. If you’ll ever need a live test subject for your experiments or something, call me whenever. I’m pretty much in eternal debt from everything up until now.”

“So, you are basically my slave, right?” She smiles at me cheekily.

I stand up from the bed and bow down. “It’s as Master says. Or would you prefer Milady? My Queen?”

She squirms a little and chuckles. “Stop it! I have no idea how you can keep up a straight face with all the girls calling you master.”

“Well, I’m perhaps that weird dude who enjoys the sound of it? It’s just something back from my world.”

“I see. Well, don’t expect me to join them anytime soon.”

“Good. I’d much rather be on equals with you. But, I don’t mind acting as a slave from time to time...”

She chuckles again and some more useless banter later we decide to finish for today. Before she leaves, I grab a rectangular box from one of my drawers and hand it to her.

“What’s this?” She glances all over the package curiously.

“I can’t just leave you like that after you went through so much, right? It’s a small gift which might be useful at times like this. Check it out when you are alone. There’s a manual under the bottom part after you get the thing out.” I wink at her.

Cornelia eyes me suspiciously but accepts the offering and walks to her room through our connected doors.

「God, I wish I could see her reaction when she reads the manual, hahaha.」

Saileri

It's suddenly a bit hot here, don't you think? Anyway, just wanna say that I'm not sure if there will be a chappy on Wednesday. We'll see.

Also, since the chapter was pretty much about Cornelia, I think it's a great moment to share our 2nd chibi, portraying exactly her! It would have been better if it was finished during "The Escape", but whatever, she looks amazing. Maybe we can't see her bun, but that will come someday in a full art!

Spoiler

Cornelia - Frost Magician ChibiCreator - @roosterf2p on Twitter

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Enormous gratitude towards our S-rank Guild Member - Magiwarrior! We couldn't have such epic adventures without your support! This Guild Master is greatly honoured by your presence!

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