In video games, I liked to summon tons of minions, either as some kind of ranged class or necromancer, and then sit back as I kept my group going. They would move forward like a small mobile army, doing my bidding. I supposed, in that way, I was suited to be a lord from even before. One could call it my play style.

Reality was different from games, though. These weren’t skeletons or wolves I was sending into battle, but women I knew, loved, and cared about. One of them even had a baby inside her. Therefore, I gave her the safest job. However, they were all important to me, and even in a world with Resurrection I’d be unhappy if any of them were hurt.

I couldn’t just stand back and watch as they risked their lives, so I always went in with them when things were at their toughest. As the lord and Master, was it the brightest decision? I really couldn’t say. I knew I could help in a fight, and even if I lost some perspective on the battle, I could always be close enough to react instantly when needed. Most of all, I would never lose what was most important to me.

Thus, as the girls went around the camp to take out patrols and surround it, I also took my place right up there with them. As per my rule, everyone was in a group of two. Since there were seven of us, I was the only one alone, but this was because I had the Slave Communication, so I could contact all of them whenever I needed to.

When I had rearranged the dungeon points, I had given Miki and myself Night Vision. Shao didn’t need it, although I could have given it to her if she wanted. Her Dark Knight seemed to give her a skill comparable to it. Raissa also appeared to have gained a skill as a Dungeon Diver that improved her vision. It wasn’t as good as the dungeon point skill, but it was good enough for her. Salicia and Carmine could only look on jealously as we could instantly see in the dark like it was day. 

Actually, I was pretty sure that Salicia could see fine too. She just wanted dungeon points, but she wouldn’t get them until I took them into a dungeon and beat it with them. These weren’t simple things to earn. They required a great deal of effort and even putting your life on the line.

Carmine was the only woman in the group who looked genuinely blind. Even Ruby seemed to have something, even if it was just her other senses being honed and experience, that helped her get around in the dark. Carmine was too used to bright light and fighting directly. This kind of sneaking wasn’t her particular forte. She’d much rather just bash through the group head on, fighting each man down. Given her strength, I reckoned she might even have the ability to take ten of them on her own.

“Help!” A woman let out a scream in the middle of camp.

I cursed under my breath, as that scream would definitely wake up every man there. That’s when I noticed something was wrong. Looking around, I could see the fire, sleeping bags all around, and the group of trapped women in the center. I could also see my girls on the outside. They had each targeted a sleeping bag and would attack swiftly in one move. The idea was to at least kill seven of them before they knew we were there.

However, with that scream, not a single person in a sleeping bag had jerked up. I hadn’t even been looking at my sleeping bag, because my eyes were on the Map. It was difficult to tell when you were far away, but the group of bandits and women were intertangled. That is to say, this entire camp was fake, and all of the bandits were mixed in with the women we were trying to save!

“Run! It’s a trap!” I screamed, losing decorum!

“Time to die, my lord!” A man jumped out from the group of women.

They were no bandits behind us. I would have detected them. There were no bandits underground. They weren’t even trying to run and attack us. Although he had made this declaration, there was nothing around that would have obviously defeated us. That was when I saw a bright light overhead and looked up. When I looked up, I could see a descending fireball of light.

“It’s Meteor!” I let out a cry, my mind going blank.

I didn’t know how, but they had completely caught us in a trap I never would have predicted. They didn’t just use hostages, but they were sacrificing their own lives as well, just to kill a party of rescuers.

“Master!”

I was too stunned to move, but I was the only one who hadn’t gone into motion.

Ruby had grabbed Raissa and suddenly tossed her in my direction. It was only at that moment I realized that Miki a few meters away had her hands out. Without time to think, I caught Raissa, but the force of the throw caused me to stumble back… and through a Portal Miki had summoned.

Just as the light on the other side went white, the Portal snapped shut. Just a bit of hot air shot through. Then, I was standing in the middle of a forest, holding Raissa, and everyone else was gone.