“What kind of joke is this?!”

A shrill, hysterical voice cut through the air of a certain humongous and majestic room, followed by a loud slam on the huge round table. Several individuals were sitting clockwise around it. Each of them had numbers written starting from 1 to 12 in Roman numerals. One of them, the silver haired girl, who seemed to be the second most important individual in that huge room, as her seat was numbered 2, was enraged due to something.

“Calm down, Miss Diana. Getting mad would only make this harder. Also, we're in the presence of Her Majesty.”

A bald middle-aged man crossed his arms, while making a sharp glance towards Diana. His face was full of scars, indicating that he was a seasoned and veteran warrior.

“How could you all be this calm?! We lost our informant from that smuggler syndicate!”

Again, she slammed the table as hard as she could, as numerous blood veins started bulging on her forehead. They looked as if about to burst at any moment. That was just how enraged she was.

“Cease it, Diana. What Duke Vermus said is correct. We cannot face this predicament with only rage and hot-headed thoughts. The Royal Assassins that are under my direct order are on their way to investigate and inspect that place. They should be arriving as of now. Soon, we’ll receive their reports.”

All eyes focused on the one who uttered those words, the first seat. There, a golden haired young woman sat on her majestic throne, guarded by a pair of knights clad in shining golden armors in her back. It was easy to deduct that the young woman sitting on that throne was the one that was addressed as ‘Her Majesty’.

“Ugh…”

Diana clenched her fists and slammed her butt on her seat. She seemingly wasn’t satisfied by the answer provided by the Princess.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty. This humble one asks for your permission to report the findings.”

This time, a young man wearing round glasses and a white robe that didn’t really fit him raised his voice. Judging by his manner and way of dressing, he was somewhat well educated.

“Permission granted, Court Mage Lennon. You may report what you must.”

“I cannot thank you enough, Your Majesty.”

The robed young man bowed a little and cleared his throat.

“As what Her Majesty said, the Hashshashin first squad has arrived at the place where the informant was last seen and they have already sent their reports regarding this case.”

The young man, Lennon, cleared his throat again.

“According to the witnesses, two days ago, he was seen quarreling with one of his colleagues, until he was seen to be heading to the canal, while his colleague was carrying a brown sack. As for the content of the sack, assumably, it was a young slave.”

“Slave?!”

Diana, who had finally calmed down, raised her voice in a high tone again, throwing an unsightly tantrum unfit to her actual age. And again, she slammed the table and it made the majority of the people in that room frown.

“... Yes. Specifically, a young female slave… The witnesses saw the colleague throw the sack into the canal.”

“This isn’t acceptable!”

Diana shouted and rose from her seat before continuing her words.

“Your Majesty, I am excusing myself. For the glory of Vanaris!”

Diana saluted and quickly walked off the room, swaying a pair of thin swords on her belt irregularly. Droplets of blood dripped from both her clenching fists, as she ordered the guards to open the door. The guards were sweating cold after seeing Diana’s expression, and opened the door frantically. The remaining people in the room only sighed, especially the Princess. She rubbed her temples and forced herself to make a wry smile.

“Please, don’t think so badly of Diana. Her sense of justice is just way off the roof. Her family, the Veyron Household, really hates slavery.”

“We clearly understood that, Princess. But to act like that in front of you… I wonder if Marquis Veyron ever taught her manners at all…”

And again, all the people inside the room sighed. But not for long, until Lennon opened his mouth.

“Actually, Your Majesty. Regarding the slave that our informant’s colleague carried inside a sack…”

With a half-hearted response, the Princess uttered. A lot of things were going on inside her head, and clearly, she wasn’t that interested in that topic. But as the most important person in that forum, she needed to do her job responsibly.

“What is it?”

“She is still alive…”

♦ ♦ ♦

Meanwhile, inside the abandoned hangar.

The day was getting darker while the voices of the people in the dock gradually lessened, indicating that less people were there compared to during the day. Soon. the sun would completely set in the west. Even for crude men who worked and sailed to make a living, dusk was the time for them to come home and embrace their respected families.

Morgan was rummaging through the wooden boxes in search of something. She realized that the way she was dressed was of a homeless person, and that was actually the reason why she took Alfred’s clothes before she swallowed him. And as for the incident before, where she was ashamed for not being able to do anything while getting scolded and roasted, she forcefully removed the memory from her brain. At least that was what she was trying by busying herself. But to no avail, as she began to hate her fate even more.

“This one is also empty, huh?”

Deep inside her heart, she knew what she was doing was actually useless. But her pride didn’t allow her to give up just like that.

I already acquired the cloth, so why the hell there’s not a single needle in all these boxes? Should I just use nails instead?

She turned her gaze towards the nails she forcefully pulled from the wooden box under her feet.

Nope… The cloth will just tear apart… What should I do?

She was deep in her thoughts, as she placed her right palm on her chin and gently rubbed it. Her behavior was definitely not of a young girl whatsoever, and it was a strange sight to behold. She walked back and forth several times, squeezing the last drop of her brain juice. Then, an idea flashed up in her mind.

“Wait, maybe I’ll find something useful if I look at my status.”

She took a deep breath and prepared to say the word. But, the thought of her saying that childish thing got her good and made her blush. Flustered, she started to panic a little bit and she realized that something wasn’t right.

“Why the hell do I have to say this every time?! Ugh…”

She covered her face with both her palms. The memory of her getting scolded and roasted before made it even worse. But in the end, she gave up and said out loud while making a stupid look on her face.

“Status!”

In a blink of an eye, the game-like panel appeared in front of her, showing the latest change in her growth.

 

Name: Morgan

Race: Unholy Humanoid

Sex: Female

Age: 14

Title: Masterless Slave

 

Affiliations: ???

Mental Stability: -52 (Stressed)

 

Physical Prowess: C↑ (New rank-up!)

Magical Aptitude: D↑ (New rank-up!)

Vitality: B

Recovery: D↑ (New rank-up!)

 

Skills:

Philargyria (EX), Stealth (F), Low-tier Fire Magic (E), Mid-tier Water Magic (F), Mana Control (D)

 

Racial Unique Skills:

Despairing Touch (A), Weak to Holy (S)

 

Traits:

Cruelty (S), Chaotic (B)

 

Blessings: -

Curses: -

Misc.: Slavery Seal (B)

 

“... This is really bad…”

Morgan closed her eyes and sat cross-legged, ignoring the dirt that would stick to her bare butt. She never expected her Mental Stability to go downhill like that since the last time she had checked her status, it was at minus 28 points, and unfortunately, she clearly knew what made her sanity drop like a falling meteor.

“Ugh…”

Her stomach started to act up again as she covered her mouth with her palm, while a certain memory from her past life flashed like a film roll inside her head. Morgan recalled that there had been a woman who went crazy due to being raped and committed suicide 3 months after she was assigned to a psychiatric hospital. That memory was one of the reasons why Morgan struggled and thirsted for revenge.

And at the moment, the memory served as a thorny whip to her, as she began to gradually grow afraid of going crazy. The fact that her Mental Stability went down proved her fear, inducing her heart to give up and let everything go, a real deal of suicidal thought.

[Don’t you dare think of committing suicide, Morgan.]

The androgyneous voice woke Morgan up from her self-suggesting imagination, in a bad way.

“What… was I thinking?”

Morgan’s hands started to tremble a little bit. Fine or not fine, she knew what she was thinking was quite extreme. She began to question her own sanity.

[I should not interfere too deeply into your personal matters, but this will affect the future of our plans. Do not worry, Morgan. Your sanity will gradually get better. Just get some rest and it shall be okay when you wake up.]

Normally, Morgan would disobey at all costs. But at that moment, she knew that the voice was just concerned for her well being, as it would affect their future plans, according to what it said. She didn’t quite understand who it meant by ‘us’ and instinctively, she wanted to retort and ask for clarification.

“No, just this time, I should do as you say…”

Morgan laid down on her back, ignoring the fact that she was lying down on the dirty floor directly. She didn’t have the time to worry about hygiene or something like that, as her mental state was far more important. Not long after, she was ready to enter the state of deep sleep.

[... Seriously, Esteemed Grandfather. Why did you choose this miserable soul? For I, იდჰ-ია, cannot fathom your decision.]

Morgan heard the voice speak on its own, revealing its name and origin, but it was too vague for her to clearly grasp what it was saying.

[Forced Command: Reset Mental Stability. Inserting a new parametric value… Done. Stabilizing the host's body… Cleared. Infusing a new supporting skill, Mental Fortitude (EX)... Failed. The host’s bodily age did not meet the requirement… Forcing to infuse the skill, Mental Fortitude (EX)... Failed. The host’s bodily━]

The voice kept trying to forcefully infuse the skill into Morgan’s body, but no matter how many times it tried, it kept failing due to the incompatibility between her body and the rank of the skill. The voice planned to keep doing it at least until Morgan woke up, but then it remembered something.

[Opening Skill Philargyria (EX)… Done. Preparing to infuse all needed skills… Done. Infusing 3 skills into Philargyria (EX)... Completed. Starting to integrate the 3 skills: Mental Fortitude (EX), Hannibal (EX), and Duality (EX) into Philargyria (EX)... Success. The skill Philargyria (EX) will now evolve into a higher-tier skill… Canceled. Due to the skill Philargyria (EX) was unable to evolve, the 3 skills will have their values and ranks reduced to (A)... Success. Infusing rank caps to the 3 skills… Done. The following skills: Mental Fortitude (A), Hannibal (A), and Duality (A), have been rank-capped to A-rank. For further rank-ups, the admin, იდჰ-ია, must give its permission.]

All the robotic voices finally stopped and somehow Morgan was still sleeping soundly. It took almost 3 hours for the voice to do all those things.

[I have placed my highest bet on you, Morgan. Starting from this point, you shall do everything by yourself. My power is dwindling in this form. I must go back for a while.]

It was as if it was saying its goodbye, but the voice knew that Morgan would someday exceed its expectations. Until suddenly…

[Retracting all the essence from the host’s body… 10%... 15%...

Hmm? What is this?

25%... 30%... 35%...

Wait a moment. Why do I sense ‘her’ lingering trace in Morgan’s body? Isn’t Morgan supposed to be my vessel?

45%... 50%... 55%... 60%... 65%...

No, I cannot cancel this! I must inform Morgan before it is too late!

80%... 85%...

Morgan! Wake up! You must never use Phi━!

100%... Initiating the forced ejection… Destination: Xoth.]

Then everything became silent, leaving only the sound of Morgan’s soft breath as she fared deeply in her dream. That was the very first time she didn’t have a nightmare, and it made her sleep even more soundly.