Death March — Fixed

Minor Warning:

PG Almost-Sexual Content Lurks Below

“Tek here, there are many tragedies where the hero doesn’t come to save the day. In a real fantasy world, I would have liked it if ‘happily ever after’ actually existed--”

“I tried--and failed to make my hometown prosperous using the knowledge from my previous life. Even if I am now a slave, I used to be a Princess. In the beginning it was working well, but then it began to unnaturally fail, and the Kingdom became ruined--first it plunged into a great civil war, before being occupied by the neighbouring Kingdom.” Arisa’s shoulders trembled slightly as she hunched, a tear rolled from the corner of one of her eyes.

I gently reached out and stroked her cheek, wiping the tear off.

She blushed a little, before muttering a quiet ‘thank you’.

“So, what changes did you do?”

“Just normal agriculture reforms. Like making fertilizers using certain leaves and manure, four-wheeled farming tools, and some minor administrative changes.”

“Even if you fail, how could that ruin the whole Kingdom?”

“That’s why I said ‘Unnatural’. The mountain where we collected leaves for the fertilizer, died. A massive outbreak of Insect Monsters came out, and the fertilizers that should have restored the land, withered it instead.”

Indeed, those are some strange events, but if we add in ‘Unnatural’, that means--

“Someone was interfering?”

“Yes, but I only found out long after the fact. At that time, I thought that it was because of the difference between Earth and this world, I was really depressed. I even got called the ‘Witch of the Lost Kingdom’, or ‘Mad Princess’.”

So, that’s how she got those titles.

It wasn’t because she used Mind Magic to manipulate the king to create a harem of pretty boys for her, or something huh?

When I mentioned this thought to Arisa, she broke out in laughter--good, she seemed a little more cheery.

“Still, if the intention was to occupy your Kingdom, if the neighbouring Kingdom didn’t gain any profits--there was no meaning to it, was there? Laying waste to the other Kingdom to get it, didn’t they get their priorities backwards?”

They didn’t care at all for territories belonging to a poor country--they probably just wanted the ‘Withered Labyrinth’ below the castle.”

***

“After our country was occupied, they held the public executions of the King and Crown Prince, for the sake of calming the populace down.” Tears fell from here eyes now, “They then gathered the remaining Princes and Princesses, saying this: ‘This country was destroyed because of your foolishness--you aren’t qualified to be the Royal Family’. They made the court Mage put a geass on the Princes and Princesses starting from me: ‘Live as a slave until you die’. I was blaming myself for the destruction of the country, so I was willing to receive the geass, to become a slave--it felt like I was carrying out penance for ruining my Kingdom--like I deserved it.”

I quickly take a handkerchief from storage, using the blanket as a cover, and gently wiped her tears. My other hand carefully stroking her hair and cheeks, trying to help her calm down--I’ve lost people, and felt that it was my fault, I could understand a fraction of the pain she felt at the time.

She seemed to realize this as she stared into my eyes.

When she calmed down, I spoke again, “Why was the geass to make you become slaves?”

“It was for the sake of reviving the ‘Withered Labyrinth’, as I mentioned earlier. We couldn’t escape if we became slaves, since it was a geass and not a contract, only a country is able to cancel one of those--” She grasps the handkerchief, as well as my hand, and continues, “Every month, when it was a full moon, they would sacrifice one person in a suspicious ceremony inside the labyrinth. One year later, the labyrinth was resurrected--when the ceremonies were completed, there was only me, with my taboo hair, and Lulu, who was an illegitimate child, left alive. Our confinement was moved from the tower, to the royal villa near it. I don’t know why they didn’t dispose of us right away--but we were probably spares in case the labyrinth were to wither again”

Her grip is losing strength.

“Then, another tragedy struck when the next full moon appeared--a Demon appeared, the castle and town surrounding it were destroyed. The Royal Villa where we were, was burned down as well--I and Lulu ran away, taking refuge in the mountain.”

Arisa had been forbidden to go out by an Order, but when the castle was destroyed, their master must have died, and thanks to that they were able to escape the villa.

“I thought that we would have no choice but to burn to death, but I saw that Lulu’s information read: ‘Master: None’. If I was alone, then I would have died just like that.”

Arisa had caught both my hands, moving them so I was pulled partially upright and embracing her. Feeling her trembling, I tighten my grip and change my position so I am leaning back against the headboard and she is embraced in my lap--held close to me, her head is laying on my shoulder.

“Then, we just wandered around in the mountain--just as we were about to die, we got picked up by Nidoren. So that I wouldn’t be sold to some perverted nobles, I used the Hide skill, to hide my skills--and Lulu pretended to be mute.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you used Mind Magic to make Nidoren treat you like his daughters?”

“That’s right, I was too desperate to hide my skills, and when I realized that, I was already under the Contract to be Nidoren’s slave.”

“You could just use the Magic after that.”

“I could have died if I was careless when doing that and accidentally violated the contract.”

Hmm?

Wait a minute.

I raise Arisa’s head, “Didn’t you just abuse your Magic to push me down earlier? Why was the contract not violated?”

She looked at me with a wry smile, “Because that’s the service provided by a slave, I properly made the oath during the contract, right? ‘I will make sure to attend to master, day and night--vigorously.’ -- that’s why I use every ounce of myself, including Magic, to service you!”

Her hands move behind me, stroking my back in strange shapes.

***

I mention to Arisa about the Arm Demon and the labyrinth here. Telling her about the Demon’s raid, and the Arm Demon creating the labyrinth, summarizing everything, and omitting the silver-masked hero.

“You mean that a new labyrinth was created?”

When I nodded, she looked surprised, “There are only six living labyrinths in this continent--the last of which appeared one hundred years ago. A labyrinth will appear in the place where the corpse of a Demon Lord is, that’s what’s written in the book.”

“The Arm Demon did say that it was created for the sake of the complete resurrection, so I thought that the labyrinth was a recovery-type shelter item.”

“It’s not such a cheap thing.” Arisa rolled her eyes at me.

She goes silent, seeming to be deeply considering.

“Are there any Earth Veins around this area?” She asks with a serious face, looking intently at me.

“Well, there’s one called Dragon Valley nearby.”

“If the Arm Demon’s goal was to recover one arm of the Demon Lord, then it probably should have been over. While I think that a full recovery would take many months, it could probably be restored to a percentage of its power, and move around in its former form in a shorter period--and that thing is underneath our feet right now--” She trembled in fear as she spoke.

I don’t know how long a ‘shorter period’ is, but it is possible that Zena and her friends at the labyrinths entrance will soon be in danger.

“You’re quite knowledgeable.” I say, pulling her close to me, hugging her again.

Almost like Nadi is.

“Well, I’ve read almost all of the books that were in the castle’s library, but the number of books in this world is so much lower than on Earth--” She sounds annoyed and scrubs her head on my chest in irritation.

“Did you know, when you read books and learn new things, you get Experience points? Well, it was thanks to that, my level still increased when I was secluded in the castle.”

I see, this isn’t a game after all, so you can gain levels even without going to battle.

***

“Well, tell me if you know this.”

“Of course, master.”

“In this world, if you were to fight against a level 62 Demon, what kind of forces would be required?”

“What level are the best people that you can use?”

“Around level forty-eight.”

“Then, if you equip six of them with Holy Attribute weapons, and the party’s balance is good, you can win.”

“There aren’t six of them; there is a level forty-eight Mage, three people in the upper forties, and two in the lower forties.”

“It would be very harsh, but if there are ten people at level thirty to take turns acting as backup, then I think--they could somehow do it, but there would be a lot of sacrifices.” She stops stroking my back and looks up, “Master, you sure know a lot about the forces of this town. Aren’t you a merchant?”

“I have an acquaintance in the military--also, though I call myself a merchant, I haven’t actually done any commercial business--”

“Master can afford five slaves regardless.” She leans back a little and begins stroking my chest, I can see that she has managed to recover from the serious conversation and wants to have fun.

“Well yeah, I got a lot of Magic Cores from the labyrinth after all, I won’t have money trouble for a while.”

Actually, most of my money was because of pillaging the Dragon Valley, but that seems like it would be troublesome to explain.

I grab her hands, which have stopped drawing shapes and had started moving in rather obscene shapes, showing what was on her mind. She leans in and kisses me, then I push her back a little and grin.

***

“Well--I need to punish you for using Mind Magic on me,” I grin at her.

Arisa flinches, before looking at me with determination, “Punish me however you want, but please don’t sell me--and please don’t take it out on Lulu.”

I laugh at her words.

Wrapping my arms more tightly around her, I roll over and push her down under me.

She gasps.

This time I’m the one doing the moving, other than Arisa’s squirming and gasping--I keep going for around half a while, my Stamina is much better than when I was on Earth.

By the time I finish, Arisa is laying and twitching with a goofy grin on her face and trembles wracking her body.

 

>>Skill Acquired: Sex Technique.

 

“T-Thank you very muchhhh--”

 

With a laugh, I get up and gently carry her over to the bed she was supposed to share with Lulu; moving the blankets with one hand, I lay her down, covering her up to her chin.

 

“Now, sleep--”

 

“Yeeeesh, mashta” She speaks strangely and shuts her eyes.

***

I put on a cheap robe and turn to leave the room.

“Where are you going?” I hear Arisa mumble quietly.

“Nowhere really, sleep. I will be back soon.” I turn and smile at her, she smiles back and closes her eyes again.

I walk out of the room, being careful to be quiet as I open and close the door.