Slave Harem Volume 2, Chapter 9

Chapter 9

　――I am a martyr to Kruse-sama's ideals.

　Let go of your principles. It is enough if I am the most capable pawn.

　Julis glanced at Kruse, who was puffing wine in a golden cup with satisfaction.

　In the tent in the center, Kruse was spending his time so elegantly that it was hard to believe that he was in a dungeon.

　It was like a royal palace in a labyrinth.

　Even in a dungeon, Kruse does not bend his routine. It is the attitude of the weak to adapt to the environment, while the strong adjust to the environment. Although he is not particularly conscious of it, he has been able to overcome many dungeons because he has such a mentality.

　It takes strength to maintain one's own pace.

　Those who are impatient, tossed about, disturbed, and caught up in the rules of the dungeon are the first to die.

　Kruse's group was four layers down from the location of Mars and his group.

　Their strategy is to build a base camp at each layer and use it as a base from which to search for and defeat monsters.

　The base camps were quite large in size, more than the size of a soccer field.

　The main team led by Kruse would take up a position near the center of the camp, while a detachment would search for the 『Scepter of Domination』 while defeating the monsters.

　There is no other way but to create a base, as the number of people in the area is not large enough to fit in the Treasure House of Dreams.

　However, Kruse and Julis are resting safely inside the Treasure House of Dreams.

　The camp is necessary as a safe place to get out of the Treasure House of Dreams, where they cannot see what is outside.

　They have come such a long and hard way that they would have long since conquered the small dungeon they conquered just before coming here.

　After all, this is a small dungeon environment where the strongest monsters roam about with impunity.

　Moreover, if their friends die, they will turn against them.

「Julis, status report」

「The loss rate of personnel is about 10%. We have not found the 『Scepter of Dominion』 yet, but the march is going better than expected.」

「Mm. If we only lost around a hundred people, we are doing well. I knew it, disposing of slaves is the most efficient way. It is also an unexpected good fortune that the corpses of the slaves are not so badly damaged that they pose little threat since they are forced to make suicide attacks that go beyond their physical limits by using slave crests.」

「Yes.」

「As for the 『Scepter of Dominion』, it would be on an even lower layer. I don't think our ancestors died at such a shallow level, even in the old days.」

　Julis looked at the map and checklist of supplies and personnel so far, chewing over the smoothness of the march and the disappointment that she had not been able to prevent the damage altogether.

　Even though the march was going well, they had lost about a hundred people, but considering the difficulty of the dungeon, it was safe to say that there was no damage at all.

　For Kruse, it was just a matter of spending money. The money he sold Nemu to Mars was enough to compensate for the loss.

　What is different from Mars and the others is that Kruse considers the loss of his companions as a loss of profit.

　Thinking about what she could report at this stage, Julis told him what she remembered.

「One of the leader slaves, in charge of provision and fodder, has been complaining of poor health. What would you like to do? Since he is a capable person, I think it would be a good idea to give him a break and preserve him if at all possible. I am compiling the information and numbers, and I can replace him.」

　Once all the information is gathered at Julis, only the information that is deemed necessary is brought up to Kruse.

「There is no change in the march schedule. As long as the stairs to the next layer have been found, we will leave tomorrow morning.」

「Understood」

「It would simply be fatigue.――However, you may let him rest as soon as the inspection is completed. If he still does not recover, the worst that can happen is this.」

　Kruse shows the slave crest to Julis.

　The answer was not a surprise, since she had known it beforehand.

　Even if he is a slave leader, he probably only recognizes that he is one of the slaves.

　Just as Kruse is not on the side of the slaves, neither are the slaves on Kruse's side. So he doesn't trust them. The only thing he trusts is the limits of their personal abilities.

　The slave crest is a powerful magic that controls even the minimum unconsciousness of a living creature to maintain life.

　Once ordered to do so, slaves unconsciously slaughter monsters with a power that exceeds their full strength, even though they know that their arms will be broken and they will not be able to move in the future.

「『Even if you have to give up your life, get rid of the monsters.』」

　If Kruse says so, they will comply with the command given to them until they die, even if every muscle fiber in their body is torn and bones are broken.

　Then mere slaves become as good as soldiers in single combat.

　What Mars does consciously, the slaves do unconsciously.

　Of course, Mars, who has more freedom, has by far the higher overall ability value, but against monsters that can be managed by brute force, he is more than capable of achieving success.

「I will definitely conquer and return to the country. I will show you the triumphant return of the king.」

「Of course. The throne is yours.」

「Of course. Everything is different from "back then". I had neither the wisdom nor the strength to do what I did back then.」

　Julis did not know whether "back then" referred to his first dungeon attack or earlier when he was a child.

　――probably the latter. It was the day that Kruse-sama became like this.

　The day when blackness begins to mingle with the innocent boy's heart, in Kruse's case, is clear.

　――From the day his mother was assassinated and he realized that the king, his brothers, and his followers were all enemies, Kruse-sama had to be strong.

　The dungeon and the royal palace are no different in that they are all enemies.

　Not only his outstanding talent but also his mindset is an ever-present battlefield, which is why Kruse is so strong.

　It was five years ago that Kruse and Julis challenged the dungeon for the first time.

　At that time, just like this time, they challenged the dungeon with 1,000 people.

　The team was not made up of only slaves like this time but was mainly made up of knights.

　At that time, Kruse, who was 20 years old, did not use inhumane tactics as he does now.

　It was not that he had the personality not to do so, but simply because the knights had a higher standard of combat power than the slaves.

　The result was a hard-fought victory, and even though it was a small dungeon, there were only about a hundred people left when they broke through.

　Compared to Mars, who had gone through the dungeon alone, this success was as close to a failure as one can get.

　The main reason for the failure was the lack of coordination. The chain of command collapsed.

　As Mars had feared before meeting Lilia, incompetent companions were more troublesome than enemies.

　The knights had prior experience in combat and had encountered many mortal dangers, so they were driven by fear and acted individually instead of cooperating with each other.

　They were then nothing more than a bunch of rabbles, doomed to die from the threat of the monsters and the traps they were walking into.

　The dungeon was too unknown, and the group was too ignorant.

　Kruse did not get angry, but quickly and calmly tried to update the situation.

　Even though he was a hardcore elite blessed with the status and talent of a prince, Kruse was also a man who knew the reality of a world that was not going well.

　In the second attack, half of the knights, including the survivors, were knights, and the other half were slaves, making for a mixed force.

　The knights were trained to fight monsters, and based on their experience, they decided to renew all their tactics and formations.

　This worked very well.

　Furthermore, when he gave reckless orders to the slaves as a trial, he learned that he could utilize their potential to the utmost.

　Kruse decided to further radicalize his approach and decided that the unit would be made up of only the best slaves ― in terms of their fighting ability.

　The slaves were criminals who had sold themselves in exchange for amnesty or were economically and politically vulnerable.

　And so we come to the present.

「Kruse-sama. I'm going to check on the wounded. And check on the supplies. I cannot be reassured by numbers alone.」

　Bowing to Kruse, who just raises one hand without replying, Julis leaves the tent.

　There is a distance from the center tent because of the instruction to pull over to the edge because of the smell of blood from the wounded. The purpose was also to lead the monsters to the edge of the base camp as bait.

　There was about a hundred dead, but of course, many more wounded.

　A space was set up near the base camp to treat the wounded, and those who were able to use healing magic were attending to them.

　The reason is that it is most efficient to keep them alive unless they are clearly fatally wounded, treat them well, and bring them back into the frontline.

　――We are so close to what he wants.

　Even Julis, who is usually emotionless ― and naturally quiet ― and cool-headed, was a little buoyed by the situation.

　They are on the cutting edge of a feat that no one has yet accomplished.

　For Julis, an orphan from a lower-class family, this is an unbelievable fortune.

　Her mouth relaxed just a little, and she called out to one of the platoon leaders who was standing near the treatment space.

「How's the situation?」

「As expected, many of them are seriously wounded. ...... and some of them have died and turned into undead. Even if not, there are quite a few who can't move due to broken bones and the like. The revived undead are very powerful at this layer.」

　Although Kruse was not as familiar with the history of the 『Great Norn Tomb』 as Mars and his group, they guessed that it was under the influence of Norn's necromancy.

　As they descended the layer, they became closer to Norn, the users, and the undead began to exhibit abilities that were as close as possible to those of the living.

　While they were not yet at full capacity, they were reaching a layer that would be difficult to counter without more than one person.

　The undead's attack power is ironically close to what it was after activating the slave crest.

　This is because they will not stop until they finish defeating the enemy in front of them without fear of death.

「Those wounded will be left behind. We will be able to reduce the supplies we consume, and if they die, they will come back to life, and we will be able to stall those black-haired followers」

「I-Isn't that too inhumane!? Even the slaves are complaining about their treatment! At this rate, it's only a matter of time before we lose control of the group!?」

「What do you think you are enslaving everyone but me for? Think nothing of it and follow Kruse-sama's plan. That's what I do. ―You'll be forced to give up your life by those who don't obey」

　Personal feelings are irrelevant.

　As long as you are a pawn that does what Kruse says, you are good enough.

　And that can be accomplished with a slave crest.

　――I am one of the pawns.

　It makes her sad to think so.

　Still, Julis has a hope that she alone is different from other people.

　She is the only one who knows Kruse better than anyone else and has acted under Kruse's heart.

　She is the only one unconditional ally in the world. Even if he does not ascend to the throne, even if he is thrown out of the kingdom, she will be there for him.

「The attack is going well. Leave it to me to oversee the entire information.」

「Can't you afford to be a little more attentive to your subordinates? You always have no room to spare. We don't like you either.」

　――I don't want to be liked by you. I want to be liked by .......

　Ignoring the platoon leader's sarcastic remark, Julis heads for her next destination, the food supply control point.

　The purpose is also to inform the slave leader, who is in charge of the administration, that he has been given permission to take a break.

　――Emotions should be ignored and mathematical rationality should be pursued.

　She ruminates on the words she heard long ago, brushing away from her mind the doubts and fears that come to mind.

　A cold-hearted rationalist, that is the image Julis perceives of Kruse today.

　He is extremely capable of thinking of the personnel in her unit as numbers and managing them appropriately.

　He has loved board games since he was a child, and he sees dungeon crawling as an extension of such games. She senses this strongly in the fact that he is not afraid of losing pieces.

　Although they played together every day, Julis was never able to beat Kruse in any of those games. But even if she had, she would have conceded the victory successfully.

　Although he may look like a big, muscular man, he still retains his original personality that likes to stay indoors and think.

　In fact, his leadership is working, and he is getting results.

　The only problem is that his high intelligence is never used in a way that is considerate of others.

　The ruthlessness with which he separates himself from others is both Kruse's strength and weakness.

　He is even capable of killing humans and monsters with his sword.

　Only Julis knows that the reason for this is his extreme distrust of people.

　That is why he mistreats others more than necessary.

　He cannot feel secure unless he holds the lives and fates of others in his hands.

　He had become convinced that he must be above everyone else or he will be threatened.

「――to live in peace. And for that, he needs a throne.」

　Even if Kruse gets the throne, there will surely be another entity that threatens him.

　Even though he knows it, he can't stop now.

　Next time, he will move for a bigger and stronger position and honor.

　――But still, I am. Only me. Then, I am sure that Kruse-sama, who can afford to do so, will look at me. He will realize that his late mother is not the only one on his side.

　In the opposite direction, Julis heads for the place where the food is stored.

　It is a huge space that takes up half of the entire camp.

　There, a super-sized tent with only one entrance and exit has been built to protect the literal lifeline of food from the dungeon air, monsters, and slaves who take it out illegally.

　The supplies for Kruse and his immediate headquarters are kept near another tent, and this is for the slaves. Kruse does not eat the same food as the slaves.

　Julis had to come here to ask for the actual number of goods inspected.

　Even with Kruse's reign of terror, with such a large number of people, there are sure to be those who violate discipline and steal. It was very likely that the numbers on the paperwork would not match the actual numbers.

　It was Julis's role to execute the culprits as soon as she found them so that everyone would see them for what they were.

「Food Department, report on the actual numbers――」

　Julis quickly covered her mouth to keep her voice down.

　A sticky fishy smell hits her nose and makes her nauseous.

　She couldn't speak loudly because the people there recognized their enemies not only visually but also aurally.

　Hell was flooding in front of her eyes―

　Underneath the dermis, the muscles, bones, and internal organs were exposed, and the horrific corpses were dripping with reddish-black blood, far exceeding the lethal dose.

　The sight was like a nightmare come true as they moved about and attacked the living.

　Instead of piles of food, they covered those who had been their friends, ripped them apart, gnawed on them, and devoured them.

　It was strangely quiet, despite the horrific situation. No screams, or anything. It would have been much better to be making noise and mucking out the supplies.

　There was so little noise that it was no wonder the rest of the department did not notice. In fact, the noise would have been louder if it had been only the living.

　The only sound echoing around her was that of chewing, which she did not want to hear.

　Crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch, There was a sticky, unpleasant sound.

　Since it was the corpse of a fellow human being that was being chewed to pieces, the physiological disgust was unbearable.

「How on earth did this happen ......!?」

　It should have been going well.

　She almost swears at it, but then she wonders why problems arise outside of the strategy.

　The one who was being bitted eventually slowly got up, and like the rest of the undead, bites the one who is down.

　When there is nothing left to eat, they pick up their swords and begin to search for the living.

「With this number of undead, this base can no longer be maintained. ......!」

　It's not just zombies that are wandering around.

　They are beings with less intelligence but with the ability to wield swords better than the average person, and they have conquered death as long as they don't get stuck. There are roughly three or four hundred of them.

　The fact that they were allowed to be armed even inside the base camp for security purposes was a setback.

　It must have started out with a few people, and the number of victims gradually increased without a sound.

　There wasn't even a shout because things got to this point so fast.

　Being the largest area, the number of people deployed was also large.

　In total, nearly half of the 400 people were stationed here.

　There must have been a lot of people who were not so careful because it was the base camp.

「Ah, so that's how it is. ......」

　Seeing one of the undead, reddish-black from the mouth down, with his eyes swiveled appropriately, blatantly undead, yet unharmed, Julis came to an understanding of the situation.

　The man, whom she had met and conversed with many times, was the leader slave in charge of the food department.

　He was a former knight and a veteran who had accompanied Kruse to the dungeon three times this time.

　Although he is not at the level of being able to traverse the dungeon alone, his simple combat ability is one of the best in Kruse's group.

「If he went on a rampage, it's no wonder this happened. ......!」

　The reason the slave leader is unscathed, unlike the other undead, is that the factors that led to his death are different from those of the others.

　He was reported to be in poor health, but perhaps it was a mortal illness, and after he died and came back to life, he went around killing defenseless slaves with his high fighting power.

　He was a normal-looking human being, and few would have been wary of him.

　And it is conceivable that this situation came about after it was too late.

「If he was going to die, he should have told me sooner. ......! Kuhh, everything is already too late ......!」

　They brought only young, healthy slaves, so death from illness was not a major consideration.

　The slave leaders were veterans who had accompanied the slaves on previous dungeon expeditions, so they were older than those around them, but still not old enough to die of illness.

　In fact, if it was just a dungeon attack, you could say that illness was nothing to worry about. If they died, they would just let it go.

　But in 『Norn Great Tomb』, where the dead come back to life, it is a different story.

　The disease was also a factor in these irregularities.

「Everyone! There's an anomaly in the pantry! All who were here have turned to the undead!」

　Several undead has noticed Julis, so she hurries out of the tent and shouts loudly. The troops were in an uproar.

　They knew that the number of people in the pantry could be said to be half of the total.

「『Absolute Protected Area』 Activate! All those who can use magic, gather round! And those who are sleeping, knock them up!」

　Julis deploys her magic as she takes up the position at the entrance to the tent.

　The magic she used was a circular barrier, about three meters around herself, obtained from the 【Forbidden Magic Book】.

　It is literally an absolute protective area that can prevent not only physical attacks but also magical attacks.

　If it is spread out here, it is like a big wall blocking the entrance to the tent.

　its weakness is the duration. At best, it can last less than a minute.

　Moreover, it takes about three hours until the next time it can be activated, and with Julis's magic power, it can only be used twice a day.

「Don't damage the food as much as possible!」

　She said this knowing that it was an impossible task since there were roughly four hundred undead people in the area.

　Still, the objective is to attack, not to deal with the undead, so securing food is the top priority.

　Julis's magic temporarily blocked the entrance, but once it was cut off, it was sadly just a cloth tent.

　The undead swarming in all at once broke through, scattering the dead moving in all directions.

　After that, there was nothing but screaming.

　Those who were sleeping and those who could not move due to injuries were eaten one after another and turned into undead. Those who could only fight in the melee were dying one by one against the undead who had unlimited physical strength.

　Driven by fear, the magician cast a spell on the food tents, and the stored supplies began to burn, tent by tent.

　This was the moment when everyone realized that the unit could not be sustained.

「Those who survive! I command you with the slave crest! Follow me as I eliminate the undead!」

　Still, Julis does not give up.

　She activates the slave crest and gathers the slaves under her command.

　The only slaves who were given the authority to give orders to Julis were the platoon leaders and other slaves who had some authority, and a surprisingly large number of them were still alive even in this commotion.

「Protect Kruse-sama, I must protect Kruse-sama! My raison d'etre, my reason for living!」

　Despite losing her absolute protective domain, Julis runs, beheading undead with her sword and avoiding areas of battle overcrowding.

　Her goal is the main camp of Kruse in the center.

「Kruse-sama!」

　She jumps into the tent where Kruse should have been and calls out loudly for Kruse.

　There was no sign of anyone in the shinny tent.

　Impatiently, she went outside and turned her head from side to side until it was at the limit of its mobility to check.

　Upon closer inspection, she found that the food and other supplies by the tent were gone, as was the main group of elite soldiers.

　She looked in the direction of the dungeon, away from the tent, and saw the main group hurrying to bring out the supplies.

　The follow-up to the main force ― the attack force ― was burning without exception, both living and dead, and eliminating those who were pursuing them, human and undead alike.

　The orderly behavior and hesitancy of the commanders ― the slave crests.

　On the moving throne carried by the four slaves was a dark-skinned man, Kruse.

「He is alive! Kruse-sama, take me with you ......!」

　Julis shouted with all her might.

　She felt her eyes meet him. On top of that, he ignored her.

　As Kruse faded out of sight, Julis realized that he had been left behind.

　――It was the same for me.

　She understood that she was the only one who thought she was special and that from Kruse's point of view, she was just a slave who could be used without a slave crest.

　It is because of the extreme situation that she can see the underlying personality of Kruse.

　――I was the only one who cherished the promise of that day.

　『Stay by my side all the time. In this cold royal palace, with so many people, you are the only one on my side.』

　The only and greatest pride have given to Julis, who was an orphan and had nothing.

　The sense of duty she felt as a child became infatuation, which turned into love.

　That is why she was willing to protect him at all costs and eliminated Kruse's enemies in the dark.

　She thought she was the only one who was special to Kruse.

　And yet ―― I was abandoned.

　She lost the meaning of survival, her footing wobbled, and her vision wobbled uncomfortably from side to side, up and down.

　The thought of turning into an undead also crossed her mind.

　Her grip on her sword loosened, and she almost dropped it to the ground.

　But she woke up immediately.

　The pain from the undead's tight grip on her leg brought her back to her senses.

「I am still alive. ――The promise is not over yet.」

　Shaking off the undead's hands and stomping on the undead heads, Julis takes command of the entire army.

　I'll catch up with them. Nothing is over yet.

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