Chapter: 286
After staring blankly at the message for a moment, I finally collected myself and checked the message again.
[Jack Burrows’ status changes from ‘Apostle of Evil God’ to ‘Your Slave’!]
Slave? Does that mean the kind of servant that’s a slave?
To confirm my understanding, I used an emotion skill on the word ‘slave,’ and a new window popped up.
[Subordination of Fate]
[This person’s life and death are subordinate to you.]
[1. The subordinate cannot harm you. 2. The subordinate must only act in your favor. 3. The subordinate must follow your commands absolutely.]
The moment I checked all the phrases, one word passed through my mind.
Slave.
If everything written here is true, it means Jack has become my slave.
No, it might be worse than a regular slave.
If I say bark, he barks. If I say roll over, he rolls over. And even if he gets super angry, all he can do is wag his tail.
Having wrapped my mind around the concept of a slave, I crossed my arms and thought about Jack’s usefulness.
For now, he doesn’t seem very useful.
He’s weak, knows next to nothing, has shallow connections, and he’s not a cherished character like Joyna or Phoebe in the game.
It might be fun to mess around with him, but that’s about it. I can’t see him having any greater value.
But this is only true for now.
Even though he has the background of the Burrow Duke family and the nickname of the “Wheat Paper Prince,” thinking of his once decent performance in the game, if I train him well, he might become useful.
What’s more, the most attractive part is that he has no choice but to obey my orders.
This means I can manipulate him like a character on a monitor.
Hehe. What kind of hell should I put Jack through?
Just thinking about him rolling around while stacking up resentment against me makes me chuckle.
For starters, I should probably train him as a versatile character based on the Burrow family’s spear techniques, right?
And he’ll also need to gain the ability to handle various annoying tasks like Karia or Alsatine do.
In the future, he should increase his political skills so he can support me in the social circle.
As I keep listing things, it feels like my tasks are piling up, but so what? I’m not doing it!
As long as I can toy with this ambiguous toy-slave until he breaks, I’m good.
Just then, while I was pondering what to get him started on, Jack began to twitch.
*
Waking up, Jack blinked with bulging bloodshot eyes and confirmed his fingers were moving.
Once he verified everything was moving freely, he pressed one hand against his face and sighed deeply.
Finally woke up from that dream?
After being hit by Nakrad and becoming a nail in the dungeon, Jack had been trapped in dreams.
Dreams of when the mansion was lively.
Dreams of when his brother was alive.
Dreams of his brother dying.
Dreams of the mansion’s people being massacred.
Dreams of his father choking him.
Dreams of his mother and the servants shedding bloody tears of resentment.
And dreams of something warm and cozy flowing into his body.
After all those dreams passed, what Jack faced was a dream of encountering an unknown entity.
It was clearly standing right in front of him, yet he couldn’t distinguish its gender, physique, age, face, or voice; it was a peculiar being.
The only thing he could feel was its divine and sacred nature, and it spoke to him in the dream.
‘Poor and foolish child.’
‘Even though my apostle saved you from sin, all the sins you have committed do not disappear.’
‘Originally, you should have lived in pain, both in life and death.’
‘Considering the contributions of your apostle, I will grant you a chance at redemption.’
‘You should be grateful for being alive, child.’
‘You must live for my apostle for the rest of your life.’
‘At the same time, you must always remember your place.’
What kind of dream was that? As Jack pondered over the strangely realistic and vivid dream, he suddenly recalled his collarbone.
In that bizarre dream, the unknown entity had left a mark on his collarbone.
“…Crazy.”
It wasn’t just a simple dream?
Then that must be real.
“Why are you flaunting such a pitiful body? If you were trying to make me laugh, you failed. It’s so sloppy it’s pitiful.”
Just as Jack dazedly stared at the stigmata left on his collarbone, a voice came from beside him.
The voice was all too familiar to Jack.
How could he forget that distinct and annoying voice?
As Jack lifted his head to question why she was next to him, he froze upon seeing Lucy’s face.
In the past, Jack disliked Lucy, but he had to admit her looks were decent.
That face, which would stand out no matter where, was hard to deny.
But she was just cute and pretty. He had never thought of her as attractive.
To Jack, Lucy was just a doll that seemed beautiful from afar, but once you got close, you realized it was full of poison.
Just a pretty little brat.
However, now it was different.
As Jack beheld Lucy, he lost all thoughts of what he wanted to say and could think only of her beauty.
“Cough. Cough. Sneaking glances, huh? Can’t hide your perversion? Truly disgusting. I wish you would bite your tongue and die.”
“I’m sorry. You are just too beautiful, young lady.”
Just when Jack was about to say nobody liked her, he was shocked by the polite words that slipped from his mouth.
What? Why is my mouth moving on its own?
“Pwahaha! Look at your face, which was dumb even before, becoming even dumber!”
“Do you know what’s going on here?”
“Curious? Want to know? Then get down on your knees and beg me to tell you. Maybe I’ll tell you then?”
I’m not doing that! Jack wanted to scream, but his body thought differently.
Without wanting to, he found himself kneeling and bowing his head in front of Lucy.
“Please grant me the honor of hearing your story.”
What on earth is happening?
Why is my body talking?
…Wait.
“Wow. Looks like you have no pride at all! I guess that’s why you formed a contract with that creepy weakling Evil God. You trash below a human.”
That unknown sacred being spoke of his apostle.
“Congratulations. You’ve been given the honor to serve me.”
Lucy Allen!?
“What? Are you so happy you don’t even have words?”
Jack didn’t want to accept the fact that Lucy was not only distant from devoutness, kindness, and purity but also an apostle of God, but that didn’t change reality.
His body, which couldn’t lift its head, had already succumbed to Lucy for a long time.
“I guess this is too much of an honor for trash who formed a contract with a creepy Evil God.”
“…How do you know that?”
How does she know?
How does she know I formed a contract with Tariki?
She clearly didn’t know anything when she left the mansion!
“I get that you’re an enormous idiot, but how about you think before you speak? The stuff in your head isn’t just decoration, you know?”
Listening to Lucy, Jack reflected back on his memories.
When the apostle of the Evil God completely devoured the mansion.
As he learned the true goal was to sacrifice the lives of everyone in the territory amidst the commotion created by some intruder.
When he shouted that the contract was different from what had been promised.
When he grabbed the collar, saying this wasn’t what he wanted.
And.
“Young lady.”
The voice that flowed out as Jack cautiously lifted his head trembled.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“How is the Burrow Territory?”
The corners of Lucy’s mouth subtly lifted as she observed Jack’s trembling eyes.
“Curious?”
“Yes.”
He wanted to know.
“Are you really really curious?”
“Yes, I am.”
He wanted to know what the results of his foolish wish to return to the happy scenery of the mansion created.
“It’s going to shock the trash prince enormously. Still curious?”
“Yes. Still.”
Like the being he encountered had stated, whether everything was smoothed over.
Or if a disaster had come and become an unwashed sin.
“I want to know.”
He wanted to know.
Hearing Jack’s voice, Lucy giggled and lifted Jack’s chin with her toes, speaking.
“Hmm. You seem very desperate.”
“Yes. Please.”
“Then I won’t tell you.”
This girl is messing around until the end!
As Lucy continued to giggle, Jack burned with anger inside.
Just as Lucy raised her smile even more, she continued.
“It’ll be more fun to see it with your own eyes, auntie?”
“You want me to take you? I knew you would say that, so I prepared in advance.”
With the voice coming from behind, a hand landed on Jack’s shoulder, and the scenery around them shifted.
Inside a dark room.
To the sight of a square.
“Ha. How much time have I wasted because of that damn Evil God?”
“I totally screwed my business this year. I see no answer.”
“Hey, you people. Still, isn’t it a good thing we saved our lives thanks to the Arts Church?”
“Hey, you bastard! Are you acting like you’re the only one who gained something?!”
The merchants who always sat in the middle of the square and chatted.
When the Apostle of Evil God was around, they were just moving their hands with vacant eyes, but now lively voices flowed from them.
“Oh my, sister. Aren’t you a bit too thin?!”
“Aren’t you too?! Did the Evil God steal your body and put you on a diet?!”
“Thanks to that, now when that teeth of mine stand out, I get uneasy.”
“Oh really?!”
Two women known as the gossipmongers of the town.
Surrounded by the ruckus of people they previously never spoke in front of when the Evil God’s energy engulfed the city, other women gathered around them.
“Anyone with an unusual condition, please come visit the church!”
“Hey, priest! I think this friend’s face hasn’t gotten better yet.”
“Hey! Are you serious?!”
“Ah, I’m sorry. What’s predetermined from birth is under the authority of Lord Armadi.”
“Priest?!”
The two men who had existed like a backdrop in Jack’s foolish dreams were now chatting with the priests of the Arts Church with smiles.
Observing all of this, Jack suddenly looked up at the sky.
A clear blue sky. Clouds flowing by.
And the sun, guarding right in the middle.
In it, darkness did not exist.
“Ha.”
The words of the unknown being were right.
Due to his foolish actions, the sins that could have appeared were scattered away.
Originally, countless lives that would have been lost could now smile and live their daily lives.
Even if his sins remained sins, they couldn’t take a place in reality.
“Jack.”
A hard and heavy voice that pierced his ears made Jack turn his head.
His father.
The head of the Burrow family was there.
“Jack Burrow.”
Jack couldn’t respond to the Duke Burrow.
He couldn’t bear to look into his eyes.
Because the foolish actions he was about to commit felt sinful.
And he was scared his father’s condemnation would spew forth from his mouth.
That oppressive gaze seemed like it could push him away and drop him into hell.
Jack shut his mouth and stepped back.
However, he couldn’t take his steps far away.
Before he could run away, Duke Burrow closed the distance and pulled Jack’s nape.
“Welcome back.”
“…A…father? I…”
“You’re back safely.”
Jack, who had wanted to say something, simply sealed his lips at the warmth of his father he felt for the first time since his brother’s death.
The foolish wish a little child once had had passed a long, distant path and was fulfilled under the warmth of the sun.
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