Megumi looked over her new toy with elation. Her plan had gone exactly the way she had hoped. Her low level undead, which she had dressed in some cheap armor, played its part as the scapegoat perfectly. Thanks to her innocent looking body, she had wandered the town freely as it stood on the hill where she had directed it to, all the while she pretended to be a frightened young girl. Attacking the town had paid off in a big way; she had leveled enough to gain the Soul Trap skill.

Now she wouldn't need to use weak undead pawns in her plans anymore. She grinned widely, looking her new pet directly in the eyes. Unlike the simple, Raise Undead magic, with Soul Trap she would now have a fully preserved subject to manipulate, minus the large wounds in his back, of course. Do I keep him on a tight leash, or give him a small amount of freedom? she mulled it over for a few moments. Now to see what kind of prize Megu has collected! She opened up the status window for her toy.

Name Hideki Level 009 (1459/1934 EXP to next Level) Class Warrior HP 40/375 MP 50/50 TP 1 Adventurer Rank C Attributes Vitality 15 Magic 2 Endurance 13 Magic Resistance 4 Strength 13 Luck 4 Agility 10 Dexterity 10 Passive Skills • Warrior's Essence - Level 2 (+20 HP regeneration/min)

• Sword Mastery - Level 2 (+20% proficiency with swords)

• Tiger Style - Level 1

• Stalwart - Level 1 (+5% natural defense) Active Skills • Holy Blade - Level 1 (Envelope blade in holy aura for 15 seconds)

• Shockwave - Level 1 (Release shockwave from blade)

She frowned a little as she looked over his status page. The guy hadn't been gifted with the best stats in life, but she could still work this. All in all, she just needed a meat shield to protect her while she cast her spells, so he would do fine. As he leveled, he would get stronger, after all. She was excited to see what skills she could unlock for him as he leveled. It looked like the poor sap had just leveled after killing her armored undead, so there was one TP available.

She placed the point into Warrior's Essence in order to make him more resilient. She leaned in closer and whispered into his ear. "You will find that Megu is a kind and generous master, so long as you do as she says. Understand?"

She loosened her grip on him just slightly so that he could move his head and be able to answer her. The warrior, Hideki, spat and looked at her with absolute hatred in his eyes. "You little bitch! Do you realize that you just cost me everything? I was going to be a hero someday! I was going to have it all, money, ladies, you name it! Not only that, but just as I was in sight of the most beautiful angel you dragged me back here to stare at your flat chest? There is no justice in the world! No justice at all! I won't serve you!"

"Tch." she clicked her tongue in annoyance. He had to go there, didn't he? She yanked on the invisible chain linking his spirit to hers with a stretch of her mind and squeezed his very soul until he wailed in anguish. "That wasn't a very nice thing to say to your new master, pet. You need to learn to not insult Megu. Speaking of which, I've decided I don't like your name. From now on you'll answer to Poro-kun, and if you don't, then..." she caused him pain once more to get the message across. "Understand?" After a few moments of anguish he nodded.

Now that she had a pawn that didn't look as though he was half rotted, she could do all sorts of deliciously evil things. She willed him to stand up and follow her. Him walking around with that gigantic burn in his back isn't going to work, though. It's going to take time for him to regenerate. I know! she reached into her infinite bag and pulled out a spare cloak she had. "Put this on," she ordered.

Poro-kun's body moved against his will. She could see him trying to resist based on the expression on his face, but it was futile. A few minutes later, the two of them entered the town proper and a bald priest ran over to them.

"Hideki! Where the hell have you been? We're the last two alive, you know. You basically screwed your party just so you could go play hero alone. Don't think that I won't be telling the guild about this! And who's this girl? She's way too young for you. Did you seriously go chasing tail while the rest of us died without our tank?"

Megumi decided to have a little fun. "Please, mister, this nice man saved me from the undead! Don't be angry with him!" she hugged Poro-kun tightly, pretending to be scared that he'd be taken away.

The middle-aged priest ate it up, hook line and sinker. "Sorry, little one. I just lost some important friends, that's all... Do you know where your parents are?"

"Megu-chan's parents are all gone! Please don't leave me alone! I'm scared!" she forced herself to form fake tears.

"All right. Come with me, Megu-chan, was it? I'm Vladimir. Hideki here is known to be a letch. Stick with me, okay? Come on, Hideki, we need to get back to Northpost so we can report this mess to the guild." The man took her hand and dragged her toward the edge of town where the survivors would have run.

Just as they started walking she issued her command to Poro-kun who had been silently walking behind them. The priest didn't even wonder why the man hadn't been speaking. What an idiot.

Poro-kun silently unsheathed his weapon and drove it through the back of the priest, who coughed up blood and fell forward as her toy shoved the impaled man to the ground with his boot. Megumi laughed maniacally as the stupid priest died at her feet. It was too bad that she was limited to one trapped soul or she would have taken a second prize for the day. She cast Sanguine Infusion, and the blood all drained out of the dead man's body, leaving a dry husk behind. A large orb of roiling blood floated before her and turned to a vapor-like substance that shot into her, invigorating her body. This gruesome spell was how she remained for all intents and purposes, immortal. Unfortunately, it also kept her body the age of a 15 year old girl, but she couldn't complain too much. *Ding*

Congratulations! You have reached level 16!

+1 TP

Two levels in one day? Not bad at all. She turned back to Poro-kun, who had an irritated look fixed onto his face. She didn't think that the look was just for her, either. It was clear that he had no love for that priest. I think he'll do nicely for what I have planned next, she thought with satisfaction as the two of them stepped over what was left of the priest and made their way towards the other side of town.