"Blaze, you have mail!"

"I do?"

On the morning of May 13, the giant made a gesture to Amber that prompted her to go check the carriage he arrived with, and she came back inside with some papers. After taking one that was probably addressed to her, she placed two rolls on the counter in front of me, which were both sealed with a wax mark that looked similar to the shape of the badge general Denato gave me last month.

I broke one of the two seals, then unrolled the paper to find a relatively short note written inside.

"I have no idea what this says."

As expected, it was written in the demon language, so I gave it to Amber for a translation.

"Let's see… General Denato says that he heard you wanted to come visit Mitana city after arriving at Border Town, and wants you to have a good time there. Since he won't be back until at least three days from today, he instructed you to give the other roll of paper, which is a letter of introduction, to the officers on patrol if you want to be shown around the city before he comes back."

"That's really nice of him. How did he know I was visiting, though?"

"I sent a letter to commander Mavuto with a shipment a few days ago to ask for permission."

"Permission?"

"It already takes almost a whole day to get there, and another to get back, so I thought we wouldn't have enough time to enjoy ourselves."

"So you asked for permission to have a longer break?"

"Yes."

I wonder, was Amber really an idiot? Even I didn't think about asking for a longer break.

"What did the commander say?"

"He said we can leave for up to 7 days."

"I know the army has a surplus of supplies, but will it last them a full week?"

"It will."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Just to be certain that she wasn't spouting out nonsense, I inquired further about what she used as basis for firmly stating she was sure that the army would be able to get by with their surplus goods, to which I received a somewhat surprising answer. Due to the war having reached a stalemate for the past 70 years, most fortifications on both sides were located at the camps directly facing the border, since the armies had been spending too much time around roughly the same locations and had thus upgraded such fortifications countless times.

Because of the incident involving the rampaging dragon last month, the fortifications on the Kitrod side fell first, and the same should have happened to the Badoth side when the dragon flew across the border. However, because of the unexpected successful counterattack, not only did Border Town not fall, but the army stationed there also suffered very minimal losses. Taking advantage of the situation, they were able to quickly capture most of the camps on the enemy side of the border since all their defenses had already fallen and their stationed armies were still in disarray.

Since neither side ever expected the enemy army to be able to rapidly advance past dozens of layers of defenses, the towns that lied beyond the border had relatively weak fortifications and fighting forces, and were therefore easily captured. As of now, the Badoth army had increased the amount of territory captured by 4 times, from 10 to 40 kilometers past the border, compared to when I saw that news leaflet two weeks prior.

The army could advance even further if they chose to, but it seems that they are instead choosing to slow their pace down. After all, governing a conquered territory whose finances were crippled due to warfare was a great burden, and the risk of rebellion was high. As such, the commander opted not to increase the number of conquered towns too rapidly until there was enough personnel to manage the occupied territories. Additionally, because of the massive size of the continent, it was impossible to even capture and manage every single plot of land in the remaining 960 kilometer distance to the enemy capital, so it seemed like the Badoth army's goal was instead to try to convey the idea that their army could readily crush the enemy side whenever they wanted, and use that idea as a bargaining chip to get a peace treaty signed.

Regarding the reason why the army would be fine without receiving any shipments from me for a whole week, the large amount of conquered territory meant that there were more pillaged supplies. The army was making use of anything they found useful over there, which in turn would deplete the locals of resources needed to stage a coup. While I didn't ask, the commander also noted that the army was treating those living in the captured town as humanely as possible, and no civilians were killed unless they attempted to assault any army personnel.

That was surprisingly considerate of them.

"Well, thanks for that info. I guess I'll head out to rent a carriage now."

After confirming that Amber said everything she needed to say, and that there weren't any other messages for me, I headed outside while Amber stayed to watch over the shop.

* * * * *

"Oh, Blaze! I was looking for you!"

"Hm? Miss Batinu? What are you doing here?"

Halfway across town, I encountered Batinu by chance. While she was a fairy with a child-like appearance, she was actually already 50 or so years old and was quite a skilled medic entrusted with leading the army's field medics and nurses. When we first met a month ago, she was a nervous wreck, but it looks like she's accustomed to me now, even though we've only talked a few times.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Am I being asked to come to the battlefield again?"

"No, no, nothing of that sort. It's about the bandits you brought in…"

"Is something the matter?"

"Well… There's this little girl among that group…"

"Little girl? Lica?"

"Ah, you know about her already. That makes things easier."

"Huh?"

"She's unfit for being sent to a labor camp because of her small stature, and we would feel bad about sentencing such a young girl to death…"

Should I just tell her Lica's already 20 or so years old?

"…and so we decided to give her a lifetime sentence of slavery."

I feel like that's even worse than a death sentence.

"Why are you telling me this?"

There's no reason to tell me what punishments some unrelated people were being given, after all.

"Because you'll be her master, of course!"

"Wait, what?"

"We were going to auction her off in a slave market, but she willingly chose you instead. Since you weren't properly compensated for the capture of those bandits, it seemed like a good idea."

"She… willingly chose me?"

"Yes, she has reflected on herself and wants to atone for her sins after you single-handedly defeated all of the bandits!"

How the hell does one reach the point of self-reflection after being taken down by mass poisoning? Better yet, what kind of stories did people even circulate about me? And why do you even sound so cheerful?

"Are you sure she doesn't just want to kill me?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. She agreed to the contract!"

"What contract?"

"We have special papers imbued with the worst possible curses that the demons of this land can inflict, so we made a contract for her to sign. Now she has to obey all of your commands, and she'll suffer excruciating pain if she tries to harm you."

"What the hell? Don't contracts require the consent of both parties? And if you have cursed papers like that, can't you use it to force the other side to end the war or something?"

"We can't manufacture a lot of those, and we don't have anyone close enough to the Kitrod king to make him sign it. In any case, I need to prepare for departure tomorrow, so I'll take my leave now. Someone will come by your shop later with Lica in tow. Have a nice day!"

"Hey, wait! You didn't answer my question about mutual consent! Hey!"

I was going to chase her on foot, but she flew away so fast that I couldn't run after her.

Sigh… I really wish that fairy explained things to me in more detail. Lica's contract prevents her from harming me, but Batinu didn't say anything about whether or not she could harm others, so I likely can't leave her unattended in town for a whole week. Seeing how I most likely need to bring her along on our trip to Mitana city, I'll probably have to bring Casath and Hanung along, too, just so I have a means of subduing her if something goes wrong. Well, I guess I'll go find them in a while.

After giving the merchant renting out his carriage a large security deposit and being told the carriage would be brought over to my shop by sunrise the next day, I wandered around town for about half an hour, going through the busiest streets with the hope that I would encounter those two couriers eventually. As expected, Casath and Hanung soon walked by while carrying a heavy load. It was most likely going to be inconvenient for them to make them stop and talk, so I ran after them and talked while moving.

"…Sorry, we can't come this time."

"Why not?"

"The last of the six villagers that migrated with us is coming tomorrow. I'd like to stay and show them around town, and to get them used to the courier job."

"What if I gave you 50000 doviti again?"

"The 50000 you gave us before the last trip helped pay off all of our remaining debts, so we're not in urgent need of money anymore."

"Would any of the six villagers want to come?"

"I don't think so. Business has been booming recently, so they're always needed around the clock. Besides, I don't think they're comfortable going on a week-long trip with strangers…"

"Oh… I guess I'll have to figure out something else, then. Also, tell your fellow villagers I said hi."

I had quite a number of acquaintances in town, but they were more so drinking buddies than actual trusted friends.

It looks like our trip tomorrow really is going to be with just the three of us.

* * * * *

"Um… Blaze?"

"Miss Batinu forced this on me. She didn't even give me a chance to say no…"

Amber was confused when two soldiers brought Lica over to my shop. She was wearing only a tattered, dirt-colored dress, and had a collar on her neck. I'm not sure if other people are able to notice it, but I can sense a powerful, ominous energy coming out of it…

There's no doubt that the collar was directly related to the contract she signed.

Without saying a single word, the soldiers quickly saluted us and left.

"Just to confirm, you have no intention of getting revenge, right?"

"Yes."

"And what did Batinu mean when she said you voluntarily chose me to be your master?"

"Food."

"Food? You really are holding a grudge from when I poisoned you, aren't you?"

"No."

"Then… what do you mean by 'food'?"

Having lived in the forest for so long, Lica had been eating bland foods for all these years. Leaving the matter of food poisoning aside, the meal I made in the forest that day completely took her by surprise, since she had never tasted anything like it even though almost every ingredient came from the very forest she lived in. During the time she was kept captive, despite being given only food scraps and leftovers to eat, she was still enamored with the exotic flavors she never experienced before in her life that she kept looking forward to her next meal.

After hearing that she would be sentenced to eternal slavery instead of death, she was filled with joy: the food she'll be given in the future might be bad, but she could continue to indulge in all kinds of exquisite flavors! When she overheard the prison warden and miss Batinu discuss about where to send her, she called the two over to request becoming my slave on her own volition. It was probably because I was the one who opened up the world of flavors to her, I ended up being the first one to come to her mind at the time. Batinu already knew me, so she didn't oppose that request.

I hit my face with the palm of my hand, then rubbed my face on it after Lica finished explaining her ridiculous reason for choosing me as her master.

"Why do I keep encountering people with mental issues…"

I mumbled to myself quietly enough that the two girls probably didn't hear me.

"There's no way for me to undo the contract, is there…"

"Only if I die."

"Sigh… In that case, there's one thing I need to point out."

"Hm?"

"Don't try to make any sexual advances on me. I know you're a young adult, but your small stature might make other people think I'm a lolicon."

"I wasn't plannin' to. I only want food."

"Well… That matter aside, it's almost lunch time, so let's go out and eat."

"Yay!"

Lica wagged her tail in joy. Just how did a fierce, sassy bandit turn into this simple-minded glutton?

"But before that, go take a bath, Lica."

"Okay."

"By the way, do you have any spare clothes that might fit her, Amber? We can get her some new clothes after lunch, but let her borrow something of yours for now."

"I think I might."

"Great. Could you leave the clothes in the unused bedroom upstairs? I wasn't planning on renting out rooms, so I might as well let Lica have that vacant one."

Even though Lica's supposed to be a slave, I'm already treating her quite nicely. I don't really know why, but I can't fathom myself treating others like worthless trash.