Lupa jumped inside. She nudged Ester, but she seemed to be sleeping. Lupa rested beside her while increasing the weight to get pulled.

'I better hurry back before the Guard Lord sends his men and find the mess we left.' Vincent thought while he noticed a lot of stares.

He even heard someone say, "Finally, the monster has become a slave. Good riddance!"

Vincent tried his best to ignore these people. He was fuming with anger but quickened his pace instead. He remembered he was a person they hated since the anger nearly made him forget.

Later they left the village. After walking a bit further in the forest, Vincent stopped the cart to check on Ester and Lupa.

"Let me remove your bandages but don't shapeshift. We don't have clothes with us." Vincent approached Lupa and gently removed the bloodstained bandages.

[I don't mind, but okay. Is Ester going to wake up?]

Lupa jumped down from the cart and stared at Ester with worry.

[Name] Ester

[Condition] Injured, Despair, Slave Curse

"If at midnight I can heal her, then she doesn't need to wait very long." Vincent inspected her condition, but she didn't seem to require medical treatment. He spat on the ground with disgust at what they experienced in the village. Then with a frown continued pulling the cart to the cabin.

The sun slowly set, and the moon took its place. The three arrived at the cabin with their belly hungrily growling for food.

Vincent carried Ester and gently lowered her on the mattress while Lupa shapeshifted. She wore her clothes and lit the fire to heat the pot of wolf's soup.

"So we have to wait again?" Lupa asked while swirling the soup. It seemed she had learned a lot from Ester on how to cook.

"Yes, but... I might need to make Ester my retainer." Vincent had a conflicted expression. He didn't know if she wanted to be a runaway, but now she had nowhere to go.

"She will become my sister, but... will Ester heal as I did?" Lupa asked with a faint hopeful smile while she tried to hide her anxiousness.

"That is what I hope. You healed as if you were reborn in a new and healthy body. Maybe the retainer bond can cure the slave curse." Vincent hoped for this mystifying ability to heal Ester normal again.

Lupa wagged her tail, happy by the idea of Ester becoming someone like a sister. She decided to consider Ester as her sister and not let anyone take her away.

The food heated, and both ate their fill. Vincent stared at the great gray wolf's corpse while thinking it would be best to hide the corpse.

Vincent knew the Air Core could cost a fortune, so they could get hunted for their costly loot and not because of the Guard Lord's orders.

"Help me pull the great gray wolf into the forest. We need to hide the corpse since they could know I killed it with inspection ability." Vincent knew he could get found since a basic inspection showed how it died and who killed it.

In the end, Vincent wanted to obtain more time before the corpse gets discovered, more time to run far away into Aero Forest. It took some time to pull the remains of the great gray wolf far away from the cabin.

Later, the two returned exhausted as the moon lit their way. Unlike Earth, the moon in this world was a bit brighter, allowing them to see in the night.

To make the corpse hard to find, Vincent covered the trail of blood as a precaution. Maybe some animals would decide to eat the great gray wolf and hide the evidence in their bellies.

After arriving back, Vincent took the watch from Ester's pocket. He decided to set the time at midnight when his soul power would reset. If the time weren't correct, he would at least know when his next Soul Power reset would arrive.

Lupa stayed beside Ester while Vincent inspected himself every five minutes. A few hours later, Vincent set the time with a smile. The Soul Power had reset.

"Let's try to wake Ester. I want to ask her before becoming one of us." Vincent informed Lupa. Soon both took turns to wake Ester from her strange deep sleep.

Lupa tried many things such as tickling, licking her face, and even a few slaps until Vicent stopped her. She was at the fourth slap and maybe was about to continue until she woke up.

Vincent tried next. It was a delicate approach, such as nudging her shoulder, but soon realized that if Lupa's violent wake-up call didn't, then his method wouldn't work either.

Then he remembered her slave curse. Could the slave curse wake her up?

"I order you to wake up this instant!" Vincent ordered. The slave tattoo glowed deep purple, and her face became uncomfortable. Soon Ester opened her eyes with a few tears from the pain.

*Slap

"I don't want to be a slave... Ahhh... " Ester could only say a few words until the pain for resisting the slave curse and injuring her master punished her at full force.

"Calm down. It's us, Vincent and Lupa. We are in the cabin after I bought you with the fake cabin document." Vincent said while he held his red cheek from the slap.

The two held Ester while she suffered in pain. Vincent noticed like this was going nowhere, so she asked, "Become my retainer, and the slave curse might go away. You have nowhere to go, so stay with us. We will never abandon you."

Ester felt these words were familiar, yet the pain made her eyesight hazy. However, she noticed that they were in the cabin as the ceiling she saw all these years was familiar.

Ester couldn't think, but she knew one thing. She didn't want to be a slave as death seemed more enticing than a life of pain and suffering.

"O... K..." Ester uttered while contorting her face from the pain.

"Lupa, I'll be back. " Vincent said with a reassuring smile.

Vincent thought of Ester becoming his retainer and a part of his family. As his thoughts and wish aligned, a familiar window appeared while his eyes and hero mark glowed green.

[Do you want to start the [Blessed Retainer] Trial on the intended target? (Max range 5 meters)]

[Cost of 20 soul power will be taken to start the test.]

[Test duration is 5 seconds. No refund on failure.]

[Agree to bridge the soul domain of both parties for mutual understanding.]

[Accept -20sp used] [Cancel]

"Accept. " Vincent said with a reassuring smile.

The world froze, and darkness enveloped everything. It was pitch black once again. In front of him was Ester crouched on the bottomless ground. She seemed devastated while hiding her face between her knees.

Vincent noticed she was crying all alone. He remembered how their current form was a representation of their soul. Was she always crying alone? Or was this because of the slave curse?

Vincent called for her, but she didn't seem to notice. He approached and said while touching her shoulder with a reassuring grip, "Can you hear me. I'm here for you."

Her gaze slowly raised as her head trembled from fear. It seemed what happened had terrified the innocent Ester to her core. She suddenly begged for mercy while not recognizing the person before her.

Vincent grasped her shoulders tightly and started shaking her with the hope of recognizing him. But no matter much he shook her, she still couldn't recognize him.

With no option left, his arms wrapped around her and then delivered kiss. It was the only idea he could muster since time waited for no one, and a different type of shock was needed.

A few seconds later, her hazy eyes returned to normal. The pair of crimson eyes regained their life. However, all she could see were a pair of glowing green eyes, the familiar feeling of her lips locked with his, and a warm embrace.

Ester quickly pushed him away with a slap; she was too embraced to continue and her delicate heart as well. Then she started to remember how she had accepted to become his retainer.

"Where are we?" Ester noticed her strange surrounding while she tried to change the embarrassing subject. Around her was nothingness, pitch-black darkness.

"Ester, you're back! You came back to your senses can recognize me now." Vincent had some tears in his eyes. From happiness and from both his sore cheeks because now both received a slap each.

The last option to wake and make Ester remember worked, Vincent jumpstarted her usual flustered personality back. If this didn't work, then he didn't know what to do.

"We are in the soul domain. This form is our souls taking shape. You can't feel the slave curse pain, right?" Vincent gladly said while he wiped her tears, forgetting to become embarrassed.

"I became a slave, right? It looks like I have to serve someone for life." Ester suddenly had a worried frown as she ungently continued, "Don't help me, or you might get caught!"

It seemed Ester didn't know how Vincent is her owner.

"Haha... Don't worry. But I'm happy that you care for me. I have exchanged the three gray wolves, the salt and the cabin to the Guard Lord for you." Vincent felt a little conflicted as he spoke these words. She had his slave, after all.

"S-so... I-I'm yours?" Ester stuttered as her cheeks flushed red. She became embarrassed by this predicament.

"D-don't think like that. Even if I have scammed the noble for you, you are free to do what you want, but since you resisted, the slave curse activated, and you were in deep pain." Vincent stared at the culprit imprinted on her neck.

Ester didn't know what to say. This situation happened too fast for her to decide her entire future with a single response.

"I know your past, and you know mine. I'm not a dirty bastard that will take advantage of you, so don't be afraid. If you become my retainer, you might stop being a slave for the price of a retainer mark that might kill you if found." Vincent spoke his mind and bluntly told the truth.

Ester slowly stood up. The nothingness under her floating feet was a little nauseous and terrifying, but she stared at Vincent instead. Ester fiddled with her fingers as she tried to come up with a response.

Vincent stood up as well. Then with determined conviction, said, "Become a part of my retainer family. You decide on what you want to be. All I want is trust, loyalty, and honesty. In return, I will protect you with everything I have."

Ester flustered; she took a step back. Her heart raced as these words were almost like a marriage proposal.

Vincent's next action made it more seem this way. He knelt in front of her and held her hands. Unlike Lupa, who needed a person to trust and get revenge, Ester needed a person that accepts her.

"After what happened, I don't want to lose you. You are the first person I met, and also the person who helped me survive. Being a beautiful girl is just a bonus." Vincent chuckled as he said what he felt.

Vincent felt like he could say anything in this place. He got used to her shyness, and the fight against death made him less nervous. He felt like a different person when he knew she could be trusted. A person worthy to keep by his side.