Chapter 20: The Pet and the Master

As soon as I thought about registering Jenny as a Pet, a string of notification messages popped up.

-Human ‘Jenny’ has been registered as a Pet.

-Jenny’s Status Window has been activated.

Name: Jenny
Race: Human (Slave)
Level: 23
Stats: Strength 13, Stamina 21, Intelligence 13, Magic Power 5
Loyalty: 80
Skills: One-Handed Swordsmanship (Lv.7), Quick Movement (Lv.11)

This was Jenny’s Status Window right before my eyes.

My level was a mere 9.

Jenny’s stats didn’t all rise just because her level increased; some were lower, and some higher compared to mine.

Her Loyalty was 80, lower than Toma’s.

‘Hmm, Quick Movement is level 11. That must be why she managed to survive life as a mercenary.’

That would explain why she could reach rank C.

Her Swordsmanship was lower than I expected, but that wasn’t a big problem.

‘I’ll teach her, and once she reads the Swordsmanship Book and masters it, she’ll be fine.’

There were many ways to improve—it just required time, effort, and dedication.

While I was lost in thought, Jenny broke the silence.

“Is it over?”

She had been doing nothing, expecting some special magic.

“Yes, it’s over. And you did well.”

What I had learned this time was that those registered as Pets didn’t feel any change.

Curious, Jenny looked at me, and I explained,

“Your Swordsmanship skill is decent. But your Quick Movement is good, which is probably why you’ve been able to survive so far.”

“That’s right. No one could keep up with my Quick Movement.”

She said confidently.

But to my eyes, she was still lacking a lot, so I took out the Swordsmanship Book I’d bought earlier when I was at the market.

“Read this.”

“What is this?”

She took the Swordsmanship Book from me.

It was called the Altacra Sword Manual, a style focusing on Quick Movement and swift, smooth sword strikes.

It suited her better than it did me.

“Start reading.”

Jenny sat on the floor and began to read.

I expected the result I predicted once she finished reading.

“Ugh… okay.”

Jenny’s face clearly showed reluctance to read because I told her to.

But from the first to the second chapter, she gradually started concentrating.

Rustle, rustle.

Only the sound of pages turning could be heard.

After an hour passed, Jenny suddenly snapped the book shut.

“Ah….”

At that moment, the book disappeared from Jenny’s hands, and a faint glow seeped into her mind.

‘Ah, so that’s how absorption works?’

It was a moment I could only realize through someone else, since I couldn’t see it happening when I absorbed things myself.

-Jenny’s One-Handed Swordsmanship skill level increased.

In Jenny’s Status Window before me, her Swordsmanship level had risen to 11.

The jump was surprisingly large, so it must have been the perfect fit for her.

“Wait a moment.”

Jenny opened her eyes and then asked, surprised,

“How… how did this happen?”

Jenny sought an explanation.

Even though two signals must have been coming to her mind as Swordsmanship was being engraved, she looked at me as if asking for the situation.

Her puzzled face looked somehow cute.

I patted her head and said,

“Don’t try to understand it all in detail. One thing’s for sure—if you just follow my instructions, you’ll become stronger.”

“Master…”

Jenny’s expression was as if she was completely won over.

“Let’s go inside and rest. We need to get up early tomorrow morning.”

“Yes.”

Jenny followed my words.

Since it was dinner time, I dressed lightly and sat down in the dining hall.

I ordered food and downed a glass of beer, swallowing the exhaustion of the day.

Jenny, sitting across from me, ordered food on her own and drank beer with me, quite unlike her behavior at lunch.

When I finished one glass, she also emptied hers gracefully, and we ended up drinking two, then three glasses in a row before heading back to the room.

I lay down on the bed immediately.

The slight buzz from the alcohol made it perfect for falling asleep.

But I couldn’t sleep right away because Jenny said she would wash up before bed, so I had to wait.

“Come quickly. I’ll set up the magic and then sleep right away.”

Eager to sleep, I just wanted her to come back soon.

But beyond my expectations, 30 minutes passed before Jenny appeared.

“Haaah…”

Sleepy, I hurriedly set up traps by the door and window, then set an alarm spell before I could lie down again.

“Good night.”

I asked the innkeeper to prepare blankets on the floor as well.

She’d sleep there on her own.

I closed my eyes.

The noisy chatter from the dining hall outside became a lullaby as I slowly drifted off.

“Master…”

The voice was different from yesterday; it was Jenny’s voice.

Anyone would recognize the coquettish charm mixed into her tone.

“Hmm.”

When I opened my eyes, Jenny was standing beside the bed.

She slowly started undressing me piece by piece.

I felt my sleep slipping away and exclaimed in surprise,

“I-I didn’t mean it at all…”

Trying to refuse, I waved my hands, but she grabbed mine and pushed me down onto the bed, saying,

“I want to do this for you, Master.”

Jenny pressed her lips against mine.

“Ah…”

It was the first time since I had fallen here that I embraced a woman.

***

When I opened my eyes, Jenny was sleeping in my arms.

And remembering last night’s burning passion, my face flushed.

“She’s pretty.”

I stroked her hair as she slept in my arms.

Then Jenny opened her eyes and greeted me happily, and I nodded in response.

We got up from the bed to prepare to leave.

The caravan was starting early in the morning.

After getting ready quickly and eating a simple breakfast, we headed toward the Mercenary Guild.

Quite a few people had already gathered in front of the guild.

“Good morning.”

The receptionist I had seen yesterday waved at me.

I joined the group and was surprised by the larger-than-expected number of people.

“There are more people than usual for this scale of caravan?”

“The Requester wanted it this way.”

She said as she glanced toward the Requester standing a little apart from us.

There were four supply wagons in total.

The cargo looked heavy, and two horses were tied to each wagon, with two slaves walking alongside.

The chubby man who appeared to be the Requester had a rough look, with a thick beard like a bandit.

He seemed to be checking whether the slaves were being well cared for.

Around ten soldiers who looked like guards were also present.

“We’ll be departing soon, after introductions.”

The receptionist said, then hurried off to tell the Requester that all the mercenaries had gathered.

Meanwhile, the mercenaries greeted one another.

“Good to see you. Please take good care of me until we reach the destination.”

They were greeting each other.

There was a reason for this.

Out of the fourteen mercenaries here—including Jenny and me—four had verbally harassed us.

Those guys were trying to keep us apart from the other mercenaries, drawing lines so we couldn’t get close to them.

“Hmph. Idiots.”

Unlike me who stayed quiet, Jenny gave them a look of disbelief.

For me, whether they did or said anything didn’t matter much; the important thing was Jenny’s and my survival.

Anyway, these mercenary customs were just a nuisance to me.

“Please take care of us, Mage.”

At least some of the last mercenaries greeted me politely.

“I look forward to working with you.”

I greeted them politely in return.

Waiting with Jenny a little apart, I soon exchanged light greetings with the Requester.

“I’m counting on you. Especially you, Mage—I trust you completely.”

He clasped my hand tightly and said this.

I felt a sticky, unsettling sensation, as if the ground or the air itself was sticky, and a chill ran down my spine.

“Then let’s depart!”

The Requester’s words marked the start of the caravan.

Five supply wagons rolled out in a line, followed by slaves walking alongside.

The Requester rode the lead horse, with soldiers following behind him.

The mercenaries walked between the wagons, while Jenny and I rode horses at the very end.

Something was off.

I had a feeling those guys who glanced at Jenny and me would cause some trouble.

***

My prediction turned out to be spot on.

“Y-you damn bastards!”

Despite my harsh curses, they didn’t say a word.

And it made sense—they had no room to curse me.

They were too distracted by the monsters right in front of us.

“Awooo!”

“Awooo!”

“Grrr, come on!”

Wolves appeared around the area we had marked as our territory.

This happened because of that group from the assassins’ guild who eavesdropped on Jenny and me.

I couldn’t even remember their names.

Let’s just call the red-haired one Mercenary 1, the brown-haired Mercenary 2, the blue-haired Mercenary 3, and the green-haired Mercenary 4.

Mercenary 2 grumbled about the bland soup, while Mercenaries 3 and 4 started fighting, dragging Mercenary 1 into the forest for hunting.

That part was fine—they were just going out to hunt for food.

But the problem was that they caught a wolf pup, and inevitably, the wolf pack found out and surrounded us.

“Idiots, don’t you have any sense? If you catch something, you should deal with it there and only bring back the meat. Mercenaries have no brains.”

“You bastards, after catching wolves, I’m going to kill you too!”

“Kyaaak!”

Not just me, even the Requester’s guards cursed at those four.

If only they understood, I would have thrown those four to the wolves and told them not to bother us.

After all, only those four ate the wolf pup’s meat.

“Grrr!”

“Yip yip!”

We fought over fifty wolves while maintaining formation.

We formed a circle, trusting each other’s backs, with the Requester, slaves, and I in the center.

“Fire Spear, Aqua Spear!”

Sharp spears formed in my hands sliced through the air and pierced the wolves’ bodies.

“Wind Spear, Rock Spear!”

There was no time to stop my magic.

With the mercenaries’ skill, it would take at least three or four stabs to kill a wolf unless it was a vital spot.

Only my magic could kill a wolf with a single blow, so I was busy doing all the dirty work.

“Fire Spear, Aqua Spear.”

My magic continued relentlessly.

-Level Up.

-You have gained 5 additional slots.

-Skill ‘Multi-Casting’ has increased in level.

-Skill ‘Fire Spear’ has increased in level.

-Skill ‘Aqua Spear’ has increased in level.

-Skill ‘Wind Spear’ has increased in level.

-Skill ‘Rock Spear’ has increased in level.

Finally, I was about to reach level 10.

Though I was happy, I had to quickly erase that thought because there were still many wolves left in front of me.

Jenny swung her sword at the wolves approaching in front of her.

Having mastered the Swordsmanship Book, her strikes were fast and deadly.

Although her movement was limited due to the situation, at least she wasn’t a burden to others.

“Ugh.”

After killing about thirty wolves in this ongoing standoff, the wolves began to retreat.

We had killed more than half of them, but the retreating wolves probably meant more were coming.

We wouldn’t be able to rest properly until we crossed the mountain.

I looked at the culprits who had caused this.

Then—

Pahk!

One of the Requester’s soldiers suddenly swung his fist.

He landed a blow on each of the four mercenaries.

“I hope you all understand that this ends here.”

His gaze radiated deadly intent.

I felt a wave of satisfaction as I stepped forward.

As I moved, all eyes turned to me.

My authority is clear.

I probably killed about eighteen wolves myself.

I started happily dismembering the wolves.

The others collected the wolf carcasses they had killed.

Only the four who were sitting on the ground, nursing their wounds, whispered something among themselves.

Their voices were too low for others to hear.

Around us, the wolves were being dealt with, and the slaves were busy calming the wagons and horses.

Then, the four’s eyes changed.