LIVE EVIL (III)

“Well then. Putting everything else aside, I think it’s time for me to get some long, long awaited R&R.”

I plop down onto Ariesa’s soft and fluffy couch and start getting comfy.

“I thought you were leaving for a new place. Please just go already.”

Ariesa grumbles from her corner while glaring at me with disdain.

“Now, now. Before that, I’d like to take the chance to actually start enjoying life.”

“I don’t like the way you just said that… what are you planning?”

“Hahaha, well, I’ve gotten my hands on such a wonderous slave. Don’t you think I should start taking advantage of having her?”

“T-taking advantage? Are you thinking of something ridiculous and lewd again?

She quickly takes a defensive posture, no doubt wanting to run away if she could.

“Kakaka, not quite, but you’ll see. For now though, I suppose I need to let you move again. However, I should first command you to not attack me. You can’t run away or call for help either. You also can’t let anyone else know that you’re my slave… There, that should be good enough for now.”

I prepare the desired settings and point a finger at Ariesa.

“「 Enchain 」”

A magical illusory chain flies out from my hand and wraps itself around Ariesa.

After a moment, the chain visibly disappears, yet it continues to constrict around her soul.

That was my Enchain skill. It’s part of my Slave Master ability. It allows me to input specific commands and restrictions into one of my slaves to control their behavior. While vocal commands still work and are usually more convenient in the moment, they are more along the lines of giving general directives to the slave that they are compelled to follow.

In comparison, Enchain is much more powerful. It lets me control a slave without having to micromanage as much and keep specific restrictions on them at all times.

This time around, I used it to prevent her from attacking me, running away, or calling for help. Thus, as long as the Slave Crest is on her, she cannot do any of those things. It physically won’t allow her to.

“Grrr… you little…”

“Okay, that should do it. I’ve retracted my previous command too. You may move freely again.”

“Why you—!”

The second I remove her bindings, Ariesa immediately jumps into action.

She charges straight at me with her fist raised, closing the distance in a split second.

In a normal scenario, I wouldn’t even be able to react to her lightning speed. But now, I don’t even have to move a muscle in response.

Ariesa abruptly stops short of me, frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle forward.

“No way… I really can’t…”

“W-wow. You almost had me… too bad though. You came up short.”

I tease her cheekily as she is forced to slowly retract her fist and return to a safe distance.

At least, that’s the act I put up to hide how absolutely scared I was when she suddenly jumped at me. To think she’d go for the kill the very second she could freely move… damn she’s dangerous. Frankly, it scared the living daylights out of me. The only reason I didn’t jump out of my seat from fear is because it happened so fast I couldn’t even react until it was over.

“Tsk. Don’t think this is the end… I’ll find a way to get to you…”

“Kakaka, you are free to try.”

No, please do not try. Please give up immediately.

Even knowing that this is a cheat ability, I don’t have enough confidence in the infallibility of the Slave Crests right now to feel safe. I might need to be extra careful around Ariesa from now on.

“Anyways, back to the topic. As I said, it’s time for me to enjoy having a slave that will tend to my every need.”

“… and what would you have me do?”

Hmm… good question. I can control Ariesa however I want, but I haven’t given too much thought on exactly what I want to make her do.

Putting aside all my fantasies, when it comes to the day-to-day stuff, how can I use her best to make my life as comfortable and luxurious as possible.

Well, first and foremost, I think what I want to do the most right now is to just relax and unwind after all the hardships I faced yesterday. I don’t wanna do anything at all right now. So instead, how about I make her be my arms and legs?

“Hmm. For now, how about serving me some tea?”

“That’s it? Just tea?”

“For now. I’m parched after all that laughing.”

“Tsk. Fine.”

At my command, she goes into the kitchen to start preparing some tea for me.

“Oh, and get me the best tea you. I want the expensive kind.”

“I only have one kind of tea here, so settle for that.”

With mild reluctance and frustration, she starts going through all the steps to brew the tea.

Good. She’s working at it diligently. She’s actually doing it thoroughly without cutting corners. I don’t know if it’s entirely the slave crest’s effect, or if she’s just naturally the type to do everything properly, no matter the task. It would be nice if it were the later.

After a while, Ariesa returns with a full teapot. She puts down a cup and gently pours tea into it.

I was briefly worried she would slam the cup down out of anger, but she’s being quite careful. I guess it is her furniture she would be breaking after all.

“There you go. Enjoy.”

“Thank you.”

I take a careful sip, while being wary of the heat.

“Ahhhh~ Yeah, that’s pretty good.”

I let out relaxed sigh as the warmth of the fragrant tea pours through me.

The more I drink, the more I feel my fatigue and pains go away. This is nice…

“Oh, I know. Next, could you give me a shoulder massage, Ariesa?”

“A massage?”

“Yeah, just to help me loosen up. You can take it slow and gentle.”

Ariesa complies and moves behind the coach so she can massage my shoulders as I sit.

Man, now this is luxury. Sipping on tea prepared by someone else and getting a massage while I just sit back and relax… I’ve never taken it this easy before.

Now this is the life—

Crack!

“AAAAAaahhhhhhhhHHH!”

I let out a primordial scream as I feel something break in my shoulders.

“Oh, oops. I used too much strength.”

Ariesa remarks blankly as she looks at her hands, the weapons behind this murder.

“Y-you used too much strength? How? I told you to be gentle!”

“My bad. I’m not very good at this delicate stuff.”

The slave crest shouldn’t allow her to deliberately harm me. Which means she legitimately did all that by pure accident. Just how bad is this gorilla at controlling her strength?

“Okay. I think I’ve gotten a hang of it now. Let me try again.”

“Huh? Wait, no, no, no, sto—”

Crack Crack!

“GUUUUOOOOOHHHHH!”

They’re gone. My shoulders are gone. There’s no way they can still be intact after that.

“Uughhh… nevermind. Forget about the massage. Let’s do something else…”

After struggling to get back up and recover from the bone-breaking damage, I change my order.

“How about making me something to eat? I want you to cook for me.”

“Huh? Are you sure…?”

“Yup. I’ve barely eaten anything since I got to this world, so I’m famished. Let me try some local cooking. Quickly go and make some for me.”

“Tsk, well, all right. What would you like?”

“Uhhh… whatever you usually eat is fine.”

“Okay.”

She heads back into the kitchen and starts cooking.

Unlike with the massage, she should be fine here. She was able to brew tea after all; cooking shouldn’t be a problem.

And now, I finally get to make one of my most long-held dreams come true.

I get to eat a girl’s homemade cooking!

Ahhh, I’ve always dreamed of this day. Having a girl in my class invite my to lunch and share her bento with me… it’s not exactly the same, but this is nice too.

Now, while she’s busy doing that, I think I’ll take the time to review my abilities. I’m still new to the Crest of Greed, but now that I’ve decided to be evil, I’ll be using it a lot from hereon.

First and foremost, the biggest question on my mind is… this.

「 You have gained 515 SP 」

I had this status screen pop up for me shortly after I turned Ariesa into my slave and escaped the Knight Post.

It’s similar to the one I got when I was trying to save those slaves earlier. It just popped up out of nowhere and told me I gained SP in the middle of me doing something. I was able to use the SP to upgrade my weapon last time, but I’m still not fully sure what it is at all.

“Hey, Satanya. You there?”

“Yup, yup. Need something?”

The mischievous demon girl pops into view upon my command.

“I was wondering about this SP stuff. What is it exactly? I don’t think it was described in the original ability descriptions I got.”

“Oh, I suppose I missed the chance to tell you. SP is something separate from your abilities. It is a facet of the Crest of Greed itself. You can spend any SP you have to get stronger.”

“Oh, so it stands for Skill Points?”

“No. It stands for Sin Points. You get more whenever you do something evil.”

“Eh?”

Oh, well that explains why I got them when I did.

I got 5 SP when I tried robbing the slave wagon.

I got 515 SP when I turned someone into a slave and escaped my jail sentence.

“The Demonic Crests feed on the evil in your heart. The further you fall, the more powerful it becomes and the more of its power is available to you.”

So whenever I do something wrong, I get rewarded with more potential power. What a terrible and cynical power system.

In other words, it’s perfect for the new me.

“So I can spend my SP to power up? Does that mean I can use them to gain new Skills?”

“In your case, no. The Crest of Greed is concerned not in self-improvement, but rather in enrichment. Therefore, as you’ve done before, your SP can be spent upgrading the things you own rather than yourself.”

“Ah right. That is how I used it earlier.”

Thinking back, just using 5 SP turned a regular plastic ruler into a weapon capable of cutting through thick metal bars. Just imagine what I can do with 515 SP and more.

Even without buffing myself, this system can give me incredible power if I use it wisely and properly. It is a trump card on top of my other already broken trump cards.

“Wait. If it works on anything I own… does it also work on my slaves?”

“You catch on fast. Yes, it does. You can grant them new Skills or Abilities or a new Class. You can even customize them with different effects to some degree. The only limit is the level of your Greed, so go ahead and build the slave army of your dreams.”

I see, I see.

So, I can use this power to make Ariesa even more amazing. I may not be able to get strong, but I can make my companion the strongest.

Hahaha, just the thought of it is exciting. I can’t wait to help her become the greatest and most amazing slave ever!

“Hey. I’m done.”

“Oh, that was fast.”

As I’m starting to search through the different options on what skills I can give to Ariesa, she returns with her mission complete.

She gently sets down a plate on the table before me and—

“… Ariesa.”

“Yes?”

“What is this?”

“Food.”

“Why is it pitch black?”

“I cooked it.”

“And what’s this funky-looking part here?”

“Edible matter.”

“And this part?”

“Digestible matter.”

“And… this one?”

“Consumable matter.”

“It’s not even digestible anymore!?”

The plate placed in front of me is nothing more than a medley of black rocks. To call it nutrition would be a misnomer at this point; there is no way anything left on this plate can offer anything to the body except pain.

“How did you even manage to do this? I can’t even tell what it’s supposed to be.”

“Well, you said to make it quickly, so I tripled the heat…”

“WHY!?”

No way. There’s no way this musclehead actually thought using three times the heat would make it cook three times faster.

This has to be a prank. Please tell me it is!

“… hm? Wait, what’s that smell…”

I notice a rather foul stench coming from nearby.

I turn towards the kitchen and—

“Oi! Ariesa! Your kitchen’s on fire!”

“Huh? Oh, shit! How did that happen?”

“Did you leave the fire on? The triple hot fire?”

“Ah, oh no, oh no, what do we do?”

“Put it out! Quickly!”

“Right. Of course. We need to get to the extinguisher and then— no, that’ll take too long. The fire will only spread more, the longer we take, which will increase the risk exponentially. We need to deal with it all at once immediately. Which means…”

At that moment, an unscrewed lightbulb flash in her head.

“I’ll just destroy it all in one strike!”

Wait, what?

“Stand back, Mamoru. I’ll settle this in an instant. Inferno Slash—”

“Stop it, you idiot!”

I command her to stop and smack her on the head before she blows up the entire house.

Then, before she can pull any more hare-brained schemes, I grab the fire extinguisher and finally put out the flames. It was so easy to do, I can hardly believe she was about to perform the most colossal screw up of all time.

What the heck is wrong with this gorilla woman? Can she really do nothing except destroy things and fight?

Also, of all attacks, why was she about to use Inferno Slash? Was she really trying to fight fire with fire!?

Ahhhhh, I can’t take this anymore. Someone save me from this crazy slave girl.

Today’s lesson: Never make Ariesa do housework ever again.