When a Corporate Slave Guy Reincarnated as a Mob Villain (Slave Trader), He Used His Knowledge of the Game to Raise the Heroines to Be the Strongest, Unintentionally Turning Them Into Yanderes, and Before He Knew It, He Was Completely Breaking the Story - Chapter 7-8

Chapter 7: My Death Flags Are Constantly Rising

“I’m…so…so happy to hear you say that. I can’t tell you how many times I wished to be rescued…But…I have already been made this man’s slave.”

“I understand. But it’s okay. I’ll defeat this man.”

“No…I am bound by the slave crest to him. If he orders me, I will have to fight you too…Please, run away…”

“Gyahaha…That’s right. As long as this slave crest remains, Alice belongs to me. Hey, Alice! Kill this fool!”

“Are you sure about that? I have this power and this holy sword.”

“W-what?! The slave crest doesn’t work…No, has it been dispelled?! Impossible…someone like you…”

“Princess Alice…I have removed the cursed chains that bound you. Now, let’s fight together!”

“Thank you, Lucius. Now, you despicable slave trader…you dared to disgrace me for so long. Prepare yourself!”

“W-wait! Ugh!!”

And with a “slash!” sound effect, the slave trader is defeated in a humiliating and undignified way…He dies.

Yes…the protagonist, Lucius, has a unique skill.

It nullifies the effect of slave crests…In other words, it dispels them.

In fact, dispelling a slave crest isn’t something only Lucius can do.

However, it requires very high-level magic power, so it usually takes a powerful mage to accomplish it.

Even then, dispelling a crest takes quite a bit of time.

That’s why I had planned to escape while the mage I hired was working on dispelling Alice’s slave crest.

This way, even if Alice tried to take revenge on me, I’d already be far away.

Well…under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have needed to take that much precaution.

Once freed, Alice probably wouldn’t care about me anymore.

No matter what, I didn’t think she held that much hatred toward me.

I had treated Alice with care as best I could, so I didn’t think she would hate me that much.

Until just now, I had optimistically convinced myself of that…

But reality wasn’t that kind.

Judging from the bloodlust Alice showed earlier, it wouldn’t have been surprising if my head had flown off the moment the slave crest was dispelled.

Thinking about it, Alice, a royal, had been made to serve as a maid for five years under a lowly slave trader like me.

Emotionally, there’s no way Alice could forgive that.

Though…I didn’t force her to work as a maid. In fact, I tried to hire another maid, but Alice stubbornly refused…

Well, whatever.

By the way, the mage I hired to free Alice had demanded an absurdly high amount of money.

That’s one of the reasons why Alice’s release was delayed.

Alice wasn’t my only slave.

She was the oldest among my slaves, but now I had quite a large number of them.

I had to free them all and dispel their slave crests as well.

That required a ridiculous amount of money.

Plus, if I was going to escape, I needed to have enough cash on hand.

I didn’t need a fortune, but I couldn’t exactly run away penniless.

I wasn’t asking for the luxury of FIRE that was popular in my past life, but I at least needed enough to survive.

If I didn’t, I’d end up living like I did in my past life, where right before rent was due, I could only afford…well, here it’d be slime meat instead of bean sprouts…

Wait, I’m getting off track.

Right now, there’s a more pressing issue than my financial situation.

And that’s Lucius.

In Lucius’ hands, the slave crest is instantly dispelled and nullified.

At this point, Lucius shouldn’t even know much magic…

When I was playing the game, I didn’t think much of it, just chalking it up to protagonist favoritism and convenient plot devices…

But now, it’s a serious problem for me.

In short…I can’t make Alice fight Lucius using the slave crest.

No matter how strong Alice is, even if her stats are higher than the final boss, it’s meaningless.

Unless Alice fights Lucius of her own will…

But that’s just a convenient fantasy.

I’m the slave trader Alice hates, after all…

And Lucius is the protagonist of this world…of this game…of this story.

It’s only natural that Alice, the heroine, would side with Lucius.

And for me, the one who enslaved the heroine, to be defeated…no, killed by Lucius, is also natural…

At that moment, I could clearly picture myself lying face down on the ground after being slashed by Alice and the protagonist.

I nervously glanced at Alice.

As expected, she was smiling with joy, just as the event dictated…

“Rescue? What are you talking about…? I was saved long ago. Five years ago, in fact…And as for rebellion against the Empire, my master has already gathered people here and established a foothold for—”

“I understand. But it’s okay. I’ll defeat this man.”

“Defeat him? What are you talking about…? Are you even listening to me?”

—

Chapter 8: The Death Flag Has Finally Been Raised

No, this is bad…The conversation event that triggers the flag has begun—

Wait…it feels a little different from what I remember.

But no, the small details don’t matter right now.

More than anything…I don’t want to die yet.

So, I can’t afford to worry about appearances.

Taking advantage of Alice and Lucius deep in conversation, I sprinted away at full speed.

Yeah…I know.

It’s pathetic and cowardly.

But I haven’t enjoyed either my previous life or this second life enough to accept death with dignity.

I was somewhat surprised by my own feelings.

I thought I had given up.

But maybe because I thought I had survived once, I realized how much I clung to life.

“Master…what are you…where are you going?”

Naturally, my escape was quickly noticed by Alice.

After all, Alice’s current status is higher than even the final boss.

‘I didn’t know, did you? You can’t escape from me…’

I could almost hear those cold words from the great demon king—no, from Alice.

I get it.

There’s no way I can “flee” from the final boss.

And in an event battle…there’s no “run” command for a mob enemy like me.

But even if I know it’s pointless, I want to at least try everything I can before dying.

“Alice! Stop the protagonist…no, stop Lucius!”

As my last resort, I activated the slave crest engraved on Alice’s body.

I know it’s the lowest thing I can do.

But…it’s better than quietly accepting death.

Even though, in the end, it probably won’t buy me much time…

Actually, I’m not even sure if the slave crest will work on the current Alice.

Praying, I looked at Alice.

And then…Alice’s body began to emit a dull, eerie glow.

Has it activated…? Alright…at least I’ve bought a little time—

“Ah…this feeling…it’s been so long…Master…you’ve once again used the holy crest, the sacred bond between you and me…Hehe…I accept your command, Master…I, Alice Runehold, your loyal first servant, have received it. Yes…I am the first…The one who received this bond…it wasn’t the other women…it was me…”

Alice was muttering something while staring into the void.

Was it a curse directed at me…?

I’ve only used the slave crest on Alice a handful of times.

The first was when she almost killed me when we first met, and a few other times when I had no other choice…

Forcing someone’s will is truly the lowest thing you can do.

Alice must be hating me even more because of this.

In fact, I could almost see a dark aura radiating from her.

While glancing nervously at Alice, my spine chilled, but I kept running, turning my eyes toward Lucius.

As expected, Lucius had a calm, smug look on his face and then shouted the words…the words that sealed my death flag…

“Princess Alice…don’t worry! No matter what this man does, I have the power to stop him!”

Lucius raised one hand high toward the sky.

“What are you talking about—wha…what is…happening—”

Alice’s face showed an expression of surprise as her body became enveloped in a blinding light.

Running with all my might, panting heavily, I was briefly blinded by the light when I glanced over my shoulder.

Damn…so the slave crest is being dispelled after all…

The countdown to my death has begun.

But…the exit is just ahead.

Just a little more…if I can buy just a little more time…I can escape.

But my wish was in vain, as the light quickly faded.

Alice seemed stunned, not knowing what had just happened to her.

Lucius gazed at her and said,

“Princess Alice…the cursed chain that bound you…the slave crest…I’ve now removed it.”

He smiled at her.

Even I, his enemy, was irritated by how incredibly handsome he looked with that smile.

He had the perfect aura of a protagonist.

And compared to him, I…

I was drenched in sweat, sprinting for my life.

Faster…faster…I just need to open that door and I’ll be out…just one more step, and my life…

But then, in the next moment, I froze in front of the exit door I had been reaching for.

“What did you say…? The holy crest…the sacred bond between me and my master…you’ve erased it?”

Alice’s voice echoed.

Her cold, crystal-clear voice was piercing.

And then, a shiver ran down my spine.

I have to escape from here right now.

I have to open this back door right now.

Even though I knew that, I couldn’t stop myself from looking back.

The killing intent was that overwhelming.

It was just as powerful as when she was casting that great spell earlier, or…no, even more intense…

Damn…so, I wasn’t fast enough after all.

I ended up here …….