Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Volume 4 - Ch 1.03

First things first, I want to make some adjustments to your will.

My will? Is there something wrong with how it is currently written?

I guess you could say that. Oh, but do not take it as anything personal, okay? We have been together for some time now, and throughout that time you have done so much for me that I feel like the least I can do to repay your kindness is to alter your will in such a way that in the event of my death you will be set free.

The master slave system that is operating in this world works in such a way that in the event of masters death no matter what the circumstances of that death were the slave assigned to the master is going to die together with them unless there are provisions against it in the contract. To put it in simpler words: if the master bites the dust, then by default the slaves follow him to his grave. It is a system that has been designed to act as a deterrent from slaves turning against their master and make an attempt on his life, but right now I feel like there is no need for me to have something like that anymore. I trust Roxanne completely, and I have a feeling that she has also placed her trust in me.

Uhm. . . thank you very much for your consideration, master. . . but may I ask where did that come from? Because that seems like a pretty big topic to talk about so casually. . .

Where did that come from, you ask? Hmm. . . There is no special reason for that in particular. . . or rather . . . I guess that I just wanted to let you know about it beforehand, since you will also need to be present when the adjustments to your will are going to be made, and I felt like it would be best to have you be aware of my intentions instead of dropping it down on you out of the blue. Also, I trust you and I know that you knowing about it will not change your attitude towards me in a negative way, so you can be sure that will not be doing anything scummy like secretly changing the will back behind your back. That is also why I do not think that this is actually all that big of a deal to talk about, really.

To tell you the truth, I do not know if Roxannes presence is going to be strictly necessary, but I figured that since it is a matter that is directly related to her then it would be better to have her there with me when it will happen and to also have her know what was going on.

. . . . . . . . . I see. So that was your line of reasoning. You are right, master. Even though I know of your plan now, it is not going to change my attitude towards you in the slightest, but. . .

I know, Roxanne. But I decided to put my full trust in you, even though such a thing might and probably will be frowned upon by the rest of society, but even so, I have already made my mind about that, and I am not going to change it. The will affects you, so I wanted you to know that I want to make changes to it to improve your situation. Also. . .

I knew that Roxanne was not going to betray me and stab me in the back now, but I still want her to have a physical, tangible proof of my trust in her. But then. . .

Roxanne stood up from her seat by the table with a clatter. . . . . . .

Hmm? What is it, Roxanne? Is something. . .?

. . . . . . . and then she knelt on one knee right in front of me.

. . . . wrong? What are you doing?

Master.

Y-Yes? What is it?

If you truly decided to place your full trust in me, then please, I want you to leave my will exactly as it is now.

Leave it as it is? But why? Are you really sure about that?

Yes. Whether it would be in my life or death, I want to always follow you wherever you may go. Also. . .

For that next part, she lowered her voice so much that I was barely able to hear what she was saying.

If you trust me, then do not make a will of your own.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eh?

All of a sudden, Roxanne said something that I was genuinely not expecting. What exactly could she mean by that? What would she not want me to write my own will?

I. . . I am sorry, Roxanne, but could you please repeat that so that I could understand?

Yes, of course. I will say that as many times as you wish, master. You do not have to write your own will.

B-But why though? This is the part that I cannot wrap my head around! Why would you. . . ?!

As masters slave, it is my duty to be the shield that protects you from harm no matter the circumstances, so I will not allow you to die in the Labyrinths. If I failed to fulfil that duty and survived on my own, it would mean that I am a disgrace as both a servant and a warrior. That is why I want to ask you for one thing, and one thing only: continue to order me to fight by your side.

Roxanne said that with a straight face. It caught me so off guard that I forgot to chew the meat that was currently in my mouth and finish the rest of my share of breakfast and just stared at her, mouth agape. She does not look like she is joking about that. Moreover, she seems to be deadly serious about it.

W-Well of course I am going to keep relying on you in the matters related to both Labyrinths and combat and I totally understand your point, but look, this is a matter that is totally separate from the issue of the will, would you not say?

Yes, I do, but this is no longer just about that. I want to protect master until my last, dying breath, not because I am obliged to by our master-slave contract, but because I want that as a person. And to continue to know that I will always have your trust, I want my will to remain unchanged as a proof of that!

So that is her reasoning behind it, huh? Admittedly, it is more than a little bit strange, but if that is really what she wants, then. . .

Hearing you say that makes me very happy, but Labyrinths are not the only things that might kill me, you know? What if I was to one day die because of an illness, or a sudden myocardial infraction?

Even though I know heart problems or disease might claim us at any moment, it changes nothing to me. No matter what the cause of your death will be, I would still wish to keep my will in its original form so that you would not have to worry, and follow you to the afterlife when the time comes, no matter when that time might be.

Myocardial infraction did not get translated to Brahim language, which was not all that unexpected seeing how it is a medical term from a modern world, meaning that a medieval one such as this would not be medically advanced enough to even know that an affliction like that existed in the first place. Or rather, the people of this world might know the condition of heart attack itself, but they probably do not yet know what exactly is causing it.

If you also did not know, heart attack is otherwise known as myocardial infraction because it is a medical condition where the arteries that supply the blood to the heart muscle are getting infracted. Maybe here it is known under some different, localized name, or perhaps it is lumped together with all the other similar illnesses under the common name such as Chest Illness?

Uhm. . . are you really sure you want to leave it as it is?