Chapter 9

My Slave No. 2 had exceptional strength, speed, and stamina.

“Hyah!”

With a single, powerful swing of the axe, a thick tree split cleanly down the middle—Craaaack—and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

For the record, the tool I’d put in Slave No. 2’s hands was a ‘Skilled Lumberjack’s Axe (Rank D)’.

I’d scraped together every last coin I had left from yesterday to buy it.

There had been other options—‘Shoddy Lumberjack’s Axe (Rank F)’, ‘Inexperienced Lumberjack’s Axe (Rank E)’…

But since I was buying one anyway, my magnanimous heart as a benevolent master decided to go with the best one. The most expensive.

Thwack!

Craaaack—

Thud!

What a crisp, satisfying rhythm. It was ASMR, no exaggeration.

I sat in the shade, sipping cool water, soaking in the sunlight and the breeze.

‘Ahh, this is the life.’

Raul probably thought I was still suffering alone in that lonely little cabin.

But I had a (suspicious yet helpful) system, a (affection-starved) spirit, an adorable rabbit, and a (who-knows-what-he-is) laborer.

‘And I’ll be upgrading the house soon, too.’

“Heh heh heh….”

I was in a great mood.

Just imagining how Raul would react when he saw how well I was eating and living already made me giddy.

‘And when the words “let’s get a divorce” come out of my mouth first….’

What kind of face would he make then? A wicked smile crept across my lips all on its own.

He never would’ve imagined it. That Muriel would be the one to ask for a divorce first.

He pretended not to notice, but Raul knew. He knew Muriel had feelings for him.

If a woman who used to cling to him suddenly turned cold one day… with his personality, wouldn’t that be a pretty big shock?

“Haah… Master, firewood, one hundred pieces, completed.”

Lycian’s voice suddenly reached me, and I shook off my wandering thoughts.

He was standing there with the axe planted in the ground, panting heavily.

Clear beads of sweat ran down his hair and skin, glistening in the light. …He looked like a celebrity who’d wandered onto a photo shoot by accident.

“Your face is seriously insane….”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Good work.”

I got up and walked over, patting his shoulder in encouragement. At the same time, I pulled up Lycian’s status.

“…….”

I’d already snuck a look before coming into the forest, so this was technically the second time—but it was still ridiculous no matter how many times I saw it.

What is he, some max-level character?

‘And my stats are absolute trash…!’

The sense of relative deprivation hit hard.

Anyway, Lycian was fully recovered now, completely fine. Probably thanks to ‘Sacred Shepherd’s Touch.’

There was the side effect of accidentally taming him, but…still. Objectively speaking, I had saved his life.

“Let’s move the firewood to the cabin before sunset. I’ll help too.”

“Please rest, Master. I’ll do it all.”

“How are you supposed to carry all of this by yourself?”

“I’ll just carry as much as I can. Like this.”

Lycian lifted twenty logs at once, hoisting them up effortlessly. I stared at him, mouth hanging open in shock.

“…You’re really strong.”

Definitely not human.

In the end, Lycian moved all one hundred pieces of firewood into the yard by himself.

The spiteful little spirit refused to help, saying he should suffer a bit, and even when I tried, I could only manage one or two at most.

I stood on my tiptoes and roughly ruffled Lycian’s sweat-soaked, cream-colored hair.

“You really worked hard.”

I should make him something good to eat. Though, realistically, the staple was still potatoes. Still, I’d found three bird eggs in the forest earlier and stolen them. Boiling those should do.

“Nini, give Lycian some water.”

“Okaaay~ Master.”

The spirit who’d been flitting around me flew over to Lycian and splash!—doused him with water.

Thanks to that, Lycian was soaked from head to toe, like a drowned rat.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me….’

I meant drinking water! Not that!

I promptly flicked Ninabel on the forehead.

“Ow! That hurt, Master!”

“Hey! How can you splash water on someone who just worked so hard?!”

“But he has to wash anyway!”

“Hurry up and give him water properly! If you bully him again, you’re in trouble!”

“Hiiing….”

Only then did Nini create several droplets of a manageable size, perfect for drinking.

While Lycian rested and drank, I purified all one hundred logs stacked in front of the house.

Fwaah!

As a veil of iridescent light poured from my fingertips and wrapped around them, the dark, murky purplish-black logs regained their natural color.

At that moment, a system notification popped up.

‘Ohhh…!’

I had no idea how much it would change, but just knowing I could escape that worn-out old cabin made me happy.

Heart pounding, I read the system’s next message.

“…?”

What the hell is number four?

‘Question marks… random, maybe?’

Then it’d be safer to pick red, blue, or green. My gacha luck was catastrophically bad.

‘Let’s go with something bright—red.’

Just as I decided and was about to press 1—

“Master?”

“…!”

Startled by the sudden voice behind me, my hand slipped.

‘F—!’

I’d pressed the one option you should never choose…!

“No—!!”

“Yes?”

I screamed internally and tried desperately to cancel, but it was useless.

A cheerful clack-clack-clack rang out, and ribbons of strange, multicolored light wrapped around the cabin.

“What on earth is this…?”

I heard Lycian’s bewildered voice, but only for a moment.

The system went ahead and finished the construction.

And at last, as the light faded, the new house was revealed…!

“…This is insane.”

Not floral patterns. Not clouds. Not waves.

It was— A bizarre hamster-patterned roof.

“Th-this is crazy! It’s ridiculous…!”

Brown, white, dark gray—hamsters of all different fur colors covered the roof.

Hamsters bouncing around, hamsters cracking sunflower seeds, hamsters making a V-sign with their tiny front paws while winking ☆….

“What is this supposed to be?!”

I collapsed onto the ground, pounding the dirt as I laughed and cried at the same time. It was so absurd, so ridiculous, I couldn’t even get angry.

I’m supposed to live in a house with a hamster-patterned roof? This has to be a dream.

‘Be honest with me…. System, you’re not in your right mind, are you?’

Hey. Don’t wink. You turned my roof into hamsters…!

“…Master?”

“My goodness! Master! The house got bigger! Is this also your power?! As expected of you, Master~!”

At the voices of Slaves No. 1 and 2, I quickly pulled myself together.

I was laughing myself senseless, but I needed to explain this situation—especially to Lycian.

Ninabel was an idiot, so I could gloss things over with her, but Lycian didn’t seem like someone easy to fool.

“Your power…? Master, are you perhaps a mage?”

“Ah, not exactly.”

With not a shred of mana in my body, I couldn’t pretend to be a mage. I’d be exposed instantly.

‘But I do have holy power.’

Ahem. Clearing my throat, I smoothly delivered the lie I’d prepared.

“I’m actually under the protection of a god.”

“…!”

Though maybe it wasn’t entirely a lie.

I was under the protection of something, after all.

Whether that something was a god, a demon, or an alien species—I had no idea.

Still, I figured the odds favored a god. Because I had holy power.

And purification is basically a holy-power branch, too.

“A purifier who appears once in a thousand years….” That’s what Ninabel had said.

‘Good heavens! A purifier at last—after a thousand years! Please, make me your slave!’

I hadn’t had the bandwidth to register it at the time. But now that I thought about it again…

Maybe I…

‘…might actually be someone incredible?