Chapter 167
The Slave
Returning to the present situation, after Owen declared he would personally escort Ellie to the 4th floor, he truly did just that. He took the young girl on a journey alone, without using the Setter family crest to enter their cities.
He led Ellie into the tower by appearing at the central courtyard. Without a city of one’s own, many people would find themselves appearing there. However, the central courtyard was not a safe place. No one in their right mind would willingly come to a place where who-knows-what might appear around them. That’s because the central courtyard was a random entry point. It could lead them into a deep forest or even the lair of a beast king. This randomness was why early tower entrants called it the Tower of Death.
It wasn’t until humans discovered the city-controlling stones that they could enter the tower more safely. Before that, they had to rely solely on luck.
Owen wasn’t afraid of the beasts on the 1st floor, even if they were the highest-ranking beasts in that floor. After appearing in the forest, he led Ellie to the location he had prepared in advance. This demonstrated that he had thoroughly planned everything.
Usually, moving between floors of the tower was forbidden unless one owned a city and could travel through the city’s teleportation system. Owen could have taken Ellie directly to their city, but this would have risked being tracked.
Thus, Owen started from the beginning by randomly entering the 1st floor. The same approach would be taken for the 2nd and 3rd floors. This method made it easy to shake off anyone trying to follow them.
While teleporting between floors was forbidden, intra-floor teleportation via magical devices was not regulated. Therefore, Owen had prepared everything in advance. He used devices already in place to bring Ellie to the testing point for ascending to the next floor.
The reason people paid the city lords for safe passage was precisely because of this. If they wanted to move from one floor to another on their own, they would have to undergo the floor tests, which were so dangerous that no one had ever reached the 7th floor.
Even Owen wasn’t bold enough to take on these challenges head-on. The unknown dangers inside necessitated maximizing their power and preparation. There had been attempts to break through this floor test, but those who tried never returned.
Death was always the consequence for the unprepared. Underestimating the tower’s dangers, it was nothing short of a death sentence for the careless.
“The test from the 1st to the 2nd floor involves 7 species of beasts. 3 are randomly selected from the 1st floor, and 4 are from the 2nd floor. It’s a warning that you need to be prepared for the challenges of the 2nd floor,”
“However, a forest lord from the 1st floor will also appear at the end of the test. These lords are at the same level as the 3rd-floor beasts, whether their strength or abilities, so it’s no surprise that facing them can easily kill newcomers,” Owen explained. Ellie, who had just learned about this new information, listened carefully, absorbing every detail.
Owen watched the young girl, who was like a diligent student, and a small smile formed on his lips. He felt an urge to pat her head, but he knew they weren’t close enough for such gestures. Instead, he chose to keep explaining.
“For the test from the 2nd to the 3rd floor, there are 8 species of beasts. 3 are from the 2nd floor and 5 from the 3rd. The beast lord of the floor will be as powerful as a 4th-floor beast.”
“The 3rd floor test includes 3 species from the 3rd floor and 6 species from the 4th floor, with a level 5 beast lord presiding. It’s quite a brutal floor. When I was young, I participated in overcoming this floor’s beast challenges as well,”
“The 4th floor is the current limit. To ascend to the 5th floor, one must possess something extraordinary beyond those who reached the 4th. It’s the reason that even the advanced species that left behind many treasures took over 500 years to progress further. Humans, following in their footsteps and relying on the advanced species’ civilization, may have taken less time, but they haven’t made any independent advancements.
“The beasts that appear follow the same pattern: 3 species from the current floor and 7 from the next floor. It indicates that the higher the level, the more species from above there are. Just like the 4th floor that is barely half-explored, it housed many dangerous species that pose a threat to humans like us.
“The 6th floor is reserved for elite families. Only a few families control cities there. However, controlling a city doesn’t guarantee perpetual protection. This floor hosts numerous powerful species that might reclaim the cities unexpectedly.
“Thus, after conquering a city, the city lords have limited time to extract benefits. If other species ever suddenly attack, the loss of the city results in substantial setbacks...”
Owen explained to Ellie as he led her to enter the 1st floor’s test. Before Ellie could even see the emerging beasts, Owen’s powerful purple lightning flashed, accompanied by the constant sounds of thunder like “buzz, buzz,” “boom,” “bam,” “crackle.” When the dust settled, only charred remains were left, unrecognizable as former creatures.
Whether it was a beast lord or a high-level beast in whichever floor, Owen took only 10 minutes per floor to eliminate them. Ellie, standing nearby, couldn’t let her spores linger in the air. The overwhelming power of Owen’s attacks destroyed her tiny spores before they could even be noticed.
By following Owen today, Ellie learned another aspect of the eldest young lord’s terrifying power. And that was...his lightning power seemed to suppress her botanic element!!
“Alright, we’ve finally reached the 4th floor. After using this teleportation device, you’ll appear near the city, where someone will be waiting for you by the teleportation device. So, I won’t disturb you further. Take your time here and make the most of it. I’ll come back to pick you up in 3 days.”
“Oh, and...if you want to practice combat skills or want to level up the plants in your new bond, you can command the city’s slaves to accompany you for protection. I’ve instructed my men guarding the city not to follow you during your training. However, if you want to use them, that’s also your right.”
Owen smiled, and Ellie felt that this man knew too much about her. Yet, he spoke as if he were the only one aware of her new powers. Even his men assigned to protect her didn’t seem to know about this.
“What are the city’s slaves? Are they trustworthy?”
“Of course. Once you arrive, my people will have you accept all the slave contracts, which will be imprinted on your spirit. You’ll become their master completely. No matter what order you give, they will always obey.”
“Slave contracts?”
“Yes. You might not be familiar with these slave contracts because it’s new knowledge that came after we managed to conquer a city on the 6th floor. Our Setter family plans to reveal these slave contracts once we have fully understood the magical runes.”
“In the 6th floor, the new city I conquered had a book of forbidden runes. The owner of this book was imprisoned in a high tower with numerous protective runes to prevent escape or intrusion. However, over the years, without magic power to maintain or repair it, I managed to break the seals and investigate. I found that the book was quite interesting, containing many forbidden magical runes.”
"One of the runes is the slave contract magical rune. I learned and replicated it into slave contract symbols. However, we don’t want to distribute these slave contract papers to others, as it could cause chaos. Therefore, I established a slave contract development group within the Setter family to create these symbols in the form of equipment.”
“For example, we might create them as slave shackles. We would use the unbreakable slave contract as a prototype, turning them into shackles, bracelets, collars, or other items that can bear the slave contract symbol.
“This approach allows people to seek help if they are being used wrongly. The spirit-binding slave symbol is too terrifying. If the contract holder dies, the slave remains bound forever, unable to free themselves.
“This may seem cruel, but if used correctly, we can keep the original inhabitants of the city as a force for later use. Like the city I conquered for you, not all the original inhabitants were killed. They are the species that have some intelligence, so I gave them the choice to either die or accept us as their masters.
“Those who chose death were executed. Those who chose to stay in the city are waiting for the contract to be completed before being released from their cages.”
Owen tried to explain further to ensure Ellie didn’t see his actions as overly cruel. The concept of slave contracts was new and might be difficult for her to accept.
However, Ellie’s reaction was different from what he anticipated. She didn’t show fear, shock, or disgust as he had thought. Instead, her small face showed contemplation as she accepted the slave contracts. She pricked her finger and let her blood drop onto each contract, which had already been half-prepared. The runes swirled around and then entered her spirit.
Within a short time, Ellie had 212 slaves of her own. From her perception, these slaves varied in age—old, young, and age with vigorous strength. Although she could sense basic information through the bond, it was faint. Ellie had previously made contracts with two plants, feeling their unwavering loyalty and complete obedient; she felt they were more like guardians. In contrast, her bond with the 212 slaves felt distant, with a significant amount of hatred mixed in.
"Good girl, aren’t you afraid?" Owen almost laughed after seeing how compliant Ellie was. She didn’t resist or act ignorant of the rules of the strong. If it had been another girl, she might have opposed his actions or even asked him to release the slaves.
But Owen had done this for Ellie’s sake. She clearly didn’t want others to know what she was training or doing. It was evident that she had very low trust in people. Though Owen didn’t know what she had been through, he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
Keeping the slaves was the best option to align with Ellie’s wishes. These slaves could still be used as a force to protect the city. Their strength, which had allowed them to defend the city for so long, must be considerable.
"Afraid? Of the slaves?"
"Yes. I thought you might be worried about this. If the Setter family were to create such equipment in the future, it could potentially change the societal context entirely."
"That’s true. And...will I be affected by this?" Ellie looked up at him.
"Hmm? I won’t let you be negatively affected."
"In that case, I have no reason to worry," Ellie replied casually.
Was she afraid of this? The answer was no, not really. Perhaps it was because her previous world had a long history with the concept of slavery. Although this world was more primitive, it never had the idea of binding slaves with contracts like this. At most, there were hired servants, which posed a risk to loyalty. It wasn’t unusual for someone to sneak into a mansion, pretending to be loyal while harboring malicious plans.
In her former world, both anime and manga often discussed slave contracts, similar to Owen’s idea. It wasn’t about paper contracts but rather embedding runes into equipment for flexibility. This prevented criminals from exploiting these contracts to enslave important people permanently.
The Setter family’s concept wasn’t bad for Ellie at all. On the contrary...the fact that Young Lord Owen had given her all these slaves showed just how important she was to him.
The slaves from the conquered city could be used to protect the city they had built from the beginning. Going forward...it was almost like she had her own army, wasn’t it?
Perhaps...even the Setter family might criticize their young lord if they found out. How could he suddenly bestow such benefits on a single young girl?
“Actually...I should thank you for your thoughtful care...”
Ellie thought about the sentence before saying it with a smile. Owen was momentarily taken aback, not expecting the young girl to fully understand everything he had done.
“From now on, please accept my care happily, my future fiancée...”
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