Summoned and Unwanted

“No!” One of the women shouted. “That collar must be enchanted with the slave curse. That means there is no need to sign a document.”

“Does that mean she will remain his slave until the order is completed? Even if he is dead?” One of the victims questioned.

The woman with a toothpick on her shoulder looked at Ester and answered, “Yes. An order can defy the death of the owner. Only after killing us can she become an ownerless slave.”

“I feel sorry for what happened to our savior because of us.” Another one of the victims said apologetically.

Lupa rushed to Ester with a worried expression. Lupa recalled how much Ester suffered when she became a slave, and she didn’t want to see Ester in a similar pain once again.

Ester took a step back while suffering from a headache and feeling as if her head was about to split. She could feel her retainer mark becoming hot, yet it felt pleasant as if it was Vincent’s hand caressing her skin and reassuring her there was nothing to fear.

Ester frowned and grabbed the metal collar. Her hands became surrounded by violent wind, and the metal collar started to break quickly. “Arrr... Haaaa!” Ester shouted while breaking the metal collar and throwing the broken collar on the ground.

“I am the slave of no one! “Ester said while glaring at the corpse of Slash.

.....

The five victims couldn’t believe their eyes. They could see Ester appeared to have been affected by the curse, yet not only she resisted the curse, but she didn’t show the slightest sign of becoming controlled.

The five victims couldn’t believe Ester was immune to the effects of the slave curse because it was unheard of.

On the other hand, Lupa arrived beside Ester and checked her neck. She sighed in relief when Ester looked tired yet fine. Her neck was also clean of any curses as well.

“Could the thug have mistaken the collar for an ordinary one?” One of the victims questioned after she couldn’t believe Ester was powerful enough to resist the slave curse.

The victims now started to wonder if the curse-enchanted collar was mistaken for an ordinary one. It will not activate since there is no curse in the collar in the first place.

Ester touched her neck. She raised her hand with the retainer mark and smiled.

‘Does that mean I can never become a slave from the blessing of being your woman? Vincent, you gave me a gift bigger than I thought.’ Ester thought, while feeling blessed, that the powerful retainer bond was more could overwhelm the slave curse.

Ester and Lupa approached the five victims. After the five victims could take a better look at Ester and Lupa’s maid outfit, they became shocked to discover the fine detail of the outfit.

“Are our saviors’ maids of a respectable noble? Did the noble send you to save us?” The uninjured woman asked.

“Humph, you will not meet my mate. “Lupa responded with her arms crossed.

The injured woman slowly stood up. She held her shoulder and respectfully bowed. “Thank you for saving us.” She said in a pained voice.

The three men stood up and respectfully thanked Ester and Lupa for saving them. They also mentioned the wish to thank their noble employer for being saved. If they were sincere or if it was to make a connection with a noble, Ester and Lupa couldn’t tell at this moment.

Lupa extended her claws and glared. Her eyes shined golden, and her body became a blur. The victims didn’t have enough time to react to Lupa suddenly acting hostile. Not even Ester understood what Lupa was doing and her reason for the current action.

Lupa appeared in front of the injured woman and swung her arm at her. It was obvious Lupa was about to kill the woman, yet a fast projectile entering the room from the dark was swiftly destroyed by Lupa’s blurry arm.

The five victims and Ester couldn’t believe they were being attacked from the outside, and Lupa detected the surprise attack before it entered the room. Additionally, not only could Lupa tell where it came from, but her claws were quickly covered by a faint layer of external mana from the use of Energy Flow.

Ester didn’t have time to congratulate Lupa for using Energy Flow and achieving a Blood Tempered Body. The projectile was an Earth Shard spell, and if not for Lupa, the woman with a toothpick in her shoulder would be dead.

“Stay down! An earth mage could be the one who escaped. He could be waiting for us in the corridor.” Said Ester while placing all her focus on the earth tattoo. A moment later, her skin became thicker with the use of the earth sigil.

Fortunately, the five victims were too frightened to notice Ester using sigil magic. They went to a corner away from the door. Now they can not be hit by a projectile anymore.

Ester’s body became heavy, yet the protection she had was overwhelming. If her thick skin starting to become rocky failed, then the sigil tattoos would be the next line of defense.

Ester walked slowly to the dark corridor. Lupa understood Ester was going to block the next projectile with her body. She patiently walked behind her with a murderous glare. She was impatient to pass the corridor and kill the one who attacked them.

Deadeye was at the entrance. He looked both scared and furious at the same time. He was also feeling perplexed for not hearing a scream and wondered if he had failed to hit a target.

“Damn, why isn’t Slash coming. Is he also dead?” Deadeye looked outside and continued, “The soldiers are gathering. I can’t stay here any longer. I need to...”

Deadeye stopped talking to himself after hearing heavy footsteps echoing from the dark corridor. A smile appeared on his face after thinking Pitch was alive.

Deadeye grabbed a candle and lit it. He threw the candle at the dark corridor and faintly saw Ester, with her maid outfit glowing, slowly approaching him. He frowned and revealed his teeth from anger.

“Damn it all. Those two idiots died instead of escaping after me.” Deadeye said before he started chanting an Earth Shard spell.

The corridor was wide enough for one and a half persons to can pass through. Deadeye was eager to kill the two maids in front of him while believing they couldn’t dodge his spell.

The Earth Shard shot forward, and the loud sound of two rocks clashing against each other loudly boomed and echoed in the building.

Deadeye frowned when the sound wasn’t a scream. He looked at his side after remembering attaching a small bag he stole from the F Ranked adventurers on his belt.

Deadeye opened the small bag and found a minor strength potion and a minor mana regen potion. She smirked and drank the two potions.

Deadeye looked inside the dark corridor and saw two maids passing the cloud of dust and slowly approaching him unscathed. “That redheaded maid must be a wind mage.” He murmured angrily.

Deadeye placed his hand in his pocket and took out a yellow vial. First, he slyly threw the two empty vials. Then he threw the third vial with the yellow substance at Ester.

The liquid expanded while becoming very sticky. It was the sticky vial Lupa hates the most.

“Sister! Please be okay!” Lupa nervously said with a wavering voice while her heart raced from fear. The difficult to scare and intimidate Lupa was frightened to her core.

Ester had never experienced the sticky substance before. She moved her arms, but the more the yellow sticky substance spread, the more Ester couldn’t move her body as if her limbs were glued.

“Sorry, Lupa. I can’t move. Please don’t touch me and go for our enemy cautiously. He might have more devious tricks up his sleeve.” Ester said.

Ester didn’t expect to be attacked in this kind of manner. To have her movement constrained was a first for her, and as a person who loves to dance freely, Ester could understand why Lupa was terrified by the sticky substance.

Regardless of her current predicament, Ester wasn’t feeling despair or worry. Instead, Ester felt calm and believed in herself and in her power.

Ester knew the earth element was protecting her body from harm. Learning how something like stickiness or, probably worse, acid or poison could still affect her in some way was a lesson she managed to learn now.

Lupa turned her sights at the exit. Her target was a couple of meters away from her, yet she could clearly see him with her heightened eyesight.

“You will pay!” Lupa exclaimed in rage while emitting an overwhelming killing intent to the exit. She started walking forward, passing the trapped Ester before running to make the thug who caused Ester to experience what Lupa hated and feared the most pay dearly.

Lupa rushed, blinded by rage. She prepared to attack before her survival instinct warned her of danger. She stopped running and jumped back. After hearing “Earth wall.” the ground rose and blocked the corridor with a thick wall.

Lupa’s eyes glowed, and her upper body became a blur. Lupa slashed at the wall dozens upon dozens of times with her claws barely covered by exterior mana.

The control of Energy Flow and the current state of her mind was only protecting her claws instead of making them sharper.