I Became A Slave To The Mastermind

Monsters.

Mutations born from a mix of negative mana and living creatures.

In the beginning, the species known as 'monsters' did not exist.

However, during the Great War of the Races, an enormous amount of mana clashed. The originally pure mana became unstable as it mixed with countless lingering thoughts created by the war.

This unstable mana transformed many ecosystems, and among them, creatures that absorbed malevolent energy were called monsters.

Monsters, changed by negative influences, mostly became violent and attacked all races indiscriminately.

Thus, monsters became targets for extermination by all factions except the demon race.

'Half of the novel was about Robin defeating monsters.'

Though it's quiet now, around the Imperial Year 500—when the protagonist first appears in the novel—disaster-level monsters begin to gradually surface.

Werewolves that devour people, wyverns, predators of the skies, giant minotaurs, and abyssal krakens, among others.

Various monsters threatened the empire.

But knowing that Robin and his companions would take care of them all, I didn't feel worried.

All I had to do was quietly watch from behind, making sure the protagonist did well.

"Unnie. I found them."

Lily pointed in one direction with her hand. Looking over, I saw monsters with green skin.

Though monsters, they had enough intelligence to use weapons. They were goblins.

Now, Lily and I were in the forest, sent by Gorjan to exterminate goblins.

When I told Lily I wanted to teach her combat experience, she accepted without hesitation. At first, Dania opposed the idea, but with consistent effort from me and Lily, we managed to persuade her.

And now, after wandering through the forest with Lily, we had encountered goblins.

"Think you can handle this, Lily?"

There were four of them, all holding blunt weapons.

If I stepped in, I could take them out in an instant, but this was meant to help Lily gain real battle experience.

Lily had to handle it herself.

"I'll give it a try,"

she said, pulling out the new dagger she had purchased from the weapons shop before we set out.

Clutching the dagger tightly, she quietly began to move through the grass, blending into the surroundings.

I crouched down to follow her carefully.

This was, after all, training. I had to ensure that Lily wouldn't get hurt.

Positioning myself to be ready to leap in at any moment, I followed her, and soon, we were close to the goblins.

As Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a gray light enveloped her dagger.

Opening her eyes once again, she lifted her foot from the ground and rushed forward—

"Kyiiiik!"

She stabbed one goblin in the back of the head. The goblin let out a wretched scream before collapsing.

Before the other goblins could grasp what was happening, Lily swiftly moved and plunged her dagger into the neck of another.

"Grr…!"

"Kyik!"

"Kyak!"

As the remaining goblins began to understand the situation, Lily turned to flee.

But the goblins were faster than expected. One of them grabbed her wrist.

"Ugh…!"

Just as the last goblin was about to strike the panicked Lily with its blunt weapon—

Bam—

My fist landed, and the goblin's body exploded before it could finish its swing.

The lower half of the goblin, now without a torso, collapsed weakly to the ground.

"Kyiik?"

One goblin still hadn't grasped what had just happened.

As its eyes met mine, its body began to tremble.

"Kyiieeeeek!!"

She threw the blunt weapon to the ground and bolted away.

"Are you okay, Lily?"

I kept my eyes on the fleeing goblin for a moment before turning my attention to Lily.

"Yes… Thank you, unnie."

Perhaps it was because she couldn't handle it on her own. Lily had a regretful expression.

"You don't need to feel bad. You did well enough."

And I meant it.

Lily probably hadn't experienced something like this before.

Yet, she managed to sneak up on the goblin and, without hesitation, stabbed it in a vital spot, killing it.

For me, it was a surprising feat.

'Is this… the talent of an assassin?'

Or…

"Lily, by any chance… have you ever killed someone before?"

"Huh?!"

Lily was so startled by my words that she was tongue-tied.

"N-no, it's just that you killed it so easily… Most people can't do that so calmly."

"H-hehe… No?! This is my first time."

I guess it really was just talent.

Well, there's no way a sweet, cute girl like her would've killed someone before.

I patted Lily's head as she twisted her body, looking uncomfortable.

"Really? You're amazing. Our Lily might be a genius."

"H-hehe…"

"By the way, Lily, you were caught by the goblin earlier, right?"

I immediately began giving her feedback.

"Yes…"

Lily gulped nervously at my words.

I smiled to ease her tension and continued.

"I'm not trying to scold you. I just want to help. Why do you think you got caught?"

"Because… I reacted too slowly?"

"Hmm, that's part of it, but the root issue is a lack of speed."

Stealth and speed are essential for assassins.

While she had the stealth part down, her speed was lacking, likely because she was still a young girl.

"Should I try running more…?"

"Pfft."

I couldn't help but laugh at her adorable suggestion and ruffled her hair.

Running is good, but she'll have plenty of chances for that once she joins the academy.

"That's one option, but a better way would be to use magic power."

"Magic power?"

"Yes, but instead of using it on your weapon, you'd use it on your feet."

Enchanting. The magic that imbues objects with mana, enhancing their abilities.

When used on weapons like swords or spears, they could become powerful enough to pierce through steel.

And when applied to body parts, it could grant much greater strength than usual.

"Do you want to try channeling your mana into your dagger?"

At my suggestion, Lily closed her eyes and enveloped her dagger with mana.

"Now, can you try moving that magic power to your feet?"

"Uhm…"

She looked flustered at first, but then quietly began to focus again.

Slowly, the gray mana began to move from her arm.

"Ah…"

But as it reached her torso, the mana scattered like shattered glass.

"It's difficult, right? It'll probably take a bit of time to get used to."

Moving mana freely requires a lot of concentration.

For an average person, it would take months of training.

'But our Lily managed to do it in just a week!'

In the novel, she thought of a way to enhance her speed by enchanting her legs, allowing her to unleash explosive bursts of speed.

After a week of practice, she became able to freely channel mana into her legs and move swiftly.

Heh heh. Lily really is a genius.

Failing on the first try is perfectly normal.

I was about to praise her to boost her confidence.

"With how talented you are, I'm sure in just a week—"

"I'll try again, unnie."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

Lily closed her eyes again and channeled mana into her dagger.

This time, the mana slowly reached her chest.

"Oh, Lily. You're catching on quick."

"I'll try again."

Mana now reaching down to the waist.

"One more time."

From the waist to the knees.

"Just once more."

From the knees to the shins.

And finally.

Wooong—

"I did it."

Lily successfully infused mana into her feet.

She looked at me with great joy.

"I did it, unnie!"

"..What?"

How…?

How did she do that…?

I couldn't believe it, but as if to say this was reality, the gray mana shone clearly beneath Lily's feet.

What? Did I read the novel wrong?

In the novel, it definitely took a week.

But the time it took for Lily to successfully transfer mana now was less than an hour.

The difference was unbelievable.

'Does this even make sense…?'

As I was flustered by this impossible situation, Lily grabbed my arm and called out to me.

"Unnie!"

"Huh… huh?"

When I came to my senses, what I saw was Lily's eyes, filled with a deep desire.

"I told you, I did it."

"Well… that's true! You're amazing, Lily…!"

"Just words?"

"Huh?"

Was she asking for some kind of reward?

Lily was looking at me as if she wanted something.

"Um… should unnie give you a kiss?"

"A kiss is good, but… please grant me one wish."

Once again, she was asking for a wish.

"A wish?.. Hmm, should I? Do you have something you want?"

But Lily shook her head as if she didn't have one yet.

"I'm going to save it. Until I become an adult."

Lily's words gave me an eerie feeling.

'Is it a wish that can only be granted when she becomes an adult?'

As I pondered what Lily's wish could be, I remembered the students back in Korea before I was possessed, who desperately awaited the day they would become adults.

Those students who would slap their IDs onto their foreheads at midnight and eagerly wait to enter bars or clubs.

'Could Lily be like that…?'

There are no clubs here, but similar entertainment establishments do exist.

Could Lily have developed an interest in such places?

No way.

I absolutely have no intention of letting Lily go to such places.

Drinking? I can do that with her anytime, but—

I cannot just sit by and watch Lily fall down the path of debauchery.

"Lily… no strange places, okay…?"

"Huh?"

Lily looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"What are you thinking…? It's not that. I just have a few things I want unnie to do."

Ah, if that's what she means.

When I realized Lily had no interest in that kind of culture, I felt a deep sense of relief.

"If it's just that, I'll do anything you ask!"

I smiled as I said this to Lily, and she smiled back at me sweetly.

But at that moment, I didn't know.

If I had known what Lily was going to make me do with those collected wishes…

I wouldn't have been smiling so carefreely.

***

After returning from the goblin hunt,

Dania greeted us with a smile.

"I've been waiting. Come inside and have some food."

Seeing Dania warmly welcoming me made me feel a lump form in my chest.

Before I was possessed, I wasn't unhappy, but I did live a lonely life.

My mother passed away early, and my father raised me as if he had abandoned me.

I didn't even make it to college properly.

I could have gotten a decent job, but it didn't change the fact that my life was lonely.

But now, things are different.

Although we weren't connected by blood, they treated me like family.

A warm home that welcomed me.

Lily and Dania were there, accepting me.

And I had the strength to protect that place.

"This is truly a happy life from now on."

Until the protagonist reaches the end of the story, I just need to stay here.

Lily would leave for the academy, but Dania would stay here.

I just needed to live well, waiting here with her until Lily returned someday.

With firm determination, I stepped into the house that welcomed me.

***

Time flew by quickly.

"Already half a year has passed."

I muttered while sitting on the corpse of a monster.

It's been half a year since I vowed to live a happy life.

The West had become quite a livable city.

Drax was still a city of criminals, but most of them had started to settle in other districts, avoiding the West.

"What? You're thinking of going to the West? Are you crazy?"

"Why? I heard the atmosphere there is nice."

"Don't you know there's a monster there that rips apart criminals on sight? North would be better. I'm never going there."

These kinds of rumors had spread all throughout Drax.

Well, some of it was true. I had beaten up every criminal that tried anything in this place.

And so, the West gradually began to transform into a lawless city with no crime.

In the meantime, I had spent time with Lily, exterminating the monsters that threatened Drax.

Before I knew it, the city had started treating me like a guardian deity.

A lot had changed, but the biggest change was-

"I'm back, sister."

Lily, carrying a monster much bigger than herself, looking completely unfazed.

Over the past six months, Lily had grown tremendously.

Whenever I shared the information from the novel with her, she absorbed it all like a sponge.

Each time, I saved up one wish.

'Isn't it close to a hundred now?'

At some point, I had given up on counting. I told her to start using them now since I might not be able to fulfill them all later.

But she stubbornly refused.

"Not yet."

I'm not sure what 'not yet' means, but it didn't really matter to me, so I let it pass without much thought.

'She'll figure it out herself.'

Thinking that, I stared intently at Lily.

"??"

She tilts her head and looks at me quizzically.

She's steadily getting stronger.

She is mostly out hunting monsters almost every day, so she's gaining a lot of experience.

At this rate, in two years, she'll probably be recognized as quite capable even in the Academy.

And that will make Robin's work easier as well.

"What are you thinking about, unnie?"

Before I knew it, Lily had approached me and was looking up at me.

"Nothing much. Just thinking that time flies."

"Hehe. It's because you're with me."

Cute.

Silently, I patted Lily's head as she smiled.

Once we finished the monster hunt, we prepared to head back home.

"Hera-nim!!"

From a distance, a soldier came running toward us in a panic.

It was Charlson, one of the guards who maintained security in the west.

"What's going on? Why are you running like that?"

Charlson was drenched in sweat.

It seems he had been searching for me for quite some time.

As Lily and I looked at him in confusion,

"Huff…huff…In…the city…that person…!!"

"That person?"

Still catching his breath, Charlson couldn't speak clearly.

"The he-hero is looking for you."

"Wait, who exactly?"

I blurted out the rest informally.

Then, after taking a deep breath, he said,

"The hero of the Empire. Athena-nim is looking for you."

…What