Chapter 2: The Secret Room

It’s been a while since Master made sure I understood my place, and so far, he seems to be going through all the standard template events quite smoothly.

The other day, we went to the guild together to register his identity. He wore a robe to hide his face, but the receptionist lady was clearly suspicious of me, so I'm pretty sure a flag has been triggered.

I tried poking him to see if he noticed, assuming he was the dense type—but then he coldly brushed me off with, “I’m not into humans.” That sent a chill down my spine.

Now that I think about it, I may have been taken in by someone truly terrifying.

As for the reason I had to hide my face—well, apparently things get pretty bad if people find out I’m an elf. It’s not like I’ll be sold off again, since slaves technically can’t be resold, but there are still people out there who’ll go to any lengths to get what they want.

Well, I’m used goods anyway, so I doubt I’d fetch a high price. Haha... sigh.

“I want something sweet...”

Lately, I’ve been craving sweets like crazy. There are sweet things in this world, but the best that commoners can afford is honey.

Personally, I prefer cream-based treats, but honestly, even honey would make me happy. Still, just saying that out loud around that perverted, sadistic, loli-loving Master of mine... well, I already know exactly the kind of stuff he’d try to pull.

No matter what, I absolutely cannot let things go the way he wants. I need to protect myself from this beast that’s broken free of his chains. I’m not about to dig my own grave here.

That said, due to certain circumstances, I’ve basically been left to house-sit. And without any entertainment, I have nothing to do. Even if I try to distract myself from my sugar cravings, all I can really do is laze around on the sofa or roll around on the carpet.

Ah, the bed’s out of the question. Absolutely not. That place is off-limits. It’s a top-class danger zone.

That tragedy of falling asleep drowsily and waking up too late—must never be repeated. Seriously, I still think he deserves to suffer a massive groin injury.

That sadistic monster of a Master is out today dealing with a goblin extermination request. Apparently, they were a variant species spotted in the forest. He’s probably busy running into unexpected monsters or setting flags with some female adventurer companion. He likely won’t be back today.

Ideally, he’ll get injured just enough to be out of commission for a while... but if he dies, I’m the one who’ll be in trouble, so I’ll at least pray for his safety. Still... I’m so bored. Well, can’t be helped—let’s go on a little house exploration.

Three months into his adventurer life, Master already had the financial means to buy a slave. That’s cheat powers for you. He even owns a two-story detached house with a yard on the outskirts of town.

On the day after I came here, he secretly showed me the basement, which you can get to from the kitchen. Using some magic cheat device, he’d built a fridge down there, and I pulled out a cup of flower nectar cupcakes. A mildly sweet snack.

Sometimes he hides stuff like this, which makes him hard to underestimate.

Still... every time I come down here, I can't help but think: for a house this size, the basement feels way too small. He says he put the fridge down here because he didn’t want it to be seen, but the narrowness feels unnatural somehow.

Could there really be another hidden room? Thinking that, I press my ear to the wall and give it a few knocks. …Huh? It sounds like there’s a lot of space behind it. The wall isn’t thin, but the sound definitely echoes like there's a hollow space beyond. Now I’m really curious.

Let’s see... based on the floor plan, I came down diagonally from the kitchen toward the living room. So I should be just short of the living room right now. And the wall I’m facing… leads into Master’s bedroom?

Curious. Very curious. What could he be hiding? They say curiosity killed the cat, but honestly, it’s the boredom that’s killing this elf.

Now that I’ve found a way to kill time, I gobble up the cupcake and make my way to Master’s room. His bedroom—the room of someone I’ve come to know far too well—has a huge, king-sized bed smack in the middle of it. Extremely comfy and soft.

I do technically have my own room, but it only has a sofa—no bed. The bed got taken out about a week ago. So since then, I’ve been sleeping in Master’s room. …Yeah. You can probably guess what that means.

Anyway, I’ve come in here to clean plenty of times, and nothing seemed suspicious before... but still.

Time to start poking around the places I usually don’t touch. And really, there’s only one choice—the closet. I’ve handled his regular dresser whenever I put away laundry, and I’ve cleaned pretty much everywhere else. The only spot he’s explicitly told me “Don’t touch” is this one, so naturally, this is the most suspicious area.

Hehe... If I can get some dirt on him, I might finally have a chance to strike back. Today’s the day I overthrow him. Open sesame!

………Hmm. Just a regular closet? That’s kind of a letdown. Wait—huh? I feel a slight breeze… Could there be a hidden door behind the clothes...? No way. There’s really a hidden door!?

When I opened the door hidden in the back of the closet, a staircase leading further underground revealed itself. This was getting more and more suspicious by the minute. I cast a light spell to secure my vision and began descending. I can use at least this level of magic, you know. Being an elf isn’t just for show.

At the bottom of the stairs, I found a heavy-looking door waiting for me. It appeared to be locked, but that’s no problem. I have zero talent for attack magic, but when it comes to little tricks like unlocking or disarming traps—I’m a natural! Not that I’ve had many chances to use that since being bought by Master, but still.

Anyway! The time has finally come to uncover Master’s secrets. If he’s hiding something like dirty magazines down here, I’ll tease him relentlessly in retaliation for everything he’s put me through. The lock’s undone… Open the door!

………………

Um. Let’s just pretend I never saw anything. I slowly closed the door and hurried back up the stairs. That room is seriously dangerous. How do I put it… it was clearly designed with punishment in mind. The kind of place someone builds when they’re fully prepared to give “lessons.”

I already knew Master was a sadist and a monster, but this went way beyond what I expected. I misjudged the power gap in my thirst for revenge. This is bad. I’ll just forget everything and behave myself. He’s actually very kind when I stay obedient.

I turned off the light spell, shut the hidden door behind the closet, then closed the closet itself. If I forget everything now, it’ll be like nothing ever happened. That was so close.

“This house, apparently it used to be a noble’s vacation home.”

“Oh, really?”

Hmm, that explains the bizarre hidden mechanisms. That noble must’ve been a serious pervert too. A perfect match for Master.

“Seems like he used to lock up slaves down there and do some pretty awful stuff to them.”

“That’s… a horrible story.”

“Yeah, well. Because of that, I was able to get this place for cheap as a ‘property with a history.’”

“Had a bit of trouble with the exorcism, though.”

So that’s why Master was able to get a house of this size, in a decent part of a large city, despite it not being quite a mansion. That makes sense.

“I hope those poor souls can rest in peace…”

“Yeah.”

Knowing Master and his cheat skills, I’m sure he erased every trace. So I’m not scared. I simply offered a quiet prayer, hoping the victims could find peace at last.

“By the way, Master.”

“Yeah?”

“When did you get back?”

“Just now. There was some mix-up at the guild, so the departure got pushed to tomorrow.”

Oh dear, even the guild messes up sometimes, huh? That’s unexpected.

“I see. The guild can be pretty clumsy, huh?”

“Seriously. Give me a break.”

“Fufufufu.”

“Hahaha.”

◇◆ADVENTURE RESULT◆◇
[EXP]
MAX Combo: 6 <<new record!!
BATTLE TOTAL: 6
◆ [Sora Lv.2] +6
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Sora Lv.2 [13] → Lv.2 [19]
[Comment]

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry this isn’t what it looks like it’s not what it looks like it’s not what it looks like……”