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Ghislain held out the slave contract. The bold lettering of 10 years stood out prominently.

Claude, Alfoi, and the wizards took the contract with trembling hands. Once they signed it, they’d truly become slaves.

With teary eyes, Claude pleaded.

“Can… can’t we just call it a draw?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I won. Just stamp it already.”

“No, I mean, can’t we just work hard without pay? Do we really need a slave contract…?”

He thought it meant they’d be treated as slaves by working without pay, not that there would be an actual slave contract.

Ghislain was truly a man beyond imagination.

“Hmph, didn’t you say you’d work hard without complaining? This is just to make sure. You might run away saying you can’t stand it.”

“Ugh…”

He had dared to make a bet with the lord, so he had to take responsibility for it.

If he tried to refuse now, even if he lost his head, he’d have nothing to say.

With a look as if he’d lost his country, Claude slowly placed his hand over the contract.

“Ugh, I really need to quit gambling. It’s disgusting, really. Fine, I’m stamping it. You don’t even show any mercy when a man is crying and begging!”

Bang!

As soon as Claude stamped his palm, he quickly stopped his tearful act.

“Happy now? Ugh, I had a bad feeling about this from the start. Lord, you gamble quite a bit, huh? We’ll see next time.”

Being used to losing at gambling, Claude was quick to give up.

But Alfoi, who had lived a dignified life as the successor of the Magic Tower, was different.

It was the first time in his life he’d been treated so horrifically. And all because he’d lost a simple bet.

Tears flowed on their own. They weren’t for show; they were genuine tears.

“I-I can’t do it! No! I won’t!”

Alfoi stood up and stumbled backward, trying to get away.

Claude clicked his tongue and teased him from the side.

“That’s how gambling works. You lose your hands, your feet… and then you spend the rest of your life regretting it. ‘Why did I do that back then? I should’ve never done it!’ That’s what you’ll be saying. Hahaha!”

“You bastard! Do you think I’m like you? You think I’m the same as you? You’re a habitual gambler! I wasn’t like that!”

“Well, who told you to jump into a high-stakes game like this from the start? This is something only experts should be doing, not a beginner.”

“It’s your fault! I believed in you because you were so confident! I thought you’d win!”

“What? I dunno.”

Claude shrugged with a smug expression. He was implying he had no responsibility in this.

Alfoi, enraged by Claude’s shameless attitude, began to scream.

“It’s not my fault! It’s all because of the Chief Overseer! I didn’t know! My situation is different! Give me a break! Please, I’m begging you!”

“Oh, if you act like this in a gambling den, you’re just being a nuisance.”

“Shut up! It’s all because of you!”

Claude was already half a slave, considering the debt he owed Ghislain.

But it was different for the wizards.

They had already been here for half a year. If they could just endure for another half year, they’d be able to return to the Magic Tower.

But now they were being abandoned in this miserable place for 10 more years.

“I’d rather die than do this!”

Ghislain nodded and responded.

“Then, die.”

“Nooo!”

Crash!

As Alfoi tried to run, the mercenaries nearby grabbed him and forced him down.

Even as he was pinned to the ground, Alfoi kept struggling, but he finally stopped when the mercenaries pressed a sword against his neck.

“Hey! This is too much! I’m the successor of the Magic Tower! You can’t treat me like this!”

Ghislain flashed a wicked smile at his frantic outburst.

“Do you know why I didn’t stop you when you were acting all cocky?”

“What?”

“If I had beaten you up back then, you would’ve just apologized and backed down. That wouldn’t have been good for me.”

“You… you couldn’t have…”

Alfoi’s face turned pale.

Come to think of it, that lord, who usually beat people up the moment they got cheeky, had been unusually quiet ever since the bet was made.

Lately, no matter how much Alfoi mocked or taunted him, Ghislain had only smiled.

Alfoi thought Ghislain had simply given up.

Though his oddly calm demeanor felt slightly unsettling, Alfoi dismissed it as mere bluffing.

But now…

“You… did you set me up for this bet on purpose?”

“Finally getting it?”

Ghislain smirked.

Alfoi and the wizards could only pound the ground and regret their actions.

They should’ve suspected something when that ill-tempered man started behaving differently than usual!

They were so caught up in the anticipation of winning the bet that they completely missed Ghislain’s intentions.

They assumed he was merely trying to save face by not backing out of the bet.

If he had truly thought he would lose, he would’ve just beaten everyone up and told them to shut up. They never considered that.

Ghislain clicked his tongue, as if disappointed.

“Honestly, I was expecting more, but there weren’t many who took the bait. Still, getting the Chief Overseer and six wizards isn’t a bad outcome, right?”

“You… devil…”

“What are you talking about? Where else would you find someone as conscientious as me? I didn’t even force you into the bet. This is just a fair result. Now, hurry up and stamp it. We were going to have to draft a non-disclosure agreement anyway, so this works out.”

There was only one thing Ghislain had been concerned about for this operation.

He feared that the wizards might spread the formulas and magic circles used in the process elsewhere.

But now that the wizards had become slaves, there would at least be some control over that.

If a slave divulged their master’s secrets, they’d be beheaded without exception. Unless they were willing to risk their lives, they’d keep their mouths shut.

“No! I won’t do it!”

When Alfoi continued to resist, Ghislain sighed and pulled a hand axe from his belt.

“Alright, if you hate it that much, I can’t help it. You’ve been helpful, and I’ve grown a bit fond of you, so I’ll settle for just taking your hand.”

“Huh? W-wait! Do we really have to go that far?”

“Come on, I’m still a lord. If I just let this slide, I’d lose face. It would hurt my honor.”

“Face? Honor? Since when have you cared about those? You’ve never been interested in that! What kind of lord goes around carrying a hand axe and talks about things like that?”

“I’m planning to start caring now. It’s about time I built some connections with other nobles. You can still use magic with one hand, right?”

Claude, grinning, chimed in sarcastically from the side.

“Exactly. You need to lose a hand to quit gambling. If that doesn’t work, next will be your ankle.”

“Shut up!”

“Alright, then. Off goes a hand.”

Ghislain lifted the axe with a terrifying expression.

Alfoi’s face turned pale.

This guy was a madman who never hesitated once he made up his mind.

Just as Ghislain was about to bring down the axe, Alfoi cried out, his voice trembling.

“I’ll sign it! I’ll sign the contract!”

* * *

Ghislain collected the contracts from the rest of the wizards and carefully put them away.

Alfoi watched closely, his eyes gleaming as he noted where Ghislain placed the documents.

‘I need to tear that up.’

Even if the contract didn’t carry any magical constraints, the record would still remain.

As the successor of the Magic Tower, he couldn’t afford to leave evidence of having signed a slave contract.

While Alfoi was plotting, Ghislain handed a new document to Claude.

“Here, take this.”

“What is this…?”

“More work you need to do.”

“You’re joking, right? I already have way too much to do!”

“No joke. You seem to be doing well, so try this too. It’ll be over quickly.”

“…What happens when I finish it?”

“A new task will begin.”

Claude snorted, as if to say ‘I knew it’.

But when Ghislain raised a fist, he immediately lowered his head and began scanning the document.

“What is this? It’s just a list of names…”

“Yeah, find the people on that list and bring them to our estate. If anyone doesn’t want to come, don’t force them. If they say they need money, give them as much as they want. They’re important, so handle them as carefully as possible. Got it?”

Claude blinked as he checked the expected locations listed beside the names.

“Are you serious about bringing all these people here? Are these locations accurate?”

“Probably. Some of them might be in different places now. If so, there’s nothing you can do about that.”

The document Ghislain had given him was a list of subordinates he’d had in his previous life.

It would be great if he could find all of the thousands of them, but he knew that wasn’t an easy task.

So, he racked his memory to pick out those who had talents and were essential to the estate.

By his standards, it was a modest selection.

“There are over a hundred names here.”

“Yep. Not that many, right?”

Claude clenched his teeth to hold back his anger, and the papers in his hands crumpled as he gripped them tightly.

Finding people wasn’t that difficult, really.

Since he wasn’t supposed to force anyone to come, nor was there a need to drag people from wherever they were hiding, it was manageable.

The problem was that there was no one available to do the job.

“We’re already short of people to work on the estate! How am I supposed to track down people in other countries? We don’t even have anyone to send!”

“Then hire someone from another estate. Use the information guild, if you have to. I already said, money isn’t an issue.”

“Damn it… damn…”

Claude almost cursed out loud but managed to stop himself.

Even before he became a slave, Ghislain was the kind of person who would throw punches whenever he was upset, and now that they had a slave contract, there was no way to stop him if he decided to resort to violence.

‘Man, this is exhausting.’

There was already so much work that Claude couldn’t sleep, feeling like he was on the brink of death, yet Ghislain kept piling on more tasks.

If he had known Ghislain was this relentless, he would never have followed him out of gratitude or anything else.

He was in deep trouble, and he knew it.

‘I can’t turn back time… I just have to avoid him as much as possible.’

Claude took a step back, subtly trying to distance himself from Ghislain, hoping to escape before he was burdened with more work.

However, Claude froze in place when he heard Ghislain mutter to himself.

“Hmm, we’ve secured our food supply, so now it’s time to start a money-making business.”

“What are you planning this time! You already boosted the wheat production like crazy with that mana condensation array or whatever. Even after distributing enough for the people in the estate to live off, there’s plenty left. Just sell that; why start something new? Is there even anything in this godforsaken land worth selling?”

“Leave that alone. I’m planning to stockpile it and use it when we need it later.”

“Ugh, this is driving me nuts.”

Claude sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

The most fundamental and important issue had been resolved.

All they needed to do was use that to make money, but now Ghislain was suddenly acting like a miser?

“There’s way too much to stockpile. Wheat isn’t the kind of crop you can store for too long. What do you plan to do if it all rots?”

Every estate stored food to prepare for famine or war.

But the improved wheat that Ghislain had developed was in such abundant quantities, it was almost too much.

Just one harvest could sustain them for years.

They wouldn’t even be able to consume it all, so why bother stockpiling it?

Ghislain replied nonchalantly.

“Our food doesn’t spoil easily. Even if it’s just stored in a warehouse, it’ll last for a few years.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“We’ll keep it in reserve and then, right before it spoils, sell it off cheaply or distribute it. The grains are big, so they’ll sell well even if we do it later.”

Claude instinctively wanted to argue, but he held his tongue.

He didn’t know much about those strange grains, so he couldn’t say anything confidently.

Anyway, they’d find out in a few years.

“Fine, whatever. But even if you stockpile food, we’ll still have to keep selling Runestones to make money… What are you planning to sell?”

“We can’t produce resources… so we’ll have to make a specialty product. Let’s make money with that.”

“Wow, as expected of our lord… did you think I was going to say that? Do you think specialty products just appear out of thin air?”

What could they possibly produce in a place with no resources and no technology? Without securing some form of technique, it was obvious they wouldn’t even be able to produce anything, let alone a “specialty product.”

Claude squinted and glared at Ghislain.

“Fine, the wheat thing was possible because of mana, let’s say. But making something is a completely different matter. You need both the skills and the people. Do we have either of those here in our estate?”

“Not yet.”

“Then what can you possibly make? Stop wasting time and money and just sell the food. Please, let’s try to live rationally!”

Ghislain’s lips curled into a wicked smile once again.

“Want to bet on it? This time, for 20 years.”

“B… huh? Wait a minute. Oh, damn it.”

Claude was about to call out bet, but a sudden ominous feeling made him swallow his words.

It was the moment a mental brake finally clicked in the mind of a habitual gambler.