I Tamed the Slave Male Lead Chapter 44

“If outside air gets in, the monsters will catch its scent and start rushing out. I’ll guard this place for about a full day. After that, however, I’ll have to close the entrance and come back to check on it only once every three days or so. So it would be best to finish what you need to do and get out as quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

“Then I wish you both good luck.”

“…Thank you, Tower Master.”

I gave him a firm nod to show that he could trust me. Yusiliph merely bowed his head slightly to the duke before heading toward the labyrinth entrance.

The thought of actually entering the labyrinth I had read about in the original novel made my legs tremble slightly. Looking at Yusiliph’s dependable back, I clenched my fists and stepped forward.

The duke stared at the backs of the man and woman as they disappeared into the pitch-black opening, as though being sucked inside.

“Ah, to be young.”

After letting out a brief sigh, he gave a signal toward the forest.

“You can come out now.”

Rustle.

At that, someone slowly emerged from the darkness of the forest.

“If you’re ready, set off immediately. Follow them carefully, and make absolutely sure you aren’t discovered.”

Nod.

The person nodded at the duke, then stepped without hesitation into the labyrinth entrance through which Arabella and Yusiliph had just disappeared.

 

***

 

“So this is what a labyrinth is like.”

Yusiliph muttered in a troubled tone. I nodded in agreement, understanding exactly how he felt.

The moment we entered the labyrinth, we found ourselves in a shadowy jungle, filled with heat and humidity, as though we had stepped into a steam room.

The creatures guarding it were harpies, with the upper bodies of humans and the wings and talons of eagles.

Whoosh!

<KYAAAAAAK!>

Yusiliph calmly attacked them, following the strategy written in the notebook I had given him.

First, we scattered the fruits of the furry shadow palm trees, which harpies loved, across the ground. Then we threw them in every direction, making the harpies fight among themselves and sowing confusion. Once they fell into the trap, we mercilessly beheaded them in a single stroke.

Throughout the battle, I sat anxiously atop one of the furry trees Yusiliph had helped me climb, watching him fight.

The tree bark felt like the fur of a dog that hadn’t been bathed in months, which was thoroughly unpleasant. Still, I lay flat against the trunk without making so much as a sound. If I became a target for the harpies, I would obviously only get in his way.

Had about an hour passed?

At last, the harpies’ attacks began to subside. Yusiliph, who had been holding his breath and keeping watch over the blood-red sky, spoke.

“You can come down now.”

“Good work, Yusiliph.”

I tried to hide how my limbs trembled just from climbing down the tree and loudly praised him. He vigorously shook his hair, which was drenched in the monsters’ black blood.

“The strategy you gave me worked astonishingly well. If I’d come in here without knowing anything, I would’ve had a much harder time.”

That was true. In the original novel, it had taken Yusiliph about two weeks to make his way out of the shadow jungle.

‘But all that information came from you learning the hard way, Yusiliph… You don’t have to be quite so grateful.’

Putting my awkward feelings aside, I helped Yusiliph squeeze the blood from the harpies’ corpses into a leather pouch. Once we had finished, he spoke.

“Let’s go. You said the harpies create a storm once every half day, didn’t you? We should get out of the jungle before that happens.”

I hurried after Yusiliph, who had strode ahead. But with the remains of harpies scattered everywhere, I was so focused on watching the ground that I walked straight into his back.

“Ow! Sorry.”

But he bent his knees as naturally as if he had been waiting for this and offered me his back.

“Get on.”

“What? No, I’m still fine…”

“We both know how pathetic your stamina is. Let’s not waste time arguing about it.”

“But…”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? We have to get out of the labyrinth within a day. This is to increase our travel speed, so stop complaining and get on.”

I looked dejected, but obediently climbed onto Yusiliph’s back. I had no desire to be stubborn and hold him back for no reason, either.

‘If only I could get a little healthier.’

Wrapping my arms around Yusiliph’s sturdy neck, drenched in the monsters’ blood and sweat, I thought to myself.

‘But then, you wouldn’t have had to carry me on your back in the first place.’

As we crossed the jungle strewn with corpses, my heart began to race for some inexplicable reason.

Was this pounding caused by fear or anxiety?

Or was it because of Yusiliph?

And if it was because of Yusiliph, then these feelings probably belonged to the real Arabella, not me.

Thinking about the relationship between the three of us, as if we were caught in some cruel twist of fate, I quietly buried my face in Yusiliph’s back.

 

***

 

We passed through the next stage, the ghoul maze, relatively easily.

The harpy blood we had collected in the leather pouch was our cheat code. The ghouls caught the scent of harpy blood and mistook us for fellow monsters, losing interest in us.

After barely making our way through the maze while desperately avoiding eye contact with the ghastly ghouls, a sinister castle finally appeared before us.

It was a castle teeming with giant bats the size of humans.

In the original novel, this castle had barely been described. It simply said that Yusiliph had made his way through it quickly.

So I had chosen this route with some reservations, but Yusiliph strode ahead with an impassive expression, saying there was nothing to worry about when it came to bats.

And, to my surprise, the castle was completely empty.

No—when I looked more closely as we passed through the hall, I realized it wasn’t actually empty.

Giant bats with bulging muscles were packed tightly across the impossibly high ceiling, glaring down at us.

“Why aren’t they attacking us?”

I whispered, frozen with fear. But Yusiliph merely shrugged once, adjusted me on his back, and continued walking in silence.

‘Does Yusiliph have other abilities that weren’t revealed in the original novel?’

I wrapped my arms around his neck and fell into thought.

Come to think of it, the original novel was narrated entirely from Dorothea’s first-person perspective. The descriptions of the labyrinth were also rather vague, except for what Dorothea had experienced herself or what Yusiliph had told her.

‘Come to think of it, the original often skipped over things Dorothea either didn’t know about or didn’t pay attention to.’

That was why knowing the original story could be a double-edged sword. I might make a hasty judgment based on incomplete information.

Just as I was thinking that I needed to be more careful, we passed through the castle’s rear gate, and a vast ravine appeared before us.

“If we just cross that suspension bridge, we’ll finally reach the garden of bloodsucking plants. I’m glad we’re making better progress than expected.”

I hopped down from his back and let out a sigh of relief.

From here on, I would have to walk, too. To cross the suspension bridge safely while winged imps fired poisonous stingers at us, Yusiliph needed to have both hands free.

“Stay close behind me. And wrap yourself in this.”

Yusiliph took off his cloak and draped it over me. Only after confirming that I had covered myself with it, leaving just my face peeking out, did he step onto the suspension bridge.

<Heeheehee!>

<Kyah-ha!>

The imps, who looked like little devils, caught our scent and came flying over, buzzing around us. Their eyesight was poor, so they paid more attention to Yusiliph than to me, hidden beneath the black cloak.

A milky-white flash burst from Yusiliph’s sword, slicing through the damp air.

Whoosh!

<Kyaaaah!>

<Kirorororooo!>

The imps shrieked and scattered, only to swarm us again. They were like flying insects. Several were blown to pieces by Yusiliph’s sword, but the rest showed no sign of fear.

However, Yusiliph already knew their habits from my notebook. He didn’t panic, focusing only on striking down the imps that came too close.

<Kkiing!>

One imp, its tail stinger held rigid, plunged down toward the crown of Yusiliph’s head.

“Watch out!”

Yusiliph was busy dealing with the imps rushing at him from the front and failed to notice the one above him.

Without thinking, I threw myself forward and shoved him with all my might.

“…Gasp!”

But my feeble body couldn’t budge his sturdy frame. Instead, I bounced right off him.

Slice!

Yusiliph cut down three imps at once—the one attacking his head and the two that had lunged at me—then caught me just as I nearly fell off the bridge.

He scolded me in a chilling voice.

“You’re helping me more by staying still.”

“……”

Sorry for not realizing you had eyes on the crown of your head and the back of your skull, too.

I grumbled timidly to myself and decided to focus on staying close behind him.

<Kihing!>

The last imp clinging to Yusiliph had its tail stinger sliced off and fled in a hurry.

At the same time, we reached the final stretch of the suspension bridge.

“Finally.”

I caught my breath and looked at the sight before me.

A beautiful garden had been cultivated on a massive island floating in the air. With a fountain bubbling with clear water and red flowers resembling roses blooming in abundance, the garden was peaceful and beautiful, like a dream.

If you didn’t know what it really was, it could easily be mistaken for a little paradise in the middle of the labyrinth.

“This is the floating garden where the bloodsucking plants grow.”

Yusiliph nodded at my words and continued forward.

Between the floating garden and the cliff where the suspension bridge was located, a set of translucent stairs had been installed.

I followed him up the stairs and stepped into the floating garden.

Giggle, giggle.

From the unfathomable darkness behind us, the imps’ laughter rang out ominously, as though they were looking forward to an entertaining show.