“So, remember, if the church arrives, just tell them I’m on a mission for the Prince or something like that,” I explained to the girls remaining behind.

“Don’t worry. If they cause trouble, I’ll cut them down where they stand!” Salicia chuckled.

I glanced over at the other two women.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep sister in check.” Carmine sighed.

“Master, it is my responsibility to take care of the home when you are gone. Rest assured, I will do my job adequately.” Faeyna curtsied.

“In that case, I suppose we should be off.”

I made sure to enslave Faeyna using my Slave Taker ability.

{Faeyna is now your slave.}

Something about seeing those words reassured me and made me feel a bit better. It was like there was a knot in my shoulders, and only now I was able to relax. I now had eight slaves under me. I wondered how many would become too many. Was there a limit?

I didn’t have to wait long to get those answers. I gave them a few more instructions and then the group left, heading towards the slaver’s guild. We kept a low profile just in case the church was searching for us, and I simply asked immediately for Figuro.

“She’s the Demon Q-“ I covered his mouth.

“Shhh… didn’t the Prince tell you I was coming?”

“Ah… that… he said I needed to provide a stronger slave mark, as to on who… that wasn’t the case.”

“What is the difference anyway?” I asked. “It seems like any Slave Mark would do.”

“Well, the typical Slave Mark binds someone’s body,” Figuro explained. “The stronger form, well, it’s one we very rarely use except in special circumstances, it binds a person’s soul.”

“A person’s soul?”

Figuro nodded with a serious expression on his face. “A girl bound by this slave mark, even in death, your soul would be bound to your Master’s. It’s a particularly cruel and absolute form of control… girl, are you…”

“I’ll do it!” Shao’s eyes shone with excitement. “Ah… I might need two slave marks maybe?”

“T-two?”

“My soul must be bound to Master extra tight… so, he never gets away…”

“Haha…” I tried to laugh it off, but why did she seem so serious?

I felt my spine tingle as she glanced at me with a crooked smile.

“Master… I too… must have a stronger Slave Mark.” Lydia suddenly declared.

“M-me too!” Celeste cried out. “My soul must be bound to Master, even in death, as well!”

“Master must control me completely.” Terra agreed.

“I must get a mark for each one of my tails, then Master will have my spirit!” Miki seemed to already be preparing.

“Uh… what was the part about it being cruel?” I asked Figuro, who had his eyebrows raised.

“Ah… since her soul is bound to yours, she will die when you die.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, that’s how it has to be…” Figuro shrugged helplessly.

“Sorry, girls, I don’t want you all to check out if I died.”

The girls were very depressed and shot Shao a few jealous looks. However, they came to agree. Someone needed to pull my body away and make sure I was properly resurrected. If we lived and died as a group based on the weakest member, it would be truly pitiful. I agreed to buy them something sweet from a stall on the way to our next stop to get them to cheer up. Shao’s mark was upgraded with a slight sizzling sound.

“Does that hurt?”

“No more than the agony of every second Master isn’t by my side.”

I had no response to that.

Also, it turned out that normal people could only handle about 10 slaves. If you acquired the slaver job, you could handle more. For someone with the Slave Master job, they could support up to a thousand slaves, so it was fine.