Of course, not enough to make Raham wary. Though perhaps not with one fist, with two he could certainly knock his new master down.

However, the class magic drawn from his nape down to below his waist would prevent him from rebelling against an upper-class person with dominion over him.

Having finished her curious assessment, the woman’s eyes narrowed. It seemed like a meaningless smile, but could also have been a solid disguise hiding her true thoughts. She was harder to read than the knight who hadn’t changed his expression once during the two-week journey.

“What’s your name?”

“Raham.”

After his short reply, he reconsidered and added:

“……Master.”

He needed to learn about the woman and his surroundings.

For instance, what kind of environment this village had. What relationship the woman maintained with the security guards. How many residents regularly visited to check on her, and who they were.

And what kind of person this ruling clan member and lord’s sister was, what attitude she would maintain toward him, and what environment she would provide.

Though he had destroyed his previous master’s life along with his own in a fit of uncontrollable rage, he wasn’t normally one to throw stones at the world without a plan. Occasionally, he did throw them at the person right in front of him, though.

Carlie smiled brightly.

“Could you take off your shirt?”

Her long fingers beckoned.

For a moment, Raham considered whether to beat this woman to death after his previous master.

Many people examined slaves n*ked to assess their value or to use them as gladiators or mercenaries. But there was something unsettling about her behavior.

However, killing a new master and plunging his life back into the mire just because she asked to see his body seemed too hasty.

“……”

Swallowing his curses, Raham untied his top. He raised his arms and removed his upper garment.

Carlie now openly smiled as she examined his muscular upper body.

The moment he recognized that look, Raham was certain he would end up beating her to death within a week. Women wanting him was common enough. But there was a difference between desiring a man and marking him as a s*x slave.

Despite his rebellious gaze, Carlie made no attempt to hide her excitement.

“Hmm, good.”

Her face showed clear satisfaction.

Raham began to feel confused again. Her face expressed her thoughts so honestly that he couldn’t find any deeper implications. Was it genuine satisfaction with the unexpectedly sturdy slave that had come her way, or was there some other meaning?

At any rate, she didn’t run her hands over his body or give him sticky looks. Perhaps because she anticipated her head might get smashed against the pillar she was leaning on if she did.

Carlie yawned languidly and gestured toward his fallen clothes. It meant for him to put them back on.

“I mainly…… spend time researching reagents in that room. Raham, I’d like you to take care of the general housekeeping. Sweeping and cleaning, drawing water, organizing deliveries…… things like that.”

While Raham retied his shirt strings, she listed her requests.

“The well is in the yard…… you saw it, right? Firewood and food ingredients are delivered twice a week. You can use that room over there…… I’ll call you if I need anything. Just eat and rest as needed.”

With that, she yawned again and retreated to her bedroom.

Left abruptly alone, he briefly reviewed what Carlie had said. His new master truly seemed to intend to use him as a house servant or maid.

“……”

He put aside thoughts of her for now. Something else had been catching his eye. He strode to the kitchen and examined the food ingredients scattered on the dining table.

Oranges and pears, a piece of smoked meat wrapped in paper, a chunk of cheese, jam, and several bottles of milk. Though not worthy of a ruling clan’s table, they were all quality ingredients.

After scanning the table, he opened the room Carlie had indicated. It was an ordinary room with a simple bed and wardrobe. The kind that a normal family member in an average household might use.

‘So this really is the room I’m supposed to use.’

He went around opening all the remaining rooms in the house. Besides Carlie’s bedroom that she had entered, there was the messy workroom he had seen earlier, a fairly large bathroom for the house’s size, a dusty storage room piled with books, and a small pantry for storing food ingredients.

The rooms weren’t cramped but weren’t spacious either, and there was no second floor or attic. It was simply a farmhouse where a family could make a decent living.

Apparently, she had been driven out, losing the succession battle to her needle-thin younger brother, and was barely getting by here.

Of course, Raham hadn’t forgotten that the lord had referred to his sister as “perfect for taming disobedient beasts.” The ruling clan’s distinctive aura she exuded when they first met was certainly not something to be ignored.

Since he had expected this, Raham didn’t pay much attention to it. He was more drawn to the properly furnished bedroom and the unrestricted access to food ingredients.

The room she told him to use wasn’t anything special, but it had cotton blankets and pillows, and a closet for clothes. Above all, he liked that food was plentiful.

Unable to touch what looked like a half-made sandwich on the cutting board, Raham spread cheese on a piece of bread beside it and chewed. He also opened a bottle of rich milk and drank it. After always eating fodder-like food, having proper food made him feel alive.

If Carlie came out later and scolded him, he could just say he understood her words to mean he could eat. Surely she wouldn’t cast a spell for something so minor.

While he was at it, he also munched on a pear before thoroughly exploring the not-so-large house.

There were no notable jewelry or valuables. Raham guessed she had received no inheritance of her own and was living off whatever small allowance she got from the family.

⁕⁕⁕

The woman emerged from the bedroom she had entered in the morning close to midnight.

With half-awake eyes, she staggered out of her room, picked up the rye bread sandwich that had tested Raham’s resolve several times, and chewed it. After gulping down a new bottle of milk beside the empty one, she finally noticed Raham in the living room.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? Haven’t you eaten?”

Not knowing how to respond, he kept his mouth shut. Then Carlie handed him half of the sandwich that had been cut in two. Though the outer surface of the bread had dried from sitting out, it was a complete sandwich with all the proper fillings.

Raham accepted without refusing and devoured it in two bites.

“Rinse the bottles and let them dry, then give them to Sonya when she comes the day after tomorrow…… Just go to sleep for now. I need to finish what I was doing.”

Leaving only those words, Carlie went into her workroom. She seemed unconcerned about the knife that had disappeared from the cutting board.

Raham sat at the table, savoring the taste of the sandwich he quickly devoured. Now that he knew the master wouldn’t say anything, he intended to fill his stomach more.

He took out another piece of bread from the paper bag, spread it thickly with cheese and jam, and opened another bottle of milk. After practically inhaling it all in one go, he went to bed.

⁕⁕⁕

Raham woke up early. His nerves were on edge, preventing him from sleeping deeply. As he had worried, Carlie didn’t come looking for the sleeping slave, but one could never be too careful.

Carlie, who had gone back to sleep nearing dawn, didn’t wake up until the sun was high in the sky. During that time, Raham repeatedly pondered his situation.

Whether to obey the woman’s words. If so, to what extent. How the woman would act. Whether to continue living here. What life here would be like. What kind of life awaited him and whether he would conform to it.

These aimless worries with uncertain answers kept circling in his mind.

Had Carlie woken up a little earlier, she would have faced a slave who had initially resisted out of pride and consequently, a completely messy house. But she slept too long, and Raham could not keep up his pointless defiance for that extended stretch of time.

With no alternative, he reluctantly cleaned up the scattered odds and ends and organized the food ingredients. He washed the bottles and placed them upside down on the windowsill, carried firewood from the delivery man to the storage room, and even made rudimentary sandwiches.

Always employed as a mercenary, guard, porter, or laborer, Raham found all these trivial tasks very awkward. It felt like playing house unexpectedly.