With the declaration, the contract reacted to my blood and emitted the same light it did when the original contract was formed.
At the same time, the necklace on the ‘companion’ also began to glow just as it had back then.
Clack!
With a metallic sound, it broke cleanly into two and fell to the ground.
[You feel the magical bond that connected you to the girl has been completely severed.]
[She is no longer bound to you.]
“I’m sorry.”
Looking at her staring down at the necklace rolling on the floor, I bowed once more—this time, properly—and apologized.
“Even if there was no other way, it was something I should never have done to you.”
She slowly raised her head and looked up at me with a lifeless gaze.
“…What does this mean?”
“It means you’re free now.”
Ending the contract didn’t mean I could immediately erase this contract document.
Nor would it make the brand imprinted on the back of her neck disappear.
All it did was remove my name from the contract, making her eligible to enter into a new contract with another master.
“Master…”
“I’m not your master anymore.”
So from one point of view, maybe all I really did was give up the means to control her—nothing more, nothing less.
“From now on, nothing will bind you anymore. You can do whatever you want, and go wherever you please.”
Of course, had I maintained our contract, she would have loyally followed me.
She would have become my greatest strength, never able to disobey me.
And perhaps, any guilt I felt from that subjugation could have been eased by a small amount of hypocrisy—by telling myself that despite the structure of our relationship, I saw and treated her as an equal.
That would have been the most efficient route.
In fact, many players made that choice, saying “it’s just a game.”
And their reasoning made sense—ultimately, we were just watching a script coded in 0s and 1s.
They weren’t real beings.
But I couldn’t do that.
From the start, I didn’t have that choice.
Game or not, regardless of whether this was still a game or had become reality—it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t a matter of guilt or anything like that.
It’s just… I couldn’t do it.
That’s all there is to it.
And that hasn’t changed.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will. Someday.”
“I have nothing I want to do, and nowhere I want to go.”
Of course she doesn’t.
Put simply, she doesn’t understand the very concept of ‘freedom.’
That was the curse she bore.
Betrayed and enslaved, she had everything—her abilities, status, memories, and even free will—stripped from her.
She should have been one of the few 20th-level grand mages in this world.
Instead, she was now a level 3 novice mage like me.
“You’ll find something. I know it.”
And it was also the reason she couldn’t imagine any path other than obedience or, at best, dependence.
“…I don’t understand your intentions.”
…
“I just wanted to talk to you on as equal terms as possible. Because I have something I need to ask you.”
“Ask me… something?”
“I won’t beat around the bush. I need you.”
As she continued to wear a confused expression, I continued.
“To put it plainly, I have to find and defeat the Demon King. I can’t go into detail yet, but it’s a matter of life and death. And I can’t possibly do it alone.”
Not just defeating the Demon King—even reaching that point would be impossible by myself.
“So if you’re willing, I’d like you to become my companion and travel with me.”
Silence followed.
Even throughout this entire conversation, not once did the dice roll.
“…Understood.”
In other words, there was no need for [persuasion].
“I will follow you.”
To get that answer.
Honestly, I already knew.
I knew she would answer this way.
And I also knew this “I’ll follow you” wasn’t a choice made out of her own free will.
It’s a strange way to say it, and I’m aware how it sounds… but right now, she needed to be protected.
Just like I needed her protection.
As I said before, her thinking is still rooted in submission—at best, dependence.
If I left her alone in this state, it wouldn’t take long before she became someone’s slave again.
Even without a contract or a brand.
And that, more than anything, was the true mechanism and terror of the curse placed on her.
So, “My name is Yubin. You can just call me Bin.”
I couldn’t leave her like that.
“You are…”
“…Eastwood.”
She answered in a voice devoid of emotion.
“The merchants called me that because I was found in the eastern woods.”
In the game, before her real name was revealed, she was referred to as Eastwood or sometimes simply East.
But I couldn’t call her that.
I didn’t want to.
Because that wasn’t a name—it was just a label the slavers gave her for convenience.
“Do you have any other names? Anything that comes to mind? Like your real name?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t have any other names.”
Shurine.
That was her real name.
But even if I told her now, it wouldn’t mean anything—and I couldn’t say it anyway.
So I couldn’t call her that yet.
At least, not until she could reclaim it herself.
“Hm?”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to call you ‘Rine’ from now on.”
“…I don’t mind, but may I ask why?”
“I just thought it suited you. Of course, only if you like it too.”
She gave a small nod, expression unchanged.
“I promise, Rine.”
I knelt down on one knee to match eye level with her, since she was on the shorter side.
Then, I removed the sack covering my face.
At this moment, when I was trying to be as sincere with her as possible, I felt like I had to take the sack off my head.
It wouldn’t have been possible with anyone else—but with Rine, it was okay.
As mentioned earlier, Rine, fitting her setting as a grand mage who had lost her memories, had all sorts of great traits and special abilities (perks).
And among them was ‘Charm Immunity.’
Rine cannot be affected by “Charm.”
So in front of Rine, I could reveal my face without worry.
“Our journey from now on isn’t just for my sake—it’s for yours, too.”
As she journeyed on, Rine would slowly recover her lost powers and memories, and remember who she truly was.
“During that journey, I won’t ignore your will again like I did this time.”
She would remember that she wasn’t just some elf slave found in the eastern woods, but someone far greater.
I would make sure of it.
“If a time comes when I have to act against your will, I’ll do my best to persuade you until you can accept it. And if you can’t, then I’ll give up.”
Of course, part of the reason I needed her was because she was a grand mage, crucial to defeating the Demon King… but more than anything, it was just because I wanted to do this.
“I’m counting on you, Rine.”
Rine looked at my outstretched hand with a puzzled expression, as if unsure what I meant.
“…Likewise.”
In the end, she took my hand.
[The mage ‘Eastwood’ officially joins the party.]
And just like that, we were connected once again.
Companion Quest
“Wires and Chains”
◇ Find clues through your journey to help Eastwood recover her memories.
This time, not through contracts or magical bonds, but through your own hands.
***
The next day.
After spending a night back in Stout, the first place we headed was a clothing store.
The whole city was in a buzz because the brewery on the outskirts had completely burned down the night before.
Of course, few knew that the place had actually been a slave auction house.
Those who did know kept quiet.
In an atmosphere like that, we couldn’t have her walking around in tattered rags that screamed “slave.”
It was also risky to go around with our faces exposed.
Still, even if the incident at the brewery hadn’t happened, walking around with two people sharing a sack over their heads would have been begging to get caught.
“My clothes… you mean?”
“Yeah. Pick something yourself. Whatever you want to wear.”
“I don’t really mind what I have now.”
“That’s not even real clothing. It’s just scraps of fabric.”
“…I see.”
And besides all that, even if none of those reasons existed, it was hard for me to even look at her.
Not because the clothes were too revealing or anything like that—it just made me feel bad to look at her in that state.
“…Understood.”
Rine still looked like she didn’t understand the reason, but she didn’t question me further.
After entering the clothing store, I told her to choose something she liked and quietly sat nearby to wait.
A robe with a hood would be enough to cover her face.
As for what she wore underneath, I wanted Rine to choose that herself if possible.
Rine, as expected, looked awkward with the very act of choosing something on her own.
It wasn’t hesitation, exactly—it was more like she genuinely didn’t know what she was supposed to do.
Even as she browsed through clothes, she kept glancing over at me.
It made me want to step in and help right away, but I had to hold myself back.
Since I’d already decided not to interfere until she picked something she wanted, my job was to simply wait and watch.
If I gave in and asked, “How about this one?” she would’ve picked that without a second thought.
That would defeat the whole purpose.
I wanted her to realize what she wanted.
Even if it was just picking out clothes, this kind of small choice was an important process for Rine right now.
“You’re not going to choose for me?”
“I’m not the one wearing it. You should choose what you want.”
“I thought, since you brought me here even though I said I was fine, you wanted to dress me up or something.”
“As if I’d go around dressing you up.”
I let out a dry laugh.
“I’m not your master—I’m your companion.”
Even though it had been unavoidable, I had once been her ‘master.’
I didn’t feel like I had the right to say things like that—but I had to anyway.
“The reason I brought you here isn’t because I wanted you to wear something I liked. I just… didn’t want you to keep wearing clothes that someone else threw at you like trash. I wanted you to wear something you picked out yourself.”
“…But I know nothing about clothes.”
“Same here. Just take your time. We’ve got plenty of it.”
Eventually, Rine began looking through the clothes again.
After thinking it over for a while, “…I’ll go with this one.”
She carefully held out the outfit she’d chosen.
Seeing it, I couldn’t help but smile a little.
It was the style she used to wear before she lost her memories.
“Do you like it?”
Rine nodded.
Maybe taste is one of those things that doesn’t change easily, even when memories are gone.
“It looked comfortable to wear…”
“That’s your standard, huh…”
Now that she had decided, it was time to pay.
For the record—I didn’t have a single coin on me.
So how was I going to pay?
“Put it on my tab.”
“You wanna take damage, customer?”
“I’ll be back to pay in three days.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding—”
“…Actually, that sounds like a great idea!”
Cliche Novel 