Perhaps because slaves are often punished for expressing their own opinions without their master' s orders.
But I' m no wise or noble person—just a weak, small child from the slums. That' s why I' m happy to listen to everyone.
"Go ahead and speak," I said.
"I' m a healer," he began. "I was betrayed by my friends and ended up a slave. Oh, I didn' t mean to talk about that—my apologies! What I wanted to tell you, Mistress, is that your ice soldiers can be healed with healing magic. Just in case you didn' t know."
After speaking, he bowed his head, as if bracing for punishment.
"Really? They can actually be healed?" I asked, my voice filled with excitement.
Surprised by my tone, he looked up at me.
"Y-Yes! I mean, it' s true, Mistress. Since the ice soldiers are created by magic, you just need to infuse them with magic that isn' t of an opposing element, and their bodies will be fully repaired."
"That' s great! Could you please take care of it? Thank you so much!" I said.
It was the first time a master had bowed their head in thanks to a slave. Every slave who witnessed the scene was stunned.
"N-No trouble at all, Mistress! It' s just common knowledge. And please, don' t bow to a lowly slave like me—I' m not worthy. I' m the one who' s happy to help you," he stammered.
"But it' s something I didn' t know," I replied. "If you hadn' t told me, I wouldn' t have been able to save these ice soldiers. So please, accept my thanks."
"Ugh… If you insist, Mistress… Alright," he said reluctantly.
"Great! Then please heal all the damaged ones," I said.
"Leave it to me, Mistress!" he declared.
*****
After responding firmly, the young healer quickly turned away to hide his embarrassed face.
But he couldn' t escape the teasing from his new friends—both male and female slaves in the group.
"Blushing because our new Mistress is so pretty, huh?" one teased.
"She' s so kind! She lets us wear layers of clothes and even carry good weapons," another said.
"She even lets us wear armor! I' ve never seen a master value the lives of slaves like us this much," said another.
"She gives us healing potions without hesitation. Normally, injured slaves are either left to die or dragged off to be fed to the dungeon," one added.
"And she listens to us about everything. Whenever we suggest something, she never scolds us for being arrogant or acting like we know better," another chimed in.
"Even when we mess up, she never punishes us. Instead, she tells us to be careful, like she' s genuinely worried," said another.
"If I can never be free from being a slave, the only master I' d want to serve is our Mistress," one declared.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Enough talk!" the healer snapped. "I need to go heal the Mistress' s soldiers. No time for this nonsense!"
"Suure!" the group teased in unison.
*****
Events Calika Didn' t Know About During the Search for Elda
Calika' s brazen search and indiscriminate attacks caused many factions to lose their interests and face humiliation.
Along the way, Calika made countless enemies and became a target of assassin guilds, dangerous cults, and nearly every major group.
Famous and dangerous figures, whether seeking to test their skills or hired for the job, joined the hunt to eliminate Calika.
This led to near-constant clashes with her ice soldier assassins.
Since they were in enemy territory, some opponents were so skilled that the ice soldiers had to gang up on them. As a result, the ice soldiers began taking damage, with many unable to continue fighting.
Unbeknownst to Calika, her team secretly swapped out damaged ice soldiers with others from different units to be healed by the healer.
Once healed, they returned to their duties.
The young healer worked until he exhausted his magic, collapsing from overexertion, requiring his friends to carry him.
Fortunately for Calika, slaves who joined after losing their masters included several healers. They took turns healing and recovering their magic, keeping up with the demand.
Still, they were exhausted to the point of collapse.
*****
Calika Nehu
While searching for Elda, we raided several suspicious locations based on tips from various slaves.
One such place was the house of some blood-obsessed cult. They sent their followers to capture defenseless people, drain their blood, and splatter it into the sky.
No one dared live near the cult' s house except their own followers.
Many of the slaves harbored grudges against them, as their friends or family had been taken by the cult.
Since they were known for abducting people, I ordered a raid to search for Elda.
During the attack, the slaves with grudges were especially eager. They fought fiercely, killing without hesitation and striking repeatedly.
After our victory, we searched the house. It was so disgusting I nearly vomited.
The house was filled with tools for dismembering and draining blood. It reminded me of when Roja hurt me, so I quickly excused myself.
I ordered everyone to destroy everything and burn the place down.
The slaves forced to serve as the cult' s followers split into two groups.
The first group was so traumatized by blood that they refused to fight. I assigned them to carry supplies instead.
The second group had become deranged, reveling in dismemberment and blood. I sent them to the front lines with the ice soldiers.
Since we had numbers on our side, whenever we won, I confiscated everything—items, healing potions, food, money, clothes, weapons.
I never felt reluctant to share or kept anything for myself. Whatever the slaves wanted or needed, I allowed. The thanks kept pouring in.
Our group' s morale soared.
We became a fully armed group, which made searching easier. Smaller gangs of thugs didn' t dare challenge us and even cooperated by providing leads on children matching Elda' s description or suspicious groups that abducted kids.
We were able to sweep through nearly every location. Several times, we found heavily guarded houses that seemed suspicious.
But when we raided them, they turned out to be storage for treasures belonging to some "cat burglar" group.
I didn' t have time to care. No treasure was worth more than my sister.
I ordered us to take only the weapons and leave the treasures behind.
When we left, the slum dwellers swarmed in and looted everything.
As for the remaining cults, whenever we passed by, I ordered a full-scale raid to search and destroy, fearing Elda might have been taken by them. I was terrified of failing to save her, like I failed Tiara.
As a result, we destroyed over ten cult strongholds. The survivors banded together, hired skilled assassins, and attacked us.
The cultists used tricky weapons designed to slash or gouge, causing heavy bleeding.
They were fearless, growing more frenzied at the sight of blood. They charged to their deaths, impaled by the spear walls formed by the slaves and ice soldiers.
When their own blood flowed, they' d drop their weapons, cup it in their hands, raise it above their heads, and shout, "May the earth be stained red!" before letting themselves be killed.
The assassins hired by the cults favored poison. Their skills were superior, with excellent evasion and precise strikes at vital points.
A single hit from them meant waiting for death. Many of our frontline slaves perished.
I ordered all slaves to retreat and let the ice soldiers swarm.
The assassins fell easily. Their light weapons, designed for quick strikes and poison, were ineffective against the ice soldiers. Poison didn' t work, vital points couldn' t be pierced, and the winter season made the ice soldiers even stronger.
As the fight dragged on, the assassins' rear lines thinned—some likely fled out of fear.
After the cult battle, we immediately faced a debt-collecting gang.
The first time we met, they shouted at me to pay for the damage I caused to their employer' s house, promising to let it slide if I did.
They didn' t say who their employer was—probably one of the groups I' d crushed.
The debt required handing over all my slaves, possessions, and even selling myself to a brothel called [Moaning Maiden] .
Agreeing would' ve been insane, but before I could retort, my slaves, furious, shouted back that I was their Mistress, not the gang' s.
A chaotic brawl erupted.
This gang was smarter than the rabid cults. They used feints and coordinated attacks to cover blind spots.
But the ice soldiers, immune to pain and able to reform endlessly, won.
The gang then changed their demands.
After regrouping, they declared I had to pay for the medical costs of the first group they sent, and I had to become their concubine.
We clashed again, gaining more equipment and slaves from them.
My group grew to hundreds—too many to count.
We didn' t search for long before the gang returned for revenge. They claimed I owed them for hiring reinforcements.
The audacity—hiring people themselves but demanding I pay.
This time, they had the upper hand, bringing forces several times larger than ours.
Their hired muscle included beggar-thieves who looked like bandits—large, scarred, and skilled in fighting.
They also hired more poison-using assassins, some seeking revenge for fallen comrades.
Several notorious criminals joined, including a fat, perpetually hungry man, a mangy giant werewolf, a terrifying woman obsessed with valuables, and many others whose names and titles I couldn' t recall.
Small-time gangs seeking fame also joined.
We were immediately at a disadvantage. With too few ice soldiers to cover the group, the enemy slowly encircled us.
We had few skilled slave fighters, and even they couldn' t match the notorious criminals. The enemy was far superior.
I could only pray for our victory, as I still hadn' t found Elda.
Soon, we were pushed back and surrounded in the center.
Since slaves can' t betray their master, they didn' t hand me over, even when the enemy promised to spare everyone if they did.
Despite their promise, their weapons kept swinging.
Morale plummeted. My group began to falter. Several ice soldiers were overwhelmed and shattered.
Though the enemy' s rear was disrupted by sneak attacks, they quickly regained control with their superior numbers.
The ice soldiers, prioritizing my safety, retreated from the front to protect me.
The front line collapsed, and the enemy surged in from all sides.
Slaves too weak to fight threw themselves as human shields for me, getting injured or killed.
Many fallen slaves were brutalized further.
The ice soldiers rallied around me, planning to break through.
But as we tried, the enemy swarmed, forming a wall to block us. Every direction was cut off.
Ice arrows ran out, shields cracked, swords dulled or broke, and spears snapped in half.
The situation grew hopeless.
An assassin seized the chance, leaping over the ice soldiers' backs and heads to grab me as a hostage.
He held a poisoned dagger to my throat and ordered the ice soldiers to stop moving.
He then demanded I order all slaves to drop their weapons and kneel.
The motionless ice soldiers were swarmed and shattered.
Lowlife thugs took pleasure in tormenting the defenseless slaves.
The debt gang' s leader approached with a slave trader.
In the trader' s hands were a collar and a slave contract.
It was over. And I still hadn' t found Elda.