The Whitelocke heir staggered backward at Neon’s shout, releasing his fire magic instinctively... only to immediately eat a full-powered fist to the face.

CRACK!

Reina’s punch connected with such perfect form that even Ren paused his own fight to admire it.

The Whitelocke heir spun backward like a launched projectile, several of his teeth flying out like white confetti, sparkling dramatically in the light before scattering into the grass.

He crashed into the dirt several meters away, skidding across the ground like a broken cart wheel.

Reina exhaled and popped her neck.

Ren stepped forward, flipping his sword around and slamming the hilt directly into the heir’s forehead with expert timing.

THUNK!

The boy crumpled instantly, limbs sprawling across the still-bleeding Evermere heir like a bizarre piece of art.

Reina jogged to Ren’s side, her eyes shining with adrenaline. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Should we give chase?" she asked, already bouncing on her heels.

Even though the most logical thing to do right now was to stop fighting... she still wanted more. Once she was home, she had to study for the Academy entrance examination.

This was far better.

Ren eyed her. "Yeah. Though I’m trying to bully that shadow guy first."

The Ravenire heir... The bastard who had blasted the tree Ren was standing on earlier. Petty revenge was a perfectly noble goal.

『"Reina Dawnlarke"’s affection points have increased to 16.』

’Affection rising like Bitcoin in 2010,’ Ren thought. ’Say anything violent and she lights up. I’ll note that...’

He nodded toward her. "Shall we go together?"

Reina bit her lip. "He’s already far ahead. I won’t be able to keep up with you."

Then she crossed her arms. "And I won’t let you carry me."

"Who said anything about carrying?" Ren grabbed her wrist lightly and pulled her toward him. "You’re the one doing the bullying."

Her eyes widened.

Ren threw her.

WHOOSH!!!

Reina shot through the air like a fired bullet with ice gathering around her as she soared forward.

Ren admired the arc.

’Perfect form...’

He turned to the remaining unconscious nobles on the ground.

"What do I do about them?" he muttered. His eyes landed on something glinting on Evermere’s finger. "...Is that a storage ring?"

He crouched, tugged it off, and infused it with mana.

A candy bar appeared... then another... and another... and another... then forty-seven more.

Ren blinked repeatedly.

FWOOMP! FWOOMP! FWOOMP!

Candy bars piled around him like he had robbed an entire candy store’s worth of stock.

"How many candy bars did this guy put in here?"

『Item Name: Mega Candy』

『Rank: Uncommon』

『Description: A bar of candy made by the best Sweetwright in the whole country.』

Another item slid out.

『Item Name: Steel Rope』

『Rank: Common』

『Description: A rope made of regular steel.』

Ren stared at the rope then at the unconscious nobles arranged across the forest floor in various states of dignity loss.

He turned it over in his hands once, testing the weight and a slow grin spread across his face.

’Wait... I have an idea.’

[MEANWHILE...]

Reina blasted through the air with ice trailing behind her boots like comet wings.

’Fuck him.’ she thought.

『"Reina Dawnlarke"’s affection points have decreased to 15.』

She frowned as the wind rushed past her face. The cold air was familiar at least... she was an ice mage, she had always liked the cold but this was different.

She was moving... in a pure, unrestrained forward momentum with nothing beneath her feet and nothing slowing her down.

’I don’t like this,’ she told herself firmly.

She angled her body lower and streamlined her movement, feeling the cold air carve cleanly around her limbs as she adjusted her trajectory.

『"Reina Dawnlarke"’s affection points have increased to 17.』

Reina blinked. ’...Okay. I liked when he threw me.’

The sharp sting of cold air, the speed building under her, the way the trees blurred into green streaks on either side... it was genuinely exhilarating in a way that made her feel slightly stupid for enjoying it.

Her cheeks flushed warm against the cold rushing past them and a particularly idiotic thought materialized without her permission.

’I knew it... his arms were strong. How would they feel if they actually wrapped around—’

She smacked both hands hard against her own cheeks, immediately icing them to freeze the thought out before it could finish forming.

’No... Absolutely not... Focus...’

When she refocused her eyes on the forest ahead, she had already closed most of the gap without realizing it. The heirs had run impressively far for people in expensive footwear but not far enough.

The Ravenire heir was just ahead which was perfect. She cocked her leg back, gathering enough cold mana to freeze a small pond and the boys noticed her too late.

BOOM!!!

Her kick collided with his back.

The shockwave blasted the Ravenire heir forward like a launched corpse and he slammed into a tree so hard the bark shattered. He slid down, dazed, making sounds like a deflating balloon.

The heirs froze.

"How dare you work for him?!" the Briarhallow heir screamed, swinging at her.

He received a sucker punch so clean it would’ve made Ren weep with pride. He shot backward and hit a tree with a crunch with the trunk cracking behind him.

The heirs turned to Reina with collective horror.

’What is he planning?’ Reina wondered. ’I can’t take all of them. I’m not strong enough for that...’

She braced herself only for a strange grinding sound to echo from somewhere behind her.

GRRRRRRRRRRRK... SHINGGGG... SHRRRRRRRKKK

The sound of metal dragging across the ground.

The heirs turned and their blood ran cold.

Ren appeared through the treeline like a walking nightmare, somehow dragging behind him a chain of nobles... ALL of them tied together with gleaming steel ropes, pulled across the forest floor like a conga line of defeated idiots.

The unconscious Morcant heir was first in line with his face bouncing repeatedly off rocks.

The Marrowind heir, who had fled in a completely different direction, was tied in the middle and screaming for mercy.

The Whitelocke and Evermere heirs were mashed together at the back like a tragic sandwich. Ren held the rope in one hand, a sword in the other, and a deeply satisfied expression on his face.

"Yo." he said casually.

The remaining heirs stared at him in complete terror.

He raised his sword.

"All of you," Ren said pleasantly, the kind of pleasant smile that had sharp teeth underneath it, "apart from Randy of course..."

Reina flinched visibly at the name.

"—tie yourselves up."

The heirs exchanged looks with each other. Several of them were breathing hard.

A few had minor injuries from Reina’s earlier work. None of them looked particularly eager to continue fighting, but none of them looked eager to comply either.

"W-what makes you think we’d ever—" Neon began, drawing himself up.

Ren cut him off with a look so flat and level it could have been used as a spirit level on a construction site.

"Then," he said, still pleasant, "I simply won’t let you leave here with your clothes intact."

Every heir went rigid simultaneously.

Ren tilted his head slightly and continued in the same conversational tone, like he was discussing the weather.

"The Crowhursts are the most influential among the noble clans, behind the Royal family. Even if every single one of you dragged me to the royal court tomorrow, I’d walk away with a light fine for property damage and a note about environmental cleaning. Meanwhile..."

He tapped the flat of the blade slowly against his open palm... once... twice...

"I will take your storage rings. Beat each of you again, individually, at my leisure. Strip you down. Tie you to separate trees and drag you through the entire path back to the waterfall on your faces."

Total silence fell over the forest clearing.

Ren’s smile widened, becoming genuinely delighted. "So, What do you choose?"

The answer, when it came, arrived in the form of several nobles reaching very slowly for their own belts.

[5 Minutes Later]

Ren walked triumphantly through the forest path with his sword over one shoulder. Behind him trailed a chain of nobles tied together with steel ropes, shuffling along like miserable over-dressed cattle.

Every time one slowed down, Reina who was walking behind with a whip cracked it against their legs.

THWIP!!

"OW! I-I’m going, I’m going!"

"Walk faster," Reina said flatly. "My boss is watching."

Ren turned slowly to look back at her but Reina turned away like she had said nothing.

『Title Gained: Slave Driver』