Chapter 60: Put it on.

——What kind of price are you willing to pay for this?

That voice was as cold as an ice wall.

To anyone’s ears, it sounded like making a deal with a devil.

A devil driven solely by profit.

Yet, to Morpheana, those words were like a guiding light that parted the fog and showed a way through her lost path.

Of course, she knew full well the poison hidden in that question.

But—

So what?

She neither needed time to consider nor room to hesitate; she had already cast aside any space for weighing her options. She was willing to pay the price—even her very soul.

Her shock came only because she hadn’t expected the person before her to ask such a question.

Since he was asking, that meant—

In the next instant, it was as if she’d grasped the last life-saving straw.

“Everything!”

Her voice, thick with swallowed tears, was calm and resolute.

“So long as I can survive, I am willing to give up everything.”

“Everything, huh…”

Weiss rested his chin on his hand, looking down at the woman before him.

Thinking about it, that was indeed the case.

Given Morpheana’s current situation, the Knights’ Hall would never keep her.

If she wanted to survive, she’d have to fake her death in battle, assume a new identity,

and leave the kingdom behind, living forever in hiding.

Even if Morpheana lived on, Morpheana herself would already be dead.

Wasn’t that the same as paying everything she had?

Identity, honor, family, status, and the road of advancement in the kingdom that her sword had won her—all of it, abandoned.

For a knight who had struggled so long for her family, it truly was a tremendous price.

To exchange all this for a chance at survival, to gamble her family’s future on the possibility called “tomorrow.”

“I do not doubt your sincerity, nor your determination to give up everything. Then, to prove what you have said…”

Weiss drew out his words as if pronouncing a verdict.

His movements, as he retrieved something at hand, were like raising a judge’s gavel. He rummaged in his magic satchel and, even as he issued his command, said,

“Then put this on—”

With a snap of metal fastenings and the faint clink of metal, something dangled before Morpheana’s face.

“Eh?”

She looked toward the sound.

Its design was simple and refined, with none of the gaudy flourishes of decorative jewelry, yet at a glance one knew it was no ordinary thing.

But no matter how you looked at it, there was no doubt—

It was a collar.

Once again, astonishment flashed in her eyes.

She glanced at Weiss, then at Lortisa.

Rather than shrinking back, it was more as if, lost in the strangeness of the moment, she longed for some explanation.

“This is a slave collar—You’re a noble’s knight, aren’t you? Surely you know about the contract sigils of slaves, right? Hm… this is pretty much the same thing.”

Weiss spoke with mock gravity.

“Wear it, and from this moment on, obey my commands—you’ll be able to survive just as you wished. Otherwise, as a knight, either die here in battle, or, if your deeds are reported as they are, go back to the Knights’ Hall and face whatever awaits you there.”

“To… become a slave…”

Morpheana stared dazedly at the collar.

Lortisa, though cold and silent, just watched from the side, her face betraying nothing.

But it was a lie to say she was unmoved.

She had considered demanding a more painful price from the knight before her,

like severing an arm to remove the threat, or crippling her so she’d never wield magic again—

that would have been fitting penance for once having harbored murderous intent toward Weiss.

But after thinking it over, it was understandable—

Weiss’s method was perhaps more appropriate.

For a knight who once wore the badge of honor on her shoulder and the sword of glory at her hip, trampling her pride would leave a deeper scar than any physical punishment.

Moreover, by sealing a master-servant relationship with magic, they could guard against any future betrayal by the knight.

Who knew? If she’d stabbed the Knight Commander today, perhaps tomorrow it would be Weiss himself.

Lortisa coolly turned her attention to the knight before her.

(So that’s why Weiss insisted on “everything”…)

Still, while the young soldier captain thought this way, Weiss himself hadn’t given it so much thought.

The slave magic, of course, was fake—who would really carry something like that around? It’s not as if he was some twisted pervert with a dungeon for beautiful girls.

But the collar was real, a “Pet Collar” drawn from “Wishing.”

Purple grade.

According to the phone’s scan, it could command any magical creature without resistance—

from ordinary beasts up to elemental spirits and legendary monsters; collar it, and it became your pet.

It was basically a fantasy version of a Poké Ball, and he’d gotten it ages ago.

At first, he’d been pretty excited, imagining the day he’d catch a dragon. It could be a mount, boost his power—every transmigrator dreams of being a dragon knight!

But in reality, he’d only ever heard of dragons, never seen one. The things he met most often were Evershades, and those couldn’t be tamed.

He’d run into normal magical beasts, sure, but since this was a purple-grade item, he’d rather save it for something big than waste it on lesser monsters.

Who knew if it was single-use?

Now, bringing it out was just a front—to test Morpheana’s obedience and go through the motions.

The most important thing—

(Wish power! Wish power! There’s so much of it, it’s practically flooding my screen—there’s got to be at least a hundred points or more here?!)

Anyway, all he needed to do afterward was ask Lortisa to tweak the report a little bit,

A hundred free wish points—only an idiot would say no.

For the sake of those “wish points,” sparing Morpheana here was a great bargain.

Of course, as much as he wanted the wish points, Weiss wasn’t about to force things.

He simply held out the collar, not urging, calmly waiting for the knight before him to make her own choice.

Lortisa, too, watched intently,

the green of her eyes reflecting Morpheana’s trembling shoulders—but it was not from resistance. If anything, it seemed to be another kind of emotion.

“I—”

Morpheana’s throat was dry, her voice hoarse.

“I have one request.”

“Hmm?”

Weiss’s curiosity was piqued.

“Go ahead.”

“Allow me to wear it as a knight. Not as a slave, but as… a new vow.”

Morpheana’s voice grew firmer as she spoke.

Hearing this, Weiss raised an eyebrow and instinctively exchanged a glance with Lortisa.

But perhaps because he’d never taken this very seriously in the first place, he didn’t give it much thought.

“As you wish.”

He let go carelessly.

The falling collar landed in Morpheana’s hands.

The female knight took a deep breath and, hands trembling, held up the collar.

Closing her eyes, her lips moved in silent recitation of the knight’s oath. Then, she slowly placed the collar around her neck.

—“Click.”

The collar closed.

In that instant, Morpheana felt a strange warmth spread from the collar through her whole body.

Mysterious runes, not originally present, lit up one after another on the collar, emitting a gentle glow of the same essence as wish power before gradually fading away.