“Murphyana?!
Even though there was no one else in the tent and there wasn’t any unusual noise outside, Vis still couldn’t help but instinctively look up on guard.
According to the plan they’d discussed for cleaning up the aftermath, Murphyana should have died along with the other knights in the Holy Patrol.
If someone found out she was still alive, how could they keep it hidden?
“Why did you come back? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Lord Vis, you didn’t tell me where to go afterwards, so I just came back with you for now.”
Murphyana replied earnestly and precisely.
But Vis couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
What did she mean by…
‘Lord Vis’?
Never mind how she’d pleaded for her life earlier; before that, this noble knight lady had been prideful to the extreme.
Now, suddenly, her respectful and humble attitude had done a complete 180.
Maybe taking his silence as a sign of hesitation, Murphyana added:
“Please rest assured, Lord Vis. There are very few soldiers left in the camp, and I wasn’t discovered on my way back.”
In all his years, this was the first time someone had knelt in front of him like this.
Whether it was just for show or truly heartfelt,
Vis wasn’t quite used to it.
“Uh…stand up, first.”
“Yes.”
Murphyana’s reply was without the slightest hesitation; her movement was swift and crisp.
Even as she stood, she exuded the upright bearing and loyalty unique to knights.
Her gaze towards Vis was full of undisguised awe and obedience.
But the sharp distinction in their ranks made Vis even more uncomfortable.
“Um… you don’t need to be so serious. I’m a mercenary, not one of those noble officers or knight lords.”
“I have sworn my allegiance to you, Lord Vis. Maintaining respect for you is the most basic code for a knight.”
Murphyana, however, shook her head with utter seriousness, then nodded again,
“Of course, if ‘not being so serious’ is your command, I will strictly comply.”
Vis was momentarily speechless.
He felt like his brain was running on a different track from this female knight.
Allegiance, knight’s code—just hearing these things gave him a headache.
The only reason he’d agreed to spare her was purely for the wish points,
And putting that collar on her wasn’t to recruit a loyal subordinate, but simply to test her obedience and make sure she wouldn’t bite back.
Besides, he was a lone wolf mercenary—most commissions were just for gathering wish points.
The more dangerous the commission, the higher the wish point reward.
Acting alone, he could move flexibly, and even if he ran into trouble, he could usually find a way out.
But if he had to bring along a female knight whose skills weren’t exactly top-notch—
To put it nicely, he didn’t want to drag others into his risks.
Bluntly put, she was just dead weight.
Having one more person meant slowing down the pace, double the emergency supplies, double the risk—none of which was a small cost.
Giving out wish-related items occasionally as favors or using them when necessary was fine, but preparing double all the time just wasn’t sustainable.
“Listen,”
He took a breath, let it out with a sigh, and explained,
“I agreed to ask Lord Lortissa to let you go, but not to take you as a subordinate or follower. Like you said, whether you abandon everything and leave the kingdom, or change your name and hide somewhere else, go wherever you want. We’ll part ways here.”
Murphyana, on the other hand, seemed to take it differently, bowing her head even more reverently:
“A knight’s oath cannot be broken, not even by death. Wherever I go, Lord Vis is the only one to whom I have sworn loyalty.”
At this point, Vis felt his head hurt more than his wounds.
As for why it turned out this way, there was only one likely reason.
He let out a helpless sigh:
“Look, about this loyalty and all, I won’t discuss your sincerity. But first, hand me back the collar I put on you just now.”
That was it—it had to be because of that thing.
The description had only said it was effective on animal companions; he hadn’t expected it to work on people too.
If he’d known, he wouldn’t have done it.
But Murphyana blinked blankly at his words:
“Collar…?”
She reached up to touch her neck.
Her slender neck was smooth and delicate—not as fair as Lortissa’s, but still the kind of noble lady’s neck that would look stunning with a necklace.
Lowering his gaze, from her open collar he could see her pronounced collarbones—truly a feast for the eyes.
But there wasn’t the slightest trace of anything around that beautiful neck.
(—Wait, where’s the collar? Where did it go?)
Vis almost jumped to his feet, his eyes going wide with disbelief.
He was certain he’d put it on her—so how could it be gone?
He instinctively wanted to reach out and check for himself, but restrained himself and instead asked:
“Where’s the collar I just gave you?!”
“I-I don’t know.”
Murphyana answered truthfully, unconsciously feeling her own neck again.
She didn’t feel anything, but she could clearly sense something was still there.
Vis was left blinking in shock, numb all over.
A purple-quality item—at the guaranteed rate of one per ten-pull in a wish, that meant sixteen hundred wish points.
In other words, just for less than two pulls’ worth of wish points, he’d wasted a purple item.
(No, wait—don’t jump to conclusions, I still don’t know its actual effect…)
Vis calmed down after a moment, and quickly pulled out his phone.
Aside from using the “Wish” interface to check the history of wish point gains and all related records—much like a game menu—there was a regular inventory list as well.
While he couldn’t pull things out like opening a bag in a game, it was easy to confirm if something was used.
When carrying out commissions, it was a huge help for keeping track of consumables.
As a wish-drawn item, that collar was, of course, registered in his inventory—especially as a rare, purple-quality object.
Opening the item list, the inventory page showed all special items acquired from wishes, each with its own info page detailing its properties, effects, and more.
(Let’s see, let’s see—)
Vis held his breath, eyes fixed on the screen, swiping through until he reached the familiar page.
Got it—
Held Item: “Peneolope’s Oath.”
—Still there.
But…
What did the bracketed “Equipped” mean at the end?
Vis instinctively tapped the tab with the half-ellipsis to display more info.
In the next second, something new and unfamiliar flashed across the screen.
Even the phone’s home page began to morph, as if a paper painting was being dipped in water, and when it cleared, a whole new display appeared.
Previously, it was just the item’s display page.
Now, it had transformed into a character status screen.