Roselia asked abruptly as I was thinking to myself.
"How did you find out where my master was imprisoned, Ares? And, more importantly, how did you get into that prison?"
Irethiel turned her gaze to me, as she was curious as well.
"...I don't think I'd be able to reveal that," I replied.
"A constraint?" Roselia said after hearing my response.
"Yes, do you have any knowledge of it?" she lived for many decades, so I was curious if she knew anything about it.
"...."
"It could be that someone must have cast a constraint spell on you or..., where you got the information from could be forbidden and shouldn't have been known to any living," Roselia stated as she glanced at me.
'Yeah, she knows her stuff,' I thought to myself after hearing her.
But as I was contemplating, I witnessed a scene that completely shocked me.
"...."
I saw Roselia suddenly stumbling to her knees and throwing up copious amounts of blood.
Roselia stared at me in horror as she covered her mouth with one of her hands to stop the flow of blood.
"So it's the latter, isn't it?" Irethiel uttered as she gazed at Roselia bleeding.
I just stood there in shock staring back at her as she was suffering a backlash even without me uttering anything, but I soon came out of my daze and realized that her blood was showing no sign of stopping.
So I took out the advanced healing potion from my inventory and tried to give it to her.
However, as I approached her, she retreated out of fear.
"...."
I was surprised to see her fear of me, but I ignored it and turned toward Irethiel, handing her the healing potion so Roselia could use it.
Irethiel nodded, took the potion from me, and made Roselia drink it.
And Roselia eventually stopped spewing blood after a few moments of drinking the advanced healing potion.
"W-Who are you?" she asked, terrified while wiping the blood from her mouth.
"...Oh, Are you sure you want to know?" I said with a smile.
Rose had a blank expression on her face and remained silent without responding.
"...No, we don't need to know what his secret self is," Irethiel said abruptly.
"B-but master—," Rose was about to say something when Irethiel interrupted her.
"...Do you think you'll be able to hear it without any repercussions?" Irethiel asked, her gaze drawn to Rose.
Rose was once again rendered speechless.
"No, right? So you don't have to get involved in this," Irethiel stated.
"Wait! What do you mean when you say that I shouldn't get involved? What about you?" Rose realized and wondered aloud.
"...."
Irethiel remained deafeningly silent.
"Don't tell me you signed a contract with a human?" Roselia inquired as she furrowed her brow, but when Irethiel still remained silent, she then turned to face me.
"...."
"...P-Please tell me this isn't the case," Roselia inquired, her voice trembling.
I simply smiled broadly at her instead of responding.
***
"Oh, my sweet lord! So you signed a slave contract with him." Roselia inquired, her gaze fixed on Irethiel.
"...Yes," Irethiel murmured, averting her gaze.
"... Could you please explain how that happened? As I know you would rather die than sign a slave contract with a human," Roselia asked, her face filled with disbelief.
"...I was trying to trick him into signing a deceptive contract but got tricked by him instead," Irethiel replied with unease.
"...You were duped by a kid?" Roselia inquired, an odd smile on her face.
"As you probably know, he's not some ordinary youngster; did you already forget how you were coughing up blood just a few minutes ago?" Irethiel defended herself.
"...."
"...A-Ahem, That's so typical of you, as you couldn't do anything right without me even in the past," Roselia sighed as she stated.
"...Now, what should I do? And what about your other subordinates? As you are now with that human," Roselia asked Irethiel a question as she turned to face Ares.
Meanwhile, Ares was flipping through the books, leaving them both to discuss their next course of action.
"...."
"...As I've said before, you guys are under no obligation to obey me right now because I'm not the same Archdemon I used to be, and in fact, I can't even defend myself in my current state.
So, I, therefore believe that I lack the strength necessary to lead anyone," Irethiel stated with an anguished smile.
"...If I kill Ares, you'll be free of your slave contract, right? And we can figure out how to get your strength back later," Roselia remarked her eyes twinkling as she stared at Ares.
"No, if I die, she dies with me," Ares said abruptly, still focused on flipping the books.
"That is not possible! I've never heard of such a contract in my life; she might face some backlash, but she won't die even if you end up dead," Roselia reacted sternly.
"Oh! Do you remember the book I took from you by deceiving you?" Ares said this as he turned toward Roselia, pausing for a moment in his flipping of books.
Roselia's brow furrowed as she heard Ares.
"Yes, that book; I learned about this contract from it, so you essentially assisted me in slaving her by giving me access to it.
Thank you very much, I really appreciate it," Ares said with a delightful smile.
"...."
Roselia was rendered speechless for a moment after hearing Ares' statement, and she turned toward Irethiel, who was already staring at her.
"M-Master, you understand that this was unintentional, don't you? I simply wanted his assistance in deciphering so that I could save you sooner.
I had no idea things would have turned out this way," Roselia clarified quickly.
"...I know," Irethiel responded casually.
Roselia finally sighed in relief after hearing Irethiel's response.
"So, what are your plans for the future, Miss Roselia...or should I say, Rose? Are you abandoning your previous master because she isn't powerful enough? Or are you going to stick by her side during these trying times and help her regain her former strength?" Ares questioned as he sat on the sofa, his fingers intertwined, as he was staring at Rose with a huge grin.
When Rose heard Ares and looked at him, she noticed that he no longer resembled to be a teenager, but rather exuded the aura of a seasoned warrior who knows what he was doing.
He gave her the impression that he had complete control over everything, and she believes Ares already knows what her response will be.
.. .She had never encountered this type of situation or seen another teenager like him in her many decades of existence.
"...."
Roselia let out a gasp and decided to speak up.
"...Of course, I would never give up on her because she was the one who protected and raised me when everyone else abandoned me during my hardships.
So I think now it's my turn to protect her," Rose stated firmly as she looked at Irethiel.
"Then I welcome you aboard, Rose. Let's all get along well from now on, shall we?" Ares remarked while grinning widely.
"...Don't get any ideas, because I never said I'd work for you," Rose explained.
"Yup, That's correct. Because you will be working under Irethiel from now on," Ares stated as he was appointing her to a position in a company.
"It's better that you understand—," Rose said, but abruptly stopped.
"You better take good care of her, Irethiel," Ares said, smiling.
"You don't need to remind me how to look after my subordinates—" Irethiel spoke, but she, too, came to a halt as she realized something.
"All right, Rose, I'll see you on Monday," Ares said as he exited the room casually.
Irethiel and Rose just stared at Ares as he walked out of the study room.
"...You idiot, isn't it the same thing if you work under me and I work under him, so in the end, we both work for him?" Irethiel remarked as she smacked Rose on the back of the head.
"Ouch! It was you who realized it so late, master; I realized it right away," Rose elaborated as she stroked the back of her head where Irethiel had hit her.
"...Be quiet! Are you trying to teach me? Or do you think I'm an idiot?" Irethiel said as she smacked Rose again.
"...."
***