“Suicidal?”

“Yes. If you didn't know, I've been watching you from afar since those guards got rid of you here in ogre territory. And I have to say that trying to kill them all at once and soak up their spiritual energy is a suicide mission.”

“You think you know it all, huh? How am I supposed to believe someone who has just snatched what I had been hunting?”

"Who are you hunting?" Oh, the ogres. How petty. I don’t prey on weaklings. You can have them all and remain a frozen corpse forever.”

"What on earth are you talking about right now?"

There followed a wicked grin on the woman's face. "Didn't you know that their mana is infused with lethal poison, making it undesirable for anyone to absorb spirit energy from these creatures? This poison was so potent that it would kill any living thing that ingested it.”

Vandread was astounded by what he had just heard. At first, he didn't buy it, and it wasn't until the mountain lion finally stopped roaring and making piercing cries as it fell to the ground that he believed it. It appeared as though its entire body had been stoned, as it was completely rigid.

At that moment, Vandread began to understand everything much better. He didn't want to believe it, but after piecing together the clues the woman had given him and seeing the mountain lion's death, he realized that whatever was happening to him was almost certainly the result of the poison.

As a result of being an eyewitness to what took place with the mountain lion, Vandread experienced something he had never felt before, and that was a fear that he would pass away helpless. He felt duped and weak, which had become the reason for luring him to his death.

However, the next thing the woman said to him caused him to think about things differently. Especially after she said, "But I know of an antidote for such poison. And I will only tell you if you'll do as I say.”

He found the woman pathetic and, at the same time, absurd to actually pull off a bargain at this point of time. But as helpless as he was now, Vandread mustered his patience and set aside his pride when he asked her, “What do you want?”

The woman chuckled before she replied, “Alright, I want you to become my loyal servant.”

She was already displaying a victorious expression before Vandread could even respond. The woman possessed a very devious disposition. She was aware that Vandread had no choice but to give in regardless of the circumstances. 

“Servant? Why would I even serve you?” Despite this, Vandread's arrogance was still making an attempt to assert itself and provoke his pride.

He had been powerful throughout this entire time. In spite of the fact that he was mortal, many people envied him, and everyone feared him, because of his omnipotence. 

After all, he was the legendary earl who had been called forth from the world of the living. He was not supposed to be a sniveling servant, but rather the hero of the crowd. But he realized now that the woman standing before him was the only hope of reversing the deadly poison he'd taken from the Ogres. 

“Well, it’s not like I am forcing you to, but if you don't want it, then I'll go ahead.” A prompt and calm response came from the woman. 

Her delivery was tinged with sarcasm and there was an air of mockery about it. She had a reasonable amount of faith that regardless of whether or not Vandread accepted her offer, it wouldn't be her loss..

As she turned her back on him to walk away, Vandread yelled, "Wait!" to make her stop dead in her tracks. After that, she cocked her head beyond her shoulders in order to wait for the following words that Vandread was supposed to tell her.

"Just hold on there. To what extent do you want me as your servant?”  Vandread asked. His voice was too weak to be heard because his strength had been depleted.

For some reason, the woman laughed as she replied, "For someone who was on the brink of death, you still have the nerve to bargain with me."

“Just answer me!” Vandread persisted. When he finished speaking, however, he suddenly collapsed to the ground. His entire frame still felt rigid, as if he were made of stone.

At last, the earl's gaze was met by the woman, who had coaxed herself down low enough to look into his troubled eyes. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain given that he was unable to even move at all.

“Alright, I needed the strength you possessed. It would be nice if I could just absorb it, but it’s not the kind of skill I wish to gain, so I’d rather have someone to wield the sword for me and fight in my place. In short, I want you to become my fighter.”

“So you want me to become your bodyguard?”

“Bodyguard?”

“Like a knight.”

The woman gave it a brief bit of thought before responding to him by saying, "Yes, but I prefer my fighting slave." Despite the fact that her true intention was to use him as a slave in the end.

Vandread had the intention of losing his cool, but he quickly came to the realization that doing so would decrease the likelihood that the woman would give him the antidote. 

If it turned out that she did know how to alleviate his pain, then he had no choice but to put up with all of her antics until he was well enough to recover completely.

After not hearing anything from her end, Vandread made the decision to finally give in and say, "Fine. Do as you like. Just let me know what the antidote for this is because I don't think I can take much more of it."

The woman, however, gave him nothing more than a smirk in response. “Was that the right way to ask your master?” she replied. Vandread disliked it because it contained a sinister plot. Even though he had a sneaking suspicion that she was up to no good from the beginning, he still fell for her ruse. 

As things stood right now, there was nothing else for him to do other than comply with whatever it was that she desired. He had no choice but to do it, even though it meant putting his pride and honor on the line. 

Vandread compelled himself to beg the woman, but he did so with a great deal of disdain. “H-heal me, please... master.”

The woman said in response, "Good lad," as she pulled Vandread's body against the trunk of an oak tree that was at least a century old so that it could support him while he was seated.

Vandread was beginning to regain his breath after just a few minutes of sitting, but he fought through his exhaustion in an attempt to recover from his ordeal. However, he did not anticipate the woman's actions while he was in such a hopeful state.

“While this may seem unnatural, it is actually the most effective method for neutralizing the potentially fatal poison within you.” She informed Vandread as she unbuckled the belt from her waist. The piece of cloth that had been wrapped around her chest fell off, exposing her enlarged breast in the process. 

A look of shock spread across Vandread's face. Not knowing what was going on, he hadn't bargained on seeing a naked woman in front of her at such a critical juncture in his life, which would soon perish if he hadn't received the antidote soon.

“What’s the meaning of this?”When Vandread questioned the woman, he was met with such a state of bewilderment..

And before the woman could even begin to respond to him, she flashed another sly grin in his direction before she pulled him closer to her...