Chapter 154 - Lackey (1)

Title) Introducing My New Worker

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the albino gorilla glaring fiercely with a suppressor around his neck)

Meet Lackey, my new, legally acquired worker. Please give him a warm welcome~

└Heavenly Demon) Those eyes look ready to devour someone. Training him will take time.

└Sword Masta) Considering the dog collar around his neck, isn't this illegal?

└Wild Grylls) Whatever do you mean? I don't engage in illegal activities.

└Sword Masta) That's just a slave;; Isn't that illegal?

└Wild Grylls) He caused me damages first, so I've merely enslaved him 'temporarily' in accordance with the law.

└Sword Masta) Slavery was abolished ages ago;; And who passed that judgment?

└Wild Grylls) Me.

└Sword Masta) Lmaoooooo

└He just says "Me" with zero shame lmaoooo

└At least call him a prisoner lmao

└What kind of system is that lol

└Is this the law of the wild? lmao

└Starlight Lady) If you'd like, I can give you a potion to make him more obedient. Would you like some?

└Wild Grylls) What sort?

└Starlight Lady) A potion that kills him unless he takes an antidote at regular intervals.

└Wild Grylls) How inhumane;;

└Starlight Lady) Hehe

└You're both the same;;

└Question. What would Grylls get charged with here? Animal abuse? Or illegal slavery?

└He's getting arrested either way. Why split hairs?;;

└Can they even arrest him? He's in the Forest of Four Seasons.

└We're just here to watch. Why nitpick everything? lol

└Seeing the gorilla captive like that is oddly attractive.

└?

└??

└Excuse me?

└Pardon me, but would you kindly die?

└Are you beastfolk by any chance?

└Yep. A woman, for the record.

└Oh. That's a relief, then.

└Makes sense if you're beastfolk.

└Suspiciously) What the fuck do you mean, makes sense? We don't do that with animals either. That fucker's just a freak, goddammit.

└It's a talking gorilla. What's the difference?

└Exactly lol. Go on, explain.

Everyone seemed welcoming toward my new worker, Lackey. Well, a few told me to whip him if he disobeyed, but I ignored them. As nasty as I might be, I wasn't that bad. Besides, the speed-sloth would step in the moment he laid a hand on me.

'I need to heal him first, though...'

I looked at Lackey, who was glaring at me while still frozen. As if being frozen weren't enough, he was tied up too. And since he'd been stabbed, I needed to treat him.

"Hey, Lackey."

"..."

"Lackey, I'm talking to you. I told you earlier. Your name is Lackey now."

I kept speaking Korean, seeing no reason to bother explaining in the language of the Central Plains. That might be his mother tongue(?), but I was Korean. Besides, he'd not only tried to kill me but to take the shelter I'd worked so hard to build. I had no intention of accommodating him, so I planned to speak only Korean.

"... Wi Baek."

"What?"

"$#%$ Lackey, #5#! Wi Baek!"

What was he on about? Lackey shouted something shrilly. Judging by the general tone, he seemed to be telling me to call him Wi Baek, not Lackey.

THWACK!

"Urgh!"

"What's that? Speak Korean. And from now on, you're Lackey."

His attitude annoyed me, so I smacked him on the head. He'd tried to kill me; I wasn't going to show him consideration. Disobedience would earn him a beating, and obedience a reward. That meant I'd simply have to keep putting in the effort(?) until he learned to listen.

"Hey. Look straight at me."

I crouched down to meet his eyes. Lackey faced me with a deep scowl.

"See this key? It's for the suppressor around your neck."

"@&#$!"

"Why, you little..."

Let people finish talking. Lackey flinched when I raised my hand. He'd already lost to me once, and I'd hit him a few more times after subduing him. I was teaching him that resisting me was pointless, until it was burned into his instincts.

"Anyway, you need this key to get that thing off your neck. But I'm never giving it to you."

"..."

"You know it too, don't you? Surviving in this forest without those martial arts you're so proud of will be very difficult."

Lackey was an albino gorilla, and albinos had very low survival rates in the wild. For starters, their white fur stood out, and their extremely poor eyesight slowed their reactions. He had the fighting prowess to compensate, but with the restraint on, he was effectively an ordinary gorilla.

"And look over there."

I pointed to the work he'd wrecked during his rampage. I intended to work him to the bone to get it finished.

"From now on, you're going to help me with woodworking. Got it?"

Best to explain nicely at first. What if he didn't understand Korean? No worries. If he didn't understand, I could keep punishing him until he did. He wasn't even a foreigner but an animal, so it would take a while...

'Not my problem.'

I looked at Lackey, who maintained his silence. His future would be much easier if he listened to me, but he didn't seem to realize it. Breaking his spirit completely would be ideal, but unfortunately I had no suitable way of doing that.

'Torture... I don't want to do that. I'll just have to make him accept reality.'

He would know perfectly well that surviving in the forest would be difficult unless he got the mana suppressor off. So he would probably stay here until he obtained the key.

'Let's untie him first.'

The ice encasing his body was slowly beginning to melt. I set up a campfire beside him to speed it along. His right arm thawed first, and the moment it was free, he reached out. His hand went straight for my arm. Apparently he meant to grab it.

But...

BZZZZT!

"Aaaaaagh!!!"

He'd only earned himself more punishment. The suppressor activated the instant his hand touched me. That would teach him another lesson: physical contact with me meant an electric shock. I snorted at Lackey, who was dazed from his electric grilling.

"Should've just given up, huh?"

"Ugh..."

His eyes kept losing and regaining focus, so it seemed he hadn't heard me. Apparently touching me triggered a stronger current than using mana did.

'It runs on the wearer's mana, so I won't have to worry about it running out of power.'

Lackey was stuck living at this shelter. I fiddled with the key while he thawed. I had no intention of carrying it around, since that would leave room for an ambush. You might ask what there was to worry about when physical contact activated the suppressor, but...

'He's survived in the Forest of Four Seasons. He must have grit, if nothing else.'

The problem was that my fears weren't necessarily unfounded. Just look at how desperately I fought to survive. That albino gorilla must have gone through something similar. And he was as smart as a human, so I needed to take precautions.

So who would get the key?

"Speedy. You hold on to this."

"..."

I planned to hand it to my master and the strongest resident of our shelter: the speed-sloth. First, I made a cord from wood fibers I'd collected while working. Then I just had to thread it through the hole in the key, tie it off, and hang it around the speed-sloth's neck. No one would ever steal that key now. And if someone tried to take it by force?

'They'd get taught a proper lesson, that's all.'

I went into the cave while the ice around Lackey melted. Since I needed him working right away, I would have to heal him. Frostbite would be tricky, but I could treat the puncture wounds to some extent.

"There. You can walk around now, right?"

"..."

His body had completely thawed, and I'd treated all his puncture wounds. Lackey examined his hands and feet, which had healed in an instant. Judging by his expression, he seemed impressed by the Elixir's potency.

"Enough marveling. Time to work, isn't it?"

"..."

"Look at you. If you don't..."

"Kaishi."

As I slowly reached out, Lackey spoke urgently. Even someone as proud as him was apparently afraid of being electrocuted. My satisfaction at his reaction was short-lived. I explained the job he would be doing.

"Your job's simple. Shape the logs to set dimensions."

"...?"

Lackey tilted his head at my explanation, as if he had no idea what I meant. He didn't seem to be mocking me—he genuinely didn't understand. A peculiar sense of futility washed over me.

'Do I seriously have to teach him Korean?'

I didn't want to learn the language of the Central Plains. I saw no reason to, either. With a frustrated sigh, I decided to demonstrate rather than explain.

"If you can't copy this after watching, you're getting zapped again."

"..."

Perhaps threats got through to him, at least. At my warning, Lackey uncrossed his arms and paid attention. He still looked disgruntled, but that wouldn't last long.

"See this? It's called a saw."

"..."

"And... Oh, forget it. Just watch and copy me."

I realized I was talking to a brick wall.

* * *

Humiliation. Utter humiliation.

That was what the albino gorilla thought after Grylls bestowed the friendly name of "Lackey" upon him.

One might ask what a mere animal could have to feel humiliated about, but even beasts had emotions. Besides, Lackey was intelligent enough to learn human speech. He experienced a wider range of emotions than ordinary animals, and humiliation was no exception.

'One day, I'll escape.'

Lackey looked at Grylls. His poor eyesight prevented him from making out the man's features, but one thing was certain. He had been shunned for being born different from his own kind. Then a human had taught him language and martial arts without discrimination. The memory of that human had stirred his curiosity, but everything that had happened since had extinguished it. Not all humans were alike. There had been another human who threatened him before, too.

Thus, all he now felt toward this man was humiliation and a desire for revenge. Though he had bowed his head for now, he planned to escape someday.

'This device is infuriating.'

To do that, he first needed to remove the restraint around his neck. He didn't know what Grylls had said, but from the situation, that key seemed necessary. It was currently hanging around some sloth's neck. In other words, to remove the device, he would first have to defeat the sloth.

"I'm heading up to the river for a bit. Keep an eye on Lackey."

"..."

And that opportunity came quickly. Wi Baek—no, Lackey—looked at the sloth. It was small and looked sluggish. The sharp claws were a concern, but he should be fine if he stayed alert.

'Every movement is slow and clumsy.'

He had observed that during his fight with Grylls. It also raised a question. Why had the man fought with the sloth on his back? To climb trees easily using its sharp claws? He wondered, but ultimately, a gorilla was a gorilla: a beast incapable of the higher thought processes of humans.

'I'll kill it.'

And so Lackey decided to kill the dull-looking sloth. He acted as quickly as he'd decided, slowly approaching it.

He flinched.

"...?"

Something was strange. Lackey twitched. The closer he came to the sloth, the more unease he felt. What was causing it? He looked around. Perhaps Grylls was watching him—but no, that wasn't it.

'... Something's wrong.'

As a beast driven more by instinct than reason, Lackey instinctively sensed danger. He didn't know what it was about the sloth, but it was extremely dangerous. Would he back down now, though? Absolutely not. Instead, he decided he needed to finish it quickly. He stared at the sloth, exuding a terrifying menace.

"..."

The sloth merely looked back with its usual relaxed expression. It positively radiated, "I'm harmless~" Who could possibly think this sloth dangerous? They would only wonder how something so slow had managed to survive.

'I feel a little bad.'

Looking at the sloth, Lackey felt a pang of conscience. But this was the Forest of Four Seasons, where one had to do anything to survive.

A huge, hammerlike fist slowly rose above the sloth's head. The sloth leisurely tilted its head back to look up at the arm. Even that motion was painfully slow, just as one would expect of a sloth. Slow enough to frustrate any person—no, any animal—watching.

'Blame your leader.'

Muttering that, Lackey brought his fist down.

SHING!

A snow-white head separated from its body and went flying.