Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 54: New Investment

"Huh... Kōya, what just happened?" Victoria asked with confusion in her voice.

She was currently positioned on top of him protectively, and both their clothes were noticeably dusty from the explosion and debris and the tent was nowhere to be found at all... it was completely obliterated.

All that remained in its place was a massive smoking crater in the ground.

"We’re under attack by organized hostiles," Kōya replied calmly, assessing the situation rapidly.

Victoria immediately pushed herself off him and stood up in a defensive stance. Kōya couldn’t see it from his position, but her crimson eyes had grown significantly darker and more intense, glowing with suppressed rage.

"Someone tried to hurt you?" she asked, and Kōya genuinely couldn’t even tell if she was angry or not.

Her voice was completely flat and emotionless, which was somehow far more terrifying than if she’d been screaming.

"Yes, someone tried to hurt both of us while we were sleeping peacefully," Kōya confirmed. "Multiple hostiles."

There was another sharp whirring sound cutting through the air and an arrow shot directly toward them at high speed.

However, it was clearly not nearly as dangerous or powerful as the original black flame arrow that had destroyed their barrier.

Victoria raised her hand up casually without even looking.

A concentrated Blood Burst shot out from her palm, colliding with the incoming arrow mid-flight and completely destroying it.

The blood projectile continued its trajectory at an alarming speed and blasted straight through the archer who had fired it.

The woman’s body was instantly turned into complete mush... unrecognizable chunks of meat and bone.

"You don’t need to move from that position... I’ll take care of all of them personally," Victoria said with cold finality.

She stood up fully, her entire demeanor changing. Someone had actually dared to ruin her precious lovey-dovey time with Kōya while they were cuddling peacefully.

That was absolutely unforgivable.

Her distinctive vampire wings sprouted dramatically out from her back, the membrane spreading wide and she pushed herself upward powerfully, clearing the smoke and dust cloud around Kōya with the force of her ascent.

From his position on the ground, Kōya could now see their attackers properly.

One woman was already sprinting toward him with a sword raised in her hand, clearly trying to take advantage of the confusion.

However, before she could even close half the distance between them, she was instantly obliterated by a precise Blood Burst shot directly to her head.

Her body collapsed to the ground immediately, blood spreading rapidly as a dark puddle.

Kōya bit his lip and looked up at the remaining attackers.

They had stopped their advance and were now staring up at the sky with visible fear and shock while Victoria hovered in the air above them like an avenging angel.

A massive flower construct made entirely of blood appeared behind her, spinning slowly... it was stunningly beautiful in its intricate design.

However, once the flower began rotating at high speed, it became anything but beautiful.

High-speed Blood Burst projectiles shot out from each petal in rapid succession like a machine gun.

In a singular instant, Victoria had systematically killed every single one of their attackers, all except one archer who had somehow managed to dodge the barrage through sheer luck.

The ground below where the blood flower had fired was completely imploded into a massive crater from the sheer force.

Kōya gulped nervously.

’Just how much raw force is being compressed into each singular strike...?’ he thought with a mixture of awe and concern.

The surviving woman archer immediately raised up both her hands high in surrender, dropping her bow.

"I surrender! Please don’t kill me!" she yelled out desperately, her voice breaking with terror.

Victoria had already fired one final Blood Burst at her. It shot through the air at incredible speed and was mere inches from impacting with the archer’s chest.

However, Kōya raised up his hand urgently.

"Stop!" he commanded loudly.

The instant those words left his mouth, the lethal blood projectile that would have killed her instantly stopped completely mid-air.

It hovered for a fraction of a second, then dissolved into complete nothingness as if it had never existed.

Victoria floated gracefully back down and landed on the ground with visibly puffed cheeks, clearly annoyed at being interrupted. Kōya walked past her and gently patted her head affectionately.

"You did excellent work protecting us... however, you should always try to leave at least one enemy alive, especially for critical information-gathering purposes," Kōya explained as he walked toward the woman who was now on her knees trembling.

There was a noticeable wet patch spreading beneath her, and it was immediately clear that she had literally pissed herself out of pure fear.

Kōya’s nose wrinkled slightly at the smell, but he maintained his composure and the woman bowed down deeply, pressing her forehead to the ground.

"Thank you so much for sparing my worthless life," she said while gulping repeatedly, her voice shaking.

Even her Leader... who had been the fastest and most skilled three-liners in their entire legion had been simply no match whatsoever for those high-speed blood projectiles.

She absolutely could not afford to provoke these people at all if she wanted to survive.

"If you had killed me just now... I don’t know how my little sister would have lived on without me."

Kōya looked down at her carefully, and a translucent screen appeared in front of his face.

’System, does she have any hidden weapons on her person? Concealed poisons? Anything that could be a threat?’ he thought.

He absolutely could not take any chances after what had just happened.

「Analysis complete: There is a 0% chance of her having any sort of dangerous items on her person. Victoria’s initial attack already completely broke her weapon beyond repair」

"Why exactly did you and your group attack us...?" Kōya asked while placing a hand on his forehead.

He could feel a splitting headache coming on from exhaustion and stress. He really, genuinely needed some proper sleep right now.

"Well... we were originally a band of women who decided to raid together for mutual protection and—"

"Get straight to the point or you die right now," Kōya interrupted sharply. He didn’t want to hear her entire life story and backstory... what he specifically wanted to know was how his cursed Fate trait had fucked him over this particular time.

’System, perform a comprehensive scan on her... What are her strengths and potential abilities? If she has absolutely nothing valuable to offer here, then we’ll just kill her and move on.’ Kōya thought coldly.

Right now, he desperately wanted to gather people who could genuinely help him out in this dangerous world.

People who would be genuinely useful and loyal to him.

He would help her out and invest in her development if she was worth something significant.

However, if she wasn’t worth the investment, he would end her misery here quickly and painlessly.

Why?

It was honestly better than her being inevitably caught and eaten by a monster on her way back to civilization, especially based on the fact that she didn’t have any weapon on her anymore and seemed to be incredibly weak. It was a surprise she had managed to dodge the Blood Burst.

"Uh... our clothes! You have all of our clothes!" she suddenly yelled out desperately.

Kōya blinked in confusion and even Victoria blinked, tilting her head.

Clothes?

"Oh, you mean that guy we killed earlier stole your clothes and equipment and was on the run?" Kōya muttered, the pieces clicking together.

That really sounded exactly like something his cursed Fate trait would deliberately instigate to cause maximum chaos, honestly.

"Yes, exactly! And he took our loot and money too!" she confirmed desperately. "We found him heading directly here to this location, so we naturally assumed he was working for you as an accomplice." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

She still kept her face buried to the ground submissively.

"Please sir... I’m begging you to protect me, help me out somehow... I can’t defend myself at all, I only came out here to the Outer Zone to earn some money to take care of my sick little sister... I really don’t want to die here."

All her desperate begging fell on completely deaf ears. The System’s analytical results would be the sole factor that decided if she was genuinely worth keeping alive.

「Comprehensive scan has been completed successfully. A total of 20 FP has been deducted from your current balance」

「The subject, Fujimura Yuna, has absolutely no talent whatsoever for physical activities... She possesses neither weapon wielding capability nor basic combat instincts. She cannot even hold a bow properly without injuring herself」

Kōya was fully prepared to signal Victoria to end her life quickly so that they could finally go back to sleep. It was morally wrong to take lives unnecessarily, however when those lives were actively trying to take yours first, it became completely justified.

「However, after performing deep mana analysis, Subject: Yuna has been found to possess latent potential for Sound Magic. With proper guidance, intensive training, and systematic mana core cultivation, she can become a very powerful Sound Mage」

’Sound magic, huh?’ Kōya thought, genuinely intrigued now.

It wasn’t a bad element at all for support purposes.

In fact, it was one of those incredibly resourceful and versatile elements, and extremely rare to find naturally.

’Seems like she’s in luck today. I’ll be willing to invest resources in her development... System, is there a reliable way to bind her loyalty to me permanently?’

The girl continued trembling underneath his gaze while he casually decided her entire fate.

「Recommended Binding Method: Master-Slave Contract. Can be performed by Victoria using vampire blood magic」

’I see, thank you for the suggestion,’ Kōya thought.

Right now, if he could build up a group of genuinely reliable and loyal people under his direct command, he could be absolutely sure to tackle more of the dangerous events that happened in the original manga.

He wouldn’t need to involve those scheming, manipulative heroines at all.

"I will spare your life," Kōya finally announced.

She looked up at him with visible shock and relief, tears forming in her eyes.

She was barely a one-liner, but somehow her face was painfully average-looking... not ugly, but completely unremarkable and forgettable.

Kōya had no right whatsoever to question other people’s looks, since up until his reincarnation, he had been short and genuinely ugly himself.

But what had happened to the supposed appearance boost that awakening a crest was meant to give?

"However, you will be working directly under me from now on as my subordinate."

"I understand completely..." She bowed deeply once more, accepting her fate.

It was the Outer Zone after all. Anything could happen out here, and weak women were unfortunately more or less victims waiting to be taken advantage of.

What would happen if this man wanted to take her by force after sparing her life? She would have no ability to resist at all.

"Huh... why are we sparing her specifically? She interrupted our precious beauty sleep along with all the others, and—"

Kōya gave Victoria a meaningful look and mouthed silently: ’Trust me.’

That made her calm down pretty quickly, though she still looked annoyed.

"Victoria, is there a reliable way to bind her to my will completely? Like an actual slave contract..." Kōya asked while looking at the vampire.

The girl on the ground shuddered visibly at those words... This wasn’t looking good for her at all.

"Oh yes, I remember now! You can perform a Master-Slave Contract," Victoria said, walking over to position herself in the middle between both of them. "It’ll essentially brand her permanently as your slave, and if she dares to disobey any of your direct commands, the brand will actively burn her as punishment."

"Let’s proceed immediately," Kōya said.

The girl looked up at the two of them with wide, fearful eyes.

"Or do you not want to live?" Kōya asked coldly.

She stood up with trembling legs and Victoria extended one pale hand toward her.

Yuna took Victoria’s offered hand reluctantly and was genuinely in awe of how incredibly soft and smooth it was... the feeling was like touching silk.

Kōya took Victoria’s other hand, completing the triangle.

Victoria began chanting in an ancient language. "Sanguine pactum servitutis, vinculum aeternum, dominus et servus, uno sanguine ligati"

Yuna suddenly felt an intense burning pain and screamed as the area below her neck was marked with a distinctive black tattoo.

The symbol glowed red briefly before settling into permanent black ink.

Victoria let her go and she fell onto the ground hard, clutching her hot neck desperately.

「New Slave: Fujimura Yuna has been successfully registered to Host」

「You can now view your Slave’s complete status, skills, and condition at any time」

However, Kōya was not interested in checking that information at all right now. Instead, he threw a clean towel directly at the woman’s face.

She caught it clumsily and looked up at him with confusion.

"Get into the lake immediately and take a proper bath," Kōya commanded. "Discard all of your current clothes too... they smell strongly like piss and are disgusting."

The large box of women’s clothes materialized in front of her, not only were there various women’s undergarments inside, but actual full outfits and dresses too.

However, once again, most of the clothes were too small for Victoria because of her generous chest size.

"Pick whatever you want from there and push the box over near the tents when you’re done..." Kōya instructed. "You’ll sleep outside in the open air this time while we set up another replacement tent."

Yuna nodded obediently, still trembling.

"You must also refer to me as Master at all times from now on. I’d like to hear you say it right now," Kōya said.

Yuna’s voice shook as she forced the words out: "M-M-Master."

She managed to say it, though barely and Kōya gave her a single nod of approval then he went to begin setting up the replacement tent from his storage.

He was genuinely glad that he had bought several backup tents specifically for situations like this.

Victoria followed along with him immediately, leaving Yuna alone on the ground.

She slowly stood up and walked toward the lake to take a bath, her mind reeling from everything that had just happened.

...

Yuna slowly emerged from the lake shortly after her bath, feeling slightly more human. She had used the clean water to wash every part of her body thoroughly.

She couldn’t help but notice with surprise that there was actually shampoo already dissolved in the water.

It had been quite a while since she’d been able to have a proper bath like this and the other girls in the group never let her use their limited water supplies for bathing. She was weak after all... a pathetic one-liner amongst capable two-liners.

It had been a recipe for disaster and constant bullying. She wore the large towel that her new Master had given her.

It was quite big on her small frame, and she looked down at her own chest with disappointment.

It wasn’t completely flat, but she absolutely couldn’t compare in beauty or breast size to that stunning woman who was with him.

She reached the clothing box and selected undergarments that matched what she usually wore which was simple and practical.

She put on a plain bra and panties before covering them with a modest dress then she carefully pushed the heavy box back toward the tent area.

To her genuine surprise, two tents had been fully erected while she was bathing.

One was zipped shut completely, and the other was left open.

’He actually erected a tent specifically for me...?’ she thought with shock. She pushed the box carefully into the tent barriers and looked inside.

He had seriously prepared a tent just for her use and there was even something like a covered plate positioned in front of the tent opening.

She picked it up curiously and noticed a folded note on top.

She opened it carefully.

The note said simply that she should eat properly and sleep well because there would be a significant amount of work to do tomorrow.

She lifted the plate cover and her mouth immediately watered.

It was delicious-smelling soup with actual chunks of meat floating in it.

She swallowed it heartily, savoring every bite... it was the best meal she’d had in weeks.

After finishing, she entered her assigned tent but not before bowing deeply toward the other tent even though he couldn’t possibly see her gesture.

She placed the empty plate carefully at the corner of the tent and laid down in the provided sleeping bag.

It was warm and comfortable.

It didn’t take more than a few minutes before Yuna fell into deep, peaceful sleep.

...

"Slave."

The word shook her awake from her dreams, and her eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was the handsome face of the man who had spared her life yesterday and the same man who had done something to her neck resulting in this permanent tattoo.

What she did know with certainty was that she had to answer him properly if she wanted to stay alive.

"Yes Ma-master..." Yuna bowed her head respectfully. "Good morning as well, Master."

"Good morning to you. Come outside immediately and show me your skills with a bow," Kōya commanded.

She slowly rose up from the sleeping bag.

’I’m going to be kicked out and killed...’ she thought with dread as she passed by him and stood outside nervously.

The sky was lightening up slightly even though it remained gray. Victoria was already awake and making breakfast over the portable stove and Yuna shivered at the thought of waking later than them.

However, Kōya didn’t seem to care about that and simply handed her a bow and a single arrow.

"Alright, hit that can I set up over there... near the water’s edge." Kōya said, pointing.

She looked at the target can positioned near the water.

She held the bow as correctly as she possibly could, her heart pounding wildly in her chest with anxiety then she pulled back the string and released.

However, for some inexplicable reason, the back end of the arrow suddenly hit her directly in her face.

The bow and arrow clattered to the ground and she clutched her bleeding nose in pain.

"Sorry Master... I’m no good at this kind of th—"

Kōya leaned down and placed a clean handkerchief over her face gently.

"Let me see it properly."

She dropped her hands obediently.

There was a small but bleeding wound right on her cheek where the arrow had impacted. He helped her wipe the blood off carefully and her heart suddenly thumped hard in her chest.

’He’s so close to my face right now...’ she thought.

Maybe if he leaned forward just a bit more, their lips would actually mee—

Something hit her face and she blinked.

It was a rolled scroll.

"Since you’re completely useless with any kind of weapon, you absolutely have to learn that chant and gather mana properly," Kōya said seriously. "If you can’t do that successfully, I’ll kill you right here. Understood?"

Yuna gulped nervously.

Her entire life now depended on whether she could successfully master what was written in this scroll.