SLV Chapter 8: Heavy Dependence on the Slaveowner
April 12
[Slave: Milya]
[Entry No.: 1]
[Age: Adult]
[Binding Progress: 127%]
[Negative Traits: Agonizing Scar (−77), Psychological Trauma from Loss of Mother (−36), Severe Dependency on Security (−10)]
[Positive Traits: Fast Learner (+30), Chaste (+10), Attentive (+3), Heavy Dependence on Slaveowner (+7)]
[Special Trait: ? (+100)]
[Overall Score: 27 (+7) = 34 Points]
From 23 points all the way up to 27!
The base score had only risen by 4 points, which at first glance seemed like the bonus was doing most of the work but those 4 points were not so simple.
Milya's Severe Dependency on Security had actually gotten worse.
By all logic, that should have meant a deduction yet because a new trait had appeared alongside it, Heavy Dependence on Slaveowner, the net result was an increase of 4 points instead.
Heavy Dependence on Slaveowner?
What on earth was that?
[Heavy Dependence on Slaveowner: This slave is deeply afraid of losing her slaveowner, and even more afraid of belonging to someone else.]
Lin En opened the trait's description with a thought.
It was nothing like what the name suggested at first glance, not some form of captive bonding.
The reason behind it was something else entirely.
After a moment of thought, it clicked.
This trait had come about almost entirely because of how other slaveowners looked by comparison.
The near-universal treatment of slaves in this world, an almost unspoken consensus of merciless exploitation, was the backdrop that made Lin En's behavior stand out so sharply.
He had consistently chosen to treat Milya with kindness, not as livestock or an object, but as a genuine person and so this trait had appeared.
So in the future, if he treated every slave under him the same way, would this trait show up for each of them?
Would his score climb sharply as a result?
Lin En turned the idea over in his mind, though he had no way to verify it just yet then he looked at Severe Dependency on Security again.
The two traits seemed to share some kind of connection, forming a kind of positive feedback loop between them. As one grew, it appeared to pull the other along with it.
As long as their combined total kept rising, Lin En would benefit.
Even so, what he really wanted was a way to eliminate Severe Dependency on Security altogether. Clearing it would release a massive amount of score in an instant.
"I'll need to keep studying these traits more carefully. There's still so much more this catalog can offer."
Lin En rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, but nothing concrete came to mind.
He would have to gather experience through practice, then let what he learned gradually shape his approach going forward.
"Milya, come over and have some water."
Lin En closed the Slaveowner's Manual in his mind and turned his attention back to Milya.
Hearing his call, Milya walked over with a slightly downcast look.
"I'm sorry, Master. Milya didn't find any more source stones."
She came to stand before him with her small hands clutching the hem of her robe, head lowered, fingers working at the coarse linen fabric.
This was entirely expected. Going by the odds and the number of remains, what they had collected was already more than the numbers should have produced.
Hearing the guilt in Milya's voice, and seeing that same pitiful expression, Lin En patted her on the head once more.
"It's all right. Go ahead and make some sand cakes. Do you know how? Use up all the flour we have left."
Hearing that no blame was coming, and that she had been given a new task instead, Milya's worry vanished instantly and her energy returned.
Lin En watched her go, then turned to drawing water.
Bucket after bucket, he filled the large clay urn inside the shack.
There was actually more than one urn in the room.
The second had been sitting unused for a long time.
This was the perfect opportunity to put both to use, one for storing drinking water, the other for a cold bath.
Once the indoor urn was full, Lin En carried the second one outside and set it beside the well.
Since it was for bathing, there was no point hauling water any farther than necessary and the moment he got the urn into position, the heart well had already begun to show its effects.
Radiating outward from the well, a small patch of ground had turned into sandy loam.
A wider ring around it had grown noticeably more moist, no longer pure shifting sand.
As long as he kept dropping in source stones each day, this patch of returning life would hold.
With more stones, it would expand.
In time, meadow grass and fertile soil would appear.
Lin En kept drawing water bucket by bucket. Easy to say, exhausting to actually do.
He was already thinking about whether it would be worth building a pressure-based water pump at some point.
By the time the bathing urn was full, Milya had finished making the sand cakes.
"Master, these are the sand cakes Milya made."
Milya was visibly anxious. She held the sand cakes out to Lin En with careful hands, not quite meeting his eyes.
They were exceptional.
Lin En looked at them and could see immediately that they were far better than anything he had made himself.
Every one of the pale cakes was evenly covered in a warm golden-brown, the kind of color that communicated perfectly the idea of crisp on the outside and tender within, just from a glance.
It was a near-flawless Maillard reaction.
"Well done, Milya. These look delicious just from looking at them."
Lin En offered the praise freely. Milya's face shifted into unmistakable relief.
Did Milya have a talent for cooking?
Or was it the bonus from her Attentive trait?
He would have to develop that further when the opportunity arose. It might even produce a new trait at some point but that was not an option right now. He still needed to find another way to add traits quickly.
There were many sand cakes, and even after they had eaten their fill, more than half remained.
He stored what was left in a clay pot, then wasted no time lowering himself into the urn filled with well water.
Clear water spilled over the rim and soaked into the sand around it, disappearing almost instantly.
The blazing sun was now fixed directly overhead. In that extreme heat, sinking into the cool water felt like every part of him had been opened up and refreshed.
"This is wonderful."
"Let Milya scrub Master's back. You'll be much cleaner."
He was still savoring the relief when Milya's voice came.
Her cheeks were still flushed, and the reason was obvious enough, she had caught certain details of Lin En that were not easy to miss.
A bath attendant as well.
That was a welcome development.
Lin En relaxed without a hint of self-consciousness and let Milya's warm little hands pass gently across his back.
The only time he could remember being on the receiving end of such gentle attention was once after a bout of acute gastritis, when a certain young nurse had tended to him.
Nurse.
The word caught in Lin En's mind.
Could he train Milya to be a nurse?
Not an ordinary nurse, though. That wasn't what he needed. What he needed was someone who could handle emergency care.
After all, there was no guarantee he would never be seriously injured.
If he could teach Milya first aid, she might save his life at a critical moment and as it happened, he still remembered that knowledge quite clearly.
It wasn't complicated either. A bit of training and it could be mastered.
Things like how to treat heatstroke-induced loss of consciousness, how to apply pressure to control heavy bleeding.
The Heimlich maneuver.
And...
CPR.
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