Return

He couldn't forget the fact he managed to bring Maple out of his Domain without an issue, but Light was now saying only a divine being or such could travel between worlds, and from what he knew Maple wasn't a Goddess...

Explaining his concerns to Light, the latter wore a serious expression on her face as she could see he seemed to be shaken by the event.

"...You say the fox you saved in the True Dungeon could escape with you without any issue, but have you confirmed she's a fox? Her appearance alone wouldn't be enough as a proof, and since she isn't your subordinate you can't see her status."

If he previously made her his subordinate, Ethan would have immediately the response to his questions, but he didn't even think about that before.

"..Isn't there any other way to confirm it? From her attitude she doesn't seem to be a Goddess..."

His shock was only natural as if she was a Goddess then they would probably have problems in the future.

'How can I explain the fox I myself believed to be some kind of noble to actually be a Goddess?'

But his thoughts didn't last long, as Light immediately replied.

"Well, why not asking yourself if she actually wants to be your subordinate? Not only she'll receive a power up as the connection with you can only make others become stronger, but she will also be able to communicate with you even if you don't understand her language, and she doesn't understand yours."

Her words shocked him to his core. He was so desperately trying to find the way to talk with her and Light was casually saying if she became his subordinate then they would be able to talk without problems.

"...Right, you weren't here so you couldn't know."

He was about to ask why she didn't tell him sooner, but he realized she wasn't there at all so there was no way for her to know.

His whisper made her tilt her head to the side in confusion, but Ethan shook his head.

"I understand. Then I have no reason to hold back, once Maple will become my subordinate our connection will be deeper, she will become stronger, and we will also be able to communicate."

He now had his doubts cleared once again, so after thanking Light, Ethan released her hand.

"...Then I'll return soon, I hope you'll be able to find some kind of hobby with this time.."

She felt saddened by the fact he released her hand, but without minding it, she nodded to his statement.

"..I'll wait for your return; By the way, do you know how to exit your domain without the need to put yourself in a deep sleep?"

Asking this question knowing the answer, Light explained to him how the process to exit his domain should be similar to the one he used to enter, and as if he was enlightened by these words, Ethan asked her to be brought in his room.

Even though the request wasn't what she expected, she still guided him back as he had problems in remembering perfectly the way from his studio to his room.

Once reached their destination, Ethan thanked Light once again, and to his gratitude she sighed indicating the door, as she didn't want to be thanked anymore...

'I'll see you in a few days then...they'll probably be longer than before.'

With this thought, she decided it was better to hurry as she had a lot of things to do at the moment, and all of them were important...

---

Now in his room, Ethan sat on the bed he used to access his Domain as within a few minutes, he felt once again the surroundings changing and, after he opened his eyes, he could see how he was back in his house.

'If Qienta didn't gift me with this function, now I would be really in trouble. I really am indebted to her and I can't properly pay her back.'

But since this thought wasn't important at the moment, Ethan focused on his System Time. If he was fast enough, he would have time to spare after making Maple his subordinate to talk a little with Reyna, but he believed the fact they would suddenly be able to talk will make things long to explain.

'So..these connections strengthened my subordinates, and even if they talked in their languages I would still be able to communicate with both of them..'

He realized the power up would be nothing but a good thing, and also the fact the barriers created by language differences would no more be a problem for him, as long as he had a subordinate of that race.

'...But now I need to find Maple, as it's more pressing of an issue rather than organizing my thoughts.'

With this thought in mind, Ethan headed to where he believed Maple would be, and he wasn't surprised that his thoughts were indeed true.

"..You must really like this part of the crouch, don't you?"

She was still resting on the same crouch, on the same spot he saw her before entering his Domain, and it didn't surprise him at all.

'She must also feel lonely as she's the only one who can't communicate with nothing but intentions...'

He didn't comprehend her situation at first, but for an intelligent being like her to be treated like an animal only because she couldn't speak their language, it was sad for him, even if the girls had no fault for that...

Sitting next to her, Ethan slowly moved her to wake her up and in no time at all she was operative; This sight made him take the book out of his inventory as he thought what he would say to her.

'..Just the general information are enough.'

He would be able to explain everything when they'll actually talk, so there was no need to go in too many details.

Understanding there was something he wanted to communicate her, Maple looked up at him while he had a kind smile on his face.

"I found a way to finally allow us to understand each other. I will explain better later, but first you have to become my subordinate...to do that.."

He was actually still thinking about 'how' such a thing could be achieved. He didn't know what was the precise cause that made the system messages appear one after the other telling him Glenda wanted to be his subordinate, but he had a general idea of how it worked.

"..You have to believe I'm your master."

That was what he believed generated the system message itself. Although Glenda was so desperate the system message appeared so many times he actually lost count, that didn't mean Maple had to believe in that so much. Just the conviction he would be her master from now on was enough, or at least that's what he believed.

Reading the contents of his message, Maple was shocked to her core, enough for her tail to start wagging furiously. If she could communicate with him, then she didn't have to tire herself out only to translate some words, and she could also finally be considered more in the house, as she could help out in the kitchen for example.

But when she read about the part of him becoming her master, she was confused. Maple knew what a Master was, she was just shocked Ethan needed such a thing for it to be done, as masters were terrible people in her world, but since she knew Ethan wasn't that kind of person at all, she decided to not mind the difference in culture once again.

'Believing he's my master..but how do I do that?'

She didn't know much about Masters. They were considered evil because for them it was incredibly easy to control their slaves and ask for all kinds of orders, but she noticed Ethan didn't call her a slave, but a 'subordinate' a term she never heard before.

'I'm sure..even if the term is similar, a subordinate is different from a mere slave.'

She didn't know what the word in her language was for, since she even though native, was still a kid, so she didn't know the entirety of her language, but she wanted to believe Ethan didn't want to enslave her, since he could've done so the moment she was totally unconscious in his hands.

Remembering she saw in an illustrated book how a slave would pledge her Master, Maple chose to do the same.

'If it's Ethan..then I would be honoured to have him as my master..I will believe that under him I can accomplish the objective of returning..if it's him...'

The moment these thoughts surfaced her mind, Ethan saw Maple lowering her head once again, almost like when she was apologizing the first time they met, but to this sign he understood was different from what he wanted, Ethan grit his teeth as the message appearing in front of him was out of his expectations.

[The Fox [MoonFlame Maple] wants to become your slave. Since the level of loyalty is already over the required level, the Host will gain...]

'That's not what I wanted...!'

He now understood the subordinates function worked a little different from what he expected. Although he himself could choose between subordinate and slave, that didn't mean the person forming the contract couldn't decide for themselves as well.

"...You've got it wrong, Maple.."

Using his book once again, Ethan immediately clarified she didn't have to bow or anything like that, since she wasn't a slave, and to these words Maple wasn't surprised as she knew Ethan wouldn't ask her to 'submit' to him in that way.

'..So, what a subordinate is anyway?'

These were her thoughts, but since he said it wasn't a slave, Maple thought of what to do to show her royalty.

'If bowing down means you're acting as a slave, maybe only lowering my head instead of the full body will do the trick?'

Even if a noble and a high intelligent fox, Maple was still a kid. She thought if the full bow meant slave, maybe partially bowing meant what Ethan was looking for, and executing the action in her mind made her draw a line between a slave and a subordinate, exactly what the System was looking for.

[The Fox [MoonFlame Maple] wants to become your subordinate. Since the level of loyalty is already over the required level...]

'Yes!'

With a huge smile on his face, Ethan immediately smashed the yes button as now it was what he wanted, but he didn't expect the moment he did so, a stream of panels appeared in front of him, and if before he had the panels of both Glenda and Reyna to check later, now Ethan had his sight fully covered by panels, but that wasn't the only thing he felt, as he felt his body was feeling something different as well...

---

(I have a discord server. https://discord.gg/cpVr5X8. You may ask me: "Why should I enter the server?". Well, I'm replying to every interesting question you readers are asking in my chapters, so, you should absolutely enter if you want to read my answers. Ah, and you can find some image reference of items in the story such as Light..! (Soon even Qienta).. so it's recommended to join, I frequently post polls as well, regarding things that(most likely) will be present in the story. One last thing, I post chapter updates in my discord right after I posted on webnovel, so I guess you can join to be able to know when I post chapters faster.)

(Poll going on in the discord: Vote what you think is better. I only want to introduce one of these three, the ones with most votes when I feel like it wins. - Light being able to interact with the real world. - Qienta shows up before planned. - More power ups than planned for the girls and Ethan himself.)

(Do you enjoy reading my novel? If the answer is yes, then thanks. I'll leave my Patreon here. https://w ww.pat reon.com/watashiwavdesu)

(Alternate Titles: "Slave..? Ethan said no f*ck off, I want a subordinate, but what are the perks of a slave I wonder..","A sudden power...wouldn't it be from his right hand right!?", "Maple is cute, but please stop bowing like that. Seriously you stop making me sad.")