“Death magic?” Su Mu’s expression shifted to one of surprise. “You’re from the Western Holy Church?”
The puppet shook its head. “No, no, no—it’s my master who’s from the Western Holy Church. I’m just an object, his tool, nothing more. I don’t belong to any faction.”
Su Mu raised an eyebrow. “You’re denying it so quickly—is there something fishy going on here?”
The wooden puppet looked like it had done something wrong. “You’re really sharp, miss. You saw right through me. Anna wants to leave this place, and I was hoping you could take me with you.”
Hearing her plea, Su Mu grinned. “It’s not impossible. But how can I trust you? We’ve only just met, and you know so much magic. I need to make sure you won’t turn on me.”
The puppet mechanically shook her head. “I won’t, I won’t. I’ll sign a master-servant contract with you. Once that’s done, you’ll control me with just a single thought—even if you ordered me to die, I’d have to obey.”
The puppet’s eyes were big and rather cute, and her voice was pleasant too, giving off a harmless, innocent vibe.
“How do we sign the contract?”
“I’ll initiate the ritual, and then you’ll imprint your soul mark into my soul. That’s all it takes—very simple.”
Su Mu looked skeptical. “You’re not trying to become my master, are you? And then pull something shady during the contract signing?”
The puppet looked like she wanted to cry. “No, absolutely not! I’m an honest puppet. You can’t say that about me—it would make me so sad. Besides, the entire ritual has to be conducted by you. I only initiate it.”
Su Mu couldn’t care less about her sorrow and kept her tone firm. “Fine, let’s try it. But if I find out you’re playing any tricks, I’ll tear your arms off and throw you into the fire.”
Threatened like that, the puppet felt deeply wronged, but she still activated the contract ritual and guided Su Mu step by step on what to do.
Only after confirming multiple times that everything was safe did Su Mu carefully follow along, and soon the contract was complete.
Feeling Su Mu’s soul mark appear within her own soul, Anna happily wriggled her body and even hummed a little tune.
Su Mu’s heart tightened. “Why are you so happy?”
“I have a master now! I can leave this place—of course I’m happy.”
Her laughter sounded pure and innocent, with no hint of anything wrong, so Su Mu finally let her guard down.
After a moment of joy, Anna looked up at him with a worried expression. “Master, Anna knows a lot of magic, and I also know how to take the treasures from here. Could you promise… not to bully Anna for the next ten years?”
Su Mu blinked. “Why ten years?”
Anna quickly and carefully changed her words: “Five years is fine too…”
Maybe it was because of the contract, but Su Mu could genuinely sense her complex feelings—fear mixed with hope, and even a little bit of… inferiority?
She picked up the puppet, patted her head, and comforted her with a smile. “I was a bit harsh just now. Don’t take it to heart. We’re family now, so of course I won’t bully you.”
It was hard to imagine how her previous master had treated her to make her so insecure and anxious.
Hearing Su Mu’s warm words, Anna burst into loud sobs. Though she had no tears, her expression was vivid, and her voice was so full of emotion that it was clearly moving. “Master is so good to Anna—woohoo…”
As she cried, she accidentally bumped into something and her big eyes filled with curiosity. “Wow, this part of you is so pretty and soft. Why can’t I have something like this here…”
Su Mu’s face flushed slightly, and she said indignantly, “Oh, you little Anna—you’re even teasing your own master.”
Anna lowered her head with an ashamed look. “Sorry, Master. I was just curious. I didn’t mean to offend.”
Su Mu twitched her lips. She apologizes so fast that I can’t even scold her. So she just said, “It’s fine. We’re both girls—touching it doesn’t matter.”
“Thank you, Master!” Anna immediately switched from sorrow to joy, hopping off Su Mu’s hand and into the pile of treasures. She declared boldly, “All of these are Anna’s private savings, and now they belong to Master! Among them are spirit stones, spirit tools, and other rare items, but the most valuable one is this.”
She went up to a meter-high chest. Because she couldn’t reach it, she summoned a popsicle stick to pry open the lid, revealing what was inside—a piece of engraved leather.
Su Mu picked up the leather and examined it closely, her breathing growing quicker the more she read.
“This is truly good stuff. I never expected it to be a secret technique that uses fear to destroy an enemy’s mentality.” She beamed with delight, suddenly reminded of the Yamata-no-Orochi’s ability in the cold pool. The two seemed to share a similar essence.
“Anna, you’ve done a great service this time. Tell me—what’s your wish? As long as it’s within my power, I’ll try my best to grant it.”
Anna waved her hands hesitantly. “These are all things Anna should do.”
Su Mu felt an inexplicable pang of sadness and insisted, “Just say it—or else I’ll twist your arm off.”
Sure enough, threats worked best. Anna stammered out her wish: “I… I hope Master will always be as kind to Anna as you are today.”
“Alright, I promise.” Su Mu said it without hesitation.
Hearing his promise, Anna was overjoyed. After introducing each item one by one, she said, “Master, you can’t just take things from here casually. But if you can master this secret technique, then everything will be fine.”
“How do you know that?”
“From experience. Someone before tried to learn what’s on that leather. He didn’t master it completely, but he lasted much longer than others. So I think if you fully learn it, you’ll definitely be able to withstand that terrifying pressure.”
According to Anna, trying to take the treasures from here would trigger an immensely dreadful pressure—one that instills the most primal fear in a person. Without mastering the technique on the leather, it was nearly impossible to endure.
“That terrifying pressure doesn’t affect you?”
“I’m treated as an object. So while the pressure doesn’t affect me, I still can’t leave unless someone takes me out.”
“Alright then. I’ll give it a try—see just how magical this technique is, and how terrifying that pressure really is.”
Su Mu found a well-lit spot and began studying the leather’s contents.
Anna, meanwhile, sorted through everything, organizing them with the diligence of a little housekeeper.
The technique was recorded in fair detail, but it wasn’t easy to practice. Su Mu took it step by step and finally managed to succeed after seven days.
To be safe, she spent another three days practicing until she could use it somewhat proficiently, then finally stopped.
“Master, you did it!”
“Yeah. I’ve mastered the technique on the leather. I can finally leave this place.”
“Yay!!!” Anna danced around, visibly thrilled.
