Well, if running away isn't an option, logically the only thing that remains is to stay and fight. Not with my current body, of course. No, I will fight in the form of Eloureth's academy wizards. If I could find a way to call them here, my escape and the death of that man will practically be set in stone.

Of course, this way has already been pondered by me, many times, in fact. The only way the academy could be alerted to my troubles is when a student faces their death. Yet, while practicing chair techniques in my dorm, there was no other captive that I could sacrifice for my escape. Not to mention the dubious moral concerns of doing such a thing in the first place.

Yet now, as I look at Hector, he seems to be the perfect target for my escape. Unfortunately, where my tactics go, my morals can't follow. While it is relatively easy to indirectly condemn innocents to a horrid death by the man, when an actual person is in front of me, with their own hopes and dreams, I cannot coldly decide to end them for my gain. Unlike that man, I am not a monster.

So what must I do? I want to escape, yet I don't want to do something horrible, for such deeds are bound to follow you past death. As I ponder, I think of what would be the fairest for Hector. If I were him, I wouldn't want my death to be sudden and confusing, yet I wouldn't want to die in the first place.

I inwardly sigh as I realize that I cannot just tell him to sacrifice himself for me. His future prospects aren't so bleak that death would be an easy way out.

Which unfortunately means I have to lie to him about his possible future, make it sound worse than it probably will be, then give him a way out. Tell him if he wants justice for himself and everyone else who will possibly face the same fate in the future, he should sacrifice himself for the greater good and alert the academy.

Unfortunately, doing such a thing would be a horrible thing to do. I would not only be toying and playing with another's life but on top of that disrespecting the teachings of the gods.

Yet, what can I do? The man made a blunder merely abandoning me to a bunch of commoners, and I must take advantage. If my magical plan doesn't work, shall I rot in a chair until he decides to finally do away with me? No, if I do not take advantage of every chance I get, I will not only suffer but also fail my household.

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So, I decide with a steady mind that I must sacrifice Hector for everyone's good.

Well, I say that, but convincing him to sacrifice himself will not be easy.

As I try to formulate some sort of plan, I am snapped out of my musings by Hector himself. He asks me, "So, where is this man right now?"

"At this point, he's probably in my household, taking my place, talking to my family like nothing. That man is a monster." I say with a grave and maddened tone, which I don't have to put much effort into facing.

"Yes, if as you say is true, he truly is a monster. But if he is gone, and has no need for us, why are we confined here?"

"The man needs me because he can't get into the academy without my soul-bound necklace." I say.

"And what about me? Why am I stuck here? Why must I be a part of this?"

"I don't have the full idea, but I think you're still here because he needs to sneak me back into the academy, which requires two necklaces, and unfortunately you were chosen to supply the second neckless." I say with the most grave and sad tone I can manage.

"But then, what happens after? Am I fated to meet a horrid end?"

I look at Hector with a sad expression, and no words need to be exchanged. He tilts his head down and starts thinking to himself.

After what must have been a minute, he starts talking again, "Is there nothing I can do? Is this what fate has chosen for me?"

"Unfortunately, yes, why have both been cursed by bad luck." I shake my head in frustration.

"So, this…this mongrel stays unpunished for his sins, and I get to die. There has to be another way. Can we not escape? I'm sure if you somehow free my hands, I could blast the people here away."

I shake my head again, "The man knows us well, I have tried many times before, but freeing oneself from the ropes is not possible."

"So, that's it, my life will be thrown away because of some stupid necklace, is that truly all I amount to in the end?"

"Well, there is another way, but you will not like it, yet it is the only thing you can really do to hurt that rotten man.