An hour passed since the incident and Enzel was still out cold.

            Suddenly, his fingers twitched, and he was starting to regain consciousness. Lying on the dented floor, his head shook till his eyes were open. Though hazy, his vision was coming back slowly.

            "What happened?" The damage he took on his head probably did a number on his memory. Within moments, the stinging sensation in his skull started to fade, and his mind was back intact. The events that transpired ran through his head.

            "Damn! It's scary how strong I still am." He smirked in thought, confidence brimming in the mass destruction he caused.

            His back then started to feel itchy. He reached it with his arms, but he couldn’t even move them. When he looked down his torso, he realized he was on his knees while his hands were tied behind him. Actually, his whole body was bound by a rope in a complicated knot. He struggled to undone it, but it was too tight and he couldn’t muster any strength at all; seemed like the previous fight drained him that much.

            “What the? Who tied me here?!” He could only think of one person that will do this to him. “Where the hell are you, Rachel?! What’s the meaning of this?!”

            “Shut up, will you?! Your whining is ticking me off.”

            Suddenly, his head was caught in the grasp of a hand from behind. It wasn't fast, but strangely enough, he couldn’t foresee this attack. Enzel squirmed as the hand's grip intensified as if it were trying to bury its fingers into his skull.

            "Owowow! Let go! Let go! It hurts!" Enzel wiggled his body, causing the rope to tighten even more.

            "Don't worry. I was only making sure you won’t run away." The familiar voice behind him held no sympathy in her tone. There was no questioning who it belonged to. The hellish wrath in her breath was the only identification Enzel could ever need.

            "Alright! Ow! I get it already! O-Ow!" Enzel found himself arching backwards with every second the hand dug deeper as if it were trying to tear his brain out. "Let go already, Rachel!"

            Rachel released her clutch on Enzel and faced him. She stood in front of Enzel with a cold glare and flailed her hand; feeling that she had contaminated it simply touching his hair.

            With the sharp pain easing, he looked at her angrily. "What’s the meaning of this? Don’t tell me you’re into this kind of kinky stuff! Did you do this to those attackers too?!”

            Her switch was flipped once more. Enraged, she immediately grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up into the air. Veins pulsated from her hands as she choked the poor sap.

            "How say I give you a sample of what I put those rats through?" Her eerie tone grew more horrific with each word that she spoke.

            Eventually, she let go, dropping him on the floor. He desperately caught his breath, coughing really hard. This was what kept raising questions the moment he reunited with her; that uncanny ability to inflict such pain on him. Since when did that weak guildmate of his grow so strong?

           She wiped off her hand and then looked down the tied man lying on the marble floor. “Anyway, now that you’re awake, I shall now turn you into my slave.”

            “T-turn me into your slave?” Enzel wondered with a face that shows confusion and irritation. He then came to a realization. “So you really have this kind of fetish! I always knew you were creepy! Don’t think you can enslave me that easily. I’ve faced lots of women with far better technique than you!”

            Rachel blushed upon Enzel’s rebukes "W-what are you talking about, you lecherous pervert!?" She glowered. "You are going to be my slave as compensation for the damage you caused. I’ll work your ass off you until you fully pay your debt!"

            "Wait a minute!" He forcefully lifted his body upon finally understanding the situation he was about to get in. "Why the hell am I the only one paying for this mess?!" He moved his face close to Rachel as if he was pointing a finger to her, with his chin as substitute. "First of all, those goddamn thieves were the ones who attacked your store! I was the one who saved your sorry ass from them!"

            Enzel then recalled the thieves who have mysteriously vanished. Looking around, he finally noticed that they were gone. "Speaking of sorry asses, where the hell are they? Shouldn't they be working for you too? What's with this unfair treatme-- Umpff!"

            She covered his mouth tightly with a palm on his jaw. "Shut your hole! Don't you dare prattle against me!" Enzel couldn’t fight back at all. She was completely overpowering him.

            "Regarding those thieves..." Rachel smirked deviously. "They already did their part, so don't concern yourself over their well-being. Right now, they're satisfying the sea creatures." She moved closer, whispering to his ears with frigid breath. "Or would you rather swim with them? Your body may be good nutrients for a certain King Calamari that lives around here."

            "Not the tentacles!" Trembling, Enzel shook his head. Seeing his reaction, she took her hand back, wiping it with a cloth. A condescending smile emerged on her face. "Excellent. We're finally on the same foot. I suppose we have a compromise?"

            "I value my life more than anything else. So even if it's against my pride, I'll swallow it up to work for you," He said as he tried to get the sensation of Rachel’s hand off his face. The thought of a giant creature with wriggly tentacles made him shudder. "I wouldn't mind being eaten by another creature, but for the love of all that is holy, no tentacles.”

            As he continued thinking, the brilliant idea of escaping crossed his mind. "I'll just have to deal with her shit for now and then run away when I get the chance. Hehe. It's great to still be alive and kicking, but there's no point to it if I have to work for this pushover."

            And while he was relieved that his life was spared, he was still flabbergasted, trying to digest the demon his old guildmate grew into. "Still, to think you'd feed people to a sea monster for simply destroying your store. Since when did you become so ruthless?"

            "Forget about the small little details." Rachel shrugged off his question and started cracking her knuckles. "Let’s begin the contract."

            "Huh? Contract? What for? Why?" Enzel did not expect the requirement of a contract, which perplexed him. "Are you going to turn me into a magical girl or something?"

            "Since I will be employing you, it is of utmost importance to form a contract with me, your manager, to ensure that your life is completely in my hands. Naturally, this would mean that you will have no means of escape."

            "You sure are one paranoid wench." Enzel commented, hiding his inner thoughts. "I'm sure it's just some flimsy piece of paper with written conditions that needs a signature. I'll just have to steal it from her, tear it apart and finally, put on my vanishing act!"

            "Fine, whatever. Give me the paper and I'll sign the damn contract." He tried to reach his hand out, but then he remembered he was still tied down. “But first, could you take this rope off me, like, right now?”

            "Oh you’re good just like that," she insisted. “I’ll handle the contract myself. I only need you to be conscious for this to work.”

            All it did was confuse him. "Hah? Then what do you do?"

            "This." She held her hand gently against his face, causing him to shy away.

            "W-Wait a minute!" Flustered, he shook off Rachel's hands with his head; the slightest shade of red on his cheeks. "W-Why are you touching me like that?!"

            "Didn't you listen? We're forming a contract! Can't you get it through that thick skull housing that tiny brain?" She grabbed his face again, squeezing down on his cheeks.

            "You mean it's not a written document?!" he screamed in his mind.

            "Don't resist. I don't like doing this either, but it is compulsory in order to secure our contract." She placed more pressure on his cheeks, ensuring he won't escape her grasp once more. Unlike him, she was completely composed and showed no reluctance in what she was about to do.

            She slowly inched her head towards him until their foreheads made a contact. Enzel felt her warm skin and the floral scent of her hair pass through his nostrils, making him blush harder. "W-What kind of weird contract is this?!"

            "Just shut up and close your eyes."

            Under her orders, Enzel closed his eyes tightly. He could feel her breath lingering across his lips that were mere centimetres away from hers.

            "O-Okay..." His heart was racing at the thought of what she was about to do.

            "Alright. Here it goes."

            Rachel slowly moved her forehead away. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her will. Holding down his cheeks harder, she seemed rather anxious about him moving away. It was as though she only had one chance. One she was not going to miss.

            Enzel, on the other hand, was getting agitated at how long this contract was taking. With eyes still closed, he finally asked a question, "Hey, is it done alread--"

            Before he could finish his sentence, he felt something moving closer to his face at top speed.

            Unfortunately for him, it was not a pair of lips as he had expected, rather, an entire forehead.

            "Urrrrrryyyy!"

            Screaming at the top of her lungs like a madman, Rachel rammed her head against Enzel's, causing immense pain to both of them the moment they collided.  With a few seconds of skin contact, silence grew in the ravaged store.

            Finally, the stinging pain kicked in. Rachel moved her head away and let go of Enzel’s. She slowly stepped backwards, pressing her hands against the sore spots.

            "Oooowwww! My head is going to break!"

            "Ouch! Ouch! My head! Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

            While Rachel was somehow able to keep standing, albeit teary-eyed and a bit dazed, Enzel was rolling on the floor, suffering from the excruciating pain that he couldn’t ease thanks to the rope that prevented his escape.

            "Ugh! I did not expect it would hurt this much!"

            "What the hell, you bitch! I thought you were about to kiss me!"

            "Kiss you?" Rachel grimaced when she heard that. "Why would I do that for a contract? Not to mention, with a miserable scum like you! It'd be easier to convince me to feed myself to the King Calamari. Besides, I only need physical contact to seal the deal."

            "Does it really have to be a freaking headbutt?!" Still lying down on the floor, he cried, "And kissing is also physical contact, you moron!"

            "I need to force a huge amount of magical energy into you so that the seal could be embedded, which will authenticate the contract." She was visibly shaken, hand on her forehead. "Though I was considering kicking you in the balls instead of a headbutt. Maybe I should have gone with that."

            Enzel immediately guarded his crotch by squeezing his thighs together. "On second thought, I'm fine with the headbutt." He paused for a moment. "Like hell I want your kiss anyway! I'd rather kiss a llama's ass! It's prettier than your face!"

            "I should be the one saying that." She was twitching, crept out by the idea of kissing him. "Stop being disgusting, will you?!"

            A few seconds after that painful 'contract signing', a symbol of a butterfly with four wings appeared and immediately vanished on Enzel's forehead. Only Rachel noticed this; her lips curling into a satisfied smile.

            As the pain dispersed, she straightened her posture and crossed her arms. "Since the contract is now complete... Enzel Venera! From today onwards, you are officially my slave!"

            "Did you give out too many headbutts?!" Still on his bum, recuperating from the ache, he looked up at her. "I'm not your slave, I'm your employee!"

            "You're a corporate slave. So technically, you're still a slave." She insisted with a nose held high. "And stop calling me by my name. From now on, you are to address me as manager or master whereas I shall call you slave. Do you understand, slave? Must I repeat myself, slave?"

            "Stop saying slave already!" he yelled at her. "I'm your employee and employees have rights!"

           "No, you are a slave." With a tone of malice, she was forcing her perspective into him. "And slaves do not have rights. Accept it or accept the tentacles, slave!"

            "You oppressive witch!" He was ready to explode anytime after all the abuse she was throwing, but the odds were stacked against him. "F-Fine! Do what you want! I'll just have to work my ass off here, right? I'll show you what I can do!"

            "Oooh, confident, are we?" Rachel smiled sarcastically.

            Despite being incapacitated, he managed to exclaim, flaring with confidence. "Who the hell do you think I am?! I am the strongest fighter in the history of time! I've taken down entire armies and slain thousands of monsters! Nothing can stand before me! All shall fall before the might of! The one! The only!" He tried to strike a pose, but ended up tumbling and hitting his head on the floor. "The great Enzel Venera! Also, remove the rope already!"

            She just rolled her eyes, deriding his egocentric speech. "Yeah, yeah. That was like, three years ago. Move on from your delusions." Shaking her head, she continued. "And that has nothing to do with the work you'll be doing here. Do you even know anything that doesn't involve fighting?"

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

            Enzel had a crooked smile, veins popping on his forehead.  "Hell yeah I do! You don't know because you were always left behind in that guild like dirt! Since you're such a useless mage, nobody wants to work with you!"

            She failed to give him a reaction of any kind. Instead, she only shot back with a retort. "Funny. The strongest fighter in 'the history of time' is now working under said useless mage. If that useless mage is nothing but dirt, then that fighter is lower than dirt. The fool who follows the fool is the bigger fool, after all."

            "Why you! Useless! Weakling! You can't even cast a basic spell properly!"

            "I look forward to what that fighter can do for this useless mage who gave him a beating today without even using a basic spell she can't cast properly."

            Enzel gritted his teeth; clenching his fists behind from the ever growing frustration. Not only did he get beaten up good, he ended up becoming a slave--official worker to her, someone who was always inferior to him. He could only glare at her in anger, to which she responded similarly.

            And while the two continued their glaring contest like a married couple in a feud, a group of children walked into the store. Since the door was destroyed hours ago, neither of them noticed their presence, as the bell attached to the door failed to make a chime.

            It was only till one of them spoke up that they realized they weren't alone.

            "Ah! The store is wrecked! What do we tell big sis?"

            They heard the voice of a boy, putting an end to their wordless war, diverting their attention to the kids. The group composed of two girls and four boys didn't seem to be street children as they were properly dressed, but they didn't look too luxurious either. Certainly, they were of average background.

            When the kids noticed Rachel, they immediately approached her, but stopped halfway when they noticed her with a man doing what seemed to be a bondage play. The battered and tied down fighter sat beside her. The children froze upon the scenario of a woman and tied man together in a run-down establishment.

            A girl, who was the shortest and youngest among them, pointed at Enzel and then looked at the manager with probing eyes.

            "Ms. Witch, is he your husband?"

            The innocent question of a lily-white child only brought a cold silence to the store.

            Both the adults were utterly stunned. As if things couldn't get worse, the other five followed suit, surrounding Rachel with a barrage of questions.

            "Hey, Ms. Witch! When did you get married?"

            "When did you two meet, Ms. Witch?"

            "Why aren't you wearing your wedding ring?"

            "Do you have a child? Is it a boy or a girl?"

            "Ms. Witch. Did it hurt the first time?"

            Rachel, while surrounded, couldn't contain her embarrassment and her cheeks gradually turned a shiny red, especially in regards to the last question.

            "W-Wait a minute, kids! Why do you know something like tha--" She swallowed a breath, tackling the point of contention. "I mean no! He's not my husband!"

            "Me? Your husband?" Enzel pointed at himself. "You're losing your marbles!"

            "I should be the one saying that!" Rachel snapped back; her face still as red as tomato.

            The girl who asked the first question pouted in disappointment. "Is that so? And here I thought you're happily living with a man, Ms. Witch."

            "I guess Ms. Witch isn't really married to this man." The oldest-looking boy scrutinized Enzel with keen eyes. "Look! His clothes are torn and tattered, he has lots of bruises and wounds, and he's dirty! There's no way a scruffy hobo like him would be Ms. Witch's husband. She has standards."

            "You looking for a fight, brat?!" Enzel lashed out at him.

            "That's correct, youngster. It's impossible for me to marry a fetid, penurious derelict like him." Agreeing with the boy, Rachel rewarded him with a gentle pat on the head, throwing fuel on Enzel's fire.

            “But why is he tied up?” A snot-nosed younger boy asked, which made the two adults pull their tongue back.

            With the snap of her fingers, Rachel undid the rope around Enzel that dispersed into small particles.

            "But!" the young girl answered back to the boy. "Maybe that's just how Ms. Witch shows her love to him! Y-You know, by hurting him! You see, mama always tells me that papa shows his love by beating her up. There are even times he would tie her down and call her a bitch. Isn't that the same with Ms. Witch?"

            Rachel could only stare, having heard such a bleak statement from such a saintly voice. "Ugh... I feel bad for this girl."

            "The things they teach kids these days..." Enzel, on the other hand, had a hard time stomaching what was said.

            “Bitch? What’s that? Do you know that, Ms. Witch?” Another girl asked when she heard an unfamiliar word. Meanwhile, the adults were silently in shock.

            Rachel stuttered and failed to give a proper answer to the kids. After all, she couldn’t just tell them the definition of such vulgar word and corrupt their minds at a very early age.

            Instead, Enzel chipped in. “You see kids, a bitch is someone who is really strong. Someone you must idolize because that person is amazing!” He then pointed his now free hand at Rachel. “Like this woman here. She’s a bitch.”

            He was humbly rewarded with a kick to the face by Rachel after clearing up the question.

            Before the topic could derail to something darker, Rachel decided to change it by entertaining her customers while the poor hobo wriggled on the floor like a dying caterpillar. "A-Anyway! Kids, I think Ms. Witch knows why you are here. Are you here to pick up your big sis' order?"

            "Ah!" The older girl exclaimed. "How did you know that? We didn't even tell you! You really are a witch!"

            While her reply was rather asperse, Rachel decided to let it slide as it was normal for children their age to behave that way. "Sure, sure. Whatever you want to say." Hands on waist, she sighed. "So I was right?" she smiled. "I'll get it from the workshop, okay? Behave yourself, kids!"

            In unison, the children answered with a loud, "Thank you, Ms. Witch!"

            Convinced, Rachel nodded and started walking towards a door, a few meters to the right of the one that leads to her house. "Watch the kids for me, slave," she ordered as she left.

            Enzel got up and just goggled at her lazily and when her back was turned, he stuck out his tongue like an immature brat.

            With his manager off at the workshop, the slave looked back at the kids with his droopy eyes. They stared at him intently as if they were examining him from head to toe.

            "W-what?" A few drops of sweat trickled down Enzel's head. He wasn't particularly enthusiastic about conversing with brats.

            "Hey, hey, Hobro! What happened to the store?" The youngest boy asked.

            "I-It's a long story. Don't ask about it!" Enzel froze when it hit him. "Hobro?"

            "Hey, hey, Hobro! Let's play!" The younger girl enthusiastically raised her arms like she was asking for a lift, all while hopping up and down.

           "Stop calling me a hobo! I work here, you know!" He couldn't help but sigh. Assuming his boss wouldn't take too long, he decided to just go along with the kids. "Alright, what do you want to play?"

            "Let's play house!" The second youngest boy suggested.

            The young girl was ecstatic when she heard that. "Yes, yes! Let's play house, Hobro! You can be mama and I will be papa!"

            "Yeah sure. I don't care whoever plays papa." Enzel simply went along with it as he scratched his head in boredom.

            "Yayifications!" The girl merrily jumped around like a bunny. "Then... Since I'm papa, I'm going to love you by beating you up!"

            The 'mama' buried his face in his palms, containing his emotions. "So pure, yet so deluded."

            Sitting down to meet her eye level, he grinned. "Alright, you can beat me up if you want, but don't hurt yourself okay?"

            "Yepperonis!" The girl joyfully answered, twisting her shoulders.

            He had a blank expression, not a shred of fear on his countenance. "Well, it's not like those tiny hands can hurt anything. I'll just let her do as she pleases"

            "Are you ready, dear?" The girl clenched her little fists. "I'm going to give you lots of love!"

            Enzel imitated a loving housewife with the most ear-grating falsetto. "Yes! Be gentle, darling!"

            The girl took a deep breath and then launched a punch at him. "Hiyaaaaa!"

            He remained in place, keeping to character. "Ahn! Darling! Don't be so rough with m-- Guhoooooo!"

            The girl's fist buried into Enzel's face before he could even finish his line. Though the girl barely stood above his waist, she was far stronger than she appeared. Her attack was more than enough to knock him down to the ground.

            She stood there, looking down on Enzel with her fist raised proudly. "Hmph! You're weak! Even mama could take more punches!"

            "Do I look like your battered mother?!" he answered angrily, holding onto his reddened cheek. "Also, how the hell do you punch that hard?!"

            The older girl had her nose held high. "We may be small, but we are strong!"

            "Hobro, I thought we were playing house?" One of the boys asked.

            Enzel lifted his body and sat on the floor. "Yeah that's what I thought too." Defeated, he shook his head calmly. "Guess we're playing wrestling instead."

            "Wrestling?!" The children's eyes glimmered with exhilaration at the mere mention of the word.

            The necessitous slave was taken aback by this sudden boost of interest. "W-Wait a minute. Hey! W-What the hell are you thinking?!"

            "Attack!" The oldest girl shouted, ordering the others like a warlord in the battlefield. The others heeded her command and immediately jumped to Enzel while shouting, "Wrestling!".

            "Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" A pig-like squeal was let out as the kids fell on his body.

"Kids, I'm back!" About thirty minutes passed and Rachel returned to the store with a hat in hand. Feathers all over, the hat looked like it had wings.

            But what welcomed her back was her employee being wrestled by her customers. The boys locked their legs around his limbs, while the older girl had his head locked in her small arms. As for the little girl, she was simply jumping on his stomach. Repeatedly.

            "Wow. Five years, and you've grown so feeble that even children can overpower you."

            "D-Don't ask! Ack! J-Just hel-uk me!"

            As the children's assault continued to torture Enzel, a young woman, somewhere around her twenties, entered the store with fretful eyes. "Excuse me, but did you see a group of--" She glanced towards the floor, finding the children tormenting some stranger. "Oh, hey! There you are!"

            When they heard her, the children stopped, released Enzel from submission and turned towards her.

            The woman let out a sigh of relief, pressing her hands against her coat which had long tails behind. Pairing with it was a short blue skirt adorned with yellow vertical linings. On her waistline was a belt with two swords attached, which indicated combat experience.

            "It's big sis!" The children exclaimed, releasing their victim. They then ran towards the woman, hugging her black, thigh-high stockings.

            She fussed, tapping her brown laced boots against the floor. "Geez! I was getting worried! You kids were taking too long! Did you get lost?"

            "No, we were playing house with Hobro over there!" The young girl pointed her small finger at Enzel who was down, sore all over.

            “Hobro?” The woman shifted her gaze to Enzel's beaten body, finding familiarity in his appearance. Tapping her chin, she struggled to recall who he reminded her of.  Eventually, she shrugged it off and placed her attention back to the children.

            "Kids, what was the basic move I taught you when you fight someone?" Her words sounded authoritative yet laid-back.

            "Do a three-hit combo!" The children joyfully replied and big sis nodded in satisfaction.

            The young girl tugged the woman's blue coat. "But big sis. I just punched him once and he was already down. Did I do something wrong?"

            She stared down at the anxious girl. "You knocked him down with only one punch?"

            "I-I'm sorry I didn't follow what you said." She was ready to cry as the woman's expression turned stony.

            Seconds passing, the woman sighed as she tipped her purple hat adorned with golden chains. "Nah! You didn't do it wrong. In fact, if you defeated your opponent with one punch, then that's just proof of your strength!" She gave praises to the young girl while patting her head, relieving her of worry.  “Guess the old man’s training regime paid off, yeah?”

            "Yayness!" The girl blushed and smiled, indulging the praise she received.

            The woman then gazed at Rachel. "Ah is that my order?" She pointed her gloved hands towards the hat she was holding.

            "Ah yes. It's done." Rachel handed over the hat over to her.

            "Thank you," she said as she received the item. "By the way, what happened to your store? It's completely ruined." The woman started probing her new hat.

            "It was attacked. That's all."

            "That so? Well, that happens a lot lately." The woman then stuck her right hand in the hat and spun it about. "Glad nobody got hurt." She glanced at Enzel. "Well, except for that poor sap over there."

            Rachel immediately stopped the woman from pressing further. "Pay no attention to him."

            The youngest boy tugged the woman’s skirt. “Big sis! Big sis! Did you know that Ms. Witch was married to Hobro and they were doing some game with a rope a while ago! They looked like they were having fun.”

            She turned to Rachel with the most mischievous smile, her left hand hiding her lips “Heh you’re into bondage? Pfft! The things I learned today! But please don’t show it in front of the kids. Also, since when did you get married?!”

            “No! That’s not true and I didn’t get married!” Rachel violently disapproved the woman’s statement. “I was just preventing this guy from running away! He’s my new worker! Don’t twist the facts, will you?!”

            The woman was already enjoying herself, but decided to drop the teasing and shrugged it off. "Anyway, thanks for the hat! I might order another one soon, so tell your craftsman in advance, 'kay?"

            After paying Rachel, the woman walked out the store, prompting the children to follow.

            Before they joined their big sis, the children turned back to Enzel and waved goodbye to him. "Come visit us at the orphanage sometime, Hobro! Let's do another wrestling match, okay?! Bye-bye!"

            And thus the children left, chasing after the young woman.

            Enzel was left lying on the floor, his limbs still numb. As the cheerful clamours of the children faded into echoes, he only had one thought running through his mind.

            "I hate kids."

Soon, the sun was setting. Behind the counter, Rachel waited idly for customers. She looked at Enzel who was still down on the floor. Bored, she decided to make small talk. "Surprisingly, you got along with the kids real quick."

            "The fact that they have that kind of fighting prowess still bothers the hell out of me. That big sis of theirs sure is proud of her little devils. Who were those people anyway?" Feeling his limbs, Enzel was finally able to at least sit down on the floor.

            "They come by every now and then." Rachel snapped her fingers, creating an invisible, box-shaped barrier surrounding the store. "Seems like I won't be able to sell much today thanks to your misguided heroism so I'm closing for today. This barrier should suffice to prevent anyone from coming in through that hole in the wall."

            "You should have used that from the very start." He stood up, stretching his arms.

            She opened the door to her home. "You stink. Get in and take a bath. Bath's just beside the stairs. Once you're done, go upstairs and wait for dinner."

            He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait. Are you trying to say that I'll be living here with you?"

            She turned around to face him, an icy glare in her eyes. "Do you prefer sleeping outside? I don't mind giving you the boot."

            "Uhm... No." He shook his head. "I was just surprised you'd let me stay here."

            Annoyed, she explained, "All of my workers stay with me. That is at least one privilege I give to my employees. So be grateful, even though you're a slave."

            "Well..." He was scratching his neck shyly. "Thanks, I guess."

            For some reason, that shy look on his face made Rachel blush a bit. She quickly averted her gaze so he wouldn't notice her reaction. "Hmpf! Get inside already! You smell like shit so get in the bath quickly!"

            Slamming the door, she left him alone inside the wrecked store.

            "Uhh... Okay," he sighed, incapable of understanding her sudden fit of anger.

            Cracking his neck, he stepped forth to wash himself up. It was strange how the little weakling he would pick on was now the one picking on him, but in the end, life was just full of surprises. There was no way to predict what would happen tomorrow. Enzel hadn't a choice in the matter, but at least he has a roof for shelter now. If only the cons didn't outweigh the pros.

            Like it or not, his new life as an employ-- slave was simply beginning.