It is my Destiny to be the Savior of the Protagonist

Axel vaguely noticed it right after stepping into the contaminated area. The mission he was given this time was strange. This contaminated area was left by a labyrinth that was barely closed after devouring 12 different punitive forces. The only thing preventing it from spreading further was that no one couldn’t afford to purify it. This mission’s objective was to retrieve the labyrinth’s nuclear fragment, which was located in the deepest part of the closed labyrinth. At first glance, it wasn’t such an unreasonable task. It wasn’t like he was told to close the labyrinth himself, or to get something that might be who knows where. Those were usually the cases when entering contaminated areas.   It wasn’t too strange that it was a mission in cooperation with another chess piece. It was a mission Axel couldn’t do alone and Adrian Black had no employees other than Axel. He got rid of all the pieces he had inherited from Robert, except for Axel. At first, the number gradually decreased but since last year, only Axel remained in the large mansion. At first, he thought the pieces had died when sent on missions. Or maybe sold to another master or cabal member. So, whenever a piece they were living with disappeared, one by one, the remaining pieces’ fear and hatred of the Master grew.   But Axel learned the truth the year before last, when he was promoted from knight to rook. The promotion tournament was held with all the masters’ knight-grade pieces. The method was different for each promotion tournament, but it was always the same that only the top five players were promoted. For this tournament, Axel’s method of promotion was to survive. The knights were taken to an isolated island and left to survive for a month with nothing but themselves. No food, no drinking water, no items. Then, hundreds of various monsters and five advanced monsters were released onto the island. After a month, among those who survived, only the five who had obtained the highest-level monster cores were promoted. In that match, Axel heard the truth during a confrontation with another master’s piece.   “Even though you’ll be a rook piece, why would you want to use your energy to try to get promoted? Even if you don’t do anything, you will be freed.”   What he meant was, he wanted Axel’s promotion. He discovered what this guy, who coveted the monster core Axel had caught and used evil to try and take it, was talking about after threatening him.    Evidently, Adrian Black gave his pieces impossible missions in order to induce them to give up and refuse their missions. When a piece gave up its mission but still sat on a pile of debt, the master, Ardia Black himself, would buy that piece. In such a way, the piece was naturally removed from the association and made into his own personal piece. But then they were released as a free person along with appropriate compensation. All pieces that have passed into Black’s possession so far have become free in the same way.   “Masters send their pieces out just to make money. But rather, he’s a master that spends money like crazy. Yes, Black is crazy.”   He said that with an expression that clearly showed he couldn’t understand what Axel was holding on to.   “I don’t even know the criteria for accepting missions. The thing most often discussed by the masters are the games, but you’ve never seen a game, have you?”   It is a game that makes pieces fight to the death. It was similar to the slave gladiators, but the pieces were on a different level from the slaves. The results of carefully selected and trained talented people. Starting from the knight class, most of them were spirit knights who had nothing to see in the slave market. Among them, there were even wizards and spirits. The flower of the chess association is a game where you can watch them fight for their lives.  It was also the reason why the association operated in secret. Since they were consuming talented people who should be used in the crusade against the demon world, they have no choice but to operate behind the scenes. But Axel had never participated in such a game.   He even heard the truth of the game at that time. The same went for the pieces that were with him. Black never played a match between masters.   “You are a comrade who fought back to back until yesterday. You’ve never had to kill hundreds of others while members laugh and chat.”   The piece laughed maniacally, and he said.   “Among the pieces participating in this promotion trial, you’re probably the only one who hasn’t had to  stick a sword in the back of a comrade.”   “…!”   “You’ve been lucky enough to get caught by a rich master. For this reason, please make concessions to us.”   “…I have no intention of conceding.”   “You damn bastard!”   Axel subdued the attacking piece again but then threw him the core he was holding.   “What? This… you said you had no intention of conceding.”   “It’s not a concession. It’s a change of heart now that I heard your story.”   After he sent the piece away, he caught another high-level monster and got his hands on a core again. And he waited in hiding until the promotion match was over, reviewing the things he had experienced so far. He became a piece at the age of 12 and received his first assignment, becoming the master of a flame spirit. Six years after that, the missions he did until he was 18 years old. There was a lot of hard work. There was so much to do. But he always learned or gained something along the way, including sponsored items. He has never suffered from a shortage of supplies or a lack of quality goods. Others couldn’t say the same thing.   A lack of potion made injuries worse, and the lack of bandages meant having to recycle used ones. This was the first time he was hearing that such cases existed. Another oddity was education. That was something he always found strange, even before hearing this. No other piece had received such a high education. It was only natural that missions would be difficult to handle if the equipment being used was useless. However, the Masters were not ones to provide much education. Magician pieces only learned magic, not history or geography. Nonetheless, Axel was educated at the level of a high aristocrat. Among the subjects, etiquette and culture were included. He even learned social dancing. And the weirdest thing… Adrian Black always included a wax-sealed envelope when he gave him an assignment. If he was ever in a crisis situation, or an unexpected situation occurred, when he was at a loss as to what to do, there was always an answer when he opened the envelope. Of course, the answer was never written outright. It was mainly hints that reminded him of something he had learned. At first, it felt very strange, but the more often it was repeated, the more he got used to it. But whether or not Axel was used to it, it was something special and strange. No normal Master would do such a thing.   They couldn’t even if they wanted to. How could they send something with foreknowledge about some kind of crisis or unexpected situation that would occur on the mission? But with all this care, how was it that Adrian Black never came to see his piece? Axel didn’t even know Adrian’s face. Whether he was old or young… he didn’t even know for certain the gender. He sounded like a man by his name, but Axel couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a pseudonym.   ‘Why?’   When he learned that all the missing pieces had been freed and that Adrian Black was spending money instead of earning money, his anger and hatred towards the master subsided. But then questions grew and filled the spot.   ‘Why?’   After all, it was according to the master’s plan that he became the owner of the flame spirit. If the master had not changed and had continued to be Robert Black, would he have even been able to become the master of the Red Flames? Axel couldn’t answer that question.   What on earth did Adrian Black want from him to make such an investment? No, is it even a good investment? He reflected on what he had received from his master. Far too much.   Before he became a chess piece, he was just a starving orphan boy. When he thought Adrian was like the other Masters, he didn’t think he was being treated harshly because he was being used to make money.    When he thought Adrian was like the other Masters, he wasn’t happy with what he was given, knowing that debt would make him a slave.   However, Adrian Black bought back all the pieces and freed them. Now only Axel himself remained. If the Master frees Axel in the same way, everything he received would become a favor he owed Adrian. His father raised him to be a man of repayment. He taught him to pay back whatever he received, be it grace or enmity.   If Adrian Black ever freed him, Axel would have to pay him back. His heart felt uncomfortable. From that day on, Axel Valentine was always uncomfortable.   So today, a year later, even in the middle of a mission that seemed impossible, Axel was unable to assert himself like a knight. He put the sword he was holding back into the scabbard. At 18, on the morning of his coming-of-age birthday, Simon, the Master’s agent, gave him a box of supplies. Among the supplies was this sword, like a birthday present. It was a mithril sword that was said to be difficult to obtain, even with money. It was like this every year. On his birthday, the Master would send a special item mixed in with the supplies as if it were nothing, without even wishing him a happy birthday.   He thought it was a coincidence until then. He never imagined that it was a birthday present. Not surprisingly, Axel had never told anyone about his birthday. It was a birthday no one knew about since his adoptive father died, and he didn’t celebrate it himself. There’s no way the master knew… so then how? Then again on his 19th birthday, Master sent another gift. Axel still didn’t understand.   The knight muttered nervously.   “How can a mission that seems trivial to look at be like this? If it was a ridiculous mission from the beginning, I would have given up. I was sent here to die. There’s no other explanation.”   Axel looked down at the sword with an uncomfortable feeling, then responded harshly.   “There’s no way Master would give me such an assignment.”