Chapter 302: Angel Friend

Sylphia directly grabbed her friend’s shoulders and shook them, her voice rising with frustration.

"You dumbo! Don’t you realize how absurd these interest rates are?!"

The bunny girl’s expression remained oddly guilt-free as she responded. "I didn’t see the rate when I was signing the contract. I just... I never would have imagined myself ending up in this position."

Then her entire atmosphere shifted, becoming almost cheerful. She straightened up, her ears perking slightly.

"Don’t worry, Sylphia! I’ll pay it back!"

She even puffed out her chest with misplaced confidence. "I’m confident in my abilities as an adventurer. I just need time."

Sylphia knew how capable her little friend was—she was by no means weak. In fact, she was quite talented for her age. But this idiot still couldn’t comprehend how massive a trap she’d fallen into. She clearly needed someone to teach her some basic mathematics and financial reality.

If I were in this predicament with these absurd conditions placed upon me, I’d be freaking out completely.

The interest would compound every single day. The base amount of one hundred platinum coins was already absurd, and Sylphia couldn’t even imagine how astronomical it would grow over time without intervention.

Even a four-star mission—the kind Sylphia herself undertook regularly—paid at most ten to forty platinum coins. And those missions required a full party of four skilled adventurers working together, often taking days to a full week to complete, depending on complexity and danger level.

And this idiot was currently just a slave. She didn’t have a party she could join. Her share of any group earnings would be significantly reduced just by the fact that she wore a slave bracelet, regardless of how much apparent freedom her slave contract gave her.

That was simply how it worked in the adventuring world.

In my mind, without outside help, she’ll be a slave for her entire life. There’s no escape for her—not as a mere two-star adventurer without a party and wearing a slave mark.

Sylphia took a deep, steadying breath and decided it was time for harsh reality.

She began explaining with actual mathematics, breaking down the compound interest calculations day by day. She showed how the debt would balloon exponentially, how even if Bunbun managed to earn money, the interest would outpace her income impossibly fast.

One hundred platinum coins at one percent daily interest meant one additional platinum coin on day one. But on day two, the interest would be calculated on one hundred and one platinum coins. Then one hundred and two point zero one. The numbers grew like a malignant tumor.

"In just one month, your debt will be over one hundred and thirty-four platinum coins," Sylphia explained, her voice grave. "In two months, it’ll be over one hundred and eighty. In six months, you’ll owe over six hundred platinum coins."

She let that sink in before continuing.

The bunny girl’s face was growing paler with each word.

"You are severely trapped in this pithole," Sylphia said bluntly, holding her friend’s gaze with unwavering intensity. "And without outside help, you will never escape this situation. Ever. Do you understand?"

Leon, who had been listening to everything through his spatial awareness and relaying it to Seraphine and Loriel, found himself nodding in agreement with Sylphia’s assessment. The mathematics were brutal and undeniable.

That’s a debt trap designed to be inescapable. Whoever this Luke is, he’s done this before.

After Sylphia’s explanation was complete, the full weight of her situation finally crashed down on the bunny girl like a collapsing building.

She started freaking out—genuinely panicking now that the numbers had made everything concrete and real. Tears welled up in her red eyes and began streaming down her cheeks as she clutched desperately at Sylphia’s arm.

"I don’t want my family to find out!" she sobbed, her voice breaking. "They could help me, I know they could, but I just can’t bring myself to face them like this!"

She was holding onto her friend as if she were the last beacon of hope in a dark ocean.

Her only option now was to ask for help from the person standing in front of her—the friend who had just made her realize how catastrophically bad her condition actually was.

"Help me! Sylphia, please!" she begged, her voice desperate and raw. "I’ll definitely repay you! I swear on my clan’s honor! Please!"

She was practically prostrating herself, all pride abandoned in the face of her dire circumstances.

Sylphia stood there listening without saying anything, her face impassive. The silence stretched between them like a taut wire.

The bunny girl grew increasingly nervous as the seconds ticked by without response. Her ears drooped further with each passing moment.

Is she going to refuse? Oh gods, what if she refuses?

But Sylphia had already decided to help her—otherwise she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to explain the full severity of the situation to this idiotic bunny. She’d just been waiting for the right moment.

"Stop crying," Sylphia commanded suddenly, her voice sharp. "And back away a little, or I’ll leave you here."

It was just a warning to make her stop dirtying the armor she’d just bought a couple of weeks ago with snot and tears. The armor had been expensive, and she had no interest in getting it stained.

The instruction was followed by the bunny girl as if it were a royal decree. She immediately stepped back, wiping frantically at her face and trying to compose herself.

After seeing her compliance, Sylphia’s expression softened slightly.

"I’ll help you get out of this situation," she said firmly. "But you’ll owe me one favor in the future—no questions asked, no refusal allowed. And the money I spend to free you, you’ll repay me later. Since you’re my friend, I won’t charge interest."

Bunbun’s eyes shone like she’d just seen a messiah descending from the heavens. She looked at Sylphia with such profound gratitude that it was almost painful to witness.

"Thank you!" she said fervently, nodding so vigorously her ears flopped around her head. "Thank you so much! I’ll repay everything, I promise!"

She maintained her distance as instructed, not wanting to risk Sylphia’s ire by getting too close to that precious armor again.

But then something shifted in Sylphia’s expression—a hint of mischief that the bunny girl couldn’t quite interpret. She knew she was about to take advantage of her friend’s situation, but she couldn’t help herself. She didn’t think she’d ever get another chance like this.

With an exaggeratedly deep voice, clearing her throat dramatically for effect, Sylphia announced: "There’s one more thing I need to tell you. I forgot to mention something important."

The bunny girl just listened without any facial expression other than gratitude and attentiveness.

Until the actual condition was mentioned.

"You can’t complain when I call you Bunbun," Sylphia declared, her tone brooking no argument. "That’s the name I’ve known you by since childhood, and I’m not changing it now."

After hearing this demand, the bunny girl felt genuine stress flood through her system. She absolutely hated being called by such a childish name. She’d despised it since her teenage years, had spent years trying to get people to stop using it.

"That—" Her words stuck in her throat, unsure what to say.

And the way Sylphia was deliberately not looking her in the eye told her everything she needed to know. Her friend was taking advantage of her bad situation.

Silence stretched between them, growing more uncomfortable with each passing second.

Sylphia was starting to feel a bit guilty as the silence lengthened. She decided she needed to put the final nail in the coffin.

"Well, if you’re not going to agree, I suppose I’ll just be going," she said casually, as if she’d never seen her here at all. "I’m sure you’ll figure something out on your own."

It was a complete bluff, but she couldn’t help herself.

Yes, I’m blackmailing her. But this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I can’t pass it up.

The joke—if it could even be called that—made the bunny girl absolutely freak out. She was faced with an impossible choice: either accept Sylphia’s help with this humiliating condition, or risk being found out by her father and living as a debt slave for the rest of her life.

That wasn’t the future she wanted. That couldn’t be her fate.

There was anger burning inside her—rage at Luke for scamming her through his contract, fury at herself for being so stupid—but she contained it for now. First, she needed to get out of this situation. Revenge could come later.

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, the word feeling like broken glass in her mouth. "I agree."

The reluctance was palpable in every syllable.

Hearing her acceptance, Sylphia immediately brightened and patted her head like she was a small child.

"Good job, Bunbun!"

The bunny girl’s teeth ground together audibly, but she didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. She’d just agreed to these terms.

Urgh!! I hate this. I hate this so much.

Ignoring the treatment that was absolutely unacceptable to her dignity but which she had to tolerate for now, the bunny girl quickly said in a soft tone: "Sylphia, let’s go repay Luke his money right away."

Sylphia caught the phrasing immediately—"his money"—and realized her dumbo friend still hadn’t fully grasped the severity of being scammed. She probably thought only the contract terms were fraudulent, not understanding that the entire setup had been rigged from the start.

Yep, I’ll hold off on explaining all of this for now. I’ll tell her everything after she’s free, right in front of that bastard Luke, and watch how she reacts.

The thought of seeing her little snow bunny lose control completely was delicious. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d witnessed that particular sight.

But first, she needed to address a practical concern.

"I don’t have the money," Sylphia admitted bluntly. "I only have twelve platinum coins on me right now."

Hearing this, Bunbun almost fainted on the spot. Her vision actually blurred for a moment.

"Then how will you free me?!" she demanded, feeling anger start to rise at the thought that she’d been humiliated for nothing.

But Sylphia’s confident voice made her pause mid-fury.

"Don’t worry."

She pointed to her own armor—the beautiful black and blue pieces she was wearing.

"This cost three hundred platinum coins. You don’t have to worry about anything. I’ll use this as collateral or sell it if necessary."

The bunny girl’s eyes immediately began to tear up again at hearing her friend’s passionate declaration of support.