Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Lady of Revelry Ellis - 1
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I wolfed down three slices of pizza and stepped out of the kitchen. Without pickles and hot sauce, it just loses its appeal.
This was something that could only be settled by facing Ellis head-on anyway. And there was no point in dragging out the inevitable confrontation.
If she wouldn't come to me, I'd go to her.
I retraced the path I'd taken to reach the kitchen.
The moment I appeared, the maids lined up on either side went wide-eyed.
"Isn't that the guy from earlier?"
"He still hasn't run off."
"No fear at all... He's done for now, execution time."
The entire mansion was overflowing with rabbits.
Real rabbits, maids in bunny girl outfits, rabbit paintings, rabbit statues...
At the end of the corridor formed by the maids stood I, with three familiar figures waiting far across on the other side.
Winter Dormouse.
The man with more blood on his hands than anyone else in this mansion.
When Ellis decided she wanted someone dead, it was Winter Dormouse's job to make it reality.
The hood pulled low over his head like a field mouse, he glared at me the instant he spotted me blocking his path.
"Move, or it's summary execution."
"Not moving."
"Fucking lunatic."
In the blink of an eye, Winter Dormouse drew a pair of daggers.
If you were actually competent, you'd be shadowing Elfriede Dice by now—not wasting your time under Ellis.
His charging rush looked agonizingly slow to me.
I twisted aside to barely evade the dagger, seized his arm, and flung him away.
Kwang!
A vicious thud of back slamming into floor.
It must've hurt like hell, but he sprang right back up. Clearly humiliated at being taken down so effortlessly.
"You cocky little shit...!"
"Hold on~"
A leisurely, maniacal tone drifted through the air.
The second Ellis's voice echoed through the mansion, Winter Dormouse froze in place.
All eyes turned to the mistress of the house.
Ellis in Wonderland.
If you were to personify the world's most exquisite rabbit, it would undoubtedly be her.
The moment her pale pink hair and jewel-like crimson eyes filled your vision, no one could argue otherwise.
Her fur cape flaunted her wealth, her bunny girl outfit hugged her curves—every line of her figure was elegantly graceful, without a single flaw.
"Tohihi~"
Well, the illusion shattered the instant you heard that peculiar, wicked cackle.
"You took down Ray and Rave, huh?"
"Just said hello."
Honest truth. At that level, it was barely a greeting. Did I kill them? Gouge out their eyeballs...?
The mage in a suit standing beside Ellis. Mad Hatter spoke up.
"Want me to kill him?"
Tohihi. Ellis giggled, shaking her head.
Then she fixed him with a piercing stare. Her eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Wearing servant rags? But you don't look like you're here for chores~ Hilarious. Totally hilarious. You want something from me, don't you?"
Damn right. My business was with Ellis.
Left unchecked, she'd start moving the pieces for Elfriede's goals. Time to prune this branch now.
A bunch of these little prunings would snowball into a butterfly effect, throwing Elfriede's plans way off course.
"Spot on."
Kukuku. Ellis jabbed Mad Hatter's shoulder with her index finger.
"Entertain him. He's a guest, after all."
She seemed airheaded and sly, but Ellis had a keen eye for detail.
That was how she gripped the drug trade in this underworld.
I felt her gaze dart over my body in that split second, appraising me rapidly.
She chased thrills, sure—but never at the cost of her profits.
In that fleeting moment, she'd calculated I was stronger than Winter Dormouse and made her call.
Cunning rabbit bitch.
A rabbit quicker at scheming than sprinting.
"Hmm~ What should I treat you to? Here for some trump cards?"
Trump cards. Drugs.
"Exactly."
"Mad Hatter. Give him the best we've got~ Full house~"
Mad Hatter grunted in annoyance, his face sour as he gestured down the hall.
"This way."
I followed Mad Hatter and Winter Dormouse a short distance before stopping short.
"Who do you think I'm an idiot? This leads to the torture chamber."
Clap clap clap! Ellis beamed, applauding wildly.
"Oh my god, how'd you know that? You really are a VIP guest~"
Tohihi~ She cackled that nonsense for a good while.
"Guide him right this time. Ah~ This is fun~"
This time, they led me to a proper reception room.
But I couldn't drop my guard.
The reception rooms in this mansion were designed with freakish layouts from the get-go.
A round table sat in the center, fronted by one massive chair with about seven seats flanking each side.
On the surface, it looked perfect.
Like a room where the guest takes the big seat and bunny girl maids line the sides to serve.
'Half right, half wrong.'
The enormous trump card-shaped artworks embedded in the walls. Actually, those were sheets of enchanted one-way glass.
Couldn't see out from inside, but they could see everything in here.
No need to guess. She'd send in her minions first while she watched the whole show from behind.
Mad Hatter asked in a tone dripping with discomfort.
"What do you want."
"Spade King, Queen, Jack. One of each."
Ha.
Mad Hatter snorted in disbelief.
"...One King enough? You look like you'd drop after a single bite."
"Bring 'em or I'll smash your hat and skull together real nice."
Mad Hatter glared at me with murderous eyes.
But the standoff didn't last.
"Count yourself lucky."
Probably because Ellis was watching, he slammed the door irritably on his way out.
You're the lucky one, asshole.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Bunny girl maids entered the reception room carrying pizzas and assorted liquors.
"King, Queen, Jack. That right?"
I asked the one seated right beside me.
"Of course."
She flashed a bright smile.
King, Queen, Jack. These were pizzas laced with the finest drugs even by Ellis's mansion standards.
They differed in knockout potency, sensory highs, even the drug types themselves—but all shared the hallmark of premium ingredients.
The rich's indulgence, naturally.
Each pie fetched around five gold coins. For reference, two gold coins kept a family of four fed for a month.
And here I was, some mystery servant, demanding three.
I ripped off a slice.
Obvious at a glance. Cheap crap.
How cheap? Take this to Elfriede, and she'd dice you into sixty-four pieces.
"King my ass. Ace of Spades at best."
"It's King, sir."
"Yeah?"
I nodded and shoved the slice straight into the maid's mouth.
"U, ugh?!"
I grabbed her by the hair and forced it down. Blocked her nose and mouth until she had no choice but to swallow.
"Gah, cough! He... Hek!"
The maid collapsed in a heap on the floor after swallowing the pizza.
"He... Hek... Hek... Hek hek!"
Like a real rabbit, she dropped to all fours, tongue lolling out as she lost herself in ecstasy.
Her violent tremors confirmed it: no way this was premium.
"See? Ace of Spades."
More bullshit games.
Couldn't end on good terms with Ellis after all. No, I wouldn't.
Bang!
The door flew open with a rough crash, and a welcome face strode in.
Hood up. Winter Dormouse.
"All of you, out."
Like he'd found his opening, the maids bolted from the room the second he spoke.
"Hek hek... Heeng... Kyaa!"
The pizza-eater was still writhing on the floor, so Winter Dormouse booted her out.
Once it was just me and Winter Dormouse, he silently shut the door. Couldn't have opened it that quietly before.
"Florian."
Thuk! Thuk!
Winter Dormouse stabbed his two daggers into the table. Way too sharp for pizza-cutting.
"One question. Why the hell are you here?"
"Woke up here."
"Ha..."
He snorted in utter disbelief.
He slammed a stack of documents onto the table with a sharp thwack.
"Florian. Commoner born, no living family, Valhalla Academy dropout."
"Why bring that up."
Suddenly hitting me where it hurts. But I already knew why.
Winter Dormouse extended his index finger, pointing behind me.
Just a trump card artwork there, but no doubt Ellis was watching from the other side.
"Miss finished digging into you. Useless piece of shit. We took you in as a servant, and this is how you repay us?"
"Just say what Ellis ordered."
"Kill you, obviously, you moron. Where'd you learn to bluff like that? Almost had me. Your academy scores were trash the whole time."
"Winter Dormouse. Why do you always gotta curse?"
"Shut your fucking mouth!"
Winter Dormouse reached for the daggers embedded in the table.
Puk! Puk!
I was faster, of course. I rammed both daggers neatly into his shoulders, pinning him to the wall in place.
What was the thing he hated most? Ah, right.
"Looks good on you. Dormouse."
"Don't call me that! You fucking dog!"
"Dormouse."
"Fuuuucking dooooog!"
"Cursing again. Again."
Puk! Pow! Puk! Puk!
I beat his face until his rage subsided.
Before long, he shuddered violently and passed out.
I turned and walked toward the trump card artwork on the wall.
"Come out yourself. Ellis."
I stood before the Queen of Hearts in particular, jabbing my index finger hard into the forehead of the rabbit queen portrait.
"You sly rabbit bitch."
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