An Archmage in a Maid's Uniform
"Get up."
Sharnell, who had been prostrating herself naked before me, rose to her feet. Shame had painted her face a deep red, and tears welled in both eyes.
She covered her private parts with both hands. Far too late. I had already seen every inch of her bare body.
Ridiculous. It's not even a figure worth covering up.
What I found even harder to understand was the fact that Sharnell had been wearing a bra. Her chest was as flat as a sheer cliff face. Poke it with a finger and you'd feel nothing but hard bone — not a scrap of soft flesh.
Even with a bra on, there'd be plenty of empty space left… Some kind of pride, maybe.
The one redeeming feature was the color of her nipples. A pure pink with no pigmentation whatsoever — rather cute, actually.
"I'll consider your request."
"What? Consider?! After I went through all that, you're just going to consider it?!"
"Ah. Poor choice of words. I'll consider it… favorably."
"You!!"
Wind stirred around Sharnell. Her mana was surging. A crimson magic circle took shape in front of her. Yuria, seated beside me, glanced at the circle and smiled faintly. That alone was enough to shatter it to pieces.
In an instant, Sharnell's venom drained away, leaving her with a hollow expression.
Grand Archmage and Archmage.
The difference of a single word was as vast as the gulf between earth and sky.
"Sharnell. For the time being, you'll serve as a maid."
"Why the hell should I?!"
"You're hardly in a position to talk back. If you want to save Priscilla, you'll do as I say. At least until we rescue her."
"Grrgh…"
"How long are you planning to stand there flaunting that scrawny body? Get dressed and get out. Ask one of the maids nearby — they'll tell you what to do."
She pulled her clothes on in a clumsy heap, glared at me, and stalked out the door.
Only Yuria, Melissa, and I remained in the room.
Melissa, dressed in her maid uniform, perched on the edge of the table and spoke.
"You're planning to go to the Cobalt Kingdom to save Priscilla… aren't you?"
Melissa's expression was complicated. She was originally from the Arhen Ducal House, one of the great noble families of the Cobalt Kingdom. She had severed ties with her family — but cutting ties and actually being free of them were two different things.
"Of course I am. I can't just leave Priscilla to die. And if the Demon King descends on this world, things get dangerous for all of us."
This was the world I lived in. I wasn't about to let it go to ruin over one Demon King.
"Master. We can't ignore the possibility that this is a trap."
Yuria spoke up.
"You think Sharnell might be lying to lure us in…?"
"She may simply be being used. Both Panteum and Leocio are aware of our existence. And they will have concluded that we are their greatest obstacle."
"The Head Maid — no, Madam — has a point. The most convenient detail is that the sealed Priscilla is supposedly in the capital of the Cobalt Kingdom. As Master well knows, the current king of Cobalt is Dulibard. He holds a vicious grudge against you. Last time, he even tried to invade the Rapheli Kingdom."
This was not a problem that could be solved easily.
Yuria possessed formidable power, but the enemies were not few. Demons of Panteum, and Leocio — an Ancient Dragon on par with Priscilla. And that wasn't even the full extent of their forces. Special relics, or third parties cooperating with the enemy, couldn't be ruled out either.
"What a headache."
Charging straight into the Cobalt Kingdom would be easy enough. A spatial transfer scroll would do the job.
Bombarding them with modern weapons wouldn't mean much either. They'll have prepared defensive magic and all sorts of countermeasures.
The opposition consisted of a dragon — a so-called master of magic — and Panteum, a gathering of demon contractors with bizarre authorities. Reckless spatial transfer could easily get us ambushed instead.
"They plan to use Priscilla as a living sacrifice, so we do have some time. In that case, wouldn't it be better to lead an army and invade the Cobalt Kingdom outright?"
That was Yuria's suggestion.
March on the Cobalt Kingdom with knights and soldiers. Yuria's battles would be one victory after another, and we could overwhelm the enemy through both quality and quantity.
"…We might be able to use the Arhen Ducal House."
Melissa said. An unexpected remark.
"The Arhen Ducal House? Wouldn't they be our greatest enemy if we're invading the Cobalt Kingdom?"
The Arhen Ducal House was a family that surpassed even the Frucus Count family in power.
"Currently, the Arhen Ducal House is at odds with King Dulibard. Because of me. On the surface they keep quiet about it… but look closely and you'll see they've been hit with all kinds of disadvantages. The moment the war ends, Dulibard will purge the Arhen Ducal House first."
"I see. Looking at the Arhen Ducal House's present situation… it's a plausible idea. Their territory sits behind the capital. If we can secure their cooperation, we could encircle the capital entirely."
"The problem is the Arhen family's pride. They have an absurd amount of useless pride. I know that well enough from personal experience."
"I've heard the Cobalt Kingdom's internal affairs aren't in great shape right now. If we can just pull in the Arhen Ducal House… we may be able to sway the other nobles as well."
"King Dulibard is a conqueror if you're being generous, a tyrant if you're not. Fitting for a descendant of that brutal Red Dragon, Leocio, I suppose…. Anyway, as Madam said, the nobles and commoners of Cobalt have plenty of grievances against Dulibard."
I listened to their opinions and muttered to myself.
"The key is having something that can actually bring the Arhen Ducal House on board…."
"Master only needs to make a small concession."
"Give the Cobalt Kingdom to the Arhen Ducal House."
"We take a portion of Cobalt's territory and some money. In short, we concede quite a bit in the postwar negotiations."
The decision came quickly.
"Fine. Let's do it that way. I don't care much about the Cobalt Kingdom anyway."
If I ever developed an interest in Cobalt later, I could always invade again. I had Yuria. What mattered now was rescuing Priscilla.
"Next problem is the route. Land or sea. Sea is obviously faster."
"I recommend the land route. The ocean has too many variables. There may be demon contractors among the enemy with sea-related authorities."
"I agree with Madam. Moving a large force… the land march is better. We'll have to pass through a few neutral cities along the way, but… well, what are they going to do about it?"
There was an even more convenient option. I looked at Yuria.
"What about using Warp Gates?"
"Warp Gates are delicate. Highly susceptible to external interference. And Leocio is in the Cobalt Kingdom."
"So if Leocio decides to disrupt them, we're helpless."
"Yes. But we can still use them for supply lines."
That alone made Warp Gates valuable enough. The difficulty of a distant campaign always came down to logistics. Solve the supply problem, and you could take an army anywhere.
I sank into thought.
I calculated the forces I could mobilize. As Count Frucus, if I went all out, roughly eighty thousand troops. With support from the Rapheli Kingdom, I could push that to a hundred and fifty thousand.
If I failed, it wouldn't just end badly. The Frucus Count family would decline, and I'd lose the leverage to pressure Princess Aileen. In the end, I'd be left with nothing but using Yuria's power to raise hell.
But if I succeeded? I would become a war hero who carved his name into continental history. My political influence would grow, and I could squeeze Princess Aileen even harder.
By that point, the political struggle with Princess Aileen would already be over. My victory.
Finished with my calculations, I grinned.
"Melissa. Circulate letters to every noble in the Rapheli Kingdom. In fifteen days, we march on the Cobalt Kingdom — tell them to send troops and war funds."
"Not every noble will cooperate."
"The ones who've taken favors from me will. And make a separate list of the uncooperative ones. They'll pay for it later."
"What about the nobles in Princess Aileen's faction?"
"I'll have to meet with Princess Aileen. Even if she refuses, it doesn't matter. If she offers support, I'll gratefully accept it. If not, so be it."
I looked up at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. Through the glittering glow, I could picture myself as a war hero. I smirked.
"Heh heh."
"Ah, for real!! Why does an Archmage like me have to do maid work?!"
A maid stood in the corridor, mop in hand, venting her complaints. It was Sharnell, who had officially become my maid as of today.
She was wearing a French-style maid outfit with a rather revealing cut. The skirt was short, the top sleeveless with a plunging neckline. Unfortunately, Sharnell had so little chest it was almost pitiful. Still, she wasn't entirely hopeless. The upper half was enough to make you sigh, but the lower half was at least passable. Well-developed hips, garter-belt stockings, and the white panties that peeked out a little with every step — those earned a passing grade.
"Hey, maid. Stop grumbling and get to work."
"I don't get it. Why am I not allowed to use magic? One spell and I could clean this entire hallway in ten seconds."
"There's no heart or romance in that."
"What kind of insane nonsense is that?!"
I walked over to her. Sharnell stood with her arms crossed, looking defiant. For someone who had just dogeza'd naked in front of me, she showed not the slightest trace of intimidation. Up close, I could really feel how short she was. I had to tilt my head way down just to see her face. Conversely, she had to crane her chin as high as it would go to look at mine.
"Why are you looking down at me like that? It's annoying, you noob."
"N-noob?"
Hearing a word I never expected threw me completely off. Sharnell flashed a wicked little smile at my reaction.
"A noob who can't do anything without his maids, right? Noob~ noob~"
Oh, for fuck's sake.
It was a meaningless word — so why was it pissing me off this much? I clenched my fists, hands trembling.
I could roughly guess the cause. That unexpectedly mischievous Melissa had probably fed Sharnell some nonsense.
"Noob♡ Pathetic man♡"
"You little shit—!"
I couldn't hold back. I lunged at Sharnell and hit her with a choke slam. Her back slammed into the floor with a heavy thud.
"Kyaaaaah!"