Chapter 85
Chapter 85
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Strongest Maid in History (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The First Princess, Luriel.
She blinked vacantly.
Luriel was flustered, if only for a moment. It was rare for her to feel that way. Extremely rare.
Luriel had confidence in her own actions.
When that confidence wavered, she felt disconcerted. Right now, Luriel sensed her conviction shaking.
'...This is unexpected.'
Luriel looked ahead.
Standing before her was a girl dressed in a maid outfit. She lightly shook her hand as if nothing had happened.
Drip, drip.
Blood dripped from her fingertips. Mixed in with the splattered blood were bits of flesh.
Splat.
Scattering filth on the floor of the princess's detached palace was blasphemous. Even if Luriel herself didn't mind, it remained blasphemous.
"...Hm."
The girl frowned at the chunk of flesh on the floor. It was a habitual gesture, but she seemed to belatedly realize her mistake.
Snap.
She flicked her fingers as if annoyed.
Whoosh.
The blood and flesh intertwined and burned away. The motion was incredibly smooth. It wasn't the work of someone who had done it once or twice.
"·····."
No trace remained on the floor of the detached palace. Luriel gazed at the unscorched floor and slowly opened her mouth.
"...You."
"Yes."
"What was that just now?"
The girl answered the question.
She continued very calmly.
"A surveillance familiar. It floats above the designated target's head within the range of the drawn circuits."
"...And it was above my head."
"Which means the target was you, Your Highness."
She removed her bloodstained gloves. Then she pulled a new pair from the pocket of her apron and put them on. Watching that scene, Luriel recalled something.
The form of the movements was different.
The items she held were different too.
Yet it reminded Luriel of knights she had seen somewhere before.
'...Just like a battlefield knight.'
It was like a knight on the battlefield shaking flesh off his blade and sheathing it. From the professor before her, Luriel caught the scent of the battlefield.
Drawn by that scent, Luriel asked,
"Are there many more like that one?"
"You don't usually hide just one of those."
"...The court mages never breathed a word to me about things like this."
"One of two things."
The girl lowered her arm after changing gloves and said,
"Either they're so cleverly woven into the security circuits that the mages truly didn't notice..."
Luriel finished her sentence.
"Or they're all in league with my brother's faction."
"Either way, the royal family's future looks pretty grim."
"That's blasphemy, Professor. To say such things before this princess."
"You're just now pointing that out?"
The professor shrugged.
"...Hmph."
A smile spread across Luriel's lips as she watched. The fluster soon flowed into laughter. Luriel felt interest toward the girl before her.
Is that so?
'She was this kind of person.'
"Ah ha."
Luriel finally laughed out loud.
"This one's a gem."
Letting the laugh spill from her mouth, Luriel looked straight at the girl before her.
'I thought a scholar and professor would be some meek, boring type...'
But this was entirely different.
Indeed, she liked it. It exceeded expectations. It was a satisfying hire for once.
"Good, Professor."
Luriel turned her body forward.
"Keep doing it that way from now on. I'm very pleased."
2.
The detached palace where the First Princess resided was a bit different from what I'd imagined. It wasn't like the royal scenery I'd pictured.
'To begin with, the palace I saw wasn't like that.'
The royal palace I'd visited when I was recognized by the royal family as their mage... had a brighter atmosphere.
A well-maintained garden.
Warm sunlight shining down.
For someone like me who remembered that cozy, warm vibe, the detached palace felt unfamiliar.
'This feels less like the royal palace and more like...'
It was closer to a mage tower.
Especially the office.
"·····."
I silently turned my gaze.
In the office, Princess Luriel was reviewing documents. She hadn't paused or sighed once since earlier.
"Send two over."
"Approve it."
"Not worth reading. Dispose of it."
She repeatedly received completed documents from her attendants nearby, passed them, or tore them up. The ceaseless process showed no sign of ending.
'...She's fast.'
I stood like a doll beside the princess, glancing at the documents she handled.
'It feels kinda similar somehow.'
The paperwork the princess was handling wasn't much different from what I'd done in the mage tower.
"Go on."
After dismissing all the attendants at once, the princess took a breath. She sipped her cold coffee, then extended her arm to the corner of the desk.
At the tip of her hand was a pile of documents. A stack pushed to one corner.
'...Huh?'
I spotted a familiar crest there.
'...That's.'
The crest used by Knight Commander Heinkel. The princess pulled the stack with that crest on top to the center of the desk.
"A letter from the front lines."
As if aware of my gaze, the princess said.
"You seem interested in this one."
"...It's a field I'm interested in."
"Come to think of it, your brother was an Ashen Mage, right? That makes sense then."
"Pardon?"
"You're Lord Rosel's adopted daughter, aren't you? His first adoptee was the Ashen Mage, Sir Raniel... so your brother is Sir Raniel?"
...Does it work like that?
"Well... yeah."
"What? That's a very nuanced reaction."
The princess tilted her head, then pulled the letter over and began checking it line by line. It seemed to report mainly on the battlefield situation and army status.
"...You handle things like this too?"
"Why? Surprised?"
"Yes, a little."
"Well, it's absurd for me, who hasn't set foot on the battlefield, to handle this in the first place. In truth, I don't deal with much related to this."
She just writes a few letters, at most.
She muttered that, then tapped her quill a few times on blank paper to shake off excess ink.
"I send letters to nobles near the front or to the border lords. Asking for cooperation or food supplies."
"...Pardon?"
"Of course, they'd send support even without me saying anything. But by sending one letter... they start watching my mood."
"Watching your mood..."
"Means they send more than they wouldn't otherwise. Not just basic rations, but some more valuable items too."
She let out a few chuckles.
"My reputation as a mad dog helps at times like this. They know I'll bark like crazy if they half-ass it."
...Border lord support.
Suddenly, I recalled old memories. Hard bread was our daily staple, but sometimes the knights would cheer.
Noble support.
Luxuries sent from the territories we protected.
Alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, and such.
Things ordinary in civilian life, but not on the battlefield. Days when we'd crack open bottles while watching the sunrise after grueling work.
Rare occasions.
Precisely because they were rare, they stuck in memory.
'...No way.'
I glanced at the princess's back.
She was writing letters to various nobles. Among them were surely names of nobles who'd sent supplies while I was on the front lines.
Not all of it was due to Princess Luriel's prodding. But some surely were.
"...Why bother."
I slowly opened my mouth and asked.
"Is there any need for Your Highness to go that far?"
Even at the cost of building more infamy.
Pause.
The princess's quill stopped.
She set it down and slowly turned to me. Then she tilted her head and asked.
"Why not?"
She asked me back.
"Why do you think not?"
She said.
"Before I'm of the royal family, I'm a citizen of this country too. And every citizen of this country owes a debt to the knights on the front lines. You, me, my brother—all of us."
"·····."
"Because they hold the line on the battlefield, this country endures without falling. I respect them. Those who sacrifice their one life for the nation, for humanity—they deserve respect."
As if stating the obvious.
"If we're enjoying peaceful lives thanks to their sacrifices, we mustn't forget to respect them. I hate empty words. If there's something I can do, I will."
Thud, she pointed to the letter.
"As I said, there's not much I can do for those knights. At best, send letters like this..."
She spat out the rest.
"Or keep this country they risk their lives to protect from crumbling from within."
"·····."
I see.
"Is that so."
That was your goal.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the princess.
As I mentioned before, I'd often met people like her. On the battlefield, no less.
Swordmaster Kuntil was one.
Knight Commander Heinkel was another.
They devoted their lives to a single purpose. They stake everything. All their actions are designed for one goal.
'Even discarding their dignity.'
They live solely for that one purpose.
Swordmaster Kuntil spent his life mastering the sword to avenge himself against the Sword of Death, Ganikalt.
Knight Commander Heinkel stakes everything to protect humanity, standing on the front lines.
'And First Princess Luriel...'
I felt like I was seeing a clue.
It might be speculation, but I felt like I'd learned a little about the person before me.
"...What kind of look is that, Professor?"
I looked at the princess asking me.
Looking at her, I slowly opened my mouth.
"I'll get back to work."
"...Aren't you already?"
"I think I should clear out the stuff outside first."
I pointed to the corridor of the detached palace.
"I'll be right back."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Raniel snapped her fingers the moment she left the office. Her stocked spells glowed.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Silence Stealth
None of the maids passing through the corridor of the detached palace spared Raniel a glance. Raniel strode down the hall.
She stopped at the end and looked back.
She read the circuits engraved from the starting point of the detached palace all the way to the princess's quarters.
'...They've laid a filthy amount.'
At a glance, they looked like protective circuits for the royal family. But with a bit of focus, the hidden ones appeared. And there were tons of them.
'I was gonna watch a bit longer before cleaning them up.'
She changed her mind.
Raniel twisted her wrist and exhaled.
'First Princess, Luriel.'
Originally, she had no intention of meddling in royal politics. Nor doing more than her assigned duties.
'What the princess tasked me with was protecting her from death.'
This had no direct connection to that.
These were things surveilling her. If she was just protecting her, there was no need to remove them.
'I already took out the one eavesdropping right up close.'
The rest didn't interfere much with her mission. No need to remove them.
"·····."
Yet Raniel stood before the corridor to clear them out.
Extra work beyond pay.
Something she didn't need to do.
If there was a reason to do it anyway, it fell under Raniel's personal goodwill. Standing at the end of the passage, she smiled wryly and closed her eyes.
'Fuck, all that free booze I got...'
The luxuries she'd received on the battlefield occasionally.
The harsh bottles she'd downed when things got tough. Raniel remembered them.
Common in the world, precious on the front lines.
In return for receiving those.
Precious in the world, but common to Raniel.
No reason not to return the favor.
"Hoo."
She exhaled briefly.
Touching her finger to the corridor of the detached palace, Raniel channeled mana.
Mana flowed through the circuits.
The circuit layout formed in Raniel's mind. Along with how to neutralize it.
'First, I need to draw them out.'
They were hidden in the gaps of the protective circuits guarding the palace. First, she needed to expose the hidden ones.
Not a difficult task.
Compared to what she'd done so far, it was yawn-inducingly easy.
It had to feel easy.
Over the past five years on the battlefield, Raniel had faced countless circuits. She'd dismantled, smashed, and sometimes analyzed hidden ones.
Whose circuits were they all?
None other than those crafted by the ancient lich Skeval.
For five years on the battlefield, Raniel had specialized in handling Skeval's circuits, known as mages' nightmares.
Compared to that, what about the ones laid out before her now?
The level difference was laughable.
'This isn't even child's play...'
To her eyes, the court mages' prankish circuits looked like a toy tower stacked by children.
Tap, she touched the corridor of the palace.
Just that revealed the hidden circuits.
Raniel walked along the circuits stretching to the princess's residence. She strode down the corridor. With each step, ashen mana rose.
Rustle.
The rising mana crumbled the circuits.
The process wasn't flashy. The moment the ashen mana touched them, it was over.
Crack.
The circuits piled up by the court mages began to shatter, splinter, and scatter.
"That's not how you engrave circuits."
Snicker, Raniel let out a laugh.
To her, they were all shoddy circuits.