Mountains Beyond Mountains
Evan let out a deep sigh as he stared at the skeleton maid before him. “Natalia, let me ask you something. You haven’t suddenly started craving human flesh or felt any random urges to commit murder lately, have you?”
[No? What are you even…?]
“Never mind, then.”
At least it wasn’t the kind of remark that came from having lost her humanity to undead instincts. Which meant this suggestion to “tame” Iris by comparing her to a circus animal was simply Natalia’s natural way of thinking.
Wait, should I really just let that slide?
Evan rubbed his temple. “Tame her? The Saintess who doesn’t know anything?”
Yes. My benefactor.
“…As a mother with a daughter, doesn’t that sting your conscience even a little?”
“Oh, my benefactor,” Natalia replied with a light, carefree laugh. Surviving alone as a young woman with a newborn baby at the border of Abaddon… there isn’t much room left for things like conscience or morality, is there?
“……”
Of course, I would never say such things in front of Natasha. I know it wouldn’t be good for her education.
It was a profoundly heavy answer. Come to think of it, Natasha’s first meeting with Iris had been when the Saintess chased after the little girl for stealing medicine from a shop. And when asked about her specialty, Natasha had proudly declared herself a pickpocket. No matter how you looked at it, this mother and daughter must have lived in terrible poverty.
Once he considered that, Evan could somewhat understand why Natalia refused to let anything stand in the way of solving a problem. But understanding and actually carrying out the method were two entirely different things.
“It’s impossible. Even setting aside all the ethical issues, taming the Saintess—no, taming a wild beast—requires two things.”
Rewards and punishments?
Evan nodded. “A reward enticing enough to draw the Saintess in, and a punishment severe enough to make her obey when she doesn’t. Both of those are riddled with problems.”
The reward side was already a lost cause—Iris refused to let him draw her blood even when he piled her plate high with snacks. And the one who was supposed to deliver the punishment, Alphonse, was completely beyond Evan’s control.
Yet Natalia tilted her head as if she had no idea what he was talking about. Problems? You, my benefactor?
“Why am I suddenly part of this?”
…? Then who else would be?
The conversation was spinning in circles.
“Weren’t we just talking about rewards and punishments?”
We were.
“Right. So why am I the one coming up?”
Exactly. So it has to be you, my benefactor.
Evan blinked slowly. Before he could even ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, Kaede—who had been quietly listening—let out a soft gasp of realization.
“I see.”
Kaede kept nodding, as if she genuinely thought it was an excellent idea. “It was a blind spot. I never even considered using Master because I couldn’t fathom the audacity of doing so.”
“…Am I the only one who can’t follow this conversation?”
Natalia and Kaede exchanged glances, then spoke at the exact same time.
It means you are both the carrot and the whip, my benefactor.
“She is suggesting you seduce Lady Iris.”
Both women looked at each other again, startled by what the other had said.
My, Head Maid. How bold of you.
“Calling it a whip? Natalia, I truly hope you are not actually thinking of Lady Iris as a mere beast.”
It’s a figure of speech. A figure of speech.
Evan pressed his fingers to his throbbing forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. After taking a moment to organize his thoughts, he finally understood what the two were getting at. It was because of the memories that flashed through his mind.
Evan-Evan! Iris smiling like an idiot every time she saw him.
Eat this! Iris offering him snacks for no reason at all.
We’re still friends, right? Iris anxiously worrying that she might drift apart from him.
After recalling all those moments, he couldn’t simply dismiss their suggestion as baseless nonsense.
…Even if it was ethically questionable.
“Does it have to be me?”
If there is anyone Lady Iris likes as much as she likes you, we could use them instead.
“…What about Kaede?”
“I am terribly sorry, Master. No matter how much you order me, I must refuse to change my gender.”
Evan hadn’t been planning to go that far anyway. “But doesn’t she already follow you around calling you ‘big sister’? You two are practically family. You spend way more time with her than I do. Even if it’s not a romantic relationship…”
“When Lady Iris spends time with me, at least eighty percent of our conversations revolve around you, Master.”
“……”
“Looking back, I suspect Lady Iris doesn’t necessarily enjoy spending time with me so much as she enjoys hearing me speak freely about you, Master. That may be why she has grown so attached to me.”
“…Why the hell are you feeding the Saintess my personal information?”
“Didn’t you tell me to get as close to her as possible, Master?”
…I did, didn’t I.
He had nothing to say to that. In the end, Evan reluctantly admitted it.
“Fine. I’ll acknowledge that the Saintess has an inexplicably huge crush on me. But that plan is still impossible.”
Why? Is it still a matter of conscience?
“No.”
It would be ridiculous to start talking about morality at this point. The only reason Evan was trying to treat Iris was for his own selfish purposes. He wasn’t doing it for any greater good or public interest. The reason he was refusing was something else entirely.
“Because I’m completely clueless about that kind of thing.”
Ever since he was a snot-nosed kid, Evan had lived in Abaddon. Naturally, he had never dated anyone, let alone raised a pet. He had plenty of experience raising and commanding the corpses of dead beasts, but the method of controlling them with necromancy was nothing like taming a living animal.
“I’ve never had a woman or an animal in my life. What exactly am I supposed to do?”
If there were at least one man in this mansion with relevant experience, he could ask for advice. But aside from Evan himself, there were only two other males here: the lich and Alphonse. He would rather put Iris to sleep right now and secretly draw her blood than ask either of them for advice.
I can help you with that part.
“You?”
Even though Evan’s voice was dripping with suspicion, Natalia nodded confidently. I understand why you might not trust me, my benefactor, but I believe there are very few people who know this method as well as I do.
“How?”
Because I was seduced that way and ruined my own life.
“……”
You know the saying that victims remember things better than the perpetrators, right?
Evan suddenly felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.
I will teach you everything—how Natasha’s father sweet-talked me, how he took advantage of an innocent young noble lady who knew nothing of the world.
The atmosphere had become strangely impossible to refuse. Before he knew it, Evan found himself nodding.
Even though she had only a skull for a face, Natalia looked utterly serious as she fell into thought.
First of all, since Lady Iris’s affection toward you is already extremely high, we can skip the trivial things like drawing her attention or engineering frequent “coincidental” meetings. The push-and-pull tactic—giving her the lead but taking it back at the most crucial moments—should also be unnecessary…
…Why does she sound so damn detailed about this?
The real issue is appearance. The same action can have vastly different results depending on whether the person is attractive, or whether the target already has feelings for them.
“Ah, that part should be fine. Master’s appearance is exactly Lady Iris’s type.”
That’s very good information. Thank you, Head Maid.
Evan was utterly dumbfounded by Kaede’s casual supplement. “How the hell do you know Iris’s type?”
“It is a secret, Master. I will tell you if you command me to, but I believe it would have a negative effect on your relationship with Lady Iris.”
“…Forget it.”
Deciding there was no point in hearing more, Evan shook his head and looked back at Natalia.
If it doesn’t work, I can just quit.
The only resources required were his conscience and sense of shame. The risk of failure was practically zero. On the other hand, the minimum benefit of success was the Saintess’s blood. There was no reason not to try.
“I’ll at least listen. What exactly am I supposed to do?”
. . .
The next morning, Evan walked through the garden with a deep frown on his face. It wasn’t that he disliked the plan itself. He was simply irritated because he had no idea whether the method Natalia had taught him would actually work.
Will this really be enough?
I am not Lady Iris, so I cannot say for certain. But there will definitely be a change.
She had spoken with such absolute confidence that he couldn’t back out. And as she said, he had no choice but to admit that Natalia knew far more about this sort of thing than he did.
As he walked through the garden, he spotted Iris’s pink hair in the distance. She was sitting in her usual spot, basking in the sunlight. Evan paused for a moment, then called out to her.
“Saintess.”
“Evan-Evan?”
Iris turned around with a bright smile, but the moment she saw him, she puffed out her cheeks and whipped her head away.
“Don’t wanna. Not doing it.”
…Looks like the Archbishop gave her quite the hard time last night.
Iris was stubbornly refusing to even look in his direction, clearly expressing how much she hated the idea. Yet her fingers kept fidgeting restlessly, betraying her anxiety. She was probably worried that rejecting him would hurt his feelings.
If it had been the usual Evan, he would have spent a long time agonizing over how to persuade her. But today was different.
My benefactor, the first thing you must remember is…
“You don’t have to do it.”
Take Lady Iris’s side.
That is the fastest way. Please trust me.
Iris’s eyes widened as she turned back toward him. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“But wasn’t that really important?”
“It’s not.”
Evan nodded honestly.
However, you must not treat it as if it doesn’t matter whether she helps you or not.
It has to be something like, “I really need it, but you are far more precious to me.”
How do you convey that? It’s simple.
Just gently take her hand.
Evan naturally sat down beside Iris and looked at her hand. It was a pure white hand that seemed completely out of place against the black soil of Abaddon.
…It wasn’t difficult.
After taking a deep breath, Evan carefully reached out.
But instead of her hand, his fingers moved toward her head.
“Huh?”
I really can’t do this.
When he had first heard Natalia’s instructions, he had asked if something so trivial could really change anything. But now that he was actually trying to do it, he never imagined a few words and gestures could be this difficult.
Avoiding Iris’s clear blue eyes that looked at him with pure trust, Evan muttered under his breath like a sigh.
“…I need to try harder.”
“……Hm?”
“Never mind. Sorry for bothering you.”
This plan is scrapped.
The moment Evan made up his mind and tried to stand up, Iris suddenly raised both hands above her head and pressed his hand firmly against her crown.
“Evan-Evan.”
“What.”
“Does drawing blood… hurt?”
“…It probably does.”
At his honest answer, Iris’s hands trembled slightly as her small fingers fidgeted on the back of his hand.
“Then… while you’re drawing my blood… can you hold my hand?”
“……Huh?”
“If Evan-Evan holds my hand… I’ll do my best.”
Evan had no idea what was going on. He hadn’t even followed the instructions properly, so why had Iris’s heart suddenly changed? And of all things, the condition she offered was “holding hands.” It was almost as if she had read his mind.
“Is that… not okay?”
But before he could even think it through properly, Evan was already answering.
“…Sure.”
As if he had been enchanted by those pure, innocent eyes.
It’s beneficial for me. What’s so hard about it?
The thought came too late. Far too late. He still didn’t understand why he had been unable to hold her hand, or why he had immediately accepted her condition instead.
Evan remained clueless, but—
“……Hehe.”
“Don’t laugh for no reason.”
—that cluelessness didn’t feel so bad.
. . .
“…Hey, Saintess.”
“Yeah.”
“Relax your hand.”
“I am relaxing……”
Evan dropped his head in defeat. He tossed aside the needle he had been holding.
“Evan-Evan? Aren’t you going to draw blood?”
“I can’t.”
“Why…? I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
Evan looked at Iris, who was clutching his hand tightly while trembling all over.
“The needle won’t go in.”
Seven. That was the number of “ritually reinforced needles” that had bent without piercing the Saintess’s skin.
“…You’re not doing this on purpose, are you?”
“I’m not……”
“Haah……”
It really was one mountain after another.