The Villainess's New Maid
Soft. How long had it been since I felt such a pleasant sensation against my fingertips? It had already been a month since I was dropped into this place. All I had known until now was the hard pavement, piles of damp cardboard, and the floor of a back alley that reeked of mold.
But what was wrapping around my back now felt like floating on a cloud. ...A bed? The forgotten sensation flowed through my entire body. The quilt, with its perfect weight pressing down on me, the smooth texture of the sheets brushing against my skin, and even the subtle scent of lavender drifting in the air.
For a moment, a vain hope tickled the pit of my stomach—had I returned to my room in the world I originally came from? I suppressed my trembling heart and slowly opened my eyes.
“…….”
As expected. Nothing registered on my retinas. It was a pitch-black darkness that didn't allow for a single speck of light. The vivid, brilliant world I had seen when I held the sword had scattered like a midsummer night's dream. I had returned to being a helpless beggar girl who couldn't see in front of her.
However… It wasn't a dream. The throbbing pain in my side and back proved that yesterday’s battle was reality. The pain that felt like my bones had been twisted had subsided, but the muscle aches crushing my entire body remained.
I quietly traced the fragments of my memory. The system message that had brushed across my retinas the moment I held the sword, and the look of shock on Iolet’s face at the very end. All those clues pointed to a single conclusion.
“…I thought I’d just been dropped into another world, but this is the world of Saintess Hero?”
As soon as I realized this, everything began to make sense, like a tangled knot of thread unraveling. After all, the start of this absurd story was right after I selected the hidden trait ‘Sword Saint,’ a reward for clearing the game, and pressed the start button.
Becoming a woman… that must be the karma for setting the character customization to random.
As I carefully sat up, the bed creaked with an elegant sound. I reached out and felt around my surroundings. This body was the result of the customization I had left to laziness. And under the pretext of the ‘World’s Trial,’ the system had thrown me into a back alley as a beggar and even stolen my eyesight.
If I’d known this would happen, I would have put effort into the customization even if it was a hassle…! If I had, I could have started as a male character and protected my precious ‘hyper-weapon’!
Leaving the belated resentment toward my past self behind, I calmly continued to assess the situation.
The trait …. That strange power, which didn't even have a description, activated the moment I held a sword. It wasn't just a matter of letting me see; my senses expanded transcendentally, to the point where I could even cut through the trajectory of magic.
Although I was currently plunged back into darkness, I felt certain that if I only held a sword, I could step back into that world of transcendence. But I couldn't just keep drawing a sword. I could feel the pain gnawing at my entire body even at this very moment.
It’s not just simple recoil. The phrase that had flashed across my vision right before I fainted: . I had a hunch that this heavy fatigue and pain crushing me wasn't a side effect of the Sword Saint trait, but the massive will of this world trying to suppress my existence.
Is it a structure where I’m blinded and weakened by the trial in my daily state, but only when I hold a sword and activate the Sword Saint trait can I temporarily crush that trial with power…?
In other words, in exchange for regaining my sight and wielding the power of the Sword Saint, I had to take the world’s ‘malice’ head-on with my entire body.
Having reached a tentative conclusion, I reached out and scanned around the bed. I felt smooth, processed wooden pillars and the corners of intricately carved furniture. These were luxury items that one would only see in the mansion of a high-ranking noble, a far cry from the trash cans of the back alley.
Someone moved me here. There was only one person in my mind who could provide such a luxurious environment and had the motive to bring me here.
Iolet Dranice. The worst hidden boss that Saintess Hero players would grit their teeth at just hearing the name. It was clear that the arrogant villainess who had driven tens of thousands of players into the swamp of retries had brought me here.
As I explored the air in the room, the sound of footsteps heading this way caught my ears. A light yet confident stride, filled with arrogance. It was a sound already etched into my mind once.
A moment later.
Click—
A voice, much higher and more youthful than the Iolet in my memory but carrying that characteristic high-handed atmosphere, struck my eardrums.
“I see you’ve come to? You were sleeping so ignorantly I thought you’d just died like that.”
Iolet had been incredibly busy, cleaning up the mess in the back alley and digging into the background of the person who sent the assassins. However, at the news that the mysterious girl she had picked up had opened her eyes, she had dropped everything and rushed over. As soon as Iolet Dranice opened the door, she faced the girl sitting blankly on the bed.
“I see you’ve come to? You were sleeping so ignorantly I thought you’d died.”
She deliberately chose a pricklier tone to spit out. However, the girl in front of her didn't even show a hint of panic and just slowly turned her head toward the direction of the sound. Meeting those unfocused, vacant eyes, Iolet felt a strange sense of dissonance.
Was this frail child really the same person as that ghost who had stained the alleyway with blood?
“Where… am I?”
The girl asked in a voice that trembled thinly. It was a fragile appearance that would make anyone feel a protective instinct. However, Iolet glared at the girl sharply without a single point of wavering. She had clearly witnessed how much of a razor-sharp blade this pitiful-looking girl was hiding inside.
“It’s a guest room near my quarters. I couldn't let you into my room in such a filthy state, could I?”
Iolet slowly approached the bedside. Up close, the girl looked much more precarious than she had thought. Her face was quite pretty, but her body was gaunt and thin. Scrawny limbs, rags full of grime.
It was a state that made it impossible to believe she was the monster who had slaughtered the Three Murderer Brothers as if she were butchering them. Iolet asked straight to the point about what had been making her curious all this time.
“You, what is your identity?”
The arrogance faded from Iolet’s voice, and sharp curiosity filled its place. While the girl was unconscious, the Iolet she possessed had mobilized the Duke family’s entire information network to dig into her background.
But the results were miserable.
All she managed to find out was the fact that she had suddenly appeared in the back alley a month ago and started living as a beggar.
Not a single piece of information was discovered regarding where she had been or what she had done before then, or for what reason she had drifted into the royal capital. It was a perfect nothingness, as if she had just dropped into this world a month ago.
If so, I just need to ask her directly. This Iolet Dranice is asking in person—would she dare to tell a lie?
But the answer that returned tested Iolet’s patience.
“…I am just a beggar who knows how to handle a sword a little.”
“Hah.”
Iolet let out a dry laugh, dumbfounded. Is this brat trying to deceive me right now?
“Do you even know who you cut down in that alleyway to be saying such things? They were the Three Murderer Brothers, known as the ‘Hounds of the Back Alley.’ They were guys who even killed a 1st Class Mage!”
Iolet approached right in front of the girl’s nose, snapping at her. Because she was excited, her youthful emotions were clearly embedded in her voice.
“Are you kidding me? Even the knights of our family find it difficult to deal with those three at once!”
“I was just lucky.”
“Ha! You’re saying that until the end? Are you ignoring me right now?”
Iolet’s voice rang sharply through the room. She glared at the girl fiercely with eyes that seemed to be burning.
She’s suspicious, alright! Her origin, her appearance, and even that ghostly swordsmanship. It was full of questions that didn't add up at all.
Most of all, the bizarre thing was that even though she couldn't see, she wasn't suppressed at all by the aura of her, a direct descendant of the Duke family. No, she even felt a strange atmosphere, as if she were looking at a child who was pestering her.
Iolet eventually sighed and stepped back. It seemed certain that she had no intention of revealing her identity.
“……Well, whatever. Anyway, you were collapsed, so I brought you here and treated you for now.”
She continued in a blunt tone.
“You didn't look like you had any injuries, but you were completely gaunt. Tsk, my pride wouldn't allow the benefactor of the Dranice family to wander around in that state.”
Iolet crossed her arms and held her head high.
“Yeah, whatever your identity is, you helped me, so I helped you back. I’ll reward you properly. If there’s anything you want, tell me.”
Her voice was tinged with the arrogance typical of a noble, but her words about giving a reward were sincere. She was suspicious in many ways, but a benefactor was a benefactor. Iolet Dranice, at least, was not a coward who would turn her back on a favor received.
…Actually, she was also curious about that phenomenal swordsmanship.
“Oh, and the bounty for the three brothers is obviously your share, too. Thanks to those pieces of trash acting so cocky, the amount is quite high. It’s pocket change to me, but for a commoner like you, it must be a fortune you’d never touch in your life.”
Iolet held her breath and waited to see what kind of answer would come out of the girl’s mouth.
Money? Honor? Or a recommendation letter from the Duke family?
The girl remained silent for a moment, as if lost in thought.
Before long, the girl’s thin lips parted, and an answer that far exceeded Iolet’s common sense flowed out.
“…Would you not take me in? I wish to serve you by your side, My Lady.”