In Search of the Savior (1)
“I wanted to know.”
“Wanted to know what?”
“……Just what kind of guy this savior is that my sister’s so obsessed with.”
That was... yeah, that was the original plan.
“So, what kind of guy do I seem like to you?”
“……A con artist.”
He still looks like one, even now.
A con artist who seduced my sweet sister with that pretty face of his.
“What? A con artist? Ahahahahaha!”
Hearing my answer, he burst into loud laughter, as if I’d told him the funniest story ever.
“…Why are you laughing?”
Why the hell is he laughing? Was my answer that ridiculous?
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I get it. So I look like a con artist to you. Why’s that?”
“You don’t look like an incarnation of a god at all. Just an ordinary human. A con artist deceiving my sister.”
Using Lydia’s name to test me like that—it shocked me. For a split second, I even thought he might really be divine.
But that alone doesn’t make him a god. If he were, he wouldn’t have tested me like that.
“Hmm… I see.”
“Yeah! My sister’s been fooled! I knew it!”
Sister’s just been deceived! So I’ll tell her and make sure she doesn’t fall for this guy anymore. And then… I’ll pull her away from him.
And that role… yeah. It’ll be me. I’ll take on that role.
“Fine. Let’s say I am a con artist. You’re just gonna go back to Lydia and tell her that?”
“……Huh?”
Go back and tell her?
“You’re gonna go back to Lydia right now and say I don’t look like a god at all? That she’s been fooled?”
Of course I am. That’s why I came here—to figure out why she trusts and follows this guy so blindly.
I’ll go straight back, reveal his true colors, and bring her back to her senses!
“…Of course… Wait. If I go back now……”
……Up until now, I’d only vaguely thought about meeting this guy. To see if he was really worth her trust or just a fraud.
And if he was a fraud, I’d convince her to break away from him. That was my plan from the start.
“Hahat. Yeah. Your sister won’t believe a word you say. Not even from her beloved, one-and-only little sister.”
“……Grr! No way! She believes everything I say! You think she’d believe you over me?”
I yelled that it wasn’t true.
But deep down… I had a feeling she might.
Her faith in him had grown over more than ten years.
No matter how much she loved and cherished me. No matter how much she listened to me.
Would she really abandon her beliefs just because of what I said?
“Even you don’t seem to believe your own words, do you?”
Spot on.
I… didn’t think I could convince her either. “……Th-that’s because… Ah, I don’t have solid proof yet! Proof! I just need proof!”
But I couldn’t admit that out loud.
My one and only family. The idea that she valued this man more than me!
I couldn’t accept that.
“S-so I’ll find irrefutable proof from you and show it to her!”
I blurted it out without even thinking.
“Oh ho. So you plan to keep working as my maid and dig for info on me?”
……Huh? What?
Keep going?
Keep working as his maid…?
……That… might actually work…… “Yes!”
“But if that’s the case, why would I keep a maid who’s desperate to uncover my weaknesses? You wouldn’t even do your job properly.”
“Th-that’s……”
Uh?
Now that I think about it… yeah.
From his perspective, I’m some weird girl obsessed with finding and exposing his flaws.
On top of that, after he saved my life, I’m ungratefully trying to dig up his dirt.
Wait a sec!
This makes my first impression the worst!
Oh no.
If this keeps up, he’ll hate me!
“…But if you meet just one condition, I could use you as a maid.”
“……What?”
“One condition. Meet that, and I’ll take you on as my maid.”
Take me on as his maid?
……Why the hell would he?
“Because I’m not a con artist.”
“Not a con artist?”
Not a con artist?
Does that mean he is Deus descended into the mortal realm?
“That’s right. Serve at my side. Then I’ll show you. The words of Deus.”
“……”
By Luke’s side…
That… sounds pretty good?
No! No!
I’m not doing this because I’m charmed by his looks!
B-because he might be a con artist!
Sister might waste her life on him!
Yeah! This is for sister! I’m sacrificing myself for her!
For the sister who’s carried the burden of me all this time!
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Luke! I’ll expose your true identity!
“You’ll do it?”
“Yes. I’ll watch your every move by your side and find proof you’re no divine incarnation. I’ll reveal your true face to the world!”
Yeah. That’s right. Not for me—for sister!
“…Heh. Good. I look forward to it. Let’s see if you can pull it off.”
“Hmph. I will. I’ll protect sister from your demonic grasp!”
Just wait a little longer, sister!
I’ll pull you away from this guy.
A-and I’ll take your place!
* * *
The next morning.
I had breakfast in the dorm with food Io prepared.
Contrary to my expectations, Io’s cooking was pretty decent.
Even as a fallen noble, she was the daughter of high nobility, and with Lydia doting on her, I figured she couldn’t cook.
“What? You thought I couldn’t cook? Hah! What do you take me for? …After it was just me and sister, I handled all the housework while she was out working.”
Oh ho. I see.
I might not know the extra characters well, but I’ve pretty much memorized the traits of the major characters in Deus ex Machina.
Like who turns ingredients into garbage despite playing the perfect housewife, or who loves creepy creatures despite her cute looks.
Io died before the main story started, so I didn’t know much about her and had weird preconceptions.
But it worked out for the best.
If my maid couldn’t cook, academy life would’ve been rough.
Unlike the schools on Earth, Kallandra Academy doesn’t have cafeteria food.
It’s a school for nobles who wield absolute power outside—no way they’d do that.
They do individual meals.
The dorms for academy students are like ultra-luxury mansions with bathrooms, kitchens, and separate maid rooms.
So most students eat meals prepared by their maids in the dorm.
It’s still a huge downgrade from their usual lavish lives, though.
Apparently, students protested hard in the academy’s early days.
Forced to attend, unable to bring their own servants, quality of life tanked.
But the founding emperor was such a madwoman that it didn’t faze her.
Students who don’t like maid food use the shops inside the academy.
Eat there or get room service to the dorm.
Those scenes pop up often in cutscenes in Deus ex Machina.
But you can’t always eat out, so a cooking maid is crucial.
That’s why the academy rigorously tests maids’ cooking skills during selection.
Io snuck in secretly, so I worried, but thankfully she’s satisfactory.
This might even be better than what we had at home… Sorry, Uncle Jake.
If her cooking was bad, I might’ve broken our deal and sent her home.
Meals are serious business.
“I’m heading out for a bit today. Wait in the room.”
“Heading out? Enrollment ceremony’s tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, just some business.”
I have something to take care of today.
The hidden opportunities inside the academy.
I couldn’t enter before, so I missed them all, but now I have time for one.
……And check out the academy in person while I’m at it.
Like that, as I left the dorm and wandered the academy buildings, I spotted it.
“H-honestly… I think it’s wrong for nobles to shun fellow academy students just because they’re commoners……”
“What’s that supposed to mean, commoner?”
The protagonist of Deus ex Machina……
I never thought I’d see her here like this.