Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Rejection-5
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Contrary to my expectation that something more might happen, the Archer didn't do anything to me.
She didn't publicly shame me by showing her wounds, nor did she demand treatment fees or compensation.
I didn't think she was the type to let it go this easily, but I had no desire to seek her out first.
And right now, I didn't have the mental bandwidth to spare on a woman like that.
"Here, eat up! It's strawberry cake!"
"That's a bit much."
The silver-haired maid sat beside me. She scooped a bit of the white cake onto her fork and beamed at me.
"Come on, say ahh. Ah!"
"Do I really have to do this?"
I felt reluctant, but after she'd gone this far, it would've been rude to keep her waiting.
"Ah."
I parted my lips slightly and took the cake she offered. Sweet sugar and velvety cream melted over my tongue and slipped down into me.
"Delicious? Delicious? So sweet, right? Adorable, isn't it? Makes you want to just hug it!"
"Now that I've tasted it, where on earth did you get this?"
I'd assumed at first it was a gift she'd prepared herself, but the quality was far too high.
Surprisingly, the food in this world—more precisely, in this imperial palace—wasn't at all inferior to Earth's.
It didn't always suit my tastes, but the depth of flavor and subtle aromas left me in awe.
Still, that was merely the tongue's pleasure from grinding ingredients like a millstone. This wasn't a dessert one maid could whip up alone.
"There are chefs who handle His Majesty's meals here, but also ones who cook for other imperial family members or honored guests!"
"No, is it really okay to just boss around someone like that?"
I wasn't asking out of ignorance.
"Boss around? Baron Leodrín is an honored guest of the palace too! Offering dessert to such a person can't possibly count as bossing anyone around!"
"Anyway, you ordered it..."
"Hey, as long as you enjoyed it!"
The maid leaned into me. The soft, fluffy scent made my head spin a little.
"Besides, the palace chefs are here because they love cooking. Where else could they work with ingredients like these?"
"Well, if that's the case, I can't argue..."
"Your hand's gone idle! You're not ignoring the dessert packed with Hans's passion and hard work, are you?"
It was delicious. Delicious, but my hand just wouldn't move.
"Hmm, do you dislike sweets?"
"It's just... the strawberries."
"Strawberries? What's wrong with strawberries?"
"Well..."
Come to think of it, my role as the Porter was a secret in itself.
A sharp-eyed person or a soldier who'd seen me deployed might figure it out, but officially, the heir of House Leodrín and the nameless 'Porter' were two different people.
Which meant I couldn't share stories from the journey with anyone.
There was no reason anymore to uphold my promises to them, but I still didn't want to take back words I'd said so casually.
"Ah, I know!"
"How?"
"I'm the maid serving you, Baron! Of course I know!"
To be precise, she was an imperial maid assigned to entertain palace guests, not personally attend to me—but I had no desire to wipe that confident smile off her face.
"D-During the adventure, we sometimes couldn't find food, so I went hungry now and then. Even fertile land could turn into wasteland out of nowhere..."
"And?"
Like everyone else, the mere existence of the adventure piqued her curiosity.
"Nothing major. There were a few days I couldn't eat properly. We'd entered a forest occupied by demons—everything was tainted with demonic energy, inedible for humans. But the wild strawberries growing there were supposedly sacred or something... so I was the only one who could eat them."
"Oh no!"
"Well, the others managed to eat other things through their wits, but I couldn't follow suit."
Even so, I hated it. I couldn't bring myself to like it.
"Using the Hero's power or the Saintess's prayers to shield their stomachs from the demonic energy... something like that."
Watching my party members enjoy their meals from afar while I starved didn't feel good at all.
It wasn't unfair, per se. If anything, this world itself was unfair, and subjugating the Demon King was an unfair task from the start.
At least they explained to me how they were managing to eat, and I accepted it—all abilities utterly useless to me.
Far better than the Archer's inscrutable 'smell' issue or the Hero's trials looming impossibly high in the sky.
I was just the one feeling miserable and hungry alone.
"Starving half to death, I stumbled on a patch of those wild strawberries and gorged myself silly."
"I can imagine..."
Maybe it was my imagination, but this maid seemed suspicious somehow. There was something off about her eyes.
"Anyway, those sacred wild strawberries clearly weren't tainted with demonic energy—I didn't drop dead right away. I just ate until I was sick of them."
"Eh? Then shouldn't you like them? It was food you'd been desperately searching for... memories and all..."
"No, I overate so badly that I got completely sick of them. Even I think I went overboard."
"Ah, so that's why... you hate strawberries. What a miscalculation."
The maid took a big bite of the white cake. But her expression looked thoroughly displeased.
"Ugh, it was supposed to be the perfect plan... What went wrong?"
"From the beginning, did you really need to go this far for me?"
Hearing that, the maid flinched for a moment, then touched my knee again with a subtle expression.
"Wellll. What do you think my reason is for doing all this, Baron?"
The maid bounced lightly, her radiant silver hair fluttering. It was an exaggerated, cheerful motion, like she was doing ballet.
"Truth is! I'm not just any ordinary maid!"
"...Right."
I simply nodded without much reaction.
Whatever secret she was hiding, it probably wasn't anything special.
On a small scale, she was a woman trying to seduce a noble-looking guy like me to get ahead in life. At most, a spy from another kingdom, noble house, or even the Emperor.
"Don't be shocked—listen up! Truth is... I descended from the heavens to this land just for you! Your personal maid!"
"You're palace staff."
"This is merely a cover identity! Just give the order, and I'll return to my true duties!"
I couldn't keep up with her boundless energy. I just gave a weary smile mixed with fatigue and watched her chatter on excitedly.
"Well, thanks... but it doesn't mean much. I'm leaving soon anyway."
"Ah, right. You plan to... leave."
The maid drooped her head, looking a bit downcast.
She hadn't done anything wrong to me. But I hated this entire world.
Still, it was a little regrettable. Pretended smile or not, having a beauty like this maid respond to me had been fun.
But it wasn't enough to make me want to spend the rest of my life here.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Mage had to keep performing these contradictions.
In general, they weren't the type to wield authority. Some learned magic to climb the social ladder, but it was inefficient for them.
That effort spent training with a sword could make one a renowned knight; studying finance could secure a living as a bureaucrat without much trouble. Praying to the gods could bring honor and peace of mind.
But mages had no bottom. Even those who devoted everything to magic often received not even a speck of reward.
Thus, high-ranking mages were those obsessed with something, endlessly training—not politically savvy or socially adept.
Their political influence came from their sorcery, and their social graces were learned through blood, sweat, and tears just to secure royal patronage.
But it was never their specialty.
They formed their organization from the least sociable people, especially those hopeless at understanding emotions—yet the leader had to comprehend human feelings countless times over. A contradiction.
Pashier gazed at her reflection in the massive vertical well, reviewing various incidents.
An apology. First, she had to apologize. Even after resolving to do so, she couldn't move easily—the pressure to handle this apology with utmost care held her back.
Unfortunately, whatever wrong she might have done, she didn't know it. She couldn't remember.
For people of no value worth remembering, she erased the memories without hesitation. She didn't even bother thinking when dealing with them in the first place.
She was so swamped that she needed this auxiliary device just to revisit her memories.
"Please... I hope I didn't do anything wrong..."
She had been shocked to learn the Porter was the Hero, but as time passed, a complacent hypothesis crept into a corner of Pashier's mind.
If he were truly angry, something would've exploded by now. Provoking him with a half-hearted apology might only make things worse.
He was too small. His image in her memories was so tiny she couldn't even tell if it was anger, sadness, or melancholy.
Pashier stood before the vertical well all night, observing him. She gleaned no information.