The Peaceful Life of a Maid Who Hides Her Power and Enjoys It

<Episode 157>

 

This laid the groundwork for the military operation for the nation rescue (?) mission.

 

One person was a wizard, another was a knight, and I… I was once a maid, and in a more distant past, a soldier, and now, I was the esteemed head of a noble family.

 

It wasn’t a bad combination.

After explaining the sites I planned to explore to Raphael, I tried to open the warehouse door with a solemn attitude, but…

 

“No, Daisy. Start from the north, not here.”

 

I was blocked by Rue, who looked beautiful, by the way.

 

“Why?”

 

“You know that the power of the earth renders all magic useless. Not even an excellent magic device can detect magic beneath the ground. The underground is the optimal condition for hiding noisy, bizarre, and suspicious activities like biological experiments. So, if you want to save time, it’s better to start from north.”

 

There was no reason to argue against his logical reasoning.

We headed straight to the forest located behind the palace to the north. This forest had also been the site where the hunting competition had taken place, so it was not difficult to move familiarly through the rain.

 

The method we used to escape the attention of the knights stationed at the palace was simple.

 

“Is everything alright?”

“Your Excellency! Yes! There is nothing unusual in the north.”

 

Raphael drew the attention to him.

 

“Are you going into the forest? We can go together with you…”

“No, I’ll go alone. Don’t follow me, just rest.”

“Yes, please be careful!”

 

Taking advantage of that moment, Rue and I quickly spread the distance between them and us.

 

After repeating this a few times, we no longer heard any signs of the knights. On a dark night with no moon, only three shadows clad in raincoats moved swiftly behind the sound of rain.

 

The long and silent journey was broken when our destination appeared beyond the nearby bushes.

 

“Who is that?”

 

Raphael, standing tall on the edge of a low cliff above the flowing stream, suddenly pointed to Rue and asked.

 

‘…You’re asking now?’

Isn’t the timing a bit late? Well, it probably means we’ve arrived in a somewhat safer area. There were only the three of us here.

 

“It’s this way.”

 

But then a problem arose.

As the rain soaked us, his golden eyes, usually vibrant, emitted a gloomier and more melancholic aura than usual. When our eyes met, my words suddenly got stuck in my throat.

 

‘What should I introduce him as?’

 

It feels like I had a similar dilemma just a few days ago. To think I was caught in the same predicament again.

 

‘Should I introduce him as my husband? Or my lover?’

Hmm. Weren’t these relationships somewhat similar? But I felt a bit shy to say them out loud.

 

‘Calepa? Demigod? Count Serenier? The Weatherwoods family’s chef? An acquaintance of Mephisto’s?’

 

Those weren’t easy details to reveal. Ah, I reached the same conclusion as last time.

 

‘Then, benefactor, like last time?’

 

Rue probably wouldn’t like that.

‘As expected, my wizard is the best answer.’

 

But even that felt too casual, and I wondered about Rue’s reaction. In times like this, I should just follow Rue’s opinion.

 

“Rue, who are you?”

Rue, who understood the stupid question perfectly, immediately responded.

 

“Your lover.”

 

“….”

 

“No, your husband?”

 

“….”

 

“Hmm. Lifelong companion isn’t bad, and soulmate would be fine too. Or maybe Daisy’s master…”

 

“Ahem! You get the gist, right? He’s someone like that.”

 

I cleared my throat loudly and looked away.

This was the first time in my thirty plus years of life to introduce someone as my lover or a similar relationship. Hmm, so this is how it felt. Awkward yet strangely comforting.

 

Raphael remained silent. His eyes were as cold as the darkness that had settled on the bottom of the lake, and in a way, they seemed empty.

 

After a while of saying nothing, he spoke to me in a hushed voice.

 

“…Is he Count Alpen Serenier?”

I couldn’t affirm that, so I looked at Raphael with a questioning gaze, asking how he knew.

 

But Raphael, without much reaction, silently stared at me before heading towards our destination across the valley. Soon after, Rue followed him. Among what I’d seen today, this was the lightest move.

 

『The Full Moon Manor.』

 

That was the official name of the abandoned building we arrived at.

The Full Moon Manor was once the royal chapel, but it was closed down due to ominous reasons after two princes died of heart failure while praying in it about 60 years ago.

 

However, due to the regulation that “all Imperial-made structures cannot be destroyed,” it became a deserted space.

 

Raphael, who entered the Full Moon Manor without hesitation, scanned the desolate interior and spoke.

 

“A few days ago, more than ten knights thoroughly searched the upper area. They couldn’t find any traces related to devils.”

As he said, the abandoned building was completely empty.

 

Recalling the explanation from the head maid, I moved towards the priests’ boarding room. Walking along the long corridor, I felt around a corner of the wall made of stacked marble.

 

Click.

 

“Ah, it opened.”

 

As the bottom of the wall sank in, a space appeared where one adult could crawl inside. After struggling to enter, I inspected the interior, which resembled an ordinary warehouse. Apart from chairs, bedding, and a large amount of emergency rations, there didn’t seem to be anything special.

 

“Just an ordinary bunker. No puzzle or anything.”

 

The two of them remained silent without any particular response. Seriously? I didn’t expect them to get along, but they should at least cooperate.

 

Among the secret passages that the head maid informed us about, this was the only one that led to the outdoors. The rest were either connected to the main building of the Full Moon Manor or located above ground-level.

 

In other words, if we couldn’t find any traces in the Full Moon Manor, the likelihood of the laboratory being located outside the royal palace increased.

 

“There doesn’t seem to be much to gain here.”

It was as Raphael said. We came out to the courtyard of the Full Moon Manor and thoroughly searched near the tombs there, but found nothing but dust.

 

Was it really not in the Imperial Palace?

 

“What are you looking at, Rue?”

Rue, who was casually looking around the vicinity, replied.

 

“These tombs. They’re in the style of Rogue.”

He pointed to the tree in the middle of the tomb.

 

“The position of the cedar tree.”

Next were the tombs where the deceased priests would rest.

 

“And the structure of the gravestones.”

“Could it not be a coincidence? These are the grounds of the Imperial Palace of Penrotta. There’s no way they’d follow Rogue’s methods.”

 

With a small laugh, Rue turned towards the tomb and stood in front of the left gravestone. Then, confidently, he tapped the palm of his hand beneath the gravestone.

 

“The noble families associated with Rogue would often bury Heart Crystals underground when their owner died. In case of any emergency, they hid an entrance in order to be able to retrieve only the Heart Crystal separately… The structure of this tomb serves as a hint to the location of that entrance.”

 

Naturally, the image of Serenier Castle came to mind.

It was a night when it was raining as hard as now. Back then, Rue, who had transformed into a wolf, had definitely vigorously dug beneath the gravestone…

 

Kuung.

 

…When the ground collapsed like it did now, a hidden staircase was revealed.

 

Goodness me. As soon as I could let out an exclamation, an eerie energy enveloped the vicinity of the Full Moon Manor then evaporated. I examined the land that was left with faint traces of magic energy.

 

‘The footprints buried in the mud have disappeared.’

A magic that completely erases the traces of visitors.

‘This must be why they weren’t able to find any traces of the Devils.’

 

Truly astonishing. The three of us stood in a row in front of the stairs leading underground, peering into the pitch-black abyss. From within, a nauseating aura of darkness was steadily rising.

 

Thump, thump. The sound of my heartbeat echoed in my head.

Instinct warned me.

 

What lies dormant there was my archenemy. The devil who killed me…

 

“Mephisto.”

 

I couldn’t believe it. Such an immense power force was sealed off just because it was hidden underground.

 

“It’s on a completely different level than the energy Mephisto’s Temples had.”

Swoosh. Raphael, drawing his sword, descended the stairs first.

 

The never-ending staircase in the darkness suddenly transformed into a flat surface. At that moment, bright lights turned on, revealing the interior of the underground. After blinking a few times to adjust to the light, I swallowed hard as I took in the sight before me.

 

“Oh God.”

 

It was truly a scene of slaughter.

Large shattered glass tubes scattered around. Bookshelves filled with books and documents. An unknown liquid staining the floor. And mixed with that liquid, black blood. Creating an unsettling atmosphere.

 

On top of it all were not devils, but human corpses.

 

Long corridors and rooms stretched out like hospital wards. Offices, meeting rooms, bedrooms, dining halls, warehouses, and even unknown spaces filled with grotesquely intertwined body parts. They were all adorned with corpses.

 

“…First of all, it seems like we’ve found the laboratory we were looking for. Right, Rue?”

 

Raising the back of one of the corpses’ heads to check their face, Rue replied lightly.

“And it seems like these corpses were the researchers.”

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Morbid end of the chapter but I’m still in glee over the fact that both of them already consider themselves married.