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

<Episode 65>

 

As the strong grip pulled my face, icy cold water poured over my head. 

The Milky Way in the sky beyond the waterfall’s curtain came into my view. 

 

In the midst of it all stood a large man.

 

 A long scar ran from his right temple to down below the mask he was wearing.

 Thick eyebrows. Intense gaze. Below that, obscured by the black mask, though not clearly visible, was an expression that evidently was not at all gentle.

 

“A woman?”

Above all, the man’s eyes. Seemingly sunken light-green eyes. 

“I thought you had no fear. Is it because you’re a woman?”

 

 And a voice mixed with mockery. It felt familiar, as if I’d  heard it somewhere before. And it was irksome. 

 

‘Why?’ An uncomfortable feeling, usually hard to perceive, struck my mind like a trigger.

 

The instincts that had been hidden in the abyss for a long time slowly began to stir.

They were trying to unleash something unpleasant.

 

But I wasn’t a swordsman guided by instinct.

‘Calm down.’

 

I had to live first to think about any of that, so I pulled on the pearl earring hanging on my right ear.

Crackling. 

A powerful current spread through the waterfall, resonating in all directions. As I gripped the sword with my left hand, the satisfying sensation of coldness touched my palm.

 

Oh, I see. This was it.

This was how it felt to have a sword.

 

Swoooosh! I sliced through the waterfall. Thud. Through the gap in the severed water, I could see that the man’s wide-open eyes enlarged. 

 

He had no intention to retreat. I charged straight at the man.

 Clang! Clash… 

 

The man’s swordsmanship was excellent. Excellent skill. Excellent stance. There was no other way. I knew he was an exceptional swordsman. After being pushed back for a while, the man planted his feet on the riverbed and barely managed to stop. 

“Who are you?”

The eyes above the mask drew an intriguing curve. 

“A woman. Left-handed. Agile. Very Proficient.”

“….”

“I’ve never heard of a swordsman like you. I’m in shock. Where did you come from?”

 

Why was it like this? I had no interest in who the man was.

I didn’t care about whether he was related at all to the swordmaster or whether he was the culprit who stole Dian Cecht’s diary.

 

There was only one thing I was curious about.

“Your face.” 

“What?” 

“I need to see your face. Take off the mask.”

 “I’ve heard enough nonsense.”

 

If he wouldn’t take it off himself, I would take it off for him.

I infused the sword with some of my ego. A burst of black light erupted from the blade, cutting horizontally through the air.

 

 However, the man had already soared up to the rocks above the waterfall. 

“A demon of the sword?” 

 

His question was drowned out by the consecutive bursts of sword energy. Water and dirt shot up from all directions. The intense sound that filled the night sky made my head spin. 

-Kill him. 

The sword whispered. 

 

An unfamiliar resonance. It should have been a voice I had never heard before, yet strangely, it didn’t feel unfamiliar. I’d been hearing this voice for a very long time. Since I cut down demons and slaughtered Mephisto’s army…

 

 -Kill him.

 

My body surged with energy. It was like I’d gone back to four years ago.

 

A figure emerged from the mist and swung his sword. 

I barely managed to block it, but my arm lost balance and tilted slightly. 

Unlike before, the man now held the sword with his left hand. 

He was an ambidextrous swordsman. 

He knew how to wield a sword with his left hand. 

 

“What is your purpose for daring to infiltrate the Emperor’s vault without fear?” 

-Cut him down. 

“Who’s sent you?” 

The man’s voice stirred my mind, evoking an unexpected and unsettling hallucination. 

 

“What are you talking about? Once the war is over, I’ll leave this wretched island.”

-Kill him. 

 

“You can’t live like a beggar. Think about how we’ll survive. Even if we have nothing now, I can make a living as a soldier, but you can’t, sister.”

-Cut him down.

 

Oh, it’s so noisy.

In an attempt to dispel the hallucination, I swung my sword forcefully. The flying sword struck a leaning tree. 

 

Fueled by the intense heat filling my mind, I spat out the question to the man.

“I know you. You died a long time ago. Isn’t that right?” 

There’s no way you’re alive.

His eyes twisted unpleasantly. “Are you insane?” 

 

This man was a fake. 

-Kill him. 

He couldn’t possibly be real.

-Kill him. 

 

“Among all women who wield swords, none are sane. Are you also possessed by the ego of your sword?” 

 

-Cut him down. 

 

I swung the sword recklessly. A gap beneath his armpit became visible. I swung my arm to stab him, but my body froze just before making contact.

 

 No. I couldn’t cut him down. I absolutely could not.

Seizing the moment of my hesitation, the man readied his sword and thrust it into my left shoulder. In that instant. 

“Ah.”

 

My mind cleared as if by magic. The chaotic voices that had plagued my head and body vanished, leaving behind only a piercing pain.

 

The attack that struck my shoulder stopped the resonance of the sword.

“Don’t worry, I’m not dead. My right arm is as useless as rag now, though.” 

[That’s horrifying. How’s your condition? Do we need to amputate?] 

“No way. I managed to find and retrieve the finger bones that were lost due to the demon army. If we have a military mage, they should be able to reattach them.”

 

 The past I saw in the trap. 

That arm in the past hadn’t been destroyed by a demon.

 I broke it myself.

 For one reason alone. To regain the sanity I’d almost let go of completely. 

 

‘…Yes, this is what it feels like to swing the sword with a clear mind. It’s like standing and dreaming.’ 

 

The deeper I resonated with my sword, the deeper pain it took for me to be brought back to reason. 

 

Damned sword. As the strength drained from my left arm, the pristine blade slipped out of my grasp and sank beneath the water. 

 

At the same time, a cold blade touched my chin. The man who lifted my chin with the tip of the sword explored my face as if searching. 

 

“What’s your name?” 

Facing him felt so strange, almost surreal, as if walking on water.

 

I believed that by escaping the state of confusion and facing him with a clearer mind, I could free myself from my delusion.

But no.

I was not mistaken.

This man was not a fake.

 

The longer I looked into his eyes, the stronger my conviction grew.

This man was real.

 

“…I can hear no resonance from your sword.”

“What?”

I looked at the man with calloused hands. His right hand was similar. 

 

Both sides showed signs of diligent training without any bias. 

 

“You’re calm and composed. You’re nothing short of an excellent swordsman. You’ve mastered a sword that is the complete opposite of your dirty way of speaking, so you must be more than just exceptional.” 

 

“Why have you been speaking nonsense since earlier?” 

A small laugh escaped from my mouth. His rough manner of speaking remained unchanged.

 

While my sanity had returned, I took the opportunity to assess his identity.

Judging by how he’d asked me why I came out of the vault, it was self-evident that he was a person of the swordmaster. 

 

However, his skills were unbelievably exceptional to be just one of the many knights of the Berkeley-Gratten family.

 

 He might even be better than Jean. A swordsman with such remarkable skill and talent at that age… 

 

“Oh, right. Are you Gavroche? You’ve learned the teachings of the swordmaster well.”

 The man, lightly exercising his neck with closed eyes, let out a rough sigh.

 

 “I can’t kill you, so at least surrender for now. It’s distasteful to have to strike a woman, but you just need behave and fall asleep quietly.” 

 

What is this nonsense, you idiot?

 

 “You’re annoying. Differentiating between men and women when you’re a swordsman? You may be big, but you still act like a child. When will you grow up?”

“Shut up.”

 

The man turned his shoulders sharply to generate more force in his punch.

 Did he think I would just obediently take the hit, because of the significant injury on my shoulder? His immature appearance made me laugh involuntarily. 

 

However, amidst the laughter, the question still lingered. 

How are you still alive? 

“Andert.” 

My little brother. 

“Why don’t you remember me?”

 

 “…Who are you calling right now?” The man’s fist loosened slightly. Seizing the opportunity, I swiftly kicked the sword that had been lying on the ground, propelling it into the air.

 

And I grabbed the handle with my right hand, not my left hand, and slashed it horizontally.

“Kuk!”

 With a brief gasp, the man stepped back. Simultaneously, the black mask that had covered his face cleanly split apart, leaving only traces fluttering away in the wind. 

 

As his concealed lips and chin were revealed, I couldn’t utter a word.

A long scar ran across his face. 

 

Various complex emotions surged in like a tidal wave, threatening to burst my heart. I felt suffocated by overwhelming sentiments, like I was choking.

I was not wrong.

 

This man was my brother, Andert, who I’d thought to be dead.

‘You’re alive.’

Andert was alive.

Now with the name Gavroche.

 

‘How?’

No, that question didn’t matter right now.

Andert was alive.

Even though he didn’t recognize me, he was alive.

---

 

AAAAAAAAAA

Listen I could not wait to give you this okay.

SDFBSBDJKFJDFN OH MY GOD WHAT

I’m crying.

 

You know that Daisy is a true older sister because the first thing she called Andert when she recognized him was ‘Idiot.’

 

No omg Im sobbing 

You can always thank me for the chapters with a ko-fi btw hehe. Jk. unless…

I’m going to take a well-needed rest now