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

Part 2 – Episode 27

Oh, now that I think about it, I almost forgot about Deschamps.

As I turned around to look, I could see Deschamps standing there, staring at me in a daze.

Even when I approached her and waved my hand, there was no sign of her regaining her senses.

Was she so surprised that she fainted?

‘Well… it’s not every day you see a blue cat that not only uses magic but also understands human speech. It’s understandable to be shocked.’

I shook Rue in front of Deschamps, explaining things step by step.

“Snap out of it. This cat. It’s a magician. A magician turned into a blue cat. Understand?”

At that moment, Deschamps suddenly came to her senses, wiped her forehead, and let out a long sigh of relief.

“Haaaaa– So that’s it, you were a magician… It used magic to turn Lord Andert into a woman…”

“No. I’m originally a woman. So it wasn’t a transformation from man to woman, but from woman to man. Understand?”

Deschamps’s body stiffened again. Her wide eyes seemed to scream silently.

“…Lord Andert was originally a woman?”

Pointing at me with trembling fingers, she parted her lips with eyes that looked ready to burst into tears.

“R-Really? You were originally a woman? A lie… It’s a lie, right? Right? Swear on my mother…”

“Why swear on your mother? It would be better to swear on mine. Of course, I don’t have any parents anymore, so I don’t have a mother to swear on.”

No, maybe they were still alive. But for now, I didn’t have them.

Deschamps’s silent scream grew louder. Looking at the guilt added to her eyes, which were filled with despair and sadness, it seemed she got caught up in my orphan background.

She was a good person.

And the bad middle-aged man who threatened such a good person deserved to be punished.

The moment the man, who had been lying like a corpse in the corner, jumped up and swung a dagger at Deschamps’s neck while shouting something like “Ri Arsenio!”

I grabbed his head and pushed him away, putting strength into the tips of my fingers.

Thud.

“Cough… Disaster… Universe…”

He was seriously ill.

Even until his very last breath, he did not lose the madness in his eyes, possessed by something, let alone show fear.

Were all of Rein’s followers like this? The brainwashing was terrible.

After shaking off the terrorist, I approached Deschamps, who had started to stagger while clutching her left chest.

“What’s wrong with you? Did your illness strike again? Are you okay?”

Deschamps murmured with an astounded face.

“I… This is the first time my heart has raced in front of a woman.”

“What are you talking about? If your heart doesn’t beat, you die.”

“This is why a favorite’s personal life should remain an eternal secret… But why…? Why this excitement…? I’ve been betrayed by the idol I believed in, so why am I…?”

What the hell was the matter with her? Maybe she was under a mental magic spell instead of a psychological illness? There were no signs of that, though.

“Rue, can you fix Deschamps?”

He answered in a rare, solemn voice for dealing with humans.

“The heart of a follower, greatly wounded by the truth encountered by chance, cannot be easily healed.”

I see. I didn’t understand what that meant, but for now, I carried Deschamps on my shoulder and went down the empty stairs.

“I’m being held… by the master who has turned into a woman… No, by the master who was a woman…”

It was a mess outside the hotel.

Screams and swords crossed. It didn’t mean that Death and Blood were everywhere. Rather, a tense, contracted air enveloped the city, with only rare cries heard in the silence.

Unlike yesterday, when it was bustling with activity, the main street in front of the hotel was almost deserted.

In the middle of the deserted city, there were fewer than thirty people in total confronting each other in the middle of the road.

Surrounding and wary of Rein’s followers, who were wrapped in black clothes, were those who were dressed in finely tailored clothes without a speck of dust.

Just by looking at the fact that all of them had strong impressions, I could tell that they were attendees of the Penrotta General Guild Assembly held in this hotel.

“Our demands remain unchanged. Disband today’s assembly and permanently disband the Penrotta Guild Union!”

Although it wasn’t easy to see it clearly due to the backs of those standing with their backs to my point of view, it seemed that Rein’s followers, gathered in the center, were using something unknown as a hostage to demand the dissolution of the guilds union.

“Swear to disband immediately! Otherwise, we will explode the flames of God on our bodies and turn this city into a sea of fire!”

So they themselves were the hostages.

The expressions of those facing off were not good. It seemed that not all the citizens had evacuated yet.

I moved silently to help the residents and tourists evacuate, looking inside the general store and taking out the <Introduction to New Heroes Manual>, checking the faces of the people who were confronting Rein’s followers one by one.

That squinty-eyed person, who kept muttering to himself with a disgruntled face… let’s see, they’re ranked exactly 100th.

‘The guild master of the <New Magic Union> , a guild established shortly after the Great Declaration of Siagot. After numerous disputes with the founding heroes and their subsequent departures, it is currently evaluated as not a guild for heroes but rather a private business entity for the master. One of his eyes was lost to Rein.’

To cleverly steal and use the name of the Magic Union, huh. Well, Ignorant old men might sponsor large sums of money just by looking at the guild name. It must seem like a great way to make money.

I went up to the third floor of the same building and examined a blonde woman visible through the window.

Judging by how people were coming and going centered around that woman, she seemed to hold considerable power within the guild union.

And sure enough.

“She’s the master of <Golden Lion Mane> Baron Fiora.”

Hehe. Deschamps, who had climbed down from my shoulder, smiled bashfully.

“I’m sorry, Master. Now that my heart is somewhat settled… I intend to continue following you. I think that’s my destiny. Until the day my heart stops beating… no, even then, I’ll go as far as I can!”

When your heart stops, you die.

“Nobles must often establish guilds.”

“No, not a lot. Usually, they don’t directly participate in the management and just provide financial support. In that sense, <Golden Lion Mane> is a bit unique.”

Deschamps opened the door handle of the flooded residence with his muscles and stepped inside.

“‘<Golden Lion Mane>’s master is of noble birth, and the noble families that support it are extraordinary. Marquis Calpenweaver, Count Rogenhoff… That’s why it’s considered a guild chosen by the Imperial family. It’s a very large-scale guild that can even influence the republic to an extent. Ah! There’s a kid hiding here!”

The child, who had been crying, was now being held and comforted by Deschamps, who approached me with a deeply worried expression.

“There must be quite a few people who couldn’t escape and are hiding. It might be faster if we split up and search…”

“No, that child was the first and the last. There’s no one else around here now. Take the child and run as far away as you can, Deschamps.”

“What? What do you mean? My heart won’t stop pounding. I absolutely cannot leave you alone…”

“Don’t forget who I am.”

Who am I?

I am the god of the Southern Continent.

Ugh. Deschamps twisted her body with a groan and took a step back, breathing heavily.

“I don’t mind dying…”

Deschamps definitely was a bit eccentric.

After watching the youngins disappear into the alley, I turned back towards the hotel.

Now that I looked, there was a lone figure sitting cross-legged on a vegetable box there. That face was unmistakably…

‘The Assassin Butler.’

I found the face of the Assassin-butler in the magazine. Surprisingly, he was ranked within the top 20.

‘Grayspear, the master of <Gray Spear> guild, which is evaluated as a supernova guild… Although his actual strength is far outside the top 20, he received a high influence score because he was the recipient of Penrotta’s silver lion certificate, and thus ranked 19th.’

I turned away from the 19th ranked great hero and asked Rue.

“The ‘God’s flames’ that the followers attached to their bodies, are they not ordinary explosives?”

“Hmm. I think they’re referring to Rein’s magic… It’s a troublesome flame. It’s definitely not something you can extinguish with a normal response.”

“Ah, that fire. It was pretty bothersome.”

That was why it wasn’t easy to move around even if this neighborhood became completely empty.

Our voices, engaged in light conversation, must have been heard, because the Assassin-butler’s head turned this way. Then, his eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe them, and his lips parted in a daze, losing all sense of caution.

I approached the frozen Assassin-butler who wasn’t saying anything and spoke.

“I’m here.”