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

Part 2 – Episode 8

“This damn kid sold the translation machine’s blades for gambling?”

And he did it four times! How much did he clean out and sell to leave the interior completely empty?

‘Druids are the best’ who? With a guy like this as the chief, it was no wonder the entire clan got wiped out.

Even the blades of the virog, the magical tool, were not there.

What a mess.

‘…Come to think of it, they said the thieves gang had a magitech engineer.’

I left the house immediately and headed for the market.

But the stares fixed on me were particularly stinging. Merchants were hurriedly turning their heads away whenever our eyes met, and passersby either walked around me in a wide circle to avoid bumping into me or even turned back the way they came.

Should I explain… myself?

‘I’m only planning to stay here for a short while anyway.’

I grabbed a passerby who was sneakily walking past and asked,

“Where is the thief gang’s hideout?”

The passerby, who had stopped and stiffened, pointed to the east and said,

“It’s behind that garbage hill over there.”

Then he quickly ran away.

Just until a while ago, he kept his mouth shut to the end. This was definitely comfortable too. I guess I didn’t need to explain after all.

I moved my steps in the direction the passerby pointed.

‘The garbage hill… so that’s why the neighborhood has such a foul smell.’

The hill that rose sharply on the outskirts of the neighborhood was literally made of trash.

Some children could be seen walking barefoot and rummaging through the trash heap.

The cold winter wind blew.

The faces of the boys and girls were so chilled by the cold that they were not just red but dark. Even in such circumstances, they competed with each other to find usable items and food, and I swallowed a bitter sigh.

‘That’s not how you look for them.’

Valuable items weren’t just thrown here. They were stored in boxes or somewhere. They were still beginners. As I crossed the trash hill thinking of my childhood, a large building patched together with rusted metal plates and wood caught my eye.

Why was that?

The inside of the building was completely empty.

‘Did the members of the thief gang move out?’

But there were a lot of belongings left behind for that. It was as if they made a hasty escape in the middle of the night.

I went around the area. Since it started to drizzle, I picked up some nearby trash to cover my head.

After wandering around like this for a while, at one moment,

“Hey, the bastards who lived here have already left, so stop loitering and scram.”

The owner of the voice was a young man who didn’t seem to be twenty yet… no, a boy… well, a teenager. His unusually pale skin looked out of place in this neighborhood.

‘They’ve left, huh.’

I expected the reason.

“Don’t tell me, it’s because of the Republic’s Grade 1 wizard?”

“You know it well.”

The young man turned sharply and headed to the back of the shabby building. Following him, I saw a makeshift tent next to a junk warehouse.

“Aren’t you going to run away too?”

He snorted loudly, placing a can under the leaking hole of the tent.

“Why should I run? Those bastards are guilty of many crimes, so they’re running away because their feet are burning. I’m not like that.”

“Is this your house?”

“Why? Is its shabbiness laughable?”

“It’s similar to where I lived when I was young.”

The boy’s hands paused for a moment.

When I bowed my head, I could see the inside of the tent.

The safest seats in the tent were occupied by a wooden desk and shelves, which were piled with what looked like very complex spheres, books, and various forms of parchment.

And a sword.

The sword was the neatest and best-maintained item among the boy’s possessions.

“You’re the magitech engineer they were talking about.”

“….”

“Didn’t they say you were from the Imperial University of the Contaninos Republic? You’re smaller than I thought…”

“Shut up! I’m not short!”

The teenager, who suddenly shouted, glared at me with a reddened face.

“My family has always been tall like giants! Damn it, I’ll grow taller than you soon!”

“I never said you were short.”

“If you understand, then scram! Didn’t you hear me say stop loitering?”

His grumbling was just like Andert’s.

I wondered if Andert was doing well. Well, since there was no news from him, he must be doing well.

I held out the translator I had brought with me to the teenager with hope.

“By any chance, can you fix these things?”

The reaction was, of course, dismissive.

‘This is troublesome. I don’t want to leave this neighborhood until Rue returns.’

There was nothing I could do, so I decided to sit down next to the tent and wait until he changed his mind.

That’s how the sun went down.

“Ha… my damn fate. Just when I thought the trash in my life had left, I get caught up with some crazy woman. Aargh!”

I watched over the sleeping magitech-engineer boy, who had spent the whole day angry, and then returned home.

Day 5.

After preparing Ash’s meal, I climbed the trash hill again.

“Hello, boy.”

He glared at me with a piercing gaze, but unlike yesterday, he didn’t spend the whole day threatening me or giving me dirty looks.

This time, he seemed determined to completely ignore me. It was clear seeing how he was engrossed in his sword practice not caring whether a person was there or not.

“Huff, huff.”

I silently watched the boy gasping for breath. Though his swordsmanship was awkward, the look in his eyes was serious.

“That’s not how you do it.”

I muttered, but the boy blithely ignored me.

After that, I continued to watch him.

The sight of him snatching up bread from who knows where to stave off his hunger, only to grab his sword in an ignorant way again.

Then, the foolish sight of him clutching his stomach.

And within a few hours, the weakened sight of him sprawled on the ground.

Unable to bear it any longer, I opened my mouth.

“How long are you planning to rest? Get up and train your left arm. Can’t you see your sword keeps veering to the right?”

The boy, soaked in sweat and staring blankly at the sky, stared at me in a daze.

“Shut up. What do you know about swords?”

“The reason your left arm is weak is because you instinctively put more strength into your right arm. The reason you put more strength into your right arm is because your right hip and shoulder are raised too high.”

“You’re noisy.”

“From now on, before you start proper practice, do about 30 minutes of shoulder and scapula exercises. As you consistently pay attention to it, the excessive tension will be released, and balance will be created in both arms. That’s why the basics are important.”

“…Who are you?”

“Get up first. Let’s start with practice. It’s too hard to watch you pitifully floundering around, boy.”

“Are your ears blocked? Can’t you hear me asking who you are?”

I kicked the grumbling boy with my foot to get him up. Unlike his clumsy swordsmanship, his body was quite good, so I wanted him to train his physical strength and muscle power diligently.

But the words I got after were:

“You… just die…”

The boy collapsed with a thud and lost consciousness.

‘He doesn’t even know what’s good for him, and his grumbling is just like Andert’s.‘

After moving the sleeping boy into the tent, I returned home.

 

* * *

 

“No, I don’t want to, I said I hate it! I said I hate it!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

“I can’t calm down! Don’t go, Lord Calepa… If you go now, I don’t know when we’ll see each other again! Don’t go! Stay just one more day before you leave! Ack…”

So Lord Calepa really was here.

Beyond the reception room, Skuld quickened his pace as he listened to the crying voice.

As he got closer, the girl’s sobbing grew louder. The chamberlain, not knowing what to do, hurriedly bowed.

“I’m sorry, Lord Calepa. His Majesty the King… After losing His Late Majesty the King and her brothers three years ago, she was deeply hurt. Therefore, to you, whom she has trusted and followed since she was young, she’s especially…”

Skuld wanted to say that that was called ‘pampering’, but he held his tongue.

Since the young girl who ascended the throne three years ago was only 14 years old this year, it was not strange for her to be pampered.

Skuld quickly entered the reception room, knelt down, and bowed his head.

 

“Calepa, Calepa, Calepa.”