Ch.204204. The Royal Palace (3)

There’s a common misconception people have about the position of maids and servants in noble houses of this world.

In my previous life’s homeland, and even in this world, many people consider maids and servants to be a kind of lower class who serve and attend to high nobles or royalty.

Of course, this is a groundless misunderstanding. What these people think of as servants or maids are actually just laborers called menservants or maidservants.

Simple laborers, that is—workers who handle menial tasks that don’t require complex skills, like cleaning.

In contrast, those called maids or servants are figures of extremely high position, comparable to secretaries or aides in modern terms.

Servants who attend to noble figures like royalty are typically employed from the upper class, even if they’re of relatively lower status. This means that a court servant in the royal palace could easily be the offspring of some noble house without it being strange.

According to King Louis VII who invited me, the servants working in the royal palace are all from royalist factions, particularly from families with deep loyalty to Louis VII or from vassal households.

And perhaps because of that…

‘…A maid, you say?’

The shock I felt from a maid in uniform—not just some servant, but one who would have already passed all background checks—approaching me and attempting contact… in other words, a maid who appeared to have been recruited by the anti-royalist faction, was somewhat refreshing.

To make an analogy, it’s like finding out the sweet and sour pork served in the school cafeteria was actually mushroom sweet and sour pork.

When expectations are subverted, it creates an odd feeling, but the actual content is so subtle that it leaves you with complicated emotions.

“…So, who sent you?”

Anyway, regardless of my feelings, I needed to know the details of this “contact.”

The fact that someone had discovered our situation—where Sophia and I had secretly slipped away alone—meant information had leaked from somewhere, and if a maid working in the royal palace had been recruited to make contact with me in just one day…

“I have no reason to tell you—”

“The Duke of Orleans, correct?”

“…?!”

Realistically, there weren’t many anti-royalist bigwigs who could be candidates for this besides the Duke of Orleans.

In the Frankish Kingdom, a feudal society where royal authority is quite strong, the king’s authority is considerable for a feudal state. Because of this, the authority of the anti-royalist faction… or the noble faction as they’re called, is, to put it simply, extremely tenuous.

They’re a group united by their dislike of outside interference, but unlike the royalist faction, they lack a central focus and their internal political structure is chaotic, making it difficult to find any special tendencies among them.

However, there are rare nobles within this anti-royalist, noble faction who can speak out loudly and lead the current. The representative of these is the Duke of Orleans, said to possess the strongest power after the king.

Originally descended from Orleans de Frank, the second son of the first king Charlemagne, she is one of the few dukes in the kingdom and has emerged as almost the only rival to Louis VII in what is otherwise nearly his one-man rule.

At one point, the Count of Flanders, who was expanding his influence through the wool business, seemed to be rising as a contender, but especially after he fell from grace due to a scandal involving a heretical sect connected to heretics.

Anyway, as the maid’s expression, which had momentarily faltered at my revelation of the truth, quickly returned to normal, I read her emotions in that roughly 0.3 seconds and said to her:

“Right, it’s obvious. Have you finally come to recruit me?”

“…I have nothing to say.”

Perhaps because she couldn’t maintain her composure when a superior was openly provoking her, I could sense her wildly fluctuating heartbeat despite her outwardly calm appearance, and I smiled inwardly as I spoke.

“I’ll play along for now. The fact that you asked me to come at this late hour… it’s related to meeting directly, isn’t it?”

“…I have nothing to say.”

While subtly revealing my presence and delicately adjusting my mana to prevent the lower-ranking maid from fainting, I followed her down this corridor that was “for some reason very short on guards” and thought:

‘The head servant… or has someone of that rank betrayed us too?’

At minimum, the personnel manager of this castle must have been recruited as well. It was a situation that felt quite disconcerting, but given that this was reality, I had no choice but to accept it…

‘…Hm?’

The moment I noticed a pattern cleverly hidden among the tattoos on the nape of the maid’s neck, partially concealed by her maid uniform.

I couldn’t help but shudder at the chill that ran up my spine.

‘Is that… real?’

Because that pattern flashing on her neck… was the symbol of those who worship the Outer God known as “The Faceless One.”

※ ※ ※

In truth, infiltrators from hostile forces sneaking into the royal palace was a variable we had anticipated.

No matter how much you try to prevent it, information leaks or unexpected infiltration of spies is a risk that must be taken into account, which is why Louis VII and I had made plans to prepare for such recruitment attempts.

Of course, I can’t say there’s no possibility that Louis VII might stab me in the back and betray me… but I am, after all, an Aleinos.

Considering the political power that the successor to the still-living founding hero can wield in this Frankish Kingdom, and furthermore, the risk that my master might appear in person, betrayal seems like an action not even worth considering.

Therefore, as I was leading the situation while maintaining a certain level of trust, the moment that symbol of the Outer God entered my vision, I accelerated my thoughts and carefully recalled my memories about Outer Gods.

The Outer God, “The Faceless One.” True to its name, rather than having a special force, it is an entity widely known in the world. Rather than having particularly high combat power, it is infamous for its unique characteristics.

Usually depicted in human form with a smooth mannequin head instead of a face, this Outer God and its followers possess a unique ability system called “Oblivion.”

Though it varies depending on the individual’s output, this ability can be summarized in one word: “oblivion.”

Similar to the ability wielded by that mutt that appeared in Bacchus’s Garden, the worshippers of this Outer God naturally possess this power.

From the simple and basic application of erasing and making someone forget a specific target, to making people forget faces or features for espionage purposes, there are countless applications.

There are even famous records of heretics who specialized in first strikes by making opponents instantly forget the length or shape of weapons, or by learning swordsmanship specialized for first strikes and then erasing previous memories.

Of course, such great power comes with a corresponding price. To put it somewhat extremely, this oblivion ability is no different from an ability gained by selling one’s soul to the Outer God.

Additionally, oblivion isn’t exactly an absolute ability; lower-grade oblivion can be easily deflected, and the more people who know what is to be forgotten, the more power is consumed.

What is lost through oblivion is only memory, so it cannot erase documentary records or physical remnants.

But the fact that this oblivion ability is ultimately useful is an undeniable truth.

‘Has the Duke of Orleans become a heretic of the Outer God, or has she joined hands with them?’

Therefore, the first thought that came to mind when I noticed that mark was naturally to suspect a connection between the Outer God and the Duke…

But thinking about it carefully, I couldn’t come up with a reason why the Duke of Orleans would join hands with an Outer God.

“The Faceless One” is a minor among minor faiths, secretly worshipped among the lower classes or some marginalized groups. To make an analogy, they’re madmen with the insane combination of anarchist tendencies and a cult religion.

Unlike the pleasure-oriented Outer Gods that nobles typically fall for, what these people advocate is none other than equality.

This is completely at odds with the Duke of Orleans, the leader of the noble faction, who is not much different from the stereotype of a group desperate to control serfs.

No matter how much politics can drive people crazy, the Duke, who could live with dignity as the leader of the noble faction just by staying put, is not in a position to share anything with such beings.

Whether as a disposable tool, a trading partner, or an object of faith, there is no aspect in which the Duke would benefit from being involved with them.

‘…Something fishy is going on here.’

So while thinking this, in order to create a breakthrough in this situation where anything could happen—

“Take a rest for a moment, Miss Heretic.”

“Wha—”

—THWACK!!!

I succeeded in capturing her by striking the back of her head and knocking her unconscious.