Ch.244The Universe’s Strongest Maid (2)

Sonia couldn’t maintain her balance against the sudden power of the foreign god.

[— Initiating optimization process.]

Madness of 100% purity.

It had been refined again and again, compressed to a level that an android could accept.

“……”

Sonia stared blankly at her palm. Then, she opened and closed her hand. An electrifying sensation coursed through her entire body.

A sense of omnipotence.

Exhilaration.

She understood why Bruce had caused such a commotion after becoming a vessel.

Part of her wanted to rush out immediately and test her powers.

“Phew.”

Self-control.

She was different from those human scum.

This power was given to her by the God of Wisdom and Curiosity. It should only be used to protect Young Master Eidel. Uncontrolled power is nothing but violence.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ admires your self-restraint.]

Sonia lightly stretched her body. Then she checked her status window.

Mental destruction, mental manipulation, shutdown, soul extraction, confusion, delirium, mental gender conversion…

Each skill was more chilling than the last.

[— Notice: Vessels do not consume Pron or Coins when using techniques. (Directly linked to the background star.)]

[— Notice: Some techniques can be activated using the ‘Calipers of Wisdom’.]

“Calipers of Wisdom?”

Just as Sonia tilted her head in confusion.

A pitch-black space like a black hole appeared in midair, and through it emerged a metal tool.

Sonia grabbed it reflexively. A long caliper, slightly over 1m in length, slid out smoothly.

“It resembles what Young Master Eidel uses. So, you were truly his background star.”

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ confirms.]

A foreign god as a background star.

Is such a thing even possible?

If nothing else, it was clear that Young Master and this foreign god were special beings with an unusual relationship.

Sonia slowly turned the calipers around.

But.

[— <Unique> ‘Calipers of Wisdom(♀)’]

Something about the grade seemed strange.

Instead of grades like A, S, EX, it had a symbol representing female.

[— This is one of the two calipers directly used by the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ Cartesia. This tool specializes in mental attacks. Extreme caution is required when using it on intelligent beings.]

The description alone gave her chills.

In other words.

With these calipers, she could irreversibly damage humans, robots, or even foreign gods.

“But it says there are two calipers. Where is the other one?”

[“You already know, don’t you?”]

“No way…”

It dawned on her.

Those calipers that Young Master Eidel pulled out whenever he fought monsters.

[“That’s right. I gave them to him.”]

To summarize, Eidel’s calipers were the male version, and the ones Sonia received were the female version. The male version specialized in physical attacks, the female in mental attacks.

[“I could assign grades from C to omega to yours too, but it doesn’t really matter, does it? Since I’ve shared all my power with you, it’s fixed at the highest grade. How about that, isn’t it great?”]

“It’s somewhat frightening.”

[“What? What is?”]

“It’s along the same lines as before. I’m scared that if I mishandle this, I might cause trouble for Young Master.”

She had seen mental gender conversion among the skills. If she were to accidentally use that skill on Young Master.

[“Then from that point on, you’d be serving a young lady.”]

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sonia resolved to safeguard the calipers carefully.

Meanwhile, Cartesia wondered about her own answer.

Would Eidel really become like that?

She didn’t know since she had never tried it.

Perhaps such a significant mental attack wouldn’t work on Eidel, who had unlimited Pron capacity.

In fact, Cartesia had once used ‘mental confusion’ out of curiosity, but it didn’t work. On the other hand, the ‘mental stability’ skill worked perfectly fine on Eidel.

Why did one work and not the other?

That curiosity was unbearable for Cartesia.

“Young Master, I’m back… Oh, you’re already asleep.”

Returning to the laboratory, Sonia gazed at Eidel, who was slumped over the desk like a zombie.

Clear features, flawless skin.

Handsome.

One benefit of becoming Cartesia’s vessel was that she could monitor her master’s mental state in real-time.

[— Currently in a deep sleep state.]

Sonia’s lips curved upward.

“Excuse me, Young Master.”

Sonia lifted Eidel effortlessly. Perhaps due to becoming a vessel, her master felt as light as a feather.

[“So this is how it feels in real space. Fascinating!”]

Cartesia’s muttering voice.

Indeed.

The vessel’s five senses are directly transmitted to the foreign god who owns it.

Cartesia was the foreign god who had never had a vessel or monster of her own. Today, she was exploring the lower dimensional world for the first time.

She couldn’t help but be excited like a child on a field trip.

Just as Sonia was about to lay Eidel on the bed and cover him with a blanket.

[“More, I need to touch more.”]

“Ah…!”

Sonia’s hand moved toward Eidel’s face.

It wasn’t her will.

[“So this is how organic matter feels in this dimension? Interesting. Truly interesting.”]

Cartesia used Sonia’s body to touch here and there.

First the cheeks, then the chest, moving lower to the abdomen.

[“I’m not used to the sense of distance. Well, in lower gravity, measurements are bound to be different.”]

“Please wait a moment! T-that’s going too far!”

[“What’s the problem? Reproductive organs are most important for gathering data. Don’t stop me.”]

“Ethics, it’s a matter of ethics…!”

Having already crossed the line halfway under external influence before, Sonia resisted more desperately.

“Absolutely not! For Young Master’s current condition as well!”

[“…Tch.”]

Cartesia had no choice but to stop.

It was because she had shared 100% of her power.

If Sonia refused with all her might, she couldn’t control her vessel.

In the end, they compromised by lying next to Eidel and smelling his scent.

Cartesia showed a complex reaction to the real human smell that couldn’t be experienced in null space.

[“Fascinating and bizarre. The sensations of the outside world are so vivid. Thousands, tens of thousands of times more interesting than this prison where I exist.”]

“So you made me your vessel out of curiosity after all?”

[“That’s one reason.”]

Sonia sighed. If she had known this would happen, she would have thought more carefully or consulted with Young Master Eidel. Cartesia was quite forceful in these matters.

[“Well, that aside.”]

Snap!

A sound like snapping fingers echoed in Sonia’s mind.

Immediately, the scenery changed to a different place.

A desert.

The border region of planet Delaus.

There, a crane-shaped monster wrapped in bandages was traversing a sand dune.

The distance was roughly 500km.

Far yet close at the same time.

“What are you showing me?”

[“Your opponent from now on. Just now, an ill-mannered Darwin released a vessel to kill your master. Seeing it move alone, it must be an assassination attempt.”]

This was absurd.

Just yesterday, Young Master had nearly died.

They hadn’t even finished cleaning up the crime scene, and already a new crisis was approaching.

[“This youngster is famous even among our kind. With a mere mortal body, he developed technology to imprison Maxwell, Descartes, and now even Darwin. So they’re desperate to kill him now that he’s in their territory.”]

“But the frequency…”

[“You think it’s too frequent?”]

Sonia nodded. Cartesia snorted.

[“Not at all. Count all the black holes in the universe. That’s how many foreign gods hate your master. From now on, he’ll face assassination threats daily.”]

Sonia sighed.

She corrected herself.

Making a vessel contract with this foreign god was the best decision she could have made.

Sonia thought of the human women involved with Eidel.

Rustila, being a soldier, would be superior to her in combat, but she had a mission to protect countless people and planetary assets.

Ireh had invested considerably in physics and likewise couldn’t provide 24-hour protection for Eidel.

Zernya was a doctor. In terms of sword skills, she was probably inferior to Eidel now. Moreover, she was the busiest of the three in daily life. Being a doctor and all.

So in the end, there was only one person.

“Do I need to step in?”

[“Yes, move.”]

***

Immediately after landing on the Delaus planetary system.

Petel was crossing the desert at a terrifying speed.

With a body like a crane but legs like an ostrich.

Frantically shaking his bandage-wrapped head, he ran in a straight line toward where Eidel von Rheinland was.

Petel’s plan was simple.

Kill Rheinland.

Receive power from Swan.

Betray him and become the new master of the Cygnus black hole.

Chatter-chatter-chatter!

A voice that sounded like a hybrid of bird and human emerged from his vertically split mouth. It was a sound he made unconsciously when pleased.

But then.

Whoosh!

Suddenly rising dust.

Not just a simple sandstorm.

Sensing something ominous, Petel stopped his legs and stretched out his noodle-like long neck.

What he saw was.

“…W-what?”

A maid.

A maid android with navy blue bob-cut hair and sky-blue eyes.

“Who are you!”

Tap tap.

The maid, after clearing the dust, lifted her skirt slightly and bowed politely.

“None of your business.”

“What?”

“Please take a beating.”

Right after hearing those words, Petel’s face caved in.