Chapter 95

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“Lucy….”

Estelle asked with a worried face.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stop now…?”

Sebastian, whose chin Lucy was currently pulling, was the heir to the Grand Duke’s family.

He wasn’t someone to be treated so carelessly.

But Lucy didn’t seem to care.

“Feels good.”

“R-Really…?”

Even Sebastian didn’t seem to mind at all.

No, Sebastian seemed rather pleased.

“I didn’t know my chin felt good…”

“Good. Fun.”

“Hehet…”

It was an absurd sight.

A maid pulling on the chin of the Grand Duke’s heir.

Yet the Grand Duke’s heir was grinning and enjoying it like a pet.

Estelle and Ellie were speechless at the situation that defied common sense.

Then a voice was heard.

“Well, ladies. Please come inside the mansion now. The performance prepared by Lord Sebastian will begin soon!”

It was the voice of Walter, the butler of the Astoria family.

Lucy looked at Sebastian.

“You prepared a performance?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“What kind of performance?”

“Well, I practiced some dancing. I was going to show it off at this tea party.”

Sebastian gave an embarrassed smile.

In fact, he didn’t particularly want to dance, but his uncle said that if he danced well, he could capture the hearts of the young ladies.

“I’m not really looking forward to it.”

Estelle and Ellie gasped at Lucy’s words.

It was true that they weren’t looking forward to it, but she was being too honest.

Sebastian might get hurt.

“Really…?”

As expected, Sebastian’s face turned gloomy.

“I practiced so hard….”

“The rose in your mouth when you appeared earlier wasn’t great either.”

“…”

Tears welled up in Sebastian’s eyes.

The rose in his mouth was also recommended by his uncle.

“Still… it was refreshing.”

“That’s right… roses are pretty, after all.”

Estelle and Ellie tried to salvage the situation, but it didn’t work.

Lucy grabbed Sebastian’s chin and asked.

“So, what’s the real purpose?”

Lucy’s eyes turned serious.

“The real reason you had the young ladies attend the tea party without bodyguards.”

“Huh…?”

Sebastian’s eyes widened.

“T-That’s….”

Sebastian’s heart was pounding.

Lucy’s cold eyes felt somehow scary.

“My uncle… said I could make connections this way….”

Just then, Walter approached.

“Young master, the young ladies have moved to the ballroom. You should get ready soon too.”

“Ah, okay.”

“And you, can’t you take your hand off him right now?”

Walter glared at Lucy with a stern face.

“How dare a maid….”

“Ah, it’s okay, Walter. We’re just playing around.”

Sebastian stopped Walter.

“…”

Walter looked at Sebastian with a pathetic expression, but didn’t say anything more.

“…I understand. Let’s go to the ballroom for now.”

“Okay.”

Walter took Sebastian away.

Lucy looked at Estelle and Ellie and said.

“Go in first. I’ll catch up soon.”

◈

As Estelle and Ellie entered the mansion, Lucy used her skill.

[ Demon Summon: Shadow Demon ]

Unlike when summoning Amon or Agrevan, no magic circle was created.

Instead, something popped out from behind Lucy.

“What? So annoying!”

A demon with the same appearance as Lucy, but with a body made of shadows.

“Why did you call me?”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Hmph, what favor? No. But what favor?”

“Investigate this mansion for me. See if there’s anything suspicious.”

Lucy bit her hand.

Then blood flowed from her hand.

“Eat.”

Lucy held out her hand.

Blood dripped from Lucy’s hand.

The shadow demon looked at it with enchanted eyes and slowly approached.

Lucy lowered her hand as much as possible.

“Kneel.”

“W-Why do I have to kneel….”

The shadow demon grumbled, but knelt in front of Lucy.

It began to lick the blood flowing from Lucy’s hand.

Slurp. Slurp.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah… no? It’s not good. I’m just eating it. Because I’m hungry.”

Lucy retracted her hand.

“I’ll give you the rest when the job is done.”

“Tch.”

The shadow demon stood up.

“So, I just have to investigate this mansion?”

“Investigate as thoroughly as possible. If things go wrong, I’ll tie you up with shadows and beat you like last time. Until you dissipate.”

“Hmph, you think I’d be scared of that?”

The shadow demon scoffed, but its hands were trembling.

“I’m not scared of anyth…”

“Go quickly. Before I start hitting you.”

At Lucy’s words, the shadow demon disappeared like smoke.

Only then did Lucy start walking towards the mansion.

◈

Two knights were guarding the entrance to the ballroom.

When Lucy approached, the two knights blocked her.

“You can’t go in.”

Music was playing inside the ballroom.

The performance seemed to have already started.

“The young lady I serve is inside.”

“Still, you can’t go in. I received orders. This door will only open when the performance is completely finished.”

“I see.”

Lucy nodded.

Suspicion was turning into certainty.

The purpose of the tea party.

Inviting only young ladies was one thing, but preventing them from bringing bodyguards was suspicious.

And then suddenly having a dance performance.

It felt like they were intentionally gathering the young ladies in one place, and the fact that they weren’t opening the door meant there was definitely something going on.

“I’m back.”

Just then, the shadow demon appeared in front of Lucy.

“I investigated the mansion, but there wasn’t anything particularly suspicious. There is some kind of device installed on the ceiling where this music is playing, though.”

“Device?”

“It seems to be a magic device. It’ll probably explode if you pour mana into it.”

“That’s suspicious.”

“Really? And there were a bunch of masked guys gathered on the roof of the mansion too.”

“That’s also suspicious.”

“You think everything’s suspicious.”

“Anyway, good job. I’ll give you the blood later. I’m a bit busy right now.”

“What? You’re breaking your prom…”

Whoosh.

Lucy sent the shadow demon back and looked up.

The two knights guarding the entrance to the ballroom were whispering while looking at Lucy.

They seemed to think Lucy was talking to herself, saying things like “It’s a pity, she’s still so young…”.

It made sense.

The shadow demon’s appearance was invisible to others, and only children could hear its voice.

So, to the knights, it would seem like Lucy was talking to herself.

Lucy walked towards the two knights.

“Hey, I said you can’t go in, kid.”

The two knights tried to stop Lucy again.

But,

“?”

Shadows crawled up from under the knights’ feet and began to constrict their bodies.

“W-What is this…!”

The two knights were unable to move, bound by the shadows.

Then, as Lucy stretched out her hand, a magic circle formed on the floor, rendering them unable to speak.

[ Silentium ]

A curse-type skill.

It had the effect of forcibly silencing the target.

With the knights’ obstruction gone, Lucy opened the door to the ballroom and entered.

The ballroom was filled with boisterous music.

And in a space set up like a stage, Sebastian was seen shaking his body wildly.

Sebastian was dancing hard, even sweating, but the expressions of the young ladies watching him weren’t very bright.

Ellie, in particular, was frowning as if she was annoyed.

Lucy walked into the ballroom and soon made eye contact with Sebastian on the stage.

A smile spread across Sebastian’s face as he spotted Lucy.

Sebastian’s dance became more intense, and the young ladies’ expressions worsened.

At that moment,

Boom!

The ceiling of the ballroom exploded.

“Kyaa!”

The music stopped abruptly with a scream.

Pieces of the building rained down.

Lucy immediately used her skill.

“Bone Shield.”

A huge pile of bones formed above the young ladies’ heads.

The debris landed directly on the pile of bones, and fortunately, none of the young ladies were injured.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Dozens of masked men rushed in through the exploded ceiling hole.

They were briefly taken aback by the floating pile of bones, but soon nimbly landed on the floor and rushed towards the young ladies.

“Kyaa!”

The young ladies screamed again.

“Stop them!”

The knights of the Astoria family in the ballroom quickly leaped into action.

As if hearing the commotion, knights were rushing in through the entrance as well.

“W-What on earth is this….”

Sebastian, who was on the stage, trembled with a pale face.

He was dancing hard when suddenly the ceiling exploded and masked men rushed in.

Thud.

Just then, someone approached Sebastian.

It was Walter.

Holding a sharp dagger in his hand.

“Please die, young master.”

“H-Hik?!”

Sebastian frantically looked around, but all the knights had rushed towards the young ladies.

“W-Walter, why all of a sudden….”

Sebastian stumbled backward and fell on his butt.

“For the Astoria family.”

Walter straddled Sebastian and raised the dagger high.

At that moment,

Thwack!

Walter’s head flew off.

“…!”

Sebastian blinked in shock.

Behind Walter’s headless body, someone was visible.

A girl in a maid’s uniform.

It was Lucy.

“Ah, ah….”

Sebastian looked at Lucy, his mouth agape.

Lucy smiled softly and asked.

“Are you okay?”

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
I hope you have a good day for today too! Thank you for reading!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
If you guessed that he would be killed anticlimactically, you won a prize of absolutely nothing~ Yay!

For those that failed, you’ll have your balls crushed, boohoo!