episode_0134

000

In the Tromea family’s manor, there exists a massive training ground exclusively for the family’s battle maids.

A floor and walls that remain unscathed no matter how intensely weapons clash or bodies move, and a soundproof barrier that prevents noise from escaping outside.

This is a forbidden area for men, and Percis Tromea, the master of the manor and head of the family, is no exception.

However, he simply created and provided such a space as his wife requested – no, directed.

Before marrying Percis, Aurelia Tromea was a descendant of an ancient clan that guarded the royal capital from the shadows, and in terms of history alone, her family had a lineage even longer than the Tromea family.

She herself boasts considerable spear skills. She is skilled in schemes, tactics, and strategies, and in case of emergency, she is a heroic figure with the ability to lead troops at the forefront.

Therefore, Percis respected his wife, and in order to continue their struggle to protect the royal capital from light and shadow from an equal position, he tolerated and supported her in creating her own private army.

And that private army is none other than the Tromea family’s battle maids.

They only follow the orders of Mrs. Tromea, throwing themselves into battles to protect the royal capital. Regardless of origin or race, they are composed of women who possess both skill and a soul that is not tainted by evil.

The number has increased or decreased with the passage of time, but the current number consists of a total of 31 people + one magic sword.

In addition to household chores such as cleaning and laundry that ordinary servants perform, they also boast a fairly intense workload that includes self-training, village patrols, escorting personnel, and sometimes even tasks that must be handled in the dark.

However, as much as that, they receive a considerable amount of compensation compared to other servants, or rather, soldiers, and since most of them were former adventurers, no one has ever voluntarily quit this job where they have a fixed residence and can have decent meals.

“Alright, alright. Here I come!”

A thunderous voice is heard in the training ground. Moving is a tall woman with a muscular physique all over her body and exceeding 2 meters in height.

Scales sprout from various parts of her body, and her eyes have vertically split black pupils in golden irises, making her appearance reminiscent of Rutie, but the fact that no tail or horns were visible indicated that she was a different race from her.

Her ears were long and pointed, and her body’s skin had a slightly reddish tint but was close to white. Regardless of the custom-made maid uniform that covered her entire body, with each intense movement, the muscles in her arms and the muscles in her legs that were slightly visible through her skirt could be glimpsed.

She was a woman who boasted a pumped-up physique that could intimidate even well-trained men.

The color of her hair was a mint color that was slightly contrasting to her burning muscles, and her long hair was tied into a single braid.

In her hand was a spear imbued with magic. It was a so-called ‘magic spear’, but unlike the magic sword with a similar name, it did not possess a self, nor was it an object that allowed her to use magic herself.

Taking the form of a white, massive magic lance, it had an unstable shape as if cracks had formed on its surface, and the ominous red light seeping out from between the cracks made one feel that it would be quite difficult for an ordinary person to hold and use.

Wielding a spear as large as her height with ease and driving her opponent, her name is Nora. She was a woman who was a mixed-race of lizardman and elf.

Facing her is a woman with black hair, black eyes, and white skin. Her height was much shorter than her, and the thickness of her body was incomparable, but she, too, had a warrior’s body hidden beneath her maid uniform, completed through countless training sessions along with scars.

Holding the beautiful, single-edged magic sword – Barisada – in her hand, she evades Nora’s attacks, which surge like a tidal wave, with minimal movements, looking for an opening.

While clicking her tongue at Nora’s movements, which are so quick that it is hard to imagine from her large size, she places her hand on the hilt of her sword.

[Distortion. Rubella is Nora’s-]

“Ahaha! Another teleport!? Not gonna happen!”

Having learned her behavioral patterns from her several duels with Rubella, Nora swung her magic spear in all directions when Rubella tried to use Barisada’s ability.

Then, the afterimage of the magic spear remained in place, filling Nora’s surroundings with the illusion of spears arranged like the quills of a hedgehog.

Annoyingly, all of those spears had a tangible form, and even if one were to touch the side of the spear without a blade, the magic power of the spear would emit an impact, creating a force as if one had been stabbed by the tip of the spear.

“Tch…”

An annoying ability. Rubella thinks, but Nora thought the same way.

Rubella imbued a large amount of magic power into her magic sword, then created distance and swung a quick draw.

Then, the high concentration of magic power became a flying slash with physical force at the same time as the blade was drawn and flew towards Nora.

It was the swordsmanship that had instantly severed the head of Marquis Hughes before.

However, unlike Hughes, who was a walking lump of meat, Nora is a warrior who has accumulated experience by going through many battlefields. She, too, focused her mind on her spear, and the illusions of spears that had been spread around her flew all at once and rushed towards Rubella.

Rubella’s slash was erased by it, and Rubella was forced to stop her legs without finding a place to escape in that spot.

“Alright! This time it’s my victory!”

The moment Nora shouted that.

[Distortion.]

`Rubella` is surrounded by illusions of spears.

`Nora` is surrounded by illusions of spears.

“Eh!? Kyaa!”

Nora, who let out a fairly cute scream, was engulfed in the attack she had swung and collapsed on the spot.

Rubella sighs, `Huu…` and returns Barisada to its scabbard.

“Winner! Rubella!”

Shouted from the corner of the training ground was a red-eyed girl with white hair, wearing a maid uniform like the two, and even younger in appearance than Sasha. She is none other than `Labitta`, the leader and veteran of these battle maids. It was said that she, too, was a mixed-race of some kind and human. Thanks to that, she has to live with that appearance for the rest of her life.

As Rubella’s victory was decided, half of the maids who were watching it in the training ground let out a sigh of regret, and the other half shouted with joy.

“Damn it~! I bet on Nora winning this time!”

“Is it 16 wins and 15 losses so far? And a 2-win streak.”

It seemed that they had bet on the results of Rubella and Nora’s duel.

A fairly large amount of money was seen changing hands.

Rubella looked at her colleagues for a moment, then approached Nora, who had been hit by her own attack due to her transfer.

“…Nora. Are you okay?”

“Ugh, uh-huh… It’s still my spear. I’m okay even if it hurts a little….”

Nora was groaning and raising her body, and although she had adjusted the power because it was a duel, it was seen that the bruises she had suffered were gradually regenerating.

[As expected of lizardman blood! I’m glad the recovery is fast”

In response to Barisada’s words, who made a voice and returned to human form, Nora nodded and answered.

“Yeah! I won’t lose next time!”

Looking at her, who was smiling brightly and purely as if she was looking forward to the next duel with Rubella more than the regret she must have had, Rubella recalled the face of Sasha, who was a member of Cleon’s group.

“Huh…?”

At that time, Rubella picked up a small stuffed doll that had fallen on the floor. It was smaller than her hand, and there were traces that it had been tied somewhere and had fallen off.

What is its shape…. What could it be? A bear? A rabbit? It’s hard to tell, but it was a cute design, so it was even more out of place to be dropped in a place like this.

And when Nora saw it in Rubella’s hand, she made a voice like `Ah` and looked at her spear.

“T, that…”

“Is it Nora’s? Was it attached to your spear?”

Seeing that the ribbon string that was cut off was attached to her spear, it seemed that the one that had been tied there had been torn off by the fight just now.

Rubella looked at it, untied the ribbon on her maid uniform, and attached the doll to her spear.

“It would be better to use something stronger. But use that to tie it for now.”

“… …”

Nora, looking at her with her eyes sparkling at Rubella’s actions.

Soon, she opened her arms wide and hugged Rubella, rubbing her face against her.

“Rubella! Thank you! Rubella is my friend after all!”

“Gu, gugyegek…”

However, the voice heard from Nora’s arms was not Rubella’s voice, but Labitta’s voice, who had been judging until just now.

Just before Nora hugged her, she had exchanged positions with her using Barisada’s ability.

Labitta was hitting Nora’s arms with her hands as if she was suffocating, but Nora was immersed in emotion and did not properly grasp the opponent in front of her.

Rubella looked at Nora for a moment, then headed to the dressing room prepared inside the training ground to wipe off her sweaty body and change her clothes.

When she opened the door and went inside-

“Haaam…eup!?”

“W, oaht…! R, Rubella! I, it’s already over….”

Looking at the other battle maids who were kissing each other in a half-naked state inside the dressing room, her expression became bitter.

She was certainly embarrassed when she first came, but now she resented herself for being so used to it.

Most of the facilities used by these maids were male-forbidden areas, but it was not forbidden to associate with men under the unit’s regulations.

From time to time, she would witness such physical contact between women.

The Duchess did not touch even this, and seemed to recognize it only as one of the means to relieve stress from the intensity of the work.

Two people with brown hair and navy blue hair, wiping their mouths with flushed expressions in front of her.

Rubella closed her eyes for a moment, calmed herself down, and said with a blank face.

“No. Please don’t mind me. I just came to change my clothes.”

“U, uh-huh. S, sorry…”

At Rubella’s words, the girls had embarrassed expressions but did not let go of their hands.

“Come to think of it, it’s tomorrow, right? Cleon…was it? The adventurer that the Duchess is trying to call.”

“Several people have gone to work over there. Ah, that, come to think of it, Rubella didn’t apply there.”

“That… Rubella has, um, other work to do.”

“That’s right….”

“Come to think of it, it seems that Mr. Cleon is also on good terms with Aruru-sama.”

“What? Really? Then, is he two-timing Rubella?”

“And the group he’s with are all women….”

“Ueek! Then how many-timing is he? Rubella… are you okay?”

`The last time I exchanged letters was a week ago. After that, I don’t know why, but every time I tried to send a reply, I didn’t know what to write and gave up. Still, would it have been better to send a reply? No. Iona was there, so it might not have been necessary. But, it’s bad that they haven’t contacted me at all since Iona came back. It’s like they won’t send me a letter unless I reply. What’s that. Am I the only one waiting? Doesn’t Cleon want to see me? It’s been over a month since I last met him directly, and he’s been diligently meeting and mingling with women. Ryla, Quon, Sasha. And even Aruru, the young lady of this mansion. The face of Cleon mingling pleasantly with women I’ve never even seen keeps popping up in my head. No. This is because of the curse that the incubi have spread in the royal capital. It’s not my will. But, the erotic dreams I have at night should be sealed by Princess Amelia’s power. Is it better not to think deeply? There’s a limit to comforting myself alone every night. I’m definitely in a strange state to think that I want to meet and be held by Cleon right now. If it were the original me, I would have been able to shake it off as soon as I had such thoughts. Yes. Everything is because of the incubi and Cleon. Cleon is similar to a male incubus. In the end, the devil is bad. Let’s kill the devil. Then Cleon will also-`

“…Rubella?”

Rubella, who was lost in thought without answering even when her colleagues called her from the side, finally came to her senses when Barisada, who had followed her in, called her and looked down.

There was Barisada in human form, looking at Rubella with a worried expression.

“…Barisada. I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.”

“Let’s go back to the dorm early today. That would be better.”

“That’s…right. I’ll do that today.”

Rubella and Barisada, saying so, took their slightly staggering bodies and changed their clothes and left the dressing room.

Nora and Labitta, who had been secretly watching from outside, were watching such a scene with worried expressions from behind.

001

The place where Cleon’s group was guided was a dining room with tables prepared for greeting and sharing meals with the guests of the Duke’s family.

As with other places in the mansion, it was not a place that gave an impression of being so dazzlingly luxurious, but at least it was designed to not be disrespectful to the guests.

Since each seat was already prepared on the long table, they sat in their respective seats according to the guidance of the servants.

“You don’t have to worry too much about dining etiquette.”

Mrs. Tromea said so and smiled, and Sasha, who was wide-eyed looking at the forks and knives lined up in front of her, flinched and smiled awkwardly.

Of course. Cleon also let out a sigh of relief in that regard.

“Let’s talk a little until the food comes out. First of all, once again…. Thank you so much for saving my daughter, Aruru, in the academy incident.”

As the mistress of the highest noble family in the kingdom after the royal family said so and bowed her head, Cleon was a little troubled about how to react.

“No. I also received a lot of help from Aruru-sama – your daughter – at the academy. I would be happy if it was even a little bit of a reward for that.”

“You’re modest. As expected, you’re a different person from the rumors.”

Aurelia, with a slightly pleased yet meaningful smile at Cleon’s answer.

Feeling a trace of anxiety about the `rumors`, Cleon inadvertently asked back.

“…Rumors, you say?”

“Yes. There are all sorts of rumors. As a demon swordsman of the dark magic clan, he mingles with many women and dominates them. A charming demon with emerald hair follows him around. Not only that, but there are even rumors that he cuts down all those who get in his way.”

“C, Cleon-ssi is not that kind of person….”

When Sasha objected to Aurelia’s words, Aurelia smiled and answered as if trying to reassure her.

“Of course. If the previous words were true, Aruru would not have been drawn to him.”

Cleon felt a slight twinge of conscience. It seemed that Galatea’s laughter was heard from somewhere.

Ryla and Quon also had slightly uncomfortable expressions, but only Aruru was smiling brightly.

“Rumors are exaggerated in many ways.”

“Moreover, a demon swordsman who possesses both a holy sword and a demon sword is a special being that has not been confirmed in history. You seem to be carrying a special destiny in many ways.”

Galatea and Caliburn, who were allowed to be armed because they were a holy sword and a demon sword, were leaning against the wall now.

The two did not need food, and they were simply staying there quietly, perhaps because they did not intend to reveal their human forms in front of Mrs. Tromea.

“As for me, I would be really happy if someone like you became my daughter’s partner….”

“Cough. Cough…!”

Quon, who was drinking water, coughed at those words.

She was trying to calm down her choking somehow, but since it wasn’t working properly, one of the servants who was next to her came to help Quon.

“Are you okay.”

“Yes, yes…. I’m fine. Rubella…”

It was Rubella who helped Quon, who had been called to the seat by Mrs. Tromea.

She patted Quon’s back and handed her a napkin.

Then, when she met Cleon’s eyes, she avoided his gaze for a moment, and then turned her head away.

“But. You seem to have made connections with a lot of women. Rubella, who is usually flawless, has shown flustered appearances every time your topic comes up.”

As if trying to tease Rubella, Aurelia, with a playful face, said so, and Rubella flinched slightly but answered with her eyes closed.

“Madam, I have never done that.”

When she said so in a low voice that was not flustered and unwavering, Aurelia glanced at her and answered with a still smiling face.

“But according to what I heard from Lisa, you crumpled and threw away more than 30 letters that you tried to write to Cleon-”

Instantly, silence flowed inside the dining room. And what broke that silence was Rubella’s voice, as if it was being pulled from the bottom of hell.

“…Ba…ri…sa…da…”

The sound of someone running away to escape was heard, and Rubella turned her gaze in that direction, but was stopped by Aurelia.

“Well. I’ll apologize for teasing you. How about being a little more honest? We’re going to have to work together in the future.”

The work that Rubella was helping Aurelia with and the work that Aurelia was trying to ask Cleon for were probably of the same kind.

Cleon also understood that, so he met Rubella’s eyes for a moment.

Rubella opened her mouth as if trying to say something, but as no voice came out, she closed her mouth repeatedly.

Finally, one word. She drew out a word that did not disguise her emotions and put it into her mouth.

“I’m sorry. For not replying… to your letter. Cleon.”

“Ah, aah. No. I heard you were busy with work in the royal capital, so it can’t be helped.”

Rubella was struggling, wondering what words to continue after that, but her lips did not fall easily.

Cleon too. He didn’t know how to react when Rubella, who usually scolded or teased him, said such words.

And Ryla and the others, who were watching such a scene from the side, were also making strange expressions as they watched the subtle atmosphere.

“…No. Wait a minute. Is this necessary? Isn’t what we have to do today is talk about Princess Amelia?”

“Hmm. It’s fun to watch, but that’s certainly true. It seems that Rubella can get along well with Cleon too.”

When Rubella came to her senses and said so, Aurelia nodded her head as if she was regretful and tried to continue the story in a serious tone by changing her expression.

“…Princess Amelia. Are you talking about that secluded princess?”

“That’s right. Ryla-yang. As expected, you know her well.”

“No… I don’t know her in detail…. Why is her name being mentioned?”

Aurelia takes a deep breath. The story that will come out of her mouth from now on was a story that could shake the entire royal capital.

“Do you all know about the legend of the ‘Saint Princess’, the shining night guardian of the royal capital?”