Genjitsushugisha no Oukokukaizouki - Volume 7 - Chapter SS6

Bonus Short Stories 

The Master and Servant Aren’t on the Same Page 

It happened in the Republic of Turgis, on the south of the continent. 

Near the town of Noblebeppu in the east, a young snow ape boy named Kuu Tiasei, the son of the current head of the republic, was riding on a numoth as it broke through snow and ice. He was heading to visit his childhood friend Taru the blacksmith with his servant Leporina in tow. 

Lying down on the numoth’s back, Kuu stared idly into the sky. 

There was a blue sky and white clouds. Partly because summer was approaching, today was a clear day. However, in this country, when the winter came, thick clouds would block out the sky, and frequent blizzards would impede the coming and going of the people. That meant they tended to stay cooped up inside their homes, making them even more introverted. 

If only this weather would last a little longer... 

Kuu was always saying being the son of the head of the republic didn’t suit him, but he wanted to change the situation in this country. The winters here were too dark. He preferred things to be bright. He wanted the men and women in town to smile with good cheer. That was why he made the effort to at least smile himself, but it wasn’t an issue he could fix without help. 

If I just knew what to do, I could work hard to do it... he reflected. 

“Thinking about something, Master Kuu?” 

Leporina’s face entered Kuu’s field of vision. Because he was resting his head in Leporina’s lap, her face appeared upside down when she looked down at him. 

Kuu and Leporina were master and servant, but they had also known each other from a young age, so they were close. They had often played together with Taru in their youth, and at those times Leporina had been like a big sister to the two of them because she was a little older. That was why it didn’t feel unnatural to be resting his head in her lap. 

“Hm... I was thinking about how to make someone—everyone—smile.” Kuu stretched as he answered. 

“That would be simple... if you would just be open with your feelings. You’re always so indirect, it’s hard to tell if she’s taking you seriously.” 

“...Ook? What’re you talking about?” Kuu asked, getting the sense they weren’t talking about the same thing, which caused Leporina to tilt her head to the side. 

“Huh? This wasn’t about Taru?” 

Kuu had been thinking about how to make the people of the republic smile, but Leporina hadn’t been able to imagine he was thinking about something so serious, so she’d misunderstood and assumed he was thinking about the girl he loved. 

Kuu realized that Leporina was misunderstanding, noticed he had been thinking about something uncharacteristically serious for his ever-cheerful self, and since he was embarrassed to let Leporina know that, he decided to run with it. 

“Hm? Oh, you’re right there. Taru’s been prickly lately. She used to be a little more willing to smile.” 

“You say that, but weren’t you more honest with your feelings back then, too?” Leporina asked. 

“Huh? I’m always telling her how I feel.” 

“I’m telling you that the way you do it is warped. When we were little, you gave her a crown of white flowers as a present, didn’t you? That made Taru happy, didn’t it? But lately you’ve been trying to get her jealous, making passes at furry girls like her, right? That’s having the opposite effect.” 

“Ookee... But if don’t do that, she won’t even look at me lately,” Kuu said sulkily. 

“I understand the feeling, but...” Leporina sighed. 

She understood quite well why the two were on different pages. Kuu played at being a joker, but he had the potential to be the next head of the republic. Taru was working to master her trade as a blacksmith so as not to be left behind by him. The more Taru devoted herself to her work, the more she neglected Kuu, and the more obstinately Kuu tried to get Taru’s attention, the more stubborn he made her. 

They’re the same type of people, you could say... ultimately. 

The crux of the matter was that they were both stubborn. Neither would admit defeat to the other, and their stubborn attempts to make themselves look good to the other put them at cross purposes. 

Well, that is what makes room for me, though... 

Leporina had always had feelings for Kuu. 

Kuu was the one with the greatest potential to carve a new future for this country, and Leporina always wanted to be close by his side, watching him. It might be fair to say she yearned for him. She wouldn’t get in Kuu and Taru’s way, and she meant to cheer them on, so she hoped she would be allowed to stay at his side. 

But Master Kuu never tries to woo me... 

In order to get Taru jealous, Kuu had been making passes at beastman girls with furry ears and tails like hers. In short, he was hitting on girls who were like Taru. 

Still, if that was what he was trying to do, Leporina’s rabbit ears should have fit the bill, too. However, Kuu had never hit on Leporina. 

Am I so unattractive... Master Kuu? 

While thinking about that, Leporina had unconsciously been patting Kuu on the head. 

Ookyah?! Kuu was greatly surprised by this. That was because it was disrespectful for her, in her position as his servant, to be patting her master on the head. 

When Kuu looked up at her, Leporina was staring off into the distance, her mind elsewhere. 

What? Leporina... What’re you thinking? 

Realizing that she had acted unconsciously, Kuu opted not to say anything. He normally enjoyed seeing how his actions messed with people, but he didn’t want to embarrass her by pointing out her mistake. 

Man, that spooked me... 

The reason Kuu didn’t hit on Leporina... was because, if he did make a pass at her, it wouldn’t end as just a joke. If he did it to someone he was meeting for the first time, they would let it slide as mere banter. However, because of his close relationship with Leporina, if he made a joke of hitting on her, it would hurt her. The one he loved was Taru, but Leporina was important to him, too. That was why Kuu never tried to woo her. 

So I wish she’d stop unconsciously trying to tempt me... 

Leporina sighed to herself. Do I need to show off my femininity more...? 

Kuu and Leporina, like Kuu and Taru, were also at cross purposes because of how much they cared for one another. 

The numoth pressed on, carrying along two people who weren’t on the same page. 

Liscia Writes a Letter 

“Dear Souma, how are you? I hear you’ve headed for a cold place, so I’m worried you’ll ruin your health. The weather here continues to be...”

“Wait, this is way too formal!” Liscia crumpled everything she had written so far into a ball and tossed it on the floor. 

This was Liscia’s room in Parnam Castle, but the floor was scattered with similarly crumpled papers. She was wasting a large volume of paper that, while as a noble she could easily obtain it, was still a valuable commodity, but it was forgivable for today, at least. 

She was writing a letter to convey something important to her fiancé, Souma. But, unable to put it into words properly, Liscia was clutching her head. 

Souma was on a diplomatic voyage to the frigid Republic of Turgis in the south. Liscia had honestly wanted to accompany him, but because her health had worsened of late, she had ended up holding down the fort this time. Then she had been examined by Hilde, the best female doctor in the kingdom. 

“Princess, about the reason for your feeling unwell. You’re...” Hilde had leaned in and whispered her diagnosis in Liscia’s ear. 

Upon hearing the word, Liscia’s face had gone white with shock, and then a feeling of euphoria had welled up from the bottom of her stomach. Finally, after calming down, she’d started to grow more and more uncertain. 

Those around her had been sent into a frenzy of activity by the diagnosis, but Liscia herself was now under orders to get rest, and she had nothing to do. 

For now, she was taking up her feather pen to inform Souma of the news, but she was finding herself unable to discover a way of wording it that she liked. 

Then there was a knock at the door. 

“Yes, come in!” Liscia called. 

Naden, a fellow fiancée who was also staying behind, entered the room. “Liscia, are you all... Wait, it’s kind of a mess in here, huh?” 

She sounded exasperated, looking at the disastrous state of this room with all the failed letters scattered across its floor. 

“Ahaha...” Liscia laughed awkwardly. “I was writing a letter to Souma to let him know about my diagnosis, but... it’s not been going well.” 

“I understand how you feel, but if you overwork yourself, aren’t you going to end up feeling sick again?” 

“I’m feeling comparatively relaxed at the moment.” 

“Good grief...” Naden picked up one of the discarded papers and looked over it. “There’s only one thing you need to tell him, right? Why not just write that?” 

“But when I consider how Souma will feel when he reads it... I really can’t write just that one thing.” 

“Well, fair enough. I’m sure he’s going to be really surprised.” Naden sat down on Liscia’s bed. “So surprised he might come flying right back here. Not that Souma can fly.” 

“That’s no good! Souma won’t get many chances to take his time looking around another country, so I need to write to make sure he does his duty in this letter.” 

“Do you think warning him in a letter will be enough to make Souma listen?” 

Liscia shook her head in response to Naden’s question. Souma was family-oriented, and when a member of his family was involved, his field of vision narrowed. If he was informed of this diagnosis, she suspected he’d rush back to the country. Writing that he shouldn’t do that in her letter was probably not going to stop him. 

“I’ll need to write to Aisha first,” Liscia decided. She would write a letter to Aisha and have her restrain Souma. 

As Liscia turned back to her desk, Naden shrugged. 

“I think we can rest easy with that.” 

“...Can we really?” 

“Huh?” 

The hand holding Liscia’s feather pen stopped as she thought about it. “Aisha does pretty much anything Souma tells her to. She can hold him down with force, but if Souma seriously orders her to let go, I think she will. Hmm... In order to stop that overprotective Souma, I’ll need to convince him I’m right with logic.” 

“Y-You will?” 

Seeing Liscia come up with a multilayered plan to keep Souma from returning, Naden found it a little off-putting. In her heart of hearts, Liscia surely wanted Souma to come back home quickly, but she was firmly ordering him not to for his own good. 

Who are you calling overprotective? You’re being pretty overprotective yourself here, Liscia. 

Ultimately, they were a like-minded husband and wife... No, a like-minded fiancé and fiancée. 

Naden was exasperated internally, but Liscia went on mumbling without noticing that. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t be in the castle, after all. If he knows he can’t see me immediately by returning to the castle, I think that should keep Souma’s desire to return home under control.” Then something seemed to occur to Liscia, and she clapped her hands. “I’ve decided. I’m leaving the castle.” 

“Huh?! What’re you saying when you’re supposed to be sick?!” Naden exclaimed. 

However, Liscia grinned. “I know why I’m feeling unwell now. It’ll settle down in a little while. Besides, I said I’d be leaving the castle, but only to rest in the countryside where the air is fresher. My father’s former domain, now part of the crown demesne, just so happens to be that sort of place, too.” 

“Oh! You’re just going to rest, huh...” 

Naden’s relief made Liscia giggle. 

“It’s a good opportunity, so I’ll have Mother teach me all sorts of things while I’m there. From here on... I’m going to need that knowledge.” With that said, Liscia turned back to the desk. “Now that that’s settled, I need to let Souma know. If I write, ‘You can’t see me even if you come back now,’ he won’t force his way back here, I’m sure. Oh! I’ll have to tell Aisha not to let him come back, either.” 

Watching Liscia’s feather pen dance happily across the page, Naden was filled with exasperation. “...Oh, just do whatever you want.” 

Unable to put up with any more of this, Naden left the room. 

Now alone in the room again, Liscia quickly began writing.

“I’m pregnant.” 

Juno’s Ridiculous Story 

“Come to think of it, there was that time rumors started spreading about Mr. Little Musashibo as the ‘kigurumi adventurer,’” Juno said all of a sudden. 

Juno and I were now meeting once a week for an hour or two to talk. We had been doing that ever since the first time. 

I had brought a glass table and chairs out onto the terrace of the governmental affairs office in Parnam Castle, and I was talking to Juno over a light meal from Ishizuka’s Place. 

Also, the drinks were juice and tea, no alcohol. If we got drunk, there would be a security issue, not to mention the issue of whether Juno could get home properly. It was like a late night tea party. 

Juno sipped her tea as she recalled events for me. “There were other weird ghost stories, too.” 

“Oh, what would those be?” Aisha asked from beside us. She was stuffing sandwiches into her face as she talked. 

All of my fiancées knew I was meeting with Juno, as was only proper, and I invited them to participate in our tea parties occasionally, too. I didn’t want anyone wrongly suspecting these were romantic trysts and I was cheating on them. 

Aisha and Juna (and Liscia, but she was away) were at least acquainted with Juno, and Roroa and Naden weren’t exactly shy, either, so they’d gotten used to her in no time. If anything, I got the feeling that Juno was the one feeling tense. 

“I-I’m Juno, and I often go on adventures with Souma... er, I mean His Majesty... er, not in person, I mean with his puppet...” 

That had been her stammered self-introduction to Aisha, but, well, she’d seemed to get used to it after the third time. 

But I digress. Let’s get back to the ghost story Juno had to tell. 

“Like, ‘A giant snake was seen entering the castle at night,’ or, ‘The bones of the giant salamander in front of the museum move at night.’” 

“The former must be Naden,” I said. “No clue about the latter, though.” 

“You mean the skeletal specimen out in front of the Royal Museum? It moves?” Aisha asked. 

“I don’t recall installing that gimmick...” I muttered. 

Aisha and I were both perplexed. 

“It’s just a rumor,” Juno explained as she drank her tea. “They think ‘the soul of the owner of the bones still resides in them, and is making them move,’ apparently. Like a skull dragon, you know?” 

A skull dragon was a monster made of the bones of a dragon that had died with lingering regrets. The bones would begin to move, and would spread miasma around the area. In fact, whether they’d died with lingering regrets or not, if the bones were left sitting for many years, a dragon’s bones might spontaneously transform into one. 

“But those bones are a replica, you realize?” I said. “I sent the original out to be studied.” 

“Ohh, I suppose there’s no way the original’s soul could be inside it, then,” Aisha said. 

“I don’t know,” Juno shrugged. “I’m just saying that’s the rumor.” 

Hmm... It sounded like just a ghost story. In the other world, there were stories like “the running statue of Ninomiya Kinjirou,” or “the portrait of Beethoven in the music room that smiles in the middle of the night.” Maybe people were just talking about something moving at night because they thought it would be creepy if it did. 

While I was thinking about that, I realized Juno was staring at me. 

“...What?” I asked. 

“Oh, no. I just thought the bones thing might have something to do with you, too.” 

“Don’t go blaming everything on me. Well, I’m sure I could move it with my Living Poltergeists, but I haven’t.” 

“No, but a good percentage of the weird rumors up until now have had something to do with you or one of your people.” 

“I just can’t see any point in making a skeletal sample move. No one would do something as pointless as... Ah!” 

There was one person. The one standing on the thin line between genius and idiocy, who had created Mechadra with no way to move it. 

Later, when I had Ludwin bring her to the governmental affairs office for questioning, Genia answered without any sign of feeling guilty: “Ohh, I’m glad to see someone noticed.” 

I knew it had to be her. 

“The setup itself is simple, you see. I put a rubbery material in the shoulders and other joints. The sample is in a spot that gets a lot of sunlight, so the material expands from the heat during the day, then it cools and contracts at night. That makes the angles of the arms and such change. If you check it hourly, you’ll see it’s moving, though just a little.” 

If people stood watching it the whole time, the change was too subtle to notice, but the gimmick was such that, if someone who saw the skeletal sample in the morning looked at it again in the evening, they would think, “Huh? It’s different from when I saw it in the morning, isn’t it?” 

What did she do that for? 

“The ghost’s true identity was on the thin line between genius and idiocy...” I muttered. 

“Genia... Why do you do these things?” Ludwin clutched his head over his fiancée’s bizarre antics. 

Uh, yeah, hang in there, Ludwin. 

“I knew it had to be someone connected to you,” Juno said exasperatedly when, later on, I told her how things had gone. 

“I can’t deny that, but I can’t accept the way you say that like it’s my fault.” 

“But you’re the one employing that weirdo, right?” 

“Well, yeah, but...” 

While I was still unable to make excuses, Juno cackled. 

“You said you wanted to hear about the goings-on in the castle town, but from where I’m standing, it sounds like the more interesting stuff’s going on around you. Doesn’t sound like you’d ever get bored.” 

“Well, no, I’m never bored,” I admitted. “I’m just swamped with work every day.” 

“That’s good, isn’t it? I became an adventurer because I’d hate to live a boring life, but it seems to me like maybe you can live a life without boredom no matter what job you choose. It’s all a matter of how you go about it.” 

“Oh, are you up for quitting the adventuring life now?” 

“Don’t be silly. This life suits me,” Juno said sticking her tongue out. 

I laughed. It really was fun talking to someone who normally lived a completely different lifestyle from me. 

“Oh!” she said. “Now that we’re on the subject, I think I remember another rumor that was going around!” 

“...What’s it about this time?” 

“There are these things running really fast across the roofs in town. There’ve been silhouettes like a monkey, a rabbit, and a dear or lizard thing, I hear.” 

“...” 

Those were obviously people I knew. Honestly... There was never a shortage of things to talk about. 

Juna’s Nursing 

“...Huh?” Juna gulped. 

In a hot spring in the town of Noblebeppu in the Republic of Turgis, when Juna and Souma were in the open air bath together, Souma suddenly started to slump over. 

“D-Darling?” Juna caught his head in her arms as it fell towards her ample bosom. Looking at him, he was red as a boiled octopus. The symptoms of someone who’d gotten dizzy from the heat. “O-Oh, no! We need to get you out of the water, now!” 

Juna pulled Souma out of the water and dragged him towards the changing room. 

Having served as a commander in the marines, Juna could carry Souma by herself. When she did, his most private parts were clearly visible to her, but she didn’t have time to worry about that right now. 

Juna carried him to the changing room, put his clothes on, and went to call someone... and then she realized she was buck naked, too. Though she had to hurry, as an unwed woman, she couldn’t let any man other than her fiancé Souma see her bare flesh. 

“I’m sorry, sire, please wait just a moment.” With that said, Juna hastily clothed herself and hurried to get someone.

Their companions had all either drunk themselves silly or were away, so Juna got help from the inn’s staff to carry Souma to the room where they were staying. The inn staff concurred with her assumption, saying, “The heat probably just got to him,” so she decided to let him lie down and cool off for now. 

Thanking the staff as they left, Juna let Souma rest his head in her lap with a cool cloth on his forehead as she fanned his face. 

While she looked at Souma’s unconscious face, Juna lowered her eyes apologetically. “Is it because... I took too long to find my resolve, perhaps?” 

The truth was, Juna had been ready to enter the bath as soon as Souma did. However, when the time had come to do so, she’d suddenly gotten embarrassed. 

“It... It was embarrassing for me, too...” she murmured. 

Juna had boldly acted as if her feelings were “I don’t mind being seen naked if it’s by you,” but she was a young maiden, and seeing him naked and being seen naked herself had left her heart racing the whole time. 

Because she’d hesitated, Souma’s time in the bath had lasted longer than hers, making him get dizzy from the heat. 

The truth is... I don’t have that much extra composure from being the older one, sire, Juna thought as she looked down at Souma with his eyes closed. 

Souma and his other fiancées tended to look up to Juna like a big sister, but in some ways, she was trying to act more mature than she was. When she sensed that was the ideal vision of her that people held, she couldn’t help but try to be that. 

Lately, Souma had started to understand that aspect of her, so he had started to talk with her like they were the same age whenever they were alone, like they had been just now, but... 

The fact of the matter is, Aisha and Naden should both be older than me. 

While those two members of the long-lived races were stubborn about not revealing their true ages, they most likely had lived far longer than Juna and the rest. She was a little dissatisfied that, despite that, they treated her like she was older than them. Yes, that had to do with Juna’s high mental age, but... 

Juna removed the cloth from Souma’s forehead and patted him there. 

“Oh, but being able to hear His Majesty’s complaints may be one perk of that position.” 

Juna recalled what Souma had said in the bath. 

He had said he’d learned too much about Kuu and the others before learning about the republic. If a time ever came when he needed to become hostile to the republic, he was worried he wouldn’t be able to give the order to fight. Even as everyone else had been letting loose at the party, Souma had been thinking about his duties as king. Worrying without letting anyone else know. 

Back then, too... you were worrying about things. 

She recalled that night in which war with the corrupt nobles and the Principality of Amidonia had been drawing near. Juna had, at Liscia’s request, sung a lullaby for a sleepless Souma. 

You haven’t changed since then. I like that. 

There must have been many times since then that he had been forced to make a decision as king. The reason Souma was now at a loss for what to do was because, even after those decisions, he had not lost his natural kindness. 

He was king, yet unable to fully become king. That was who Souma was. 

That might be a weakness, and it was only in front of Juna that Souma could expose that weakness well. In front of his other fiancées, he always ended up trying to be tough. 

“I think you would do a fine job of indulging a young boy who’s trying to put up a strong front,” Liscia had said back then. 

When Souma was in front of Juna, he was willing to show a comparatively weaker side of himself. It made a sweet sense of superiority over the other fiancées spread through her chest. Feeling that, she thought, Sorry, everyone. 

“It’s okay, sire,” she murmured. “I will hide your weakness.” 

She spoke the same words she had spoken that time, with an awareness of her own feelings which hadn’t changed since that time... no, which had grown even stronger since then. And then... 

“...Juna-san?” It looked like Souma had awoken. 

“Oh! You were awake?” 

Juna explained that he had passed out in the hot springs, and she had carried him here with the help of the inn’s staff. 

When he found out she had gotten a good look at various parts of him while he was out cold, Souma put on an embarrassed, forced smile. They were enjoying a quiet moment together after that, when... 

“By the way, have Aisha and the others come back?” Souma suddenly asked. 

Internally, Juna was a bit miffed. Geez... Here we finally have some time alone together, and he’s thinking about other people. 

She wanted to fill Souma’s thoughts with nothing but her. So that... 

“So that we can do things like this.” Juna pressed her lips to Souma’s. 

His surprised eyes only saw Juna. Satisfied, Juna let out a mischievous giggle. Her smile held enough power to entrance anyone who saw it. 

“Shall we keep the fact we took a bath together our little secret for a while?” Juna asked charmingly, and Souma could no longer look away from her. 

Guardians of the God of Food 

The waiting room of the governor’s mansion in the Kingdom of Friedonia’s new city of Venetinvoa was today, like every day, filled with ambitious women, confident in their beauty, aiming to become the wives of Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Poncho Ishizuka Panacotta. 

“I’ll take the position of head wife, with my beautiful face.” 

“Hmph! It will be I who wins Sir Poncho’s heart.” 

The waiting women each believed that they were the one who would marry into wealth. 

And yet, among them, one woman had a stern look on her face. 

She was a woman of around twenty years of age, no less pretty than the boastful other women, but she had a desperate and almost tragic look on her face as she stared at the women around her. 

This battle... will not be nearly so easy to win. 

Looking at the enthusiastic women around her who were here to discuss a potential marriage, the woman brought her hands together and intertwined her fingers. 

She, too, had initially believed she could easily seduce a man like Poncho with her beautiful face. However, what separated her from the other women was that she had done a thorough job of gathering information before this meeting, in order to ensure her quarry did not escape her. Thus, in gathering information, she had quickly learned how difficult this meeting would be. 

It’s telling that, despite the number of meetings he’s had, no one has managed to secure an engagement to Poncho. 

Though many women believed Poncho would be easily seduced, no one had yet succeeded in that task. She had tried to ask those who failed about their stories, but as if there were something scandalous about their stories, none of the women would speak a word about it. 

However, there was just one thing she had learned in all of that. A maid who worked in the house of one such woman had heard her mistress mutter something: 

“Poncho has a terrifying guardian.” 

A guardian. Remembering that word, this woman felt her body tensing up. There was no doubt about it. The one rejecting Sir Poncho’s potential marriage candidates was this guardian, or whatever it was. 

But if I know in advance there is such a person, I can take countermeasures. 

She was betting on this meeting. 

I’m going to marry well, and change my destiny! 

It wasn’t that she had a pure affection for Poncho. She simply had a greater ambition than the other women around her. 

“Are you seeking to become Sir Poncho’s wife?” a voice asked suddenly. 

“Huh?!” 

When she turned to look at the person who had suddenly spoken to her, there was a cute girl with her hair in braided pigtails. Her skin was slightly tanned and her bright colored dress looked good on her. Was this girl here to discuss a potential marriage, too? 

“...Yes. Is that wrong?” the ambitious woman said guardedly, but the girl with braids shook her head. 

“Oh, no. I just had a feeling you were different from the other women. I thought you might love Sir Poncho.” 

“The world of the nobility isn’t so easygoing that you can get married for mere love,” the ambitious woman said, averting her eyes from the seemingly innocent girl with braids. “Both my parents and my elder brother are mediocre but good-natured petty nobles. There is no hope of them expanding their domain, and I can only see a future in which they eventually end up in debt to someone, and then I’ll be wed off to a house that can shoulder their debt. I don’t want that.” 

“...” 

“That’s why I want to marry Sir Poncho, who is so promising, and carve out a future for myself!” She didn’t know why she was being honest about all this, but the girl’s pure-looking eyes made her want to be stubborn. 

The girl with braids looked at her with a gentle expression. “I see. I think that’s a wonderful feeling.” 

A moment later, the ambitious woman was called in by one of the House of Panacotta’s maids. 

Finally, it was her turn for a meeting! 

As she walked down the corridor, led on by the maid, she passed by one of the women who had been boasting confidently in the waiting room. Where had that confidence gone now? Her face was twisted, and she was rushing off in a hurry. 

Aww, she must have gotten taken down by that guardian, the ambitious woman thought. I need to steel myself for this... 

At last, when she was shown into Poncho’s office, she encountered the rumored guardian. Standing behind Poncho, with a quiet smile, was a stunningly beautiful maid. 

“Huh?!” 

The intense wave of intimidation unleashed by that beautiful maid made her legs feel like they might freeze with fear. 

B-But... I won’t give up! She managed to endure that gaze somehow. 

And then she heard a gentle voice from behind her. “Pardon me.” 

Had someone entered when they were supposed to be in the middle of her meeting? When she looked back in surprise, there was the girl who had been in the waiting room before. The girl walked over to Poncho, and stood behind him, opposite the beautiful maid. 

In this moment, the ambitious woman sensed what had happened, and her knees gave out. 

“Oh! A-Are you all right?” Poncho asked worriedly. “Yes?” 

She couldn’t even raise her face to respond to his inquiry. 

I was being watched... all along... from the time I entered the waiting room... 

There was no question that the girl with braids was connected to Poncho. The girl’s mission must have been to probe the intentions of those in the waiting room. Because she had gathered information and learned of the guardian at Poncho’s side, the ambitious woman had grown complacent. 

No... Don’t tell me there were two protectors... 

As she knelt there, crushed, two lithe legs entered her field of vision. 

When she looked up, the beautiful maid from earlier was there. 

“I have heard the situation from Komain, and your grit and information gathering abilities are exceptional. How about it? Will you work as a maid in the castle?” With those words, Serina extended a hand to the woman who had been stunned into silence. “Many high-ranking nobles come and go from the castle. You may meet someone who is good for you, you know?” 

The ambitious woman sensed an opportunity, and she didn’t hesitate to take Serina’s hand. “Ah! I’ll do it!”

As a result of Serina recruiting people who seemed like they might be useful this way, Poncho still had yet to find a fiancée, but the castle’s maid force was gaining personnel and expanding. 

Furthermore, though this is a digression, this ambitious woman would, in future, meet the son of a great noble while working in the palace, and retire after getting married to him, but... that is a story for another time.