THE OLD BUTLER’S FRIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE
I am the head butler of the house of Duke Phthalo.
Presumptuous though it may sound, I have served the duke for many years and earned the title of head butler, and I am confident that my work has been impeccable.
Both in my public job as butler and my private job of protecting the duke.
As he controls the land that contains the Demon Lord’s castle, Duke Phthalo has many enemies: both his political opponents among fellow demons and the humans who often infiltrate our territory.
Among the ranks of humans are those known as the inquisitors of the Word of God religion, who root out and exterminate demons in human lands, but alas, we demons have no such profession.
Instead, each region must locate and remove human intruders on their own.
Thus, as protectors of our employers and their homes, we butlers must have the strength to execute such duties.
There are times when we must put our lives on the line and fight to protect our masters, as well.
I myself have routed many a foe since the previous duke’s time.
While many of my comrades, my elders, and even my juniors have fallen in battle, I have managed to serve the house of the duke all the way into my old age.
Whether the assassins be demon or human, it takes no small amount of ability to infiltrate the heart of the demon realm, so there have been many close calls.
But it may be that my time is nearly upon me.
I am the head butler of the house of Duke Phthalo.
Though all demons serve the Demon Lord by nature, my greatest loyalty lies with Duke Phthalo.
As such, it would be unthinkable for me not to investigate the backgrounds of those guests who are currently staying in the duke’s home.
Even if they are the Demon Lord’s companions.
But the results would send shivers down anyone’s spine.
Though I take pride in my abilities, I fear I must prepare myself for death.
That is how exceptional these girls are.
Nighttime.
It is late enough that any normal person should be in bed, but I cannot sleep.
Since I gained the Exhaustion Nullification skill after extensive training, nighttime has become an important time for me to work.
The Exhaustion Resistance skill allows one to go without sleep much longer than the average person, but with the Exhaustion Nullification skill, one does not need any sleep whatsoever.
The last time I slept was… Goodness, how long has it been? So long that I cannot even remember.
Of course, it took a great deal of effort to obtain such a valuable skill.
My training, which involved fighting off sleepiness with all my might and clinging to consciousness by a thread, was quite difficult indeed.
It pains me that young Master Balto has gained the same Exhaustion Nullification at his age, without even training in order to do so.
The sight of him working so hard with nary an hour to sleep troubles my heart.
It is for his sake that I must ascertain whether our current guests mean any harm.
Carrying no lantern, I look around the familiar sights of the duke’s mansion.
I have no need for a light source thanks to my Night Vision skill. Even without it, I know this place so well that I could undoubtedly navigate with my eyes closed.
In the dark of night, I search the house to ensure that nothing is amiss.
And soon enough, I reach the area that houses the guest rooms.
My throat growing dry with tension, I swallow nervously.
But I do not stop walking, following my usual rounds.
First, I pass by three of the guest rooms without stopping.
There are currently five guests staying in the duke’s home, but three of them are generally to be found near the other two, rarely entering their own rooms.
Thus, these three rooms have gone virtually untouched. We have been cleaning them in the afternoon, but it appears that they have barely been used at all.
After passing these first three rooms, I arrive at the rooms that do contain guests.
With my Presence Perception skill, I can tell there are two guests within the first room.
One is sitting in a corner of the room, not moving an inch.
The other is sitting in a chair in the center of the room.
Not sleeping, despite the late hour.
When I realize this, I cannot help but feel disappointment, as usual.
Yes, as usual. This guest has not slept a wink since her arrival.
I am all but certain that she, too, must have the Exhaustion Nullification skill, though I cannot understand how she acquired it at such a young age.
But if she is awake, then I cannot sneak into her room and search her belongings.
I would never do such a thing for any indecent purposes, of course!
I wish only to confirm whether she has brought anything dangerous or perhaps discover anything that might hint as to the true nature of these visitors.
Though of course, in the case of the former, she has already quite brazenly brought in a large broadsword, so I suppose I cannot do anything about that.
Truly, while I have witnessed many a high-quality weapon in my years of service to the duke, that broadsword is by far one of the finest I have ever seen. And I am quite well versed in this subject, so my eyes cannot be easily deceived.
A single swing of that sword could very well be worth as much as this mansion, could it not? For any weapon that powerful bears an extraordinary value.
And yet, this guest has placed it in her room with no effort to hide it, leaving me uneasy in many ways.
Normally, I would simply confirm that the guest is awake and move on, but at this rate, I will never uncover any information, so I decide to embark on a little adventure.
And so I walk up to the door and lightly knock.
“Oh? Do come in.”
The voice from within the room sounds curious and quickly grants me permission to enter.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
As I open the door as quietly as possible, the room is still dark, but my perception was correct: Lady Sophia is seated at the table in the center of the room, and Lady Sael is crouching in the corner.
“What prompted you to knock tonight? Usually you just walk on by.”
At her casual words, a part of me is more vindicated than surprised.
As I suspected, she aware of my nighttime rounds.
I was hiding my presence all along, but it seems that was not enough to keep Lady Sophia from being aware of my activities.
Though Lady Sophia appears quite young, perhaps she is much older than she looks.
That is the only explanation I can conceive of for her Exhaustion Nullification and the fact that she sensed my presence. For how could someone that young ever gain such advanced skills?
But even if that is the case, I cannot begin to guess what exactly she might be.
We demons live longer than humans, but the rate of our growth is the same, so demon children’s appearances match their age. Therefore, I doubt she is a demon.
If she were an elf or had any elf blood, her ears would inevitably be pointed to some degree, but Lady Sophia’s ears are unremarkably round.
Which means that either she really is the age she appears, or else she is of some mythical race, like those spoken of in folklore.
I always assumed that races such as vampires and dragonkin were the stuff of stories and nothing more, but the Demon Lord is living proof that some of the stories are true.
She is the oldest of the Divine Beasts spoken of in legend.
A mythical being who has lived since ancient times.
From what I have heard, she is of a race closely related to spiders.
And since Lady Sophia came accompanying the Demon Lord, it is possible that she, too, belongs to some mythical race.
But realistically, it is hard to believe that such rare and legendary beings would exist in such numbers.
Which means one must assume that she really is the age that she appears.
And yet, if that is true, it calls into question how she could have such remarkable abilities.
I cannot tell what the truth might be.
It is my role to investigate, but since Lady Sophia is already well aware of my movements, my only choice is to patiently try to draw out information over time instead of attempting anything foolish.
That is why I have entered this room tonight.
“My apologies, Lady Sophia. Whenever I go about making my nightly rounds, you always seem to be awake, so I was growing concerned.”
“Ah, yes. I do sleep when I feel so inclined, but the mood hasn’t struck me lately.”
Oh? So she does sleep when she wishes.
But this is hardly cause for celebration.
Even if Lady Sophia was to fall asleep, the other would likely stay awake.
I glance at the corner of the room, where Lady Sael stares at me without the slightest twitch.
She seems almost more like a doll than a human.
But I suppose that is because she really is a doll.
Though I have yet to learn the true natures of Lady Sophia and Lady White, I have uncovered the identities of the other three during these past few days of investigation.
Though I suppose I didn’t exactly “uncover” them so much as they were simply revealed to me…
Evidently, these three girls are monsters known as puppet taratects.
Their bodies are mere puppets, with their real forms being small spider monsters. The spiders sit inside the remarkably human-looking dolls, manipulating them from within.
As they are kin to the Demon Lord, it is only natural that they should be spider monsters, I suppose.
Now that I know their true identities, I find them a bit easier to deal with than Lady Sophia or Lady White.
…Although knowing that also makes them all the more frightening.
I must confess that even now, as Lady Sael stares at me, I do feel a bit of fear.
“Sorry about that. Her job is technically to be my bodyguard, so she won’t let her guard down around people she doesn’t trust.”
“It is I who should apologize. It was quite objectionable of me to enter a lady’s room at such a late hour.”
I’ve now been bluntly told that I am untrustworthy.
I suppose that was inevitable. If someone is sneaking around the house every night, it would be stranger not to be wary of them. Though for me, it is a simple matter of security, she must have found it strange if she sensed my presence.
“I patrol the mansion every night as a security measure, so I will continue to pass through the hallway around this hour. Please pay me no mind.”
“Of course. As long as you don’t try anything suspicious, that is.”
I suppose pressing the matter any further will only make her warier of me.
For now, since I at least gained the information that any careless moves will be counterproductive, I will consider this a win.
“Forgive my impertinence, but I do feel that it would be in your best interest to sleep at night if at all possible, if only for the sake of your health and growth. I bid you good night.”
Surely I can get away with giving that small piece of advice.
They do say that lack of sleep is bad for a child’s growth, so I have stated nothing but the truth.
I know not what Lady Sophia does at night, but if she really is the age she appears to be, surely it would be best for her to sleep.
At any rate, as long as she has Lady Sael at her side, I cannot make any reckless moves, regardless of whether Lady Sophia is awake or not.
If Lady Sophia ever displays ill will toward the duke’s household, then I shall have to be strong, but otherwise I will strive to keep my investigation from causing her to view me as an enemy.
Leaving Lady Sophia’s room, I move toward the next guest room.
However, when I probe inside, I sense one waking presence here as well.
Lady White appears to be asleep, but there is something awake next to her bed.
Something?
“?!”
I must commend myself for not screaming at this moment.
For just then, a black shadow suddenly lowers itself in front of me, stopping in midair directly in front of my face.
A single spider, small enough to fit in one’s palm.
The spider occupies most of my field of vision.
It is right before the tip of my nose, nearly close enough to be touching.
I reflexively take a step back.
As if in response, it smoothly moves back toward the ceiling.
It must have lowered itself from the ceiling with thread too thin for my eyes to see.
When I look up at the ceiling, there is Lady Riel, staring at me with vacant eyes.
Her mouth is wide open as she sticks to the ceiling.
No, I suppose what is sticking to the ceiling is only Lady Riel’s doll. The spider itself that is moving back toward the doll is Lady Riel’s real body.
The spider skitters into the open mouth and disappears.
Her mouth closes, her throat moves as if swallowing, and her head slowly turns at an angle no human could ever re-create.
It’s just a doll. It’s just a doll!
I must keep reminding myself of that, as the sight is simply too horrifying to bear.
Even though I know it is a doll, instinctive fear grips me all the same.
Studying me with a sidelong glance, Lady Riel turns her head again, this time returning to a normal position…except that her head is facing backward.
Her head still turned around, Lady Riel scuttles along the ceiling, then the wall until she reaches the floor.
Then, with her head staying in the same position, she twists the rest of her body around.
Only then does her head finally return to a normal angle.
With that, Lady Riel opens the guest-room door and goes inside, as if nothing strange had just transpired.
I watch her go, somehow resisting the desire to collapse on the floor, and instead walk forward.
I have no idea what Lady Riel was trying to do.
But every night, whenever I pass by this place, Lady Riel always appears.
And always with some unfathomable action, like what she did just now.
It was these very actions that allowed me to determine that Lady Riel is a puppet taratect. So are Lady Sael and Lady Fiel, but it is bad for my heart to be frightened thus each night.
Especially as she always manages to get close to me without my sensing her at all.
Is this meant as a warning?
Her behavior is so bizarre that I cannot begin to guess her intentions.
And so every night, at this hour, I feel as if my very life is at risk.
For all I know, she might someday kill me on a whim.
Sigh.
Well, it appears that I have survived this night.
I suppose I shall go and make my report to Master Balto about tonight’s events.
“Hey, old-timer.”
“What is it, Master Balto?”
“These reports of yours read like genuine horror stories…”
“What a coincidence. I was thinking the very same thing as I wrote them.”
“…I see.”
“At any rate, I must advise that it would be prudent to avoid turning against the Demon Lord, in my humble opinion.”
“…I see.”
Upon receiving my honest report, Master Balto heaves an exhausted sigh.
Personally, I felt as though my very life was at risk whilst gathering this information, so I must say I would have appreciated a slightly more favorable reaction.
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