Nidome no Yuusha - Chapter 17

It happened in the afternoon two days prior to Minnalis ranking us up.

That day, I entered Yumis’ mansion through the backdoor used by its staff.

「Whew. Doing this kind of work sure is tiring.」

「I know, right?」

「Stop complaining, you two. They’ll hold us all responsible if you get overheard, and I for one am not looking forward to being punished with extra work.」

「「Fiiine.」」

Three maids exited the building and completed their chore of taking out the trash as they chatted away.

（Well, in I go.）

I slipped in through the open back door after casually glancing at the maids and double checking to see that they were still focused on doing their work. My current body was one that could easily phase through walls. The only reason I bothered going through a doorway was because this mansion was Yumis’.

The ghost created by the【Heart Flame Ghost Blade】consisted entirely of magical energy. Hence, it could pass right through the physical, but was highly susceptible to other magical energies. Yumis’ mansion’s walls had been reinforced with magic, and so, going through them was rather difficult. Entering through an open doorway was the better of the two options by far.

Invading through the back door would, under normal circumstances, entail entering a barrier and setting off one of Yumis’ custom made spells. The spell would not only notify her that someone had intruded and inform her of any relevant details, but also summon five highly defensive golems that would engage the intruder in order to buy time.

Of course, those conditions only applied under normal circumstances.

My prior experiences had allowed me to learn exactly how the spell in question functioned. In other words, I also knew that it had no effect on me in my current form whatsoever despite being of an extremely careful construction.

I was completely invisible and in a spiritual form. The only way for me to be detected was for me to be spotted by an individual possessing either an innate skill like Scarlet Eyes or a skill of the highest calibur like the Mind’s Eye.

There was no way that she didn’t have the skill she needed to spot me as of right now. It was something she would only be able to obtain after training with me.

（You know, I think this is actually my first time here…）

I walked through a gorgeous, well decorated hallway. Being a spirit, I couldn’t actually feel anything at all, but even so, I was able to tell that the carpet was soft. It just looked so gaudy I couldn’t imagine it to feel any other way.

（Hmm… Where should I snoop around first…?）

The reason I had visited Yumis’ mansion was so I could figure out exactly what I needed to do to make her suffer as much as possible. I knew what her goal was. She was completely obsessed with creating a magic item extraordinary enough to allow her to have her name carved into a specific Elmian stone monument. I clearly recalled how insane she had looked back when she tried to capture me; she had appeared obsessive and tunnel visioned. It was like she had completely lost her grasp on reality.

I knew that she’d always sought to fulfill that one goal, even from childhood, but I never was able to figure out why she obsessed over it that much. It had clearly been more than just a childhood dream. Her eyes had conveyed to me that she had seen the achievement as something that would instantly bring her some sort of benefit.

Figuring out her drive would allow me to turn it into her greatest weakness. There was even the added benefit of potentially discovering her other lesser weaknesses as well.

It would’ve been easy for us to just choose to physically torment her, but that alone wouldn’t have been enough.

I wanted more, much more than just that.

（I guess I’ll try looking for something along the lines of a study.）

Yumis’ secrets were likely hidden away in her study, and her desires in her diary if she happened to keep one. Looking through both had a good chance of providing me with the information I needed.

This world’s common sense dictated that those with higher status owned therooms on higher floors, so I immediately went up the stairs.

The building was extremely vast, and exactly what one would expect of a personal mansion set aside for a feudal lord’s daughter.

「Huh? What… was that just now…?」

One of the maids span around as I passed her by, an action that caused me to stop in place and stiffen up.

She, a woman in her twenties with a blue-purple ponytail, scanned my general vicinity with a confused look on her face.

（Tsk! Did she notice me!?）

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Name: Sori Luelle

Age: 23

Gender: Female

Race: Human

HP: 310/310

MP: 222/222

Level: 23

Strength: 183

Vitality: 143

Stamina: 144

Agility: 208

Magic Power: 119

Magic Resistance: 122

Innate Ability: Intuition

SkillsPain Tolerance: Lv 2

Presence Detection: Lv 1

Presence Concealment: Lv 1

Dismantling: Lv 3

Night Vision: Lv 3

Sword Arts: Lv 2

Audacity: Lv 1

Accelerated Thought: Lv 1

Condition: Good

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Her stats page didn’t seem to indicate that she was capable of seeing me. Her innate skill, intuition, must have kicked in.

「…It must’ve been just my imagination.」

Sori, the maid, tilted her head and continued regarding the area for a bit before finally deciding to continue on her way down to the building’s first floor.

（Oh shit!）

「Welcome home, Yumis.」

「Hey Sori.」

However, I wasn’t allowed a chance to relax, as Yumis, the disgusting insect I wanted to crush, had suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairwell.

「Weren’t you scheduled to spend the rest of the day at the municipal office?」

「Stamping papers aside, I’ve finished all the day’s work. I can just do that here, so I’ve decided to visit so I could catch a breath of fresh air. I’m having the documents I need to stamp delivered, but they’re not here just yet, so I thought it would be a good idea for the two of us to take a bit of time in order to relax until they arrive. Could you bring the usual to my bedroom?」

「S-Sure. I’ll do exactly that right away.」

「Fufufu. I’ll see you upstairs then.」

（Huh, this actually looks like a pretty good chance to learn a bit more about her personal life.）

I felt like I was letting my guard down a bit too much, but I couldn’t turn away the chance that I’d just been presented with. Seeing Yumis talk to the maid reminded me of her identity. She was both Yumis’ confidant and the person taking care of her sister. Yumis trusted her so much that she had entrusted her duties as the feudal lord to her upon vacating her post.

The maid clearly knew a lot, and was probably aware of Yumis’ circumstances. From that, I realized that this was a chance for me to spy on Yumis as she complained, grumbled, and in essense, suffered.

The corners of my lips twisted upwards as I chased after the pair.

☆

The initial reason I followed them was because I thought doing so would let me catch sight of an interesting scene or two. I hadn’t been prepared to do anything more than laugh along as I heard her talk about her worries.

There was simply no way for me to have been ready to be exposed to what I was.

None whatsoever.

「Nnnn… Fufufu… This is how you like it, right?」

「Hyaaauuun… N-Not there, Yumis! Hyaah! Aaaah…nnn… Ngggghh…!」

「You’re so cute, Sori. You don’t have to hold back, ‘kay? Moan all you want.」

「Nnnhh… Aaahhhhh!」

（The hell? They’re mating like pigs…!）

Mating technically wasn’t the correct word seeing as how they were the same gender, but the point stood. I would’ve loved to watch them if they happened to be a pair of cute girls with no relation to the revenge I wanted to enact, but them being who they were had just made the whole situation into one huge turn off.

Thinking about it, I should’ve realized that something was off the moment Yumis suggested specifically heading over to her bedroom. The two had closed the curtains, shut the door, and even burned some scented incense before engaging in the act. Still, I never would’ve expected that they would start fucking in broad daylight. By the way, the “usual,” was in fact a reference to a sort of viscous lube.

Its stickiness caused the two to look like a pair of maggots stuck together than anything else.

（Actually, you know what? Yumis being a lesbo isn’t too bad a thing to have learned.）

I recalled that Yumis’ heart hadn’t ever swayed even in the slightest during my first run through. She never cared, regardless of how good looking the men that hit on her were. In other words, she wasn’t bisexual. She was only interested in women.

「Aaahh… Nnnn.. Nnghhh….」

（Ugh… alright, screw this, I’m out. I can’t take any more of this.）

I felt like I would take way too much mental damage and end up getting forced back to my actual body if I kept watching any longer.

I slipped through the door while lamenting the fact that I had taken unexpected damage for no reason.

（I guess I should get back to looking for her study.）

She’d be enjoying herself for some time to come, so, it seemed I would have a good bit of time in which I could stay semi-materialized and look around. Noting that, I shook my head to clear it of the unpleasant scene I just saw and went up the stairs.

I started entering and leaving nearby rooms in order to explore their interiors.

It took awhile, but I did end up finding what seemed to be the room I was looking for.

（It looks like this room’s got two different physical barriers on it. I can’t really figure out the details because it’s got some sort of device inside that’s meant to protect it against people hoping to sneak a peak, but I can at least tell that there’s some sort of magic circle inside, and that it’s affecting the entire room.）

The amount of defenses the room had almost made it seem too thoroughly protected. It was to the point that it became really obvious that she desperately wanted to hide whatever was inside of it. The fact that she had a device set up to prevent people from peeking inside the room with magic meant that the magic circle itself wasn’t one made to sense or detect stuff, as the two effects would end up working against each other. In other words, the magic circle probably housed a spell that would attempt to harm intruders.

She must’ve really not wanted anyone entering the room.

I didn’t have to mind the physical barriers because I was in an entirely spiritual form, but, I did have to be careful of the magic circle and its area of effect. That said, entering the room could lead to a whole slew of different cases, so I altered my spiritual body’s exterior by giving it extra magic resist.

Though I gauged the magic circle as a threat, it wasn’t one I thought of as an immediate danger. Its seemed to be rather slow-acting, so there wasn’t much harm in me entering the room, investigating it, and then deciding whether or not I should stay after figuring out its precise effects.

（Okay. Time to figure out Yumis’ secrets.）

I slipped through both the door and a barrier meant for detection in order to enter the room. I made sure to stay cautious so I wouldn’t be harmed regardless of the effects produced by the magic circle within.

What I found was not anything like what I had expected to see, as the room’s contents made it very clear that it wasn’t Yumis’ office.

There were stuffed animals everywhere, and not a single large desk in sight. As far as I could tell, the room was one meant for guests. There was only one person within it, a young girl I remembered as Yumis’ younger sister.

I ended up finding something strange as opposed a chance to dig through Yumis’ deepest, darkest secrets.

（What… the hell…? The magical energy in this room is clearly indicating that there’s some sort of contract spell going on here… but why exactly would that be the case…?）

The magic circle within turned out not to be the type that affected intruders. It instead was the type that forced its target into bearing a curse.

（And it looks like her younger sister is its target? The hell’s going on here…?）

Maintaining the spell was a simple feat, but activating it required a type of magical energy that only Demonic Beings, creatures of a race derived from demons, could control.

I didn’t understand why Yumis had one of these in her personal residence. Nor did I get why she had something like this, something she needed to hide from prying eyes, targeted at her younger sister.

（That’s all I can tell at a glance. I guess I’ll have to appraise the thing if I want to figure out any more.）

I came to a realization as the thought passed through my head.

「…」

（Huh…?）

Yumis’ sister, who had been sitting by the windowsill, had tilted her head and ever so slightly opened her mouth while gazing at me with her scarlet pupils.

（..Scarlet? Wait, wait, you gotta be kidding me!）

Her eyes stayed locked on me regardless of whether I moved left or right. She could clearly see me, with what was obviously a suspicious gaze.

I decided to appraise her to just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.

「Is that… a ghost…?」

（…Man, today’s just been full of surprises.）

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Name: Shuria

Age: 14

Gender: Female

Race: Human (Elven Traits)

HP: 332/322

MP: 525/525

Level: 31

Strength: 133

Vitality: 213

Stamina: 194

Agility: 288

Magic Power: 549

Magic Resistance: 522

Innate Ability: Scarlet Eyes

Skills

Presence Detection: Lv 1

Presence Concealment: Lv 1

Water Magic: Lv 1

Wind Magic: Lv 1

Meditation: Lv 3

Dismantling: Lv 3

Condition: Good (Soon to be contractually cursed)

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（Why the hell does she have Scarlet Eyes?）

Apparently there was a whole lot more going on here than I’d thought there to be.

I could say that for certain because I still vividly recalled the girl, and I could say for sure that, when I met her, her eyes had been anything but scarlet.