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 Chapter 36: Trouble 

Please contact me right away. -Taona 

“What is this?” 

Upon returning to our home base, Convenience Store Belle, I was 

greeted with a piece of paper on the door. 

“What could this be about?” 

That’s a mystery too, but first of all... 

“Who’s this ‘Taona’?” 

I had no way of contacting her, since I didn’t know who she was. 

Everyone just cocked their heads in confusion, unsure of who this 

“Taona” might be. 

“Forget it, then!” 

Yup, not like there was anything else I could do. I decided to cook up 

a nice meal and go to bed early tonight. Although I did get to relax at 

the hot springs, I was pretty tired from everything that had 

happened, especially the walk home. At that time, the realization still 

hadn’t hit me... 

A few days later, when I was talking about our little trip during my 

visit to Ed and the other horses at the stable, they asked me why I 

hadn’t taken them with me to ride. 

“Oh...” I said without thinking, and Ed absolutely flipped out. 

“You forgot about us! You completely forgot about us, didn’t 

youuu?!” Ed shouted. I couldn’t stand to bear the cold gaze from his 

wife, along with the look from Roland’s and Francette’s horses, as 

they were on the verge of tears. I ended up making a bunch of 

promises and upgrading their meals. 

...Damn it. 

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Though, I really was at fault this time. Guess I had to let it go... 

 

“Why didn’t you come see me once you got back?!” Someone came 

barging in shouting during the afternoon business hours. 

“...Do I know you?” 

“It’s me! Taona!!!” 

I cocked my head, then Roland spoke up from behind me. 

“She’s that old apothecary’s disciple!” 

“Ah...” 

Roland didn’t remember her name, but it seemed he recognized her 

face. 

It may not be anything to brag about, but I’m not good at 

remembering faces... That’s really not something to brag about. 

In any case, Roland was supposed to be upstairs... When did he 

sneak up on me like that...? 

“So, what does that apothecary’s disciple want with me? This shop 

doesn’t handle rare drugs anymore.” There was no need to be overly 

polite with her, considering she wasn’t a customer. I was older than 

her and this wasn’t a business relationship, so I didn’t have to treat 

her like a superior. 

I had spoken to her with a moody, haughty tone, but then... 

“I thought I should let you know that some people who seem to be 

related to the royal palace and merchants from the royal capital 

were asking around about you...” 

“Thank you so much for coming! Please, go right upstairs! We will 

prepare some tea and snacks right away...” 

Yes, of course I’ll treat honored guests with hospitality. That goes 

without saying! 

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Taona shot me a look after seeing my attitude do a complete one-

eighty, but I didn’t care. Information was priceless, even more so 

when it was free. I didn’t mind pandering one bit! 

  

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“...So, I decided to warn you, just in case.” 

I had apologized with some excuse about not being able to see her 

right away because I didn’t know where she lived, then listened to 

what she had to say. Of course, I wasn’t oblivious enough to tell 

Taona that I didn’t know who she was directly to her face. 

“...So, those people came to investigate the miracles and strange 

phenomenon occurring in this city on behalf of their country?” This 

was bad. But I had already made sure everyone involved was going 

to keep their mouths shut. My information shouldn’t have been 

leaked... 

“Actually, the merchants all seem to have come from different 

shops, and the ones from the royal palace seem to have been sent 

here on a personal request. It was as if they were all hired separately 

by a person who’s trying to find you before someone else does. They 

used phrasing that could be interpreted as if they’re working for 

their government, but it seemed intentionally vague...” 

I was impressed by how quick-witted and observant she was, despite 

her young age. I guess she wasn’t an apothecary’s disciple for 

nothing. 

“But how did you know they were looking for me?” It shouldn’t have 

been so easy to link me back to my previous selves. Verbal warnings, 

disguises, threats... I had taken all the proper precautions. I should 

have been safe here... 

“Master Oredeim told them.” 

“That damn geezerrrrrr! Him again?!” But I had warned him not to 

tell anyone, too! It didn’t seem likely that he would have just spilled 

the beans... 

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“Haha, this is a man who blabbed immediately after just a little 

threat from a baron’s retainer. Do you think he would refuse to talk 

to someone with connections to the royal palace?” Taona said with a 

disappointed expression. 

“Th-Then those merchants are still...” 

“Bribes are his weakness, even more so than authority... Ahaha...” 

Taona laughed weakly. “He isn’t a bad person, though...” 

“He most definitely is!” I couldn’t help but jump in there... 

In any case, I was nothing but a little girl who happened to sell some 

medicine that was kind of rare. And despite that medicine’s rarity, it 

had been sold to the general public, and only once, at that. I even 

made it a point to say it wouldn’t be for sale again. So, this wasn’t 

really that big of a deal, at least when compared to the many 

miracles I had performed around the same time. 

This thought brought me some relief, until... 

“After they heard my master’s story, they said, ‘We shall go to the 

house of Baron Dorivell next, whose firstborn son is said to have 

undergone a miraculous recovery. Then, we will go to Viscount 

Raphael’s stables, where that horse known as Carlos is being kept. 

Viscount Raphael’s servants are unlikely to talk, so we will look for 

that mysterious little girl who is said to have been buying scrap meat 

and nuts before the viscount began buying crow food. We will split 

up and search the meat shop, vegetable shop, and marketplace...’” 

“G...” 

“G?” 

“Gyaaaaaaaaagh!!!” 

I took the investigation skills of people in this world too lightly!!! 

I didn’t think to tell the old man at the stables not to talk to anyone! 

He had Carlos’s sales records and my name and contact information 

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from when I asked him to take care of Ed and the other horses! 

There are records there that prove definitively that Carlos was mine 

at the time... 

“So they all went around asking for a girl with scary-looking eyes...” 

Twitch, twitch 

“Oh, nooo! Are you okay, Kaoru?!” I heard Layette’s voice in the 

distance as I fell face-first onto the table and started convulsing... 

 

“...Ah, you’re awake!” I awoke to Layette’s voice and sat straight up. 

“...Where’s Taona?” 

“She left some time ago.” I saw that Francette and Roland had 

appeared, looking at me with concerned expressions. 

  

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Even Francette goes out sometimes. As such, I always make sure to 

have Roland, or even Emile or Belle, stay with me as my bodyguard. 

That’s why only Layette and Roland had been around earlier. Emile 

and Belle were off handling jobs from the Hunter’s Guild, training 

and making some money. 

“Sir Roland told me everything. It appears this Taona girl 

understands you quite well. 

“After her master told Baron Dorivell about this place, and after he 

heard about that boy’s miraculous recovery, it isn’t surprising that 

she put two and two together, considering the incident with the 

medicine here and the comment from those men searching for you 

about the little girl with the scary eyes... 

“She may be trying to make amends for her master’s actions, but it 

seems she’s on our side. The problem is those men who seemed to 

have come from the capital. So...” Francette looked at me with a 

troubled expression. “What shall we do?” 

Yeah, what? 

...I guess I’ll play dumb for now. 

It seemed that they were looking for the Angel from Balmore, so I 

decided to break that down first. I had been known as the Angel for 

about four years, so most people probably knew what I look like by 

now, but there weren’t too many people who had actually seen me 

in person, so as long as I could obscure my most notable 

characteristics, I should be fine. 

People who traveled to distant countries were very rare in this 

world. Even merchants didn’t travel that far, for the most part. 

Unless they were friends with other merchants in those countries, it 

was far too risky to go somewhere with unknown market conditions. 

Paying high expenses for transportation, only to find your goods 

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were abundant and cheap there, was a quick way to lose all your 

money. 

So, it was highly unlikely that the people from the capital had seen 

me in Balmore. Even if they had, I’d be fine if it had just been a 

glimpse at a distance, all those years ago. And if major characteristics 

in my appearance were different, they’d probably assume I was 

someone else entirely. 

And so... 

“Potion that changes eye and hair color, come out!” I chugged it 

down right away. Those guys could have appeared at any minute. 

I checked myself out in the mirror. Brown hair and hazel eyes. 

Good. On top of that... 

“Potion container with a black wig on top of it, come out!” I then 

settled the wig on my head. 

Perfect! Since everyone around here already knew I had black hair 

and brown eyes, I had changed my eyes just enough that I could say 

they had always been this color, if asked. And for my hair, I could 

claim I always wore a wig, and my natural hair color was brown. 

Many people think Japanese people have black eyes, but they’re 

actually brown. It’s a pretty common color on Earth in general. I’d 

heard that people around Kyushu have hazel eyes, though... 

I remembered that, in my past life, there had been a section in my 

international documents stating my hair and eye color, and they said 

black hair and brown eyes. I didn’t write that myself, mind you. They 

just handed it to me like that. So, my eyes should still be brown. 

I’m told my eyes are black a lot in this world too, but I guess they’re 

more of a blackish-brown. 

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Anyway, my appearance was good to go. Now I just had to stick to 

my story! 

 

“Pardon me.” 

Here we go! 

A normal customer wouldn’t offer such a greeting upon entering my 

shop. It was pretty much a declaration stating outright that they 

weren’t a customer. And if it was someone from the palace, they 

wouldn’t have used such a polite and respectful phrase. 

Which meant... 

“My name is Eridel, a merchant from the capital. Is the owner here, 

by any chance?” It seemed to be one of the merchants. But why was 

he alone? 

“I am the owner, Quaoru.” I fudged up the pronunciation on purpose 

so it could be plausibly mistaken as “Kaoru.” Just so it wouldn’t be a 

flat-out lie... 

This way, it would sound like “Quaoru” to this merchant, but people 

who knew my name would hear it as “Kaoru.” Mhm. 

The merchant gave me a look of surprise for a moment, but maybe 

he figured the pronunciation shifted as my name traveled between 

countries, because he didn’t question it. I mean, even if he had, it 

wasn’t like he could argue with me about my own name. I didn’t give 

him some completely different name, because that would only serve 

to raise suspicion, since he had surely investigated my name already. 

That’s why I had opted to just change the pronunciation, just a little, 

within a range that was still believable. He probably wouldn’t 

interpret my name as me denying I was the Angel, but... 

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“Ahh, Lady Angel! I have come from the capital, representing the 

Griffon Trading Company, to humbly request to do business with you 

and your potions...” 

“Hold on just a minute!!!” Three men who clearly appeared to be 

merchants came running into the shop. 

“How dare you sneak in without us!” 

“We agreed to do the negotiations together!” 

“What the hell!!!” 

Oh, I see... 

“Hm? I have no idea what you’re talking about. All business comes 

down to the merchant’s wit and luck. The early bird gets the worm. 

This is common sense for merchants, no? We are in the middle of a 

business negotiation. It is against the rules to interject when you 

arrive late.” 

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” One of the merchants that had just 

arrived grabbed the Eridel guy by the collar. 

“You should know when to quit, Manticore Shop...” Eridel said with 

an unconcerned smile as his aggressor held him by the collar. 

Sheesh, even their shop names sound like they don’t get along... 

“Now, now, we are all merchants here. Why don’t we calm down and 

talk this out...” 

“Yes, Horn Rabbit is right...” 

Horn Rabbit? After those two tough-sounding shop names? Oh, I 

get it. Rabbits — the approachable, fluffy, and tasty rabbit that 

represents prolificacy and abundance — would make a better name 

for a shop. Better than a tough-sounding and aggressive one, 

anyway... 

Anyway, I had to sort this situation out. 

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“Um, so, what could have brought all of you to this humble little 

shop in a provincial city all the way from the capital?” I asked with a 

puzzled expression, and the merchants each nodded as if they 

understood. 

Damn, they must have investigated everything about me 

already... 

“What’s going on, Quaoru?” Belle asked as she came downstairs. 

Earlier, I had pressed the button to signal for her to come down and 

act normal. 

...Francette was with her too. 

Why, Francette...? I didn’t call for you... 

Unlike the lightly-dressed Belle, Francette stood out like a sore 

thumb, fully clad as she was in heavy armor in a small shop like this... 

Yup, the merchants were all nodding, as if they had expected this. 

“Belle, watch the counter for me. And you take them upstairs, 

please,” I asked Belle and Francette, respectively, and everyone but 

Belle went up to the second floor. 

I didn’t call Francette by her name because Fearsome Fran was 

extremely famous in Balmore and was known to be very close to the 

Angel. That’s also why I didn’t call Roland by his name either, of 

course. I was only able to call Emile, Belle, and Layette by their 

names in front of the merchants or anyone from the royal palace. 

The four merchants sat next to each other in a row, and I sat alone 

on the opposite end. Francette stood behind me and to the side, so 

she could attack the men at any time, if they tried anything funny. 

Roland had a bit too much of a noble aura, right down to his 

equipment, so I had him wait in the next room over with Emile. 

Francette alone would be considered overkill for dealing with just 

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four merchants. I could probably even kick one of these fatsos out 

myself, if it came down to it. 

“Umm, I don’t quite get what’s going on, but I’m guessing you all 

want to purchase products from me?” 

“Yes!” As I thought, it seemed they wanted to gain my favor and 

some healing potions... 

“Then please feel free to buy whatever is on the shelves 

downstairs...” 

“No, no, no, no!” 

Wow, they’re perfectly synced. 

They had been at each other’s throats earlier, but maybe they were 

actually close friends... 

“So you’re saying you want something other than what we sell in the 

shop?” 

Nod, nod, nod, nod. 

“Hmm, it’d be a pain to manage the same items through multiple 

different distributors, so it might be better to have one shop handle 

it all...” The air turned extremely tense as soon as the words left my 

mouth. So much so that Francette put a hand to her sword hilt 

without thinking about it. 

I also heard a noise from next door, which I figured was Emile, as 

untrained as he was, inadvertently making noise as he stood up from 

his chair in response. 

But man, these merchants... A bit too intense, don’t you think? 

Now that I had them pitted against each other again... 

“First, I can say that anyone who betrays the allies they’ve been 

working with can’t be trusted to do business with. Who knows when 

I’d be betrayed, too...” 

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“What!” Eridel’s eyes widened in shock, and the other three 

merchants smirked, as if to say he deserved it. 

Then... 

“As for you, you resorted to violence rather than negotiations and 

words, despite being a merchant. If you decide to use violence to 

force me into a deal that’s favorable for you, a little girl like me 

wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, so I will have to pass...” 

I directed my words to the owner of Manticore Shop, and his eyes 

also widened as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard. 

“Wha...” 

The fact that he was surprised was more surprising to me, to be 

honest. Did he really think a woman would feel safe working with 

someone who saw no problem with trying to make his competitor 

comply through violence in front of a potential new business 

partner? 

“Manticore Shop” glared daggers at Eridel, as if to say it was his fault. 

There were smiles on the two remaining merchants’ faces. 

All right, next... 

“Now, who should I do business with...” The eager spirit emanating 

from the two was palpable. 

Then... 

“The intensity in here is scaring me... This doesn’t feel like the right 

time to talk business, so would you mind postponing for now? 

Whatever is going on between the four of you doesn’t really concern 

me, and this is all a bit too much... Perhaps once you’ve figured this 

out among yourselves, one of you can come by again to discuss this 

further...” 

The merchants looked at each other, then seemed to realize there 

was no point in arguing and agreed to leave for now. 

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“...We will see you again tomorrow, then...” 

With that, they left. They really didn’t need to come back, though. 

Anyway, this was enough for today. They might be back tomorrow, 

but it would probably just be one of them. There was no way the 

merchants would agree to let just one of them have exclusive rights 

to the business, so one of them would probably come as a 

representative to distribute the products among the other three. 

I wonder what kind of products they want to stock, though... 

What could be worth traveling out to a provincial city like this, paying 

the fees for transportation and security, and bringing them all the 

way back to the royal capital? 

I mean, I never claimed to be the Angel, and even if I was, I didn’t 

agree to sell them any potions. Besides, what made them think I’d 

sell products to other merchants when they’re not even for sale in 

my own store? I decided to offer some cookies I baked, a wooden 

animal Emile had carved, and some bamboo wares that Belle had 

made to whoever came back representing the other merchants. 

These were the best deals in my shop. The materials were cheap and 

we just made them for fun, so they were super affordable. 

Francette tried dipping her toes into handicrafts, too. 

...She’s probably better off sticking to swordsmanship. 

 

“Pardon me!” The next day, one of the merchants from yesterday 

came by during the morning business hours. It was one of the 

merchants who hadn’t been involved in that little grappling session, 

the one who wasn’t the owner of Horn Rabbit. Come to think of it, I 

never got his shop name. 

“I am Latton of the Solcus Trading Company.” 

So he’s the one who’s gonna handle the negotiations. 

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I figured the guy who tried to screw the others over and the violent 

one were both out of the question, so there were only two options 

left anyway. 

“Please join me upstairs.” I flipped the sign at the entrance to 

indicate that we were closed, locked the door, and guided him to the 

second floor. 

It was just me and Francette again. There was no way she wouldn’t 

be present when I was meeting with someone. You never knew what 

could happen, according to her. 

I mean, she’s right, so I let her do her thing. 

“So, the product you’re looking to buy from my shop...” 

“Your potions, of course! The legendary potions that you sold in the 

kingdom of Balmore!” 

Figures... But. 

“Oh, like liquid medicine? We only have the kind that’s used for 

relieving throat pain and cleaning wounds. They’re both one silver 

coin for a small bottle each...” 

“Huh? A-Are they magical medicine blessed by the Goddess with 

miraculous effects...?” 

“No, just normal medicine. It’s not too different from the kind you 

can buy at any apothecary, so the bottles are priced about the same. 

It may be cheaper to buy them from your local apothecary when you 

consider the transportation fees and such.” 

“...” Oh, he seemed rather troubled. 

“U-Um, Miss Angel, about the ones you had been selling at 

Balmore...” Latton looked at me as if I was playing dumb and holding 

out on the good stuff. Well... 

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“Excuse me, but who is this ‘Angel’ you’re referring to? And I don’t 

understand why you’re so fixated on a small shop like this...” 

“What? Oh, no, there’s no need to hide it. We already know the 

details of what had transpired... The fact that you’ve been active as 

the Angel in Balmore, how you saved Baron Dorivell’s son, how you 

helped the house of Viscount Raphael, everything. Your black hair 

and black eyes are undeniable proof...” 

There! That’s my cue! 

“What? I’m not this Angel you’re talking about. I could even swear it 

to the Goddess herself.” 

“Huh?” He looked at me, dumbfounded. 

I guess it wasn’t too surprising, considering his conviction that I was 

the Angel and I had flatly denied it. But, for the record, I’d been 

denying that title ever since I had reincarnated in this world. They 

kept calling me that no matter how many times I denied it, so I gave 

up on actually trying to stop it, but I never claimed to be one myself. 

So this wasn’t actually a lie. 

And to finish it off... 

“Besides, I don’t have black hair and black eyes. My eyes may be 

dark, but they’re actually brown. See? Look carefully.” I brought my 

face closer to his, and he carefully stared into my eyes. 

  

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“...You’re right... Not only are they not black, they’re not even a 

black-brown. They’re more like hazel...” The merchant was 

dumbstruck. 

I pressed on. 

“And about my hair...” I grasped my wig and pulled it off my head. 

“I wear this wig because I like the look. It’s not my real hair. As you 

can see, my natural hair color is brown...” Ah, he turned to stone. 

  

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“Wh-Wh-Wha...” He regained his composure a few seconds later and 

managed to stammer. 

“Y-You tricked me!” 

I most definitely did NOT. 

“Tricked you? I had no idea what you were talking about from the 

beginning... I never once claimed to be this Angel you spoke of, and 

you all went on about who-knows-what without a proper 

explanation. I’m still not entirely sure what’s going on...” 

The merchant finally seemed to realize he was at fault and grew 

quiet. Then... 

“I-I’ll be leaving! Sorry for the trouble.” He gave a half-hearted 

apology and quickly retreated. 

“Amazing, Kaoru! I could never hope to deceive and entrap people as 

expertly as you!” Francette said. 

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?!” 

And so, things had been resolved for now. 

...Next, I had to deal with the folks from the royal palace. 

 

“May I speak to the shop owner, please!” The next person to come in 

wasn’t someone from the royal palace at all. 

“M-Mariel? How did you...” It was Viscountess Mariel von Raphael, 

the owner of Carlos and current head of the Raphael household. 

I had never told her my real name or identity, and I definitely hadn’t 

told her where I was staying. So, in Mariel’s mind, she should know 

me as the goddess who’s friends with Celestine, who had descended 

to the mortal realm just to help them... 

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There was no way she could know I was here. 

Could it be a coincidence? Or maybe she had some other business 

here? But what could the head of a noble house want with a 

commoner’s little shop like this? 

I stood there frozen and unable to understand the reason for her 

visit, and then... 

“Excuse me, miss, is the shop owner here by any chance?” 

Huh? My disguise isn’t that convincing, is it? 

I mean, sure, I had changed my hair and eye color back then, but my 

chestnut hair turning black wasn’t something that would drastically 

change my appearance like blonde or silver hair did. My eyes had 

undergone a pretty big change from blue to hazel, but it wasn’t 

dramatic enough to turn me into a completely different person. 

My skin was lighter, too, but getting a bit tan wouldn’t make me 

unrecognizable. Such minor changes couldn’t possibly be enough to 

make me seem like someone else... 

I mean, when I ran into Francette the second time, I had silver hair 

and different colored eyes. Plus, she recognized me instantly, even 

though there was no way she was expecting to see a goddess 

walking around in town. 

Wait a minute... 

I made fists with both hands and stuck out my pointer fingers. Then I 

pressed a finger from each hand on the edges of my eyes and 

drooped them downward. 

“Ah, Lady Goddess!” 

I knew it! Damn it! 

  

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Afterward, I flipped the sign at the door to show that we were 

closed, then drew the curtains and moved upstairs. I had to hear 

Mariel out before anything else. 

Francette, Belle, and Layette joined our meeting. Mariel was a young 

lady who had been raised in seclusion, so being around strange men 

might have made her nervous. The guys were probably in the room 

next door with their ears to the wall. The walls were paper-thin here, 

so you could hear everything. 

Mariel was a viscountess, but she thought I was a goddess, and I 

didn’t feel like putting in the effort to speak all proper, so I decided 

to play it casually. 

“I came to warn you! Merchants, from the capital!” 

Yup, I knew that. 

“Not only that, but some men who seem to be working for the royal 

palace have arrived!” 

Yup, I knew that. 

“And they seem to be looking for a girl with scary... eyes...” 

Yup, I knew that too. Mariel carefully studied my face. 

“...They were talking about you, Goddess...” 

Yup. 

In any case, there was one thing I wanted to know. 

“How did you know I was here?” 

Where was the leak? I had to track it down and plug it up. This was of 

the highest priority. I stared at Mariel, then... 

“Oh, I asked my dogs.” 

“Hwaa?” I couldn’t help but let out a pathetic noise. 

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“Um, my dogs, they told me... Goddess—” 

“Wait, hold up! Can we stop with that Goddess thing? Who knows 

who might hear you, and if you get used to calling me that, you 

might let it slip at inconvenient times.” 

“Ah...” It seemed she understood. 

“Call me Kaoru...” 

“Yes, of course!” 

There was no point in going by Quaoru with Mariel. Besides, she’d 

probably hear Francette and the others call me Kaoru anyway. 

According to Mariel, she had asked the dogs at her house if they 

knew where I was, and they led her to the place where I fed the dogs 

and crows, then tracked me to my location. The dogs told her they 

could have tracked my scent from the viscount’s manor, but this way 

was faster... 

Damn, they had some fine noses. Guess that’s to be expected of 

dogs. 

The shop was already closed by the time they had arrived, so she 

decided to go home and come back another day. And here we were. 

“Ahhh! Now that you mention it, I forgot to tell the dogs and crows 

to keep their mouths shut! I mean, I didn’t expect that you’d end up 

being able to talk to animals, and who could’ve guessed they would 

spill the beans on my location?!” My original plan was to give Carlos 

the ability to speak human language. But Mariel requested to be able 

to speak to animals herself, so I ended up shifting gears to that 

instead. 

I was convinced by Mariel’s reasoning that it would be much easier 

for her to support stray dogs and crows, and to help her keep her 

promise of helping them one time each when they were injured or 

Page | 35  

sick. It was a sudden change in plans, so I hadn’t thought about all 

the implications... 

Well, that was my bad. No point thinking about it now. There was 

still one important thing I needed to confirm. 

“Mariel, could you have been followed on the way here?” 

Mariel replied to my question with a serious expression. 

“Nothing is absolute, so I can’t say the possibility is zero. However, I 

believe it’s very unlikely that anyone would have trailed me here... 

“I snuck out of the manor through the back entrance in plain, 

unassuming clothing, stayed in a room at a shop that I had made 

arrangements with beforehand, then switched outfits with a maid I 

had staying there, who is of a height and hair color similar to me. I 

exited through the back door of that shop some time after that maid 

left. 

“Then I repeated similar diversionary tactics two more times. 

Afterward, I slipped through crowded main streets quite 

aggressively, moving against the flow of foot traffic, and used other 

methods to throw off anyone who could have been pursuing me. 

Even someone who was highly experienced at trailing someone 

would likely have lost me.” 

...Just who the heck are you, Mariel?! 

She had taken maneuvers to throw off pursuers who may or may not 

have been there with expert execution. 

“Well, if you went through all that, I think we should be fine this 

time. It might be risky if you keep doing it, though. Next time you 

want to contact me, have a maid who looks like a young 

underservant come buy something at my shop.” 

“Y-Yes, of course.” 

Page | 36  

I couldn’t deny the possibility of someone who wanted connections 

with a goddess watching Mariel, in case she got in contact with me. 

And if she pulled the same trick a few times, it would become much 

easier for them to notice. 

As soon as they found out she was trying to lose them, it’d be over. It 

would be admitting that she knew someone was trying to track her 

and she was deliberately trying to lose them, which would be a dead 

giveaway that she was hiding something. 

If a professional realized this, we’d be left with few options. A 

professional who doesn’t mind putting the necessary manpower, 

effort, and funds into tracking someone down couldn’t be stopped 

by an amateur, no matter how hard she tried. 

So, the important thing was to avoid suspicion in the first place. That 

was why she should use a young girl, a lesser servant, rather than a 

close, trusted subordinate. As long as we knew she wouldn’t betray 

us, all we needed her to do was deliver letters. 

And I doubt there was anyone in this world who would betray the 

Goddess... Not anyone who knows about Celes’s past, anyway. 

So, that’s that. 

The rest of what Mariel told me was just as I had heard from the 

apothecary’s disciple, Taona. The house of Viscount Raphael never 

leaked anything, so there was no new information there. 

Now, all I had to do was deal with the people from the palace... 

“Shall I dispose of the palace’s men?” 

Bffft! H-How did we get there? 

“Sniffing around your business is blasphemy, Goddess. If you so 

desire, I can take care of it tonight...” 

Hold up. 

Page | 37  

Wait, wait, wait. 

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! 

What’s gotten into you, Mariel?! 

“There’s no need to worry. Their actions told me they were working 

with the kingdom, but they were very deliberate in their word 

choice. They may be working under orders directly from someone 

around the royal palace, but those orders are from an individual 

operating independently rather than being official. 

“So, if they did go missing and the incident was to be investigated, 

the fact that they were acting as though under official mandate and 

as if someone had directed them to do so would become quickly 

evident. Someone would very much be troubled by this going public, 

so they would likely make sure no one found out...” 

Hm, she came to the same conclusion as Taona. They were both 

sharp girls, after all. Give them the same information to analyze and 

they get to the same destination... 

Hold on, this solution is way scarier! 

“When you say ‘dispose,’ do you mean you’re gonna ask those Black 

Ops people?” 

Black Ops... A dark, illegal organization that had taken the lives of 

Mariel’s family. 

“No, they’ve mostly been dismantled. The remaining few are 

currently being hunted down. The only ones left are the weak ones, 

so they’re all but powerless now.” 

Huh? 

“H-H-How...” I did understand why Mariel would hate the Black Ops 

for carrying out the murder of her parents. But this was an 

underground crime syndicate that even the count, who was the head 

Page | 38  

of her parent house, hadn’t been able to do anything about. How did 

she pull it off...? 

Mariel, your smile is scaring me... 

Even Francette was getting weirded out. Could she be going the 

same route as Emile, Belle, and Francette? 

“I used my army.” 

“Huh?” 

It couldn’t be. This wasn’t Viscount Raphael’s domain. It was their 

neighboring parent house’s territory, Count Maslias’s domain. 

Viscount Maslias’s domain was rather small and contained no major 

cities, so even though their principal residence was located in the 

capital territory (however remote of an area it might be), they spent 

most of the year living in a villa in Count Maslias’s territory. Now was 

one of those times. 

It was much more convenient to live in and do politics this way. 

According to her, their own domain was small enough to just leave it 

to her trusted retainers to handle. 

Since they were neighboring territories, with their respective capitals 

located close to each other, she could go check on her own domain 

at any time while staying in the count’s domain, and a retainer or an 

emissary could come see her whenever an issue came up. 

So, my point is... 

There was no way she could mobilize her soldiers freely in a domain 

other than her own; particularly if it belonged to a parent house that 

outranked her. Even if she had notified him that she had no intention 

of raising a rebellion, there was no way that would fly. It was 

basically saying, “You don’t have the ability to take care of this issue 

yourself, so I’ll do it for you,” and then moving your army into their 

territory. 

Page | 39  

It would be one thing if a parent house did so to a house under them, 

but the other way around was unheard of. Besides, it didn’t seem 

possible for a viscount house’s army to take out the Black Ops so 

quickly when the count hadn’t been able to oppose them all this 

time. 

Something didn’t add up. There was definitely something going on 

here. 

...But I was too scared to ask for any further details. 

I listened to Mariel for some time after, then we called it a day. She 

made a face like it was the end of the world when I told her not to 

come back in person, so as to stay inconspicuous about our making 

contact, but it couldn’t be helped. I thought I heard her make some 

dangerous comments about having to eliminate them all, but I 

decided not to think about it. It was better for my mental health not 

to. Besides, thinking about it wouldn’t have solved anything. 

“Wh-What should we do, Kaoru...?” Francette asked after Mariel left, 

but the answer was obvious. 

“Well, nothing.” 

“Huh...?” 

There was no need for me to do anything, really. 

“I’m just a cute little girl who owns a shop. I have nothing to worry 

about, right?” 

“...” Roland and Emile came over from the next room to join 

Francette and Belle. 

  

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Page | 41  

  

Why are you all staring at me like that?! Layette’s the only one on 

my side here! Damn it... 

“In any case, all those incidents have absolutely nothing to do with 

me. The Angel from Balmore has different-colored hair and eyes, and 

I don’t sell any potions. I’m just your run-of-the-mill general goods 

store owner with slightly non-standard business hours and 

products.” 

“Y-Yes, but...” Francette didn’t sound convinced. She probably 

figured someone sent from the royal palace wouldn’t be fooled or 

back down so easily. 

“Well, there’s some distance between here and the capital, so it 

should take at least several days for them to get back to the capital, 

make their report, figure out the next move, then come back here 

again. 

“The information that actually gets to them will be incomplete or 

downright wrong, anyway, since they would only hear whatever the 

messengers tell them based on limited information and their own 

conjecture. 

“And even if something does go down, we just have to get out of 

here before the message gets to the capital and they send someone 

here to make a move. 

“If we travel along the coastline from here, we could easily cross the 

eastern border before any pursuers arrive. We have our horses and 

the chariot, after all.” 

Thanks to the Item Box, it would only take a few minutes to pack 

everything in the shop. I’d give Ed and the horses a little boost with 

my potions, too. And by using the chariot and Item Box, I could 

throw off any pursuers by changing our setup from a group of five 

Page | 42  

riders to a group consisting of a chariot with four riders to escort it. It 

was perfect! 

“I’m glad I chose a city by the sea instead of the capital. Events that 

would take half a day in the capital take half a month to a whole 

month here, so I can really spread my wings.” 

Having so much physical distance between us and those in power 

was a significant defensive advantage. Provincial cities like this one 

weren’t very densely populated, so business wasn’t as good, but I 

wasn’t concerned about that. The seafood here was nice and fresh 

with the sea being so close too. 

Even with my Item Box’s ability to keep things in stasis, it was 

pointless if the food was already a day old at the time I bought it. 

Now I just have to deal with the royal palace (or someone connected 

to them in some way)! Different hair and eye color, check! Black wig, 

check! And I told Francette not to come down until I called for her, 

no matter what. I made sure that she would stay in her room until I 

specifically called for her, even when I brought the guest upstairs. 

Okay, good! Ready to go! 

 

“Is the owner here?!” 

Here we go... 

A normal customer wouldn’t say something like that upon entering a 

shop. That meant only one thing... 

“Hm? Are you the shop owner?” He said it after staring right at my 

face. 

This jerk thinks I have scary-looking eyes...! 

Well, whatever. 

But he was acting awfully haughty for someone who thought I was 

the Angel. Maybe he didn’t know? Or it could be that he’d heard 

Page | 43  

about it but didn’t believe it. He probably thought it was some sort of 

mistake or even a scam. Either that, or just a little brat who was 

being put on a pedestal by gullible people. 

I mean, if I really was an angel, I probably wouldn’t have left the 

country to run a dingy little shop in some other place. The higher-ups 

probably wouldn’t have let that pass. He probably assumed that was 

something I would do if I had been a fraud who fled the country in a 

hurry for fear of getting exposed. And the role of people like him was 

to filter out the facts, so they wouldn’t move into the next step until 

later. The only information they had at this point was probably just 

Mariel’s and the count’s reports. 

Some merchants and people in positions of power who were quick to 

pick up on information may have heard about the Longevity Potion 

incident or the baron’s son, but that was about it. So the main target 

of this investigation was Mariel, and I was probably just a bonus that 

appeared on the radar when they arrived here. 

Considering he got to me so much later than the merchants, maybe 

he wasn’t putting in too much effort... No, that couldn’t be right. 

They’d be in big trouble if they didn’t meet their boss’s expectations. 

It would be even worse if word got out that the merchants got to me 

first. The merchants were just more capable and more sensitive to 

information, was all. 

Maybe he demanded information from the merchants and they sent 

him my way assuming I was a miss... Without mentioning that I 

wasn’t who they were looking for, of course. 

Yeah, they probably left that part out so it technically wasn’t a full-on 

lie. That was just what merchants did. Even if they didn’t lie, it didn’t 

mean they were being honest. 

This was a group of three consisting of a self-important bureaucrat 

type and two of his subordinates. The subordinates didn’t seem like 

Page | 44  

fighters. Maybe they were just attendants and there to keep in 

contact with the capital? Either way, it looked like I would just be 

dealing with the main guy. 

“Yes, I am the owner.” I only answered the specific question that was 

asked. There was no need for me to offer more information than 

needed. These weren’t my guests. I had no obligation to provide 

them with any information for free. Particularly when such 

information could be used against me. 

It takes proper skill and compensation to get good information out of 

someone, but it didn’t seem like this guy understood that. He 

probably thought I’d tell him anything he wanted if he just raised his 

voice and barked orders at me. 

“What is your name?” 

“My mother always told me not to give my name out to strangers...” 

“Huh?” The bureaucrat-looking guy looked dumbfounded. ...I’ll just 

refer to him as Bureaucrat. 

My words finally seemed to register, and his face turned red as he 

began to shout. 

“Y-You! Do you know who I am?!” 

“No, I don’t. All I know is you barged in here without so much as 

introducing yourself, demanded I give up some personal information, 

then started yelling and trying to intimidate me.” I then rang the 

handbell on the counter. 

thud thud thud thud thud thud thud! 

“Is it a robber? It must be a robber. It’s a robber!!!” 

“Wh-Wha...” 

Emile shouted as he came running down the stairs, Belle following 

closely behind him. 

Page | 45  

Bureaucrat and his subordinates had a look of panic as they heard 

the two rushing down. Emile had shouted at the top of his lungs, so 

his voice carried outside the shop, attracting a crowd around the 

building. 

Yeah, my response was going to change based on how they acted. 

That went without saying. That was why I had prepared several 

patterns for Emile’s response based on how I rang the bell. This one 

told him to treat them like robbers and make a scene. 

It was mainly me and Layette watching the shop, so the locals 

thought I was a hard-working kid taking care of my little sister and 

treated us well. Apparently, they thought Emile and Belle were my 

brother and his lover, who contributed to the family’s finances by 

doing hunter work and helping around the shop. 

As for Francette and Roland, they were seen as parasites who just 

wandered around doing nothing, leeching off the children’s earnings. 

Since no one had seen them working, covering at the shop, or going 

out on errands, they looked like a couple of bums. They didn’t work 

as hunters despite their fancy-looking equipment, and they didn’t 

even hold the bags for the children when they went shopping 

together. They just went along on the walk for the sake of walking. 

Supposedly, their good looks made their scumminess stand out all 

the more... Not too great of a reputation. Though, the duo in 

question had no idea that others saw them that way. Not to 

mention, they were pretty popular among those other than the 

locals here, like store employees and people they met on the street... 

I mean, they didn’t help carry things because they had to have both 

hands free, so they could draw their swords immediately in the event 

of an ambush. I couldn’t really blame them for that... 

But other than that, whenever we all went out to eat, Francette ate 

several times more than a normal adult woman, and Roland was an 

Page | 46  

ex-prince, so he’d order expensive things without so much as a 

second glance. 

...And I’m the one who pays. 

Well, it’d be a pain for the staff to have us pay separately, and I 

wasn’t confident in Roland’s ability to handle money on his own 

anyway, considering he had never paid for anything himself before 

going on this journey. Roland and Francette didn’t want to have me 

pay for all of their living expenses, of course, so they did reimburse 

me in gold coins every week. 

But since the locals didn’t know about any of this, they only saw that 

the kids were the only ones working, and that Layette and I didn’t 

eat much. Besides, Emile, Belle, Layette, and I were used to being 

poor, so we always picked the affordable options at eateries and 

stores. Unlike Roland and Francette, who didn’t even look at prices... 

It was no wonder people had such bad impressions of them. 

Although Francette was born a commoner, she was now a noble and 

tried not to embarrass her country or Roland by not acting the part, 

so she ordered the same things as Roland, making her seem like a 

frivolous spender. 

Plus, whenever Layette and I went out, it was for stocking products, 

buying food at the market, and showing up at the Commerce Guild, 

while Emile and Belle went out to the Hunter’s Guild. Meanwhile, 

Roland and Francette went out to fancy restaurants and taverns 

where rich folks hung out. 

It wasn’t like the brother of a king could escort his aristocrat fiancée 

to a cheap restaurant or tavern. Besides, if those two went to such a 

place, someone would try to start something with them. 

...But, oh well. There was nothing I could do about it. 

If they were happy and didn’t notice what was going on, I was fine 

with it. Don’t fret over the small stuff! So, in any case, if Layette, 

Page | 47  

Emile, Belle, or I found ourselves in danger, the neighbors would 

come flying in to help us. ...Like they were now. 

“What the hell are you doing?! Hey, someone call the guards!” A 

crowd had gathered around the door, some of them marching into 

the shop to shout at Bureaucrat’s crew. 

They hadn’t actually laid a hand on me and looked fairly respectable 

in appearance, so the locals didn’t come in swinging or hold them 

down by force, but tensions were running pretty high. The people 

here seemed to think I was only twelve years old or so, and Layette, 

who was sitting on my lap, was actually only six. It seemed the locals 

considered me to be one of them, considering they went at 

Bureaucrat’s group with so much aggression despite him obviously 

holding some position of power. It was pretty touching... 

“Wait! This isn’t what you think! We are emissaries on a mission 

from the capital!” They could have spouted some parting remark and 

fled, but if they had, they wouldn’t have been able to come back. 

Such an exit would mean guaranteed trouble the next time one of 

the locals saw them, and it would have been over for them if I 

screamed the next time they returned. 

So, in order for them to have a discussion with me, they had to dispel 

any misunderstandings here and now. They desperately tried to get a 

word in, but I wasn’t letting them off so easily. 

“Oh? Is an emissary’s job to barge into a shop and suddenly start 

shouting demands without even naming yourself or explaining what 

you’re here for?” 

“Huh...?” 

“And whose orders are you here on, anyway? What exactly did they 

tell you to do, and were you instructed to bully children without 

stating your own name or position? I have nothing to say to you 

unless you give us the name of your employer.” 

Page | 48  

“Uh...” 

“...” 

He couldn’t just reveal the person who had given him his orders in 

front of such a big crowd. They had probably made a move in the 

hope of getting ahead of other authority figures and people related 

to the royal palace, and it would be hard to give out a name after I 

had called him out on his aggressive behavior and lack of common 

sense. 

And he didn’t seem to realize it, but I was deliberately phrasing 

things in a way that would make people get the wrong idea about his 

intentions. It wasn’t a lie, though. 

This man knew his own objective, of course, so he realized my 

comments were related. But from the perspective of someone who 

didn’t know what we were talking about... 

“You’ve got some nerve, trying to put your hands on a child... And 

your boss is a criminal, hiring a bunch of thugs to kidnap someone! 

Who the hell gave you your orders?! Spit it out, or else...” These men 

were just an emissary and his attendants, and the two subordinates 

weren’t necessarily his guards or anything. In other words, they were 

gonna be useless in a fight. 

They were outnumbered by the locals, some of which looked pretty 

tough. Not to mention they were against Emile, who was armed with 

a sword, and Belle, who had a dagger. 

Good, they looked troubled... 

“You’ve been claiming you came from the capital and that you’re 

emissaries, but it’s possible that you were sent by a crime boss from 

the capital to kidnap some kids. It’s completely pointless and doesn’t 

put my mind at ease at all when you just tell us you’re an emissary 

from the capital without giving us your employer’s name or why 

you’re here. We don’t even know if what you say is true...” 

Page | 49  

“Wha...” Bureaucrat stumbled over his words for a moment; then, 

just as he prepared to yell at me again, he noticed the look from 

Emile, the younger man gripping the hilt of his weapon, as well as 

the glares from the locals, and shut his mouth. 

“In any case, I’ve never been to the capital, I have no family there, 

and I don’t know anyone from there who might have any business 

with me. The only possibility I can think of is that some scoundrel 

noticed me and decided to kidnap me, or enslave me, or try to 

threaten me and take my shop by force.” 

“Wh-What are you...” His eyes widened at my words. But I wasn’t 

saying anything outrageous or anything. The looks in the locals’ eyes 

were getting pretty scary now... 

Then, as this went on... 

“Hey, I brought an officer!” One of the local guys brought over a local 

law enforcement type who seemed to be in his mid-twenties. 

Though, this wasn’t the capital, so this wasn’t some powerful elite 

soldier. He was just an average low-ranking guy who might have 

trained a bit. At the same time, he was a resident of the city and he 

knew everyone. 

...In other words, he would prioritize protecting someone who lived 

here over the desires of strangers. Especially when we’re talking 

about a trio of strangers who were displaying inexcusable behavior 

and threatening some (seemingly) underage girls. 

“So you’re the maggots who banded together and barged into the 

shop to threaten some children?!” 

Whoa, he really hit the ground running there! 

I noticed the officer glancing to one side, then saw that he was 

looking at a girl in the crowd who seemed to be seventeen or 

Page | 50  

eighteen years old. Aha... So he was plotting to show off for that 

young girl. 

Well, it was more convenient for me the more dramatic he got with 

it. 

  

Page | 51  

    

Page | 52  

  

“Wh-What are you saying? I am here from the capital...” 

“That’s all he’s been saying this whole time, refusing to give us his 

name, his employer’s name, or why he’s here. He doesn’t even know 

my name, either. That leaves only one explanation...” 

They really hadn’t given any names yet. He should have just said his 

and his employer’s name, along with why he was here, but he 

underestimated me because I was a little girl and decided to start 

shouting and demanding answers. 

He would have a hard time giving those names out in front of this 

crowd and officer now. If he did, rumors would spread like wildfire. 

So the more authority his employer had, the harder it would be to 

name him now. He’d have to be taken into custody by the officer, 

then prove his innocence by giving out the names where no one else 

was around. ...If he could prove it, that is. 

“Y-You...” Bureaucrat gave me a death glare, then turned to the 

officer and spoke. “I am here on orders from the royal palace. Do you 

realize what will happen if you defy me?!” 

The officer looked unfazed. 

“...Do you have any way to prove your claim?” 

“These two will testify!” With that, he pointed at his two 

companions. 

But the officer just shrugged in response. 

“...And do you have proof that they’re associated with the royal 

palace?” 

“Huh...?” 

I mean, he should have expected that... 

“Argh, do you understand the consequences you will face later?!” 

Page | 53  

“Well, if I let some criminal go just because he claimed to have a 

position of authority without any proof, I’d get fired. And even if you 

really are someone of high standing, I would only get praised for 

arresting you at the scene of the crime, not reprimanded. This city 

isn’t so rotten that we let criminals go just because they hold 

positions of power.” 

“What...?” 

Whoa, the people here actually had morals! Though, the crimes he 

spoke of were just threatening me and attempting to make me do as 

he demanded. It may have just been an argument between a 

customer and worker if I had been male, but since I was a 

woman...or rather, since I looked like an underage girl...the phrasing 

from that earlier conversation made it sound like he had tried to 

commit a much more serious crime. 

I mean, he did try to make me tell him things by force and take me to 

the capital, so it wasn’t entirely wrong. 

In any case, enjoy your visit to the station! Since it was only a failed 

attempt and he seemed to hold some position of authority, he’d 

probably just end up getting scolded by the officer and his superiors. 

I doubted he would get thrown in jail when he hadn’t actually laid 

hands on me. Maybe he’d get a warning to stay away from me from 

now on. 

Oh, I know! 

“Excuse me, can you have him come closer to me?” 

“Hm? Oh, sure...” With that, the officer cautiously told Bureaucrat’s 

group to walk closer to me. 

“Can you look into my eyes?” 

“Huh? O-Okay then...” With that, Bureaucrat moved his face closer 

to mine. 

Page | 54  

“Th-They’re hazel...” He looked dumbfounded. So he did think I had 

black hair and black eyes. Naturally, that also meant he knew about 

the Angel. 

“And...” I lifted the wig off of my head. 

“B-Brown hair?!” 

There, that should have nailed the idea that I wasn’t the so-called 

Angel of Balmore into his head. ...Though, I never actually claimed 

such a title at all. 

He must have heard from that loose-lipped apothecary. Or maybe he 

heard about the Viscount Raphael incident and followed the trail 

from their stable. It was even possible that he heard it from those 

other merchants from the capital. 

Whatever the case, I was just a clerk at this small-time shop who had 

no connection to the Angel of Balmore, the Raphael household, or 

the miracle at Baron Dorivell’s house. He should have believed that 

at this point. 

And for the final blow... 

“Oh, wait, did you get duped by someone like those merchants? 

They kept going on about black hair and black eyes, so I showed 

them my real eye and hair color, and they left immediately. That’s 

why I just showed you the same thing.” 

“Wha...” 

There! Mission accomplished! There was now no doubting that I was 

completely unrelated to those incidents, and I just happened to sell 

some herbs to that geezer. I had nothing to do with Viscount 

Raphael’s household, and I didn’t know any Baron Dorivell. 

What’s that? The stable? There weren’t many pastures in the 

suburbs with stables that also took care of horses. I just so happened 

to leave my horses at House Raphael’s stables by coincidence. 

Page | 55  

...I mean, that was true. 

If anyone looked into the time when I arrived at the city and left Ed 

and the others at the stables, it would be clear that we had no prior 

relation. Besides, there was no reason for me to leave my horses at 

the same stables and risk getting unwanted attention. 

Bureaucrat and his entourage should refrain from showing their 

faces here now. If they did, they’d get thrown in jail for sure. 

And since there was no way he could tell his employer that he had 

failed to get in contact with me, give me his employer’s name, or 

explain what he wanted with me because of his arrogant attitude, all 

of this wouldn’t be included in his report. 

He probably knew about the Angel of Balmore already but found out 

about me after he had arrived in this city. Since I was just something 

that came up along the way of his investigation, or maybe he had 

heard about me from the merchants, there was no need to report on 

me at all. 

Plus, I was sure he thought of me as an annoying brat who only 

brought trouble. 

...And so, Bureaucrat and his crew were taken away by the officer. 

There, it was all taken care of. 

My peaceful, leisurely life would come back again, starting 

tomorrow. Good, good... 

 

The day after I had successfully fended off the group from the 

capital... After finishing my morning work, I had left to go to the 

market. On the way there, since I was already out and about, I took a 

slight detour to Mariel’s place, House Raphael’s estate in Viscountess 

Mariel’s domain. 

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I just felt like it, no particular reason. The chances of her being 

outside and us seeing each other were pretty much none. It wasn’t 

like a viscountess would be tending to her garden or sweeping the 

front of the gate by herself. 

Huh? Is that... 

When I turned the corner and the manor came into play, I noticed 

something next to the gate... 

A dog? Two dogs sat there, one on each side, like guardians of the 

gate. And similarly, two hawks perched atop the pillars on either 

side, as well as two pigeons beside them. 

Yeah, it might not be a good look if they were crows... Wait, that’s 

not the issue here! 

“Oh, is this your first time here? That’s the manor of the noble lady 

Viscountess Raphael, who has received the blessing of the Goddess. 

That’s why those dogs and birds, which are servants of the Goddess, 

are protecting it.” 

An old man passing by explained this all to me as I stood there, 

mouth agape. 

“Whaaat...” 

  

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I thought the deal was that she would help them once in case they 

got injured or sick... 

And why were there birds other than crows, ones that had nothing 

to do with that incident...? 

I understood the first half of what the old man was saying. After that 

whole show we put on in front of such a crowd, it only made sense. 

But what was with the latter half?! How did this happen...? 

“That’s why we all call her... the Bitch Viscountess.” 

“Whaaaaaat?!” That sounds incredibly offensive... 

At least I thought so for a second. But come to think of it, the terms 

for genders used in people and animals were the same. They both 

used “female.” 

So the title was meant to mean “the viscount protected by dog 

servants,” which was shortened to “Dog Viscount,” and since she 

was a woman, or in other words, a viscountess, they just added 

“lady” to make it “Lady Dog Viscountess.” 

The auto-translation function in my brain just recognized “female 

dog” as “bitch” since the words were arranged that way. 

...Why wouldn’t it be “the Viscountess of Dogs” or something?! Well, 

I guess that made it sound like she was a dog herself, so it wasn’t 

much different...” 

“Oh, there’ve been orders to stop using that nickname,” a young 

man who happened to be walking by said after overhearing our 

conversation. 

Yeah, that made sense. That name was a bit much... 

“We all call her the Bird Aristocrat now.” They couldn’t think of 

anything better...? 

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I approached the gate after the two men left. 

“Hey, why are you here?” I asked in a whisper...to the dog. 

“Ah, Lady Goddess! Thank you so much for introducing me to such a 

fine job. Since that incident, I’ve been employed by Lady Mariel for 

other matters. Many of my friends are now serving her. Watching 

the gates in shifts, lying about the building and keeping an eye out 

for intruders. 

“And it hasn’t occurred as of late, but there are times when we are 

summoned to handle some...rougher matters.” 

“The attack on the Black Ops!!!” The mystery was solved. So that’s 

what happened... 

“What about the crows?” 

“The crows were, um, rather intimidating, so they’re working behind 

the scenes. The new hires are more visually appealing, so they’re 

usually given the more public roles.” 

“I...I see. I’m happy that you got a nice job. Well, see you around...” 

“Yes, if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. We will come 

to your aid at any time!” 

...Mariel was more capable than I thought. And she was pretty 

crafty... 

Though, since the Black Ops were the ones who killed her parents 

and brother for money, she had a vendetta against them alongside 

the one with her uncle Aragorn. And they were a crime ring that had 

been giving Count Maslias, who she owed a lot to, quite a bit of 

trouble. Now that Mariel had power, there was no reason for her to 

hold back. 

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Even if it was the power of gods or demons... 

 

“...So you’re saying you came back with no results?” 

“...Yes, Your Majesty.” 

The king was clearly in a bad mood. The emissary he had sent to that 

viscountess had finally returned, but with absolutely nothing to show 

for it. It was no wonder the king was displeased. 

“I did go to the household of the viscountess... I had assumed she 

would easily be pressured into spilling secrets and signing a contract 

favorable to us if I gave her your name, Your Majesty, but Count 

Maslias, of her parent house, was in attendance, as well...” 

“And you failed to get her to speak about the Goddess, her 

messenger, or anything else, and she refused to come to the capital 

out of respect for me or come under my patronage?” 

“Indeed. Each time I brought up the matter, the count interjected 

that it would be cruel to have an underage child go to the capital 

now, after she had lost her family so recently and was still in distress 

from the incident with her uncle. He insisted this was an important 

time for her, as the new viscountess, and that she must focus on 

tending to her domain... 

“And when I brought up bringing her under your patronage, he 

claimed that was his role as the head of her parent house. With Your 

Majesty being in the capital so far away, you would not be able to 

provide support in a timely manner if something were to happen to 

her... 

“I thought that forcing her to attend the royal court against her will 

and that of her parent house, while she is already in another noble 

house’s faction, could have caused a major issue...” 

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“And she had been told by the Goddess not to talk to anyone about 

her, so she refused to speak on the matter... But you must have 

learned something by threatening or bribing her servants. What did 

they tell you?” 

“W-Well, Your Majesty, none of them agreed to speak a single 

word... I did hint at their own lives and their family’s lives being in 

danger, but...” 

“What happened?” 

“They said to do as I pleased. Then they smiled an uncanny smile... 

Their expressions told me that, if I did anything, I would incur the 

wrath of the Goddess and die for sure. There was such certainty in 

their faces...” 

“...” 

Come to think of it, there was no way they would betray anyone who 

was loved by the Goddess. And the goddess in question was the 

infamous Celestine. Although benevolent, she wasn’t exactly 

meticulous and didn’t care too much about the lives of individual 

humans. What disaster would result from betraying the human that 

this Goddess had taken a liking to...? 

Not to mention, this was the wise, delicate, fourteen-year-old noble 

girl who was kind to commoners. It was hard to believe anyone 

would double-cross her. 

...It appeared the plan had ended in failure. The king understood this 

well. 

A young, unmarried, aristocrat girl who was blessed by the Goddess. 

No one was so foolish that they couldn’t see her value. Naturally, her 

parent house and those of her faction would refuse to let her go. 

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He had to get her to come to the capital for a courtesy call so he 

could make an agreement with her directly, before the leader of her 

faction made a move. And he had to handle this all quite properly. 

Although his authority was limited compared to other kingdoms, he 

was still a king. It wasn’t impossible for him to use his influence as 

king to get a lower-class noble, and an underage girl at that, to make 

an agreement that was favorable to him. And once an official 

contract was made, it would be too late for her parent house or 

faction leader to do anything about it. After all, this would be an 

official agreement between the head of a noble house and the king. 

However, his attempt to have his emissary contact her in private was 

blocked by the count, who was the head of her parent house. His 

efforts had ended in vain. 

That sneaky approach wouldn’t work anymore. 

In fact, Count Maslias had already taught her all about this tactic, so 

it was unlikely that she would agree to such invitations or contracts. 

He had no choice but to approach her as a good, kind king. And if he 

could foist one of his sons on her... 

But using a good-looking young man as bait was an obvious tactic, 

used by aristocrats who had sons who were of age. If the viscountess 

came to the capital, he could... 

The king’s head hurt just thinking about it. 

“Well, her faction leader may get a bit carried away, but the other 

factions should band together to keep him in check. At least, I hope 

so...” 

It appeared there would be many ordeals to come for Mariel. 

Ordeals that Kaoru would be jealous of, if she were to hear about 

them... 

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Though, Kaoru had claimed that she would refuse any man who 

wanted her just for her position as the Angel or for her potions. So, 

perhaps Mariel wouldn’t be shrieking with joy, but instead raising 

her voice for a legitimate cry for help. 

And the day Mariel would have no choice but to go to the capital 

wasn’t too far in the future... 

  

  

 

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Idle Chat: Celes Strawberries 

“I’ll be going to that person’s place today. Ehe, ehehehe...” Celestine 

muttered to herself with a big grin on her face. 

Today was another day in which she would report on Kaoru’s 

status...or, rather, to go visit the manager of Earth. 

“Ahhh, I am ever so grateful to Kaoru! Not only did she come up with 

the reason that I was able to meet him, but she gave me the great 

idea of checking in on the world regularly so we would have 

something in common and things to talk about! And all her antics 

give me plenty of exciting things to talk about. It’s almost as if she’s 

doing it on purpose... 

“Ah! Maybe she really is doing it on purpose! Ohh, how wonderful 

you are, my only friend! I never knew how splendid it is to have 

friends!” 

  

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She was speaking much more candidly about “that person” than ever 

before. ...And although she referred to him as such, he wasn’t 

technically a person. It seemed she was getting much closer to him, 

emotionally speaking. 

In the meantime, her one-sided feeling of friendship toward Kaoru 

grew ever stronger. 

Celestine’s main body...the name of which was rather impossible for 

humans to pronounce...saw humans as something akin to how 

humans saw water fleas. But to the Celestine that was a mere sliver 

of her main body, which had her abilities lowered to make it possible 

for her to communicate with humans, she saw humans she took a 

liking to the same way humans saw chicks or hamsters. 

However, she perceived most humans as akin to bugs, and humans 

she disliked were like mosquitoes or cockroaches to her. So, if any of 

them annoyed her or got in her way, she didn’t hesitate to dispose of 

them. 

Kaoru was somewhere around the level of a kitten she had received 

from someone she liked. 

  

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But her feelings of appreciation and friendship toward Kaoru were 

real and specific only to her. 

“In any case, I need to seize this opportunity! I can’t be losing to that 

old lady from the ＃§♭÷⊇∮￡ dimension or anyone else!” 

It appeared she had rivals, as well... 

But it was a mystery how old they were if Celestine considered them 

to be old, while she had lived for millions of years herself... 

But regardless of the life form’s age, Celestine, That Person, the Old 

Lady, and all of her other rivals were nothing more than mere 

fractions of their main bodies, and since each of them had lowered 

their rates and levels of thinking so that they could communicate 

with the life forms of their respective worlds, they were all in a 

similar state. 

...In other words, they did each vary to some degree, but they 

weren’t all that different from Celestine. 

The current Celestine had merely adopted an appearance similar to 

the creatures of her world, and she had no need to mimic the form 

of a human when visiting That Person, but That Person also 

happened to take the form of the same creatures, so she always 

visited him with this appearance, happy that they had matching 

looks. 

“Okay, perfect! Here I go!” Celestine fixed up her appearance, and 

after checking herself several times, she teleported across 

dimensions. 

As an aside, Celestine’s breasts were small because, within the 

standards of her species, it wasn’t considered beautiful to have 

unnecessary lumps of fat hanging off their bodies, having things that 

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could inhibit movement attached to them, or having meaningless 

curves. 

As a species that had no concept of sexual relations or raising 

children via breastfeeding, they considered small, compact, tight, 

and efficient bodies to be superior and therefore beautiful. 

Celestine had actually made Kaoru’s breasts slightly smaller than her 

original body’s as a gesture of kindness when reconstructing her, and 

even made it so they wouldn’t get any bigger through eating or 

exercise. 

...It was done out of consideration. She thought it would make Kaoru 

happy... 

It was completely unnecessary... 

“H-How do you do...” Celestine opened with a greeting similar to 

that of a human’s. It had only been the blink of an eye since they last 

met, by their standards, but it must have been far too long in 

Celestine’s mind. 

“Oh, hey, Celes. Thanks for stopping by all the time...” 

“N-Not at all, I like reporting to you about Kaoru...” Celestine said 

shyly. 

Since they didn’t make use of the concepts of having lovers or 

getting married, nothing made them happier than having someone 

wonderful know about them, having another think favorably of 

them, or having others rely on them in an emergency and relying on 

them. Of course, this didn’t apply to her main body but rather that of 

the lowest-grade offspring like this Celestine. 

Therefore, Celestine was in the height of happiness at the moment. 

Meanwhile, the other offspring, who were of a slightly higher level 

than Celestine, watched her through monitors in other dimensions, 

writhing at the sight. 

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“So bittersweet!!!” From the perspectives of the other offspring, it 

was like thirty-something-year-old older sisters watching their 

younger sister getting excited about her first love. They no longer felt 

such emotions themselves, but watching their younger sibling 

experience it made them feel strangely happy and entertained... 

  

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“Kaoru to the Eyes of the Goddess!” 

“This is the Eyes of the Goddess.” 

The intonation was a bit off, so “Kaoru” sounded more like “Kirk.” 

This was just a matter of Kaoru’s preferences. She had taken a tool 

out of the Item Box to contact the children of the Eyes of the 

Goddess. The tool in question was the “sound resonance crystal set,” 

which contained a potion inside of it. It came in a set, as the name 

suggested, and when you spoke into one of them, the sound 

resonated through the other crystal to relay the message. 

...Though, officially, it was just a potion container that came with 

such functions. 

Kaoru had to open the Item Box and check it to notice any calls from 

the kids, but the children answered right away whenever she called 

from her end. To them, the idea of leaving the house that Kaoru had 

left them unattended, or not having someone on watch with the 

sound resonance crystal set — their only means of communication 

with Kaoru — was inconceivable. 

So, Kaoru had contacted them regularly, once every few days, to 

make sure there were no issues at the orphanage or in the royal 

capital. She kind of had to because, otherwise, the worried orphans 

would have constantly tried to get hold of her, and she would have 

been bombarded with alerts every time she opened the Item Box. 

“Anything new?” 

“Nothing in particular. Oh, Achille just went through his ceremony to 

officially become a baron. Then he brought up the idea of Lolotte 

becoming his lover, and there was a big argument with everyone else 

at the workshop.” 

“Ah...” 

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Achille, the third son of Baron Lyodart’s household and one of the 

workers at the Maillart Workshop, was to receive the title of baron 

for his contributions in the plan to keep the Goddess in the country. 

The reason for him receiving his title was supposedly because he had 

assisted the Goddess and worked as a driving force in welcoming her 

to their country. 

In truth, they had wanted to make Kaoru royalty or at least a high-

ranking aristocrat, but they figured she wouldn’t care about ranks 

made up by humans. So, in order to increase what little chance they 

had, they decided to put men of marriageable age associated with 

her into circumstances that would make it easier for her to marry 

them. 

Hector, of Earl Adan’s household, was already the firstborn son in the 

family, so he was fine as-is. 

Achille had been making moves on Lolotte, the girl from the Eyes of 

the Goddess who had been named Kaoru’s successor for handling 

the domestic duties at the Maillart Workshop, but a baron couldn’t 

just take an orphan girl as a wife, so the idea of being his mistress 

had been brought up. 

“The guys at the workshop wouldn’t have said anything about the 

third-born son of a low-ranking aristocrat with no title prospects. 

Making her his mistress would have been one thing, but they 

couldn’t stay silent when he proposed to make her his lover without 

any official standing, which would have meant their child wouldn’t 

have inherited his status or rights as a noble.” 

A mistress was similar to a concubine. Their arrangement would be 

officially acknowledged by the lawful wife, the man would take care 

of her expenses, and their child would inherit the aristocrat’s status 

and rights, unlike a lover, who would never be officially recognized. 

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But for an orphan, even that would be like a Cinderella story. And a 

commoner was really in no position to argue with a baron. But to the 

others at the workshop, he was still Achille, their colleague, despite 

his noble position. And they all felt the need to protect their friend, 

Lolotte. 

“Well, then I guess it’s really up to what she wants... Why don’t you 

let her decide?” 

“We will. Oh, and Achille’s older brother’s wife came to check on us. 

She said she was worried now that you weren’t around to take care 

of us. But when we told her that all you did was lie around and that 

you didn’t cook, clean, or do laundry much, so we always took care 

of ourselves, she went home looking really mad.” 

“Gya...” 

“Gya?” 

“Gyaaaaaa!!!” 

Kaoru then had Emile and Belle take over the conversation and 

curled up with her head clutched in her hands... 

  

  

 

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Chapter 37: My First Errand 

“Kaoru, I want to go outside.” 

“Hm? Sure. The morning shift’s almost over, so wait just a little 

longer, okay? So, where are we going?” 

Layette was sitting on Kaoru’s lap as usual when she brought it up, 

and Kaoru had replied assuming she would go with her. Of course, 

there was no other possible option. 

But... 

“Actually, I want to go by myself.” 

“Wh-Whaaaaaat?!” 

  

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Kaoru was flabbergasted. 

D-D-Does she hate me now? She never wanted to leave my side 

before... Is this her rebellious phase? Or maybe she’s becoming 

independent? Ohh, what do I do... 

Kaoru was completely losing it. 

But Layette had been sold by her parents and kidnapped, and the 

gate guards had all been part of the ploy. No one could blame her if 

she didn’t trust adults. 

“Wh-Wh-Wh-” What should I do?! “Wh-Wh-Wh-” Where are you 

going?! “Wh-Wh-Wh-” Who put her up to thiiiiiis?! 

“I have no idea what you’re trying to say...” 

Kaoru was shot down by Layette’s calm response... 

 

“...So that’s why.” 

“...” 

After Kaoru had questioned Layette in a panic, she had gone on to 

explain... 

She was now six years old and would be seven very soon, but she 

was always with Kaoru, who protected her and took care of her 

every need. She did nothing on her own, and hadn’t made any 

progress in any meaningful way. She had come to think the situation 

had to change for her own good. 

“L-Layette... That’s so respectable of you...” Kaoru couldn’t help but 

hug Layette tightly. 

“...This is what I mean!” 

“Whaaat... But you’re supposed to provide emotional support...” 

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“No, I want to be useful to you, Kaoru!” 

“I mean, you’re very useful for emotional support...” 

“Nooo! Not like thaaat!!!” Layette bopped Kaoru on her flat chest 

with closed fists, hopped off of her lap, then ran up the stairs to the 

second floor. 

  

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“What...? Whaaat... Whaaaaaaaaat?!” 

Speechless. Kaoru was completely speechless. As she sat there in a 

shocked stupor, Francette watched her with a look of pity. 

 

“So you think I might be a little overprotective?” 

“Not that you ‘might’ be, you absolutely are overprotective of her!” 

“Whaaat...?” Kaoru was taken aback by Francette’s unusually firm 

attitude. 

“Think of it this way. If there was someone you really cared about 

and you wanted to do things for them and make them happy, but all 

they did was fawn over you without letting you do anything, how 

would you feel? Would it be fun wasting your time away getting 

spoiled without really doing anything when you wanted to be useful 

to them?” 

“Ah...” 

Francette was right. At six or seven in Japan, Layette would have 

been in elementary school. Elementary school was where everyone 

studied, played with friends, got in fights, went on adventures, and 

experienced all sorts of things to undergo great physical and mental 

growth. 

Meanwhile, Layette spent the vast majority of her day sitting on 

Kaoru’s lap under her constant protection. It was incredible that 

Layette had come to realize on her own that something had to 

change when she was living an easy, happy, and stable life... 

“I’m so proud of Layette!” Kaoru was so happy that she couldn’t help 

but beam in ecstasy. 

“This is what I’m talking about!!!” It seemed Francette was getting 

seriously ticked off. And she was talking to a so-called goddess... 

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“...So you’re telling me to push Layette away?” 

“I wouldn’t go that far, but...” 

Now that Kaoru had calmed down, Francette began to talk about 

how to remedy the issue. 

“In any case, if you wish for Layette to live a fulfilling life without 

hurting her or hampering her personal growth, you cannot go on as 

things are now. You will need to respect her independence more, let 

her think on her own, and get her used to being alone... Otherwise, 

without you...no, even with you around, she won’t be able to do 

anything on her own. Is that how you want her to turn out?” 

“Urgh...” Her knowledge about NEETs, shut-ins, and the prevalence 

of communication issues from her previous life made her realize she 

could ruin Layette’s life, and Kaoru began to sweat. 

“Wh-What should I do...?” Kaoru asked in a fluster, and Francette 

replied decisively, 

“You must let her do things on her own! Like going outside!” 

“That’s exactly what she said in the first place!!!” 

...And so, Layette was given the permission to go out on her own. 

 

“Okay, I’m going now!” 

“Be careful! Don’t eat anything you find on the ground! Don’t follow 

any strangers who talk to you! Don’t go into back alleys, even if a boy 

asks you...” 

“Cut it out, Kaoru!” 

Kaoru stood frozen in shock, and Layette ran off outside. 

Kaoru quickly recomposed herself and gave the order in a hushed 

tone. “Francette, I’m counting on you!” 

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“Yes, please leave it to me!” With that, Francette ran off after 

Layette. 

After the earlier conversation, Kaoru had a conversation with 

Francette, Roland, Emile, and Belle, and decided to send Layette out 

on a warrior’s journey. ...Though she would be back later that day, of 

course. 

It wasn’t just Francette — Emile and Belle also got requests from 

Kaoru sometimes. From everyone else’s perspective, this was a 

divine edict, a heaven-sent opportunity for them to be of use to 

Kaoru. Layette was the only one who didn’t see it that way, and she 

was beginning to feel like a useless good-for-nothing. “I’d be just like 

Old Roland if I stayed like this,” she had said, and Roland was 

severely depressed when he heard about it. 

  

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In any case, Kaoru had to give Layette some work and motivate her. 

Moreover, she wanted to take this opportunity to get her to interact 

with other children, play, exercise, and make her more social, so as 

to kill two birds with one stone. So the order Kaoru had given Layette 

was... 

“Infiltrate the orphanage and investigate whether the children there 

are worthy of the Goddess’s blessing.” ...In other words, it was an 

order for her to go mingle with them. 

It was the first task Kaoru had tasked Layette within her capacity as 

the messenger of the Goddess. It was Layette’s very first official 

errand. So, of course, Kaoru had to have someone support her from 

the shadows. 

She’d already had Emile and Belle research the orphan group in 

question beforehand to make sure there weren’t any thugs or child 

traffickers in the area scoping them out. Plus, they had found that 

their leader was a responsible kid who only permitted the minimum 

amount of crime that was absolutely necessary for survival. He was 

also diligent and took measures to ensure any damage done to the 

victims would be minimal while avoiding unnecessary violence or 

exploitation. 

If Layette ended up becoming friends with them and it was 

determined that they weren’t worthy of the Goddess’s blessing, it 

would have made Layette sad. That was why Kaoru made sure she 

would be going to a group that would pass the test. 

Francette gave Kaoru an exasperated look when she heard this, but 

decided not to say anything. Though, it was unclear whether that 

was out of kindness, or if Francette had just given up on her... 

It was extremely rare for Layette to say with such a serious tone that 

she absolutely didn’t want Kaoru to follow her, so she had no choice 

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but to peek out and watch Layette from behind a tree, whispering, 

“Layette...” like she was Hyuma’s older sister. 

Kaoru didn’t want to ignore Layette’s request or break any 

promises...or rather, she was more worried about hurting her when 

she found out, or Layette ending up hating her, so she couldn’t take 

any risks, no matter how small. And so, Kaoru had given up on 

following Layette in secret. 

But Layette had only told Kaoru not to follow her. ...Indeed, she 

never said someone else couldn’t do so. That was why Kaoru had 

sent Francette. Kaoru had actually wanted to send Emile and Belle, 

as well, but Francette strongly disagreed, since that course of action 

would result in leaving Kaoru alone. And since Roland had no training 

in guarding someone while hiding, he would only get in the way. She 

really didn’t seem to think about Roland at all... 

 

“Th-There it is...” Layette had arrived at some grassy plains by a 

riverbed. A small distance from the river’s surface, there was 

something like a little shanty built out of scrap wood and long pieces 

of grass...in fact, it could just barely be called a shelter for rain. 

Around it, there were five or six children who seemed to range from 

four to five years old and seven to eight years old. 

Apparently, they were outside because it was better than being 

crammed in that stuffy “rain shelter.” They were all too young to be 

living on their own. The older ones were likely out earning money or 

gathering food, and the somewhat-older seven- to eight-year-olds 

were watching over the younger kids. 

This place was close to the sea, and due to the layout of the terrain, 

the river water wouldn’t reach it. It didn’t rain much, either. Even if 

the water level did rise, they probably wouldn’t have a problem 

abandoning their dingy sleeping spot, and they could easily rebuild 

another with the pieces of wood that would wash up with the tide. 

Page | 87  

The convenience of the location just by the riverbed outweighed the 

possibility of the water rising to a dangerous level, so it was hard to 

give it up. To anyone who didn’t have access to the communal well, 

having moving water for drinking, laundry, bathing, and defecation 

was extremely important. The river supported their life in many 

respects. 

“Okay, time to get to work!” With that, Layette began walking over 

to the other children. 

The children stared at Layette with looks of suspicion. 

Layette stopped several meters away, then said to them, “I-Is 

business boomin’?” 

“What the heck was thaaat?!” 

Just what was Kaoru teaching Layette...? 

“...So, you tryin’ to tell us you’re an orphan, too? Even though you’re 

so clean and wearing fancy clothes?” The boy who seemed to be the 

oldest of the group stared at Layette dubiously, but she seemed 

unfazed. 

Indeed, Layette was feeling fearless right now. After all, she was 

carrying out a top-secret mission for the Goddess, so there was no 

need to worry about her own life. 

“Yup! My parents sold me, then I was kidnapped on the way to being 

taken to the traffickers! I was about to be a slave, or a sacrifice, or a 

‘plaything,’ but I was saved instead!” 

Bfff! The kids all spit at once. Even the ones who didn’t know what a 

‘plaything’ was understood the concept of being sold, as well as what 

traffickers, kidnapping, and slaves were. These were all dangers that 

could threaten them at any time, so the older kids had warned them 

repeatedly. 

Page | 88  

And it would have been one thing if her parents had just died, but 

that they had sold her was almost too heavy to consider. They 

thought they were in a bad spot, but there were always those who 

were worse off. They didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about 

that... 

In any case, the children understood well that this girl was an orphan 

like them. 

“I’m traveling around with the person who saved me and we’re 

staying in the city for now. She told me there were kids at this 

riverbank, so I should come by for a while...” 

“...” 

Whoever her caretaker was, she must have seen their shelter if she 

knew about the children here. Naturally, she would know that they 

were a group of orphans and barely had anything to eat... 

Considering she had sent her here anyway... 

...Had she been abandoned? 

Layette had learned many things from Kaoru. One of them being the 

concept of lying. 

According to Kaoru... 

“You can lie when you need to, but you shouldn’t lie when it’s not 

necessary.” 

“If you’re not lying but just so happen to forget to include a piece of 

information, it’s not your fault if someone gets the wrong idea. 

That’s their own fault for making assumptions.” 

“It’s okay to tell lies that make people laugh or make them happy.” 

“For every lie you tell, furnish it with ninety-nine truths.” 

“If you want someone to believe you, you need to believe in your 

own lie first.” 

Page | 89  

Such were the lessons for gifted children that were imparted to 

Layette, though it may have been a bit early to teach them to a six-

year-old. 

“U-Uh, I-I see. W-W-Well, make yourself at home...” 

“Hm? O-Okay...” 

Layette was rather confused by the boy’s sudden shift to an 

awkwardly kind demeanor. 

“W-Wanna play with us?” The invitation came from a girl who was 

about the same age as the boy who had just spoken. 

“Yeah!” This was Layette’s first interaction with children around her 

age since leaving her village. She felt honored, relieved, and happy 

whenever she was with Kaoru, but it was far from a true friendship. 

Children needed other children... 

“...It appears Layette has succeeded in infiltrating their ranks.” 

Francette sat on the branch of a thick tree, watching the orphans 

from a distance. Since there was nothing obstructing the view from 

the riverbed, she had to stay somewhat distant or risk being seen. 

She was able to check on Layette’s safety, but she wasn’t able to 

hear what they were talking about. 

“Well, a baby’s job is to sleep and cry, and a child’s job is to play. As 

for knights...” With that, Francette gripped the hilt of her sword 

lightly. “Our job is to defeat our enemies and fulfill our duty. No 

matter how simple...or impossible...that may be. I must carry out 

orders from the one I’ve sworn loyalty to!” 

 

“...Hm? Who’s that kid?” The five children who returned seemed to 

range from around ten years old to thirteen or fourteen years old. 

There were three boys and two girls. 

Page | 90  

“Fancy clothes she’s wearing... Why is a girl like her here? Sherry! 

What if someone thinks we kidnapped her? We’ll all be arrested and 

enslaved! Why didn’t you stop this? Who brought her?!” the oldest 

boy, who seemed to be the leader of the group, shouted angrily, but 

the girl named Sherry, who had been left behind, shook her head. 

“...She came here on her own. She’s one of us.” 

“What...?” The leader boy didn’t seem to believe it, but Sherry 

should have understood such dangers. And although this 

newcomer’s clothes and clean-looking face and hands did stand out a 

bit, the rest of her did blend in with the others. She wasn’t looking 

down on the others, either, but seemed to regard them as equals. 

“...But even if she wants to stay, it’ll all be over if her parents come 

looking for her. Even if she was abused, her parents would be 

ashamed to have her be seen with us. They could even blame us and 

say we kidnapped her...” 

“She said she has no parents, and the person who takes care of her 

told her to come here.” 

“...” The leader boy listened to Sherry and thought that this person 

who took care of this newcomer girl must have been keeping her 

clean only because it would be a nuisance if she began attracting 

fleas and lice. It was only natural for him to think so. 

“I see... Well, I’m Maloi. I’m the leader around here. Anyway, come 

visit anytime you want!” the boy said after thinking about it for a 

brief moment. It seemed he had accepted Layette into the group. 

After spending some time with the orphans, Layette saw that the 

older children were beginning to prepare a meal and decided to take 

her leave. 

“I’m gonna go home for today. Thanks for playing with me!” Layette 

said to the others and trotted off. 

Page | 91  

She had realized that if she stayed any longer, the other children 

would try to share what little food they had with her, and she didn’t 

want to put them in that situation. 

...Or perhaps she simply preferred Kaoru’s cooking over their not-so-

tasty and meager food... 

In any case, Sherry had thought Layette had nowhere left to go home 

to. Layette casually strolled away, leaving the bewildered Sherry 

asking, “Huh? What?” 

  

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Page | 93  

  

“...So that’s what happened. Juta, Rosche, and Sherry were all so 

nice!” 

“Mhm, great job, Layette! Keep up the good work tomorrow, okay?” 

“Yeah!” 

“...How was it, Francette?” 

“She seemed to be enjoying her time with the other orphans. There 

was nothing out of the ordinary, and as Emile had already found out 

during his preliminary investigation, they all seemed to be sincere 

and decent, despite their circumstances.” 

“Thanks. Let’s make tomorrow her last day of the mission, then. If 

Layette wants to visit them on her own afterward, that’s up to her. 

She’s free to go there if she wants, instead of going there because I 

ordered her to...” 

“Yes...” There was a gentle look in Francette’s eyes, as well. 

Francette wasn’t hated, exactly, but because of her serious, 

inflexible, and stubborn personality, she didn’t have many friends 

she could open up to and have a heart-to-heart conversation with. It 

wasn’t as if she had scary eyes... 

 

The next night, Kaoru told Layette, “Those kids pass. Now I know 

they’re worthy of receiving help if something happens to them, so 

your investigation is done.” 

There was a tinge of sadness to Layette’s expression, and Kaoru 

added, “So you can go play with them whenever you want.” Layette 

was delighted. 

Afterward, Layette went to visit the orphans from time to time. 

Page | 94  

...Of course, Francette or Emile secretly watched over her when she 

did. There was no way the super-protective Kaoru would let her walk 

around outside by herself. 

“Cops and Robbers is when you split up between guards and robbers 

and try to catch the other team or run away!” 

“The Daruma Doll Fell Over is when one person is ‘it,’ and the 

others...” 

...And so, Layette taught the orphans the games she had learned 

from Kaoru. 

Overprotective as always, Kaoru had taught Layette all sorts of 

games from Japan so she could blend in with the other children more 

easily. Kaoru had also made sure to teach Layette games that 

wouldn’t require any additional gear. There was no chair to play Fruit 

Basket, and they had no can to play Kick the Can. 

“What’s a daruma?” 

“Umm... Someone without arms or legs, I think.” 

“Hey, you wanna play by making some person without arms or legs 

fall over?! That’s not humane! Oh, I guess that’s why one person is 

called ‘it’...” 

...That wasn’t it at all. 

In any case, the simple, yet refined games from Japan were a huge 

hit among the orphans. And since there were too few members of 

the group that stayed home, they usually played once the older kids 

came back, or asked kids over from other orphan groups. It didn’t 

take long for the games to spread among orphans from all over the 

city. 

Layette began solidifying her position among the orphans as 

someone who came up with fun games. 

 

Page | 95  

It was Francette’s turn to be on watch duty today. Francette sat on a 

tree branch that had become her regular resting spot. Emile had 

been using the same spot as well, and they had each modified it for 

their own comfort, like adding a little hook to hang a canteen or 

shaving a bit of the branch to make it easier to sit on. 

...It was just like how children liked to make “secret bases.” 

Once the season changed and the leaves fell off, they would have to 

find another spot to observe from. A good spot that wasn’t exposed 

to the cold wind... 

“Urgh... Oh no, my stomach...” Francette was a knight. As such, 

whenever she had to eat or go to the restroom while on duty at her 

previous job, she’d had someone else cover for her. She wasn’t the 

only one on duty then, and it was normal for someone to be 

available to swap in at any time. 

It wasn’t as if she was a ninja who had been trained not to eat or go 

to the restroom while on duty. Not eating was one thing, but 

hydrating and...relieving herself...was necessary. And she had done 

so on this mission several times already. 

“There isn’t much to obstruct the view or hide behind out at the 

riverbed...” Francette muttered to herself as she made her way 

toward a spot some distance away. 

Although her real age was in her late thirties, and it wasn’t as if she 

hadn’t done it many times before, she did have reservations about 

doing her business where there was a possibility of someone seeing 

her. Especially when it was ‘number two’... 

But by then, Francette was no longer worried at all about the 

orphans, and she figured it would be fine to take her eyes off Layette 

for ten minutes or so. Kaoru was just abnormally overprotective, she 

told herself. 

Page | 96  

Indeed, it was the same thought process as those who inevitably 

came to regret their foolish carelessness later on... 

 

“There she is!” Two adults approached Layette as she played with 

the children in the stay-at-home group, and began sprinting after 

yelling as much. 

“Begin attack!” Sherry, the leader of today’s stay-at-home group, 

shouted without hesitation, and the orphans immediately stopped 

what they were doing, ducked, and gripped an appropriately-sized 

rock in each hand. They launched the rocks in their right hands 

toward the adults, then passed the rocks in their left hands to their 

right, and followed up with another toss. 

Duck, pick up rocks, throw twice, duck again. 

The six orphans besides Layette threw rock after rock as if they had 

trained for it many times...in fact, they certainly must have. Since 

they were at the riverbed, they had plenty of rocks to reload with. 

Kidnappers who would take children to turn into illegal slaves or 

playthings... Men who killed children just for fun... The orphans must 

have trained countless times to protect themselves from such fiends. 

For children that were only four to eight years old, their attacks were 

highly coordinated. 

Kids their age had no chance of outrunning adults. Kidnappers could 

easily catch any one of them and take them away. That was why they 

had put their all into throwing rocks, the one method with which 

even children could stand up to adults, as long as they landed a solid 

hit. 

It wasn’t as if the number of captured kids would increase if they 

failed. One adult would only be able to take one child with them at a 

time, and it would be exceedingly difficult for them to subdue two at 

Page | 97  

once. In addition, if they wanted to be inconspicuous with their 

kidnapping, one child between two adults was probably their limit. 

“Damned brats!” The thrown rocks hit the adults many times, but 

with their arms protecting their heads and the attacks landing on 

their limbs and body through their clothes, the children weren’t 

strong enough to break any bones or knock them unconscious. 

...Though it was enough to cause plenty of pain. 

There wasn’t much distance between them, so the sprinting adults 

quickly reached the children and began punching and kicking at full 

force, neutralizing them immediately. 

It wasn’t enough to kill anyone, but the attacks were brutal enough 

on their young bodies that they could have ended up with broken 

bones or permanent damage. Even if captured like this, their value 

would be greatly lowered. They were far too thoughtless for 

kidnappers. 

Since Layette didn’t participate in the rock-throwing, she simply 

stood there flabbergasted, without receiving any of the violence. 

“All right, we took care of the pests. Now, let’s get our prey!” 

At this point, Layette finally realized something. The adults weren’t 

after the orphans. They were after her. She was certainly the best 

dressed and cleanest of the group, and would likely fetch a high 

price. Therefore, they would focus on securing Layette, the target 

that would yield them the highest return. 

That was why they didn’t care if they injured or even killed the other 

children. It explained why they had punched and kicked them with 

full force. They had used excessive violence as retaliation for the pain 

from the rocks that were thrown at them. 

“Grrr...” Layette bared her teeth. 

Page | 98  

The set of teeth that had caused some serious damage when she had 

chomped down on Francette’s neck... 

Wsh! They grabbed on to each of Layette’s shoulders from both sides 

and tried to lift her up. 

Just then, her neck twisted around and... 

Chomp. 

“Gyaaaaaa!!!” The man hadn’t raised his voice even when taking a 

direct hit from a rock, but it seemed he couldn’t bear this pain. 

Layette was only six years old, but she had pretty powerful jaws. And 

her teeth were tiny. 

If their diameter were half that of an adult’s, the surface area would 

be one fourth the size. ...In other words, they were extremely sharp. 

And they were backed by the full force of Layette’s bite. 

Not to mention, her upper canines were very developed. The 

difference in power between getting stomped with flat heels and 

with high heels had already been demonstrated on Francette’s neck. 

“How is your neck’s range of mobility so wide?! What are you, a 

wolf?!” the man who hadn’t gotten bitten said, but the one who had 

didn’t have any patience for such observations. 

“Ahhh! Sh-She’s gonna rip a chunk outta me! Get off me, damn 

iiit!!!” But pushing her away or pulling on her head would only add 

leverage for her to tear off a piece of his arm meat. And so, he 

changed his tactics and started punching her instead. 

  

Page | 99  

    

Page | 100  

  

“Hey! We’re not supposed to hurt that one!” 

“Shut up! Who’s gonna pay if I follow that order and lose an arm, 

huh?! Are you? Are you gonna give me a thousand gold coins and 

take care of me forever?!” There was nothing that could be said in 

response to that. It was true that the chances of her taking out a 

piece of his arm and rendering it useless weren’t zero. But he didn’t 

want to take personal responsibility for that if it happened, so he 

could only shrug his shoulders and watch. He was just glad it wasn’t 

him that had been bitten... 

Layette refused to release his arm, even as he punched her in the 

face and stomach. Flustered, the man drew his dagger with his left 

hand in a flash of rage. 

“H-Hey, don’t...” The other man quickly moved to stop him, but the 

man with the dagger raised his weapon. 

He intended to strike her with the hilt rather than the blade, but a 

blow with full force behind it would easily break such a young child’s 

bones, whether her ribcage or her skull. 

Down came his left hand, and...it swung at empty air. 

“...Huh? What? Wha...” He had missed the girl’s body completely. 

Confused, he checked his left arm and immediately realized why. 

His arm had been completely severed from the elbow, with nothing 

extending beyond it. It was no wonder his swing had missed. 

...Yes, he understood now. It made total sense. 

“Gyaaaaaaaaagh!!!” 

“...What are you doing?” The man realized something was off and 

shook off Layette as she released her hold, then he cried out and 

clutched his left elbow. 

Page | 101  

The other man leapt back in a panic and drew his dagger. 

There she stood, the blade in her hand spotless as it vibrated at 

supersonic speed, splattering specks of blood all around it. A young 

girl...or, at least, she looked like one. 

“...Just what...do you think you’re doing...?” She was a young girl clad 

in knightly armor, smiling pleasantly. But her smile didn’t reach her 

eyes. While her mouth formed a smile, a different emotion 

emanated from her entire body. It was... 

Rage. Hatred. And again, rage. 

Rage for the injury they had caused to her comrade, who also served 

the Goddess. 

Rage for injuring such an innocent little girl. 

Regret and self-hatred for letting this happen due to her own 

foolishness...and rage. 

Fear and rage at herself for betraying the Goddess’s trust, failing to 

fulfill her divine duty. 

Rage, rage, rage, rage, rage... 

Wham! ... Crack. 

The man’s dagger didn’t even have a chance to touch her before her 

blade sank deep into his side. His ribs broke, their shards digging 

directly into his organs. He fell facedown, unable to speak, only 

making wheezing noises as he struggled to breathe. 

Francette ignored the downed man, walked over to the other man 

who was gripping his arm that was severed at the elbow, and kicked 

him down. Then... 

Crack! Thud! Crack! 

She broke both of his knees and his right arm. 

Page | 102  

“Gyaaaaaa!!!” The fallen men not only couldn’t get up, but they 

couldn’t even back away. Seeing this, Francette produced what 

seemed to be a metallic test tube. 

“Layette! It’s Lady Kaoru’s potion. Drink it!” But Layette shook her 

head in refusal. 

“Give it to the others! I’ll be okay!” From Francette’s view, her first 

priority was to protect Layette, her second priority was to protect 

Layette, and her third priority was to protect Layette. She would only 

bother to help some orphans she didn’t know if she had time to 

spare. 

Despite her current appearance, Francette was in the latter half of 

her thirties and had a rather dry and intense personality... Or 

perhaps she was just faithful to her orders as a knight and servant of 

the Goddess. As long as it didn’t affect her mission, she would even 

help strangers in need. ...Probably. 

But for now, she had to prioritize her number one objective, which 

was to protect and treat Layette. 

...And yet, Layette herself wanted her friends to be helped instead of 

her, and upon careful inspection, she didn’t look too bad. Her 

breathing was stable, and she was able to communicate normally. 

Those were signs that she wasn’t suffering from any serious injuries 

like internal ruptures or broken bones digging into vital organs or 

thick veins, so she likely wasn’t in any immediate danger. 

And some of the children who had been punched and kicked still lay 

there completely motionless. The possibility of ruptured organs and 

permanent injuries couldn’t be denied. 

Not to mention, if something were to happen to them, Layette would 

blame herself and carry that trauma for the rest of her life. Francette 

didn’t just need to protect Layette’s physical body, but also her 

heart. It was only natural. 

Page | 103  

And so, she stuck her fingers in her mouth and made a loud whistling 

noise toward a different tree than the one she had been hiding in. 

Piiiiiiiiiiii! 

A crow that had been resting on the tree’s branch flew over, circling 

above Francette’s head. Francette signaled an “X” with both arms, 

then the crow fled off toward the center of the city. The crow was a 

messenger that Kaoru had left with Francette, just in case something 

happened, and she had taught it about three simple signals. 

Once Francette confirmed that the crow had flown off, she nodded 

toward Layette. Despite the pain from the punch she had to the face, 

and the fatigue in her jaw and teeth from biting as hard as she could, 

she tried not to let it show and forced an awkward smile. 

Francette pretended not to notice her strained effort and turned 

away from Layette, walking toward the other children. She woke an 

unconscious boy, forced his mouth open with her finger, popped 

open the metallic container, and poured its contents into the boy’s 

mouth. Francette then moved on to another heavily injured yet still-

conscious girl, opened another potion container, and gently pressed 

it against her mouth. 

“This is medicine. Drink it!” Despite her confusion, the young girl 

seemed to realize Francette wasn’t an enemy and drank it down as 

ordered. 

“...It doesn’t hurt...” 

“H-How...?” 

The kids that had taken the potions sat there with blank looks on 

their faces, unable to process what was happening. 

There were four more children splayed out at the riverbed, but 

Kaoru had only supplied Francette with two emergency potions. 

There was nothing else she could do. 

Page | 104  

“Luce, get some wood for splints and something to tie them! I’ll go 

get water!” 

“Got it! I need you to find some herbs that can stop the bleeding 

around the river too!” 

“On it!” The two kids had regained their senses and sped off into 

action. 

...It seemed the orphan kids were far more useful than Francette... 

 

“So... What happened...?” 

“Um, well, you see...” 

“Whaaat haaappened heeere...?” Kaoru had come running at full 

speed after getting the emergency message and a call for her to 

mobilize. And... 

She was scary. Kaoru was terrifying. Especially the look in her eyes... 

“What did I tell you, Franceeette...?” 

“U-Um, I, I’m so sorry!!!” Francette said, apologizing desperately. 

Although she couldn’t help nature calling and it was only for a few 

minutes, it was her fault for taking her eyes away from the person 

she was supposed to be protecting and moving to a spot where she 

couldn’t react right away. 

A big part of the fault lay with Kaoru for not considering this situation 

and therefore not preparing someone to switch with her in shifts, 

but Francette wasn’t someone who could shift blame onto other 

people, especially not to a goddess. So, Kaoru continued to berate 

her, becoming enraged as soon as she saw the scene of the incident. 

“Kaoru! Hurry and give Layette a potion!” 

“Ah!” 

Page | 105  

It should have been the obvious course of action, but it didn’t even 

cross Kaoru’s mind until Emile’s reminder. It seemed that she had 

completely lost her cool. 

“Layette, drink this!” 

There were still four orphans who were injured, but now that Kaoru 

was here, the number of potions wasn’t an issue. If Layette started 

arguing about getting to the others first, it would only waste more 

time. She correctly surmised this from Kaoru’s personality and the 

current situation, and drank the potion she was handed without 

argument. 

“Thank goodness... So, why did...?” 

“Before we talk, the others need potions, too!” 

“Huh? O-Okay, got it!” 

As soon as Kaoru saw Layette on the ground with swollen cheeks and 

tears on her face, she couldn’t see anything else in her field of view. 

Not even the other orphans, the sack of meat struggling to breathe, 

or the worm crawling on the ground... 

 

“So, what happened here?” Kaoru asked in a low voice. She had 

given potions to each of the orphans and sat before the dumbstruck 

children, as well as the meat sack and worm still on the ground, 

trying to prevent her rage from showing in her face. 

Sh-She’s so scary... 

Francette and Layette had explained the situation to Kaoru, and she 

had decided to hear from the worm next. That is, the man whose left 

hand had been sliced off, followed by the rest of his limbs. The meat 

sack was in no state to talk... 

“So, who put you up to this, what were you doing, and why?” 

“...” 

Page | 106  

His face was contorted with pain and fear, but it seemed he had no 

intention of talking just because a little girl tried to intimidate him. 

“I see...” Kaoru reached into her chest pocket and produced some 

salt. She held it in her hand, pulled out her hand from her pocket, 

then... 

“There!” She threw it at the man’s exposed wound on his left arm. 

“Gyaaaaaaaaagh!!!” 

Eeek!!! Francette, Layette, and the orphans shuddered at the 

fiendish act. 

Emile and Belle were unfazed. To them, anything Kaoru did was 

justice. Whatever she did was undeniable. Not to mention, they were 

quietly angry about the orphans getting beaten half to death, as well 

as Layette getting hurt, since they saw her as their beloved little 

sister. To them, orphans younger than them were all like their 

younger siblings. 

Kaoru picked up the man’s left arm from the ground. 

“You know, I could still use my potions to put this arm back on. The 

cut was pretty clean, after all. But if the surface of the cut gets 

ruined...” With that, she picked up the dagger that was next to the 

arm and twisted it into the surface of the cut. 

“S-Stop, nooooooooo!!!” She then peeled the nails off and gave it a 

couple quick stabs... 

“S-Stop, no, stoppp!” No matter how much she damaged the severed 

arm, there was no way he could actually feel the pain. So why was he 

panicking so much? 

...There was no one there thinking that. The color had drained from 

the orphans’ faces, and they were all shuddering in fear or hunched 

over and vomiting. 

Page | 107  

“Ahh... Might not be able to reattach this with it being so cut up like 

this...” 

As she continued to dig at it with the dagger... 

“W-Wait, stop! Please, fix it, reattach my armmm!” 

Kaoru continued without even responding... 

“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you anything! Reattach my arm, pleeease!!!” 

“...So, someone hired you in the capital and told you to kidnap 

Layette because she could be used against me to follow orders and 

was the easiest to capture out of those close to me, her food costs 

wouldn’t be too high, and she’d be easy to sell off once you were 

done with her?” 

“Y-Yes!” the man replied earnestly, his arm having been reattached 

to his body. However, it hadn’t immediately healed back to its 

original state. They had only used a lesser potion that healed it 

gradually and then secured it with a splint and bandages. It would 

properly reattach itself if he maintained this position, but one wrong 

move and it could fall right off again. 

“Hm, I see...” she said in a flat, emotionless tone. 

Hearing this, the orphans thought they were right in assuming Kaoru 

and the others didn’t care about Layette. 

“Hmm, I seeeee...” 

Shiver... 

“Hmmmmm, I...seeeeeeeee...” 

“Gyaaaaaaaaa!!!” 

The children instantly broke down in tears upon seeing Kaoru’s face. 

Some of them peed their pants. The two would-be kidnappers had 

gone pale, their faces contorted in shock. 

Page | 108  

The man with the broken ribs had his organ damage healed with a 

healing potion as well, but the ribs themselves were still left as-is. A 

simple punch there could force the ribs back into his organs, so he 

couldn’t even put up a fight against children. 

Kaoru had explained to him that the potion was just a powerful 

painkiller and that his organs had been fine in the first place, but he 

should be able to tell that his own ribs were broken. 

“Let’s talk a little more about that, then, shall we...?” 

Nod, nod, nod, nod... 

A skilled swordswoman wielding absolute power. A merciless young 

girl with an inexplicably intimidating aura. And a boy and girl who 

seemed to be young hunters that didn’t even twitch at her brutality, 

a look of fanaticism in their eyes. Not to mention the group of 

orphans who wouldn’t hesitate to kill them with the wood scraps 

and rocks they gripped in their hands. 

One wrong move and they’d be dead. 

Attempted murder and kidnapping... 

With so many witnesses, their corpses could be turned in to the 

guards for a handsome reward, and they wouldn’t even be 

questioned. There was no reason for these people to show them any 

mercy. The only potential reward in keeping them alive was that it 

would save them the trouble of carrying their corpses, and they 

could get a bit of extra coin for selling them as judicial slaves. 

Even then, there was always the possibility that they would prioritize 

the safety of the orphans and choose to beat the two of them to 

death as an example to any who might try something similar. They 

had to surrender completely, show remorse, and hope for mercy. 

That was the only way for these two to be saved...or rather, for them 

to survive. 

 

Page | 109  

“So we still don’t know who’s behind all this...” 

After continuing to question the two men for some time, we handed 

them over to the authorities. We were told we would get our share 

of the reward and profits from selling them as judicial slaves at a 

later date. 

Of course, that money was to be spent on the orphans. Handing such 

a sum to them would all but guarantee they’d be robbed by thugs or 

other orphans, so we had to figure out a good solution, but... 

Since I had told Belle to call for Roland during the questioning, the 

conversation with the officer went smoothly. The only value that 

Roland’s existence had was that he made it easier to have 

discussions with external parties. He had to show his usefulness 

here, or there would be no point in providing for him. 

Since Francette was away on her own duties (protecting Layette), 

Roland had left Emile and Belle to guard me and went wandering off 

by himself. He complained about missing his moment to shine, but it 

was his own fault for not being there. Why was he complaining to 

me?! And even if he did rush to them with me, his time to shine 

would have been long gone. 

In any case, he was obviously a rich aristocrat no matter how you 

looked at him, and he did have the appearance of a somewhat 

capable swordsman. Having him around made a huge difference 

when making a report, compared to a bunch of underage children 

and young adults doing it by themselves. 

It was best to make use of anything of convenience. 

And so, we finished taking care of the orphans and handing over the 

criminals and went home to Convenience Store Belle... 

“Well, I suppose whoever employed them would have no reason to 

tell them everything...” 

Page | 110  

Francette was right; the one pulling the strings wouldn’t do such a 

thing. But it was likely some throwaway criminal who was hired by 

someone from the royal palace, an aristocrat, or one of the 

merchants who still suspected me or hadn’t heard the new 

information about my hair and eye color. They wanted to connect 

with me to make a request or threaten me. They would use my 

abilities, name value, and connection with Celes to rise through the 

ranks. 

...That was fine. That in itself was no problem. 

Whether they were clever enough not to be fooled by the false 

information, didn’t even have access to said information, or just 

wanted to take advantage of me, they were probably desperately 

working to provide for their own subordinates, dependents, and 

domain. That was fine. 

...But the ones who intended to hurt Layette? They’re done for. 

“...I’ll crush them.” 

“Yes?” Francette asked, her voice squeaking. 

Emile and Belle nodded wordlessly, and Roland only shrugged lightly. 

Those were their usual reactions. Indeed, it was just like usual... 

Evening of that day, a maid came to shop at Convenience Store Belle 

and went home. Upon paying, she left a silver coin and a small piece 

of paper. 

“You have a summons from an aristocrat in the royal capital. 

Declining is not an option, as this is coming from the leader of a 

faction under Count Maslias of your parent house. You are to meet 

him to discuss some matters that will be explained to you.” 

“...Perfect timing. Let’s do this, then...” 

Grin... 

Page | 111  

  

  

Chapter 38: To the Capital 

“Take care of the house in my absence, then.” 

“Yes, of course. Please return safely, my lady.” 

Mariel was now the head of the house rather than just the daughter 

of the viscount, but it seemed the servants still addressed her as they 

always had. 

Well, I guess she was too young to be called madam or mistress. And 

the servants had likely worked under her for many years, so their 

relationship likely wouldn’t change until she got married. They might 

even see her as the same young lady even after she got married. It 

would probably take some time until that habit died out... 

Mariel was under the protection of Count Maslias, the head of her 

parent house...which meant that House Raphael as a whole was part 

of his faction, as well. In any case, a marquis and faction leader had 

sent what was basically an order to appear in the form of an 

invitation, so we decided to head to the capital. 

Count Maslias had departed ahead of us to make some 

arrangements beforehand. 

And why was I here now, you might ask... 

“Time to go, Kaoru.” 

“Yes, my lady!” 

That’s the deal. After Mariel had contacted me, we had exchanged 

several messages via letters handed off between the low-ranking and 

unremarkable servants, such as the laundry maids and scullery 

maids, and during that exchange we came up with this plan. 

Page | 112  

Yes, I was a lady’s maid. Mariel would be my mistress, of course. That 

was the plan. 

A lady’s maid was in the upper ranks of the servantry and had quite a 

lot of privileges even at a young age. They received comparatively 

special treatment, and had authority over personal matters beyond 

that of an average housekeeper. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary 

for one to be around her mistress at all times, and it was easy to 

maneuver in such a position. 

And beyond that... 

Francette, Roland, and Emile were cavalry guards. Belle was a 

nursemaid. Layette was a...nursed maid? 

...Wait, what the heck is that?! 

No, her role was to be nursed by Belle. I just made that up right now. 

And what’s more... 

Ed and the four others were our riding horses and substitutes. We 

had riding horses for House Raphael’s guards, as well as horses for 

the carriage that Mariel and her servants would be using. There were 

many volunteer dogs and horses, so I picked out a team of elites. 

All right, our preparations for the assault on the capital are 

complete! 

...No, not really. I...absolutely cannot attack the capital with this 

team. 

Since Mariel had been summoned by her faction leader, it was a 

given that he would use her as the star attraction to indicate to the 

aristocrats, royalty, and members of the Temple of the Goddess that 

the favor of the Goddess was with his faction. 

So, just how much could they say? He was obviously planning on 

making Mariel spit out everything she knew, so she was likely 

worried about what she would do if he laid on the pressure. 

Page | 113  

She couldn’t put her own house or Count Maslias in a difficult 

position after all he had done for her, and she couldn’t afford to be 

at odds with the leader of her faction, the royal family, or the Temple 

of the Goddess. That would be quite troubling... 

I decided to join Mariel on her visit to the royal capital undercover 

out of a desire to help her, because I didn’t want her blabbing about 

me, and because I wanted to squish the insects that plotted to harm 

Layette. 

...Along with the hand-picked army of dogs and birds that were dying 

to join me. 

Of course, we were all in disguise as Mariel’s guards and servants to 

avoid suspicion. It was pointless to try to keep the House Raphael 

Expedition Corps from standing out, so I had given up on that at the 

start. 

...A carriage surrounded by dozens of dogs with various species of 

birds flying over it, with each of the animals patrolling and sweeping 

its perimeter, couldn’t hope to be the slightest bit inconspicuous. 

Ahaha... 

I had the others ride a separate carriage. Mariel, Belle, Layette, and I 

were in my carriage, and I desperately tried to dodge Mariel’s 

barrage of questions, complaining to Belle that it took away my 

opportunity to spend time with Layette. Ed went ballistic on me 

during breaks for not riding him, so that was great... 

And so, the day before we arrive at the capital... 

There they are. They finally showed up. A group of bandits had been 

waiting for us, even though it was extremely rare for anyone to be 

dumb enough to attack a guarded carriage that obviously belonged 

to the nobility. 

Page | 114  

Attacking aristocrats so close to the capital all but guaranteed they 

would be met with brutal retaliation from the noble house that had 

been attacked, along with the royal family and capital army, both of 

whose reputations would be slighted. 

If they let such brigands do as they pleased, even more aristocratic 

carriages would be attacked, they would be looked down upon by 

the other noble houses, and the number of vehicles going to the 

capital would decrease drastically, including those from merchants. 

In addition... 

“There are a bunch of people lined up in front of them!” One of the 

birds flew in from ahead and stopped on the carriage to deliver the 

message. 

Oho... 

“Call for the others. Prepare for bombardment!” 

“Got it!” 

“Scenario 1-C, is it?” 

“Yeah, probably. Let’s respond with number two in case it isn’t C.” 

“Understood!” 

After I informed Mariel of our intended response, she blew a whistle. 

Our carriage slowed down, and our guards on horseback drew in 

closer. The dogs also gathered around the carriage, and the birds 

flew into the carriage one by one when the door opened. 

“Okay, don’t go overboard, now. Just carry whatever you can.” 

I brought out spheres with a thin film and glass balls, with handles on 

them to make them easier to hold for birds, and they each grasped 

one by the handle and flew off. 

We’d practiced many times, so they took off without any issues. 

Page | 115  

All right, let’s do this! 

 

“Stop! Stop, or we’ll kill all...” 

Slash! 

Ah... Francette rushed in with incredible speed, then cut down the 

bandits at the front, who had seemed to be issuing a threat. 

Well, he did say he was going to kill us, so they were definitely 

bandits and this was absolutely just self-defense. 

“Y-You...” 

Wsh! 

“What the! L-Listen...” 

Fwsh! 

“Listen to...” 

Stab! Slash! Slash! 

Oh, there go Roland, Emile, and Mariel’s guards too. They were like 

fish biting at every cast of the line... Well, maybe not exactly. In any 

case, the bandits got cut down rather one-sidedly, one by one. They 

were just completely outclassed... 

“Th-This isn’t what I signed up for! Wait, stop, pleeease!!!” 

Slash! Swsh! Fsh! 

There had been over twenty bandits to start with, but now only 

about half remained. Then... 

“Run! Retreat! Retreeeat!!!” the man who seemed to be the leader 

of the bandits shouted. 

...But their escape had been cut off. 

“You’re not going anywhere! Hmhm. Heheheheh...” 

Page | 116  

Francette, you sound like a villain... 

“They’re moving!” a messenger from the bird troops alerted me. It 

was a plain-colored and unassuming little bird. 

“All right, begin the attack!” 

“Got it!” the messenger answered and flew off energetically. 

Now it was time to finish this. 

“Hey everyone, don’t forget to capture about half of them, okay? To 

all you bandits, we decided to kill anyone who resists and take those 

who surrender captive, so it’s your choice!” 

Clang, clang, clang! 

Huh, all the remaining bandits dropped their weapons. How 

pathetic... 

Meanwhile... 

Boom, bang, boooooom! 

“Aaahhhhhh!!!” 

The platoon of infantry and about ten mounted soldiers who had 

been on standby rushed out, now that they had been called to 

action, but explosions suddenly erupted on the ground before them. 

Their horses abruptly changed directions or stopped in their tracks, 

causing complete chaos. 

...Indeed, the glass balls, filled with something like nitroglycerin, had 

been dropped from the sky. 

In addition... 

Splish. Plsh, splash, splash... 

Something soft landed on the soldiers. 

“Blaaaaaargh!!!” 

Page | 117  

An unholy stench emanated from among them. The soldiers vomited 

violently. The horses went half-mad, trying to buck the soldiers from 

their backs, as they were the source of the horrid smell. 

One after another, the birds landed the terrible-smelling fluids, each 

enclosed in a container of thin film, on the soldiers, then regained 

altitude to soar back into the sky. Afterward, they confirmed the 

results of their bombardment, and then flew away. 

The soldiers couldn’t calm the horses down, and they couldn’t even 

get near their targets with such a god-awful smell on them. If they 

tried to force their way closer, the horses on the other side would 

start going crazy, too. Not to mention, they could be mistaken for 

attackers themselves, and no one would let them get anywhere close 

smelling like this. Anyone who approached you smelling like that had 

to have ill intentions. 

And once the target approached them, they stood blocking the road, 

looking extremely suspicious... 

It went without saying that they were assumed to be enemies. There 

was no way anyone would listen to their explanations or agree to 

travel with them otherwise. 

It would have been one thing if they were emissaries of the king 

himself, but some noble house’s personal guards had no authority to 

order a bunch of aristocrats around. Anyone who did such a thing 

couldn’t really complain if they were immediately recognized as 

hostiles and consequently attacked. 

“Damn it, what’s going on?! The orders, these explosions, the birds, 

and this horrible-smelling bird crap... None of it makes sense! We 

were supposed to fend off the bandits attacking some nobles 

without killing or injuring them, then escort them to the capital... It 

was all a charade... Maybe all this scheming has upset the Goddess 

and... Wait, don’t tell me...!” 

Page | 118  

The commander’s face immediately paled. He had heard many 

stories of what happened to those who upset the Goddess Celestine. 

If those were true stories rather than myths... 

This commander had also heard of the Goddess’s miracles that 

recently happened in a certain city. He hadn’t considered that this 

had anything to do with that incident, since he hadn’t been given any 

additional details along with his orders. However, when he 

mentioned the Goddess’s displeasure in his frustration, another 

situation beyond comprehension, involving aristocrats and birds, 

flashed in his mind. 

“Bird aristocrat... N-No, abort mission! Get away from the road, 

quickly! Hide somewhere out of view!!!” the commander shouted, 

raising his voice in a panic, then moved away from the road and into 

the woods, pulling at his resisting horse... 

  

Page | 119  

    

Page | 120  

  

“The humans up ahead have retreated.” 

“Thanks. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t try anything 

funny with us, okay?” 

“As you wish.” 

The messenger this time was a bigger bird. Maybe they had sent a 

bird with a bigger brain capacity; that is, a smart one, in case I had 

specific instructions. This one should be able to understand more 

complex orders... Wait, why was it so smart? I thought they called 

them “birdbrains” for a reason! This is all because Celes had forced 

knowledge into my head, in order to make the ability to comprehend 

all languages possible... No, I shouldn’t think about it! 

“My lady, it appears the soldiers ahead of us have moved aside. 

Chances of them letting us pass without harassment: 70%. Chances 

of them appearing to make contact with us: 20%. Chances of them 

attacking us...should be below 10%, I believe.” 

“I see... Then let’s proceed.” Mariel said, nodding in response to my 

made-up calculations as she made her decision. Then Belle relayed 

Mariel’s message to the driver, which the driver passed on to the 

other carriages and guards via whistle signals. 

The eight bandits who had been captured had been stowed tied up 

in the carriage. We had already gone through a lot of food, fodder 

and other consumables, and it wasn’t like we were a merchant 

caravan. Aristocratic passenger carriages weren’t going to be filled to 

the brim with supplies. The carriages for the attendants and guards 

had a good amount of room, and could fit about eight people. ...And 

there was no need to consider comfort for these captives. 

In any case, there were currently five people riding in my carriage. 

Page | 121  

Me, Mariel, Belle, Layette...and one bandit. Yes, one of them was 

riding in the same carriage as us. 

“It’s time for your questioning! Let’s have some fun, shall we?!” 

Oh, maybe I should get rid of that smell. 

They had just followed their superiors’ orders, so I felt bad about 

that stench soaking into their expensive equipment... 

I decided to spray a smell-neutralizing agent when we passed by 

them. Making it appear in the form of mist, without a container and 

directly above them, should do the trick. 

Yup, you can’t forget the spirit of benevolence. 

 

“Hm... So the plan was to stop us, then when the soldiers came 

riding in while you were threatening us, you were supposed to run 

away without harming anyone...” 

Nod, nod, nod. 

“So you were in cahoots with those soldiers, then?” 

“I-I don’t know about that... Our boss was killed, and we were just 

doing what he told us to...” The bandit in our carriage told us 

everything he knew. 

For some reason, he became extremely cooperative when I said, “If 

you don’t talk, I can just kill you and talk to someone else.” 

Now that their leader had died and all their surviving comrades had 

been captured, there was no reason for them to try to act noble or 

keep secrets. There was no denying that they were bandits, and it 

was no surprise that they chose to cooperate in hopes of finding 

better work as judicial slaves, ideally somewhere other than in the 

mines. 

Page | 122  

And if they knew what was going on, they could get off easier just by 

saying, “We were just told to act like we were going to attack a group 

of people, and we aren’t real bandits. We’re just some thugs who got 

hired for money.” They might get off with a lighter punishment this 

way, so there was no reason for them to keep any secrets at this 

point. ...That meant that only their dead boss actually knew anything 

of value. 

...I messed up. I should have captured their leader alive... 

But I didn’t even know who their leader was at that point, and we 

didn’t have much of a choice other than cutting them down without 

hesitation. Francette would’ve been fine, but the other guards could 

have been injured or killed otherwise. ...That went for Roland and 

Emile, too. 

Besides, it was highly likely that, even if we had gotten the leader’s 

testimony, it would likely have been dismissed as a self-serving lie, 

and he’d end up getting silenced via assassination. 

Well, it wasn’t like they had plotted to hurt Mariel, and they really 

just wanted to make her owe them as a way in, so it wasn’t too much 

of an offense. 

And to find the real culprit behind all this, I didn’t have to ask the 

bandits, who might have not even told the truth. ...There wasn’t 

even any guarantee that their client gave the bandits their real 

name. 

It was pretty standard practice to use the name of an aristocrat from 

an opposing faction when hiring criminals. I had to go with 

something more foolproof. 

Yes, I had about three birds tracking them. I wanted to find out 

where and who those soldiers were reporting to. 

Crows are very intelligent creatures. They can recognize individual 

humans and remember them for quite a long time. So, I wasn’t 

Page | 123  

expecting too much, but if things went right, I had a chance of finding 

out who put these bandits up to this... 

 

“We’ve arrived,” Mariel said, as she finished watching the road 

ahead with her head out of the window, and withdrew back inside. 

The rest of us took turns poking our heads out of the window, finding 

long stretches of stone walls to either side, a townscape of stone 

buildings, and a building that looked like some sort of castle or 

temple. 

...It was the nation’s capital, which is why it was defended by its 

castle walls that surrounded its entire perimeter. 

“Whoaaa, so big...” Layette was right. It was far bigger than the only 

other major city in this country, the one where Layette’s Atelier was 

located — the capital city of Litenia in the Kingdom of Jusral. 

Commerce was thriving because merchants were powerful here, 

which meant they had a strong economy, which likely was the reason 

they had grown so big. ...It seemed it was pretty different from the 

countries that focused on powerful militaries. 

But you couldn’t have a lot of military power without economic 

power. 

Actually, there were some places that used most of their national 

budget on their military despite being poor. So maybe the size of the 

capital and the impressiveness of its castle walls weren’t an indicator 

of a country’s overall power. 

Hmm... So complicated... 

...Okay, I’m done thinking about this. 

It was just a waste of time. 

Now, what to do once we get to the capital... 

Page | 124  

Mariel’s group, which included us, would be guests at the capital 

residence of House Raphael’s parent house, House Maslias. 

A poor viscount couldn’t afford a capital residence. We would 

normally stay at a fancy inn for aristocrats, but we couldn’t do that 

this time. 

If we got a room at an inn as soon as we arrived in the capital, it 

would be asking for everyone from nobles, merchants, religious 

folks, and people looking to get rich quick to come storming the 

building to talk to Mariel, who was known as the Bird Aristocrat and 

the Goddess’s beloved child. We couldn’t count on the aristocrats 

from her faction either. In fact, they would probably be even worse. 

So Count Maslias insisted that we stay at his capital residence 

instead, for her safety rather than for financial reasons. No one 

disagreed with his reasoning. 

That meant Mariel and the others should be safe for now. Though, 

that didn’t cover any time she would spend meeting with other 

nobles from her faction, or when they took her to the royal palace, 

temple, or some big-time merchant’s place... 

Of course, we would be with her as her attendants and guards if that 

did happen. We were using up the limited slots for the number of 

people she could bring with her, so we had to fulfill our duty. 

Besides, I had requested to come with her in the first place so I could 

give her support if she ever needed it. 

Even though I did what I did to help Mariel, per Carlos’s request, this 

had all happened because of me, so I had to deal with the 

aftermath... 

Well, that was actually fine. I just had to deal with whatever came at 

her. The problem was the main reason I decided to come to the 

capital as Mariel’s support. 

Page | 125  

Yes, I still needed to find out who hurt Layette and have a 

“conversation” with them. 

It would have been fine if they had gone for me. 

If they had targeted me directly, I would have just wiped them out 

and dealt the finishing blow. I would have been satisfied with 

inflicting a fatal wound. 

But the people that went after my friends that I hold dear... 

The people who injured and nearly killed those orphans... 

They’re done for. 

They had made moves against us in that city. Now that Mariel was 

here, a person who was thought to have been in contact with the 

Angel they were after, there was no way they wouldn’t try 

something. 

And no one would suspect that the so-called Angel herself would be 

with her the whole time. 

There would be folks who’d try to take Mariel in and use her. 

If there was anyone among them who seemed more interested in 

the Angel rather than Mariel herself and tried to get information out 

of her... 

I will crush them. ... Squish them like grapes. 

And I would do it in such a way that no one would ever fathom trying 

anything with the Angel or anyone around her. It would need to be a 

truly fear-inducing method, with plenty of publicity around it... 

There was no need to send a message to the general public. 

Most people had absolutely no intention of slighting Celes or anyone 

related to her. 

Page | 126  

But there were fools who thought they could take advantage of 

friends of the Goddess just because they had a little bit of money and 

authority. 

When they catch a whiff of what I had planned in their information 

networks that they had built with all their money and power... 

Haha. 

Hahahahaha! 

“We’re about to cross through the city gates.” 

Okay, I was tripping out a little there... Belle had to pull me back to 

reality. 

In any case, we were finally arriving at the capital. 

Of course, the line of aristocratic carriages didn’t have to go through 

an examination upon entering the gates. 

A retainer had gone ahead to take care of the procedures so that the 

carriages could pass through without halting. A guide from Count 

Maslias’s household who had been waiting for us guided us in. 

The Raphael household knew where Count Maslias’s house was 

located, but this move not only served as a sort of welcoming 

ceremony for important guests, but also prevented anyone from 

intercepting Mariel on her way to Count Maslias’s place. 

Stopping a line of carriages that were being led by the host would 

not only be outrageously discourteous, but one could be assumed to 

be hostile and attacked immediately for doing so. Not only that, but 

the leader and those involved would be executed. 

That was the obvious punishment for attacking aristocrats in the 

capital. It would dishonor the king, the leading aristocrats, and every 

influential merchant and reserve soldier in the capital, so even a 

high-ranking aristocrat wouldn’t escape unscathed. 

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...And so, this bug repellant was working like a charm. 

As expected, there were several people who looked like “the type” 

staring with resentment at the lead horse and two mounted guards, 

each featuring Count Maslias’s crest, as well as the line of House 

Raphael’s carriages. 

Count Maslias was very lenient when it came to Mariel, but he took 

the proper measures against other influential aristocrats. 

It seemed that I would be able to focus all of my resources on luring 

out my enemy without having to divert any of my forces to protect 

Mariel while she was under Count Maslias’s care. 

...As such thoughts crossed my mind, Belle spoke up. 

“I don’t think there are very many people who are brave enough to 

try something with all those dogs around us and birds overhead.” 

Huh, so, those expressions on their faces weren’t resentful, but 

dumbfounded and astonished. 

Well, whatever. It didn’t make much difference. 

 

And so, we arrived at the capital residence of Count Maslias. 

Count Maslias had arranged things with various departments for us 

beforehand, and now welcomed us upon arrival. 

Someone had gone ahead to give them advance notice of our arrival, 

and Mariel was led straight to the bath that had been readied for 

her. 

A servant from the count’s household tried to attend to her while 

she was bathing, but Mariel vehemently refused. Mariel’s own 

attendants ended up going with her instead. 

...Yes, that was me, along with Belle and Layette. 

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Mariel had done this out of courtesy, figuring we wouldn’t have the 

chance to take a bath if she let the count’s attendants take care of 

her. 

I mean, no aristocrat would let a servant bathe in a bath intended for 

their important guests... 

Apparently, Mariel couldn’t stand the thought of getting to take a 

bath while we would only get to wipe ourselves down with a towel 

using sink water. 

...Though, that was understandable. 

Even though I was pretending to be her servant and Mariel was 

playing along pretty well, there was no way she could stomach that 

when she thought I was a goddess. She was only going through this 

act and taking it so seriously in the first place because I told her that 

this was necessary and the will of the Goddess. 

And so, she used this opportunity to say she wanted me to attend to 

her bath so we could go in there with her. Belle and Layette were 

thus able to enjoy the benefits, as well. 

To be honest, I was thankful, so, I decided to accept Mariel’s 

generosity. 

...And I pretended not to hear the creepy voice saying, “Bathing 

together with the Goddess... Kehe... Kehehe...” 

Francette was our knightly guard, so it would have been a bit of a 

stretch to get her in too. I felt bad for her, but she was gonna have to 

sit this one out. There were no hard feelings, really. It couldn’t be 

helped. 

...I don’t want to talk about bathing anymore. 

I’m never taking a bath with Mariel again. 

  

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Once we were done bathing, it was time to meet up with Count 

Maslias to work out a plan of attack. The meeting’s participants were 

the count, his two subordinates, Mariel, me, Belle, and Layette. Belle 

was with me as my guard, and I only brought Layette because I 

couldn’t just leave her alone. Those two didn’t actually have anything 

to do with the meeting. 

Seeing the three of us in attendance, the count gave us a dubious 

expression, and I honestly couldn’t blame him. As the lady’s maid, 

maybe me being there wouldn’t have been completely ridiculous, 

but he must have been confused by the presence of Belle the 

nursemaid and Layette the nursed maid. We had Francette, Roland, 

and Emile stay out of it because it would have been unnatural for 

mere guards to be in the meeting, but this pretty much defeated the 

purpose of doing so. 

Well, we had too many people from our side, so I had no choice but 

to exclude those three, anyway. 

“...Hm? You there...” 

Huh, did the count recognize me? 

“Ah, yes, I’ve met you at Ma... Viscountess Raphael’s house.” 

Crap, I almost said “at Mariel’s place”! 

The servants at House Raphael called her different things, whether 

“my lady,” “Lady Mariel,” or “Miss Mariel,” so it should be fine. He 

would probably just assume I was about to say “my lady” and 

corrected myself when I realized we weren’t at home. 

“After that incident, I took note of her wisdom and hired her as a 

lady’s maid. I’m sure she will be a great help for us,” Mariel said, and 

the count seemed to accept that. 

“Hm, what was it you called yourself? A di...det...” 

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“I am the one who seeks and investigates truth. A detective, sir.” 

One truth prevails! 

And so, the meeting began. 

Thanks to Mariel supporting me when the count realized who I was, I 

was acknowledged as Mariel’s advisor rather than as an ordinary 

lady’s maid, so I was granted the right to give my input in this 

meeting...I think. That’s what it felt like, anyway. That was some 

unexpected luck! 

And so, the discussion really began... 

According to the viscount, the so-called leader of the faction that 

called Mariel to the capital was on top of the world right now. This 

country had various political and business circles, from the royal 

court faction with the king at its top, the merchants’ faction with the 

Commerce Guild at their back, the religious faction that had 

integrated itself with the Temple of the Goddess. Then there was a 

mid-level noble faction that didn’t really stand out too much. That 

was the faction that Count Maslias and House Raphael belonged to. 

A “beloved child of the Goddess” had appeared from a noble house 

within his faction, which was quite a big deal. Apparently, he was 

pretty excited about the thought of using this opportunity to 

increase his influence and eventually expanding his faction to the 

greatest heights possible. 

Ah... 

And so, he had been scheming...I mean, planning all sorts of ways to 

use Mariel as a publicity tool to increase his influence. 

I mean, the beloved child of the Goddess sounded a lot more 

appealing than the royal family, which were ordinary people who 

were just descendants of people who happened to be kings a long 

time ago. These people have never performed miracles or had 

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connections with the Goddess or received her visions. She would be 

very enticing to the nobles, the temple, the merchants, and even the 

common people... 

It was no wonder they were making such a big deal out of her. 

“The faction leader, Marquis Cedric, is planning to take Mariel 

around to the Temple of the Goddess and the merchants in order to 

lure them into his own faction, regardless of their occupations. Of 

course, this includes the lower and mid-class nobles directly related 

to them, as well...” 

That was a pretty standard strategy for someone who had obtained a 

ridiculously powerful weapon... 

“And of course, the other factions would do anything to claim Mariel 

as one of their own. If it came down to it, they’d try to take me along 

with her. Hahaha...” the count said, laughing dryly. 

The other factions seemed to assume that the relationship between 

Count Maslias and House Raphael was just that of a parent house 

and the house under it, and that Mariel didn’t have any particular 

loyalty toward Count Maslias, due to having just taken her seat as 

the head of the household. They likely didn’t even imagine that he 

had taken care of her since childhood, and that she had remarkable 

devotion to and trust in him. 

And regarding the idea of taking in the entire count’s household with 

her, I couldn’t comment without knowing his current standing within 

his faction and how he had gotten there. But judging from the weak 

smile the count was putting on, it seemed he didn’t have the power 

to influence the faction in any meaningful way. 

“And it’s not just the various factions of aristocrats vying for Mariel, 

but the royal palace and Temple of the Goddess also want her as 

their own, and the merchants are desperate to get in contact with 

her to secure their financial gain. When Mariel meets with Marquis 

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Cedric, I will be in attendance, as the head of her parent house and 

her guardian, but I can’t be there when he takes her around the city. 

If he tries to have her commit to any unfavorable promises...” 

“You want us to support her, I presume?” 

“Yes, I’m counting on you. And do be wary of any talks involving 

marriage, sponsoring domains, becoming a shrine maiden, attending 

parties at the royal palace, or marriage,” the count said, pressing the 

point further. 

...But why did he mention marriage twice? Was it really that 

important? 

 

Our meeting with the count continued for some time before 

breaking up. We had what seemed to be the epitome of an 

aristocrat’s dinner, then each of us retired to our rooms. Mariel later 

told me nobles didn’t actually have dinners like one this every night. 

Only for special occasions and when guests were over. 

...I guess that should’ve been obvious. Forget about the expenses; if 

anyone ate like this every night, they’d get sick and die early! Since I 

was a servant, I didn’t get my own room, of course, but shared one 

with Layette and Belle. 

...The guys? Who knows. 

Belle strongly insisted that she have the privilege of sleeping with 

Layette, so I let her. I could sleep with Layette whenever I wanted, 

after all. As a knight, Francette wasn’t one to let her guard down in 

foreign territory. Apparently, she was going to move the desk to the 

door, put a vase on it, then sit under the window and sleep with one 

knee up and her sword in her arms. 

...Yeah, I figured. 

  

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When I awoke the next day, the table in front of the door had 

already been returned to its original place, and Francette stared into 

my eyes with her sheathed sword in her left hand. 

...Our faces were about ten centimeters apart. 

That’s kinda freaky! I actually screamed out loud! 

I ended up lecturing her not to do it ever again, but she seemed 

unhappy about that. 

Damn it, I’ll do the same thing to her next time! Let’s see how you 

like the feeling of your heart stopping! 

  

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Breakfast time. 

It was quite a lot of food. People woke up early in this world, and 

farmers, hunters, woodcutters, and people who went on journeys or 

had to prepare their lunch out in the field couldn’t spend too much 

time preparing their meals, much less ingredients or water. Of 

course, that included soldiers who were operating outdoors. So 

eating a big breakfast and a simple lunch, then taking the time to 

enjoy an early dinner with their friends was the standard practice. 

...Yeah, as someone who’s used to the Japanese style, I still couldn’t 

get used to huge breakfasts even after being here for five years. 

Well, I had usually made my own breakfast during that time, so I still 

ate light in the morning like most people in Japan did. As such, I 

never did get used to how they did morning meals here. 

But when aristocrats ate with guests over, it was normal to serve a 

boatload of food and leave whatever they couldn’t finish, so it was 

no problem if I didn’t finish it all. 

“That only applies to Lady Mariel and the other aristocrats! It’s 

customary for us servants to finish whatever we are served!” 

Francette pointed out. 

We had been invited to the feast last night as a token of appreciation 

and to put Mariel at ease, but of course, the servants and mistress 

didn’t dine together after that. 

...Yeah, I had expected that. So, I had no choice but to swap it with 

Francette’s pretty-much-empty plate of food. 

...Don’t give me that exasperated look! You’re not fuel-efficient, so 

I know you need more food. This is a win-win for us! 

And so, we all went to the faction leader’s place together. 

...All of us except Belle and Layette, that is. 

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Unlike me, the lady’s maid, and Francette, Mariel’s guard (and able 

to stay near Mariel even while she was changing or out picking 

flowers), it would be quite a stretch to ask for the nursed maid to 

come along... 

Roland and Emile joined as guards for the carriage, and would wait in 

the next room during meetings in case something happened. When 

the faction leader took Mariel around in a few days, Francette and I 

would be the only ones who could accompany her, at best. If we 

tried to bring some other man as a guard, it would be like saying we 

didn’t trust the faction leader or his own guards’ abilities. That would 

have been too much of a slight for him to ignore.