Miss Demon Maid

Chapter 33: Ruin

After fighting off a bandit-like group of people, milady and I, a weak maid, received an invitation from an old butler who claimed to be the lords messenger.

What can I do for you, my lady?

Well since youre here, Ill take the invitation

Thank you.

That is why I am heading to the lords house now.

I dont know if the lord here is a nobleman or not, but hes impatient. In a way, its refreshing to know that its at least a few days before we made plans with other noblemen.

Since we are travelers, Im sure he was in a hurry to get us there.

I see. I hadnt thought of that.

In the carriage prepared by the butler-san. Milady whispers that in my ear, and I am moved and shaken by miladys profound deliberation. The butler, who doesnt seem to have heard such a whispered conversation, but who guessed otherwise, lowers his head.

I apologize for not considering your schedule as well. Its not my intention to waste your time. There are students from the magicians academy of the royal capital here, and my lord said he would love to have a meal with you all.

The students of the academy

I am the only person in the universe that noticed the slight twitching of miladys cheeks. Yes, thats right. Milady is getting better, but she is still a bit of a bad communicator.

Anyway, to meet a student of the school in such a mountain town, I hope its not someone who has a history with milady.

Its a 30-minute drive from the inn by carriage. If it was Nirs carriage that I had left at the inn, it would be less than 10 minutes away.

The lords mansion that I arrived at was surprisingly small and cozy. He is the lord of this town and the surrounding villages, to put it bluntly, he is the town chief deluxe, I guess.

Ladies, this way please.

Yes, sir.

Milady is dressed in a semi-formal dress for the dinner. As a maid, I am prepared to that extent no matter where she goes out.

Ah, its Miss Kamishiro.

Miss Kamishiro and Miss Sharon?

Miss Ginko?

Its Ginko.

Im Fua. Remember?

Oh yes, Miss Ginko and Miss Fua. Of course, I remember. I was in the same group with Miss Ginko once at the Academy, and Miss Fua was the one who was often with her.

As I recall, I dont remember them doing anything to me on Earth. I dont remember them helping me out, but I dont think Im inferring anything from them at the moment.

Well, that was you guys?

The young lady seemed relieved that they werent bad aristocratic students.

Uh, Sharon-sansama? Huh, why are you here?

You dont need sama. although Im sure that to some extent it cant be helped at the Academy.

So can you call us by our normal name, too?

Yeah, I get it. Ginko, Fua. Thats it.

The little embarrassed milady is adorable. ..Thank you for making a friend. As I was unconsciously taken aback by such a miraculous scene, Miss Ginko turned to me as if she had remembered something.

Miss Kamishiro.as I recall, your first name was a Japanese name, wasnt it?

The young lady and everyone in the room look at me at that abrupt statement.

Come to think of it, Ive heard of that. I dont remember you calling yourself Fleurety or some other bizarre name even on Earth.

Eh? Isnt Letty Letty?

Yes, miss. Im Fleurety.

Taking the hand of milady with a slightly anxious face, I kneel on the spot while saying that with an extreme smile.

In that dark world, its the name I was given by my employer, [Lord]. If I try to say any other name than this, I will receive a full course of chastisement from the head maid. For some reason, though, my brain cant accept any other name from the time she gave it to me.

Well, I understand. Letty.

Yes, milady.

The two examples didnt seem very convinced, but the young lady nodded deeply and allowed me to stand up.

Letty, let me know if you think its okay for me to call you that.

Yes, Miss. .Oh?

You really dont remember!?

The Unimportant things were soon forgotten.

The atmosphere was somewhat strange, but the maids of the mansion came to call for us, and we finally dined together.

Hello, these are beautiful ladies. I am Igor, the lord of the land. Please allow me to get to know you.

The lord was a relatively handsome man with red hair. He seemed to be still young for a lord. When he greeted us, his gaze rested on miladys chest for a second.

Could you please listen to this while we eat? There is a strange lore about this land.

Over dinner, the lord recounted the lore of this land as a topic of conversation. In this continent, until about a thousand years ago, there were many small countries that had been skirmishing with each other for hundreds of years. There were various reasons for the conflict, such as ideological differences and the desire for a richer land, but the biggest reason was the issue of religion.

Nowadays, the old gods were the guardians of this world for a long time. But when the old gods suddenly disappeared, people from all over the world worshipped their own gods and began to fight over them. In the end, the founder of the church, the state religion of Al Gray, overthrew the oracle of the goddess and spread her teachings in this land.

There was a temple of that old god left in this land. Its a little bit of a bad geographical location, but I hope that many people will come here as too see it as a tourist attraction.

wont the old gods be offended?

Igor-sama scowled for a moment at Miss Fuas asking, then laughed hilariously.

Hahaha, what, a god that has disappeared? We have a great goddess to protect us.

Its a logic that the people with eight million gods and nature as a religion cant understand.

Actually, I have a favor to ask of you guys. Its just a ruin there, but there might be a magical trick. So I would like you, the magicians of the Academy of Magic, to examine the ruins of the temple.

Milady and the others two looked at each other involuntarily at Igor-samas request.

We might not be of much use

Yeah

Arent they dangerous?

Its all right. Im a soldier and once I got rid of a dangerous animal. Besides, Ive been told that you are great magic students. Ill pay you if youd be so kind as to check it out while youre sightseeing.

Well

Glancing at milady, she looks at me. It may seem a bit forced, but I will obey all of your decisions. The only thing I can do is to protect you, no matter what.

When I nodded lightly, milady was a little troubled and then nodded to her lord.

I understand.

Surprisingly, the roads arent too rough.

Well, its a beautiful day and its like a picnic.

I think Letty made some food, so lets have that for lunch.

The next day, the four of us, including milady and myself, went out to investigate the ruins.

Today we are going out in Nirs carriage, but it is a small carriage, so it is a little cramped for four of us. Well, Im a coachman, so it doesnt matter.

Letty are you not tired of driving the carriage?

Yes, milady. Thats no problem.

By the way, the windows of the carriage are fully open, so you can have a normal conversation.

So that place was the temple..

Oh, Ginko, you know this?

Actually, this world is so different from ours, that I was doing a lot of research in the library and I heard that there were ruins from the past here.

Its my day off and I just wanted to see

Oh, yeah, of course.

When milady looks cheerfully convinced. Miss Fua takes out a piece of paper from her bag that looks like the material she studied and shows it to milady.

After listening to the lords story, I understand a bit. until the [Goddess] appeared a thousand years ago, there were no [skills] in this world.

So, the goddess or something like that gave him the skill that enabled the Founding King to get rid of the other tribes..

Its not as rough as I thought it would be.

Yeah

Were still only able to use magic at an elementary level, so I guess well have to leave it up to Sharon-san

Well, you just have to trust me.

We arrived at the ruins of the temple and found that it was still in shape. I think the reason why its not rough is that it has a kind of clean feel to it, but for some reason, I dont feel comfortable.

Well then, would you mind if I left it to you? I look around for a reasonable place that looks like a good place to get lunch.

Yeah, have a good day, Letty.

And so I left the ladies to look around the ruins.

Well

Lets go hunting for humans, shall we?

Hey, buddy, those girls are here.

Oh, dont get muddy. If those girls use magic, well be caught like those three idiots.

Im sorry.

Oh, they werent hit by magic

Oh, my

Shut up! Dont make any excuses. If it werent for us you could have been executed. In exchange, we need to get the girls, and hand the silver-haired girl over to our lord.

But whats wrong with the other three?

The other girls sell for more money, but. Its all right. You two can do whatever you want with them. Im a nice guy!

Oh, my God, thats great!

Hahaha!

Nice shot.

For the time being, we have eradicated those who were insinuating that they were stupid. The three bandits we handed over were also there normally. This time, I think the seeds have disappeared.

After approaching these ruins, I felt eyes on me from inside the forest, but it was a hit. But still, the fact that the lord was in league with the bandits is quite an interesting situation.

Dont you think so too?

I threw the spike club with a snap of my wrist and a figure leapt out of the shadow of the snapping tree.

Well, youve noticed it well,

This is a strange place to meet you. Mr. Butler.

That person was that kind old butler who was the lords messenger.

He still had a good-natured smile on his face as if he had a mask affixed to it. But he was taking a guarded stance and looking for an opening in me.

The old men are in good spirits these days, just like your earlier move.

I thought you were only a maid as a guard, but youre stronger than I thought.

You responded very well for your age.

Hahaha, when I was young, I was in an organization that did some assassinations and such. Its a shame that I cant move like I did when I was younger. Well, its better than these useless people.

Theres no excuse for our failure. We have ruined a great partnership.

No, no, its fine. Its been helpful, but youve been getting cocky lately, with few top payments, so if you are going to give me some, thats fine.

Thats a relief.

By the way. Theres still a problem.

Oh, yeah? What is it?

We have a witness, and we cant feel safe until we get rid of her

The old butlers eyes narrowed slightly and a killing intent flooded out as it leaked out in a jiffy.

Bathed in that killing intent..

.?

The old butlers complexion, which had never changed at all, turned blue as he saw the smile that appeared on my face.

Huh.

The old steward makes a retreat without hesitation. Its quite a nice response. But is that right? Youll have to.

Neighhhh.

What, the carriage?

While pulling the carriage at high speed, Nir-kun the horse blocks the old butlers retreat. At the same time, the cloth usually wrapped around Nir-kuns entire body rolled up, revealing his entire body.

Eightlegs? How can there be a Sleipnir in this place?

I clap my hands with a pang at the stunned old butler.

Come on, Nir-kun. Its time to eat.

Its the only place I can feel the magic.

Is this a door?

Its like the bosss room

How can I help you?

Yikes!

I called out to milady who was examining the door-like stone wall with a serious face. Everyone jumped up and down screaming.

Le, Letty!

Out of the blue!

I didnt feel anything.

Im sorry about that, and I cant find a better place to eat around here. I think it would be better to take it in the entrance area or here.

Oh, really? Its the only place Ive felt the magic here, too. Did Letty notice anything unusual about it?

Yeah, we didnt find anything.

It wasnt exactly a big deal. Well get back to the lords punishment later.

Its a good time then, so lets have dinner.

Magic floods through the door as Im about to take the food out of the basket and I instantly step forward to protect milady.

Letty?

Milady. I need you to return to the entrance at once. This is-

Wait. Are you from the Otherworld?