Chapter 8
A first experience.
We go through many experiences as we live our lives.
All those countless experiences have one thing in common: the first time.
Everything has a first, and first-time experiences are always exciting and frightening.
And right now, you could say I'm in exactly that kind of situation.
"Hurry up and follow me!"
"Understood."
"You're so damn slow."
I was overcome by the urge to punch him, but my life mattered more, so I held back for now.
Rael seemed somehow excited as he left the ducal estate.
Seeing that bastard smile like that made me feel like I was going to puke.
Well, my own expression was probably similar.
Since I hadn't stepped outside the ducal estate even once in the seven years I'd spent here, everything beyond the main gate was uncharted territory.
No matter how thoroughly the original story described it, experiencing it firsthand was completely different.
The author had said this world was roughly at a modern level, but everything I'd seen so far looked straight out of the Middle Ages.
Both the annex and the main residence had a distinctly medieval feel, and above all, there was no electricity, steam power, or anything else here, so it hadn't felt modern at all.
'I hope it's a little different outside.'
"You're here, sir."
"Everything's ready, right?"
"Of course it is. But who's that behind you?"
"A slave. Pay her no mind."
"Ah, I see. Understood. Then please, hop in."
As we went through the main gate, a carriage drawn by two horses was waiting. Rael chatted with the man who seemed to be the coachman, then came back and more or less tossed me into the carriage.
What was I, some kind of object? Why was he throwing me like a heavy sack?
Just as he tossed me into the carriage, I banged my arm against the door, and it started hurting as if an electric current were running through it.
'You bastard.'
But whether I was in pain or not, the carriage set off from the ducal estate with the horses' loud whinnies and headed outside.
The inside of the first carriage I'd ever ridden in was far worse and more uncomfortable than I'd imagined.
As the carriage bounced along, my butt felt like it was about to split apart, and my insides were doing such a breakdance that every organ seemed to be moving on its own.
"Ugh..."
"Don't tell me you're about to throw up."
"N-No, I'm not."
"The moment you throw up in here will be the moment your head comes off."
"I'll keep that in mind."
The hellish time I spent in the carriage kept me from seeing the outside scenery change completely, and it wasn't until the carriage stopped after a long ride that I was finally able to look outside.
Along with my vision spinning and turning yellow.
"Ugh..."
"You're disgusting. Go throw up somewhere farther away."
"No... I'm fine."
If I went off to throw up, he was sure to keep berating me, so I tried desperately to swallow down the nausea rising in my throat.
Thankfully, once I got out of the carriage and breathed in the fresh air, my stomach settled a little and the urge to vomit gradually faded, so I let out a sigh of relief.
'I almost gave myself a permanent stain on my record.'
Once I got my head straight and looked around again, I saw a sight I'd never seen before.
It looked completely different from what I'd expected, so unique that it reminded me once again that this was a world inside a novel.
It was like a blend of fantasy and modernity, even down to the streetlights powered by magic stones taken from monsters rather than ordinary electricity.
No matter where I looked, it was unmistakably different from the world I used to live in.
"Your master is talking to you. Where are you looking?"
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Whatever. From now on, don't say a word or draw attention to yourself. Got it?"
"Yes."
"And from now on, unless I give you a special order, you will always call me 'Master.'"
"Understoo—What?"
What did he just say?
Was he seriously telling me to call him Master?
There was no way I'd ever say something like that, even if I died.
Even if it cost me my life, I would never say those words.
"Why aren't you following me?"
"Understood, Master."
"Good. Keep calling me that from now on."
...?
What had I just said?
Had I actually called him Master with my own mouth?
No, no.
There was no way I'd said something like that.
"Master."
"What?"
"Ah, no, nothing."
"Don't call me for no reason. How dare you, insolent thing."
"I'm sorry, Master.
Damn it.
No matter how hard I tried to say Rael or Young Duke, the moment the words left my mouth, they changed to Master.
Was this also an effect of the coercive force?
No, but that couldn't be it. The coercive force was only at 0.9%.
Why was coercive force affecting me here?!
"Wait here and don't move."
"Understood, Master..."
The coercive force was so powerful that I was already saying Master completely naturally.
No matter how much I denied it or struggled not to, the only word that came out of my mouth was Master.
As I waited outside for a long time, following Rael's order, a single thought filled my mind.
I had to find a way to break this contract, no matter what.
Unlike other contracts, a soul contract couldn't be undone unless both parties died, and the author seemed determined to stick to that setting.
It felt hopelessly daunting, and the way forward was completely dark; how could I, a mere reader, find a way to break a contract that hadn't even appeared in the original story?
On top of that, so much time had passed that my memories of the original story had grown a little hazy.
Of course, I hadn't failed to prepare for the possibility of losing my memories.
The first thing I did here was write down and organize the entire novel, so even if I lost my memories, it wouldn't really be a problem.
But I couldn't know anything about things that hadn't appeared in the original story, so finding a way to break the contract was just too difficult.
While I was lost in thought for a long time.
I sensed a strange presence somewhere.
The faint presence I'd felt even before coming here with Rael was now practically making no effort to hide itself.
Along with a sharp killing intent.
'An assassin? But why would assassins be out in broad daylight?'
If they were assassins who'd come to kill Rael, I'd welcome them with open arms.
My own attempt to kill him had failed ages ago, so if they killed him for me, nothing could be better.
And sure enough.
They were gradually approaching the shop Rael had gone into.
'Do your best, assassins!'
[A threat to the contractor has been detected. Activating coercive force]
"What?"
The bizarre mechanical voice rang out again, announced that coercive force was being activated, and then fell silent.
But at the same time, my body slipped out of my control and began moving against my will. Before I knew it, I was standing right in front of the assassins with my head held high.
And that was me.
'Ugh, this is so fucking shitty.'
"Who the hell are you?!"
"What a ridiculous sight you are!"
"We'll both be in trouble if we're discovered. Why don't we just ignore her and move on?"
"There must be no witnesses. Kill them all!"
The six assassins dressed in black adjusted their grips on their daggers and charged straight at me.
This was my first fight against another person, and I was facing people who were hell-bent on killing me, so I wasn't confident I could win.
Even so, I wasn't confident I'd lose, either.
"Die!"
I lightly caught the wrist of the assassin charging at me and drove my fist straight into their stomach.
From their perspective, it was just an ordinary little girl's punch, but the force behind it broke every bone in an adult man's body and sent him crashing into the wall.
"Guh!"
"I didn't think Number Four would go down that easily."
"What are you, you bitch?!"
My identity, huh? Would it be okay if I put it like this?
"I'm just an ordinary maid. Is there a problem?"
"You crazy bitch!"
Huh. Guess that wasn't right.
Should I have been more polite?
"By the way, what are you here for?"
"That's none of your business. Die!"
"Isn't it about time you learned your lesson?"
This time, all five of the others charged at me at once.
It would be too difficult to take on all five of them barehanded, without a weapon, so I brought out my hidden trump card.
"What are you going to do with that flimsy little knife?!"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't look down on it just because it's small."
This isn't some ordinary knife like you think.
-Pshk.
"Aargh!!!"
"My arm! My arm!!!"
It was a very high-quality knife used only by the ducal family.
It was strong enough not to break even when struck with most blades, so I'd stolen some from the mansion kitchen.
I'd put every weapon I had into the subspace that was my talent, so the ducal estate was probably in an uproar right about now.
The weapons from the armory and the knives from the kitchen had gone missing, so the people in charge would get chewed out, and they'd search the whole estate for the culprit.
But no one would ever figure out who the culprit was.
After all, who would think there was a subspace inside a maid's skirt, with all the stolen weapons tucked away in it?
"You bitch... Are you making a fool of us?! How dare you fight us while looking away and doing something else!"
Oh, right. We were in the middle of a fight.
So what was I supposed to do with these guys?
It would be troublesome if they said they'd seen me here, but I couldn't just let them go, either.
"We're done going easy on you."
"We'll give it everything we've got and drop your head on the ground!"
The assassins who'd been rolling on the ground after being hit by my knife sprang to their feet as if nothing had happened and swung their arms, which had turned black.
Judging by how the places those arms passed over were slowly rotting away, they must have been coated in deadly poison—and that must have been the assassins' talent.
I dodged their swinging arms and pulled yesterday's axe out of my subspace.
Seeing me pull out an axe in such a cramped space, the assassins burst out laughing and mocked me.
"Looks like you've finally lost your mind. Have you given up already?
"We'll kill you, then make everyone inside suffer before we kill them, too!"
"The ones dying here are you."
I need to finish them off quickly and get back.
Because there's not much time before he comes out of that shop!