Chapter 149
‘Huh? You want to test your strength?’
That was welcome.
I was curious about the abilities of my newly summoned SSR-grade servant too.
Carmilla was such a high level that even [Emotion Eye] could not detect it, and her shadow-type Grace tree was as densely developed as Katarina’s.
Just how strong could she be?
“I shall permit it.”
“I am most grateful, Master!”
And so, we moved elsewhere.
Special Training Grounds.
To test the new servant’s abilities, the other servants naturally gathered at the training grounds as well.
Carmilla stood in the center of the training grounds, lightly grasped the hem of her skirt, and demurely lowered her head.
“I am the youngest, so I shall learn much from my seniors.”
‘As expected, she’s a good girl.’
She was truly demure and well-mannered.
‘Then shall her first opponent be… Lili, perhaps?’
I couldn’t pit her against someone as strong as Katarina right from the start, so I decided to have them fight in order of strength.
“Lili, will you be her opponent?”
“Yeah!”
Lili bounded out excitedly.
Wooong!
Blood clotted over Lili’s hand, and a huge double-bladed battle-axe was completed in an instant.
“Hyaaaaaaaa!”
Lili swung her axe and charged straight at Carmilla without hesitation.
She had the momentum of a beast charging in!
But Carmilla did not move even an inch.
Shwoosh!
A strand of black shadow surged up from the floor, wrapped around Lili’s waist, and lifted her into the air in an instant.
It was incredibly fast.
“Whoa?!”
Dangling helplessly in midair, Lili let out a startled cry.
Srrrrk.
Carmilla immediately controlled the shadow and safely lowered Lili back to the floor.
“Hehe. Thank you for fighting me, Big Sis Lili.”
“Woooow! Carmilla’s super strong!!!”
Even though she had lost, Lili hopped around in excitement.
Ha-eun was next to step forward, and the result was similar.
No matter how much Ha-eun enhanced her physical abilities and unleashed a barrage of attacks, she could not even get close to Carmilla.
I nodded in satisfaction.
‘Good.’
***
The basic test was over, so now it was time for the real powerhouses to step forward.
Sera went first.
“Th-then I’ll go…!”
Chaaang——!
Sera drew the magic sword Bloodbringer and shot forward like a beam of light.
But Carmilla’s abilities were utterly overwhelming.
Sera unleashed a crescent-shaped sword strike with [Blood Qi Release], but a huge shadow opened like a mouth and swallowed it whole.
“……”
Even though her attack had been blocked, Sera did not panic.
Calmly, she performed Blood Fiend Style, First Form—Fang Bite, and tore the shadow to shreds.
At first, it seemed to have some effect.
However, the scattered shadows gathered together in an instant and restored themselves.
In less than a minute, Sera had been disarmed and bound.
“I-I lost……”
“Good effort, Senior Sera.”
When Sera admitted defeat, Siyeon quietly stepped forward.
Faat—!
Using [Shadow Step], Siyeon instantly appeared behind Carmilla.
However, without even turning her head, Carmilla raised a shadow barrier and deflected Siyeon’s clawed hand, as though she had predicted exactly where Siyeon would emerge.
“Hehe. Senior Siyeon, your surprise attack was sharp.”
“……!”
Siyeon’s eyes widened slightly.
‘Even Siyeon can’t do it alone? Then….’
“Yeonhee, you shall join her.”
“Yes, Master!”
Namgung Yeonhee joined the duel.
Instead of using the Namgung sword, she seemed to be using the Blood Demon Divine Art’s unarmed techniques. Her hands had turned bright red.
Siyeon’s clawed hand and Yeonhee’s red fists closed in from the front and back.
But Carmilla remained completely unruffled.
Fwaang!!
A purple wave radiated outward from her body in a perfect circle.
This time, it seemed to be magic rather than a physical attack.
Blown back by the wave, Siyeon and Yeonhee rolled helplessly across the floor.
“……Strong.”
“I concede.”
When the two of them cleanly withdrew, Carmilla placed a hand against her cheek and smiled brightly.
“The two of you. That was a delightful bout.”
‘Wow……. She just easily beat Siyeon, Sera, and Namgung Yeonhee?’
By this point, my expectations had reached their peak.
Could she even go toe-to-toe with Katarina?
Katarina, too, seemed to have realized long ago that the new recruit was far from ordinary.
When I gave her a glance, Katarina strode forward.
“I shall be your opponent.”
Carmilla smiled sweetly.
“I humbly ask for your guidance, Senior Katarina.”
The two highest-ranking servants faced off.
From this point on, the atmosphere changed completely.
Chwarararark—!
Kkwaaaang!
From the very first exchange, dozens of blood whips and shadow waves collided head-on.
Katarina bombarded her with various blood arts, while Carmilla split and wove her shadows into dozens of strands, blocking every one of them.
It was a perfectly even match!
‘Amazing! She really is on Katarina’s level?!’
I clenched my fists and watched the thrilling battle, my heart swelling with excitement.
Amid the countless attacks canceling one another out, Katarina was the first to land a hit.
A trickle of blood slipped through a gap in the shadows.
Chwaaak.
A shallow red line appeared across Carmilla’s cheek.
“……”
She traced the blood with her fingertip.
‘Huh?’
At that moment, I felt an instinctive sense of unease.
“Hehe…….”
Carmilla laughed.
It was not the demure young lady’s laugh she had shown until now.
Her red eyes narrowed like a snake’s, and her brow twisted sharply.
“Heh… hehehehe, kuhuhuhu!”
Carmilla cackled madly, baring her sharp fangs.
“…Carmilla.”
Katarina’s eyes narrowed.
“Ahh, fighting a strong opponent is truly delightful♡”
Carmilla held both cheeks and murmured as though in ecstasy.
Srrrrrrrr——!
Darkness spread across the floor from beneath her feet.
As though ink had been spilled across a pure white sheet of paper, every inch of floor within view turned pitch-black.
Countless shadow hands surged up from within it.
At least several hundred shadow hands.
‘This is insane.’
Those countless shadow hands pounded the spot where Katarina stood.
“Fun, fun, fun! Die, die, die!!!”
Kwakwakwakwang!!!
An enormous boom and tremor spread through the training grounds.
‘Uh…? The mood…?’
I became a little—no, very worried.
Carmilla’s personality had changed 180 degrees from when she had first been summoned.
After the savage barrage ended, the floor of the training grounds had been cratered as though a meteor had fallen.
Worried about whether Katarina was all right, I looked her over.
Fortunately, Katarina had escaped into the air without suffering any serious injuries.
‘Phew.’
“……Haa, haa.”
However, her maid uniform was somewhat disheveled and torn, and she appeared to be breathing heavily.
Katarina, too, prepared to fight back.
When she raised and opened her right hand, hundreds of bright-red thorns bloomed in midair like flower buds opening.
Black shadow hands covered the floor.
Bright-red blood thorns filled the sky.
Two different colors stood opposed to each other.
Just as they were about to launch their large-scale attacks at each other,
‘No, this is obviously mixed martial arts, not professional wrestling!’
If I left them alone, it seemed like there would be a real bloodbath.
I shouted urgently.
“Stop!”
When my voice rang out, Katarina immediately scattered the blood thorns and stopped her attack.
Carmilla’s shadow hands also froze in midair as though they had been paused.
Carmilla turned to look at me.
Her eyes were full of disappointment.
“……Could I not continue just a little longer?”
“No. I have sufficiently confirmed your strength, so the bout ends here.”
I put my foot down.
Carmilla closed her mouth.
She no longer launched attacks at Katarina.
However.
The shadow hands did not withdraw either.
She was not attacking, but
hundreds of shadow hands continued to writhe threateningly.
Carmilla’s gaze moved away from me and once again stared intently at Katarina.
She looked desperate to resume fighting immediately.
‘……What is this?’
I frowned.
Until now, my servants had always stopped everything they were doing the moment I told them to stop.
Not one of them had ever ignored my words and kept resisting.
I called her once more.
“Carmilla.”
Carmilla’s gaze slowly turned toward me.
“The bout is over. Withdraw your shadows.”
But her shadows still did not disappear.
She was refraining from direct attacks, but continuing her silent defiance.
‘……This girl.’
She’s really ignoring me?
Even I, normally so gentle, grew angry.
Having a strong servant was a good thing.
I could understand and accept a servant having a fondness for fighting.
But blatantly refusing to yield right in front of me even after her master had ordered her to stop twice was clearly crossing a line.
If I left her alone, there was no telling what kind of major accident she might cause later.
“Carmilla.”
I looked directly at Carmilla with cold eyes.
And said,
“I said withdraw them.”
At that moment, the hundreds of shadow hands covering the floor lost their forms and collapsed all at once.
Like a sandcastle crumbling.
The shattered shadows were sucked into the floor and vanished.
The blackened floor returned to normal as well.
“……!”
The servants around us stared with their mouths hanging open.
Carmilla’s eyes widened too, and she flinched as she looked at me.
‘If she won’t listen after I’ve warned her twice, I’ll have to force her to stop.’
It was the Absolute Command I had accidentally used when stopping Sera and Siyeon’s duel.
I had used it.
This time, it was by my own will, not a mistake.
I slowly walked toward Carmilla.
“Carmilla.”
“……Yes, Master. I am listening.”
Carmilla answered.
The crazed voice from before was gone, replaced by her quiet, demure voice.
“Did I not order you to stop?”
“……”
Carmilla lowered her head.
Seeing her like that, I grew a little worried.
‘I’ve never had a servant like this before.’
Katarina, Siyeon, Lili, Sera, Dark, and even Yeonhee.
They all had strong personalities and somewhat unusual quirks, but not one of them had ever intentionally disobeyed anything I had ordered them not to do.
‘This won’t do.’
I needed to nip this habit in the bud.
There was something I had learned long ago while running a game guild.
Troublemakers had to be subdued early.
If you failed to establish discipline at the beginning, things would become uncontrollable later.
“Apparently, you need a little etiquette education.”
Carmilla cautiously blinked.
“……Etiquette education?”
She seemed to have no idea what kind of terrifying punishment she was about to receive.
It was time to bring out the rod of love.
***
I took Carmilla alone out of the training grounds and returned to the estate.
‘Hmm.’
I searched the house from top to bottom for a rod of love, but I could not find a suitable stick to use as a switch.
It would have been nice to have at least a backscratcher or feather duster or something, but with a robot vacuum doing the cleaning and no parents around to show filial piety to, there was no way such things would be lying around the house.
‘If there’s no stick, I’ll use my hand.’
I sat down on the living room sofa.
Carmilla fidgeted anxiously, watching my expression.
“……M-Master?”
“Come here and lie across my lap.”
“……?!”
Carmilla’s eyes grew round.
“I-I’m a little uncomfortable with this sort of thing…….”
She nervously fidgeted with her fingers and slowly backed away.
But when I shot her a fierce glare, she flinched and cautiously approached me.
Then she hesitantly lay across my lap.
A small bottom rose beneath the hem of her voluminous dark purple-black dress.
I raised my palm high.
“How many shall you take?”
Carmilla turned her head and gauged my reaction with trembling eyes.
After hesitating for a long while, she cautiously raised one index finger.
“I-I think……. Wouldn’t one be enough……?”
“One?”
She gave a small nod.
But I scolded her sternly.
“Would one measly smack suffice? Disobeying an order is a grave offense!”
“Th-that’s not fair……!”
Smack—!
“Eek……!”
Carmilla tightened her grip on the sofa cover.
Smack—!
“Hh…….”
After the second smack, the small bat wings sprouting behind her shoulders began to droop.
Then, when I smacked her bottom for the third time,
“Waaah……!”
Carmilla suddenly burst into tears.
…Huh?