Chapter 27
“You rat bastard.”
Giselle's temple twitched as she chased Fulcare.
Her superior, Noe, was always saying he could defeat Fulcare, but now those words felt a little like empty bravado.
His fighting style was fantastical, stripping away as much of a mage's limitations as possible.
Light appeared and vanished without pause from his hands.
His spellcasting was so fast that it was difficult for an ordinary person's eyes to follow.
Even while casting spells at such speed, he showed no sign of tiring.
During casting gaps of less than five seconds, he made the most of his physical strength to defend himself.
Considering that ordinary mages took around thirty seconds to cast, it was a truly terrifying speed.
Yet neither his accuracy nor his destructive power suffered.
‘He really is a monster.’
Giselle planted both hands on the ground and summoned vines once more.
Huge vines tore through the earth, raising clouds of dust. The pitch-black vines rippled like waves as they charged toward Fulcare.
“Hmm.”
Blade-like light shot from Fulcare's hand. The waist of the vines surging like a tidal wave was severed in an instant.
“Try blocking this, too!”
Countless stems sprouted anew from the severed ends of the vines.
The newly sprouted vines twisted upward and covered the sky where Fulcare had been standing.
Giselle's hands began to tremble from the strain of controlling them.
But she had no choice.
To exploit his casting gap of less than five seconds, she too had to throw everything into it.
Fulcare used a magic circle as a foothold and leaped through the air, narrowly and deftly evading the vines' grasp.
When the five-second gap ended, a beam of light erupted from his hand and severed the head of the vines that had merged into one.
If she could just catch him once, she felt she could butcher him immediately, but she simply could not catch him.
That fact irritated Giselle even more.
“At this rate, that foolish Iseria is much better.”
On top of that, every single remark he tossed out now and then gnawed away at her sanity.
“Let’s see if you can dodge this one, too.”
She had meant not to use it, but, having forgotten Noe’s warning not to let anger blind her, she drove her claws into her own chest.
Fulcare showed no reaction to the horrific sight.
Instead, he merely poured countless more beams of light toward her.
Watching the deadly light flying toward her, Giselle calmly pulled a giant egg from inside her chest.
Crack.
The egg she pulled out shattered in an instant and devoured the light. Soon, a giant magical beast burst from the swirling darkness with a horrific scream.
“…Did you feed demonic energy even to your partner?”
For the first time, Fulcare’s face twisted.
“I can do anything if it means exterminating humans. I would sooner join hands with magical beasts than submit to you!”
If Siran heard that, he’d beat his fists against the ground and howl in grief.
Fulcare let out a deep sigh.
“You shouldn’t say that after knowing how the former leader felt when he burned the World Tree.”
“Shut up!”
At her shout, the night leopard, dripping venom, disappeared into the darkness.
While the vines sprawled across the ground raised their heads once more and blocked Fulcare’s view, the night leopard seized the opening and charged.
With a sharp clang, Fulcare’s defenses shattered for the first time.
“I’ll rip out that tongue of yours!”
The corners of Giselle’s mouth twisted upward.
“That would be troublesome. I still have a lot left to do.”
Countless magic circles formed a single ring around Fulcare.
At the same time, sharp pillars of light filled the night sky.
The pillars plummeted rapidly toward the ground.
It was a massive bombardment that pierced everything on the ground.
As the pillars came crashing down at an incredible speed, the vines were reduced to little more than rags.
Yet Giselle’s night leopard threaded through the minute gaps between the pillars and finally reached Fulcare.
“Not so fast.”
Fulcare dispelled the magic circles and hurriedly retreated.
He hastily created a defensive barrier, but he was still in his casting gap.
A mere few seconds later, the nimble night leopard’s claws grazed his shoulder by a hair’s breadth.
“Now!”
The pain shooting from his shoulder made Fulcare lose his balance for a moment.
Without missing the perfect opportunity, the night leopard charged at Fulcare again—and at that moment,
“What? It’s still not over?”
Vieta appeared in his subspace.
*
“Lord Noe!”
The moment Giselle saw the man Vieta was dragging behind her, she shouted loudly. At the same time, the night leopard flying through the air plummeted to the ground.
“Eek? What is this?”
Vieta screamed in midair at the night leopard’s grotesque appearance.
Even so, she did not forget to punch the night leopard and knock it down.
Fulcare came to his senses, caught Vieta, and landed lightly on the ground.
“You’re here?”
Vieta looked up at Fulcare. The effects of his overexertion since morning were plainly visible.
“Hold that guy.”
After pointing to the man bound in one corner, Vieta approached Giselle.
“Run! Hurry!”
Noe, crouched on the ground, shouted with all his strength.
“But, Lord Noe!”
“If you die here, you’ll die for nothing! Retreat! That crazy woman… Guh!”
Fulcare covered his mouth, so Noe could no longer continue speaking.
Even so, he continued to struggle and make muffled sounds.
How touching.
But Vieta had no intention of letting Giselle go.
Shouldn’t she make Giselle properly pay for hurting Fulcare?
Vieta kicked off the ground and leaped, seized Giselle by the head in midair, and slammed her into the ground in one motion.
The night leopard, which had been knocked away, rushed at Vieta to protect its master, but Fulcare’s magic caught it.
“Guh!”
Giselle let out a painful groan. Even so, black smoke continued to rise from her hands.
Something this insignificant is such a nuisance.
Vieta caught the vines clinging to her and ripped them all away with her left hand.
Then, with the edge of her left hand covered in clinging vine fragments, she struck the back of Giselle’s neck hard.
Once their master lost consciousness, the night leopard’s form crumbled, and the pieces of vine scattered across the ground turned into black smoke and vanished.
“It’s over now, right?”
Vieta turned to Fulcare and smiled brightly.
She had finished as quickly as possible because she was worried about Fulcare.
Fulcare gave Vieta a thumbs-up.
Countless more stars were blooming behind her.
My queen was always beautiful.
***
“Aww, we’ve grown so attached. It’s such a shame.”
“It’s not like you’re going far. We can meet right up ahead.”
“But still….”
Vetrola held Vieta’s hand and lamented.
Freckled Adrienne stood at a distance, fidgeting as she watched Vieta warily.
It seemed she was still suffering aftereffects from the magical beast.
“Then I’ll be off.”
Vieta was transferred from the Ministry of Magic to become a maid directly serving the prince.
Everyone questioned the sudden transfer, but no one could oppose Fulcare and Blanc’s wishes.
Vieta, uneasy about Blanc’s condition, accepted their proposal as well.
Perhaps seeing Vieta frozen had shocked Blanc; the moment she tore through the subspace and appeared, Blanc abruptly hugged her.
“Vieta!”
“W-w-wait?”
“?!”
Both Vieta and Fulcare were flustered, but the prince was sobbing. Thus, neither of them could bring themselves to say anything.
What kind of man cries this much?
Though embarrassed, Vieta waited until Blanc calmed down.
Even afterward, he continued to seem uneasy, so Vieta ultimately decided to stay by his side and watch over him.
The nighttime attack passed in complete silence on the surface.
Everyone had drunk themselves unconscious, and the entire battle had taken place in the subspace created by Fulcare and the goddess.
Giselle and Noe had been confined in the subspace. It was the goddess’s subspace, no less.
In that space, which permitted no interference whatsoever, Fulcare planned to interrogate the two of them.
“Ugh, so this is how it ends.”
Vieta stretched forward as she spoke.
She pretended to sound calm, but Vieta too felt sorry to part with Vetrola and the others.
“Why are you so sad? You can just stay by my side.”
“I like being by your side too, but work is work.”
Fulcare chuckled.
At the sight of him, one of the worries constricting Vieta’s heart disappeared.
Fulcare had been worn out by the previous day, faced Giselle throughout the night, and even been injured.
That was why Vieta had been secretly worried about his condition. Seeing him laugh so foolishly, Vieta thought he seemed to be doing better than she had expected.
“Did you say we’ll be staying in Contium for about three days?”
“Yeah. We have to change the goods and the people, so it’ll take about that long.”
“Let’s have some fun together then.”
This time, Vieta intended to teach Fulcare the joy of eating.
While treating his wounds, she had noticed that his shoulder was terribly thin. She did not like that fact.
When they reached the point where the color of the carriages changed, someone approached Vieta and Fulcare.
It was Alros, the commander of the First Order of Knights.
“Is she the newly assigned maid?”
“Yes. Her name is Vieta.”
At Fulcare’s introduction, Vieta politely greeted Alros.
*
Hmm.
Keen.
Vieta found Alros’s scrutinizing gaze uncomfortable.
Alros, for his part, had not let go of his suspicions about Vieta.
She looked like an ordinary maid in every way, so he wondered why there was any need to change her affiliation now. A maid’s affiliation could certainly be changed at will, but when it came to protecting the prince, he could not let anything slip by.
‘Since the chief and His Highness say so….’
Even if her credentials were impeccable, failing to fulfill her duties as a maid would constitute disloyalty toward the prince.
“From now on, follow me.”
Even as Vieta followed behind Alros, he did not lower his guard. Instead, he launched into a long speech about how to attend the prince properly, and how true chivalry was no different from the spirit of a maid.
Alros was not the only one wary of Vieta.
The prince’s maids also looked at Vieta with unfriendly eyes.
They were genuine nobles, unmistakably different from Adrienne.
“Are you the maid who just arrived?”
“There was no need to worry.”
The maids opened their fans and smiled at Vieta.
‘This is a pain.’
Vieta was used to receiving looks like that from being beside Fulcare, but she could not help finding them unpleasant.
“It’s late, so bring us something to eat first.”
“Understood.”
She was annoyed, but work was work. Resolving to demand double special pay from the Emperor and Blanc later, Vieta rolled up her sleeves.
‘What should I eat first?’
Besides, they would soon be in Contium. At the thought of going around eating this and that with Fulcare, her irritation vanished, and a smile kept blooming on her face.
‘What should I eat with Vieta?’
Meanwhile, Blanc’s heart fluttered at the thought of having fun with Vieta.
He had hugged her without realizing it at dawn. He wanted to treat her properly, if only to apologize for that rudeness.
After breakfast, the procession advanced toward Contium.