Chapter 17: 17

All-Works Maid – Volume 1 Chapter 17: A Gaze, an Omen, and the Pendant of Protection

— Going back to a short while ago, before Lect had arrived…

By the fountain’s edge, at the garden’s center, Melody was explaining her situation to Luciana.

“So you’re not angry at that guy anymore?”

“Yes. Sir Lect properly apologized as we were riding here, so I have nothing to be angry about.”

They were talking about how Lect had withheld the entire truth when inviting Melody to the ball.

“Hmm, is that right? Well, if you say so, then I suppose I don’t have to punish him with a hundred lashes using my harisen.”

“Th-that would be greatly appreciated.”

Seeing as Luciana accepted that outcome albeit reluctantly, Melody sighed in relief.

It had been a truly herculean task to calm Luciana. After learning that Lect had tricked Melody into coming to the Spring Ball, Luciana had declared, “I think I’ll have a little “talk” with him” and had tried to leave with a wide grin on her face.

…Melody was truly grateful to have been able to stop Luciana from acting on her impulsive wrath.

But unlike the relieved Melody, Luciana was still feeling conflicted over the issue.

(Ugh, I did get to have a lot of fun dancing with Melody, but I don’t like having to thank that guy for bringing her here. In the first place, how does he have the audacity to act so intimate with her when he didn’t even have the guts to properly invite her to the party? This guy’s a hundred years too early to be flirting with my Melody!)

In other words, Lect should have been prepared to pay with his life, were he interested in Melody. How unexpectedly possessive of you, Miss Luciana…

“…Melody, I’m just checking, but that guy is just a friend, right?”

“Huh? I do not know what you mean to check, but yes, Sir Lect is a good friend of mine.”

Melody had answered with a blank expression; although Luciana felt relief from the maid’s answer, she also sympathized with Lect.

(…So it’s a completely unrequited love. Melody didn’t hesitate to answer, which means she really sees him as just a friend. I don’t know if I should be happy she isn’t interested in him like that or if I should pity him for his one-sided love… How tricky…)

Their current relationship was was not by any means bad, but it had no romantic pulse to it. Well, no, in the first place…

“Speaking of good friends, my lady, I have also become friends with Paula, his maid! She is the all-works at the mansion, but her make-up skills are–“

Melody blushed like a maiden speaking of her first love… as she gushed about another maid.

(…Not even a hint of romance, huh. I don’t want to help him even a little, but this is still quite pitiful.)

Seeing this behavior reminded Luciana that Melody truly loved everything about the maid profession.

But while Melody’s love for maids was a true terror to behold, it was because of that same love that Melody had worked as hard as she did for House Luthorburg. Luciana, seeing the still-talking and smiling Melody through this positive filter, felt an overwhelming gratitude to the maid.

“– and that’s how it is, my lady… Oh no, please excuse my rudeness! I did not mean to get carried away and ramble on for so long…”

Melody finally realized she had been talking nonstop; she blushed in embarrassment and hung her head in regret, but she only appeared more adorable that way.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about because it was cute seeing you like that. Anyway, I think now is a good time for me to be going back.”

“Understood… Oh, my lady, your dress is a bit wrinkled. Please allow me to fix it.”

Luciana’s dress had indeed become disheveled, first from the dances and then from Melody stopping her from chasing down Lect for interrogation. As she put the dress back in order, Melody also checked the spells she had used to enhance the outfit.

To protect the Luthorburg family from any unforeseen risk or unpredictable events occurring at the Spring Ball, Melody had enchanted their clothes with a powerful protection spell. As Melody would be unable to keep constant vigil, this was her way of keeping her employers out of harm should the worst come to pass.

(… Good, it looks like the magic is still active, so she will be fine should anything happ– huh?!)

“Melody? Is something wrong?”

At that moment, Melody felt as though something had been staring right at her, and she had immediately turned to where her instincts point her: the roof of the venue. But nothing was there.

(Was it just my imagination? It definitely felt like someone was watching me though.)

Melody dismissed the feeling as a misunderstanding, but she could not completely shed her anxiety.

“…My lady, If you would allow it, may I apply an additional protection spell? I shall require your pendant.”

“More protection magic? I don’t mind, but what kind of spell will you be using?”

Luciana presented her pendant, and Melody gently placed her fingers over it.

“Let thy lady’s senses be acute, Artificial Sensitive SkinArtilsensitivo.”

The jewel on the pendant shone for a single moment, but it otherwise appeared no different than before.

“Um, so what kind of magic was that?”

“It is magic to sharpen your senses, but this one specifically will make you more sensitive to anyone “staring purposely at you”, so while you wear this pendant, you will be more aware of anyone looking at you with ill-intent.

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

“When it detects malicious intent, the pendant will cast a light only my lady can see towards the source of the gaze. Be sure to keep away from whomever the pendant shines on!”

In short, the spell would identify any person with bad intentions; it was a truly useful spell that any noble would want to have.

And as Luciana admired the newly-enchanted pendant, Melody had more to say.

“However, the magic isn’t perfect yet. I mentioned the pendant would sense anyone staring at you on purpose, but it is possible the pendant will detect gazes directed towards its general vicinity. Just to be certain, please be careful regardless.”

Luciana acknowledged the warning with a nod before she put the necklace back on.

“Okay, since that’s done, I should be going back now. Will you be going home now, Melody?”

“Correct. I have already greeted Sir Lect’s superiors, so I shall be returning home first to prepare for when my lady and the others return.”

“I wanted us to spend some more time together, but I suppose I can’t keep you all to myself. It might be a little troublesome, but maybe if I worked with that guy then… oh?”

“…Oh, there’s Sir Lect”

The girls spotted Lect as he was coming over from the ballroom; it seemed he had been searching for them.

“Hmm, I still think he’s a deadbeat, but at least he has enough courtesy to come searching. Melody, it looks like your escort has arrived. I’m going back to the venue now, so I’ll see you later!”

“Ah, my lady! It is improper for you to be running in a dress like that!”

Luciana dashed off, ignoring Melody’s reprimand, but she seemed to have whispered something to Lect as she passed by him.

Melody tilted her head as she wondered about what Luciana had said when suddenly the full moon casted its pale glow all around.

(Wow… The moon of this world is quite beautiful… Oh no, I shouldn’t be getting distracted here! Sir Lect is coming over!)

“I must apologize, Sir Lect, for having you find me at such a place.”

“It’s… nothing to worry about. Pay it no mind.”

“…Hm?”

Melody gave Lect a curious glance; he seemed to be acting strangely.

They soon returned to the ballroom and let Count Reginbars know that they would soon be retiring from the party..

“Leaving already? What a shame… Please do attend another event, Miss Cecilia. It would be our pleasure to have you with us again.”

“Thank you very much, Count Reginbars.”

Lect nervously watched the exchange between Melody and the Count; he was worried somebody else might see past Melody’s disguise, but his fears did not come to pass.

And with that, Melody’s first ball ended quietly and without incident.

Meanwhile, at another area of the ballroom…

A certain pair of reincarnators, having just finished socializing with other nobles, were relaxing in the rest area reserved for royalty.

“What are you doing, staring at the window like that?”

Looking over at Annemarie, Christopher had noticed her staring across the ballroom, and he followed her line of sight over to a window on the upper level. Coincidentally, this window was located just below the roof from which Melody had felt an unknown gaze come from.

“…That event should have started right around now, but it’s been quiet.”

“‘That event’? …Oh, you mean with that guy? Is it already that time?”

Annemarie, unsatisfied with the lack of tension from Christopher, only narrowed her eyes at him as she voiced her complaints.

“Don’t just go forgetting about such an important event. But I suppose you make a fair point. In the game, the event should have started by now, but there hasn’t been any signs of that guy. What is even going on right now?”

The two of them looked again towards the same window, but there were still no signs of anything happening.

“…Since Heroine-chan never showed up, it’s possible he doesn’t show up either. But he’s supposed to be the one that starts the main part of the Spring Ball scenario, the Spring Ball Raid, and we’re supposed to meet him here because he’s Buque Kischel, the fourth love interest and a pawn of the Demon King. By now, he should have jumped in through that window to start the attack, but…”

“Since Heroine-chan isn’t here, we have no choice but to fight him off ourselves if he appears, you mean?”

Both of them sat on a nearby sofa. Christopher reached down toward his footwear; he could feel the silver dagger he had hidden in his boot. Annemarie, on the other hand, patted over her thigh area, checking to make sure her silver wand was still secure.

“Only the Saint can truly defeat the Demon King, but that doesn’t mean we have to be completely useless. It’s kind of a cliché, but this world’s Demon King should be weak to silver, and I remember the Saint’s power shining silver when it finally awakened. The other love interests that joined the party could also deal damage to the Demon King if they used silver weapons.”

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“Yeah, and, if I’m remembering right, didn’t the previous Saint use a silver sword to seal the Demon King?”

“That’s right: the previous Saint was unable to completely destroy the Demon King, so she instead sealed it beneath a silver sword and pedestal deep within the Great Forest of Vanargand, where they had fought their final battle.”

“…And it just so happens that the key to unlocking the seal is the blood from a member of House Theolas, the royal family.”

Christopher let out an exasperated sigh, an unpleasant look spreading across his face.

The two reincarnators were aware the previous Saint was connected to the royal family; from their previous lives, they remembered the texts within the Library of the Ancients deep below the royal castle that explained that connection.

In short, the members of House Theolas were direct descendants of the previous Saint, and unsealing the Demon King required Theolas blood, which held a certain amount of magical energy.

And in the current era, the person whose blood fit that requirement was Christopher. He was to be the intended target of tonight’s Spring Ball Raid.

“Seriously, why did I have to reincarnate into Christopher von Theolas, of all people?”

“Well, not like you have any other choice now, so do your best, and don’t let your guard down.”

Christopher continued watching the window in misery.

As the heroine of The Silver Saint and the Five Oaths, Cecilia would become involved with a number of incidents upon enrolling in the Royal Academy, and she would get to know five certain men – the love interests.

The first love interest was the Crown Prince of the King of Theolas, fifteen-year-old Christopher von Theolas.

The second love interest was the Prime Minister’s son, sixteen-year-old Maxwell Lycrents.

The third love interest was the loyal knight, twenty-one-year-old Lectias Frodo.

These three represented the upper-class nobility of Theolas, and they appeared from the very start of the game. Since the game mostly took place within the Royal Academy, there were many opportunities to progress the heroine’s relationship with them.

As the love interests interacted with the heroine, they would gradually fall in love with her.

These characters all had their own storylines, and each was a fairly typical romantic fantasy plot.

However, the story of the fourth love interest, Buque Kischel, diverged from that typicality.

Working as the unwitting pawn of the Demon King, Buque Kischel initially opposed the heroine (the saint) as a major antagonist.

At the northern reaches of the kingdom and in a forest along the borders of the Roldopier Empire, there existed the small village of Schnauzel.

Schnauzel was more of a secret village whose inhabitants were magicians who wished to remain uninvolved with monster hunting and war.

And in that village, a certain magician couple gave birth to Buque Kischel.

“Oh, what have we here, a whole village of magicians? How very interesting. Rejoice, you worthless sacks of shite! You will be granted the distinct honor of being our slaves!”

But everything changed when Buque was just ten-years-old, when the Imperial Army of Rodolpier attacked. It was, to put it plainly, a slave hunt.

Try as they might, the villagers could do little to resist the invasion; after all, they had fled to this distant forest in order to avoid fighting in the first place.

Unfortunately for Buque, his parents had resisted and were put to the sword, and Buque found himself enslaved.

But Buque also had talent, and by the young age of ten, he was already capable of casting magic.

Buque was later purchased by a wandering mercenary, who made a living hunting monsters in Demonized Zones around the Empire.

At the time, the Empire was suffering from the constant attack of monsters overflowing out of the Demonized Zones. Mercenary-type occupations were high in demand, as there was no shortage of monsters to cull.

And so Buque’s harsh life as a meat shield cum magical firepower for the mercenaries began.

The next turning point in his life came when he was eighteen years old. The overflow of monsters from the Demonized Zones had yet to wane, and Buque had changed masters six times since the first.

His current master was someone Buque held a grudge against: the former commander of the Imperial Army unit that raided Schnauzel all those years ago; Buque had heard the man had been dismissed from his position.

Apparently the man’s life had taken a turn for the worse after the Schnauzel raid; after capturing the villagers, he had treated them like his own personal belongings, using them for his own gain and discarding them after he grew tired of them.

As a result, some of the villagers had died from the mistreatment and overwork, and the man sold many more of them as slaves, including Buque, to line his own pockets.

However, the Empire eventually caught wind of his destructive behavior; they had considered the magicians to be a long-term investment, so it was inevitable that they would would eventually dismiss the man for his wastefulness.

“Tsk, what did I do to deserve this?! Damn it all, curse all o’ you!”

“..Ugh! Guh, gah!”

The man would often beat Buque to vent his stress and frustrations; he did not seem to remember Buque as being from Schnauzel, but that only served to fuel Buque’s hatred of him.

“Hmph. Those imbeciles had better watch their backs… I’ll make them regret ever sacking me!”

And so looking to make a name for himself, the man emigrated south from the Empire, to the Kingdom of Theolas.

How would he make a name for himself? The plan was simple: he could just prove himself by hunting powerful monsters residing in the Great Forest of Vanargand, the most dangerous Demonized Zone in Theolas. Surely, if he brought back proof of his skill, the king would beg him to join a knightly order!

The man brought ten good mercenaries with him and used Buque to bypass the court magician’s detection barrier. His group smuggled themselves into the Great Forest of Vanargand, but… it did not take long before the remaining survivors dwindled to just Buque and the man himself.

“Why is this even happening?! Argh, it’s all gone to shite! Useless garbage all of ’em, bragging about how they’d take care o’ it, and look what happened! All dead!”

But the man did not know he was able to continue surviving because of Buque’s assistance.

The Great Forest of Vanargand was an no-man’s-land whose infamy had spread across the continent. Due to the number of accidents involving the Great Forest, the Kingdom of Theolas had prohibited all entry and even placed magic to detect any trespassers. However, the man had not thought to consider any of this.

Buque let out an inner chuckle… and quietly stoked the embers of his rage.

(Never would have guessed he’d be fooled so easily, what an idiot. And to think, this same idiot had led the ones that ruined everything, that killed my family and everyone in the village… I’ll never forgive him! I’ll have my revenge, no matter what it takes!)

And indeed it was Buque himself who proposed this ill-fated expedition into the Great Forest of Vanargand; the enslavement spell prevented Buque from directly harming his owner, so instead he goaded the man into exploring the Great Forest so as to create the Demonized Zone’s latest victim.

(Even if I die first without watching him fall, he doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance getting out of here alive without my help. The Great Forest of Vanargand will be his final resting place for sure)

The dark glee emanating from Buque’s heart… had not gone unnoticed. The slumbering evil of the forest began to stir.

“Argh, damn it all, I’ve had enough of this blasted forest. Which way’s the exit?”

“…Since we started aimlessly running around earlier, I don’t know where we are anymore.”

“You… worthless pile of trash!”

The man’s fist slammed into Buque’s face, and a thin stream of blood trickled down from his mouth; the impact had left a cut in Buque’s mouth. The man stopped after that one punch; he knew he still needed Buque to escape the Great Forest alive, so he could not go too far with the beatings..

Buque wore a pitying smirk as he watched the terrified man repeatedly stomp his foot in frustration.

— Ahh, how wonderful, thy twisted rancor be a morsel most delectable…

“Hey, you. Where do we go next? H-hey! Where do you think you’re going?!”

Buque suddenly began walking off; he had heard a voice calling for him. The man ordered him to stop, and yet he ignored the order. Buque continued his absentminded walk until… he reached the very depths of the Great Forest.

“H-hey… What even is this place? Why did you lead me here…”

But Buque still did not respond; his focus was on the spectacle before him: a silver sword stabbing into a silver pedestal… The beautiful white blade was a mesmerizing, enthralling sight to behold…

— Now, come hither, come close. O sorcerer, take up mine blade! Give thyself, offer thyself to me!

…When the fog receded from his consciousness, Buque found himself with the silver sword in hand. Blood trickled down the length of the blade; the man’s corpse was lain at his feet.

— Thy revenge be sated! But mine service doth require remuneration! Thou shalt act as mine agent, and thou shalt bring an eternal darkness upon the accursed Theolas!

The white blade turned a pitch black, and Buque’s heart fell to darkness as though it were a reflection of the blade’s defilement.

Thus the seal on the long forgotten Demon King slowly began to unravel, and the choking darkness of despair would soon spread across the continent… by the hands of one unwitting man.

This was the fourth love interest of The Silver Saint and the Five Oaths: eighteen-year-old Buque Kischel, the pitiful avenger.

A single carriage was headed for the Noble District; this was the carriage Melody and Lect had departed on.

And upon the roof of the dance hall, a lone figure watched that carriage leave.

The figure was a man with a small build, and his unkempt purple hair fluttered loosely over cloudy grey eyes. Perhaps as a result of malnutrition or because of constant starvation, this eighteen-year-old man was only as tall as Melody.

He owned but three possessions: the tattered and filthy robe he wore, the pitch-black sword he clutched in his right hand, and his name: Buque Kischel.

The game’s plot was progressing as usual from this side: Buque had obtained the sword of the Demon King and was prepared to attack the ball. However, an unexpected obstacle had put a hold to his plan, and now he was laying low, waiting for the nuisance to leave.

(…Didn’t think …little girl …notice …here)

Buque’s consciousness had steadily grown hazier by the day due to the Demon King’s influence, and by now, he could barely distinguish his own thoughts from the Demon King’s.

(I wanted… attack then… How did… she see me… Invisibility magic… That girl… who?)

The gaze Melody felt earlier had come from Buque. He had been set to begin his attack on the ballroom, but something had caught his eye: two girls had wandered out into the garden. He had looked at them for a brief instant, but…

Somehow, despite using special concealment magic, Melody had noticed his presence and stared right back at him.

(All… is well… Woman… gone… Once again… wait for a chance… No problems…)

Buque vanished as though dissolving into the darkness. It seemed the crisis that is the Spring Ball Raid… was still on track.

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