Chapter 19: 19

All-Works Maid – Volume 1 Chapter 19: All Semblance of Balance was Suddenly Lost

“Guards!”

Guards from around the hall quickly move in to accost the intruder, but Buque quashed the outside interference.

“…Surround then obstruct, Magicked PrisonPrigione.”

A dark yet transparent dome formed around Buque and Christopher’s group — it was a magical barrier.

The barrier had isolated five people: the assailant, Christopher, Annemarie, Maxwell, and an unconscious Luciana. Christopher clicked his tongue in annoyance as he quickly took in their situation.

“O flame, alight in red and burn to ash, Magicked PrisonPrigione!”

One of the guards chanted a spell, launching a ball of fire at the barrier… but to no visible effect. Others joined in, adding their own spells to the mix, but to no avail. The king paled in fear as he watched each spell dissipate against the barrier’s surface.

“How could this be… Sven!”

“At once, Your Majesty. O wind, condense and puncture a singular point, Sky Piercing SpearAligiavellotto!”

Powerful winds swirled into motion, shrieking like a raging gale as it whipped around Sven.

This spell held the greatest penetrating power among what the Court Magician Sven Shakelord could use; it was a spell that compressed the surrounding air into a small projectile before firing, and it was even capable of piercing through the length of the castle without issue. If it were this spell, then surely…

“…I-impossible.”

The barrier still stood, without a single crack marring its surface. The unbelievable sight left Sven dumbfounded.

“Is that the best the Kingdom’s so-called ‘greatest magician’ can do? If that’s the case, then… nothing can stop me.”

Buque’s words struck a chord of despair within the guards: if even their Court Magician Sven Shakelord could do nothing, then their situation was truly hopeless. The impenetrable barrier had entrapped the unarmed crown prince… At this rate, the assailant would…

“Court Magician! And guards! Do not lose hope! Keep attacking that barrier!”

Crown Prince Christopher called out. His strong voice, full of vigor, roused the despairing Sven’s spirit.

“Put everything you have into taking it down! Distract that guy with your assault! I’ll use that opening and take him down!”

Despite a barrier entrapping him, the crown prince had not given up hope, so for the court magician outside of that barrier, despairing at the grim circumstances… was not an option!

“All magic-users, to me! We shall match our attributes and fire at the same point together! Support His Highness!”

The crown prince’s words had ignited the spark of hope, and the hall became a flurry of activity as guests began evacuating and the guards remobilized.

Buque merely watched the activity occurring outside the barrier with undisguised boredom.

(So they’ve chosen to ignore what’s happening inside, is it? Then I’ll just have to use this time for myself.)

“Hey, Annemarie! How much longer are you staying in shock for?! You’re not planning to just die here, are you?!”

“– Huh? Wha, o-of course not! Such a thing is out of the question!”

Christopher’s harsh rebuke brought Annemarie out of her stupor; interrupting the shock of watching Luciana’s self-sacrifice. It would have been troublesome if the one most knowledgeable about the game were unable to contribute to the fight at hand.

After Annemarie stood, Buque finally turned to stare at Christopher.

“…Are you done playing?”

“…It’ll be dangerous since you’re unarmed, Maxwell, so I’ll need you to support me from the rear with your magic.”

“Understood. But are you not also unarmed? What are you planning to do?”

(I have a weapon, but I hid it in my boot… And he hasn’t given me a chance to take it out.)

Christopher shot Annemarie a knowing glance, and she nodded in agreement.

“Know this: no matter thine arms, only death awaits.”

“You think so? I hate to be the one to tell you, but… you really shouldn’t be underestimating the crown prince!”

Christopher and Annemarie raised their hands to chest level and chanted their spell.

” ” Come forth and arrive in hand, Limited TransferDrawing! ” “

A silver dagger suddenly materialized in Christopher’s raised hand, while Annemarie held a silver wand in her hand.

“What manner of sorcery… is this?”

“As if we would answer that!”

As an aside, Christopher and Annemarie had been developing a number of original spells for use against the Demon King, and “Transfer Magic” was one of those creations. However, the spell was still under development and could only move nearby items; in situations like this, this capability was still quite useful.

“Hmph… is this the royal family’s… secret technique? How meaningless. Thou called upon such a blade for a meaningless struggle.”

Buque taunted him with a gesture of the black blade; he was right: Christopher’s dagger was far shorter than the sword and would not be enough.

Christopher could only glare back angrily as Buque watched him with an arrogant sneer.

“Didn’t you hear me earlier? I said, you really shouldn’t underestimate the crown prince!”

Christopher pointed his dagger skyward and chanted another spell.

“The silver on my clothes aren’t just for decoration! All of creation, heed my command, TransmutationAlchemy!”

The ornaments on Christopher’s outfit detached from the clothing and gathered around the dagger. It all joined together along the blade, and the dagger became a splendid silver sword.

Buque flinched in surprise at the sight, and Christopher leveled his new weapon at Buque.

“You said nothing could stop you, right? I’ll be stopping you myself. Annemarie, get to Luciana, now!”

“I’m on it!”

“Maxwell, I trust in your support!”

“You never cease to amaze, Your Highness. Leave the support to me!”

“…How fascinating. First I shall slaughter thee, and then… I shall be free to study and dissect.”

And thus began the battle between Crown Prince Christopher and his opponent, the Demon-King-possessed Buque Kischel.

While Christopher and Buque faced off, Annemarie hurried over to the fallen Luciana.

Luciana had taken a direct hit from the Demon King; if she did not receive immediate treatment, her life would be in danger.

(How could I have wasted time zoning out like that! Just you wait, Luciana-chan, I will have you all healed up with my Medical Magic!)

Back in the game, Annemarie had been the usual villainess-type character, whose haughty powerlessness served as a foil to uplift the heroine. During the events of the original Spring Ball Raid, she had been a pitiful girl, crying and cowering in fear.

In short, she was the very model of a traditional villainess: a fool of a girl who knew not how to read the atmosphere.

But now, because Asakura Anna had reincarnated into her role, Annemarie had become a completely different person.

She had done everything in her limited power to prepare for the eventuality called the Demon King; she had studied diligently, had worked with Christopher to improve the Kingdom’s power and influence. On a personal level, even with her mediocre talents, she never neglected self-improvement and tirelessly researched and developed new magicks.

The spells from earlier, “Limited Transfer” and “Transmutation”, were a result of Annemarie’s efforts, a crystalization of her reincarnated knowledge and imagination. The current Annemarie was a magnificent role model for her peers, someone they saw as their splendid future queen.

Additionally, “healing magic” in the strictest sense did not exist in the world of The Silver Saint; there were only items with recovery effects, and it was only later in the game that the characters would discover the saint’s impurity cleansing power had a secondary effect of healing wouds. Having some form of healing magic would be indispensable for when they encountered the Demon King, and so Annemarie had devoted much effort into its research and development.

And so Annemarie applied the knowledge from her past life on top of that effort to recreate modern medical practices like surgical operations and x-ray scans. The end result was her specialized “Medical Magic”.

Unlike the saint’s power, this was not magic that boosted the body’s natural healing properties; rather, it was result of fevered efforts in learning how to assist with healing.

“Everything will be just fine, Miss Luciana! Medical Magic, Sterilized ChamberClean Room!”

The spell cycled air through a magical filter, removing impurities and sterilizing the area around Luciana.

Surgical procedures would be necessary for treating the sword wound, and this sterilization magic laid the groundwork for a successful operation.

But Annemarie immediately noticed something abnormal.

(There… isn’t any bleeding?)

Luciana had lain face-up on the ground, and blood from the cut on her back should have spread around the ground under her. And yet, there were no such traces. Annemarie carefully rolled Luciana over.

(…B-but how? There… isn’t even a single injury.)

There was a cruel tear in the dress where the sword had cut, but Luciana herself remained uninjured. In addition, the Demon King’s shockwave, though it had blown her back, had left not a single scratch on her. Annemarie measured body temperature and pulse with medical magic, and both were normal; even after using a CT scan-like spell, Annemarie could find nothing wrong with the current Luciana.

Annemarie could not help but find the situation completely baffling.

” ” Luciana! ” “

Outside the barrier, the Luthorburg couple had rushed over, crying out in loud panic.

“Open your eyes, Luciana!”

“No, please no, Luciana! Don’t leave us!”

“You two seem to be Luciana’s parents. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine! Her life doesn’t seem to be in danger, so please calm down!”

“I-is that true? Oh, thank goodness!”

They dropped to the floor in sobbing relief. It remained unclear why Luciana was uninjured, but Annemarie sighed in relief having been able to tell Luciana’s parents she was fine. But a cold dismissal came as though to disperse their reprieve.

“That little girl lived? How surprising. No matter, ye worthless lives end here, the girl no exception.”

Buque spoke indifferently, but Annemarie could no longer hold back her own anger.

“…What did you just say? ‘Worthless lives’? What do you think human lives are?! I have had enough of you! Mine magic is a star convergent! O stars, crush mine enemy, Meteor StrikeShooting Star!”

In using her wand, Annemarie had imbued her spells with the attributes of silver, the Demon King’s weakness, and this spell fired a star-shaped bullet, speeding into Buque like its namesake.

This was the fastest and strongest magic Annemarie had developed, specifically for use against the Demon King. However, Buque casually deflected the projectile with his sword; Annemarie had expected this outcome, but the results still frustrated her… she would need to devise a different avenue for attack.

“…Oh? Not a bad choice of magicks. And thou dost wield arms of silver… I was expecting the humans to have forgotten… but it seems I have underestimated these lowly creatures.”

( ( Humans already forgot a long time ago!! ) )

Christopher and Annemarie mentally retorted.

“But thy magicks matter not… Thy silver weapons matter not. Even in numbers, a weakling is a weakling still, now prepare to meet thine end”

Buque readied his sword. Feeling an unseen pressure from his opponent, Christopher steeled himself to guard the coming attack.

A quiet calm settled over the fighters. The onlookers nervously watched, tensing themselves for when they expected the clash to begin when…

Snap! Crackle! Pop! — A shrill metallic crackling resounded from within the barrier.

“…Unbelievable.”

It was Annemarie who muttered in amazement as everyone looked toward the sound: a crack had formed on the Demon King’s sword, where it had blocked Annemarie’s spell.

(That… should be impossible! How could such trifling magicks… No… no, how could this be?!)

The Demon King’s soul, hiding itself within Buque’s body, began to panic from this unexpected development.

As it had not yet fully unsealed itself, the Demon King needed attune itself with Buque’s five senses in order to manipulate the body.

But this was a double-edged sword; though the Demon King had a body to use, it could no longer make use of its sixth sense and intuition.

Thus the Demon King in its current form was unable to detect the presence of something it should otherwise have been able to.

In desperation, the Demon King returned its senses to the sword to reassess his situation, but the reality of the situation was far graver than it had expected.

(Mine sword, vessel of mine soul… overrun with abhorrent silver magicks?! This can only be the work of a detestable saint; no, of an awakened saint?! This cannot be… might they still be here?!)

But while it could not detect the presence of a saint, a saint’s magic still clung to the black sword and bit-by-bit ate away at Demon King’s power.

(He’s wide open now!)

Noticing the Demon King had become distracted, Christopher took the opportunity to press the attaack. Buque reacted late and took a defensive stance; now that the Demon King had returned to the sword, Buque was fully in control of his body again. However, as a spellcaster, Buque could only hope to brace himself against a trained swordsman such as Christopher.

Bakiii— A shrill crackle came from the black sword after blocking the incoming blade; it became apparent that clashing swords had been a fatal mistake as more cracks began to emerge.

(Gahh! The saint’s accursed magicks! O sword! O soul vessel mine! This cannot be happening! In this present state of mine… Mine own existence is threatened if the vessel is lost!”

So why, exactly, was the Demon King so fearful of the sword breaking? To begin with, breaking the sword would not break the seal on the Demon King. In fact, it was paramount that the Demon King avoided any scenario where the sword broke.

In the game’s setting, the Demon King was not, strictly speaking, a living creature; rather, it is an amalgamation of magical power borne from the negative emotions of living creatures.

How does this work? It was because strong emotions could manifest magical power. Take, for example, Melody’s dance: the feelings of fun and joy manifested as silver lights, and the overflow of positive emotions had begun to affect the other guests. But not every strong emotion was a positive one…

Suppose there was a man with a one-sided love, and suppose this man, wishing happiness for his beloved, removed himself from his beloved’s life and resolved to move forward with his own life. Where do his buried feelings of unrequited love go? And what about his regret for being unable to stand at his beloved’s side? And then the envy and resentment he felt for the man standing beside his beloved, what happened to those feelings?

Magical power still manifested from such negative emotions, albeit invisible unlike Melody’s display, and as negative events occurred again and again, the magical power would begin to accumulate… and become the existence called the “Demon King”.

And that is the Demon King: an existence born from the negative emotions all living creatures felt, including humans.

Such was why the Demon King had no physical body and required magical power to assume a form. In the current, sealed state, the Demon King was unable to gather the magical power to take on a form, and yet, it was in this sealed state that the Demon King could amass magical power.

The Demon King in its current state was akin to the air inside a balloon: breaking the sword would be analogous to the balloon popping: in that case, the air the balloon held would be lost to the rest of the world.

Thus, if the sword were to break, the mass of magical energy called the “Demon King” would be lost to the world, unable to maintain its self and ego.

That is the reason for the Demon King’s panic: it could not afford to let the sword break. On the Demon King’s command, Buque attempted to disengage from Christopher, but the latter, having trained in swordsmanship from childhood, would not allow that leeway.

The pressure from Christopher’s attacks forced Buque to continue defending with his own sword, and more cracks were forming with each clash.

(This guy..! Is so annoying! I can’t use my magic if he keeps getting in the way!)

From behind Christopher, Maxwell and Annemarie played a role in cornering Buque, immediately countering and suppressing any spells Buque attempted to cast.

It should have been possible for Buque to fend off the three, but he was fighting without the Demon King’s support; the Demon King in question was desperately trying to stop the encroachment of the saint’s power, and so most of its consciousness was within the sword. It was proving impossible for Buque alone to fight against three.

At best, Buque could steel himself to defend against another hit, but the Demon King had no such leeway.

(This cannot be! So much of mine magic used, and yet the saint’s power presses on without cease! Why can I not be rid of this accursed blight!)

But the saint was nowhere in sight, so this should have been a tiny fragment of their power, and yet, this same fragment invading the sword was as strong as the saint of ancient times.

You are reading story Me, the Heroine? And a Saint? No Way, I’m Just an All-Works Maid (Heh)! at novel35.com

That would mean this single mote of power carried such intensely strong feelings…

Part of a maid’s duties naturally include protecting their master♪

(What… what goes there?! What manner of cursed magicks be this?!)

The feelings the Demon King could feel emanating from the encroaching are… soft and light… yet strong and firm.

(That such magicks could lay low one such as I…! How couldst, to such emotions?! This… this cannot be!!)

Inside the sword, the Demon King was breaking down… it was an unavoidable outcome, to be sure.

It had been fighting against an unfathomable power; since when had this aberration latched onto the sword? It could not have been anytime in the forest or when Buque had taken the sword. In fact, the sword had not come into physical contact with anything since coming out of the forest and into the castle; when it entered the castle, the only thing the sword touched was…

Buque suddenly stopped moving; the three paused, carefully watching him. As he began shaking, the black sword in his hand began to rattle, as though it were also shaking.

Then Buque widened his eyes in shock as he stared… at the fallen Luciana, unconscious on the ground.

(Th-th-that’s… that’s impossible! Simply ridiculous!)

It was not Luciana that Buque, no, the Demon King was staring at; it was the dress Luciana wore.

And the Demon King immediately realized what had happened.

(..Th-that can only be the saint’s holy vestments, the Protection of Holy Silver..! How did a little girl like this come to wear such a relic?!)

The Demon King’s sixth sense had detected a stream of silver magic surging from Luciana’s dress.

In The Silver Saint, the biggest power-up the heroine received was during the final battle, the “Protection of Holy Silver”.

However, this power-up was only available after the heroine swore her oath to one of the love interests. As though to answer her words, a voice from the heavens would bless the heroine and unlock the full extent of her saintly powers.

In other words, it was a miraculous final form upgrade that unlocked right before the final boss, just like in a magical girl anime.

The flow of magic coming from the heroine after awakening would then wrap around her and manifest as a silver dress.

This form was the heroine’s “Invincible Mode”: on activation, the heroine’s battle stats maxed out, and she fully healed any damage and injuries; it nullified any subsequent damage, and it would purify the Demon King’s dark magic before counterattacking with twice the power… It was a truly broken and unbalanced mechanic that had no place in a role-playing game.

But of course, Silver Saint was a dating sim, not a role-playing game, so its appeal was in the romance aspects rather than in combat. Giving the heroine a cheat-level ability to make a complete reversal and achieve her “Happy Ending” was an inevitability.

And while the Demon King had no idea of the game, it does distinctly remember why it lost to the previous saint: because of this same Protection of Holy Silver.

The situation devolved into a complete reversal of earlier; no longer was the Demon King in control of the situation, and it could only find the its current predicament absolutely baffling.

The saint it fought had long passed away, and yet that same terrifying power has appeared before it once again… What could it feel if not fear? But the Demon King’s suffering would continue when it noticed a new peculiarity — and shook even harder.

It was not just one person with the Protection of Holy Silver… Outside the barrier there was a second person… and a third…

From the outside, Hughes and Marianna were worriedly watching over Luciana, their clothes emanating the same Protection magic.

“Wh-wh-why..? Why? Why?! Whyyy!!”

The Demon King, and Buque, screamed at the absurdity; the Protection of Holy Silver was supposed to be the saint’s final trump card, so how could there be three?! This was a complete nightmare, and ironically, the Demon King, a collection of negative emotions, could only curse the unfairness of the world.

…But while the Demon King believed so; the clothes, while they appeared so, were not exactly the Protection of Holy Silver.

The clothes were actually closer to a cheaper, mass-produced version of the Protection.

In fact, the real thing, the dress symbolizing the Protection of Holy Silver, is the saint’s magic in physical form. What Luciana and her parents wore was simply clothing enhanced with Melody’s protection magic.

The base materials is also of ordinary fabric, so the clothes were not the same as the real thing, let alone having the characteristic overpowered and balance-breaking properties. This fact should have been obvious seeing as Luciana had fallen unconscious after taking on the earlier attack.

…Even so, the maid who put that dress together had did so wishing for her master’s safety and had imbued it with enough magical power to confuse even the Demon King into mistaking it for the true Protection of Holy Silver.

It had taken a mere touch from the Demon King for the magic in the dress to identify the black sword as an enemy and begin mercilessly eliminating the threat, earnestly fulfilling its role in protecting its wearer.

Well, even if the Demon King understood what was happening, the end result would not change… How pitiful.

As an aside, the dating sim junkie Annemarie knew of the Protection of Holy Silver, but she had not connected that to the situation at hand. It was beyond unthinkable to expect the endgame deus ex machina to appear in the very first battle event of the game, to begin with. The developers really need to release an update to fix this game-breaking bug…

The only thing the Demon King could do was scream in despair from the situation, but doing so left it wide open.

Crash!!

“…Huh?”

It took the harsh sound of something breaking apart for Buque to realize what had happened.

The black sword he held… was shattering. Numerous cracks had spread across the sword, even down to the cross section. Crumbling bits fell from the sword, clattering across the floor.

In front of him stood Christopher, his silver sword flashing as he finished the curve of a horizontal swing.

While Buque had been staring at Luciana in distraction, Christopher had taken the opportunity to attack the black sword directly.

“Th-thats… impossible”

Buque stared at the broken black sword in mute shock.

Having successfully destroyed the sword, Christopher quietly watched Buque; his actions were more on instinct as the latter was now standing in a daze and full of openings. Christopher did not know what to do next.

(…Now that I think about it, wasn’t the Demon King sealed in that sword? Wait… Does that mean I just broke the seal?!)

He looked over at Annemarie, but it seemed the situation had left her in bewilderment as well.

If they had followed the game’s scenario, then the heroine should have stepped up to defend the crown prince against the Demon King. The determination and strength of will in her would have awakened her dormant saint powers.

In doing so, she would come face-to-face with the fourth love interest, Buque Kischel, and repel his assault. The choices she made here would influence the relationship parameters with Buque later in the game, but there was no outcome that led to the destruction of the Demon King’s sword.

Now their current situation has vastly deviated from the original plot… It would quickly descend into the worst case scenario if the seal on the Demon King became undone because of this development.

Just as Christopher began internally panicking over the potential disaster, something changed.

“Ack! Whoa! What’s going on?!”

Black smoke vigorously wafted from the shattered pieces of Buque’s sword.

“That’s a miasma of negative emotions and dark magic! Don’t breathe it in!”

Christopher hurriedly covered his mouth, and none too soon; due to how close he was to Buque, the dark smoke quickly obscured his vision and plunged him into darkness, and where ever he looked, he could only see black. It seemed this substance was quickly spreading and covering everything within the barrier.

Meanwhile, Sven and the others, still outside the barrier, could no longer hold back their distress.

“What is happening? We need to destroy the barrier now! Everyone, once more, we need to focus our magic together!”

Sven resumed his magical assault on the barrier, but seeing as the barrier remained undamaged, his patience began to wear thin.

Further away at another side, the Luthorburg couple lost their own patience as they worried for Luciana.

“What in the world is this mist?!”

“Luciana?!”

The mist had obscured the contents of the barrier, and the Luthorburg couple were panicking; they could no longer see Luciana, and that filled them with a hopeless anxiety and frustration.

“Argh! Give her back! Please, just give our daughter back!”

Though they knew their actions would be useless, the two began to beat on the barrier with their hands. They could not very well sit still while aware of the danger their daugther was in, and so they began to punch, kick, and even ram the barrier as though in desperate prayer.

“Please! We beg of you! Please, just give us back our daughter!!”

With tears streaming down his face, Hughes focused all of his might, all of the fatherly feelings he felt, into one blow. He would put everything into this single punch, ignoring his own safety, to hit the barrier.

And then, as though their prayers had finally reached the ears of the heavens…

— Crack!

Hughes’s fist crashes straight through the barrier with the sound of breaking glass, and cracks began to form and spread across the surface of the barrier. Hughes, seeing a development he wished for but did not expect, quickly withdrew his arm in a panic.

Dark mist began pouring from the new hole like water coming from a burst dam. The cracks in the barrier continued to spread and the hole widened even further, rapidly releasing more of the smokey mist.

But it was as though the mist had a will of its own; rather than uniformly spread across the hall, the mist seemed to coalesce at the ceiling. The black mass then broke through a window on the ceiling and escaped from the ballroom.

The sight of the darkness escaping left every person dumbfounded. Hughes was the first to return to his senses.

“–…Ah! Lu-Luciana!”

Seeing as the barrier had dissipated, Hughes and Marianna rushed over to Luciana.

“Luciana! Luciana!!”

Luciana was still unconscious, but she appeared uninjured and sleeping peacefully. The two could finally relax their anxiety.

With the mist finally cleared away, Christopher looked over and found Buque, who had fallen to the ground unconscious.

…And the blackened sword he clutched in his hands had returned to a beautiful silver.

Elsewhere, the Demon King, having failed its gambit, had fled the royal castle as transient, formless mist. Although it had escaped from the confines of the silver sword, the seal was unbroken and still in place; if anything, the Demon King was currently at great risk.

In the first place, the saint’s seal and the silver sword each served a different purpose.

The seal dissolved the Demon King, who had no physical body to begin with, into a more immaterial form, and the saint had panicked because in this form, the Demon King could spread the influence of negative emotions despite a seal being in place. Thus, the saint had sealed the “mist” that was the Demon King into the silver sword.

But perhaps being sealed in the sword was a blessing in disguise for the Demon King: if the mist had spread itself out, the Demon King’s ego would have followed suit, losing its sense of identity and self-awareness.

So it was by unfortunate coincidence that the very same sword that sealed the Demon King was also maintaining its existence.

And now, without a container to hold its mist, the Demon King was truly in danger. It was barely able to keep the mist from dispersing by using the little magical power trickling from the seal, but even this lifeline would soon run dry. The Demon King needed to find a new host to reside in quickly, lest it truly be lost.

Humans were unsuitable as a container as their egos were usually too strong to override; meanwhile, something more primitive, like a mouse, was easier to take over, but such an animal was far too weak. Inorganic objects, the saint’s silver sword aside, were also unusable. The Demon King could only metaphorically grind its teeth in frustration, given it had no mouth to speak of.

At that moment, it sees an ideal container: there,in the Noble District, a dirty, grey-haired puppy was wasting away on the ground in the shadows of an alley. It’s labored breathing was coming in such weak gasps that it was surely not long for this world.

But this puppy was the most comptaible host the Demon King had ever encountered.

Immediately, the mist that was the Demon King swirled into the puppy, and magical power began circulating around its body, restoring its lost vitality. After fully recovering, the puppy stands itself up.

(Restoring the vitality of such a beast is a trifling matter for one benevolent as I! This inferior being should be grateful to have been bestowed a second chance at life! Such a miserable existence uplifted to serve a greater purpose!)

The puppy seemed to respond compatibly so as a host. The Demon King finally let its guard down in relef when it suddenly heard a strange voice echo in its mind.

(I’m alive!! I didn’t die! Hurray! Hurray!! Oh, I’m so happy, so happy! Thank you!!)

(These are… the feelings of this mutt? Perhaps our affinity be more aligned than I expected… Hmm… However…)

These emotions expressed the “joy of living”, a feeling completely at odds with the negativity making up the Demon King. Direct exposure to its antithesis leff the Demon King confused..

(Never mind that. For now, I shall return to the forest and plan mine next move… Hm? Could it be? Could this be the scent of that detestable little girl?!)

After experimenting with the puppy’s senses, the Demon King had suddenly picked up Luciana’s scent.

Its instinctive fear of the Protection of Holy Silver began to resurface, but the Demon King convinced itself of the necessity of endangerment: even if it escaped to the forest, it had no chance at victory so long as the saint was around. However, it reasoned, Luciana must surely still be at the castle, and now would be a perfect time for reconnaissance.

The Demon King mustered together its tattered courage and tracked Luciana’s scent back to a small mansion in the middle of the Noble District. Luciana’s scent came strongest from a room on the second floor, and so the Demon King walked along the roof before dropping onto the adjoining balcony.

From what its senses detected, inside the mansion there… was only a single, magic-less person inside.

The puppy’s mouth dextrously twisted into a completely un-dog-like sneer.

…Did this sudden confidence come from the puppy, or was the Demon King naturally arrogant from an assumption?

Despite having just experienced a humiliating defeat, the Demon King completely relaxed its guard and threw away all thoughts of caution and prudence as soon as it sensed a single, powerless person.

With a complete lack of subtlety, the Demon King used magic to break the window connecting the room to the balcony. It leisurely entered and began wreaking havoc in the room with magical telekinesis.

From the desk to the bookshelves, the closets to the drawers, the Demon King threw furniture this way and that, making a complete mess of the room. Then, finding the fluffy bed to be quite appealing, the Demon King leapt on, leaving footprints behind as it walked all over the sheets.

After a time, having had its fill of fun, the Demon King concluded there was no sign of the saint in this room.

It grew irritated when it could not learn anything new, but as soon as it heard footsteps approaching from outside the room, the Demon King once again sneered with delight; it seemed the single worthless person in the mansion was coming.

(Heh, it would be a trifling matter to simply kill them. But perhaps they hold knowledge most valuable… It would be most helpful convert them to my cause.)

As the Demon King entertained such daydreams, the door opened with a loud bang.

Standing in the doorway was a black-haired girl. From her clothing, she appeared to be what the humans called a “maid”, and would pose no threat. With such an assumption, the Demon King had lain down on the bed, preparing to ambush the girl.

The girl had noticed what had happened to the room, and she put a hand to her mouth as she began to shake. The Demon King watched in amusement, wondering about the terror she must be feeling, but in that moment, their eyes met… and the Demon King learned the true meaning of absolute fear.

“…Are you the one who made a mess of the room? The young lady will be returning home soon, and you did this?”

The girl glared sharply behind tearful eyes. In an instant, beautiful silver magic began to cover the girl’s entire body.

“Making such a big mess… How dare you!”

(Huh? No, no!! Whyyy?!)

The Demon King began to panic, but what else could it do? The nightmare from earlier had returned, in an even more terrifying form!

(How could this be?! I could sense no magic prior! Art thou the saint?!)

It screamed internally without understanding a thing, but there was no doubting the saintly power coming from this girl.

And yet the Demon King was not wrong; only moments ago, the girl had not even a trace of magical power.

(Why, what, how, NANDE, answer me, help meeee!!)

To clear up any misunderstanding, Melody, who held an unfathomable amount of magical power, is able to perfectly control her power. As a result, it should come as no surprise that Melody is constantly suppressing her magic unless necessary, to the point of being able to evade the Demon King’s own detection!

Of course, the power occasionally leaked out whenever Melody’s emotions became disturbed, such as during what was currently happening.

“You won’t get away!”

“Awoooh!?”

O poor, pitiful Demon King, you who hath incurred the maiden’s wrath…

A furious maid appeared… The Demon King was unable to flee.

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