Chapter 92: 87 – [Despair] and [Jea…] (2)

...

I walked down the streets with the Orc follow right behind me, trying to ignore the hushed whispers and jeers that were directed toward us.

'Seriously, aren't these Elf bastards supposed to be unsocial? Why are they even bothering to talk with each other?'

Whatever the case was, I didn't have time to think about it, as I suddenly noticed a food stall by the side of the road.

My eyes lit up as I formulated a plan in my mind. Walking toward the stall owner, I smiled.

"How much for that jar?"

The stall owner raised an eyebrow in confusion at my words. After all, I wasn't asking to buy the delicious roasted chicken or beef that he was selling. Instead, I was trying to buy the jar of peanut butter that he merely used to flavor his meat.

However, he soon sighed as he raised 5 of his fingers up.

"500 Silvers" 

"Why so expensive?"

"I have to make up for the skewers that won't sell because there is no peanut butter on them. You do know that dog-beastkins like this kind of stuff, right?"

"That's why I'm trying to buy this in the first place", I muttered.

I then turned toward the Orc with a polite smile. "Orc brother, this is your first task. Pay for the jar"

The Orc looked at me in confusion before reaching into his pockets and taking out a Gold. He then handed it to the stall owner.

"Kurghhh... here..." 

The stall owner put on a glove and received the Gold. He then scrubbed it with a piece of cloth as if it was something filthy. After rubbing the coin clean, he put 500 Silvers in a pouch and handed it to me.

"Your change"

I happily grabbed the jar and the pouch, and put them in [Alternate storage]. I then turned away and continued walking toward the church, leaving a very confused Orc to follow me.
...

After a few minutes, I finally got back to the abandoned church.

Slowly opening the door, I was met with the sight of Reiner standing in the middle of the room, motionless.

Then I noticed Maria trying to sneak up on him, only to be pinned down to the ground as soon as she reached him.

"Too sloppy", Reiner sighed. "You let out your bloodlust surge up as soon as you reached me. You won't be able to win if you keep this u—"

Wooooosh—!

Before Reiner could finish his sentence, the Human named Kevin suddenly jumped out from a corner and threw daggers at him. However, his daggers merely bounced off Reiner's body.

"That's not fair!", the Human exclaimed. "You're an <E> rank! How can we ever defeat you?"

"Hey!" Reiner released Maria and slowly walked toward the Human. "Who asked me to train you in the first place?"

"Us..."

"And why did I accept your request?"

"Because I taught you how to cook...?"

"Exactly! Now stop whining and continue training! I don't want to leave any favors unpaid— oh master Aryl! You're back!". Reiner suddenly exclaimed as he finally noticed my presence.

However, I wasn't even paying attention to his words, or him at all. Instead, I was looking at the Human with a startled gaze.

'What the actual fuck...? I was only gone for 3 days!'

And during that short amount of time, the Huma— no, Kevin had broken through to <E-> rank.

'[Despair] really succeeded in his experiments... unlike in the novel. I was right to enter this accursed city and hunt him down!'

After all, if I had been a year late, [Despair] surely would have taken over the entirety of Kerudark. Even Eleanor would find it hard to subjugate the Void lord if things escalated to that point.

Pausing my thought there, I accessed [Alternate storage] and handed the peanut butter jar to the Orc, who was standing right behind me, looking at this whole situation with a bewildered gaze.

"You know what to do", I whispered to him.

Nodding, the Orc opened the jar of peanut butter and smeared some on a stick he had found by the side of the road. He then slowly approached Maria and Kevin, and knelt down to meet their gaze as soon as he reached them.

"Kurghhh... hello...", he extended his free hand to Kevin. "...I'm Zakadon, a former warrior of the Great Clan"

Kevin cautiously shook the Orc's thick hand. "I'm Kevin... why are you here?"

"Kurrghhh... I just started working for Aryl"

"You mean that thing— erm I mean that Inquisitor?" Kevin quickly fixed his sentence as he glanced at me anxiously.

'I know what you were going to say, brat'

However, I didn't let my annoyance show on my face. After all, I didn't want my plan to be ruined from the start. Thus, I gave Kevin a smile.

"What are you looking at me for, my dearest Kevin?"

"N- Nothing!", he stuttered in fright and hurriedly directed his gaze to the Orc again.

Seeing this, the Orc smiled sympathetically at the human child. 

"Kurrghhh... I get you. Aryl can be scary sometime"

Kevin heaved a sigh of relief at his words. No doubt he was overjoyed that someone who was bulging with muscles like this Orc was scared of me, just like he was.

Being completely aware of his thought process, veins throbbed on my forehead. By some miracles, however, I still managed to keep my anger down.

Unware of my repressed rage, the Orc then turned toward Maria, whose eyes were glued to the stick he was holding.

Softly smiling, he inched the stick closer to her. 

"Kurrghhh... you want?"

"Yes...", Maria lightly nodded her head.

Seeing this, the Orc hovered it near her mouth. "Here"

Maria lightly licked the peanut butter. Savoring its taste, her tail wagged in excitement. She then took the stick out of the Orc's hand and hungrily devoured the peanut butter on it.

I stared at this scene unfolding in absolute shock.

'What...? This isn't supposed to happen!'

She was supposed to be so afraid of the Orc that she would see me as a better alternative!

Stopping my thoughts there, I hurriedly marched toward their location and yanked the jar out of the Orc's hand. I then dipped my finger in it, coating it in peanut butter, and held it near Maria's mouth.

"Maria", I smiled. "You want some more peanut butter?"

Maria alternated her gaze between my finger and my smiling face before trembling violently in fear. She then threw the stick she was holding away and rushed to the Orc's back to hide from me.

"P- Please don't hurt me! Y- You can have all the peanut butter to yourself!", she stuttered as she sneaked a glance at me from behind the Orc's shoulder. 

I stared blankly at her, so baffled that all I could do was to let out a small mutter.

"Am I truly scarier than an Orc...?"
...

A week had passed since then.

During that time, the Orc had gotten closer to the kids.

All the while, Maria only became more scared of me.

'Why is she so scared? I thought Lyra's appearance is cute enough?'

Whatever the case was, it didn't look like that she would try to get close to me any time soon.

On the plus side though, Kevin had gotten less adverse to conversing to me, so maybe I could use him to move Maria when the time comes.

And, as it was only a few hours away from midnight, my phone suddenly lit up.

===

[Celi]: Aryl! I got the evidences.

[Me]: Comign

===

***

A week had passed since Araceli was 'hired' as Apel Neviltis' attendant.

Currently, it was 5 in the morning, the time where she had always woken up and do the things she had been doing for the past week.

"It's almost filled", she muttered as she stared at the device in her hands.

The so-called device was merely a small glass tube. Apparently, it would fill by itself when placed over a long period of time near a creature of Void that didn't know how to fully conceal their Void mana.

Thus, Araceli had to conceal this in her maid robe every time she went outside of her room.

And, intriguingly enough, it started to fill up ever since she had gotten into that carriage with Apel.

'It seems like he's really a Void fiend...', Araceli thought.

Despite having a presumably 'irrefutable' evidence in her very hands, however, she couldn't help but to start doubting whether or not Apel was really a Void fiend.

The reason?

-"Hey, isn't young master Apel lovely?"

-"He indeed is. But he wasn't always like that though"

-"Huh?"

-"You see, up until a few months ago, he was known as the scoundrel of house Neviltis. He used to harass maids and noble ladies all day. But one day, he suddenly changed for the better!"

-"...!"

-"He stopped being a pervert, started immersing himself in the study of Magic, and he even became much nicer to us maids than his brothers!"

-"Really?"

-"Ye—"

-"Yes."

Suddenly, Araceli could hear Apel's voice interrupting the conversation between two maids right outside her room.

-"Y- Young master!? F- Forgive me for my insolen—"

-"No need to kneel down like that, Delvinetta. I have to admit, I was the worst kind of trash back then"

-"Young master! You—"

-"No...", Apel interrupted the maid again. "...I really were trash back then, and I wholeheartedly apologize for any troubles I might have caused you in the past.

-"Young master...", the maid muttered with a lovestruck voice.

-"Anyways, may you step aside please? I need to visit someone"

-"Of course! Anything for my young master!"

As soon as Araceli heard those words, she hurriedly hid the device under her bed and quickly stood up again.

CLANK—!

The door opened, and Apel walked in. As soon as he saw Araceli, he gave her a sweet smile.

"Araceli, you're awake?"

"I'm flattered that you personally checks up on me every morning, young master. But you needn't do such useless things"

"Not it's useless", he frowned. "And you shouldn't wake up this early. You're my personal attendant after all"

"No, young master...", she said as she very discreetly pushed the device even further under the bed with her foot. "...Rather than worrying about a mere maid like me, a noble like you shouldn't wake up this early"

"What nonsense!" he exclaimed. "I have to wake up this early to train my body! I can't keep being scrawny for my whole life after all"

And with those words, they ran out of topics to talk about.

"..."

"..." 

Staying in awkward silence for a few seconds, Apel coughed in embarrassment before making his way out of Araceli's room. 

"Anyways, I'll have to get going now. Oh, and mother want to meet you by the way. Apparently, she doesn't trust you enough to leave you by my side"

As he was half-way through the doorway, Apel suddenly turned around and gave Araceli a warm smile.

"Don't worry though. Even if she doesn't accept you, I'll always protect you"

CLANK—!

Feeling that Apel's presence was far away enough, Araceli hurriedly crawled under her bed and took out the glass tube.

"It's filled", she muttered as she checked the device.

Although she could call Aryl right now and hand her the evidence, she decided not to.

"I want to judge for myself if he's really a Void fiend or not..."

Of course, Araceli couldn't just march up to him and straight up ask if he was a Void fiend. Instead, she was going to ask around the mansion to gather clues for herself.

"Let's just hope this ends well"
...

Her first target was the head maid.

It wasn't as if Araceli had chosen her specifically. It was just that the head maid was the first person she met after Apel left her room.

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Staring at Araceli with worry, the head maid spoke. "Araceli, the young master just entered your room again, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did..."

"Did he do anything bad to you?"

"He didn't", she answered truthfully.

Hearing this, the head maid sighed in relief. "Good. I wouldn't want the reputation that the young master had painstakingly rebuilt up to be ruined again..."

As the maid was about to turn around and leave though, Araceli called out to her. "Head maid..."

"...?"

"About the young master... why do you seem so grateful to him? I- I mean, outside of obligation as a servant, of course"

The head maid was taken aback by the question. Eventually though, she collected herself and gave Araceli her answer. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you about this" 

She then sat down on Araceli's bed and started talking. "I had a son, a very dutiful one"

"..."

"But one day, he was killed by a bandit"

"Oh... I'm sorry about your loss..."

"Don't be", the maid spoke with a gentle voice. "I've completely gotten over it, and it was all thanks to the young master"

"...?"

"Since I was brooding over my son's death, my work as a maid had became much sloppier than normal. However, no one but the young master noticed my sadness"

"..."

"He comforted me, and told me that everything was going to be fine. Normally, I wouldn't have gotten consoled by such words but strangely enough, I felt better when the young master said those words"

"...!"

"It was as if all of my despair was sucked out of my body", she chuckled. "Figuratively of course. I can't even imagine someone as delicate and frail as our young master taking on the grief of the past me" 

The head maid then stood up and made her way out of my room. "Anyways, I've been here long enough, time to get back to my work. Oh, and... thanks for listening to my story"

CLANK—!

Araceli stared at the the head maid's back, her eyes turned slightly cold as she recalled the story that she had just heard.

Sighing, she left her room and moved to her next target: the knights.
...

-"HAAAAH! TAKE THIS!"

-"SIDEWAY SLASH!"

Araceli could hear obnoxious shouting getting louder and louder as she got closer to the training ground.

When she reached the training ground though, she didn't approach the sweaty knights who were rolling on the ground. Instead, she walked up to the familiar knight who was overseeing the training - Sir Elfalox.

"Sir Elfalox!", Araceli called out to him.

The knight widened his eyes in surprise as he looked at Araceli. "Oh, half-mask hero! Are you here to train? My knights could use some pointers from you, you know?" 

"No", Araceli shook her head at Elfalox's question. "I'm actually here to ask you something"

"Ask away"

Araceli nodded before speaking up again. "Why are you loyal to young master Apel? From what I've heard, he had insulted and mistreated you knights before"

Elfalox frowned at her question. "You... do you know the meaning of questioning a knight's loyalty?"

"I- I—"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Elfalox spoke up again, interrupting her. "But... since you've saved my life before, I'll humor you for a bit"

"..."

"The reason why I pledged loyalty to the young master is because I admire him"

"...?"

"You see, back then, most of our new recruits were depressed by the fact that they had lost their comrades in a recent mission. And the young master... he saved them from the pits of despair!"

"...!"

"He challenged most of the young knights to a duel. At first, I thought he was just using this chance to beat them up. However, the knights strangely became happier as the battle progressed. Not just that, the young master suddenly displayed an impressive amount of strength! It was almost as if he was using their despair to fuel his strength!"

"...!" Araceli widened her eyes in surprise at this piece of information. Her eyes then turned a little bit colder than before.

Seeing that Araceli had a shocked look on her face, Elfalox smirked. "Heh, I take that you really believed me?"

"Yes, I did"

"Pffft! HAHAHAH! Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was just joking with you. Using despair as strength? What kind of fantasy is that? Anyways, I think that young master Apel just hid his strength really well until now"

"..."

"And that's why I admire our young master"

"Merely because he could beat your knights?"

"Of course not!" Elfalox frowned. "You're less intelligent than I thought you was. Do you even know the implications of him hiding his strength for all these years?"

"No...?"

"Good god! Do I have to explain everything for you? It means that not only does he have the strength of a knight, he also have a good political sense from a young age. He faked being weak to avoid getting crushed by his brothers!"

"...!"

Before Araceli could say anything, Sir Elfalox had already turned his gaze back on the training grounds.

"Anyways, since you have no business here anymore, leave. Even if you are my savior, I can only tolerate you so much"
...

As Araceli was walking through the hallways of the mansion. trying to pick her next target, she suddenly heard the head maid call out to her.

"Araceli! What are you doing here?"

"...?"

Seeing her confused face, the head maid sighed. "Lady Cordelia's calling for you! Didn't you know?"

"Lady Cordelia...?"

"Yes, young master Apel's mother, the best fire mage in Kerudark, she goes by many titles. But that's not important! Now get going already!"

Hearing the head maid's shout, Araceli hurriedly rushed toward lady Cordelia's room.

Now standing in front of a fancy-looking wooden door, Araceli light knocked on it and spoke in a polite manner. "Lady Cordelia, Araceli - young master Apel's personal attendant is here!"

"Enter."

Upon hearing the voice coming from beyond the door, Araceli pushed the door open and walked inside.

CLANK—!

As soon as Araceli entered the room, lady Cordelia ordered her. "Take a seat"

Nodding politely, Araceli walked toward the seat and slowly sat down.

What ensued was a few seconds of silence, followed by lady Cordelia carefully scrutinizing every details of Araceli's body.

Not wanting to make this awkward for herself than it already was, Araceli's eyes drifted around the room to distract herself from lady Cordelia's judging gaze.

She could see a bookshelf full of books and scrolls on Fire magic, a portrait with lady Cordelia herself, young master Apel, and an unidentified girl drawn on it, and—

'...A charred wall?'

—A spot on the wall that was charred black.

Lady Cordelia noticed Araceli's gaze resting on the charred spot on the wall. Smiling at this, she spoke in a voice that contained a little bit of pride. "You're interested in why I kept such an unsightly thing intact instead of just repainting over it?"

Araceli answered the question, flustered. "N- No, my lady!"

At Araceli's pathetic attempt at lying, lady Cordelia chuckled. "Come on, be truthful. It's the least a servant can do in front of her master, isn't it?"

Hearing this, Araceli could only bite her lower lip and hung her head down low in shame. "Yes... I'm interested"

Chuckling, lady Cordelia continued.

"Well, I'll tell you. I used to have a daughter", she said as she briefly glanced at the girl in the portrait.

'And let me guess, she died?'

Due to two stories that she had heard today, Araceli had a feeling that death was somehow involved with this story too. And she was proven right soon after.

"She was bright and cheerful. But suddenly, she killed herself a few months back"

Araceli was startled, and her face stiffened in slight fear. 

It wasn't due to the fact that the girl killed herself, of course. But because no sane mothers would talk about their child's death with such a happy smile like the one lady Cordelia had on her face.

Unware that Araceli was seeing her as an absolutely disgusting person right now, lady Cordelia continued. "I fell into despair due to her death. So much so that I didn't notice an assassin creeping into my room"

"...And how did you survive, my lady?"

"Of course, it was all thanks to my favorite child, Apel!", lady Cordelia puffed her chest in pride.

She then continued. "Apel entered my room when the assassin was hiding in the shadow of the wall right there"

Araceli's gaze followed the direction of lady Cordelia's finger to the charred spot on the wall.

"As soon as Apel consoled me, I suddenly felt... happier somehow. And almost immediately after, he casted a [Fireball] and shot it toward the assassin, killing him instantly"

"..."

"So how is it? Isn't my boy just the best?"

"Y- Yes, he is", Araceli stuttered as she became absolutely startled by the information she had just obtained.

"So that's why you have to prove yourself worthy before you can marry him"

"...?"

Before Araceli could voice out her confusion, lady Cordelia spoke up again with a yawn.

"Now now, it's almost time for me to sleep. Get out of my room"

Heeding to her words, Araceli stood up, gave her a bow, and quickly left the room with eyes that were even colder than before.
...

Now sitting on the bed in her room, Araceli closed her eyes in concentration as she sorted the information she obtained in her head.

Before long, she opened her eyes again as she came to the conclusion that—

"So he's really a Void fiend..."

After all, no one could ever get over their dear child's death with just a few words. No frail-looking men who wasn't even <F> ranked could win against knights in a battle of strength. And clearly, no one who had no affinity with Fire could cast [Fireball] by themselves.

How did she know this? Well, due to her being a Phoenix, she could vaguely tell if a person had Fire affinity or not. And Apel surely wasn't one who had an affinity for Fire.

And... no matter how much people, even Sera and Ronald, consoled her, she still hadn't completely gotten over her father's death yet, evident by the fact that she was still seeking for revenge.

As such, with the device now firmly held in her hand, Araceli messaged Aryl on the phone that she gave her without any hesitation.

===

[Me]: Aryl! I got the evidences.

===

Not even a second later, Aryl replied.

===

[stingy master]: Comign

===

Putting her phone back inside her backpack, Araceli stared at the window in her room as she waited for Aryl to show up.

And, just 5 minutes later, she could see Aryl tapping on her window.

Araceli slowly walked toward her window and opened it, letting Aryl in.

"Araceli, give me the evidence", Aryl said as soon as she was let in.

Nodding, Araceli gave the device to Aryl, who received it with a... mocking grin.

'...?'

Araceli was confused by Aryl's expression, but she quickly shook such thoughts away.

'She often has mood swings anyways'

However, she still couldn't help but to feel a sense of unease.

Unaware of Araceli's thought, Aryl jumped out of the window while waving at Araceli. "Thanks"

"..."

Araceli stared at the window in silence, still trying to figure out what had caused such unease inside her mind. And, not even 10 minutes later, she got her answer.

"Aryl?" Araceli raised an eyebrow in confusion at the gray-haired figure right outside her window. "Didn't you just leave?"

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