As I was wondering what was going on, someone climbed down from the carriage.
A maid? It was a maid. She wore the familiar black-and-white maid outfit without a single wrinkle.
Silver hair flowing sleekly down past her hips. Calm green eyes. Brown skin, with pointed ears.
An elf? A dark elf at that!? Ah, no—in this world, an elf was just an elf.
A dignified, silent bearing. A cool-type brown-skinned beauty—an elf maid. Her aura was on another level.
She looked at me. For some reason, in that instant, I felt like she reminded me of someone.
Ah, it was Rel. Maybe because she had silver hair and was an elf.
She looked at me. And smiled.
"Ah, yes. You must be Wof?"
"Um, Wof. That's me."
She was talking to me. Did she know who I was?
"Then please get in."
"Wait, wait, um, why?"
Hold on, what was going on here?
The maid cleared her throat.
"Ahem. Ah, yes. I haven't explained yet. I am Dova, a servant of Marquis Tassan's household. I came here on the orders of the acting lord's deputy—Do...—to escort you, Wof."
"Tassan...!?"
I shuddered. No... could it be? Had they found out about Juicy?
Had they figured it out already...!?
Oh, yeah. Is something wrong?
No... Understood. I'll get in.
I steeled myself and climbed aboard.
The interior was roomier than I'd expected. Black leather benches faced each other from opposite sides.
Seating for four. Six if you squeezed. I sat down gingerly.
Across from me, the maid took her seat. The door closed and the carriage lurched into motion.
"So, where are we headed?"
"The central noble district. Ah, yes. It's the Borée viscount's villa. Viscount Tassan doesn't have a villa in Hydrangea, so he's been graciously allowed to borrow one from Count Borée, who heads the Tassan faction."
"I-I see."
The central noble district. A special ward packed with nothing but mansions.
There was no way someone like me had any connection to that kind of place. This would be my first time going there.
Who would've thought I'd end up there of all places.
"..."
"..."
The carriage was fast. The scenery drifted past the window.
It felt just like watching the world go by from a car.
"..."
"..."
The carriage. A black lacquered luxury model, sure enough.
The cushions on the black leather benches even had springs inside.
I remembered. The shared carriage I'd transferred to on my way to Hydrangea had been the worst.
The seat was nothing but a wooden board with no cushion at all. Even layering cloth on it and sitting on top didn't help.
I thought my backside was going to die. Compared to that, the seats in this carriage were absolute paradise.
"..."
"..."
Still, what was this? This atmosphere. This tension.
Then the cool, tanned beauty of an elf maid sitting across from us suddenly spoke.
"...Dova is twenty-six years old."
"Huh?"
"Oh, yeah. What do you think of a twenty-six-year-old woman?"
"What do I think..."
"Dova is past the age people normally get married."
"Is... is that so?"
"As the opposite sex, what do you think of Dova at twenty-six?"
"Isn't that a bit much to ask a thirteen-year-old?"
I was flustered.
What was this tanned beauty of an elf maid suddenly going on about?
The whole cool demeanor had vanished in an instant. Almost a shame.
"It's not like I'm in a hurry or anything like that."
"Then isn't that fine the way it is?"
"Just... I'm worried whether Dova will still be able to get married as things are now."
She's worried. That sounds like she's in a hurry.
"So, um, do you want to get married?"
"Yeah, uh-huh. Ideally, I'd like to have a lover."
"You don't have one?"
"Yeah, uh-huh. I don't, right?"
"...Even though you're beautiful?"
"Being beautiful is what makes me popular. That's not it."
"Yeah, uh-huh."
I accepted that. The women around me were all beautiful, but sure enough, none had lovers.
But why is that? Are delvers not attractive? Is it because of the job?
Speaking of marriage, even witches didn't... well, that's to be expected.
The very concept of romance didn't seem to exist here. If they learned about love for the first time, they'd probably cry.
Oh. The tanned, beautiful elf maid, Zannen, gave me a sharp look.
"Wof. Why did you just accept that so readily?"
"I just realized that the women I know are all beautiful, but come to think of it, not only are they not married, they don't even have lovers."
"Yeah, uh-huh... Is that so?"
"...Yes."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Well, to begin with,"
"Y-yes."
This conversation was still going on. What even was this conversation about, to begin with?
And we still hadn't arrived. I didn't know the Central Noble District, since I'd never had any reason to go there.
"To begin with, there are no encounters for Dova."
"But what about butlers and male servants and such?"
"Ah, well. The Tassan family is matrilineal, so most of the servants are women."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Besides, Dova is normally the assistant to the lord's deputy. Right now, she's serving as the acting lord's deputy. Ah, well. She does attend all the faction parties together with the lord's deputy, who is also unmarried. The Tassan Marquis household is the head of the Tassan faction, after all."
"And that's where you'd meet someone?"
"But the parties are 'work.' They're not a place for encounters. Besides, given Dova's position, no man would dare approach her. Of course, even if someone did approach her, if they weren't suitable for Dova, she would politely decline."
"..."
She was normally the assistant to the lord's deputy, and now she was the acting lord's deputy? Hmm, that was odd.
The one who had summoned me was the acting lord's deputy, right?
This devastatingly gorgeous dark-skinned beauty of an elf maid... was she really a maid?
Was she pretending to be a maid? But why?
I had a nagging feeling it was some lame surprise-type reason.
I was starting to get a sense of what the Tassan Marquis household was like.
I suddenly noticed that Rel bore a striking resemblance to the hopeless sister she'd told me about.
No way, though.
Being nobles, having multiple wives and tons of kids probably wasn't all that unusual.
I didn't really know much about nobles in this world, though.
Nobles generally gave off a strong impression of having lots of children and fighting over inheritance.
And then we arrived at the manor. Oh, a three-story pure-white mansion.
This was Count Boré's vacation home? And this was just the vacation home? Nobles were something else.
We went inside and were escorted to a second-floor room. We were told to wait here.
Come to think of it, Juicy was in this manor too, wasn't she?
What was she up to right now?
"......"
While waiting, I got bored, so I decided to check on the knives I'd bought.
There happened to be a round, single-legged table that looked expensive, so I helped myself.
I had three knives in total.
First up was the simple one... Huh? The first one was? ...Wait, where is it?
Why isn't it here? Ah— ah— !? I remember now.
In that back alley... when I got electrocuted, I dropped it and never pick— never picked it up.
I'd completely forgotten about it during that fight.
Sparks had flown, but the blade hadn't broken. In other words, it was still usable!
"………………"
I'll go back and look for it. Definitely.
Second knife. A weird blade, single-edged, curving upward.
The handle was wrapped in leather and sturdy.
The blade was thick, curving upward, and when I looked closely, it was triangular.
The grip was soft, slightly heavy. The sword guard was unusual — square.
"What a weird knife."
Not suited for everyday use. It was built for combat.
Now, the third and final one. No sword guard, a long handle extending straight out.
The handle was longer than the blade. And it was black. What material was it? The surface was smooth.
When I drew it from the blue scabbard, the blade was jagged.
A bizarre blade, like tiny triangles linked together. I had an inkling.
"Isn't this an OOPArt?"
Even so, I felt nothing. It seemed there was no Relic in me that could adapt to it.
If there had been a Relic that could adapt to an OOPArt, that is.
The saying goes you can tell the moment you see an OOPArt. Or touch it.
But I felt nothing. In that case, this knife was just a knife to me.
This one was for combat too.
"Yeah. None of them feel bad."
Fifty thousand was by no means cheap, but there was a guarantee of performance to match. I was satisfied.
Satisfied, but ugh, I'm definitely stopping by to look on the way back.
I stashed a knife in the battle belt I'd bought for exactly this kind of occasion.
It could hold up to ten knives, but did I really have that many?
Right after I finished stashing them, someone knocked on the door. When I answered, it opened.
"Um, excuse me. Customer... Wof!?"
"Juicy!?"
Standing in the doorway, stunned, was a beautiful black-haired werewolf girl in a maid outfit.
I was stunned too. Juicy!?
No way—well, no, it wasn't that strange for her to be here, since I'd been summoned to the Tassan Marquis's estate.
But the maid outfit was surprising. And her whole vibe was somehow different.
Even as she gaped, she spoke up.
"Um, what is Wof doing here...?"
"When I got back, there was a carriage waiting. The acting deputy lord of the Tassan Marquis wanted to see me, so I rode a carriage here."
"W-Wait! I didn't say anything about yesterday! Mineha helped me out and I snuck into the room without anyone noticing. Nobody found out! They shouldn't have found out!"
That surprised me too. Knowing her, she might have accidentally blabbed to her family.
I'd been thinking that, but—wait, that wasn't what she was here about? Then what did she want with me?
That was a question, but I had another question for Juicy first.
"Why are you dressed as a maid?"
Juicy, in a maid outfit.
What she was wearing was nearly identical to the outfit on Zannen, the tanned beautiful elf maid from earlier.
A dignified-looking maid outfit in black and white. She was even wearing a headband properly.
A splendid beautiful-girl maid — you could show her off anywhere without a shred of embarrassment.
"Um, um, this was a condition for me accompanying you to Hydrangea. I'm to become a maid and serve the two of you. That's what I promised Big Sister Dva and Sheshu!"
"Sheshu?"
It was a cute name, but hard to say. I'd probably end up calling her Sheshe or Shushu.
"Um, yes. She's my older sister, and she's very adorable!"
Huh, a soft and fluffy type? Never met one like that before.
"...Dva — you wouldn't happen to mean Zannen, the twenty-six-year-old tanned elf beauty?"
"Woof, yes, that's her! Um, um, Wof — how do you know Big Sister Dva? And you even got her age exactly right!"
"Could it be you're the acting lord's acting deputy?"
"Woof, that's exactly right!?"
Juicy's chestnut eyes sparkled as she wagged her tail back and forth.
An attitude of pure admiration.
Ah, that look. It was the same way the dog back home used to look at Grandpa — at least, in my past life's memories.
Also, that acting lord's acting deputy.
For some reason, she'd been in a maid outfit, and just a moment ago in the carriage she'd been talking about marriage for some reason.
And it was practically a complaint — but really, why was she in a maid outfit?
"You came to get me, right?"
"Woof? Oh, that's right! Um, excuse me. I'll show you the way right away!"
Juicy opened the door and led me to the room at the corner.
At that time, she wasn't wagging her tail — just a composed expression, the very picture of a capable beautiful maid.
I knock on the door.
"Ah, yeah. Come on in."
"Huh?"
The voice I'd just heard moments ago came out in a deep, threatening female tone.
I start to feel uneasy.
"Um, excuse me. I've brought Wof here."
Juicy opens the door.
Inside were two beautiful women.
One was the disappointing tanned beautiful elf, 26 years old, who had changed from her maid outfit into a white suit.
For some reason, on her left eye—
A monocle.
She was wearing one.
She was sitting at an executive desk that practically oozed luxury.
"Dova" was apparently her name. She refers to herself as "one" — first time since Riv.
The other was... a wild beauty.
Short, wild blonde hair with striking red highlights. Black horns. It was Fawn.
Fawn... huh. Blue eyes with a gaze as sharp as a thug's.
Petite features, three piercings in each ear — right and left.
A red-black shirt that only served to accentuate her overflowing curves.
She wore jeans-like pants with her left leg bared, a chain wound around her waist.
She sprawled across the sofa in an utterly graceless heap.
Two swords lay beside her. A longsword and a sabre? What an odd pairing.
She glanced at me, then sat up. Her chest bounced. Large breasts.
A bit smaller than the witch's, maybe. Still large, though.
I snuck a glance at Dva's chest. Yep. Still large by comparison.
"Well then, I'll take my leave."
"Oh, yeah. Juicy. Good work."
Juicy gave a slight bow and left the room.
It felt like I was looking at a different dog entirely.
"Hwaaaaaah..."
"Sheshu. You're embarrassing yourself in front of the guest."
"Huh?!"
I couldn't help but cry out. After her huge yawn, she glared right at me.
"What? What do you want, kid?"
"...Sheshu?"
"Yeah? You got a problem with me?"
"No, it's not that I have complaints—"
So this is—
Sh—
e
i
s
h
u
-chan
? Cute?
"Sheishu. Be quiet."
"Tch..."
She slammed her heel against the table, clearly irritated.
Wow... she's exactly like those cocky punks you occasionally see in the slums. Where's the "cute" supposed to come from?
"Ah, right. My apologies — allow me to introduce us. I am Dova. Dova Tassan. I've come to Hydrangea as the lord's acting deputy. And this one who looks like she belongs in the slums — she's my younger sister and bodyguard, Sheishu Tassan."
Sheishu Tassan. This is supposed to be a marquis's daughter? A noble? Really? Her?
And where's the "adorable" supposed to be... here? Sheishu scoffed.
"Hmph... I'm Sheishu."
"H-Hi. My name is Wof. I live here in Hydrangea."
"A pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, kid."
"Likewise. So, what business do you have with me?"
"The ring. You gave it to Gauro, didn't you?"
"Oh, that? So that was it?"
He did give it to him, didn't he. The bronze-colored ring.
He'd thought it had been exchanged for cash ages ago.