Chapter 57: The Unsettling Situation Has Arrived...!

The Unsettling Situation Has Arrived…!

* * *

One week has passed since I was hired by the Salar Baronial Household.

During that time, there were no assassins targeting Sara and the others.

Peace, peace, peace was at peace.

As always, the Maid-senpai’s cleaning was excellent, Sara’s magic water balls didn’t fly, and the gruff-looking elderly butler kept making snide remarks.

That’s right! That butler! The sinister butler!

Anyway, he really dislikes me and blatantly harasses me.

The other day, when I was late because I was eating a snack in the forest, he kept making endless snide remarks to me afterward.

Well, that’s fine.

It was my fault for being late in the first place.

I’ve reflected on that, and since then, I’ve made sure to finish my training and snacking before the sun rises.

But still…

“You shabby, filthy cursed child.”

“Don’t show your ferocious appearance.”

“The mere fact that you breathe the same air as the madam is unforgivable.”

“You’re not fit to work in this household. Beast, go back to the mountains at once.”

That’s how it is, every time we meet, he demeans me in a low voice and tries to drive me out of the mansion.

And he does it in a way that the other household members can’t hear.

It’s like a grade-schooler’s bullying!

Well, I’ve been raised being demeaned by people both in my previous life and this life, so it’s not a big deal.

I’ll just ignore it, ignore it.

But you know, that sinister butler, during dinner the other day, he put bugs or something as a topping in my soup, didn’t he?

Well, I didn’t actually see him put the bugs in the soup, so it’s just a “probably” level assumption.

It’s just that, for some reason, the butler, who is supposed to be a butler, personally brought me the soup and served it to me, a mere maid apprentice, so I think he probably put them in.

They were quite crunchy and pretty tasty.

Honestly, with my body craving a massive amount of food these days, even a small quantity like that is really appreciated as a service.

I’ve been secretly eating any bugs I find even while on duty, so yeah.

Maybe that old man noticed that and secretly tried to increase my food intake?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Is he a tsundere or something?

My evaluation of the old man went up a little because of that, but then the snide remarks started right after, so it went back down again.

It’s a net zero.

I wonder what he wants?

But anyway, that’s how it went.

No particular incidents occurred, and time just passed by.

…Until today, that is.

* * *

“Emiiiiii! We’re going to practice magic again today, so come to the entrance!”

Called by Sara’s booming voice as usual, I paused my weeding and headed for the entrance.

After cleaning and laundry, it’s weeding for me. This is my daily routine.

Anyway, the weeds in this fantasy other world are incredibly tenacious, and no matter how thoroughly I pull them out, they’ll grow back to their original state in just three days, so it’s a lot of work.

By the way, I eat all the weeds I pull.

“Today, for sure, I’ll easily succeed at 【Water Bullet】 and blow away the target in one shot, just like Emi!”

As always, Sara is energetic and enthusiastic today.

This past week, she hasn’t succeeded with magic even once, but her persevering attitude is admirable.

But, as I keep saying, there’s no need to blow away the target, is there?

After all, it’s a self-defense magic, right?

Look, even the madam’s face is grimacing.

“Hey, hey, Emi! After we’re done with magic practice today, I want to play together! Teach me more about flowers and stuff!”

Ah, she’s already thinking about playing after practice…

I wonder if there’s anything I can do to help…

Oh, by the way, for the past few days, after magic practice, Sara has been rewarded with playtime with me.

I’m not sure why playing with me counts as a reward, though.

When she says “play,” I don’t really know what to do since I’ve never had friends before.

So we just sit in the shade of a tree near the entrance where adults can keep an eye on us, and chat (mostly with Sara doing all the talking), and that’s how we spend our time.

Is that how little girls play? Is that right?

And sometimes when she asks me something, I tell her about flowers… well, plants in general.

I have the great Extra-sama’s knowledge, so I pass that on to her.

This one is edible, that one is inedible, this is delicious, that’s not, this one is poisonous, that one is poisonous but (I) can eat it now, and so on…

When I tried to actually eat some nearby weeds with her, the Maid-senpai desperately stopped us, though.

Once I run out of plant topics, I’ll tell her about animals or something next.

Slowly, slowly.

As I walk behind Sara and the madam towards the magic practice grounds behind the mansion, the warm sunlight and occasional cool breeze feel pleasant.

A leisurely late summer afternoon passes by.

But what ruined that peaceful moment… was a single board.

“…?!”

What I detected was a tiny sense of discord.

A direct sense of malice that I normally don’t feel inside the mansion.

Different from the vulgarity of bandits, the roughness of monsters, and the beautiful, honed intent of my master, it was a vague, drifting murderous intent.

I noticed the faint trace of magic power imbued with that intent, something I could only sense because I had experienced my master’s 【Intimidation】, and looked up.

A large roofing board was falling towards Sara.

“…Rya?!”

I can still handle this!

I immediately kicked off the ground, leaped up, caught the falling roofing board, and flung it in an unoccupied direction!

With a veeeen sound, the board stuck into the ground.

“…?!”

“Eh, what was that?!”

Alerted by the sound, the madam and Sara realized what was happening.

“…A board fell.”

“Oh my… This mansion has been around for quite some time. We may need repairs soon.”

The madam said that while glancing at me briefly.

I shook my head slightly sideways.

The madam’s expression became distorted.

This was definitely not just an accident.

That’s what I was telling her.

The sharp-witted madam immediately realized it.

“…We need to make a repair plan right away, with that person and Sneigen. Sara, no magic practice today.”

“Ehh?! That can wait! I want to play outsi… cough practice magic!”

“I’m sorry, Sara. …Come, let’s go back inside the mansion.”

“No way! No way!!”

While dragging the protesting Sara, the madam headed for the mansion’s entrance.

I followed them.

I remained vigilant in all directions in case of a follow-up attack, but… there were no further attacks on Sara and the others.

* * *

“Since you’re here, Emi, you should take a look at this too. This is a barrier stone… a magical tool that generates a barrier to keep outsiders out of the mansion. It’s a top-grade item with a ‘Great Magic’ inscription and self-repair function.”

That evening, I was summoned to the Baron’s study as a person involved in the incident.

What the Baron showed me was a crystal ball placed on a pedestal with strange patterns engraved on it.

“If someone forcibly breaks through the barrier and intrudes into the mansion, an alarm will sound, and a paper recording the time of the intrusion will come out of the hole in this pedestal. This time, that didn’t happen.”

The Baron polished the crystal ball with a furrowed brow.

“Well, the barrier doesn’t extend all the way up to the roof. So it’s not strange if someone was lurking on the roof…”

He sighed and seemed deep in thought, toying with his thin mustache.

A moment of silence passed.

The magical lamp illuminating the room from the ceiling cast deep shadows on the Baron’s face, making his expression unreadable.

“…Alright, I get it! Oh my, calling you out so late, I’m sorry about that, Emi! You can go back to your room now.”

After a while, the Baron looked up and smiled, but it was a forced smile. Even I could tell.

As I left the study and headed back to my room, I pondered this and that.

Extra-sama began speaking.

Yeah… that’s true, Extra-sama…

If an assassin or someone like that wanted to attack Sara and the others, I think there would be more convenient weapons available, like throwing knives or something.

A roofing board is something that might not even hit its target when thrown, so why choose that as a weapon?

Hmm… yeah, that’s true.

To be honest, if I hadn’t been there, if I hadn’t insisted on sensing murderous intent, this incident would have likely been written off as just an accident.

But still…

That’s right! When you think about it normally, that’s true!

The previous assassins who attacked Sara and the others were bandits.

There was an open, undisguised malice there.

Since it’s already clear that Sara and the others are being targeted, there doesn’t seem to be any need to try to cover up this incident as an accident.

And yet, in this incident, the culprit tried to conceal the truth.

It just seems kind of inconsistent, doesn’t it?

Such as?

Hmm, is that even possible?

After spending a week together with everyone in the Baron’s household, they seem like incredibly kind people.

They’re not the kind of people who would incur resentment and malice from others.

And yet, to have their lives threatened by completely unrelated multiple culprits, that’s just too unlikely, isn’t it?

Ah, that does seem more plausible.

…So they wouldn’t arouse suspicion towards themselves?

Eh? Who would want to be seen as the culprit?

I see…

Remain in the… mansion…?

Hey, hey, wait a minute, Extra-sama!

Does that mean…?!

………………………

Outside, the cloudy sky didn’t show a single star.

A sudden wind began to blow, rattling the mansion’s windows as it hit the walls.

The pitter-patter of raindrops started to hit the roof as well.

Um, well… You see… This is…

The unsettling situation has arrived…!