Episode 68
"Young master, where did you go?"
Having spent the night on a date with Serena, some fatigue was settling in. But as much as I was tired, my stress had been relieved and my mind felt clear.
Thanks to that, I opened my mouth with a genuinely relaxed smile for the first time in a while.
"Morning walk."
"I see, then..."
Cania nodded at my words and was about to usher me inside when she suddenly stopped. I tilted my head wondering what was wrong, when she began approaching me with a stiff expression.
"Did you really go for a morning walk?"
"Yeah, I heard morning walks are good for the body. I need to start taking care of my health too."
For some reason, cold sweat started forming when I saw her like that. So I found myself spouting nonsense, and Cania began reaching her hand toward me.
"I see. But did you roll around during your walk?"
I had a puzzled expression, but Cania started brushing off my back while saying that.
"Uh... I just tripped, you know?"
Only then did I realize that I hadn't completely brushed off all the grass and dust that had gotten on my clothes from rolling around with Serena. Thanks to that, I made excuses with an awkward expression, and Cania held something out to me.
"I see. But what is this?"
What she held out was Serena's light purple hair.
"And what is this?"
"That's a handkerchief my sister gave me..."
"Then why is the moon's mana engraved on it?"
"I'm sorry."
At Cania's continued interrogation, I eventually bowed my head and began apologizing. Of course, I hadn't done anything wrong, but somehow I felt like I should.
"...The silver cat drawn on the handkerchief looks lonely."
"Hm?"
I was wondering how to soothe Cania's anger when she started muttering while staring blankly at the handkerchief.
I tilted my head wondering what she was talking about, when Cania began infusing black magic power into the handkerchief.
"Please accept this, young master."
"...What is this?"
After a moment, on the handkerchief she held out, a black cat was drawn next to the originally existing silver cat.
"I made a pair for the cat."
Cania, who finally had a satisfied expression, entered the duke's mansion leaving those words behind.
"It's a one-of-a-kind handkerchief in the world."
The silver cat drawn with Aria's star mana, the black cat drawn with Cania's black magic power, and the moon drawn with Serena's moon mana.
Looking down at the handkerchief emanating different energies, a chuckle escaped me.
"Ah, hello."
As I carefully folded the handkerchief and put it in my pocket before entering the duke's mansion, a timid voice was heard. I turned my head wondering who it was, and a student wearing a maid uniform was bowing her head.
"What are you doing here?"
"W-well, Lord Frey told me to be your dedicated maid yesterday..."
"Ah, right."
When I wondered who it was, it was Lulu, whom I had assigned as my dedicated maid yesterday.
"U-um, what should I do now?"
She was fidgeting with her fingers and asked timidly, lowering her head as if my gaze burdened her. I looked at her for a moment before speaking while walking.
"From now on, you'll follow behind me and do everything I tell you to do."
"Y-yes! I'll work hard!"
At that, she, who had been making a foolish expression beside me, squeezed her eyes shut and shouted like that before starting to follow behind me.
Glancing at her, I began recalling memories from the previous playthrough.
'Right, she was Lulu...'
According to the Prophecy, 'Blacktail Fantasy Series,' a game with extremely high freedom, has various sub-heroines besides the main heroines.
And among them, Lulu, who was currently following behind me, was a quite unique heroine.
That's because she was a heroine who was almost impossible to conquer in 'Blacktail Fantasy 2.'
Of course, such a fact wasn't particularly important to me, who was walking the path of the evil one to save the world.
However, if one knew the reason why she was almost impossible to conquer, anyone would inevitably feel uneasy.
'...Can I really save her?'
She commits suicide in almost every route. And the reason isn't even mentioned in the Prophecy.
- Anyway, since there's an achievement for it, there must be a way to save her. Unlike Serena's 'Curse of Subjugation' which only exists as dummy data with a rescue code in the program, this means she can somehow be saved through gameplay. But, not a single person succeeded in saving her, that triggerfish-like girl.
Many heroes from the world where my ancestor existed threw 'challenge letters' to save such a Lulu, but reportedly no one succeeded.
- ...She was the only heroine I couldn't conquer. No matter how high the freedom of the game was, there was a wall that couldn't be overcome due to the limited game system. But, but you know... if it's this world which is clearly reality and not a game, wouldn't it be possible to save her?
However, as my ancestor said, there's a possibility for current me.
- Of course, in an already difficult situation, there's no need to take care of her too. And I keep saying this, but you don't have to follow everything I say exactly as is. The one suffering right now in that time period is not me, but none other than you.
And what I want is to give a 'happy ending' to all people in the world. Wouldn't it be too unfair for only that child not to see such a happy ending and die?
- So, decide for yourself whether to save her or not by judging the situation at that time.
'Since things are already messed up... I might as well make it a bit more chaotic.'
The Starlight family is a star that illuminates those who haven't received light.
Therefore, I will somehow try to save that child.
- Crash!!
"...Eek!"
The moment I thought that, a loud noise suddenly came from behind. Startled, I turned around with a surprised expression to see a expensive flower vase broken.
"H-how much is it?"
"150 gold."
"......Ah."
When I absentmindedly told Lulu the price of the flower vase, her eyes died.
It seems I inadvertently provided one motive.
.
Entering the kitchen with Lulu in tow, I found Cania and Irina busily cooking.
"Cania? Irina? What are you doing here?"
"We're preparing breakfast."
When I asked with a tilted head, Cania answered as if it were obvious. Hearing that, I made a flustered expression and was about to urgently speak when I looked at Lulu who had dead eyes until now and said.
"Go outside and wait."
"Yes."
"Don't go anywhere. Stay right next to the door."
"Understood."
After sending Lulu out of the kitchen like that, I looked at Cania and Irina and spoke.
"You're planning to do all that food preparation by yourselves?"
"It's fine, we only need to make simple things for breakfast."
"Still... hmm..."
Even Irina stepped forward to say it was okay, but I still felt uneasy. Eventually, after pondering for a while, I rolled up my sleeves and started doing hand exercises.
"Young master? What are you doing now?"
"I'm going to help out."
As I started putting on an apron after finishing my hand exercises, Cania and Irina began staring blankly at me.
"You... do you know how to cook?"
When I picked up a kitchen knife and examined it this way and that, Irina asked with an anxious expression while looking at me.
"Hmm... cooking is cutting ingredients with a knife, mixing them, then adding sauce, right? I'm confident in knife work, so I should be pretty good at cooking..."
"Young master, that's not that simple."
Though I spoke with a confident expression to them, Cania approached me with a firm expression.
- Chop chop chop chop chop!
"Isn't this how you do it? You've been cutting carrots at regular intervals for a while."
But when I instantly cut 10 carrots nearby into bite-sized pieces, Cania's eyes changed as she was trying to stop me.
"...Can you do that with other ingredients too?"
"I can even cut adamantium or mithril."
Answering Cania's subsequent question, I started spinning the kitchen knife with an arrogant expression.
"It's all good but... what if you cut the cutting board too?"
"Ah."
But at that moment, Irina interrupted while shaking the tattered cutting board. Thanks to that, I was scratching my head awkwardly when Cania, who sighed, placed her hand over mine.
"First, I'll teach you how to control your strength."
"Y-yeah..."
Like that, Cania and I began cutting vegetables while staying close together for a while.
"...Young master, I have a question."
"Hm?"
I was wearing a pleasant smile as cutting vegetables to the rhythm seemed to create a knack for it, when Cania suddenly asked a question.
"When will the second trial come?"
"Ow!"
And at that moment, Irina who had been silently cutting meat beside me screamed.
"Irina? Are you okay? What happened?"
Blood was gushing from Irina's finger she was holding, so I urgently approached, and she was looking at me with a pale face.
"I-it's nothing... I just made a mistake."
Irina, who was quietly biting her lip while looking at my worried expression, soon answered while deliberately turning her gaze downward.
"Be careful, Irina. Make sure to put on a bandage later."
Though I was slightly concerned about her, the wound didn't look very deep, so after leaving those words and turning around, I started answering Cania's earlier question.
"Probably soon."
"...Could you share the exact symptoms and duration? We need to prepare too."
"No, you don't need to worry. The second trial is really nothing special..."
"There's no way it's nothing special."
I was speaking as if it was nothing special to reassure them as much as possible, but Irina quietly dropped her head after placing the knife on the cutting board and interrupted my words.
"Tell me what pain you'll suffer this time."
"No, really, it's nothing special? It'll probably disappear within a few months without any problem..."
"It takes a few months...?"
I tried making urgent excuses to Irina, but her face only became paler.
"Irina, I'm fine. So..."
- Knock knock knock!
Thanks to that, I reached out my hand to comfort her not knowing what to do, but I momentarily froze due to the sudden knocking sound.
"Who is it?"
Soon Cania asked in a calm voice, and then a quite unexpected voice came from outside the door.
"Cania...? What is going on here?"
Ariane's sister was asking with a flustered voice.
"...Why are you there?"
When Cania frowned at such a sudden situation, Ariane's sister began explaining the situation with a trembling voice.
"W-well... I'm in charge of the kitchen. I went on a short business trip to get ingredients. But when I came back, some students were wandering around the mansion..."
Hearing that, I realized what the situation was and let out a big sigh, and Cania who also sighed began explaining the situation.
"Yes, yees? Then... I am..."
"Please leave this house before the break starts. Pack your things and leave today..."
"P-please! Please let me stay!"
But as soon as the explanation ended, the sound of kneeling was heard and Ariane's sister's urgent voice began to be heard.
"I-if not here, I have nowhere to stay... and Ariane is here too, so please let me..."
"Nowhere to stay if not here?"
"W-we sisters actually lost our home... So I've been staying at the Starlight family, and Ariane has been staying in the dormitory... If I get kicked out here...!"
As her tragic story began to unfold, I held my head and fell into thought.
'It would certainly be convenient having Ariane's sister who cooks well... but this place is dangerous...'
"I'll do all the housework and all the cooking, just please don't kick me out! I'll sleep with Ariane...!"
"...What should we do? Young master?"
After thinking with my eyes closed for a while, I slowly opened my eyes at Cania's whisper and made a decision.
"...Allow her to stay here on the condition that she sleeps with Ariane at night and stays by Ariane's side as much as possible normally. Ariane's protection magic is top-tier, so if they stay together, there shouldn't be any problem."
"Understood. I'll convey that."
Cania who answered my words conveyed the decision to Ariane's sister behind the door, and soon her words repeating thanks while sobbing began to be heard from behind.
"...Then, I'll be going now. It'll be better to leave it to an expert anyway."
Having resolved the cooking issue like that, I started climbing up through the kitchen window.
"F-Frey! Wait..."
Irina urgently called out to me, but by then I had already climbed over the window.
"...What are you doing there?"
"Hic!"
I was looking up at the sky and sighing for a moment when I discovered Lulu crouched beside me and asked.
"S-sorr... sorry... hic."
"...Sigh."
For some reason, she was crying sorrowfully.
Normally I would have said harsh words or slander to build up evil points, but I became afraid that if I did, this triggerfish-like child might commit suicide. So, I just clicked my tongue for a moment and started heading to the yard.
"Hic... sob..."
"What?"
But she started following behind me while sobbing.
"I, dedicated. Dedicated maid... hic."
"Sigh..."
I made her my dedicated maid to observe what her problem is, but her problems seem far too numerous.
- Whisper whisper...
Even the commoners out in the yard started whispering while looking at me and Lulu. It seems they're mistakenly thinking I made her cry.
[Name: Lulu]
[Ability: Strength 1 / Magic ??? / Intelligence 5 / Mental Strength 1]
[Special Note: Depression / Love Deprivation / Brand of Misfortune]
[Disposition: Menhera]
[Goodness: 75]
'...This is crazy.'
I opened her information window while thinking, and fell into shock for a moment.
'...No wonder she's hard to conquer.'
She had the most serious information window I had seen so far.
Thanks to that, I was momentarily at a loss for what to do, when Lulu grabbed my arm with a pale face and started shouting.
"I, I'm sorry...! I'm really sorry! I'm really sor... mmph!"
"...I understand, so let go."
I pushed her away to separate her, but her eyes died again.
"...Understood."
When she answered with a voice that seemed to have lost all hope, I was startled and quickly changed my words.
"If you understand, go clean my room."
"...Yes?"
"I said go clean my room. That's basic for a dedicated maid, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes!"
At that, she urgently bowed her head and started running quickly toward my room.
"...What should I do."
I desperately wanted to use the mind-reading skill, but since I had already used it on Aria at dawn, I couldn't read her thoughts until today.
"Hey you lot, come here."
"Yes, yees?"
Having no choice, I called those guys who were whisperering far away and decided to ask them about Lulu.
"Tell me everything you know about that one who just ran off."
"Um, we don't know?"
But when I asked the question, the commoners looked at each other's expressions and started shaking their heads.
"...W-we really don't know anything!"
When I frowned at those words, they urgently started making excuses.
"In the first place, there's no one in our class who's friends with her. So it'll be the same no matter who you ask."
"...Is she an outcast?"
"Um... that's a bit complicated. She is an outcast, but a voluntary outcast."
"What?"
When I tilted my head at those words, someone's shout came from far away.
"F-Frey! What are you doing there! Again, innocent commoners...!"
"Ferloche, come here for a moment. You guys can go."
Since the person I most wanted to meet came on their own feet, I drove away the hesitating commoners and asked Ferloche.
"Do you know anything about Lulu?"
"W-what's your purpose in asking!"
Then Ferloche asked me back with a thoroughly guarded look. Well, I've hit the back of her head several times... no matter who she is, it was about time she became wary.
"I need to grasp all students as the commander. We don't have time, so just speak quickly."
"Ah, is... is that so?"
"If you won't tell me, should I just surrender to Klana? Speak quickly. I'm busy too."
"Hmm..."
So I made excuses with more effort than usual, and Ferloche who had been glaring at me for a while in thought slowly opened her mouth.
"Still, it won't do. You always only use me. If I tell you about Lulu, you'll certainly use that for bad..."
"She's an outcast, right? A saintess, leaving an outcast as she is?"
"T-that's not it!"
"If not that, then what?"
Noticing that her wariness had reached its peak, I changed my strategy, and Ferloche who finally took the bait soon sighed and started talking.
"Lulu doesn't approach others herself."
"What does that mean?"
"Even when kind-hearted commoners tried to befriend her... even when I tried to embrace her because I couldn't bear seeing her suffer... she just pushes everything away."
Hearing that, I frowned and fell into thought.
'She has love deprivation and such a disposition... yet she pushes others away?'
I was tilting my head at her behavior that contradicted the information in the information window, when Ferloche continued with an expression as if she suddenly remembered something.
"Ah, by the way... there's something she always says whenever she pushes us away."
"...What?"
"I will make everyone unhappy... so please don't approach me. She says that."
After finishing those words, Ferloche crossed her arms and started muttering.
"But... there's no curse or anything felt from her. I even used purification magic, but nothing changed..."
Hearing that, I could finally roughly grasp what the 'Brand of Misfortune' in the information was.
"Anyway! Don't you dare have any thoughts of messing with Lulu! I will somehow change her mind...!"
'It's not a curse but a [Brand]... interesting.'
It seems I'll need to take her around with me for a while and observe her.
.
Meanwhile at that time, the Starlight mansion's servant room.
"Good... I finished writing."
Aris, the commoner representative, put down her pen and started carefully folding the letter.
"The princess said she would come around this time..."
She headed to the window with careful footsteps and muttered in an anxious voice while looking around.
- Flap!
"Ah, she's here!"
She, who had been pacing by the window for a while, started forming a bright smile when the sound of wing flapping was heard from outside.
- Coo!
A white owl that looked familiar from somewhere was flying toward the window.