After the delightful party ended, I returned to the estate.
As expected, there was no place more comfortable than one’s own home.
When I entered my room and sat down in a chair, I felt that unique comfort only my own house could offer.
“Did you accomplish your objective?”
“…More or less?”
And with the cup of tea Cecil poured for me, my fatigue quickly melted away.
‘I should go to parties every now and then.’
Though traveling far was a hassle, meeting new people and playing games together was rather enjoyable.
And someday, if I got the chance, I should try hosting a party myself.
Even if it wasn’t as grand as Brother Lugner’s, if I made use of food or games from the world before my possession, it would be more than enough to entertain guests.
After all, a romance-fantasy world was…
The perfect place to unleash Korean culture.
If I did that, I could blow away some of this world’s boredom too.
Of course, it wasn’t something I’d do right away.
If my memory served me right, the flow of the original story should be starting around now.
The protagonist’s party must be going through hell, so it felt a little awkward for me to be lazing around and having fun by myself.
“By the way, is there any news from the North?”
“…The North, all of a sudden? Why there?”
“Oh, nothing~ I’m just a little interested.”
So I decided to just look into the news for now.
It wasn’t as if I particularly wanted to take care of them.
If I showed them kindness first for no reason, I might end up getting unexpectedly entangled and suffering for it….
I wanted to watch for the right timing, hand them just the amount of money they wanted, and neatly settle my connection with them.
After all, whether it was the Grand Duke of the North, the heroine who was the Hero, or Silberg, money was probably all they wanted.
“The North… Shall I look into it?”
“If possible, please do. Especially rumors related to the Grand Duke of the North, or the atmosphere over there.”
“If it’s something like that, I suppose I’m the right person for the job.”
“?”
For some reason, Cecil showed confidence at the mention of the North.
Was she from the North, perhaps?
I was only asking her to look into some news, but her reaction was somewhat different from what I’d expected.
But well, it was Cecil.
If only she didn’t have that strange habit of occasionally saying nonsense, she’d be the perfect maid…
Still, she was good at her work and a kind girl, so I could generously overlook this much.
“Hm~ Understood. Ah, then shall I have the vassals handle it? Or would it be better if I looked into it myself?”
“Why would we make the knights do something like this? Just look into it yourself, within reasonable limits.”
“Yes. Understood. Then I’ll have to be away for a few days.”
In any case, Cecil agreed to look into the news from the North.
She did ask for a few days, but I could understand.
The job of a maid might look easy, but strictly speaking, since it was her main occupation, there must be all sorts of things she had to take care of.
And since I had basically demanded extra work on top of that main job, she would need some time.
“Ah. Come to think of it, Cecil.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I’ll give you plenty of time, so go have some fun while you’re at it. All right?”
“…Have fun, you say?”
With that in mind, I tacked on some rest time for her.
She was always by my side without even a day off, and she had even gone to the party because of my sudden whim, so I meant for her to take this chance to rest a little.
Humans were creatures motivated by compensation.
Normally, the principle was to reward someone after the work was done, but that could create unnecessary pressure to perform well, so I preferred telling them in advance.
“How long?”
Even then, Cecil asked how much time she had been given.
If it were anyone else, they would have come up with all sorts of excuses to somehow play a little longer, but seeing as she was specifically asking me how long she was allowed to enjoy herself, there was no one as diligent as Cecil.
So I decided to loosen the reins a little this time.
“Set the line yourself. As long as you don’t go too far, it’s fine.”
“Understood. I’ll be moderate.”
And then Cecil left the room.
Watching her from behind, I felt proud.
I even praised myself inwardly, thinking that I was a pretty good noble.
However… I didn’t know back then.
“What? Where did Cecil go?”
“I heard she went to the North.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Wasn’t it on your orders, my lord?”
“Uh…?”
That Cecil would go directly to the North to investigate,
“Sonia. Have you heard anything from Cecil?”
“No. It’s quiet today as well.”
“Haa~ When on earth is she coming back?”
And that she wouldn’t return for more than a month.
…If I had known, I wouldn’t have sent her off like that.
By the way, Cecil? Didn’t you clearly tell me you’d be moderate?
Don’t tell me you deceived me? Hm?
She still had not returned.
***
My name is Cecilia Way.
I am the head maid of the Silberg family, as well as the head of the family’s bodyguard.
That was how I considered my own status, and wherever I went, that was usually how I introduced myself.
But the world judged me differently.
“Everyone, attention.”
“Yes, Commander!”
“Yes, Director!”
Those who called me by different titles.
They were all vassals of the Silberg family.
First, to the left was the 『Silberg Knight Order』.
Composed of exactly one hundred members, they were one of the reasons the Silberg family was called the strongest.
Not only was each individual’s martial prowess comparable to that of a knight commander in most kingdoms, they were also a group gathered solely from those who wished to leave their names in history, and as such, their loyalty was high.
To stand with Silberg.
There was nothing better for carving one’s name into history.
And
Standing to the right was the 『Silberg Intelligence Bureau』.
They were Silberg’s hands and feet.
As befitted the name Intelligence Bureau, they were an organization skilled at gathering information, but their true strength lay in perfectly carrying out the orders given by the Silberg clan.
Turning all sorts of impossible schemes into reality.
That was their reason for existence, and the sense of mission that kept them here.
And I was the head of those two organizations.
“Starting today, I will be away for a while. By the head of the family’s order, I am to go to the North, so while I am gone, serve our lord well. Understood?”
“Yes! Understood.”
The vassals immediately bowed their heads at my command.
But there was exactly one person who raised his hand.
It was the deputy director of the Silberg Intelligence Bureau, “Sicarian Lovestalker.”
“Sicarian? What is it?”
“My apologies. But I was wondering why you are going in person, Director. If you are moving personally… could it be war?”
Unlike the other subordinates who obeyed without complaint, he asked questions as someone who always lived with doubt.
But it did not displease me.
After all, the foundation of information gathering began with doubt.
“No. For now, the order our lord gave me was to gather news about the North, especially regarding the Grand Duke of the North.”
“Then why are you going personally, Director? For an order like that, it should be more than enough for us to—”
“He told me to go have fun.”
“Ah…!”
Since there was no time, I told him exactly as it was.
At the words that our lord had actually told me to “go have fun,” Sicarian lowered his hand as if he understood.
Naturally.
“Well, there is no one who knows as much about the Grand Duke of the North as you do, Director.”
“He said to go have fun, but in truth, he was pushing you to go personally.”
“Something like that.”
To begin with, my roots were in the North,
And above all, the fact that he had given the order “go have fun” to me, of all people, meant that I was allowed to get involved as much as the situation required.
And given the current structure of the organization,
No matter how talented and formidable the subordinates of the Knight Order and Intelligence Bureau were, in a mission like this, they would inevitably become a burden to me, making it difficult to bring them along.
“And just in case, I would like the Intelligence Bureau to investigate information from other regions related to the North in advance.”
“Yes. Understood.”
That was why I left the rear to them.
Just as they trusted my abilities, I trusted them as well.
After wrapping things up like that, I set out.
There was nothing in particular I needed to prepare.
Anything more would only become luggage.
I simply changed the maid outfit I usually enjoyed wearing into one suited for combat, slung a single backpack over my shoulder, and left the estate.
In any case, I was used to this sort of travel, and if I stepped on the wind, it would not take long to reach the North.
“Hoo~”
With a deep breath, I sprinted toward the north.
The wind brushed past me.
Blades of grass were lightly trodden beneath my feet.
Running without rest at a speed that blurred the surrounding scenery, it took a full three days to reach the northern border.
“Am I out of shape? I’m a little tired.”
Was it because I had grown too accustomed to life as a maid?
Even though I had loosened my body through training every day, I could feel stiffness in my limbs.
But it was not bad.
This, too, must have been our lord noticing the state of my body and letting me stretch it out.
During the party, it seemed like he had been observing my body closely, so perhaps he had sensed this change.
“Hm? What’s this? In a place like this… a maid?”
But then, I heard someone’s voice.
A group of people glaring at me with their spears raised.
Counting them, there were six.
They were so-called “drifters,” barbarians who wandered the northern highlands after being exiled from their tribes and lived off plunder.
“A woman alone in a remote place like this? Heh heh! Did your master abandon you?”
They looked me up and down with lecherous smiles.
Filthy, revolting gazes flew toward me.
“Hoo~ It’s been a while since I saw scum like this. How very northern.”
I quietly gathered mana in my hand.
Then, gathering the soul imprint dwelling within my body, I drew out my weapon.
“What…? A black ball?”
My beloved spear, Sephiroth.
My weapon, manifested in the form of a black sphere.
“A-a mage?”
The drifters mistook my occupation at the sight.
Well, I understood.
To someone who didn’t know, it would look like a ball floating in the air, so it would indeed seem like magic.
—Clang!
“She’s no ordinary woman!”
Perhaps judging it a threat, they drew their weapons.
But it didn’t matter.
“Huh?”
At the same moment as the question, six heads fell.
Blood flowed from the heads that dropped to the ground, staining the white snow.
“When… did the spear……..”
Without even realizing what had happened, their lives were taken.
And I swung my spear a few times, as though savoring the taste of killing I had felt for the first time in so long, before hiding it back within my mana.
“Hoo~ It is a little cold.”
The scent of snow and the sharp tang of blood mingled together, reaching me for the first time in a long while.
Yes.
This was the North.
***
There is a saying in the North.
『If you meet one with black hair, red eyes, and a black spear, bow your head.』
That phrase, which also appeared in the original novel, announced the appearance of the Grand Duke of the North while at the same time expressing who ruled that place.
Black hair, uncommon on the continent.
Red eyes, passed down genetically.
And even a spear, a weapon difficult for most experts to wield with ease.
As such, the combination of those three words was practically synonymous with the Grand Duke of the North.
But there was one fact people overlooked.
“You’ve arrived! Your Grace!”
“What era are you living in, calling me Your Grace? It’s already been ten years since I left after Father passed away, so don’t call me by such an embarrassing title. When you call me that, it makes me sound like Derek’s daughter.”
“Even so, once a princess, always a—!”
“Enough. Where is Derek? He must have already been told I arrived, but I don’t see him.”
The person who possessed those traits was not only the Grand Duke of the North.
Cecilia Way’s old name was Cecilia Eisen.
Way was the surname bestowed upon her by her lord, Silberg, when she ascended to the rank of Lance Master.
It was taken from the name of the first head of the Silberg family, so to Cecil, it was both an honor and a source of pride.
For that reason, ten years ago, on the day the previous Grand Duke of the North became a star,
At the funeral, she said this.
‘I will dedicate my entire life to Silberg. I will yield the position of Grand Duke of the North to Derek, and from now on, I will not use the Eisen name, so consider yourselves informed.’
It was a one-sided notification.
Dissatisfaction swelled.
From the faction that followed her, to the politicians who had tried to place her in the seat of Grand Duke.
All of them spoke as one to stop her.
Among them was her younger brother, Derek.
His reason was that compared to his older sister, a Lance Master, he was far too lacking to take that position.
But in the end, they could not stop Cecil.
‘What is some trifling seat of Grand Duke that you dare try to persuade a knight of the Silberg family?’
With overwhelming might and the name of Silberg behind her, no one dared stop Cecil.
With those words as her last, Cecil left the North.
Since then, she had occasionally visited the North whenever there was business, but she deliberately avoided approaching the grand ducal family.
It was out of concern that she might become a burden to her younger brother.
Even if she did visit, she would always contact them in advance.
Yet after so long, not only had she come to the North,
She had barged straight into the grand duke’s castle.
Cecil searched for her younger brother as soon as she arrived.
But Derek was not in the grand duke’s castle.
“Ah, His Grace is currently in the outer castle!”
“The outer castle? Why is he there?”
“He is looking around the outer castle together with the Hero.”
“The Hero? Hm…?”
Cecil took an interest in the unexpected word.
But soon, after the chatter of the maids flowed into her keen ears, she smiled as if amused.
“Hm~ The Hero is a woman, you say? Then it must be a date.”
Her eyes gleamed.
Her red eyes shone.