After the dragon's fall, all the adventurers gathered at the mansion, except Nova, of course. Sylphy noticed that the excitement everyone was experiencing before was gone. A gloomy depression drifted over the group.
'So that's the guy who Clint got the job from?' When Sylphy and the others arrived at the entrance of the mansion, she saw Victoria and another man in a suit standing in the driveway of the yard.
Even if his suit wasn't extravagant, they could tell from his straight posture and gait that he was a noble. Thus, it wasn't wrong to assume that he was their sponsor and the one who gave the job.
"Welcome back, everyone." They were greeted by Victoria's loving smile. Her smile was so destructive that a few people's depression washed away.
"This is lord Henry Fralk, he is the leader of the nobles who stayed behind to look after the city." She gestured to the plump man. All he did was nod.
"I take it the dragon has fallen by your hands?" To Victoria's question, the group went silent.
"Actually…." Clint, who was trailing behind the group for some reason, spoke. "We…didn't do a lot in the beginning…It was Nova who made it possible for us to kill the dragon."
Clint took something out of the bag at his side. It was a horn. Specifically, the dragon's horn.
The noble's eyes widened in disbelief. Looking at his expression, Sylphy could guess that he didn't expect a band of ruffians to kill a dragon. Well, after studying its body, they saw that it was actually injured before it attacked them.
There was also the fact that something chased it towards the city, other than the mysterious wound.
"Kukuku. Marvelous." The noble rubbed his hands together. "I will make sure it is delivered to the Empire as soon as possible."
"Yes." Clint, along with Sylphy, Lucia and Crull, bowed.
"Speaking of Nova, I do not see him anywhere. Isn't he that tall young man with silver hair?" Victoria thought out loud. The one to answer her was a timid voice.
"He…He's gone…" Lucri came out of the group carrying the sword that belonged to Nova. Due to extended use, the sword was chipped and cracked.
When Victoria heard him, her face turned bitter and a frown emerged on her face. The motherly aura that surrounded her before vanished and was replaced by a sinister one.
The entire group broke into a cold sweat. They didn't know why a simple maid could release such bloodlust.
'What the hell? My entire body is shivering.'
Sylphy's thought was halted as the sinister dead stare Victoria was giving them vanished. It was like it was never there to begin with.
Even the noble was looking at Victoria in horror. Said person smiled tenderly again as if she didn't release that killing intent from before.
"That is a shame. Now then, I will distribute the rewards for the quest." Victoria pointed to the wagons. "Please help yourselves to the food prepared by our staff while I gather the coins."
They could simply nod their heads.
◇
Victoria stood in the quiet office of the city lord's residence. She gazed at the empty chair with similar empty eyes. Her face was expressionless.
The ticking of the clock and the noise from outside were the only sounds she heard. After the dragon's demise, the adventurers threw a party on their own accord. Victoria didn't stop them since the party wasn't happening inside the mansion.
Had they messed up the hard work of the servants then an arm or two wouldn't suffice as punishment.
"There's no hiding this from Al, huh." Victoria ran her finger along the edge of the desk. She thought back to earlier that day.
She was welcoming the leader of the joint party, but she didn't expect that Arnold would be amongst them. In addition, he was disguising himself as some country bumpkin who wants to fight strong opponents to become the strongest swordsman in the world.
She remembered that he enjoyed playing make-believe when he was little. She thought that it was the same this time but ruled that out.
Perhaps there was another reason for being away from the duchy.
"It couldn't be because he wants to avoid meeting with Her Highness, right…?" As she said so, the image of a certain silver haired girl appeared in her mind.
The two were childhood friends yet their relationship had drifted so. They used to run around the mansion and play hide-and-seek with Victoria. On most days Olivia would cry if she couldn't see Arnold.
Yet, Arnold would always make sure he visited her in the most strangest of ways. There was that one time where he hijacked the carriage of a bandits group that was going away from the capital. In the process, he delivered the stolen goods to the knight order. Of course, said person didn't have anything in mind like saving the stolen goods.
All he wanted to do was see his beloved.
Victoria chuckled.
'They really were close when they were children…'
Olivia was always the one who followed Arnold everywhere they went. Now it was the complete opposite. She was a timid, shy girl who always kept to herself.
However, she had changed over the years. That change had caused her to grow apart from her childhood friends. Although she is still moderately close to Celeste von Penston. Some even call them best friends.
The two could actually be considered as business partners than anything else. Victoria knew that if they didn't start a business together then they wouldn't even speak to each other. As she was an enthusiast of sorts, Olivia pitched the idea to Celeste to start a jewellery chain store that deals with mining minerals and manufacturing jewels.
The two had similar abilities in business management so it was better to work together than become competitors.
'But Al is the only one left out.' Victoria was a little worried that Arnold was lonely after all these years of being ignored.
"Well, he and Celeste are still in contact so that's good." Although she knew that, she didn't know how much their relationship had deteriorated over the years.
As a servant it was unprofessional to probe her master of his relations. He had many flings left and right but those were short-lived.
As long as Arnold found a woman to set down with then she'll be happy and support that relationship.
"….."
A whooshing sound resonated in the room.
Victoria had thrown a dagger towards a certain part of the room. The force at which the dagger was thrown broke a part of the wall it was lodged into.
"What frightening skills."
Said a shadow standing in the corner. The dagger was right next to their neck.
"My, it seems I've missed." Victoria turned to face that person. There was a cold smile on her face. Her eyes were narrowed and killing intent leaked out of them.
"What is your business here, vermin scum. Did you think that this would be an easy place to steal from?"
The shadow shook their head as they walked out of the corner of the room and stood in the light of the candle.
When Victoria saw the person's face, she moved at lightning speeds and held her hand neck to the person's throat. It was all in one breath. Even the flame of the candle only danced a second after the force of the wind blew it.
"Say one wrong word then I'll snap your neck, demon offspring."
"….." Liumiala froze. She didn't seem to have suspected that Victoria was that fast. She slowly lifted her hands while sweat leaked down her face.
"I-I am not here to harm anyone."
"Then what business do you have here?" Victoria moved her hand closer to Liumiala's tender neck.
The person who was literally an inch away from dying gulped hard.
"Your…Your precious master was almost killed today."
When she heard that, Victoria's face turned into a grimace and her mouth curled downwards, causing wrinkles to form. Liumiala shivered gazing into those dead eyes.
Her mouth opened but only a wheeze came out.
"Al was…almost killed…? By who…? Who dared to hurt him…? The fact that you say that he almost died means that he's still alive, right…?"
Victoria asked constantly while holding onto Liumiala's neck.
"Eek…Eek…" Liumiala shut her eyes tightly, a scared expression on her face. "P-Please listen…"
"….."
When she felt Victoria let go of her neck, Liumiala opened her eyes.
"Talk."
◇
In a certain abandoned building. It was located northeast of the city lord's manor. The reason they came here was because it was the only part of the city that didn't have inhabitants. Liumiala brought Victoria inside after checking that the coast was clear. She told her comrades to watch out for anyone wanting to enter the building and turn them away.
Victoria froze when she saw Arnold lie on a bundle of wheat. There was a deep wound on his chest that was sizzling because of an unknown substance.
"Since we don't have high grade healing potions, it's impossible to heal him completely. His left eye is completely gone so we gave him an artificial eye. It has the ability to allow him to see so there isn't any worry there. Although it needs a constant energy supply. As for his arm, well, the bone of his shoulder blade was shattered and his arm broke out of its socket."
"…."
Victoria was just silently gazing at Arnold's sleeping face. His face looked so peaceful despite the large gash across his chest. Although there were special herbs around the wound to prevent it from bleeding, his life was living on a thread.
"The one who did this already got away." Liumiala said hurriedly when she saw Victoria's face twist.
"Why did you bring him here? Are you going to make him owe you a favour?"
"You should know that your precious master was the one who approached me first and made me interested in him."
Victoria turned around to face Liumiala.
"He approached you? For what purpose?"
'So she doesn't know, huh.'
Had Victoria known then there was a possibility that her superior would also find out. If her superior knew then he would inform the duke. If the duke knew…
'Then we're completely fucked. This woman would be the least of our problems.'
"Remember that red haired girl? She was kidnapped by that guy named Ruduli. Your precious master slaughtered an entire gang just to save her."
"…He was the one who caused that commotion?"
"Indeed. And that was also what led to that Lancelot guy finding out and almost killing the young master."
Victoria gritted her teeth.
"Lancelot…Is it that Lancelot…? The strongest inquisitor?"
'Shit. She looks pissed. Why the hell did I have to get involved this much…I should know when to stop...'
Well, what's done is done, Liumiala thought.
"What do you want? You must have some sort of reason for helping him despite the fact that your first meeting was only related to finding a missing person?"
"What we want, huh…." Liumiala thought for a second. If she mentioned the demon lord factor then she'd have to further explain about the case. She was much too troubled to reveal that much. "Tell him an old friend gave him a helping hand."
Liumiala said with a smirk.
"So you only did this to have him owe you after all?"
Liumiala shrugged.
"Well, I didn't do it out of kindness," she shrugged again, this time with a cheeky grin. "All you should know that he is of use to me at this moment."
Though she was being vague, Victoria didn't seem to care to ask what she meant by that.
"Give him this note. He'll know what it means once he reads it."
She nodded.
"I will tell him."
"Good." Liumiala turned around.
She suddenly felt a pressure weigh down on her from behind.
"Once that debt is paid I do not want you near Al ever again. If you do then a slap on wrist isn't the only thing your organization suffers from."
Liumiala's entire body shivered.
'Did she just threaten our entire organization…? Shit, if others find out then they won't leave that remark unanswered.'
"W-Well then, I'm off. Once he wakes up, tell him that this old friend is called Mia!" Leaving those words behind, Liumiala quickly left the premises.
**
Victoria stood silently as she kept gazing at her master.
Much different from when he was awake and rowdy, his sleeping face was cute. At least to her.
She trailed her hand on his right cheek. A tear fell on the side of his face.
Victoria was crying.
"Why…didn't…I know about this sooner…" Victoria tried wiping the tears but they kept falling down. She put her forehead against Arnold's.
"I won't let you get hurt again…"