CH 25.2

My first request was farce. (2)

“No, I will take Master Hollow back to the inn She doesn’t like big rooms and the Church knows about her healing magic, so it’s safer for her to stay ‘with us’.”

I picked up the Princess and bowed to the King and the Crown Prince. Then I left the room and was escorted to the castle gate by the maids who were waiting outside. It was time for the sun to start setting, and the area was getting dark. It seems that we have been in the castle for quite a while.

With the young lady in my arms, I entered a path off the main street. The path was narrow and dimly lit with many crates. As for why I went here…

“You beastwoman!! Leave that lass behind!!”

I heard a voice behind me and turned around to see the priest from the Guild and the priest from the castle standing there with about eight Church knights. These trash seemed to be targeting our young lady.

“Oh my, I believe it was Deacon Gord and Cardinal Bard? What do you need from us?”

I already know the names and faces of the church officials in this city. If I didn’t know this information, and they approached the Princess, I would be too late to recognize them, and she may encounter danger. Our mission is to minimize the danger to the Princess.

“It has nothing to do with you, Beastwoman! The Church will take care of that person. Don’t resist, alright now?”

Haah… no matter how I look, they are a bunch of trash.

“You think I will just hand her over to you? What makes you think that I would just offer up our treasure to trash like you?”

When I refused, the Church knights drew their swords and charged at us. However, their swords didn’t reach us.

“Guh…”

“Gyahh!”

Suddenly, people jumped down from the nearby buildings and plunged their knives deeply into the heads of the Church knights. The knights fell down, unable to understand what has happened. At first glance, the people who jumped down were vagrants, adventurers, and citizens, but they were all members of the Second Special Service Knights Order, which was dispatched to protect the Princess.

“Don’t make them scream, or they will wake up the Princess. Get rid of them soon as possible.”

I moved away a little so that the Princess didn’t smell the blood.

“You bastards!! Who are you pointing your swords at!! Pointing swords at us is a sin against hte G… od.”

The priests were apparently saying something, but before they could finish, the guards stabbed them in their hearts and scattered their lives.

“It’s been taken care of, Vice-Captain. We’re going to deal with the garbage that’s lying around here later.”

“Bharel, I’m not a member of your unit anymore. Don’t you already have someone else that is your second-in-command?”

This man’s name is Bharel, and he is the small platoon leader of the Second Special Service Knights Order who followed the Princess. I used to work for my country with Bharel in the Second Special Service Knights Order, but I left the order when I became the Princess’s personal maid. My current status doesn’t allow me to interfere in their duty, but I couldn’t risk spreading the smell of blood in front of my beloved Princess.

“Well~ the Vice-Captain’s seat has been vacant since you left, and it’s not often we get together to work with others.”

“Ask the Captain to decide already then. I won’t go back to being your second-in-command. I’m the Princess’s personal maid now.”

As I said this, Bharel and his former colleagues, who were packing up the bodies in their bags, looked at me enviously. Naturally, I’m the only one who takes care of the Princess on daily basis.

“That’s so unfair, I’d like to know how you made her so fond of you.”

“Even I don’t understand what the Princess is thinking.”

I really wonder what she sees and thinks as she lives. It’s not just that she chose this bloodstained me as her personal maid, but that she sometimes gives off the vibe that she’s looking somewhere far away. She has learned magic without anyone teaching her, she has the brains to create all kinds of new tools on her own, and even Her Majesty and the rest are unsure about her inner self.

“I’m jealous, I want to be pampered by the Princess, too.”

“She always runs away from you.”

“You’ve got a scarier face than I do!”

The people around Bharel were yelling at him, but they didn’t stop working, and within minutes, the bodies were stuffed in a bag. The dead trash would be disposed of somewhere where they won’t be found easily.

“If you’re done, disperse as soon as possible, we can’t let the Princess know you’re here.”

“You have mellowed down, Vice-Captain, haven’t you? You used to be so expressionless.”

I used to be even more expressionless than the Princess. I can’t deny that this happy time of waiting upon her has changed me.

And then, the Knights left somewhere as if they were never there in the first place. Not even a trace of blood was left behind.

“I wish you would think about yourself a little bit, Princess. I’m worried that you’ll always put others first.”

I patted the Princess on the head, then I concealed us both and went back to the inn. It was as if nothing had happened.