Chapter 21

“Catherine is late.”

Today, Yulia, who had come over again, lay on Catherine’s bed, staring blankly at the ceiling when she suddenly said that. Lilian nodded at her remark and lay down beside her.

“Isn’t it already past time for her to show up?”

“Is something wrong, maybe?”

“Not a chance. It’s Catherine we’re talking about!”

Even though the knights weren’t exactly top-notch, Catherine had taken down two of them in the blink of an eye. There was no way anything could happen in a relatively safe place like near the Academy.

“Still, isn’t it a bit strange for her to be this late?”

“Is it?”

But without a way to contact her, Lilian could only tilt her head in confusion. As the two of them were nervously fidgeting around, the door to the room suddenly swung open.

“I’m back!”

“Ah! You’re here? Catherine! Why are you so late… eek?!”

“Kwiiiaaaaaah?!”

The moment they saw Catherine’s face, both girls screamed. Honestly, who could blame them? Catherine’s appearance was a complete mess. Her maid outfit, which had been pristine when she left, was now splattered with bloodstains, and she looked like she had rolled around in the dirt, with mud caked on her. The fatigue in her eyes and the droplets of blood on her face were enough to shock them.

“Wha, wha, what happened?!”

“Can I at least change clothes first, Young Lady?”

“Ah, yes. Do that.”

As Lilian readily accepted, Catherine suddenly remembered and set down the bag she was carrying.

“Don’t worry about the dress. It’s fine.”

“Is the dress important?! Catherine is all banged up!”

“…Just to clarify, none of this is my blood. No injuries either.”

“Huh? Oh, really?”

“Yes. Well, I’ll go freshen up first.”

Catherine nodded, then entered the shower. Yulia and Lilian exchanged dumbstruck glances, suddenly snapped back to reality, and opened the bag. Inside were three neatly folded dresses.

“Huh? Three dresses?”

“Oh, one’s for Catherine.”

“…Ah.”

Honestly, Lilian wanted to see Catherine’s reaction, but she closed the bag again, letting out a small sigh. Just wait until she comes out. I’ll make sure to find out what happened.

#

Swoosh- The water flowed out of the showerhead. In this world, showerheads were originally reserved for nobles, but since every room at the Academy had one, I could also take advantage of it. The stream of water hit my fair skin, and I let out a faint moan. It wasn’t warm due to technical limitations, but every time I encountered this bit of modern convenience, I couldn’t help but feel grateful.

To get warm water, you had to stoke a boiler, but I was the only servant around, so there was nobody to light the fire outside. Thus, I had to resort to a cold shower.

Luckily, with summer approaching, the temperature had risen significantly, so it wasn’t too cold, but I still preferred not to take long showers. Today, however, I planned to take a longer shower.

‘Gotta wash off the blood…’

I figured they’d be pretty shocked. They probably were. Lilian, having lived her whole life as a noble, and Yulia too, would rarely encounter blood. I closed my eyes slowly, letting the water wash over me, the recent events still vividly replaying in my mind.

#

A spear shook violently. As if trying to distract me, I did my best to stay focused on its trajectory. I hadn’t planned on entering a back alley, which may have contributed to the lack of proper gear. I ducked and dodged the incoming spear.

They really shouldn’t have been a challenge for me, but I was struggling. The fact that they could leverage the spear’s reach was part of the problem. While they were not particularly skilled, they certainly knew how to use that advantage.

To get out of this predicament, I’d have to accept some risks. Honestly, I didn’t want to take any losses, but it was unavoidable. I swallowed a sigh and rolled forward, dodging the spear. The opponent looked caught off guard, clearly not expecting me to roll.

Regardless, the distance was now closed. With the dagger in hand, I lunged toward their shoulder.

“Ugh—!”

The right shoulder pierced, the opponent dropped the spear, and I twisted their wrist while kicking at their shin, forcing them down.

“P-please, spare me…!”

“Run away!”

“The boss has been taken down!”

“You traitorous bastards—!”

Expecting loyalty from back alley thugs? What was I, an idiot? I pulled the dagger from the opponent’s shoulder and handled the situation quickly. My intent wasn’t to kill them after all. I turned back to treat the injured. The one with the dagger in their gut had missed the vital organs, so their injuries weren’t too severe. The others with knives embedded in them had only superficial muscle damage.

“…What were you thinking?”

“I should be asking you the same. Why target a servant of the House of Portus?”

“…After all, the House of Portus treats its servants like dirt. I thought it wouldn’t matter if I kidnapped just one.”

“Hm.”

That was a fair point. Unlike other noble houses, the servants of the House of Portus were regularly rotated, and only the maid head and I remained. The maid head was personally brought by the lady, while I was the only one allowed to handle the Young Lady’s whims.

The Duke of Portus probably wouldn’t care about bringing me on board. He was known for being a cold-hearted man, completely indifferent to others, only interested in their usefulness. To him, most servants were just expendable.

It was no surprise that this man understood these rumors. If one had any interest in information, they would have heard various rumors about the House of Portus.

“So, why save us?”

“It’s not worth killing you. Besides, you have a task to fulfill for us.”

“…What is it?”

Honestly, I thought it was a bit belated, but it was something that was definitely necessary, so I took my time to reply.

“Who’s in charge above you?”

“…What? I don’t really get what you’re saying.”

He was the clever type of leader, but I ignored that and continued.

“Whoever it is, they surely wouldn’t be above the House of Portus. Are you interested in serving the Young Lady?”

“…Can you just decide that for us?”

“You’ll see my strength soon enough… I’m devoted to the Young Lady. I act as both a bodyguard and servant. It’s quite a significant position.”

That was a lie. I had no such authority. It was obvious that the Duke of Portus had never granted me any such power. The real truth was that my training had been entirely at the whim of the maid head.

Yet, it wasn’t a complete lie. I did have some level of authority through the Young Lady, and she certainly wouldn’t oppose such a thing.

“…Give me some time to think.”

“Sure. I’ll come back in a week. Oh, and you can run if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Of course. No one in their right mind would try to run.”

Whoever was behind them wouldn’t be the kind of person you could easily deal with if they could establish a presence at the Academy. To run away would mean certain death. Leaving the fallen behind, I headed back to the tailor shop.

I knocked on the door and fixed my disheveled appearance a little. Admittedly, straightening things out wouldn’t make my look any better, but it was all about the attitude.

“Welcome back… kyaah!”

“Madam, I’ve come to pick up the dresses.”

“Uh, are you okay?”

“Oh, not a drop of my blood is on me, so no need to worry.”

“…Then I’m relieved, but what on earth happened?”

“I was ambushed while crossing through a back alley.”

The calm explanation caused the madam’s eyes to go wide.

“Were there people after the House of Portus’ insignia?”

“Apparently, they know more about the situation of the servants than I expected.”

“Ah…”

As I reached out to the madam, she mumbled, Oh my, look at me go, and disappeared inside the tailor shop only to reappear quickly with a large bag containing dresses.

“Two dresses?”

“No, three.”

“I thought it was only supposed to be two.”

“Oh, one of those is for Catherine. Lilian Young Lady said it was a gift… not surprised, huh?”

“No, I’m quite surprised.”

Her expression might have looked deadpan, but that was a surprise face for sure. The Young Lady, who was usually too proud to even give thanks, gifting something? After only living for twenty years in this world, this was probably my biggest shock.

“Well, be careful when you head in, okay?”

“Yes, thank you, Madam.”

Clutching the bag, I exited the tailor shop, attracting stares from passersby as I made my way to the plaza, where I paid the surprised coachman and headed straight to the Academy.