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Chapter 03
‘10,000,000’
One, ten… Huh? What is this? Why are there so many zeros? Is this thing broken?
“Aile, think about it carefully. The payment for this mission is a whopping ten million gold coins. With that kind of money, you can pay off all your debt in one shot!”
The numbers displayed on the small calculator screen stretched on for so long that they looked unfamiliar.
As he watched them, Aile’s blue eyes gradually began to waver.
“Ha… You’ve got to be kidding me. Commander, do you think I’m the kind of person who’s crazy about money?”
Aile frowned in displeasure, but only for a moment before speaking again in a slow, quiet voice.
“I’m just asking, hypothetically… Is it cash?”
“All cash.”
“My dream has always been to become a duke’s maid.”
Seeing Aile’s firm expression, now fortified by the hefty sum, Death pulled something else out from his coat as if he had expected this reaction.
“What’s that?”
“A portrait of the target. You should at least know what they look like. Though, I suppose you’ll see them in person once you become a maid.”
At Death’s suggestion that she familiarize herself with the face beforehand, Aile looked down at the paper with curious eyes.
Then…
“…Should a human being really be allowed to look like this?”
You want me to identify someone from this? Seriously?
The sketch was so carelessly drawn that it looked as though someone had merely outlined the rough shape of a person with a few lines.
“You know as well as I do that there’s almost no information on the House of Cassio. Honestly, we don’t even know whether that portrait is accurate. Still, it’s better than nothing.”
Death shrugged helplessly.
‘I think nothing would actually be better…’
Unable to voice the thought that immediately rose to mind, Aile reluctantly packed away the portrait.
If she was going to infiltrate the infamous monster duke’s household as a maid, there was a mountain of preparation she needed to do starting now.
“Young Master, this is the report you requested on ‘Black Rose.’”
Demon, the aide, quietly approached from behind the boy who was sitting by a wide sunlit window.
“After investigating, we found that they are a famous assassination group in the underworld. They operate with a small but elite membership and work so secretly that almost nothing is known about them publicly. Their robes bear the emblem of a black rose, but aside from that, there is no reliable way to identify them.”
After delivering the largely unhelpful report, Demon paused briefly before continuing.
“There is only one thing that is known for certain. They have never failed a mission. No matter what happens, they always complete their assignments. Because of this, they have gained a notorious reputation even in the underworld and are widely avoided.”
When the report ended, a heavy silence lingered for a moment.
At last, the boy’s tightly closed lips parted.
“That’s all?”
His voice was calm, but clearly uninterested.
Demon lowered his head with a troubled expression.
“I’m afraid so.”
“‘Notorious,’ huh… They didn’t seem that dangerous.”
Unlike his tranquil tone, the meaning behind the words was anything but.
‘Young Master, just what exactly did you see out there…?’
Demon recalled the young master returning a few days ago drenched in blood that clearly belonged to someone else, wearing an unusually pleased expression as he ordered an investigation into Black Rose.
“Young Master, may I ask whether you happened to meet someone in the Black Forest that day?”
The young master returning from a hunt covered in blood was hardly unusual.
But if he had met someone there, that was another matter entirely.
The Black Forest was not a place where people could casually encounter one another, and even if they did, the young master was not the type to leave them alive.
After all, no ordinary person entered that forest.
“An angel.”
Though Demon hadn’t truly expected an answer, one came almost immediately.
“…Pardon?”
An angel?
Yet Demon knew better than anyone that his young master was not the type to joke around.
“She was a little violent.”
As if that wasn’t enough, he added another brief comment.
A violent angel?
What in the world was that supposed to mean?
“I… see. Well, if magical beasts exist, I suppose there’s no reason a violent angel couldn’t exist too…”
The young master had obviously given a random answer because he didn’t want to explain. As his aide, it was probably best not to press further.
Just as Demon was giving up on learning the truth and nodding along—
“It’s not time for new maids to arrive.”
The boy’s gaze shifted outside.
Naturally, Demon followed it.
Near the entrance of the ducal estate, a small girl with dazzling silver hair carefully pushed open the gate and stepped inside.
Then she began hurriedly following behind one of the maids.
Suddenly recalling that the elderly head maid had recently mentioned hiring a new maid, Demon quickly pieced things together.
“She was strongly recommended by an outside party. The head maid says she has extensive experience and should be very capable, so after much consideration, she decided to accept her.”
After hearing the brief explanation, the boy gave a slight nod.
Understanding that as a signal to leave, Demon bowed and exited the room.
“…She certainly has experience.”
In the silence that followed, the boy muttered to himself while resting his chin on one hand and tilting his head.
‘A spoiled young master like you clearly has no eye for talent. I’ve been doing this job since the day I was born. Don’t compare me to those idiots.’
The clear, ringing voice echoed in his ears as vividly as ever.
Like a summer mirage shimmering in the heat, the girl’s blue eyes floated before his vision as well.
“In a dangerous sort of way.”
Outside the window, the girl diligently following a maid three times her size gradually grew smaller and smaller before disappearing entirely.
As he watched her with interest, a faint smile curved the corners of Ris’s violet eyes.
“Aile, since it’s your first day, you won’t be assigned any duties. Instead, take some time to look around the estate. You’ll work better once you’re familiar with the place.”
“Yes, thank you.”
After bowing politely with a bright smile, I left the annex building, leaving behind the maids who looked upon me affectionately as the youngest member of the staff.
‘Free time on my very first day at work? This is amazing!’
Considering how closed-off House Cassio was, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the existing servants had been hostile toward newcomers.
I had mentally prepared myself for that possibility.
But after arriving, I found the atmosphere surprisingly warm and friendly.
Thanks to that, I adapted quickly despite having never worked as a maid before.
At this rate, carrying out my mission wouldn’t be particularly difficult.
“Trying to explore this place in a single day would be a terrible idea, wouldn’t it?”
If I had to summarize my first impression of the famed House of Cassio in one word, it would be: huge.
No, enormous.
The estate was so vast that it felt endless.
To properly explore everything would probably take at least three full days.
“For now, I should focus on learning the layout of the important areas.”
I was busy investigating the locations and structures of the buildings most commonly used when my eyes landed on a large, lush forest occupying one corner of the estate.
‘Doesn’t that forest look strangely familiar…?’
Something about its appearance felt oddly recognizable, causing me to stop in my tracks.
“…Could that be the area connected to the Black Forest?”
I had always known that part of the Cassio estate was connected to the Black Forest, but this was the first time I had seen it with my own eyes.
No one who approached from the Black Forest side had ever returned alive, so merely looking at it made people uneasy enough to avoid it entirely.
But approaching from this side didn’t seem nearly as dangerous.
“…It should be fine, right? Nobody said I couldn’t go into the forest.”
Somehow, I could almost hear Death sighing in exasperation and saying that should have been obvious.
Mm-hmm. Aile knows nothing about that.
