“Master… I would like to request about ten days of leave.”
The words, spoken during dinner, made my chopsticks stop mid-air.
“N-No way! If Liz isn’t here, what will happen to my life!?”
Reilia dropped her fork and screamed.
Good grief… just live a normal life, you useless elf.
“Did something happen?”
“Yes… it seems there is a shortage of teachers who can use greatswords at The Alma, and they asked if I could provide guidance for a few days…”
“Ah… I see. You’ve got plenty of paid leave left, so that’s fine with me.”
We are a “White Company” (ethical employer), so feel free to take your paid leave whenever. But wait, The Alma? That’s the place, right? The organization that produces combat maids?
Which means…
“Master’s nose is lengthening, nanodesu,” Hina observed.
“Master… no unpermitted men are allowed there,” Liz warned.
“I-It’s not like I’m thinking about fawning over maid trainees or anything!”
“Liz… Riku-san is totally motivated… He’s definitely going to follow you…” Reilia teased.
“Master… really… you absolutely… cannot… okay?”
“I won’t! I wouldn’t do that! Noa-san said you shouldn’t intrude on an employee’s private life!”
“Sigh… really… I mean it.”
“Y-Yeah…”
A few days later… after seeing Liz off… I got my own gear ready.
“Look, look, Hina-hina… He’s totally planning to tail her…”
“N-No… I’m just going hunting somewhere a bit far away, so you two stay home and look after the house, okay?”
Reilia, still in her pajamas and crunching on a rice cracker, snitched on me to Hina.
“The lowest, nanodesu… Hey, female slave, you’re getting crumbs all over the floor! Who do you think has to clean that up, nanodesu!?”
“Eeeh… Liz doesn’t get mad about things like that…”
Reilia said this while handing the empty bag to Hina.
“W-Why are you giving it to Hina, nanodesu!? Go put it in the trash yourself, you female slave!”
“Eeeh… Hina’s a maid, right? I’m a slave, so I can’t do anything~”
“Tch, Master! Are you really going to leave me alone with this useless elf!?”
“Burp… oh, speaking of which, there was some pudding left, let’s go eat it… Bye, Riku-san. Tell me later if anything funny happens.”
Reilia scurried off toward the kitchen.
“No, nanodesu! That pudding was what Hina was looking forward to, nanodesu! M-Master! Permission for Destroy Style!”
“Denied. If I permit that, the mansion will definitely be gone by the time I get back.”
“Muuu…!”
Hina pouted incredibly hard.
“I’ll buy you some souvenirs, so just look after Reilia for me.”
“Uugh… fine, nanodesu… Please come back soon, nanodesu. Otherwise… otherwise… I might lose control and start grinding things with my drills.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it…”
Hoping the mansion wouldn’t be a vacant lot when I returned, I headed out.
I concentrated my consciousness to track Liz’s familiar magic signature.
She hadn’t been gone long, but she was already quite far—she must be running.
“Wait for me! The Maid’s Garden!”
Suppressing my magic, I pursued Liz.
I finally caught up near the center of the Imperial Capital and observed her from the shadows.
“Damn, she’s on high alert.”
Liz was constantly looking back, checking her surroundings.
I thought she would rent a carriage, but she walked right past the rental shop.
“Hm? Where is she going?”
Was it closer than I thought?
Just then, Liz suddenly dashed, kicked off the wall of a nearby house, and leaped up onto the roofs in one go.
Whoa!?
Did she spot me? No, she’s probably just trying to shake off anyone who might be following.
Geez, how little trust does she have in me?
Well, I am following her… but come on, I want to see the Secret Garden.
I kept my distance, following as she made sudden turns and ran across rooftops.
Eventually, Liz reached a shop and spoke with a clerk.
What’s that?
It was a stable filled with large, squawking birds.
Garuda? The bird monsters?
Wait.
A large basket was connected to three of the birds by ropes.
No way…
Liz climbed into the basket and took off into the sky.
Are you kidding me?
That’s a form of transportation?
What now? If I rent one of those and follow from behind, I’ll definitely be spotted.
“I guess… I’ll fly…”
I don’t know the distance, but…
After Liz looked as small as a grain of rice, I used the Flight spell to take to the air.
“Heh, heh, heh… don’t think you can shake me that easily!”
…There was a time when I actually thought that.
This sucks! This is seriously brutal! How much further are we going!? I’m gonna crash! “The Hero’s End: Death by Plane Crash!”
Damn it! Liz is in that basket eating something that looks warm! I can even smell it from here!
I got hungry and pulled out some bread to gnaw on… but since I was high up, it was freezing and rock-hard.
Damn… it’s gross! I washed down the hard bread with some Ether—which has been getting cheaper lately—to replenish my magic.
Damn! It’s gross!
“Oh…”
Finally, as darkness began to shroud the surroundings, I saw a building perched atop a sheer cliff in the distance.
“Incredible!”
There was a church like that in some country back home…
Wait, is that a large-scale barrier?
As Liz approached the barrier, it vanished for a moment and then immediately went back up.
Tch, if I’m in the air, I can’t get in without breaking the barrier…
If I were on foot, I could slip through undetected with enough time, but…
Surely the air isn’t the only way in.
I flew around the cliff to check for a path.
There.
I found a door at the base of the cliff, but…
Two maids stood by a bonfire, keeping watch.
Maids! My tension rose slightly, but I obviously couldn’t just knock them out to get in.
There were even maids patrolling the outer perimeter on top of the cliff.
Since they occasionally looked down from the edge, I couldn’t approach slowly from the air either.
Fine… I’ll climb.
Landing at the base of the cliff on the opposite side of the door, I looked up at the sheer rock face, gripped a ledge, and started climbing.
My clothes were black, and I’d be in a blind spot from the top, so I shouldn’t be found.
“Heave… ho.”
As I slowly scaled the cliff, I thought about my next move.
I had come here on a whim just to see the Secret Garden, but I had arrived with zero plan.
Halfway up, hanging onto the wall with one hand, I pulled out my video camera.
The battery was fully charged.
“Well… time to try some voyeurism.”
Lately, I’ve had plenty of covert missions, like infiltrating the Kamo residence or hiding from demons, so it was time for my “Disguise” and “Silent” skills—which I’d been secretly buffing—to shine.
I combined the Disguise magic (usually used to fake a lower power level to avoid detection) with Silent (usually used as an attack spell).
Now, all sound around me was gone.
The downside was that I could only use simple spells that could be cast without chanting… Also… to make sure my face wasn’t seen if I was caught… I put on a full-face helmet… I look like a total suspicious person!
Well, I was a suspicious person.
With the camera around my neck on a strap so I wouldn’t drop it, I slowly, slowly climbed the cliff.
Night had just begun… After they eat, they’ll take a bath!
The first objective: Stealth footage of the Maid’s Bath!
Even in a world with Clean magic, baths are surprisingly popular.
To soothe the fatigue of training, there’s no way they don’t have one!
Reaching the top, I touched the barrier with a hand coated in magic, broke it just enough for one person to slip through, and rolled inside.
Now… my battle begins here!
Alert to my surroundings, I headed toward the building in front of me.
