Chapter 7: Episode 7

Seraphie became a maid.

As someone who knew her future, it was honestly hard to believe.

That fallen saintess, a maid in the Garcia family.

It had deviated slightly from the original intention.

“…I just wanted to let her eat and sleep comfortably.”

Why make Seraphie work so hard?

What if she falls due to the difficulty of the work?

However.

She said she wanted to do it, and she might feel guilty living without doing anything, so perhaps the situation was good.

More importantly, first.

“Why did she fall? That’s what’s important….”

Saintess corruption.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of saintess corruption.

Saintess Corruption and General Corruption.

Saintess Corruption is, as the name suggests, falling after becoming a saintess, while General Corruption is becoming a saintess after falling.

Since Seraphie couldn’t be chosen as a saintess separately, she likely belonged to General Corruption.

If so, what made her fall?

Count Pigmain, could he be the culprit who corrupted her?

“I can’t be sure….”

Seraphie. What was her reverse scale? What made her fall?

I thought for a long time.

However.

‘…I have no idea.’

Currently, I had no idea why she had fallen.

“For now, I’ll just be careful about the basic things.”

First, I decided to only be careful about the basic corruption factors.

****

Bang—!

Count Pigmain slammed the wall, enraged at his subordinates, the B-rank mercenary group Cretan, who had failed their mission.

“You failed that?! You idiots!!!”

“B-but, Yuren was stronger than we expected….”

“Strong? Don’t make me laugh!”

Count Pigmain had also heard rumors about Yuren.

It was natural, as he was the son of the Garcia family, whom Pigmain considered his rival.

At the time, Count Pigmain had dismissed the absurd rumors about Yuren.

He concluded they were all nonsense.

A merchant’s son with extraordinary sword talent, even recognized by Helna?

All lies.

He thought they were rumors bought with money.

That’s how merchants usually were.

Because Count Pigmain had thought that way, he simply couldn’t believe his subordinates’ defeat.

“…Hmph. Alright, he might be strong. There might be some truth mixed in.”

He had thought it was all bluff….

Given this situation, he had no choice but to believe that the rumors weren’t all bluff.

Count Pigmain was quietly trying to suppress his anger.

As if to shatter his calm, someone roughly opened the door.

“C-Count Pigmain!!!”

Carlton, the s*ave merchant, came to Count Pigmain with an urgent expression and delivered astonishing news.

“Count Garcia is preparing for war right now!”

“…Hmm, I suppose so.”

Count Pigmain had expected that much.

Unless he was a fool, he would have known who the attacker was.

And even more so since they failed.

However.

Count Pigmain wasn’t afraid of war.

War with the Garcia family was precisely what he wanted.

“Worthless fools… Let’s return to the family at once.”

Taking the B-rank mercenary group Cretan and Carlton with him, Count Pigmain returned to his territory.

And.

Immediately, with the forces to face the Garcia family, he hastily drafted a letter to the capital.

“Kukukuk, they will regret this choice. I’ll annihilate the Garcia family with this chance.”

****

War preparations were in full swing.

So, I began my own preparations.

“…The young master…!”

“Oh my!”

The Imperial Family had condoned this war, and Count Pigmain would be thoroughly prepared.

My own preparation was essential too.

After all, I was the one recognized by Helna.

I thought I would be a great help in this war.

So, I resumed my sword training, which I had stopped until now.

Seeing me like this, the maids looked touched.

Saying that the young master had finally come to his senses.

Ignoring these embarrassing reactions, I continued to swing my sword.

‘The gap is definitely noticeable.’

About a year.

I had stopped wielding a sword after my twentieth birthday and hadn’t swung one for about a year, so my senses had dulled more than I expected.

I had to get my body into peak condition.

To win the war.

I focused on my sword.

Just then.

“…M-master.”

From behind me, I heard a presence and a voice calling me.

I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

There was only one person who called me ‘Master’.

“Seraphie. Thank you.”

I roughly wiped the sweat with the towel Seraphie brought and returned it to her.

Over the past week, Seraphie had become somewhat accustomed to maid work, and unlike before, she had started speaking out loud to some extent.

Of course, she was still awkward with me.

“…I just did what was natural.”

“No, no. It’s not natural for you to be a maid.”

“….”

“And you don’t have to call me ‘master,’ you know? You can just call me ‘young master’ like everyone else.”

“…No.”

Seraphie was a timid child.

And perhaps a child who knew how to conduct herself well.

She was mature beyond what one would expect of a ten-year-old.

As if she wasn’t ten.

‘…Come to think of it, I’ve never heard her age specifically?’

Anyway.

Seraphie calling me ‘Master’ seemed like she was trying not to forget that she was a s*ave.

It was also like letting me know that she hadn’t forgotten her status.

Her attitude made me feel a wall between us.

‘…When will I be able to get close to Seraphie?’

As always, I stroked Seraphie’s head.

“Alright. Do what’s comfortable for you.”

Since I had always wanted a younger sister, in both my past and current life, my way of dealing with Seraphie had gradually become similar to how I’d treat a younger sister.

Of course, if Seraphie disliked my actions, I would immediately stop.

However.

She didn’t specifically reject my touch, and her expression remained unchanged, so it must be fine.

Just as I wiped away my sweat and was about to swing my sword again.

Seraphie’s mouth opened.

“…Master. Perhaps…?”

“Hm? Why?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Seraphie seemed to have something to say, but she closed her mouth again.

“I’ll be going…!”

With that, Seraphie scurried away, and with a question lingering in my mind, I focused on my rehabilitation again.

****

Seraphie’s room.

“…I don’t understand.”

Seraphie couldn’t understand.

Why did her master treat her so specially?

Unlike the other maids, he gave her a good room.

His attitude was different too.

He stroked her head, and his tone when speaking to her was gentler than when he spoke to others.

She had no idea why.

She was a s*ave.

And a fallen noble young lady, meaning she was no benefit to him whatsoever.

Yet, why was he so kind?

He didn’t seem to have any other suspicious motives either….

But there was something she understood less than all her master’s actions so far.

“Why would Master risk war… for someone like me?”

Seraphie had ears to hear, so she received various news about the family.

Among them, the biggest news recently.

War.

It was the news of war with the Count Pigmain family.

As a mere maid, she couldn’t know the detailed inner workings of why the Garcia family was going to war with the Count Pigmain family.

However.

Because Count Pigmain was deeply connected to her, she thought she was surely the cause of this war.

That’s why she couldn’t understand.

Couldn’t he simply avoid war with Count Pigmain by giving her up?

To Seraphie, Count Pigmain was a terrifying existence.

He was the one with the power to ruin her family and her entire life.

She was uncontrollably afraid of him.

If she stood before him, her legs would freeze, and she would feel utterly helpless.

To that extent.

Count Pigmain was a nearly traumatic presence for Seraphie.

And yet, her master was fighting such a being.

Honestly, she couldn’t understand that choice, and if it were her, she would have chosen to give herself up.

When she faced her master, who was training.

Seraphie wanted to say that.

If he was overdoing it because of her, just give her to Count Pigmain.

But at the same time.

“I don’t want to….”

The past week.

It was a very short time, but Seraphie was incredibly happy.

That’s why she was grateful that Yuren didn’t make that choice.

“…I don’t understand.”

She thought she deserved to be abandoned, yet she was grateful that she wasn’t.

After countless worries, Seraphie fell asleep.

.

.

.

War Day.

It was the day of the Garcia family army’s departure ceremony.

Seraphie, watching from afar, hastily stood before Yuren.

“…Master, please take me with you….”

She didn’t think she would be useful in the war.

Still.

In an unexpected moment.

In a moment of danger that might arise, perhaps she could throw herself in the way to stop it.

That’s why she decided to follow Yuren.

“….”

Yuren remained silent at Seraphie’s request.

Seraphie somehow expected Yuren to refuse.

Even if he did, she was planning to follow secretly.

However.

Yuren, who had been deep in thought, gave an unexpected answer.

“Alright. Let’s go together.”

It was unexpected permission.