Chapter 22: Call Me Miss Adelle

“I am not a pet~!” Dounia glared at Violet, her eyes revealing a hint of dissatisfaction.

Her snow-white skin flushed with a faint blush due to her agitation, adding an extra touch of charm.

Seeing Dounia’s reaction, Violet couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh.

“Mmm, Dounia is not a pet.”

“And I’m not a child either!” Dounia gritted her teeth in frustration.
She felt her own Alienation was probably shooting up as well.

“No, your Alienation is very stable,” Lilith “kindly” reminded her.

Dounia’s lips trembled slightly as steam began to rise from her head with a ‘whoosh.’

“I really don’t think of Dounia as a child,” Violet comforted her. “I just think Dounia is cute and wanted to tease you~”

Dounia blinked.

“This time… I’ll let you off.”

“Alright, alright~” Violet replied nonchalantly. “By the way, why does Dounia want to become a Surveillance Officer?”

“Uhm…” Dounia wore a thoughtful expression, her small hand pinching her chin.

‘She couldn’t possibly say her real goal was to become a Surveillance Officer before the original protagonist, Alicia, arrived so that she could suppress her…’

‘Haha…’

‘If she told the truth, she would probably be disliked by Violet.’

“Can’t you tell me?” Violet blinked her big eyes and tilted her head.

Gazing into those sea-blue, limpid eyes, Dounia sighed inwardly.

‘If she didn’t tell the truth, she probably wouldn’t be able to get Violet’s help.’

‘And with Violet’s intelligence, it wouldn’t be hard for her to guess what she had done to her childhood friend using the authority of a Surveillance Officer later on.’

‘What a sin!’

“I…”

Dounia hesitated, then slowly began to speak: “Adelle looks pretty cool as a Surveillance Officer…”

She nervously scratched her cheek with her index finger and continued, “And being a Surveillance Officer, being able to control Executioners, that sounds really powerful…”

“Oh, is that so?”

It seemed Violet didn’t believe this answer that failed to hit the mark.

Dounia lowered her head slightly, her voice growing smaller and smaller.

“A-actually, I just think Surveillance Officers can beat up Executioners. They are the complete dominators over Executioners.”

“I can’t be the only one who’s been rained on, right? I’m going to rip everyone else’s umbrellas to shreds too!”

Violet’s expression froze for a moment.

‘Oh no, does she think I’m too cruel? Is my favorability going to drop?’

The corners of Violet’s mouth twitched, uncontrollably curving upwards.

“Hahaha, what kind of explanation is that~” Violet’s bell-like, pleasant laughter rang out. “Dounia, you’re so naughty…”

“It’s like a little cat that got its tail stepped on by accident, choosing to secretly hide in the shadows and ambush the human.” Only then did Violet realize she had lost her composure, and she quickly covered her mouth.

Stare…

“Alright, I understand this matter now.” Violet gently placed her hands on the table. “I will arrange the corresponding courses for Dounia, but as for whether you can obtain the qualification, that will depend on Dounia herself.”

“Ah? I have to attend classes?” Dounia showed a troubled expression. “Alright…”

Violet gently pinched Dounia’s cheek.

“Of course you have to attend classes. Doesn’t Dounia lack the relevant knowledge? It could be very dangerous, you know.”

Swish—

The door opened, and Adelle, dressed in her maid uniform, walked in.

She first glanced at the intimate pair from the corner of her eye, then lowered her head slightly.

“Second Miss, it is time for your treatment today. Doctor Vanessa is waiting for you,” she reminded in a gentle and placid tone.

“Ah, I completely forgot the time. My apologies.”

Violet lifted her skirt and stood up, then reluctantly patted Dounia’s head.

“See you next time, Dounia.”

“Goodbye.”

Dounia waved her little hand, bidding farewell to one of the few people in this world who held goodwill toward her.

Swish—

The door closed, but Adelle did not leave.

Dounia slowly backed away, as if distancing herself from a lioness that had her in its sights.

Adelle rolled her eyes at her and walked to the table.

“Don’t be nervous. It’s not time for the routine inspection yet.”

“Then what are you doing here…” Dounia, completely unconvinced, had already slowly reached for the mineral water bottle beside her, hiding it behind her back.

“First, give me back my ‘Peering Goggles.’ There’s no benefit to keeping an unsealed Anomalous Item on your person for too long.”

“Second, I am here to inform you that you have officially become an Executioner.”

Dounia blinked.

‘So, she wasn’t considered an “official” Executioner before?’

‘Mmm… so this first outing really was a test.’

‘Was it Fia, or Adelle herself, or both?’

Dounia took the black-framed glasses out of her coat pocket and handed them to Adelle.

Suddenly, an impulse arose within her—she wanted to put on the glasses again, to re-perceive this world.

‘Perhaps she could discover the building’s weak points and stage a production of “The Dounia Redemption”?’

‘These glasses are cursed!’

Dounia’s hesitating hand immediately shot out and shoved the glasses back into Adelle’s hand.
She even blew on her own palms a couple of times and clapped them together forcefully, as if shaking off something dirty.

The shadow on Adelle’s palm seemed to deepen slightly.
She opened the eyeglass case with one hand, and a swirling dark aura immediately spread out, shrouding the bright lenses.

Click—

With a crisp sound, the ‘Peering Goggles’ were thoroughly resealed.

“You should have already felt its temptation,” Adelle stated in a flat tone. “Almost all sealed items have similar characteristics; they are extremely difficult to control…”

“So I’m guessing you’re about to say that I, as a ‘human-shaped sealed item,’ am even harder to control, so you’ll kill me when necessary?” Dounia said defiantly.

Adelle watched her quietly, only speaking after a long moment. “Yes, and no.”

“For your first mission, your performance was very good,” she evaluated truthfully. “But the wizard who was brought back was not the ‘witch’ the blacksmith mentioned, but a ‘warlock’.”

“We forcibly extended his life. Although he won’t live for long, it’s enough time for us to extract information from him.”

Dounia’s brow furrowed slightly.

She remembered that the wizard’s upper and lower body had been separated… and he could still barely survive that.

‘Although this is a branch of the Anomaly Bureau, they probably have some real “black technology” on hand, yet even with that, they can’t alleviate Violet’s illness.’

‘And… even though psychological knowledge is considered “forbidden knowledge,” it seems it’s still within the scope of what can be learned.’

‘Just like Anomalous Items!’

‘Strictly sealed when not needed, then carefully taken out when required.’

‘What is the root cause of Violet’s illness…?’ Dounia seriously pondered this question.

“This is a personal gift from me, as your Surveillance Officer.”

Adelle placed a large, silver radio with a bow on it on the table.

‘Who gives a beautiful girl a radio…?’ Dounia grumbled inwardly.

‘Wait, this is actually very important!’

‘This is a symbol of a certain level of trust, meaning she can now proactively access information from the outside world!’

‘This way, whether it’s the actions of those evil god followers or the original protagonist, she has a chance to learn about them.’

Dounia’s eyes sparkled.

“What’s this? So Miss Adelle does care about me after all.”

“Additionally, although the outcome was excellent, the matter of you fleeing midway through will be dealt with separately,” Adelle said strictly.

“Huh?”

‘What a rigid maid! It’s hard to imagine what kind of upbringing would form such a personality…’

‘It really is easier to make her fall!’

“As for the punishment…” Adelle’s lips curled up slightly, a hint of amusement in her gray eyes as she looked at Dounia. “In private, you are to address me respectfully as Miss Adelle.”

“Ha!?”