Chapter 82 - <4>
The next morning, Ritz, who had come down to the dining room much earlier than usual, was bewildered to find that the person he was looking for was not there. Normally at this time, she should have been preparing the meal with Annie and Joe.
"…Where's Anna?"
He asked Joe, who was just coming in with a large bowl of salad, wearing an apron. Joe had recently stopped wearing the clothes that Annie and Anna liked and had gone back to the boyish attire she had procured herself. The apron looked a little out of place with that outfit, but recently she had finally started to look more like a girl.
"She left early this morning."
Joe replied, deliberately avoiding Ritz's eyes. This attitude of clearly hiding something was concerning. Feeling a bad premonition, Ritz grabbed the shoulder of the evasive Joe.
"Where did she go?"
"I don't know."
Joe looked away and feigned ignorance. But it was obvious she knew exactly where Anna had gone.
"Joe!"
When he asked in an interrogative tone without meaning to, Joe flinched for a moment. But with her characteristic bravado, she shook off Ritz's hand and then looked straight at him and answered.
"She told me not to tell the master where she went. So I'm not telling."
"Wh…"
As he was rendered speechless by her emphasis, Joe delivered the final blow.
"Anna was crying last night. Crying out of frustration, I guess? And she was packing her things, saying, 'That idiot Ritz, I hate him.'"
"Ugh…"
"I don't know what happened, but you've really been hated, haven't you, Master?"
"…"
He didn't need to ask Joe what Anna did after that. Anna probably crawled into bed, took a nap for a few hours, and then left with her luggage at dawn.
…To that house that was recruiting maids, which sounded suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
"I messed up…"
Considering Anna's impulsiveness, he should have chased after her and apologized right after she stormed out of the dining room last night. He was completely out of sorts and always one step behind.
To Joe, who was about to quickly return to the pantry, Ritz called out weakly from behind.
"Hey Joe, was Anna really angry?"
Pulling out a nearby chair, Ritz slumped into it. Perhaps feeling a little sympathy for the thoroughly shocked Ritz, Joe stopped and turned around.
"Hmm. To me, she looked more hurt than angry, though?"
"I see…"
That was even harder for Ritz to bear.
"Could you just tell me where she went? I promise I won't go barging in. Is that a no?"
He tried proposing it again, but Joe didn't nod.
"No~ way. I promised my friend I wouldn't tell the master."
"Yeah, right…"
There was absolutely nothing he could do. At this point, was his only option to wait?
But was it really okay to just wait? What if it was a dangerous situation? If he didn't know where she went, he couldn't even help her. He remembered her saying something about several red-haired maids going missing, and that she was going to investigate….
A young girl going missing was obviously a dangerous situation. At best, she could be confined; at worst, she could be killed or sold.
If that happened, what was he supposed to do? Why did she have to rush into things without thinking like that?
The more he thought about it, the more his frustration grew. Not frustration with Anna, but frustration and regret with himself.
In the first place, the things Anna got involved in often turned into big deals. Until now, it had been fine because he usually knew where she was and what she was doing, but in this state where he knew nothing, there was nothing he could do.
What was he to do with this feeling of impatience, this helplessness?
"Aaaah!"
Ritz suddenly yelled, running his hands through his hair, and Joe, who had brought over some scrambled eggs, jumped in surprise.
"What the heck, you scared me!"
"Sorry. I'm a little shaken, I guess…"
There was no point in being shaken here, but he couldn't suppress his sense of impatience, and a sigh escaped him. If only he had listened to the story in detail, he might have been able to think of a calmer way to deal with it, but with no information at all, there was nothing he could do.
"If only I knew the details of that case…"
It was Joe who was surprised by the words that slipped out of his mouth.
"Huh? You didn't hear?"
Still holding the scrambled eggs, Joe stared at Ritz, stunned.
"I got her angry before I could ask…"
As he sighed with a wry smile, Joe placed the scrambled eggs on the table and muttered.
"I told her to consult with you properly, Master…"
"Maybe she didn't have time for that."
"But Anna said she'd be fine…"
"She meant she'd be fine on her own, right?"
"Even though it smells like a real incident?"
"To Anna, that doesn't matter when it comes to helping people."
At Ritz's words, Joe finally seemed to understand the situation and fell silent for a while. She seemed to be pondering something. He couldn't afford to say anything unnecessary and have her clam up, so he waited silently.
After a while, Joe hesitantly looked up at him.
"…You know, if, just if, I told you where Anna is, Master, would that be betraying a friend?"
"It would."
To get Anna's whereabouts, he wanted to say 'of course not,' but even though the situation was what it was, he couldn't deceive this girl, who was both Anna's friend and his only disciple.
But at those words, Joe seemed rather relieved.
"Yeah, right… Then if I tell you, Master, will Anna hate me? Will we not be friends anymore?"
Joe asked, looking anxious. To Joe, Anna was an important friend. That's why she was torn between Anna's safety and her promise to a friend. But he could answer this question with confidence.
"That will never happen."
When Ritz declared it, Joe tilted her head.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because it's Anna. She wouldn't hate a friend over something like that. You know that too, don't you?"
"…Yeah."
Joe nodded slightly.
"Please, Joe, tell me where Anna is and the details of the case. I'm begging you."
As Ritz bowed his head deeply, Joe hurriedly grabbed his shoulder.
"Stop it. You're my master, don't bow your head to me!"
"Then, will you tell me?"
Looking up at Joe, he saw that she had a completely resigned expression on her face.
"After breakfast, I'll tell you everything. I have to help Annie."
And after breakfast, Ritz was finally able to hear the details of the case.
The house in question was apparently the residence of an elderly widow named Sinclair Russell, who lived alone.
Although she lived alone, she wasn't exactly alone. According to a letter from a missing maid that Joe had been shown by an informant, there was also a butler, a nephew, an elderly head maid, and one middle-aged maid. Considering the size of the house, the number of servants was quite small, but since Mrs. Russell had no husband or children, it was said to be sufficient.
The location was close to the royal castle, but quite far from the main gate, a place a little off from being a prime location. You could see the towering walls of the royal castle nearby, but it took time to get inside, a rather unusual location for a house.
The trouble had started about a year ago, apparently. A maid recruitment notice from this house had, for some reason, been brought to the slums.
There were two conditions for the maid. She had to be between her mid-teens and early twenties. And, she had to have long red hair.
The pay was, as one would expect, significantly higher than a normal maid's salary. It was rare for a recruitment from a high-class residential area to reach the slums, so many girls had jumped at the chance. But there were few girls who met the condition of having long red hair, and only one was chosen.
A month after that girl started working, another maid recruitment ad was brought to the slums. The conditions were exactly the same as before.
"That first maid is still missing, they say."
After that, several other girls went to work as maids in that house, and not a single one returned. But there was a reason why it hadn't become public as a case until now.
Even after the girls disappeared, their families continued to receive their wages. The people in the slums were poor. So if they could get the wages, they preferred to believe their daughters were alive and were reluctant to make it public.
"If Anna gets hired after her interview today, I'm supposed to receive a letter from her every day in the back alley of that house. She's going to throw it from inside the wall to the outside. If I don't get this letter, it means something happened, and I was supposed to report it to you, Master. That's what we decided together."
By the time the whole story was over, a considerable amount of time had passed. Franz, who had come in at some point, was also sitting in a chair and listening.
"…Want some tea?"
Without touching on the case, Franz stood up.
"It's fine, I'll make it."
As Joe hurriedly stood up, Franz just stared at her and said.
"Your tea is undrinkable."
He headed to the kitchen without looking back. After Franz was out of sight, Joe muttered in a low voice.
"…Sorry I can't even make tea."
She probably wasn't used to Franz enough to complain to him directly. It was true that a personality like Joe's might not get along with Franz the most.
"So that means Anna will be in that house for a month?"
Just as Franz returned with the tea, Ritz asked Joe.
"No. She said she'd come back as soon as she found out what was going on after investigating a bit."
At Joe's words, Ritz held his head in his hands. Come back as soon as possible, she says?
"How is she supposed to come back?"
"Huh? How?"
"What if she's confined in that house and can't get out? How is she supposed to come back here?"
"Maybe secretly when she goes shopping or something…?"
Joe's overly optimistic words were enough to make Ritz and Franz's faces turn pale. Looking beside him, he saw that the color had drained from Franz's face, even though he was holding a cup of warm tea.
"…Will she even be allowed to go shopping?"
"Huh?"
"Isn't it possible that her work won't allow her to leave the house? Did the missing girls ever come home even once?"
"Ah…"
Joe finally seemed to realize the lack of planning on her and Anna's part and turned pale.
"That's right, Dan said Jinny never came home once…"
It seemed the person who had brought this story was that Dan.
"Besides, do you really think Anna can investigate things secretly, Joe?"
"Ah…"
Joe also turned pale in an instant. Joe knew from the incident she was involved in when they met that Anna was the type to charge straight ahead without hiding things when it came to doing the right thing. It seemed she had forgotten that.
"So if she tries to investigate the incident, she'll be found out easily?"
Franz muttered in a hushed voice.
"I think the chances of that are extremely high."
A painful silence hung between the three of them. Unable to bear the silence, it was Joe who spoke up.
"What should we do, Master? Anna can't escape…"
Her initial bravado gone, Joe, completely pale, looked back and forth between Ritz and Franz in a panic.
Even though it was still morning, the three of them were already in no mood to enjoy the refreshing morning air.
"What should I do… this has turned into a huge mess."
Placing a hand on the head of the half-crying Joe, Ritz managed to force a smile after much effort.
"It's not your fault, Joe. It's okay, I'll handle it."
In the first place, the cause of this was his own inadequate attitude. He was worried sick about what might happen to Anna, but at least now that he knew her location and the situation, he could take countermeasures.
"In any case, Joe, you need to properly receive Anna's daily letters. If they stop coming, you tell me immediately. Got it?"
"Yeah. Will that be okay?"
To the anxious Joe, Ritz replied in a particularly cheerful and confident-sounding manner.
"Leave it to me."
Joe's face was visibly colored with relief. Bluffing was useful at times like these too.
In any case, he had to prepare so that he could storm the Russell residence at any time. No, actually, he wanted to do that right now.
But if he did, Anna, who was thinking of helping people, would surely say, 'You don't trust me!' again. That would only complicate the problem further.
To be honest, that was what was painful for Ritz.
Ritz sighed so that Joe wouldn't see and looked out the bright window at the clear sky, contrary to his mood.
At this point, there was only one thing Ritz could do: pray to the Goddess or whoever to protect Anna.
But Ritz knew. That girl named Anna Myers was not suited for a covert mission like an infiltration investigation.
Oblivious to the things troubling Ritz's head, Anna was living a surprisingly comfortable life as a maid.
Four days had already passed since she had left the house on her own. That morning, when she went for the maid interview, she was hired easily, and Anna had been employed at the Russell residence ever since.
Right now, as part of her daily routine, she was in her employer Sinclair Russell's room, sighing while drinking tea with cookies.
As promised, every morning just before sunrise, Anna went out into the garden and threw a letter addressed to Joe over the wall facing the back alley. It was impossible to get a reply from Joe, so she had no idea what was happening outside.
One of the conditions of her contract as a maid was that she would not leave this house without permission, so it couldn't be helped. Her idea that she would be able to go shopping as a maid was naive.
But other than that, the work required of Anna was extremely minimal.
One was to wear a simple dress that looked expensive yet had a subdued design. There were many kinds of these dresses, and she could choose whichever one she liked from the ones stored in the closet. It was a little big for Anna, but not so big that it looked strange.
Another was to tie her hair up neatly and tie it with a lace that matched the dress. The way to tie her hair was fixed, and on the day she was hired, the head maid had her practice it all day. When it was finished, it looked quite mature and she was satisfied with it herself.
And another was to call the mistress of this house, Sinclair Russell, 'Mother' and take care of her.
That was all her work. Mrs. Russell's legs were weak and she couldn't walk on her own. She was always sitting in a rocking chair, and when she moved out of the room, she was in a wheelchair made of sturdy oak.
And the old lady who never lost her gentle smile… had some memory problems. In front of this old lady, Anna had to spend her time as Cynthia Russell.
According to the head maid, Cynthia was Mrs. Russell's deceased daughter.
When Anna looked up, Mrs. Russell was looking at her with a happy smile.
"You know, Cynthia, let's take a walk in the garden today. The roses in the garden are beautiful this time of year."
She completely believed Anna was Cynthia. The maid recruitment for this house was, in other words, a job to act as Mrs. Russell's daughter and take care of her.
"Yes, Mother."
As she had been taught by the head maid, Anna was pretending to be a quiet and obedient daughter. The deceased daughter had apparently had magnificent red hair. And the clothes she was wearing now were all her deceased daughter's. With Mrs. Russell's summons, she and the head maid put her in a wheelchair and went out into the garden. The February wind in this royal capital of Sears, which was close to the sea, was damp and cold.
"Oh, it's so cold… Cynthia, aren't you cold?"
"No, I'm not cold. How about you, Mother?"
"I'm fine, you're here… Oh, Cynthia, the roses are beautiful, aren't they?"
"They really are beautiful."
The garden was in a terrible state. Of course, there were no roses anywhere. Mrs. Russell was living only in her own beautiful memories. That was very sad for Anna.
There were mounds of earth everywhere, creating small hills. The butler, a man with a mean look in his eyes, had said they were lending it out as a dirt storage area for a nearby construction site, but this situation was too terrible.
"Mother, it's bad for your health, let's go back?"
"Yes, if you say so, let's."
Anna returned to the room from the desolate garden and closed the glass door of the terrace. The cold wind was blocked, and the air warmed by the fireplace began to drift softly around them.
"Now, let's continue our tea."
"Yes."
Prompted by the lady, Anna returned to her seat again. She had come here with the intention of solving the case of the disappearing red-haired maids, but Anna had yet to find any clues.
There was the fact that she couldn't ask anything in Mrs. Russell's overly pitiful situation, but the main reason was just one thing: she had no idea what to investigate and how.
In the first place, she had never done an infiltration investigation. She had gotten into the mood after hearing various stories about infiltration investigations from Altman, but hearing about it and actually doing it were two different things.
Every time she was about to get discouraged, thinking she wasn't cut out for it, she would remember Ritz's calm and cold words, 'If you decided to become a maid on a whim, it would be a nuisance to the other party too,' and would steel herself against her crumbling resolve.
Besides, even from Anna's perspective, this house was strange. While there was a master named Mrs. Russell, Anna had never once seen the butler and his nephew show her any respect.
The head maid seemed to be taking care of the lady reluctantly, and the middle-aged maid didn't even try to hide her attitude that taking care of the lady was boring.
And every night when Anna went to sleep, she could hear the sound of something being hit continuously. It sounded like it was coming from far away and also from nearby, which was concerning. It also seemed to be coming from underground, but there was no basement in this house.
When she asked the head maid, she said it was the sound of a nearby construction site, but it still felt too close.
She wrote all of this in her daily letters to Joe. Maybe Joe showed these letters to Ritz or Franz? If she did, did they figure anything out?
Thinking that, Anna suddenly found it amusing. There was no way Joe would show them to the two of them. Joe still couldn't stand Franz. So there was no way she would show them to Franz.
And she had told Joe, absolutely not to tell Ritz. She had been extremely shocked by Ritz's attitude, and she wanted him to understand that.
…But when I think about it, isn't that just me being spoiled towards Ritz?
Thinking about it made her dislike herself, so Anna shut that thought out of her mind.
Even so, where on earth had the maids who had disappeared gone? What on earth had happened to them, who had been doing the same job as Anna?
Except when she was in this room, Anna constantly felt like she was being watched. So it didn't seem possible to investigate the house.
Not knowing what to do, Anna asked the front of Mrs. Russell, who was drinking tea in her wheelchair.
"Mother, they say a maid has gone missing. Do you know anything?"
She wasn't expecting a reply. She had just said it to Mrs. Russell because she had no one else to talk to.
"Oh, how terrible. Which house?"
There was a reaction. She hurriedly connected her words without thinking.
"Umm… it seems to be in this neighborhood."
"…Is she a young girl?"
"Yes, Mother. They say she's about my age."
When Anna replied so, the lady reached out and touched Anna's cheek.
"How scary. A young girl is missing, you say? You must be careful too, Cynthia."
"Yes, Mother."
"Please, please, Cynthia, don't disappear, okay? You'll stay by Mother's side, won't you?"
The lady looked at Anna anxiously. Maybe she had asked something she shouldn't have.
"Of course. Mother, why don't you rest a little?"
"Ah, Cynthia, I will."
Anna pushed Mrs. Russell's wheelchair and placed it next to the bed. The bed was made low, and with just Anna's assistance, the lady could get back into bed on her own.
"Good night, Mother."
"Good night, Cynthia."
Anna left Mrs. Russell's room and closed the door. A big sigh escaped her. She had no idea what to do from now on. She turned around with a sigh and found the middle-aged maid standing in front of her.
"!"
Anna, who had felt no sound or presence, jumped without thinking. The maid just stared at her silently. There was no friendliness in her eyes. On the contrary, there was hatred in them.
"Who are you?"
"…I… wanted to be a maid…"
"Don't lie to me!"
At the feeling of hatred directed at her for the first time, Anna froze. Her question to Mrs. Russell had been overheard.
"Really, I just came as a maid. It's just that I heard a rumor that a maid was missing…"
The woman didn't seem to listen to the excuse that came out of her at all.
"…Hmph, I figured out a long time ago that was a lie."
"It's not a lie!"
Anna said so desperately, but she couldn't escape the woman's cold, mocking laughter.
"Oh yes, it is. We knew from the moment we hired you that you were up to something. That's why we deliberately hired you to see what you were up to."
Her blood ran cold. She had never even considered that they had known from the beginning. She had no idea what to do, how to make excuses to change this situation.
In the first place, Anna was not good at making excuses or telling lies.
Anna steeled herself and looked up at the woman.
"…How did you know?"
The voice that came out of her throat, dry with tension, was more hoarse than she had expected. At Anna's state, the woman, confident of her superiority, sneered.
"There's no way a refined lady like you would be in the slums, is there?"
Such a thing… she had never even considered.
"I don't know what you were thinking coming here, but you can't escape anymore, you know? How many companions do you think I have?"
She instinctively thought she had to run. But she had no idea how to escape. She could use a water sphere, but if she didn't know how many enemies there were, she didn't know what to do after that. A water sphere could buy her time, but she didn't think it would be effective in escaping from this house.
Using a Water Dragon was also an option, but there was a possibility of involving the unsuspecting Mrs. Russell.
If I don't run, I'll be killed… but I don't know how to run. Above all, the greatest fear was… the fact that help would never come.
All alone among the enemy….
In her swirling, confused mind, Anna faced the inescapable terror for the first time. I have to buy time somehow….
"Are you going to kill me?"
"…Who knows."
The woman looked down at Anna with a hateful expression.
"…If you kill me, there will be serious consequences."
Such words came out of her mouth without thinking. She suddenly remembered what Joe had said about the rumor about her in the slums. She remembered hearing that there was a rumor in the slums that Anna was an undercover investigator for the Military Police and a master spirit user….
Anna took a deep breath to calm herself. Calm down, if I calm down, I might be able to do something….
"What do you mean, serious consequences?"
"…If something happens to me… the Military Police Third Division, First Platoon will move."
She had blurted out the name of Altman's squad without meaning to.
"What did you say?"
"The special investigation unit. You know about them, right?"
Anna said so, then clasped her palms together in front of her chest and concentrated. She murmured softly.
"Oh, water spirit who governs peace and healing, grant me your protection…"
"What, who are you!"
As she slowly opened her palms, a water sphere was born there, swirling.
"A... a spirit user!"
Towards the woman who was about to run away in fear, Anna threw the water sphere. The woman's scream and the sound of the water sphere splashing overlapped. At that size, it wouldn't be a fatal wound. If she had companions, she would surely be saved.
Anna apologized in her heart and ran towards the entrance. Hearing the woman's scream, men started coming out one after another. About ten of them.
Where on earth had they been? She hadn't noticed at all. She threw a few water spheres and knocked down the men, but they were just weak water spheres, so there was no end to it.
When she realized, Anna was completely cornered. In front of her was the man who had introduced himself as the butler of this house.
"…So you were a pawn of the Military Police…"
"…Not a pawn, a companion…"
In this desperate situation, Anna glared at the man. This was the only way she could resist. As she tried to back away, she felt a sharp impact on the back of her head.
In an instant, the impact turned into a hot, intense pain.
She realized she had been hit from behind just as the floor was in front of her. The impact of hitting the floor was transmitted directly to her body.
A different pain ran down her back. She had been stepped on.
"Ugh…"
As she groaned in pain, a kick came next. A merciless attack. Unable to dodge, Anna tensed her body. The middle-aged maid flashed in the corner of her vision. The drenched woman was stomping on and kicking Anna. Was she the one who had hit her too?
She thought about that, but her body wouldn't move. After a while of that violence, her consciousness gradually faded. As she was, she could hear the men talking as they looked down at her in her fading consciousness.
"That's enough."
"But you, I was put through a terrible ordeal! I'm not satisfied!"
"…She's an important guest. If we keep her alive, she might be useful in an emergency."
The man who had been called the butler looked down at the fallen Anna and laughed as if it were funny.
"I forbid you to lay a hand on this woman. The Military Police have a strong sense of camaraderie. She's a hostage for when the time comes. Until we get the treasure and get out of here, tie her up in the dungeon."
If what he said was true, it seemed she had bought some time for a while. At least if she was alive, she might be able to do something. If they couldn't contact her, Joe would probably consult with Ritz.
Now that it had come to this, all she could do was pray that Ritz and Franz would come to her rescue.
In her gradually fading consciousness, she suddenly remembered something she had said to Ritz before setting out on her journey.
'Ritz-san, I won't be a burden…'
I'm being a huge burden to Ritz. The murmur in her heart was not heard by anyone.