Chapter 76 - Episode 19: "Maidens, to the Front!"
Good day. I am Violia Nico Fortesia.
Before my very eyes, ten beautiful girls who "were" slaves are currently standing in a daze.
Well, I suppose that is only natural. They had approached this training with the understanding that "if they succeeded in the mission, they would be liberated from their slave status." It is only natural for them to be stunned.
"As of this moment, you are no longer slaves. No matter where you go or what you do, I no longer have the right or anything else to stop you."
Saki-sama, having removed the collars from all ten of them, distributed identity cards to each one.
...Just as the collar was proof of being a slave, these were proof of being commoners. Having received their identity cards, they are now, without a doubt, no longer slaves.
"W-What does this mean? The mission? Was it not decided that whether we would be deployed for the mission depended on the results of the test? And that if we succeeded in that mission, we would be liberated from our slave status...?"
"I... I... I have never heard of such a thing!"
"Violia-sama! Please, say something!"
The slaves who had shared joys and sorrows with me for seven days... or rather, whom I had spent time with while praising and pampering them, were more perplexed than joyful at being liberated. It is a grand success!
"As I said before, you are all free now. You are no longer slaves."
When I said it once more, all ten of them were simply bewildered; some were even on the verge of tears...
"That being said, I have a 'request.' ...I ask that you 'please accomplish the mission.'"
...The moment I said that, they gasped, and their expressions changed individually.
"This is a 'request' from someone who has no right to command you. You are perfectly free to refuse."
...Well, this is a gamble, too. This.
There is no guarantee that those I have liberated from slavery will work as I say.
That is precisely why I have hidden the fact that this is Elsemarin (I conducted all movement while keeping them inside the Spatial Bag. As long as they do not leave the mansion, they have no way of knowing where this is), so that even if they were to accidentally escape, they would not know our location.
But...
"...That is right. I am no longer a slave."
The one I had raised into a young lady... no, she, said.
"I! Having been raised by Violia-sama! I have become the daughter of a jeweler!"
Ah... she has become splendid and beautiful. To think she was originally a boy is almost unbelievable...!
With all ten of them responding favorably and enthusiastically to my "request," saying they "definitely want to do it," my grand success was guaranteed.
From now on, as planned, they will take their respective mission posts and develop passionate love with someone from House Hornbone!
...Through their speech training, they certainly give off a sense of peculiar refinement and intelligence that differs from mere village or town girls!
Through their walking training, they have achieved an appearance that somehow draws the eye just by walking!
And! Through the education I crammed into them! These ten slaves... no! These maidens who are no longer slaves have transformed into wonderful ladies who will surely meet the standards of those House Hornbone fellows!
I am certain they will do well!
"Now, maidens! To the front!"
I lined them all up and stored them one after another into the Spatial Bag from behind!
And now, straight to the Royal Capital! I shall proceed with high spirits!
And so, we have arrived at the Royal Capital.
It is a distance that takes less than a day from Elsemarin. It really is convenient, isn't it?
On the outskirts of the Royal Capital, I repeated the act of taking out one maiden from the Spatial Bag, confirming the plan, and releasing her into the capital ten times. Afterward, I went to bury Red Gold Coins in the locations I told each of them: "Look here once everything is over."
I suppose you could call it the funds necessary for them to live from now on. For the time being, if one is a commoner, a single Red Gold Coin is enough to live for two or three years without doing anything.
...With that, I am now simply staying hidden. I do not know when or if someone targeting me might show up. I should not be wandering around the Royal Capital. I shall wait in a suitably rented, dilapidated warehouse!
The ones moving openly in the Royal Capital will be the members other than myself.
First, the debt collector, Giovan.
It would not be strange for him to be loitering around House Hornbone, so I shall have him do so.
...That is right! Those bastards from House Hornbone! Wonderfully enough, they did not come to return the money!
Even though I had slaves waiting in Marylance so they could return the money, I have received a sad bird-letter from those slaves saying, "They aren't coming! The debt is being evaded!"
Therefore, Giovan will become a debt collector of the underworld, loitering around House Hornbone and the Royal Capital, and every time he finds a passionate love or scandal involving the maidens, he will spread it to the world.
Next. The trickster, Keeb.
He remains a boy this time... Yes, I do not want Keeb to stand out too much. I shall use him only when it is absolutely necessary.
So, Keeb's role is that of a trickster. In short, he will help the maidens if they are in trouble, or maneuver things so that the House Hornbone fellows are troubled and have the maidens help them to get closer.
Or perhaps, he will act as a shadow protector to ensure that the maidens, who are playing the role of holding a baby and saying "This is your child!" to House Hornbone members who have no memory of such a thing, are not subjected to violence. That sort of work.
Since he was originally an assassin, he is perfect for working in hiding. Also, it would be the best if he would become a girl for this... well, I shall refrain from being selfish.
...And so, I am simply waiting in the dilapidated warehouse.
Just in case, or rather, Doran, Chesta, and Onii-sama are with me. Since it is boring just waiting, I draped a cloth over some wooden boxes rolling around to make an improvised table, and we enjoy the tea I brewed along with the sweets I brought.
...Being able to use fire magic is convenient, as I can boil water at times like this.
At a suitable time, Giovan returned with food. A massive amount of it.
While one portion is enough for me or Keeb, Onii-sama eats two portions, and Chesta eats three. And Doran easily eats about four portions. On the other hand, Giovan seems fine even if he skips several meals, as if he lives by eating mist. (T/N: "Eating mist" is an idiom for living on air/being a hermit). It makes no sense. All of you, please become a bit more average.
In any case, while eating the food that was brought, we are simply playing a waiting game.
For dinner, I naturally took it out of the Spatial Bag. A thick, rich potage soup, delicious baguettes, meat slowly roasted at a low temperature, and an omelet full of vegetables. It has become a luxury that is impossible for a dinner in a dilapidated warehouse.
If you keep food in a bag that cannot hold living things, it will not go bad; it is quite a convenient thing.
...And just then, Giovan and Keeb returned!
"It was amusing. That one playing the jeweler's daughter. She was shouting in front of the gate while holding a baby, 'Fawn-sama, show your face! It's your child!' I almost abandoned the debt collection myself out of sheer amusement."
Ah, he... no, she, did well. How deeply moving...
"Was that okay? It sounds like she'd be kicked out by the guards."
"While being kicked out, she was shouting, 'Fawn-sama! Was the love you whispered to me a lie?! Who is that woman?! Was the talk of making me your spouse a lie?!' and drawing a lot of attention. That kid is quite the actor."
If she did that in the center of the noble district of the Royal Capital, she must have drawn quite a bit of attention from the other nobles... I can easily imagine it.
"Over here, the hunter did well. The head of the house went out hunting to escape the debt collectors. They met there, and while he was being seduced, a daughter of a local noble discovered them. A scene ensued."
Ah, it seems those children are doing well.
In this operation, I arranged for each of them to be both a "party involved" and a "witness."
Therefore, those children themselves become the testifiers and the seeds of rumors... rubbing scandals that House Hornbone may or may not have a memory of onto them!
"Also, the sister. That was good. She ran up to comfort the boy playing the jeweler's daughter while he was being kicked out and breaking down in tears, but upon hearing the circumstances, she got enraged because she herself was Fawn's mistress, and from there, a grand protest against House Hornbone by the sister. It was perfectly executed."
"I thought it would be good to use those two as a set."
After firmly gathering attention, exposing the fact that even a member of the clergy had fallen prey to House Hornbone's poisonous fangs.
Two beautiful girls breaking down in tears and the troubled guards. And the onlookers who firmly witness all of this... Ah, I wish I could have seen that scene myself...!
The sabotage activities by the maidens continued through the night (rather, for this sort of thing, the night is when the real show begins...), and by the next morning, the head of House Hornbone, Fawn, and even Fawn's younger brother had fled. At their destination, they had warm encounters with village girls, further increasing the scandals... Chased by the debt collector Giovan, they finally ended up paying part of the money, and what awaited the House Hornbone bastards who hurried back to the Royal Capital was a series of romances and scandals they had no memory of...
...Perfect!