「Aria, your new job has been decided.」

「........」

After Elena returned to the capital, the “job” that Viro brought me here for should have ended, but for some reason a new job had been decided for me when I was summoned by the high ranked butler.

.

▼ High Ranked Butler?? Race : Human

【Magic Power : 185/190】【Stamina : 332/350】

【Overall Combat Strength : 1216 (With Body Strengthening : 1550)】

.

He was strong just like my first impression of him, but most likely this man was a perfect example of what Viro said, that combat strength value couldn’t be relied on. He only trained in scout type skills and his magic power capacity wasn’t high, so his combat strength was inferior to Feld, but the strength that I felt from him wasn’t inferior in any way compared to Feld.

Perhaps the high ranked butler noticed that I used Appraisal on him. His gaze on me narrowed slightly.

「Her highness the princess has personally told us to allow you to be free. But, we can’t possibly allow you who know about us to roam free unchecked. And so we shall give you the same position like Viro, an adventurer who is a 『collaborator』 with us.」

「....Understood.」

I felt somewhat dissatisfied that he decided this as he pleased. But if I refused, this man surely wouldn’t let me off even if doing that would cause the princess to deal with him. However, if I thought of this as being able to obtain client and connection while keeping my position as a free adventurer, this wasn’t that bad. The problem was....my involvement with nobility would increase.

Even so I chose to face the nobility instead of running away. That was why in order to prepare myself for when the time of “oath” came, I couldn’t be picky with my choice in order to obtain the strength to oppose what was in my way even if I was alone.

「What is the request for me?」

「Your task is to infiltrate a noble house as maid and resolve the problem that is currently occurring there. The time period is one month at the site. This isn’t a task with high importance. This task is for me to ascertain whether your trustworthiness can be relied on just like Sera said or not. Even if you failed only one noble daughter will die as a result, so it’s not that important of a matter for the country.」

The death of a single noble daughter wasn’t important....?

「Roger, ....boss?」

「I’m not the boss of this organization. If it’s turn out that you can be trusted, then we will have a chance to meet again. Just call me Grave.」

「Roger, Grave-san. And the location?」

It wasn’t like I wanted to join the organization, so I wasn’t interested with who the boss was, but the pressure from speaking with Grave was too strong that it was tiring, so I finished the conversation quickly.

I didn’t have any intention with poking my nose into noble’s problem, but I didn’t plan to do half-assed work. And then after hearing where the location was, I got just slightly motivated to do this task that was imposed on me.

The work location was Baron Seylace’s territory. That place was where the sorcery teacher who taught that woman lived.

.

The problem that occurred in Baron Seylace’s territory was the 『monstrous person』 that started to appear since half a year ago.

Although it was called as monstrous person, it wasn’t a type of monster. It was thought that it might be a “person”. This monstrous person seemed to be infatuated with the baron’s daughter and appeared near her room night after night. It seemed that it left 『bloody handprint』 in her room without getting detected by the guards. ....Was the culprit really human?

There was no effect even when a maid was stationed there at night. The lady was extremely scared by the happenings. The baron was scared that a strange rumor about his unmarried daughter would spread due to this case, so he couldn’t make a request to knight and adventurers. The greatly troubled baron then secretly asked for help from his caregiver Margrave Dandall. This request got bounced from place to place until it got foisted on me.

The request’s detail was to 『solve the problem』, but it seemed that Grave was thinking that it couldn’t be helped even if the problem couldn’t be solved. It seemed this kind of work wasn’t the field of Sera and Grave’s organization, but in the first place I still hadn’t been told just what kind of organization they belonged to. ....Though I had my guess about it.

With Elena’s return to the capital, the gathered servants and helpers were starting the removal and dismantling work, but I ended up departing to here immediately without helping out with them.

It didn’t take that long for me to prepare. I went to my temporary base in the forest, stuffed the money that I hid there, the dried poisonous grasses and medicinal herbs into my bag, then I appraised my own ability before departing.

.

▼ Aria (Alicia)?? Race : Human??–? Rank 2 △ 1UP

【Magic Power : 130/135】△ 20 UP【Stamina : 67/80】△ 16 UP

【Strength : 5 (6)】△ 1UP【Endurance : 6 (7)】【Agility : 7 (8)】【Dexterity : 7】△ 1UP

《Short Sword Skill Level 1》《Martial Art Level 2》△ 1UP《Throwing Level 1》《String Control Level 1》NEW

《Light Sorcery Level 1》》《Darkness Magic Level 2》△ 1UP《Non-Elemental Magic Level 2》△ 1UP

《Daily Life Magic×６》《Magic Power Control Level 2》

《Pressure Level 2》《Stealth Level 1》《Night Vision Level 1》《Search Level 1》《Poison Resistance Level 1》NEW

《Simple Appraisal》

【Overall Combat Strength : 98 (With Body Strengthening : 111)】△ 36 UP

.

My overall combat strength had increased quite a lot and I finally became level 2. My magic power capacity increased and I obtained several new skills, but as expected what increased my combat strength was thanks to my increase in status. Especially dexterity that directly affected combat skill, so there was quite drastic difference with my combat strength even with dexterity increasing just by one.

Did my status increase because my Martial Art rose to level 2? No matter how much my magic power grew, I never even dreamed that my close quarter combat skill would become level 2 before I turn ten years old.

Even Darkness Magic also turned into level 2. Rather than saying that it was the result of me continuously analyzing the structure of magic instead of sorcery, it might be because the magic Pain that I used that time was equivalent to level 2 magic.

The new skills that I learned were String Control and Poison Resistance. I had trained Poison Resistance since some time ago, but the direct cause that made it gave birth to result was the poison that I fully experienced in my fight against the female thief.

The String Control might be because of the pendulum. It looked like I learned the skill easily, but thinking back, I had been manipulating the weighted cord all this time for several months, so rather than saying I learned it easily, it was more like finally.

There was nothing particular to do before I departed. I would be able to meet with Viro again anyway in the future if I kept doing this work. I also wanted to learn more about adventurer’s movement, but he had taught me the minimum so I’d learn the rest somehow with my own effort. Similarly I should also have chances to meet Sera in the future. However Seo took the trouble to come meet with me when he heard that I was going to depart first.

「Aria, I’ll also go to the capital when I turn 12. And then I’ll come for you. I have something to tell you then.」

「You can’t say it now?」

「Yep, at the very least I want to be taller than Aria as a man before I tell you-!」

What was it? Was there something that would happen when he turned 12? I didn’t really understand Seo’s behavior but, even at that orphanage before someone got sold, orphans who were close with each other would cry saying that they didn’t want to part with each other, so other children surely could also act like that. Seo ran away with bright red face. As I saw off his back, I too was feeling slightly sad that I had to part with my little brother.

.

I quickly sorted out my belongings and left this mansion where I had lived for one month with only a small trunk.

If there was a problem then it was about my outfit. The old clothes that I wore had gotten worn out from the battle against the hobgoblin, so I didn’t have any personal clothes. When I tried to borrow Seo’s clothes because I had no other option, Sera allowed me to bring maid uniforms with me. There was no guarantee that there would be work clothes that suited me at my destination, and if I took off the apron dress and changed the blouse inside with cheap thing, it would like I was wearing a casual outfit.

If I was going to travel, it would be easier if I dressed as a man, but my body grew again due to my magic power and now I didn’t look like 『ten years old with small build』 anymore, my appearance had completely become 『ten years old girl』. My hair had grown so fast that it was unpleasant until it reached my shoulder, so I wouldn’t look like a boy anymore unless I hid my hair.

It was troublesome so I wanted to cut my hair, but Sera admonished me because it would be convenient to have longer hair seeing that I would disguise myself as maid. And for some reason I was made to promise Seo that I wouldn’t cut it, so I departed with my appearance as it was.

I was wearing an unbleached blouse and a black dress that reached until my ankles over it. My feet were wearing high laced boots. My weaponries were hidden under my skirt and my sleeves, so I shouldn’t look like someone armed from the outside.

The small trunk was a farewell gift that I got from Meena. It was a small thing that already got full after it was filled with my maid uniforms and blouses for change of clothes, but its making was solid even though it was old, so in the worst case I could use it like a shield.

It would take three weeks by walking or two weeks using carriage from this place that was located at the edge of Dandall until Baron Seylace’s territory. I was more or less told to arrive as quickly as possible, but it seemed that the baron house had been notified three days ago that I would arrive in one month, so I still had some leeway.

A normal traveler usually only had one option when travelling. They had to travel with horse carriage that had guards against monster, but the market price for transportation until Baron Seylace’s territory was five silver coins. And there was also additional cost where the carriage passenger was forced to stay at the inns that partnered with the carriage. I had received fifteen silver coins as my payment as maid apprentice and five gold coins as hazard pay and cash reward, but I wouldn’t be paid for the next job until the case was resolved, so I didn’t want to waste money too much.

I arrived at Dandall’s capital after walking for half a day from the lakeshore castle. Normally a traveler would stay for a night there if they arrived at evening, but I had no intention of staying in an inn. I only replenished my supply with portable food and a bit of salt from the city’s food stall before leaving immediately.

Midway, I was finally able to see a huge castle of Dandall that was like a fortress from nearby. Was the Ojou-sama of Dandall House that I didn’t see at all from around the third days in that castle? Unlike Elena and me who only had knowledge, that girl was unnatural with how she was acting like a real adult.

I had caught the genuine wariness toward Elena and me from her eyes. And yet she was acting scared like a victim which irritated Elena. When she stopped showing herself, the handmaids who were troubled by the awkward atmosphere seemed like they were relieved at the inside.

I should be wary toward her. Perhaps....she would become Elena’s “enemy” by some chance.

The soldier at the gate tried to stop me when I tried to leave the city at the evening after I finished my shopping because I was a child, but when I showed my adventurer guild tag, he gave up and let me passed.

Someone who was only a rank 1 adventurer like me had to pay one silver coin when entering the city, and I would get investigated when going out.

But this time I had letter of introduction from the high ranked butler for Baron Seylace, so I would be treated like a semi noble until there and didn’t need to pay the toll. But, it would be better that I didn’t really rely on this kind of thing in the future. Needless trouble might come visiting if other people found out that I was close to nobility, and in the first place setting aside Sera and Seo, it was impossible for me to completely trust that organization.

One day....the time that I had to fight that high ranked butler might also come. I had to become as strong as possible until then.

「....fuu」

I reflexively breathed out when I finally got out of the city. I wasn’t good staying in a place with too many people. Even though I was wearing this maid uniform in a way that made it looked like personal clothes, its fabric had good quality and didn’t really look like the belonging of a commoner, so it attracted the attention of the citizens. Surely among them there were also people who simply felt worried for a child like me, but there were also adults who wouldn’t hesitate to prey on children, so I couldn’t let my guard down.

I passed several travelers and carriages at the outskirt of the city, but the sky had become completely dark after I walked for around one hour and there was nobody around anymore. In exchange I could hear the sounds of animals faintly. After I walked for one more hour, it had completely become night and I finally erased my presence to blend into the darkness where I began to run.

As I thought perhaps because my body was getting bigger, it felt like my running was getting faster than before. My stamina was also increasing so I thought that I could continue running for several hours if it was with a jogging pace, but I recalled that it wasn’t like I was in a hurry, so I kept my pace to a degree that wouldn’t make me sweat. I felt more comfortable travelling only at night like usual, but travelling only at night through a route that I was passing for the first time brought a risk of me taking the wrong path.

I only intended to run lightly, but I was still sweating some. I confirmed that there was no danger around me and wetted a cloth with Water and wiped my body ‘s sweat. I only had a few change of clothes, so it wouldn’t be good if I sweated too much. Considering that, it made me wanted to learn Clean quickly. Even Elena was able to use level 2 light sorcery, so I too should be able to learn it.

I climbed a tree in a forest and slept on a thick branch tonight. Perhaps because I had been eating good food recently, the area around my waist felt slightly heavy. It wasn’t to a degree that bothered me, but it made me felt that there was a slightly soft part forming there, so I only ate black bread and water tonight before going to sleep.

.

The next morning I also woke up a moment before the morning sun rose. Just in case I tried sniffing my body’s odor, but I judged that it wasn’t at the level where I needed to change yet. I only wiped my body with a wet cloth again and left it at that.

Ahead from this area wasn’t the territory of Margrave Dandall. It was just a forest that wasn’t a territory of any noble.

Knights and soldiers were patrolling until this area, but this area could be called as a lawless zone until I entered the next noble territory. It was safer to travel inside the forest, but it would be problematic if my good quality skirt got frayed. Besides monster might appeared in this place. It would be fine if it was only something like goblin, but it would be better to be in a wide place when dealing against unknown monster.

「....There is something.」

As I walked through the highway and some time had passed since the morning sun rose, I heard a sound of conflict from the front. But that wasn’t what attracted my attention. When I stopped walking at the middle of the highway, three dirty men hurriedly appeared from inside the forest with unsheathed swords.

「Oi, you girl──」

*Hyun!!*

A throwing knife that was hidden in my sleeve stabbed the throat of the man in the distance. His life was easily snuffed out before he could finish speaking and he crumbled down.

....Two more people.

「O-oi!?」

The remaining two men spoke with a flustered tone seeing the man suddenly collapsed.

Both of them had combat strength around 60. Looking at the situation and their equipments, these guys must be bandits. Of course it was also possible they might be something else, but they were lying in ambush at the side of highway that was far away from the city like this. They also approached a girl with weapons unsheathed. From there I judged that they were hostile.

「H-he’s dead!」

「What did you say, is it this brat who killed him-!?」

「W-wait, something is wrong with her!」

One of the men ignored his friend’s warning and charged forward. But──

(....Slow.)

His movement was dull. Didn’t he have any skill for fighting? The current me could make my bodily experience of the flow of time to be twenty percent slower using body strengthening, but even before that, this man who couldn’t even do a decent footwork felt very “slow” to me.

「──Feel──」

「Gyah!?」

The man who should be heading toward me brimming with anger suddenly dropped his short sword and pressed his hands on his eye. There was no pain or damage, the man only suddenly felt that his 『eyeball was touched』. It confused him and made him stop charging. I leaped forward at that moment and my black knife tore the man’s neck with a caress.

One more left. I slipped beside the man before blood spurted out from his wound and approached the last man.

「W-what the hell is this bratttt!?」

The last man screamed in confusion because his two friends were killed in the blink of eye. He threw away his rusty axe and ran away without any concern of appearance to the direction ahead where someone was fighting.

「........」

I was going to throw a knife to his back but stopped in the middle. With my throwing skill, the furthest I could hit where I aimed was five meters. Any further than that and the damage would be light even if it hit.

I collected the throwing knife from the man that I killed first and wiped the blood clot on the man’s clothes before rummaging the belonging of the men. I confirmed that they didn’t really have anything to show their identity before chasing after the fleeing man.

Normally I wouldn’t chase after a fleeing bandit. Even if I was at the advantage at the start, it was possible that the table would be turned depending on the enemy’s comrades who were waiting at where the bandit escaped to.

I didn’t let my guard down. I also didn’t get conceited. I’d kill with certainty when it was possible to do so. But, the comrade of the man was fighting “someone” ahead from here. It was unrelated with me, but from the perspective of those people, it would look like I chased away an enemy and pushed him toward them. There would be no problem if they were strong, even so it also wouldn’t be desirable if it made them felt resentment toward me or they got defeated and all the enemies became pointed at me.

....It couldn’t be helped. I chased after the fleeing man so that no other problem would occur later.

There were three young men who became adventurer in this spring. The three of them came from a family that was serving as a servant of a certain baron house. Because they weren’t the eldest son, they gave up trying to become servants and ran away from their birthplace before they could get driven away from home.

Even if they remained there, they would only become the baron’s soldiers at best. They had also received combat training since childhood for that, but they grew impudent when they obtained combat skill at fourteen years old before they became adult. In the end they chose the path to become adventurer. But, there was no work for green adventurer at Dandall that was the biggest metropolis at the north. Even if there was, all of the works were only some kind of chores. The young men thought that they couldn’t make use of their strength like that and departed toward the noble territory along the border that was close to the monster habitat to hunt monster.

Young people like them had no experience of killing people although they had received combat training. Even so they thought that they would be able to easily route enemies like bandits if they were attacked. But reality wasn’t as nice as they expected.

The combat strength of bandits that were made up of former villagers who went hungry didn’t even reach 60. The young men’s combat strengths were nearly 100, but the bandits had three times their number and they had stamina from doing farm work their whole life. The fierce attack of the bandits was gradually cornering the young men.

The number of the enemies increased again in the middle of that fight. That bandit who was acting as lookout looked terribly panicked, but when the bandit leader looked back at the direction the lookout came from, he grinned vulgarly seeing the person who was walking to this way. The young man among the three who was the only one capable using Appraisal felt disappointed seeing the person’s appearance and combat strength.

That person was wearing a good quality dress like a noble’s servant. She was still a young girl.

Her appearance looked like she was around ten years old, but looking at her composed bearing, she might be a bit older than that. But, what attracted the interest of them and the bandit leader was the “atmosphere” the girl was clad in.

The girl had a good look that could be called beautiful and a languid air. She strangely 『had an atmosphere』 around her. It made them thought that she would definitely become a beauty in the near future just from a glance.

The bandit leader grinned because he thought that he would get a good price if he sold her. As for the young men, they were disappointed not only because the girl’s combat strength couldn’t be counted on, they thought that he would only become a burden in this battle.

The girl’s combat strength was around 100, the same like the young men, but most likely she was a sorcerer. She was travelling on the highway alone so she must have confidence in her skill, but low ranked sorcerer who was a rich person that trained only to kill time often wasn’t useful in battle. Furthermore her outer appearance was that of a lovely girl who didn’t seem like she could even kill an insect, so the young men who hoped for help to come were completely disappointed.

The young men and bandits thought based on their own standard, held expectation on their own and got disappointed on their own too. But the action that the girl took smashed the common sense that they all held.

.

Nobody could comprehend what was going on at the start. The girl only lightly swung her hand, but with that the fleeing man started spurting out blood from his carotid artery and fell.

Everyone’s movement unconsciously stopped. Amidst that only the girl alone was continuing to walk and swung her hand again. With that the necks of the nearby bandits were torn. Seeing the blades that were lodged in their eyes when they were falling, they finally realized that the “attack” came from the girl.

「K-kill that brat-!!」

The bandit leader yelled angrily. It pushed the bandits to start moving disorderly. But, the bandits who were as angry as the leader could be counted in one hand. The majority of them were getting cold feet. After all the like of bandits were only failed farmer who lost their living place. They were fellows who didn’t have the guts to live properly and strayed to the easy way. There was no way such people could move as one. They were scared by the unknown girl who killed people while walking without any emotion.

「UAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

A bandit charged forward while shouting and pointing his short sword at the girl. The girl bent his upper body to dodge the blade and took out a black knife from her leg. She then rose up and at the same time slashed the neck of the man who lost his balance from overreaching.

The girl stepped forward before the man finished falling and muttered something. Then a nearby bandit pressed his hands on both his eyes in surprise. The girl moved and stabbed her knife from below his jaw until his brain.

What was terrifying was how the girl hadn’t broken into a run at all. Even though it only looked like she was walking calmly, she dodged the bandits’ attacks glidingly before instantly moving forward and cutting them down.

After getting beaten up that badly, two bandits finally tried attacking at the same time. But the girl’s skirt fluttered softly in that instant. When the gazes of the men were drawn three for a moment, the two men had their eyeballs and throats pierced by throwing knives and they fell. The girl was watching that going on with a questioning gaze.

It was as though she was asking 『I don’t understand how can you die with just this much』 with her look. The young men’s complexion worsened when they noticed that.

The young men couldn’t even try to assist since the girl appeared. Honestly speaking they found the girl terrifying and unable to get close to her. How was she able to kill human easily? Was human something that died this easily? Even though the girl’s combat strength should be around the same with them, there was no hesitation in the girl’s blade. She was easily killing the bandits where they were unable to kill even one just now.

The young men feared that their lives would be reaped as easily as the bandits.

「....u, UaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?」

「I didn’t sign up for this!!」

When the number of the bandits was reduced to four, they finally realized their disadvantage. Two of them started running away.

「You bastards, wa──」

*hyun-!!*

The next moment, throwing knifes were buried into the backs of the two bandits. They fell on the ground and screamed.

When they looked toward the direction where the knife flew from, her spread out skirt was in the middle of gently falling down. Without even any time to comprehend the meaning of that, the girl tore the neck of a nearby man who was standing dumbfounded with her knife.

「Y-you....」

Only the bandit leader who was around fifty years old was remaining in this place, but he fell on his butt from fear.

This man was only a bandit leader because he had his men with him. He was domineering when amidst the former farmers turned bandits, but when in the presence of a real warrior who was stronger than him, he forced himself to make a ingratiating smile to butter up the other side.

*Hyun!*

Everyone thought that the girl wouldn’t kill someone who had lost their will to fight. But the girl tore the bandit leader’s neck with her knife without any change in her expression.

The girl didn’t even glance at the bandit leader who was slowly falling aside. She silently picked up the trunk that she dropped before walking toward the young men. But when she turned her gaze to the young men, she suddenly made a puzzled face again.

The young men were unable to even make any sound from fear. The girl didn’t do anything to them and walked passed them, then she finished off the bandits who was moaning in pain from the knives on their backs.

The girl immediately walked away from that place. The young men saw off her receding back and then they stayed unmoving there for several hours, surrounded by the corpses of the bandits before they finally got back on their feet sluggishly.

「....Let’s go back to our hometown.」

The young men who had learned the real thing immediately changed direction back to their hometown. After that they never thought to pick up their sword anymore.

「Hosu. What do you think of that girl from your perspective?」

「....Allow me to present my report.」

Two days after Aria departed from the lakeshore castle, this country’s prime minister and the leader of the dark side Margrave Melrose arrived. He was receiving a report from Hosu, Sera’s grandfather in a room inside that castle.

「That girl certainly has “memory” about a woman who sounded like Ojou-sama. Her information has a lot of similarity with our own investigation. In that respect, I judge that there is a high probability that she is the daughter that Ojou-sama left behind.」

Margrave Melrose, Belt received a report that his daughter who eloped with a knight apprentice to who know where before getting attacked by monsters and died had a child and that child had been found. In order to ascertain whether that girl was his true granddaughter──『Alicia』 or not, he sent Hosu who knew the face of his daughter who was that girl’s mother to confirm it. He received the report for that not at the capital or at the scene directly, but-->>

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