Volume 2, Chapter 20 – Loyal Hound

Perhaps it was because the night had grown late and the surroundings were too quiet, or perhaps because they were standing so close, but Lainia could hear the killing intent brewing in the newcomer’s voice.

Immediately afterward, several figures peeled away from the shadows beneath the vaulted ceiling.

They dropped soundlessly onto the marble floor of the corridor. Not a single crease appeared in their lace skirts, and their black-and-white uniforms looked solemn beneath the moonlight.

Blackthorn Guard Captain Riko slowly stepped out from the shadow of a colonnade.

She lowered her eyes, her crimson pupils coldly staring at the human blocking the only path to the washroom.

According to the plan arranged beforehand, the First Watch had already arrived. As agreed, they had come under secret orders to assassinate their target.

Yet by sheer coincidence, a human girl was standing directly between them and their target.

Riko looked Lainia up and down in confusion.

A human?

Why would there be a human inside a school belonging to succubi?

Even the widely experienced Captain Riko found herself puzzled.

After all, within the Abyss, humans were a scarce resource comparable to high-purity mithril.

They normally existed only as singing orioles inside the gilded cages of the Seven Electors, or as the final expensive garnish upon the Grand Duke of Gluttony’s dinner plate.

An individual like this, wearing a collar yet freely moving through the corridors, was even rarer than encountering an angel.

Was she the property of some important figure?

If so, they couldn’t casually cut her down. They would have to pay compensation afterward, and if they provoked the anger of someone important, the Family Head would definitely throw them out as target practice.

Speaking of which, the human girl before them could hardly be called presentable.

Her white apron was covered in mottled grease stains, and even her messy short hair still had bubbles of dish soap clinging to it.

Her amber eyes, however, were striking enough.

There was not the slightest trace of fear toward them in those eyes. Instead, at this moment, they burned with an alarming kind of… fighting spirit?

Riko noticed that the human girl’s fingers had curled tightly into fists, her entire posture brimming with the will to fight.

Like a vicious hound that, despite being covered from head to toe in wounds, still bared its fangs at a pride of lions.

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That posture…

Was she protecting her master?

Then what was her relationship with the target?

Riko twirled her rapier in an elegant flourish, its tip pointing toward the washroom ahead, while her black-and-white skirt remained perfectly still.

According to the Blackthorn Guard’s usual practice, expensive property received a warning first.

If it refused to listen, then they would simply cut it down together with everything else.

“Know what’s good for you, human… I’ll only say this once. If you don’t want to die, get lost.”

“Know what’s good for me?”

Lainia did not move.

She lowered her eyes, her gaze falling upon Riko’s obviously expensive black-and-white maid uniform, then looked down at her own grease-stained skirt.

They were both maids.

One served evil while dressed in splendor.

The other served her faith while sharpening her claws and fangs in the mud.

The enormous contrast made Lainia extremely unhappy.

She had already figured out exactly who these maids that had inexplicably appeared here were.

The logic could not have been clearer.

Stella Darkfallen had only just gone inside, and this group of fully armed demon maids had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

They stared at her, their words dripping with arrogance, even telling her to know what was good for her.

What did that mean?

It meant they were undoubtedly attendants Stella had secretly cultivated, that evil succubus’ shadow guard.

They must have noticed the rebellious intent she had exposed for a single instant just now, so they had deliberately revealed themselves, preparing to strangle this unruly slave’s rebellion in the cradle.

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No wonder Stella had felt comfortable leaving her nearby, even allowing her to sleep on the pile of straw beneath the bed, completely unafraid that Lainia might launch a surprise attack in the dead of night.

“Just as I thought…”

Lainia clenched her fists.

These demons had appeared at the exact moment she was preparing to make her move. Without question, this was a trap laid by Stella Darkfallen.

‘Stella Darkfallen, even when you’re merely going to the washroom, you still arrange watchdogs of this caliber outside the door?’

‘You really are…’

‘Always calculating every possibility.’

‘The road of revenge is never smooth!’

“And what if I refuse?”

Lainia raised her head.

Her voice was low and soft, like wind through pines brushing across strings, yet filled with fighting spirit.

“Refuse?”

Riko narrowed her eyes slightly, as though she had heard a joke.

“I see…” She said softly. “You’re not someone else’s property. You’re actually the target’s pet.”

‘Pet?’

Although Lainia did not understand what the other party meant by saying that, it was unquestionably an insult toward her.

A person with self-respect ought to show equal disdain toward undeserved praise and slander born from impossible expectations.

“Human slave blocking our path, your courage may be commendable, but you seem completely ignorant of the difference in our strength. Since you want to be Stella Darkfallen’s guard dog, then you can join your master and…”

Boom—!

Before Riko could finish speaking, a muffled explosion erupted through the corridor.

Fragments of stone sprayed through the air.

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Dust billowed everywhere.

Several members of the Blackthorn Guard instinctively took half a step backward, their pupils contracting slightly beneath their masks.

There, beside the spot where Lainia had originally been standing, a half-meter-wide crater had suddenly appeared in the wall.

The supposedly indestructible stone bricks were now covered in spiderweb cracks like brittle biscuits.

And all of it had been caused by nothing more than what appeared to be a casual punch from the human slave before them.

Lainia withdrew her fist and gently blew the stone dust off her knuckles.

She had not used any magical power.

Pure physical strength.

Without question, this was the result of her recent bitter training.

Train, then eat.

Eat, then train.

More than that, it was the result of washing countless plates and transforming labor into violence.

This punch carried the weight of ten thousand plates!

“So hard…” Lainia muttered inwardly. “My hand’s a little numb.”

Yet her face remained perfectly composed.

She even imitated Stella’s usual carefree manner and raised her chin slightly.

If her strength was not enough to defeat Stella’s shadow guard, then how could she possibly possess the ability to defeat the Lord’s great enemy herself?

If possible, she wanted the choice of whether or not to fight.

But if a fight came knocking at her door, then she might as well fight with everything she had!

This, too, was a clash without smoke or gunpowder.

A grand gamble in which she herself was the stake.

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Would Stella completely tame her and cultivate her into the sharpest blade in her hand?

Or would Stella play with fire and burn herself, ultimately being defeated and imprisoned by Lainia like a fairy-tale princess in a high tower?

Or would both of their performances fail, sending them tumbling off this stage and smashing them to pieces?

“…No magical power fluctuation… pure monstrous physical strength.”

Head Maid Riko’s gaze changed completely.

“She’s more than a pet. The target’s slave isn’t harmless livestock, but rather… a diehard loyalist specialized in hand-to-hand combat?”

“Is she even deliberately wearing that filthy disguise to lower the enemy’s guard? What terrifying professionalism.”

“Threat level increased.”

“That crater… If a punch like that landed on the head, even a succubus’ skull wouldn’t withstand it.”

Head Maid Riko narrowed her eyes slightly.

The human slave who dared block their path was undoubtedly a diehard loyalist of their target, Stella Darkfallen.

A mere human.

Since she was so determined not to know her place…

Then they had no choice but to fight.

Translator Note

Yep, Lainia is just the second Stella.

The master of spreading misunderstanding plots TvT