Volume 10, Chapter 36 – The God-Forged Angels’ Strange Rules

“Miss Yisi, Miss Tiffany has finished her bath. Will you be bathing now?”

Two of the more mature maids bowed and asked. Yisi, who was sitting on the living room sofa, stood up.

“No, I still have some things to do. You can all go to bed. It’s getting late. In the future, you don’t need to wait by the door for me. As long as it’s past eight o’clock, you can go back to your rooms and rest.”

“H-How can we do that! Going to bed at eight… if outsiders hear of this, they’ll think we’re slacking off! Our qualifications as maids will be questioned!”

The maid’s expression was unusually exaggerated, as if she truly didn’t want to get off work early.

Is this a tradition in this world? I’ve read in books that live-in servants sleep late and wake up early, but I always thought that was something far removed from me. I never expected to encounter it personally.

“…When you worked at your last master’s house, what time did you usually go to bed?”

“Eleven o’clock.”

“We could only sleep after the master went to bed. On a good day, ten. On a bad day, four in the morning.”

“And what time did you wake up?”

“We had to be up before the sky got light, or we wouldn’t be in time to make breakfast.”

That’s so hard…

Not knowing what to say, Yisi waved her hand. “Alright, there’s no rule here that you have to wait for me to sleep. When it’s time to sleep, go to sleep. You’re dismissed.”

“But your bath…”

“Laxy will prepare my clothes. Besides, I’m not some noble young lady who can’t even bathe by herself.”

A bath should be a quiet, solitary affair. That’s the only way to think things through. This was Yisi’s view.

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After urging the maids to bed, Yisi called over Chloris and Enos, who were sitting silently on the sofa, and went to the underground storage room via the third-floor portal. There were still many things she hadn’t had time to explore. She might find an unexpected prize.

Cornelia tried to create God-Forged Angels. Although she never succeeded, she must have left behind valuable notes, like her experiment logs. Plus, she stole so many things from the Ymir Church’s Age of the Gods ruins. If I can use these items to try and fix Laxy’s problem, that would be for the best. To this day, Laxy still hadn’t recovered her detection abilities and seemed to have completely given up on it.

“It can’t be helped. Only First-Rank Angels have the art of creating and repairing other angels. With the Kingdom of the Gods gone, wanting to restore my detection functions is just wishful thinking…”

It was only at times like this that Yisi realized how structurally different Laxy was from a human.

Shaking her head, Yisi walked through the narrow corridor. Only the central room of the storage area had a portal; the other areas were connected by stone passageways. The entire underground was as complex as a small castle.

Well, these are Cornelia’s stolen goods. After I take the parts I need to repair Laxy, I’ll give the rest to Evelyn. She should be happy to receive them.

As for what to do if I need them later… The answer is to go ask Evelyn. I can guess that to get something out of Evelyn’s pocket, I’ll have to “pay” for it. But since she’s always making me call her “big sister” in front of everyone, and doing… ambiguous things… I’ll just shamelessly use my “little sister” status to “borrow” them back as payback.

“Aah. I wonder what Evelyn is thinking. She says she has someone she likes, but she still does things that are so easy to misunderstand. If the person she likes saw that, I wonder what they’d think.”

Luckily, Evelyn always calls herself “big sister” in front of Andrea. Otherwise, if she acted like that with me in front of her, she’d definitely pout or protest. As it is, they seem to get along. The strange one is Lin.

When I took Lin and Evelyn to the Blood Clan capital, Lin saw that Andrea didn’t object to Evelyn’s teasing. She thoughtfully muttered, “So you can do that, too. I’ve miscalculated.” Lin probably thought I didn’t hear, but I was in my Third Form and my hearing was much sharper. It’s not that I didn’t understand… but Lin has definitely misunderstood Evelyn’s feelings. Back in the Ymir territory, Evelyn explicitly told me she was against same-sex relationships, and that I shouldn’t get any ideas (which was just her fantasy, I never had any). She was also disgusted by my relationships with Andrea and Pepe. So even if the sun rose in the west, Evelyn would never have feelings for me.

Although the only person in the world who can say “I love you” to my face without any hesitation is Camilla… and Evelyn. But their mentalities are completely different. Evelyn is just teasing. She’s the type who can tell others she detests girl-on-girl romance.

“Is Mama happy?”

“Mood is good. That is all.”

“Eh?” Their words took Yisi by surprise. She looked at the two angels. “Why do you say that?”

“You look… happy…”

“Your smile is showing. That is all.”

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“Eh? Was I smiling?”

I wasn’t thinking about anything happy. Yisi touched the corner of her mouth. But angels don’t lie to their master. I guess I was smiling. I wonder why.

After the three fell silent, the corridor, lit by magic lamps, became quiet, leaving only the tap-tap-tap of Yisi’s hard-soled boots. Unlike Yisi, the two angels wore sandals that showed their toes, fitting for the tropical climate. When Yisi first noticed, she’d thought they might be more charming with painted toenails, like Pepe. But now she had no time for such thoughts. This silence is getting awkward.

“By the way, this morning, Chloris was flying with her wings, but Enos was using magic. Does Enos not like using her wings?”

“Enos is afraid of heights. That is all.”

“Th-that’s not true!” Enos’s voice rose, “It’s just… my wings… they don’t seem to be under my control…”

“Not under control?”

“…Not… not that. It’s just… they can’t seem to hold me up…”

“Enos was dormant for too long. Wings are damaged. Recommend destruction and remanufacturing. That is all.”

Chloris must be joking. Yisi ignored her and nodded. “I see.”

Looks like I have to try and repair Enos’s wings, too.

Yisi glanced back at Enos’s wings. Most of the stories she’d read depicted wings as sensitive parts. She had wondered about it ever since she met Laxy. But Laxy was so serious, if Yisi tried to touch them, Laxy would probably just give her a look. So she’d never asked. But now, with Enos… her reaction would surely be interesting. Unlike the deadpan Chloris, Enos was definitely the type to let out a little “Kyaa!” at the slightest touch.

Creeaak—

As Yisi was lost in her fantasy, the sound of a heavy iron door opening came from the corridor ahead, along with a bright light. Laxy, her hair like beautiful sapphires, a bright halo above her head, appeared. Perhaps she was tired, but she let out a long stretch, her divine figure accentuated by her maid uniform.

If this were the street, Laxy would have a 100% turn-back rate. If she had Refina’s gentleness, I’d be her prisoner.

“Ah…”

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Seeing Yisi, Laxy froze mid-stretch, like a child caught misbehaving. “M-My Lord! I was not slacking off!”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Yisi smiled and waved. “By the way, where’s Camilla? Wasn’t she looking for books with you?”

“Yes. Camilla grew tired and fell asleep. Humans seem to get ‘colds’ if they don’t sleep in a bed, so I carried her back to her room earlier.”

“Ah, thank you, Laxy.”

If I fell asleep in the study, would Laxy carry me to bed? No, if I’m asleep, there’s no point. You can only experience that “big sister” care when you’re awake.

“My Lord… your gaze is somewhat… ‘lewd’? It reminds me of the First and Second Rank Angels. We should use this time for something more meaningful.” Laxy’s gaze shifted to Chloris and Enos. “Did you protect My Lord?”

“The Master was not injured. That is all.”

“We taught the demons a good lesson!”

When the topic of demons came up, Enos, surprisingly, didn’t stutter. Recalling her visible excitement during the hunt, this child must be designed to have her personality flip when she enters combat. How unexpectedly cute.

“I see. Well done. Now that you’re back, I just remembered I need to test your functions. After being dormant for so long, the magic circuits can atrophy. Since you’ve already been in combat, did you notice any problems?”

“Enos has a problem. Tattling.”

“I-It’s just that my wings can’t fly… It’s not a big problem.”

“Wings… mmm.” Laxy frowned, as if this was a troublesome issue.

“Is it a big problem?” Yisi asked, confused.

Laxy’s tone turned serious. “Yes, My Lord. If Enos were an Angel of Guidance, like me, it wouldn’t be a big problem. But Enos is a Battle Angel. If her wings cannot support flight, it severely impacts her combat ability. According to the laws set by Lady Trino, a Battle Angel with a physical problem must immediately receive healing from a First-Rank Angel. If they are too far from the Kingdom of the Gods, they must… ‘voluntarily accept destruction’ from a nearby angel.”

“Huh!? Destruction? Why!?” Yisi found the practice too extreme.

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“Battle Angels are different. Their destructive power is much higher. In an even fight, a Battle Angel can easily defeat an Angel of Guidance. Long ago, an incident occurred where a Battle Angel went without healing for too long, lost control, and caused a disaster. Therefore, the constraints on them are much stricter. As a Third-Rank Angel of Guidance, I have the authority to… dispose of Enos.”

So that’s why Chloris mentioned ‘destruction.’ I thought it was a joke… And Enos isn’t even resisting? Angels are so strange.

“No, no! It’s just her wings! There’s no need to be so harsh. Besides, we don’t know where the Kingdom of the Gods went. We don’t know if her soul can even return. What if it can’t?”

“That is precisely why I am hesitating.”

So if the Kingdom hadn’t disappeared, Laxy would have destroyed Enos on the spot!?

I mean, to them, it’s not “death,” just getting a new body… but the thought of Laxy turning Enos into scrap is just… too gory.

Yisi waved her hands. “No, no, no. I absolutely forbid that. In fact, that’s what I came to find you for.”

“This…?” Laxy looked confused.

It’s about restoring Laxy’s detection ability.

The words were on the tip of Yisi’s tongue, but she held back. I’m not sure if I can fix her. If I make a promise and fail, it will just be a disappointment. Laxy won’t show it, but I’ll feel awful.

I’ll keep it a secret for now.

Yisi put on a mysterious look, puffing out her chest slightly. “Hmph, hmph. It’s a secret for now. First, let’s go to those two sealed buildings. We might find a way to restore Enos’s wings there.”

It’s a shame Cornelia didn’t leave the [Divine Key] behind. If she had, I could have given it to Evelyn to use as a vessel for the Ymir Tower’s power, and she could finally be free.

Tina said the reason Evelyn loses her magic outside the tower’s range is because her magic source is the tower. Only the chess-piece-shaped [Divine Key] can house that source, allowing her to leave.

Well, Evelyn has people digging at the ruins. Maybe they’ll find a [Divine Key] soon. But it’s safer to have a backup plan.

Thinking this, Yisi led the three God-Forged Angels to the four-story building filled with relics from the Age of the Gods.