Tasan of the Ring ③
As I was wondering what was going on, someone got out of the carriage.
A Maid? It’s a Maid. She’s impeccably dressed in the familiar black and white maid uniform, without a single wrinkle.
Silver hair flowed smoothly down past her waist. Calm green eyes. Dark skin and pointed ears.
An Elf? A Dark Elf, even!? Ah, no, in this world, Elves were just Elves.
A dignified and quiet presence. A cool-type beautiful dark-skinned Elf Maid. Her aura is different.
She looked at me. For some reason, in that instant, I felt her atmosphere resembled someone else’s.
Ah, Rell-san. Is it because she’s a silver-haired Elf?
She looked at me. And smiled.
“Ah, yes. Are you Lord Wof?”
“Um, I’m Wof. Yes.”
She’s talking to me. Does she know me?
“Well then, please get in.”
“Whoa, whoa, um, why?”
Hold on, what’s going on here?
The Maid cleared her throat.
“Ahem. Ah, yes. I haven’t explained. Dova is an envoy of the Marquis Tasan Family. I have come under orders from the Acting Lord Representative’s D… to escort Lord Wof.”
“Tasan…!?”
I shuddered. N-no way. Did they find out about Juicy-san?
Did they find out just one day after yesterday…!?
“Ah, yes. Is something wrong?”
“No… I understand. I’ll get in.”
Steeling my resolve, I boarded the carriage.
The interior was roomier than I expected. Long benches with black seats faced each other.
Four people? If we squeezed, maybe six could sit. I hesitantly sat down.
The Maid sat opposite me. The door was closed, and the carriage departed.
“Where are we heading now?”
“To the central Noble District. Ah, yes. It’s Count Borey’s villa. Marquis Tasan doesn’t have a villa in Hydrangea, so we are borrowing the villa of Count Borey, the head of the Tasan faction, through his kindness.”
“I-Is that so?”
The central Noble District. A special district filled with nothing but mansions.
Someone like me has no connection to such a place; this is my first time going.
I never thought I’d end up going there.
“…”
“…”
The carriage is fast. The scenery viewed from the window.
It’s just like the view from a car.
“…”
“…”
This carriage, truly a high-class black vehicle.
The cushions on the long black benches used springs.
I remembered. The shared carriage I took transfers on when coming to Hydrangea was the worst.
The seats were wooden planks with no cushions whatsoever. Layering cloth to sit on had no effect.
I thought my butt would die. Compared to that, the seats in this carriage are pure paradise.
“…………”
“…………”
Still, what is this? This atmosphere. This tension.
Then, the cool-type beautiful dark-skinned Elf Maid opposite me suddenly spoke.
“…Dova is 26 years old.”
“Eh?”
“Ah, yes. What do you think of a 26-year-old woman?”
“What do I think…”
“Dova is past the prime age for marriage.”
“I-Is that so?”
“As a member of the opposite sex, what do you think of Dova at 26?”
“Isn’t that a bit too heavy a question to ask a 13-year-old?”
I was bewildered.
What is this beautiful dark-skinned Elf Maid suddenly talking about?
Her cool demeanor vanished in an instant. She seems like she might be one of those 残念 (zannen / disappointing) types.
“It’s not like I’m desperate or anything.”
“If that’s the case, isn’t that fine?”
“It’s just that, going forward, Dova is anxious about whether she can get married staying as she is.”
Anxious? That sounds kind of like being desperate.
“Um, do you want to get married?”
“Ah, yes. If possible, I’d like a lover.”
“You don’t have one?”
“Ah, yes. I don’t.”
“…Even though you’re beautiful?”
“Just because someone is beautiful doesn’t mean they’re popular. That’s not how it works.”
“Ah, I see.”
I understood. The women around me. They’re all beauties and beautiful girls, but it’s true they don’t have lovers.
But why is that? Are Seekers unpopular? Is it because of their line of work?
Speaking of marriage, the Witch isn’t married either— well, that’s understandable.
It seems like the very concept of romance doesn’t exist for her. If she learned about love for the first time, she’d probably cry.
Whoops, the beautiful-but-zannen dark-skinned Elf Maid shot me a sharp look.
“Lord Wof. Why did you seem to understand?”
“My female acquaintances. They’re all beauties, but now that you mention it, I realized none of them have lovers, let alone being married.”
“Ah, yes………… Is that so.”
“…Yes.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…In the first place,”
“Y-Yes?”
Is this conversation still going? What is this conversation even about?
And haven’t we arrived yet? I don’t know the central Noble District. I’ve never had any reason to go.
“In the first place, Dova has no opportunities to meet anyone.”
“But what about butlers or male servants?”
“Ah, yes. The Tasan Family is matriarchal, so most of the servants are female.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Besides, Dova normally serves as the Assistant to the Acting Lord. Right now, I am the Acting Lord Representative. Ah, yes. It’s true I attend all the faction Parties and such together with the Acting Lord, who is also single. The Marquis Tasan Family is the head of the Tasan faction, after all.”
“Aren’t there opportunities there?”
“However, Parties are ‘work’. They are not places for meeting people. Furthermore, given Dova’s position, no men try to approach me. Besides, even if they did, if they weren’t suitable for Dova, I would politely refuse them.”
“…”
Normally the Assistant to the Acting Lord, but now the Acting Lord Representative? Hmm, strange?
The one who summoned me is the Acting Lord Representative, right?
This zannen beautiful dark-skinned Elf Maid… is she really a Maid?
Isn’t she pretending to be a Maid? But for what purpose?
I somehow felt it was for some trivial, Surprise-like reason.
I’m gradually starting to understand what the Marquis Tasan Family is like.
I suddenly thought she resembled the hopeless sisters Rell-san talks about.
No way, right?
It probably wouldn’t be unusual for a noble to have many wives and lots of children.
Though I don’t know much about the nobles of this world.
Nobles generally give me a strong impression of having lots of kids and fighting over inheritance.
And then we arrived at the mansion. Whoa, it’s a pure white, three-story mansion.
Count Borey’s villa? This is just a villa? Nobles are amazing.
I entered and was guided to a room on the second floor. I was told to wait here.
Come to think of it, Juicy-san is also in this mansion, isn’t she?
I wonder what she’s doing right now.
“…”
While waiting, I got bored, so I decided to check the knives I’d bought.
There happened to be a fancy-looking round table with a single leg, so I decided to use it.
There are three knives in total.
First, the first one is a simple… huh, the first one? …Huh, it’s not here?
Why isn’t it here!? Ah, aaah!? I remember now.
In the back alley… when I got electrocuted back then, I dropped it and picked it… I didn’t pick it up.
I completely forgot about it during that fight.
Sparks flew, but the blade wasn’t broken. Meaning it’s still usable!
“……………”
I’ll go look for it on the way back. I definitely will.
The second one. A strange Knife with a single, upward-curving blade.
The handle is wrapped in leather and sturdy.
The blade was thick, curved upwards, and upon closer inspection, it was triangular in cross-section.
The grip is soft, and it’s a bit heavy. The sword guard is unusual, it’s square.
“What a weird Knife.”
Not suited for everyday use. It’s for combat.
Now, the third and final one. A Knife with no sword guard and a long, straight handle.
That’s right, the handle is longer than the blade. Moreover, it’s black. What’s the material? The surface is smooth.
When I drew it from its blue sheath, the blade was serrated.
A strange blade, like small triangles joined together. I had a gut feeling.
“Isn’t this an OOPArts?”
Even so, I don’t feel anything. It seems I don’t have a Relic that adapts to it.
If I did have a Relic that adapted to OOPArts.
I’ve heard that you know immediately when you see or touch an OOPArts.
But I feel nothing. In that case, for me, this Knife is just a Knife.
This one’s also for combat.
“Yeah. None of them seem bad.”
50,000 isn’t cheap by any means, but it guarantees performance worth the price. I’m satisfied.
Satisfied, but… sigh, I definitely have to go look for the other one on the way back.
I put the knives away in the knife battle belt I bought for times like these.
It can hold up to ten knives, but do I really need that many?
Just as I put them away, there was a knock on the door, and when I answered, it opened.
“Um, excuse me. The guest… Lord Wof!?”
“Juicy-san!?”
Beyond the opened door, a beautiful black-haired wolf-girl in a maid outfit looked surprised.
I was surprised too. Juicy-san!?
No way… well, no, it’s not strange that she’s here since I was summoned by the Marquis Tasan Family.
But seeing her in a maid outfit was surprising. And her atmosphere is somehow different.
Though surprised, she opened her mouth to speak.
“Um, Lord Wof, why are you… here?”
“When I got home, there was a carriage. The Marquis Tasan’s Acting Lord Representative wanted to see me, so I took the carriage and came here.”
“Um, um, I… I haven’t said anything about yesterday! Mineha-chan helped me, and I managed to get into my room smoothly, so no one found out. They shouldn’t have found out!”
This was also surprising. Knowing her, I thought she might have accidentally told her family.
That’s what I thought, but— is the reason I was summoned different? If so, what business do they have with me?
That’s one question, but I asked Juicy-san another question I had.
“Why are you in a maid outfit?”
Juicy-san in a maid outfit.
What she’s wearing is almost identical to the outfit the zannen beautiful dark-skinned Elf Maid from earlier wore.
A formal-looking maid uniform based on black and white. She’s even properly wearing a headband.
She’s a splendid beautiful girl puppy-maid you wouldn’t be ashamed to present anywhere.
“Um, um, this is the condition for me accompanying you to Hydrangea. To become a maid and serve you both. That’s what I promised Dova-neesama and Shesh-chan.”
“Shesh-chan?”
It’s a cute name, but hard to say. I feel like I might end up saying Sheshe or Shushu.
“Ah, yes. She’s my older sister, and she’s very cute!”
Oh? Is she the soft and gentle type? That’s a type we haven’t had before.
“…Dova, could she possibly be that regrettable… 26-year-old dark-skinned beauty of an Elf?”
“Woof! Yes, that’s right! Um, um, Lord Wof. How do you know Dova-neesama? And you even got her age exactly right!”
“Is she perhaps the Acting Lord’s Deputy?”
“Woof! That’s exactly right!?”
Juicy-san’s chestnut eyes sparkled as she wagged her tail furiously.
Her expression was one of pure respect.
Ah, that look. It’s the same one the dog back home in my previous life used to give my grandpa.
Also, that Acting Lord’s Deputy.
For some reason, she was in a maid outfit just a little while ago in the carriage, and for some reason, we were talking about marriage.
It was mostly like her complaining, though. Seriously, why was she in a maid outfit?
“You came to get me, right?”
“Wafu? Ah, that’s right! Um, please excuse me. I’ll show you the way immediately!”
Juicy-san opened the door and led me to the corner room.
This time, her tail wasn’t wagging, and her face was composed—the very picture of a capable, beautiful maid.
She knocked on the room door.
“Ah, yeah. Come on in.”
“Huh?”
I heard the voice from just moments ago, along with a deep, intimidating female voice.
I started to feel uneasy.
“Um, excuse me. I’ve brought Lord Wof.”
Juicy-san opened the door.
Inside were two beautiful women.
One was the 26-year-old regrettable dark-skinned beauty of an Elf, who had changed from her maid outfit into a white suit.
For some reason, she was wearing a monocle over her left eye.
She sat at a very expensive-looking executive desk.
It seemed Dova was her name. Her first-person pronoun is ‘jibun’, huh. Haven’t seen that since Liv-san.
The other one… was a wild beauty.
She had short, rough blonde hair with striking red streaks. Black horns. A Faun.
A Faun… huh. Her blue eyes were sharp, like a thug’s.
She had delicate features, with three piercings in each ear.
She wore a reddish-black shirt that further emphasized her overflowing, ample curves.
She wore jeans-like pants that left her left leg bare, with a chain wrapped around her waist.
She was sprawled indecently across the sofa as if she owned it.
Beside her lay two swords. A longsword and a saber? What an odd combination.
She glanced at me and sat up. Her chest swayed. She was stacked.
Maybe slightly smaller than the Witch? Still, definitely stacked.
I glanced over at Dova-san’s chest. Yep. Stacked even compared to her.
“Well then, I shall take my leave.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you, Juicy.”
Juicy-san bowed and left the room.
It felt like watching a completely different dog.
“Fwaaah…”
“Shesh. That’s unbecoming in front of a guest.”
“Eh!”
I couldn’t help but let out a sound. After her huge yawn, she glared at me.
“Huh? What is it, brat?”
“…Shesh-san?”
“Huh? Got a problem with me or somethin’?”
“No, no problem.”
This is Shesh-chan? Cute?
“Shesh. Be quiet.”
“Tch…”
Annoyed, she slammed her heel onto the table with a thud.
Uwah… she’s exactly like those wannabe thugs you sometimes see in the Slums. Where’s the cute part?
“Ah, yes. Apologies. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dova=Tasan. I am visiting Hydrangea as the Acting Lord’s Deputy. This thug here who looks like she belongs in the Slums is my younger sister and bodyguard, Shesh=Tasan.”
Shesh=Tasan. This is a Marquis… daughter? A noble? This? Her?
And where is the cuteness… here? Shesh-san spat out a reply.
“Keh… Shesh.”
“N-Nice to meet you. My name is Wof. I live here in Hydrangea.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
“Likewise, brat.”
“The pleasure is mine. So, what business did you have with me?”
“It’s about the ring. You gave it to Gauro-san, correct?”
“…Ah, that thing?”
I certainly did give it to him. That bronze-colored ring.
I thought he’d cashed it in long ago.