—–
The girl resulted in being a good girl! I knew it. I decided to introduce myself as not Maria, but Mary! Such a good change, nobody will get it, totally.
“I see. So you’re new around here… Name’s… Mary. I am a wandering Shadow Magician and Spiritualist. These two are my friends. Partner’s the girl with red eyes, she’s a knight, and the elf, is Emeraldine, a priestess and huntress,” I said.
“It is nice to meet you two as well… I am impressed that you were able to do all of this so efficiently!” Said the girl.
“Well yeah, we got our ways,” I said.
“Anyways, how about you come to my house? Let’s help the former slaves eat and get better clothes, while we talk off about everything that has transpired,” Said Julia.
“Sure!” I said.
We ended up being escorted by the Elite Knights of the Duchy, which we’re actually not here before, but were brought by Julia as special corps that worked kind of like Cops on Earth, beating baddies and more… well, kind of like Cops are supposed to work, although I guess in Earth, they go around the streets shooting people more than beating crime.
We entered the territory of the Manor where she lived and where her uncle once lived.
Many Butlers and Maids greeted us.
“Welcome home, Julia-sama,”
“I am back. It seems that things went well. Can you guys take care of the former slaves for me? Bring them all they need, food, clothes, everything,” She ordered.
“Understood,”
The servants quickly began to attend to all the former slaves without even wavering.
Hey, I really like her now. An actually nice aristocrat? That’s super fucking rare to see.
Especially because she’s part of the royal family, the Albraun Family, which is… well, the family with the name of the Kingdom this duchy is located, the Albraun Kingdom.
“Come, let me invite you to some dinner. Are you hungry, perhaps? It might be around 3 AM, but I am in the mood for some sweets,” She said.
“Sure, why not?” I responded.
Partner and Emeraldine whispered to my ears.
“Master, are you sure this is okay? Won’t we be captured later? What if a church guy shows up? Those are tough!” Whispered Partner.
“Yeah, this might be a trap… She’s shady. There’s no way an aristocrat is a good person,” Whispered Emeraldine.
“Hahaha… I am just as impressed as you girls are, but no matter how much I look into the depths of her soul, I cannot find any inherent malice. She’s an honest and hard-working girl,” I said.
“R-Really?” Asked Partner while raising an eyebrow.
“Is that true?” Asked Emeraldine, also raising an eyebrow.
“*Sigh*… Yes, it is. Now let’s go eat sweets and talk it out with her. If we can actually make a good friend of aristocracy without any weird brainwashing or possession, it would be awesome. We could even use her help and influence to clean up my image as the Witch of Misfortune, have you not thought about that?” I asked.
“Ooooh!” Partner blurted out.
“I… I certainly didn’t see the whole picture….” Said Emeraldine.
“It doesn’t really suit me to be overly aggressive all the time… Even more as I pan to build my own Kingdom one of these days. If possible, I would want to make friendly relationships with this Duchy… She could also give me nice info about the Fragment of Evil or where my little brother could be,” I said.
“Right!” Said Partner.
“Indeed, she’s certainly someone important then,” Said Emeraldine.
“What are you whispering so much? Come on, talk with me,” Sighed Julia as we entered a room with a small table and several sweets, pastries, and tea served by a butler and a maid.
“Sit, for now, let’s talk it out and relax… Phew. Since I got into this Duchy, I’ve been working nonstop to deal with crime. My uncle was really a rotten man, to think he’ll collude so much with all these sick people to fill up his pockets. I bet it was someone from these people that ended taking out his life… I remember that my mother had told me this Duchy was once one of the most peaceful and prettiest of the Kingdom… He incentivized all of this… Just as they say, ‘raise crows, and they’ll gouge out your eyes’!” She said while sighing and waving her head while taking a sip of tea.
“R-Right… Yeah, I guess that’s right,” I said.
“Are you not sad he died?” Asked Partner rather boldly.
“Sad? As if! Why would I be sad about the uncle that tortured my mother through her entire childhood? I am glad that man is out of the picture… I promised my mother that I would rise this duchy to its former glory. The first step is to take out all the bad weeds that have taken root here… I won’t be able to start anything, to begin with, if there are all these people interfering,” Said Julia.
“Wise words, Julia. I couldn’t agree more. I remember the old times here. It was a prettier place. The previous Duke really left it all hanging on a thread… the amount of shady people is impressive…” I said.
“Yeah! Indeed! *Sigh*… Anyways, didn’t you say something about your shadow before?” Asked Julia.
“Oh right!”
I quickly expanded my shadows and let all the people out.
“W-What is this!” She shouted in disbelief.
“It is a spell named Shadow Storage. It creates a small space where I can store living beings. I rescue people like this,” I said.
“By the Gods, this is indeed a powerful ability! I can tell why you were so confident… Wait, where are the bandits?” She asked.
“I killed them all… I don’t think you’ll want to see their corpses, right?” I asked.
“Aahaha… You can keep them,” She said.
“I thought so,” I giggled.
“Mary, tell me more about you, now I am more than intrigued… I think we could become good friends! I might even employ your services. Are you an adventurer?” She asked.
“Yes, and I am also Mercenary, though I am currently busy, I came here for provisions. I am taking care of my own people far away… I came across this shady group and had thought about taking care of the former slaves by myself, as I often do,” I said.
“Y-You do?!” She asked in shock.
—-
