However……
Ireya, of course, didn’t care about any of this, since she had never expected anything from that bunch of insignificant Nobles in the first place.
She was just genuinely irritated by their behavior.
“Lady……”
While everyone else was busy complaining, Jenny’s voice, a little shaky, drifted to Ireya’s side.
It seemed she had, once again, failed to carry out Lady’s instructions properly.
If she hadn’t come over at lunchtime…maybe she could have directed the hired guards to keep things under control.
Maybe…then none of this would have happened.
But…if she hadn’t come, after working hard all day yesterday, all those delicious dishes she’d made…
DE…
“I’m sorry, Lady…I……”
“Feeling useless?”
Ireya raised her eyebrows slightly, looking at Jenny, whose head drooped even lower, the Lady’s lips curling faintly.
Beside them, Veil, who was watching, subconsciously swallowed nervously.
It’s over…
Miss Jenny is probably about to get tormented by this demon….
“Mm…I’m very sorry, Lady…”
Hearing someone she admired and looked up to say she was useless…
For a girl in her teens, it really was too heavy and sad.
Jenny’s eyes instantly turned red, and then tears slid down her cheeks.
“If saying sorry was enough…why bother making so many rules?”
Ireya seemed cold-blooded, completely ignoring the girl’s tears, only looking at her own slender fingers and those beautiful nails.
Judgment.
“It’s my fault, I’m willing to accept whatever punishment Lady sees fit…No matter what… I won’t have a single complaint!”
Jenny hurriedly wiped the tear stains from her face with her sleeve in a very unladylike manner, then slowly lifted her head, waiting for Lady’s final verdict.
“Mm……Well, since that’s the case, I can only…give you a punishment~”
Ireya smiled, taking a step forward and pinching Jenny’s chin with a grin—only to realize…
Jenny was actually a whole head taller than her…
Doing this had absolutely no imposing effect!
Tsk!
With a snap of her fingers—without needing any words, Innsmouth immediately lifted Ireya up in his arms.
And so, Lady finally got her wish, pinching Jenny’s chin, looking down at her with a triumphant smile.
“What do you think you are…in my eyes?”
Eh?
Jenny was momentarily stunned by the question.
What was she in Lady’s eyes?
A friend?
A follower?
A servant?
Or maybe….
“Say what you’re thinking, and don’t lie! The thing I hate most…are children who lie~”
Staring into Jenny’s flickering, evasive eyes, Ireya’s voice gradually grew cold, and a trace of cruelty flickered in her crimson eyes.
The most immediate sensation, though, was that Lady’s fingers pinching the girl’s chin tightened quite a bit.
“I…I think I’m…a tool, I’m Lady’s…tool.”
Jenny spoke, her voice growing softer, but her eyes only shone brighter.
“But…but even if I’m just a tool, I’m absolutely loyal to you, Lady! Because the person I admire…is you, just like this………”
What kind of loyal declaration is this, like a lackey to a villain boss?
Do villains need their own saviors too?
Too bad you’re not a qualified villain, girl~
Ireya thought helplessly to herself, but none of it showed on her face.
“A tool, huh…Quite an accurate self-assessment. Well then……”
A smile reappeared on her face.
“…I’ll give you a punishment fitting for a tool~”
Eh?
A punishment…for a tool?
Da-da-da………
After confirming they’d been abandoned by that so-called Mercenary Captain, the Nobles, grumbling and cursing, all found their own carriages.
Some people’s carriages had already disappeared without a trace, so they could only hitch rides with others, complaining together in the carriage about the “Blue Crow Captain” who had abandoned his fellow mercenaries and escaped on his own.
“That Blue Crow bastard…He better hope I never see him again…”
“Yeah…Not only did he abandon us and run, he even took our scattered guards with him! That guy is really……”
“But…we still have to thank Miss Jenny~ She didn’t abandon us…”
“That’s right……Miss Jenny really is…the embodiment of beauty and kindness, sigh~ She’s my dream goddess…If only I could marry her……….”
“Give it up…You? The eldest son of a baron?”
“Tsk…Can’t I at least dream?!”
Of course, the topic…was clearly drifting further and further.
At this moment, the beautiful and kind Miss Jenny was at the very front carriage, symbolizing her role as the one in command.
But…this highly “respected” Miss Jenny was not sitting inside the carriage.
Instead…she was lying across the middle…
Between her softly curled golden hair and fair cheeks…tiny beads of sweat glistened, and her shapely hips, outlined by the men’s trousers she wore for combat, were even more enticing to the imagination.
“Huff…mm…”
This position was indeed a bit tiring, but…it wasn’t enough to make Miss Jenny’s face flush red and her breathing heavy…
The real reason was that, at this moment, a pair of small feet wrapped in white stockings were resting right at the junction of Jenny’s waist and lower back…and they weren’t behaving themselves, constantly shifting positions.
For example…legs crossed, lying sideways, starfish pose…
But, was this…
Lady’s punishment?
Jenny was thinking, maybe…she should make more mistakes in the future.
“Aren’t you the one who called yourself my tool~ So…being a footrest once shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Feeling Jenny’s slightly trembling body, Ireya asked softly with a smile at the corner of her lips.
“O-of course, no problem! Being Lady’s footrest…is my honor!”
Pa!
“Hiss—!!”
Outside, Amisa, who was driving the carriage, for some reason, seemed to be filled with deep resentment as she whipped the horse’s rump.
“Hmph~”
Ireya snorted softly, crossed her arms, draped her legs across Jenny’s back, and leaned her body against Veil’s shoulder.
As the carriage rocked rhythmically, her crimson eyes slowly closed…
It was so dark all around.
Where is this…
Who am I?
Countless questions flashed through her mind…but just as quickly faded away.
This place didn’t seem suited for thinking…
Every time she tried to focus on something important, her thoughts would suddenly break off.
Like an idiot searching for their phone while holding it in their hand….
And in this pitch-black, boring space…what should she do?
She looked around…
There seemed to be shadowy figures swaying around her.
Looking closer, they seemed to be…humanoid shapes with distorted features?
They were like liquid?
No…more like gas with human faces…drifting aimlessly in all directions.
This eerie sight might have scared most people, but…for some reason, she felt no fear at all.
In fact…she felt an almost instinctive sense of closeness to these things.
Huff…
She reached out to touch the nearest “gas”…
And in the next instant, a flood of information surged into her mind!
Basic Necromancy: [Touch of Death]
Gather the power and resentment of the dead to touch and attack others.
Upon contact, the resentment of the dead will be forcibly infused into the target, causing mental damage.
At the same time, the power of death will erode their body, causing physical harm.