Chapter 31: Why does she always blame herself?

This stirred Eileen’s curiosity.

As far as she knew, the magical crest on Lilisha’s forehead was the emblem marking her as a crafted automaton.

She was once known as the strongest battle doll, one who had defeated countless human powerhouses and brought despair to the human race.

Even if she hadn’t been properly maintained for centuries, her combat ability couldn’t have declined that much, right!?

Eileen voiced her doubts. Upon hearing them, Lilisha shook her head and replied,
“Miss Eileen, you must be mistaken.

There’s no way I’m some legendary relic of Demon Marshal Karoline. I’m just an ordinary automaton. My combat power is really low.”

“No way. I’m not wrong about this! The crest on your forehead—it’s Karoline’s family emblem!”

Eileen insisted.

Lilisha murmured in a tiny voice,
“I’m really not that impressive… I already said I’m not…”

“Then let me get a closer look.”

Hearing Lilisha deny it so firmly, Eileen herself started to waver a little.

With Lilisha’s permission, Eileen reached out and leaned in closer. The campfire crackled, casting flickering light across the doll-like girl’s features.

In that moment, Lilisha’s breathtakingly beautiful face left Eileen momentarily dazed.

The warm orange glow of the fire spilled like glaze over porcelain-smooth skin, and crystalline-blue irises shimmered beneath the delicate veil of pale lashes.

Golden lashes quivered gently in the firelight, revealing a spiderweb-fine crack along the tip of her nose.

The seams at her joints caught a faint gleam of mithril in the shadows—

This body was so flawless it could take one’s breath away. The only giveaway that she wasn’t human was the lack of life’s ripple in the depths of her pupils.

Eileen cupped Lilisha’s cheeks in her hands and slowly leaned closer, so close she could almost feel the other girl’s breath.

Huh—wait, do automatons even breathe? No wonder Master Karoline was said to be the closest being to a god!

Their eyes met. Lilisha, clearly flustered, turned her gaze away with shy embarrassment and murmured, “Eileen, d-don’t look at me like that…”

So cute!!

Wait, no—that’s not why I leaned in! I came to examine her crest, not admire how adorable she looks when she’s shy!

Refocusing her thoughts, Eileen fixed her gaze on the crimson emblem on Lilisha’s forehead. It was right before her eyes now.

Eileen carefully compared it to the image of Karoline’s crest in her memory, and then—

“Lilisha, no matter how I look at it, that’s clearly Karoline’s crest. Don’t you remember anything at all? About how you and two other companions once swept through the human world together?”

Lilisha bit her lip lightly and replied in a soft voice, “I… don’t have any memories from that long ago. I only remember being awakened by Master from the underground tomb ten years ago…”

“Eileen, are you really sure you’re not mistaken?”

Eileen shook her head.

“I’m not sure if I’ve got it completely right—but the crest on your forehead, that’s definitely Karoline’s mark. There’s no mistaking it!”

“Really? But I really don’t have that much power…”

But then—why did she think she was only at about a B-rank level?

It had been more than ten years. Surely she would have a solid understanding of her own strength by now.

A super combat automaton created by Karoline… and only B-rank?

Wasn’t that an insult to the ancestors who gave their lives fighting against Marshal Karoline’s invasion?

Could it be due to the age and lack of proper maintenance?

But Lilisha didn’t look anything like something “old” or “damaged”—far from it.

And this was the masterpiece of the greatest puppeteer in demon history. How could something like that “expire” after just a few hundred years?

So then, where exactly was the problem?

Eileen was increasingly convinced that the issue likely didn’t lie with Lilisha herself. Though she hadn’t had the chance to thoroughly examine her, Lilisha didn’t seem defective in any way.

That meant the problem was most likely…

“Are you really not going to get some rest? Starting tomorrow, we’re barely going to have any time to relax.”

Lilisha shook her head and smiled.

“It’s alright. I’m just a doll—resting isn’t that important. Besides, standing night watch was Master’s order…”

“Lilisha really likes Froyja, huh.” Eileen stood up and stretched with a yawn. She was ready to go back and sleep.

“But it seems like Froyja doesn’t like you much at all…”

The words had barely left her mouth before Eileen quickly covered her own lips, mentally cursing herself for saying something so tactless.

Over the past few days, she had observed it clearly: Lilisha listened to Froyja obediently, almost reverently.

She often brought up memories of the past with Froyja, and every time she did, her expression softened into the gentlest of smiles.

But Froyja was the complete opposite. Her attitude toward Lilisha was awful—constantly hitting and scolding her.

The words “trash” and “defective product” were what Eileen heard the most. Though she tried to stay neutral for the sake of the team, it was honestly too much.

Lilisha lowered her gaze but maintained her usual smile.

“It’s fine. Everyone can see it. And if Master hates me, it’s entirely my fault. If it weren’t for me, Master wouldn’t have…”

“Lilisha, you were ordered to keep watch, not to chatter. What are you making all this noise for? And Eileen, go to sleep already. After tomorrow, you won’t be getting any rest!”

The sudden voice that broke in cut short the conversation between the two. Froyja had stuck her head out from inside the tent, looking at Lilisha and Eileen with a displeased expression.

Lilisha quickly stood up and bowed in apology. “I’m terribly sorry, Master. I didn’t mean to disturb your rest.”

Eileen called out to stop Froyja.

“Froyja, let Lilisha get some rest too. With Master Galhai’s barrier around us, having her stand watch is meaningless. It’ll just affect her performance in battle tomorrow. It’s freezing out here—even with warming spells, it’s still cold sleeping outdoors.”

Froyja snorted.

“Lilisha is my servant. Since when did I need your input, Eileen? Lilisha is just a useless, defective doll. Standing night watch is one of the few things she’s actually capable of doing. If she can’t even manage that, she might as well go lie down in a junkyard.”

With that, Froyja ducked back into her tent. Her words were brutally blunt, but also—infuriatingly—not entirely wrong, leaving Eileen with no real comeback.

Lilisha gave her usual trademark smile.

“Miss Eileen, you should go get some rest. I’m really fine. Being able to do even a little something for Master… that’s the entire reason I exist.”

“…Fine. Guess I was just meddling.”

Eileen didn’t know what kind of bad blood lay between the two of them, but after all these years together, what grudge could be so deep that it still hadn’t been let go?

But since both Lilisha and Froyja insisted there was no problem, she decided not to press it further.

As she returned to her own tent, she glanced back at the doll-like girl sitting by the campfire. Her eyes were slightly downcast, and her expression looked faintly sorrowful.

Honestly… she obviously cares about Froyja’s attitude a lot. Why pretend otherwise? Is forcing a smile supposed to be admirable?

“This is between a master and her servant. What does it have to do with me? Why should I worry about it?”

That’s what she told herself—but Eileen couldn’t quite convince herself to stop caring.

She was even curious: what had really happened between Froyja and Lilisha to make Froyja so harsh toward her?

“It’s all my fault… that Master turned out this way?”

Eileen recalled the words Lilisha had said earlier, and with that thought lingering in her mind, she slowly drifted off to sleep.