Chapter 134

“Hey, what on earth is going on here? I took a sick leave because I was sick, but when I tried to come back, Sir Hereis had already left on an expedition. And now they’re saying the ducal domain’s defensive wall was suddenly breached by magic beasts!”

“Haha… That must feel pretty absurd for you.”

When Noah offered a bitter smile, Drott crossed his arms and shook his head vigorously.

“Absurd doesn’t even cut it. Well, my dad hastily sent me here saying even someone like me should go, so here I am, but… honestly, I just want to run away.”

Drott Ploca.

The protagonist’s squire, and the younger brother of one of the romanceable heroines, Mina Ploca.

‘…Whoa, he’s huge.’

He was completely different from Mina, who was petite, delicate, and cute in appearance.

Though he looked somewhat lean at a glance, a solid physique could be felt even through his clothes, and he was so tall that it was hard to look him in the eye. He looked to be around 190 cm tall.

Above all, since he had appeared as a corpse in the previous run, seeing him alive and moving around normally felt rather surreal.

‘Just why did he die back then, and why is he alive this time…?’

This must also be the fallout of Robert surviving and becoming the Duke.

He was a mysterious existence in more ways than one.

“Where is Lord Robert– no, the Duke? How come you’re here instead?”

“Ah, we were put in charge of sorting out the luggage.”

“Really? But what’s with that maid next to you?”

“Ah. This friend is the Duke’s exclusive maid, Belita.”

“What? The Duke’s ex-exclusive maid? The Duchess actually condoned that?”

That? Was he referring to me?

…It certainly seemed so.

Since Drott was openly pointing his finger right at me.

On top of that, his eyes held a subtle underlying emotion.

Unmistakably negative things like disdain and contempt.

The gaze directed at me lasted only a fleeting moment, but it was more than long enough to gauge Drott’s feelings toward Belita.

“Looks like a lot happened while I was sick. Anyway, Villero was looking for you earlier. Seemed urgent.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Flicking his gaze back and forth between me and the luggage we had temporarily set down in a corner, Noah fidgeted restlessly like a puppy that urgently needed to pee.

“I’ll keep watch, so go on.”

Hearing the exact words he wanted, Noah thanked me, asked Drott for Villero’s whereabouts, and disappeared down the street.

Since the person he was talking to had left, I figured Drott would head off, too.

Instead, lingering awkwardly, he leaned his back against the stone wall beside me.

Then, after scratching the back of his head, he stared at me with a complex gaze.

What was this, was he trying to start a staring contest?

I glared back without backing down, and Drott abruptly spoke up.

“I figured you’d get kicked out in no time, but I guess you adapted better than expected?”

…Belita and Drott knew each other. It didn’t seem like a merely personal acquaintance, either.

Which meant the formula that Drott was also Jeffrey’s collaborator firmly cemented itself in my mind.

Ding!

Judging by how brimming with rebelliousness the choices were, it was certain that the two of them didn’t get along well.

‘Why is it that every single spy comrade I meet has zero fondness for Belita?’

Scorned by Sera, feared by Evan, and now treated with disdain by Drott.

If anything, high-ranking superiors like the Duchess and Carlo were actually kinder.

‘Was Belita perhaps too competent?’

She must have become public enemy number one out of pure jealousy.

Let’s just think of it that way. It was better for my mental health.

Just before the timer ticked from 1 down to 0, I picked my choice.

“Unlike some people, I don’t let illness make me miss important work.”

With a twisted smirk as if he had just heard something amusing, Drott scoffed.

“Ha! Your personality is still the same. Never knowing the difference between what should and shouldn’t be said.”

I kind of thought so, too.

“Whew. He said not to make it obvious by helping you out, but to just keep a watchful eye from a distance. Though it wasn’t intentional, it seems he wants to use this situation as an opportunity. You catch my drift, right?”

Meaning I should handle things myself and figure it out.

Since I had virtually zero provided information, I was already doing that anyway.

“…Understood.”

“Why so grumpy? By the way, I heard Sera got drafted along with us… where is she?”

“She got scared and ran away. Ah, she said she’d return to the mansion once this crisis is resolved, though.”

“…Is she out of her mind?”

My thoughts exactly.

Letting out a hollow laugh at how absurd it was, Drott soon let out a self-deprecating snort.

“Well, it is pretty funny. He must have hand-picked and brought only his absolute closest confidants with complete confidence, only to have a spy sneak right in. Since one of them up and vanished on her own, the Duke should probably be thanking Sera, shouldn’t he?”

You can say that again.

Drott, the protagonist’s squire; along with Sera and me, the personal attendants of the ducal couple.

It was no exaggeration to say that all the servants deeply connected to Robert’s household were Jeffrey’s spies.

“So how did you pull it off? By what on earth did you become the Duke’s exclusive maid?”

He must have found it genuinely baffling, as Drott spewed the questions out almost like a rap.

“The Duchess was foaming at the mouth, pulling every trick in the book to keep any and all women away from the Duke’s side. And as for male servants, Noah and Villero were holding down the fort so firmly she’d given up on that front. I honestly thought attaching a spy as a maid was a total failure this time around… but I never expected you of all people to pull it off?”

Too lazy to even explain, I replied with dead, hollow eyes.

“I got lucky.”

“If you get lucky two times, you’ll probably end up taking the mistress’s seat, too.”

…!!!

“Why look so surprised? Anyway, stick close to the Duke. You might just fish out some good info.”

W-Was that a joke?

I barely managed to suppress my fluster and retorted.

“…Yes.”

“What kind of lifeless answer is that? Can’t you put some spirit into it? Well, anyway, good work. I’m off~.”

Drott slapped my shoulder encouragingly a few times before disappearing with a swaggering gait.

The army gathered at Muelzer Castle was a diverse mix.

The Imperial 2nd Knights, the Rubel family’s vassals, and even reinforcement troops from families near Lemir State.

Without well-established coordination, they risked turning into a disorganized mob, so time was of the essence.

Yet, even as we scrambled, magic beasts from the Dark Forest were pouring into the ducal domain in droves.

Pressed for time, we had to march straight toward the defensive wall after only the barest minimum of preparation.

“We can’t hunt down every single magic beast. Let’s head straight for the wall.”

Robert voiced his opinion that magic beast subjugation should take a backseat.

It was a reasonable argument, prioritizing the root cause over everything else. No one objected.

The only problem was the sheer difficulty of having to pinpoint and punch our way through an endless swarm of magic beasts that multiplied the closer we got to the wall.

“Even with a concentrated breakthrough, they’ll catch up from behind in no time. We can’t afford a protracted battle in an open field!”

“If we keep going like this and get surrounded by magic beasts, it’s total annihilation!”

“The soldiers are utterly exhausted. We need to rest, Your Grace!”

Along the route to the wall, military fortresses built by past ducal generations specifically to prepare for magic beasts lined the way at regular intervals.

Robert suggested utilizing one of them, assigning the imperial reinforcements to rear defense while the main ducal army secured the vanguard.

Splitting their roles, they successfully broke into a military fortress before their formation collapsed and managed to fend off the swarming magic beasts.

Even after passing through several more fortresses in the same manner and advancing all the way to Hiter Castle—a military fortress near the defensive wall—the army couldn’t help but be intoxicated by a sense of victory.

“If we’ve made it this way, it’s practically over. Once we get past here, the wall is right there!”

“The wall is coming into view! As expected, there are hundreds of magic beasts prowling around, but at this momentum, we can easily wipe them out!”

Perhaps we shouldn’t have counted our chickens before they hatched.

That was when it started. The magic beasts began multiplying to a bizarre degree.

The fleeting hope that the end was in sight instead dragged us straight down into the depths of despair.

“Your Grace. Because Ketlini’s defense alone has been overwhelming, Lord Jeffrey’s message says his reinforcement will take longer than scheduled…”

“Food is the real issue. As the magic beasts’ attacks intensify, the period of isolation has grown far too long. We must procure supplies by any means necessary! If the knights lose the stamina to hold the line, it’s genuinely over!”

“The knights are losing morale! Your Grace, you must rally them!”

“We might even have to retreat, at this rate…”

“We can’t give up here! Haven’t we come too far to turn back now anyway?!”

“What should we do…?”

“You must make a decision…”

Once the meeting adjourned, it wasn’t hard to guess what Robert was thinking as he slumped powerlessly in his chair with a heavy, defeatist expression.

‘It must feel hopeless.’

The all-out campaign had ended in failure.

And not just that. Countless lives had been sacrificed, and countless more would be sacrificed moving forward.

Swallowing a suppressed groan, Robert, pondering alone in the darkened room, called me over and issued an order.

“Belita. Go fetch Darian.”

Darian walked in, rubbing a haggard face that showed he hadn’t rested comfortably in what felt like forever.

I felt sorry for him, but since he’d have to suffer a bit longer, I thought I’d brew a strong cup of coffee for the two of them as a gesture of encouragement.

“They say magic beasts target larger groups of people. In that case, could we escape this place if we moved with a tiny, elite headcount?”

My thoughtful consideration evaporated instantly due to Robert’s bombshell remark.

‘Is he out of his mind?’

He was seriously planning to abandon the multitude of people relying on him and holding the line right now, just to run away?

Though both Darian and I openly wore raw, unfiltered shock on our faces, Robert continued unbothered.

“Those who can live should live. It’s better than all of us dying.”

Darian struggled internally, torn between conscience and loyalty.

Having reached a decision, he squeezed his eyes shut and delivered his answer with a heavy heart.

“…I-it is not impossible. If we leave the people inside this fortress as bait and move out with a handful of elite knights carrying the remaining food… we should be able to escape safely to a safe zone.”

“Is that so? Thank you for your honesty. As expected, you don’t wish to die a meaningless death here either.”

“….”

“You heard, Belita. Prepare yourself as well.”

“…Are you taking this maid with you, too?”

“One person like her should be fine, wouldn’t you say? She rides horses well, too. She won’t get in the way.”

Glares mixed with suspicion and contempt were directed straight at me: why on earth, in the midst of this life-or-death crisis and even with the Duchess gone missing, was he singling out a specific maid to bring along?

Since it wasn’t really a false accusation, there was no need to feel wronged.

‘It’s all thanks to affection points….’

Seeing him insist on dragging me along even in this situation meant I must have successfully pulled off the romance route.

It seemed Robert genuinely intended to spare me.

‘But is this really the right thing to do?’

Then again, what other choice was there right now?

Things had escalated to a point where the situation couldn’t be reversed by my individual strength alone.

We were cornered in a fortress without food, facing a future where we’d all become magic beast feed.

Perhaps Robert’s suggestion, to use the people here as sacrifices to secure our own survival, was the most rational choice.

‘Even a holy artifact can’t fix this.’

For some reason, entering the second run, the holy artifact’s effective range had shrunk drastically.

The holy artifact had stayed activated the entire time while traveling here. But that range couldn’t even push back the magic beast hordes, and even if it did, new magic beasts would appear shortly after.

In fact, setting the range issue aside, a holy artifact wasn’t a panacea.

Back in the first run, within the Garain County or the Peyers Marquisate, we had managed to maximize its efficacy by cooperating with the protagonist and exploiting loopholes to pinpoint cracks in the crisis. A holy artifact alone didn’t have the power to resolve a disaster of this scale.

‘The crux of the matter is that I need a companion to cooperate with.’

If I had command authority over the knighthood, I’d somehow find a way to break through, but…

‘I can’t exactly go around telling people I’ll be safe as long as I’m by someone’s side… And would they even believe me if I did?’

As a mere maid rather than a Saintess, there was no way that would fly.

Regardless, I too had to make a choice.

Should I run away with Robert? Or should I find another way?