Arrows shot out from the walls, but Gravity Wall deflected them, and the pitfalls were filled through earth magic, while the approaching venomous insects were engulfed in a carpet of flame, and the gargoyles were beaten and destroyed before they could even move.
“You lie. All I see is you trying to fan the flames and make things worse.”
“That’s just your imagination. I am always acting with the princess’ future in mind.”
Magical traps sought to activate across the board, but the maid deciphered their magic formula and neutralized them before they could be activated, while the curses shattered like glass with a mere touch from the hooded boy.
“Hey, don’t tell me you’re planning on dwelling on that story?”
“It’s not a joke(story), it’s a realistic option, do you have a problem with that?”
Guillotine blades shot out from the walls to their flanks, and the two of them put their backs against each other to receive them.
An arm clad in mana stopped the guillotine from the right, while it was a silver-white halberd that stopped the guillotine from the left.
A little effort on their part was all it took to turn those blades larger than a human being to break and turn into scrap.
“I knew it! Not only is she black-hearted, her subordinates are black-hearted too! …Could it be? Did I train a group of dangerous people?”
“It’s a little late for regrets, so why don’t you just stop moping and take responsibility already?”
“You’re limiting yourself too much. In the first place, it was her lack of education that caused this problem.”
“With all due respect, that’s not part of the duties of a maid, and are you seriously telling me that I should’ve predicted that?”
“Likewise, there’s no way I could have predicted that!”
It was curious if the two of them truly understood what sort of situation they were in, but regardless, the maid and the hooded boy continued to give voice to their complaints with a suspicious demeanor, engendering a peaceful atmosphere.
It was as though their focus was on their conversation and the traps and enemies were nothing more than an afterthought.
“Of course, you should’ve predicted it. You have so much experience and yet you still managed to mess up?”
“You’re the one who’s been serving her since she was born and yet you’re pushing the problem onto me?”
“I am only her maid, there is a limit to what I can do.”
“Sheesh… You always have an excuse, don’t you!”
“That’s my line.”
Be it a cultist warrior, a monster, or a trap, the maid and the boy crushed them as all they continued to argue.
Though their words contained some thorns, they covered for each other superbly with their breathtaking movements.
In the first place, though the contents of the words might suggest they were arguing, it really just sounded as though they were frolicking around.
“…Is that a kind of flirting too?”
Lilisha, who was in the group that was lagging behind, asked that sincerely.
Even though the boy she loved was getting along so well with her head maid, not a hint of jealousy could be seen on her.
If anything, she was elated to see the head maid enjoying herself.
Regardless of Stella’s motives, the princess herself wanted the two of them to be together because of her position.
Although most of their conversation was about her, she just conveniently ignored those parts.
“I don’t know how else you’re supposed to call that. Well, at least I don’t,” the hero said.
“That’s right, princess, the two of them are – without a doubt – flirting with each other.”
「「「Yep, yep.」」」
“If you leave the two of them, my master and Stella will always end up like that.”
Though none of them could see their expression, the hero, the maids, and the fox-eared servant were all in agreement.
Respectively, the expressions on their faces were a full smile, a half-lidded look of dismay, and a welcoming seductive smile.
“But you know, I think the head maid is the person most in tune with Shin.”
“But what does it mean if their combination is even better than our bond of many years?”
“Obviously, the answer can only be… Love!”
“Yep, that’s love alright.”
“I’m sure that those enviable snowy peaks of hers are filled with love for Shin— Eek!?”
As the group lagging behind were starting to grow noisy, a silver glint suddenly flashed past the cheek of a maid, causing her to scream.
When she turned to it, she saw that a table knife had buried itself into a wall all the way to its hilt.
But there was no enemy there, only a wall.
“Rather leisurely, aren’t we?”
When that indifferent voice spoke to them, the maids couldn’t even scream.
The head maid(Stella), who should’ve been further ahead, was right before them before they knew it.
Apparently, she came back after securing the path ahead.
“Were your jobs too easy? It appears that I’ve misjudged the strength of my subordinates. In that case, I shall entrust you with a more important job.”
As the maids had gossiped, that minimally decorated apron dress of hers was indeed being pushed up from inside by her chest, a chest glorious enough not to lose out to those of the bewitching fox-eared beauty. But the maids didn’t have the leisure to pay them any heed right now.
When that cold, expressionless amber gaze that was accompanied only by that faint smile in her voice was combined with their imprinting in their youth, the maids(her subordinates) turned completely mute.
They dreaded the punishment that was about to come in the form of work.
“…I’m pretty sure Stella’s chest was already big by the time we met.”
“Wha– Where are your eyes!?”
It was then that the hooded boy offered them a helping hand by murmuring those words.
Unsurprisingly for him, though unexpected for others, Stella frowned at that statement.
Stella tried to cover her chest with her arms, but those mountains were not something that could be covered by something so slender.
The maids didn’t quite understand what was happening, but they decided to take advantage of this opening nonetheless.
“Ah, now that you mention it, they’ve certainly been big ever since.”
“We might as well be sisters, and yet why are we so different in that regard, I wonder.”
“The eldest sister is the biggest, while the younger is a cocktail of pressure and jealousy!”
“Please share some of those with us, Head Maid!”
“Give me wagamama (selfish/egoist) bust!!” [1]
Suddenly, the apathetic face akin to a noh masked became rich with expression and the subordinates(sisters) appealed to the head maid.
Despite that their four limbs continued to bury the enemies as usual, and that’s why they were pros(maids).
“What do you think?”
The boy ignored the maids and asked the head maid for her thoughts regarding her subordinates’ impression of her.
“I-I don’t know! As far as I’m concerned, these just make it harder to move or see what’s below!”
Her face remained expressionless, but the flustered tone of her voice proved that she was affected.
At this time(・・・・・・), it was still just the boy and her who knew that she would become flustered whenever he looked at her se*ually, even if it were to be done deliberately.
But even if they didn’t understand, Stella’s younger sisters weren’t about to let miss this opening.
“Ah, yes, the plight of the blessed!”
“I want to experience that at least once.”
“I never considered myself small, but right now, I feel really defeated.”
The maids stared at their boss and elder sister with a resentful yet sympathetic expression and gaze.
That greatly aroused her unexpressed feelings for her sisters and made her even more upset.
“I-If you’re going to go that far, then why don’t you have that man rub them to make them bigger!”
“Well, what do you think, ladies?”
The head maid turned the situation in that manner out of desperation, so this time, the boy turned to the maids for their opinion.
The boy didn’t appear excited by the head maid’s proposal, but the women all cheered.
In fact, they simultaneously lined up in front of him with sparkling eyes.
“I-Is it really okay!?”
“By all means, please!”
“Gladly!”
“Here, go ahead!”
“In that case, allow me to join as well!”
The boy was momentarily stunned by their unexpected reaction, but his temples very quickly started to tremble.
“Don’t just naturally join in, you mas*-princess!”
“Iyann!”
Despite being yelled at and hit lightly on the head, the princess only squirmed in joy.
By the time Shinichi realized that he’d laid a hand on her, it was already too late, and no regrets could change what had been done.
But at least he’d succeeded in changing the topic away from squeezing some maid melons.
“Ahahaha, Shinichi is as loved as ever, I see… I wonder how many kids he’ll have in the future. Umm…”
One, two, three, the hero folded his fingers one after another as he looked at the maids one by one.
Apparently, the hero thought it was normal as a man not to be jealous of this situation.
Alas, as it turns out, the hero too was missing enough screws to stand alongside these people.
“What in the world are you calculating!? Hurry up and beat some enemies already, you useless hero!”
“U-Useless!? …S-Shinichi, I’m not like the princess. Even if you abuse me, I won’t be happy.”
When Shinichi yelled at him to stop saying unnecessary things, the hero was shocked by his phrasing, and as though a ‘Gan!’ resounded from his back, the hero turned pale and collapsed.
“Ahhhh! A guy that’s annoying in a completely different vector from me! I didn’t have even the slightest inkling of making you happy, so don’t worry! Hurry up and fight already!”
“Uu, Shinichi called me useless… *Sob.”
After being scolded, Kite seriously became depressed and started crying.
When Shinichi saw that, his brows furrowed and his head started to ache, so as reluctant as he was, he decided to encourage him, albeit with a flat voice.
“I expect much from your combat abilities, so do your best, okay?”
“Y-Yeah! I’ll do my best! Watch me!”
Suddenly, the hero stopped crying, stood up, and started kicking the enemies around with his sword in hand.
For a moment, Shinichi felt like he saw a tail wagging behind the hero, but that was probably just his imagination.
“…You sure it’s okay for someone like that to be the hero?”
[1] – [Written in English in the RAWs except for the wagamama.]