Vol. 4 Chapter 4 - Hero Suddenly Proposed

I got busy these past few days.

4 chapters plus an epilogue left, and we're not even halfway of the novel.

VOLUME 4: Chapter 4 - Exploring the Demon King’s Castle

I was amazed at my own impudence.

Waking up to the light seeping through the window, I knew a new day had come.

When I climbed onto the bed, I thought I would not get a wink of sleep, but it seems that I fell asleep in no time, right? Aren’t I too impudent? Normally, if someone was abducted by a demon, they would tremble in bed or hold their knees in a corner of the room.

No matter if it was because of having a Milford temperament or not, it is unusual for me to be fearless.

Did Verde really not do something to me? But he denied it, and as he told me, he did not have to do that.

Another thing that I can think of is . . . is it because of this bracelet? Or is it an example of how [The World’s Blessing] influences things?

[The World’s Blessing] is a skill that only heroes have in this world.

In the stories in this world, it is called “Protagonist’s Compensation”, and the story develops in a way that is convenient for the hero, but it seems that it also happens not only to heroes.

And the benefits are extended to the people surrounding the hero. Of course, it should also be extended to me because I am “The Hero’s Fiancee”.

I suppose my fears were suppressed so that I can move around without feeling scared……

I couldn’t come up with an answer no matter how much I thought about it, so I gave up thinking and got out of bed.

Anyway, I am feeling positive, so let’s just say that for now.

I stood by the window and looked out. There is a deep forest outside the walls.

By the way, this castle should be in the mountains on the border between Mindalk and Lake Salida…… But there is no way for me to let Greed-sama and others know that.

Even if I have to wait like this, no help will come, so I have to do something by myself.

“All right.”

Tapping my cheek, I cheered myself up and headed to exit the room.

I decided to find an escape route. Verde said it’s okay for me to take a walk in the castle.

Of course, I don’t expect to find it soon. Azul and his friends cannot let me, an important hostage, escape easily.

Still, I don’t think it is a waste to know the internal structure of this castle.

I left the room and embarked on a search, grasping the general direction from the position of the day I saw through the window earlier.

First, I will explore the area near my room.

Fortunately, I work in a castle so I know the basic structure of the castle.

The room given to me was relatively simple, but I sometimes see rooms with luxurious furnishings, so this must be the main residence like that of Schwarze’s castle.

So somewhere in this castle, there should be a road leading to the main tower──the center of the castle, where the offices and halls are located.

Bearing that in mind, I kept on looking around and as a result, I confirmed that there is such a corridor on the next floor below. The upper floors and the floor where my room is located all have dead ends, but only that floor seemed to continue somewhere.

I drew a map in my mind, with my room as the reference point.

Actually, this is the method I used in remembering the positions of the rooms when I was just starting to work in Schwarze’s castle. The castle does not have a blueprint for security reasons, so I had to memorize them.

Life is indeed unpredictable, and it’s funny that I had to use it here.

Even so, it seems that the castle is empty.

Every room is completely furnished and is ready to use, but there is no evidence that it is being used.

Of course, it would be scary if I opened the door and a demon beast was there, okay? But it’s eerie that no one is here.

Besides, as a person who works at a similar-looking castle inhabited by a lot of people, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable with the empty castle.

I miss other people’s presence. I don’t like Azul and Noir but it would be fine to encounter Verde.

Just when I was thinking of that, I was magically teleported to where Verde is.

Verde called me because it was time to eat.

Demons do not eat. However, it seems that he would accompany me as I take my meal.

I did not intend to eat the meals that will be served at the Demon King’s castle, but when I was told that he went to pick up the food at an inn, I had no choice but to eat it. By the way, the chicken boiled in tomato was very delicious.

But a demon executive going out to an inn is kind of . . . On top of that, a master preparing a maid’s food . . . It’s the opposite, right?

But Verde does not need to take care of me and it should be me, the maid, who should brew tea and listen to him talk.

After eating and returning to my room, I started exploring again.

However, a few hours later, I was teleported to the room with a porch and was ordered by Verde to brew green tea. A special tea set called Kyuusu [T/N: small teapot] was prepared, which is used in the other world’s method of brewing green tea.

I’m glad my hobby is brewing green tea. The method of brewing is slightly different from ordinary tea, and using hot water is strictly prohibited, you know?

In respect to the art of brewing tea, I also had him sit properly in the room with a porch.

When I asked Verde about the “plonk” sound that I sometimes heard from the outside, he said that it was from the other world

But, let me say this, the wall of the tower of the grim Demon King’s castle can be seen from the porch, so it feels very strange.

When I retorted, Verde complained.

“This castle is not my liking, okay? Actually, I wanted to make everything look different, but those two didn’t like it . . . The exterior is the one preferred by the Demon King, and the structure inside this castle is the same as the original castle.”

According to Verde, this castle is a magical renovation of an abandoned castle in a kingdom in the north.

Until now, all the Demon King’s castles were created by the Demon King himself, and it is because the Demon King can do such a big spell since he has the tremendous magical power required to materialize something. It seems that fewer magical powers and less effort will be required to magically change something that has a form like this one.

It is a well-known fact that the demons spend a great deal of magic on their vessels──that is, the materialization and maintenance of the body. Creating a castle from scratch will probably require tremendous magical power.

……By then, what does it mean to build a Demon King’s castle……? Somehow, it seems to be extremely useless.

I hid my tsukkomi from Verde.

After tea time, which made me feel as if I was lost in another world, I was teleported back to my room and I began my third exploration today.

The outside is completely dim. Due to the gray walls, the dimly lit corridors are already almost pitch black even during the day.

The reason I can still manage to continue is that, for some reason, the lights that are evenly spaced near the ceiling light up as I move forward.

As I pass by, the light will turn off. I don’t know the principle behind it, but I suppose the light will turn on automatically in response to my presence.

I’m so scared. It feels like I am being watched and for some reason, chills run down my spine.

“Let’s call it a day.”

Tired of exploring the whole day, I turned back to return to my room.

Then, when I entered the residential building and headed upstairs where my room was, I suddenly saw a corridor leading to the main tower.

Aside from Verde, there are still two higher-ranking demons and they’re probably in the main tower, right? If I ever open the door and suddenly encounter those two . . . I did not like that to happen, so I did not approach it until now.

But I thought that there could be no two people who would share a room at the end of the corridor.

Besides, I was only planning to take a closer look at the main tower, which is likely to have an escape route, tomorrow so I should take a look at it at first.

……But I never thought to see such a sight in the main tower.

Immediately after stepping onto the main tower, I stopped in front of the front door,

Usually, the room at the end is often a storeroom or a soldiers’ waiting room. So I did not expect that room to be such a room.

But when I opened the door, I was amazed.

Humans──Humans are there.

The room is completely different from the previous rooms.

The walls of all the rooms, including my room, were gray, but only this room had pale green wallpaper with fine flower patterns.

All the furnishings were also based on green, as evidenced by the thick dark green carpets.

They gave a cute atmosphere overall, and one can tell at a glance that the owner of this room is a woman.

In the center was a bed with a canopy with the same pattern as the wallpaper. The bedposts are engraved and seem to be very expensive. Yes, it is a luxurious bed suitable to be used by noble people such as royalty.

And there are people there.

…… No, it did not stop at that. There were people around the room and they were moving.

Their eyes are blue, purple, and brown; no one had red eyes. They are definitely humans.

Perhaps, they are people, like me, caught by one of the upper ranks?

After being stunned for a while, I felt relieved. I thought that I was the only human here.

However, when I stepped into the room to call their attention, I turned around and was horrified the next moment.

──It’s because they did not look at me when I opened the door and continued to do an unnatural “everyday” routine.

So far, there are six people in the room.

On the bed lay a delicate and ephemeral beauty with silver hair and purple eyes. The maid with black hair and purple eyes also has a very beautiful face.

A little far from them, a maid is preparing tea in front of the wagon. She is also a beauty with blonde hair and blue eyes.

A maid with hazelnut hair is pulling a dress out of the closet. Is she choosing a dress for her master?

And two female soldiers in armor are standing near the door, watching over the bed with a smile.

One is a determined-looking woman with short orange hair, and the other is a woman with her dark brown hair tied up. Both of them are also very beautiful.

A beautiful princess and three maids who take care of her. Female soldiers as escorts.

It looks like an ordinary sight…… If this was not a Demon King’s castle.

To me, the sight in front of me looked horrible.

When I stepped back unknowingly, something tapped on my back and I let out a little scream.

“Hiiiii!”

However, my mouth was covered by a hand from behind.

“Shhh, be quiet. It’s me.”

When I heard that familiar voice, I instinctively pulled my frozen body and turned around.

It was Verde. I felt relieved and my body relaxed.

Strange enough, Verde’s presence is more reassuring to me than the mysterious humans in the room.

When he was assured that I would not scream anymore, he let go of the hand that was blocking my mouth and said in his usual laidback voice.

“Careful, careful. Had you stepped any closer into the room, a scary woman would have appeared.”

“Wh-Wh-What the hell is this?”

I stuttered. Verde looked inside the room and replied.

“This is Ludi’s . . . Noir’s doll room.”

“Doll……”

I was stunned.

“Aren’t they humans?!”

As I expected, there shouldn’t be any human beings living in such a place. I’m sure she used magical powers to make the dolls move as if they were alive.

I thought, but I felt terrified again with what Verde said next.

“No, they’re not really human beings, okay? They’re somewhat dead, but since their hearts are still beating, it can be said that they are still alive.”

“……Eh?”

“Ludi’s hobby is playing with living humans that she turned into dolls.”

“……Turned humans into dolls?”

Chills ran down my spine.

“Yes. Ludi’s spell [Puppet] keeps the humans alive. They repeat certain actions according to Ludi’s orders. Look, observe them for a while.”

Upon hearing that, I turned my eyes back into the room.

The princess got up from the bed and wore a dress with white lace, smiling happily.

After that, she headed to the sofa in the corner of the room and chatted with her maids, holding a teacup in one hand.

However, the moment the princess placed the cup on the saucer──the people in the room stopped moving at once.

After a while, they started moving again.

The princess took off the dress she had just worn. One maid put it away while another maid took out the nightdress that had just been stowed in the closet.

After preparing to go to bed, the princess went to bed and lay down. Her maid then said, “Good night.” But she just greeted her good morning just a while ago.

Immediately after the princess’s eyes closed, they stopped moving again.

And when the princess woke up again, they repeated the morning routine as before.

“Th-This……”

“Like this, they do the same thing over and over again. Unlike brainwashing, they are unconscious. They are perfect dolls that just keep moving according to the orders.”

Then Verde pointed to the silver-haired princess who was awake in bed.

“She is Ludi’s favorite doll. She is a princess of a small kingdom in the north.”

Well, she is a real princess.

“After turning her into a doll, Ludi played with her resulting in quarrels between royals and nobles of that kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms, which gradually ruined them.”

“Wha……”

I was rendered speechless.

“The magicians noticed that something was off, but they did not know until the end that it was due to a demon’s fault, because this spell leaves a little trace of magical power. They knew they could not help her. Because once someone dies, the soul is separated from the body and they will be really dead as soon as the spell is lifted.”

“D-Dead?”

“That’s right. You will die once the spell activates. But only the body will continue to move as commanded. In the end, you cannot escape after being made into a puppet by Ludi’s magical powers.”

Verde then suddenly remembered something and said.

“No, someone was able to escape. There is a female soldier among the Hero’s party, correct? She was almost turned into a doll by Ludi.”

My eyes widened when I heard that.

“Farah-sama?”

“Ludi likes beautiful women. She was looking for a female soldier to serve that princess at that time, and she was the one that caught her eye.”

I instinctively turned my eyes to the female soldiers in the room.

……Maybe one of those two could have been what Farah-sama would have……?

I swallowed.

“That means, the demon that Farah-sama was searching to awaken her childhood friend, who suffered the spell on her behalf, is……”

“Correct. It’s Ludi. That childhood friend is the only example of a human who did not become a doll even after being hit by the spell. He seems to be a pretty skilled magician, forcibly altering Ludi’s spell by turning [Death] into [Sleep]. He cannot be a doll unless he dies. So he remained unconscious, but he could not be controlled by Ludi…… At that time, Ludi was disappointed. The man who was able to escape her had bothered her and she wanted to kill him quickly, but the Hero sent him to the Great Temple so she could not get her hands on him.”

After saying that, Verde giggled. He must be amused that Noir was seething inside for having a hard time. But I don’t think it is something to laugh at.

Because even if Noir will be defeated, the princess and the others are . . .

They will be freed from Noir’s commands, but their life will not be saved. By the time Noir’s spell activated, they were already dead.

Verde stopped laughing and said with a straight face.

“But that female soldier is lucky. After all, this is worse than death. Their souls were already separated from their bodies, but their bodies are still moving due to Ludi’s magic. She showed in detail that one’s body can be manipulated to her liking and can lead the people around into ruin. Or better yet, they would have lamented that they should have died in the truest sense.”

“That’s……”

……Yes, it is certainly worse than death. And flaunting the fact that they can ruin the people around them is just……!

I clenched my fist on my apron, shaking.

“Unfortunately, as long as Ludi is alive, they won’t die. I wish the Hero had killed Ludi before he went to the Demon King.”

As he said that, Verde closed the door of the room.

The last thing I saw with my eyes was the princess smiling at her maid. Her smile appeared as if she was enjoying and she did not look like someone was playing with her body.

……But maybe that’s because I heard Verde’s story. I could not appreciate her beautiful smile.

“Oh, by the way, I came to call you.”

After closing the door and looking back at me, Verde said that with his usual lackadaisical tone.

“Those two asked me to bring you, Aria.”

“……Eh?”

I could not keep up with the sudden change of topic and replied in confusion.

“Huh? Those two . . . Azul and Noir?”

“Who else?”

“D-Did something happen?”

I don’t have time to worry about those people. I am a hostage!

I was not confined to a tall tower, which is a standard in those stories, and I was free to roam about so I forgot about it, but I will always be in danger.

Verde tilted his head as he pondered and then said in a light tone that I could not ignore.

“I think they found a way to make you a decoy and lure the Hero.”

“……What!?”

“It seems that they have spread a message a while ago and it has reached the Hero.”

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh……”

What the hell────!?

Important! That’s important!

Verde grinned when he saw me panicking.

“I’m going to send you to them, but don’t worry. Your safety is guaranteed until the Hero arrives, but don’t make them angry.”

“Eh!?”

“Well then, do your best, okay~”

What is that insinuating cheer!?

But I did not have time to ask him, as I was teleported by Verde.