Two days after the tiny-Liliana incident, we had kept Liliana resting out of caution, but today she was finally back on her feet.
We decided to finish processing the remaining mountain today.
「All right then, Yuuki-sama. Just to be safe, I’ll stick to transportation duty only!」
「Yeah, thanks. Don’t push yourself.」
「Yes! Understood!」
「Okay… here we go! Haaaa!!」
Using Blood Frenzy Magic combined with Extraction Magic, I created twelve remotely controllable blades of iron blood. Wrapped in them, I advanced through the forest while making the blades dance wildly.
I cut down trees, suppressed their fall with Blood Frenzy Magic, and kept moving forward slowly. It turned out to go surprisingly fast, I covered about one and a half kilometers in just an hour.
「Hey… Gray… Yuuki-sama is way too incredible…」
「Grrrr…」
Graywolf, Gray, had his ears flattened. You don’t have to be that scared…
「All right, let’s finish the rest!」
「Understood!」
「Waaaooon!」
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
After finishing preparations and returning to the castle, the courtyard was in an uproar.
「Ah, Yuuki-dono. Welcome back.」
「Noctarl-san, what happened?」
Everyone was rushing around in a panic.
「Ah, remember the branch family of that noble I mentioned before? Someone from that house is coming.」
「Ah… the one you said we should go visit to show our faces, right?」
「Exactly that noble. We were planning to head over today or tomorrow, but they came rushing here instead.」
It seemed I was being revered far more than I had imagined…
「I see… Does Amilia know about this?」
「I sent a maid messenger just a little while ago. She should be back any moment now…」
When I looked in the direction Noctarl-san was facing, Amilia’s personal maid, Latiti, came running up.
「Demon King-sama! Ah, Demon King-sama!?」
Latiti was breathing heavily, shoulders heaving.
「Haa… haa… fuu…」
「Good work, Latiti. How is the Saintess doing?」
「Y-Yes… The Saintess is…」
「Ah, Latiti-san, want some water?」
I handed the panting Latiti a cup of water.
「Here you go.」
「Th-thank you so much, Holy Knight-sama!?」
「Ah… Yes, are you okay?」
Startled, she accidentally flung the cup upward. I caught it with Blood Frenzy Magic, and the water stayed suspended in midair.
「Y-Yes… I’m so sorry!?」
Latiti looked like she was about to drop into a full dogeza.
「Hey, calm down. Here, your water.」
「Gulp! Gulp gulp!! …Haa… I’m calm now…」
Good, good… She’s still new, so everyone in the castle has been keeping an eye on her. Even now, the senior maids are glancing over worriedly.
「So, Latiti-san. How was Amilia?」
「Y-Yes! She’s finished changing and is doing her makeup right now! She should be ready in just a little bit!」
「Got it. In that case, Yuuki-dono, please head to the rear garden with the Saintess. Liliana and I will handle greeting them.」
「Thank you. All right, Latiti-san, let’s go.」
「Y-Yes!!」
I gave Noctarl-san a light bow of thanks. He smiled warmly and waved us off.
Then Latiti and I headed toward Amilia’s room together.
「Latiti-san.」
「Y-Yes!? I-Is something wrong!?」
She’s panicking so hard her words are coming out all twisted.
「Um… Have you gotten used to the job yet?」
「Yesh! I-I still have so many shortcomings and fail every single day gyaa! …I bit my tongue…」
「Ara ara… Heal.」
She must have bitten it pretty hard, there was a little blood. I healed the spot right away.
「Hyun!? Thank you very much!!」
「It’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t worry about something this small. So?」
「Y-Yes! Everyone has been so kind to me. I’m so grateful to all of you who are treating someone who had no experience like this, I can’t even find the words!」
「You literally can’t find the words, huh!」
「Gyohin!?」
I couldn’t help but deliver the perfect tsukkomi.
「Ah, sorry, sorry. It just slipped out…」
「Did, I mesh, up agen?」
「W-Well… Instead of saying the words of gratitude 『come out』 or 『don’t come out』, the correct way is 『I have nothing but words of gratitude』. Also, your dialect slipped out again.」
「Hyau!? I’m so sorry for making you hear something so embarrassing! Um… Even though it’s gratitude, there are no words?」
「Ah, yeah. I don’t mind at all, but it’s hard for other people to understand, so keep trying. And… I actually thought the exact same thing back in the day… Anyway, if the feeling of gratitude is really strong, just say 『nothing but』 and you’ll be fine…」
「U-Understood!」
Latiti-san was a demon child Amilia picked up during the early stages of the plan. She’s a pureblood Sheep Demon (Youjou), extremely rare, born naturally from the earth itself without parents. We found her half-buried on a mountainside.
I was seriously freaked out back then… Even Marian went 「What the heck is that… scary」 and had to look it up. Apparently, they occur naturally only once every few thousand years.
Right after birth she could already speak, full of energy, but the language she used was ancient demon tongue, spoken now only by a tiny, isolated tribe in remote regions. Almost no one could understand it except Noctarl-san. I heard it through translation magic, but it just sounded like heavily accented speech to me. That’s why, while acting as interpreter, I taught her the common language of this world, and she absorbed it at an freakishly fast pace.
Still, the dialect slips out sometimes, so I’ve been gently correcting it whenever it happens.
「Good to hear you’re doing well.」
We arrived in front of Amilia’s room. Latiti-san knocked, and Shia and Amilia stepped out. Amilia was wearing an absolutely stunning dress.
「Sorry to keep you waiting, wait, Yuuki!?」
「Y-Yeah… Amilia, you look… incredibly beautiful…」
「Hyau!? Th-thank you…」
「Excuse me, master. Am I invisible or something?」
Shia cut in and looked up at me. She was also wearing a very cute dress.
「Ah, Shia, you look really cute too.」
「Yes! Thank you very much!」
Gakin!
「Uooita!? How is your foot this hard!!」
「Sorry… Amilia.」
While apologizing to Amilia, I cast Heal on her foot.
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