I Got Kicked out by the Busty Beauties, but Now They Want Me Back... Sorry, It’s Too Late... Or Maybe Not?! - Vol 2 Chapter 14.3

Struggling within her restraints, she squirmed, making her ample breasts almost spill out of her maid outfit, flaunting them at me.

A sweet, magical scent, not derived from mana, carried through the air, tickling my nose and drawing my gaze slightly to her alluring figure.

“Come on♡ Let’s have some more fun, okay? You can do whatever you want with my body♡ Shin-sama♡”

It was a blatant seduction.

A sweet trap that could easily ensnare any man.

Yet,

“You! Even now—”

“—Nina. It’s okay.”

At least, the current me, who had hurt my comrades, wouldn’t be swayed.

“It’s useless.”

“—Sigh… Oh dear. Have I been rejected again?”

Kaguya-san then fell silent, retreating easily.

“Alice. Won’t you tell me?”

“I don’t have any reason to be called by my first name by you!”

Turning back to Alice, who was visibly angry at being addressed so informally after being treated like an underling, she turned away again.

“I see… then it can’t be helped—”

No sooner had I spoken than I drew my sword and swung it vertically towards Alice’s body.

“Alice-sama!”

As Kaguya’s scream echoed, signaling an event, Alice’s dress fell to the floor in tatters.

“—Huh? What? Ahhhhh! What are you doing?!”

Belatedly realizing her state, her face flushed with an emotion other than anger as she glared at me.

“Shin-sama, you—”

“—Sorry.”

I cut off Kaguya’s voice with an unusually low and angry tone that reverberated through the room.

“I’m also angry that my comrades were hurt. Torture—I don’t know about that, but there’s no guarantee you’ll stay in one piece, right?”

The words were colder than I expected.

And without a moment’s delay, I raised my sword again.

“—Arm.”

Everyone held their breath at the impending action, and as I swung down—

“—Please! Not Alice-sama!”

—Just as I was about to strike, Kaguya leaped in from the side, covering Alice, stopping my hand.

“I’ll take the punishment! I’ll do anything for Shin-sama! Kill me, use me as you wish! Please, just spare Alice-sama… ugh…”

Like a mother protecting her child from a beast, the maid turned her back to us, continuing her pleading words with a calm expression and a seductive voice, shedding her usual persona to reveal a mere fragile woman.

“Please… do whatever you want with me…”

“Is that so, then—”

The maid’s back was exposed in her uniform, her pale skin visible and vulnerable as I slowly directed the blade toward it.

“—I’ll speak.”

Just as I was about to apply pressure enough to draw blood, a frail voice spoke up.

“—What?”

“I’ll tell you the reason! Please don’t be harsh to Kaguya! …Please…”

The noble lady had transformed into a frail girl.

Gathering the stories I heard as I held my sword to Kaguya’s back, this was the account:

Alice was apparently the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman.

Apparently, because she had never seen her mother’s face and all her knowledge came from her father.

Tragically, her mother had died shortly after giving birth to her. However, as a stroke of luck, the nobleman and his wife were childless, so they decided to raise Alice, who was at least blood-related to him.

The wife, who was not related by blood, doted on Alice like her own daughter, and the slightly mischievous but smart and adorable girl grew up surrounded by love.

Kaguya had served Alice since they were both children, almost like a sister.

This year, when she turned sixteen, a significant turning point came—unfortunately, in a bad sense.

The wife, who had showered her with maternal love as if she were her real mother, died.

Her faceless biological mother and her foster mother.

The grief of losing both mothers was profound for her.

But the tragedy didn’t end there.

Her father, who was supposed to deeply love his wife, remarried almost immediately after she died—a woman of breathtaking beauty, seemingly not of this world.

From the moment this woman settled in the mansion, all gears started to misalign.

The female maids, except Kaguya who managed to stay, were dismissed, and the male butlers and servants began to wither, disappearing one by one.

And her father, once robust, began to adopt a depraved look, becoming obsessed with pleasing his new wife.

The well-maintained mansion began to deteriorate slowly.

In the midst of this slow, suffocating decline, the feared event occurred.

A few months ago, her father, who had been healthy, fell ill and died—claimed by old age, the doctor said.

Taking his death as a cue, the stepmother disappeared.

What she left behind was a legacy of debts.

Debt notes bearing the names of nobles unheard of.

Evidence of misdeeds her father could not possibly have committed.

Plans for a rebellion against the queen.

Documents related to illegal slave trading.

Evidence of all sorts of evil deeds seemed to be thrust upon her, and soon after, she was pursued by unknown nobles who seemed to know about these documents.

The house disappeared just days after her father’s death.

Fleeing as if escaping, Alice and Kaguya took refuge in this now abandoned and unused annex.

Not long before, when the real wife was still alive, there had been happiness, but now all had vanished, leaving only Alice behind.

What remained for Alice were her body, her knowledge of summoning magic, and Kaguya, the sister-like maid who stayed until the end.

“I vowed revenge against that woman… Leia. I started gathering people who could be of use to me for that reason.”

“Revenge—I get that, but… why did you target Shin?”

Listening silently, Lena voiced her doubt.

“I’m not sure, but I thought that those women might be demons or something similar.”

“Demons.” The scope of what that word implied was immensely broad.

On a familiar level, it included slimes and goblins. There were also dragons, golems, and succubi—many beings called demons.

From wild demons with no intelligence to those who understood human language and formed groups, their ecologies and species varied.

Even the existence of a demon lord, like those in fairy tales, was whispered to be somewhere in the world.

A common feature of many demons is that they are beings that harm humans, directly or indirectly.

Of course, there are friendly demons, but unfortunately, they are not very common.

“Yes. That Leia seemed to erase her presence and behaved suspiciously. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find proof that she was a demon, but the fact that even I, who am skilled in stealth, couldn’t catch her tail paradoxically proves she’s no ordinary person,” Kaguya added regretfully.

“I can fight somewhat, as can Kaguya, but that alone would surely not be enough against a demon. So, we thought to recruit a skilled auxiliary mage whose name has recently become well-known—a man who can enhance others’ abilities, from 【White Lightning】… It’s hard to say, but there were rumors that you were weak to women, and we thought maybe Kaguya and I could sway you.”

“Being weak to women—I can’t deny that, can I?”

“Wait, Nina!”

In the midst of the tense atmosphere, Nina looked at me amusingly, and Lena scolded her.

“I know you might not believe this excuse, but we didn’t intend to cause you serious harm. We thought… maybe if you had a bit of a scare, you’d give him up…”

Indeed, even when Fana-san had incited me, she had specifically ordered, “Torture him slowly and carefully, but don’t kill him.”

The method and approach were highly problematic, but perhaps there was some thought behind it.

“…You could have relied on the police or some important people, being nobility, right?”

Fana-san uttered the most sensible yet slightly irritated criticism.

“I tried…! But no one would help. By then, rumors had spread that ‘the lord of that house is a disgrace of a noble drowned in women.’ Nobody peculiar would help a disgraced noble exposed for crimes he didn’t commit… And above all—”

Alice hesitated a bit, then her young eyes brimmed with killing intent.

“Even if I had borrowed someone else’s hand, I want to be the one to strike the final blow. I want to personally take down the woman who stole everything from me…!”

After everything was said, silence filled the room.

A heavy, unpleasant atmosphere flowed, and someone’s sigh was indistinguishable.

“…That’s everything. I’ve done you wrong. So, boil me, bake me, do as you will… All responsibility lies with me, the master. So please, move the sword away from Kaguya—”

“Thank you for sharing such a painful story.”

Carefully retracting my sword to avoid harming the noble maid who risked her body to protect Alice.

“Shin is really too soft… but, that’s also what makes you endearing.”

Nina muttered just loud enough for me to hear, clearly seeing through that I had no real intention of harming them. Rena and Fana-san also directed warm glances my way, as if to say, ‘It can’t be helped.’

“…So, where is this woman—this possible demon now?” “……..”

Alice fell silent at Nina’s straightforward question, and Kaguya, having stepped back from Alice, turned to face us and spoke.

“We don’t know… We’ve traveled to several towns and inquired at guilds for any suspicious information or individuals, but so far, we’ve found nothing…”

Kaguya and Alice looked downcast, almost resembling sisters if it weren’t for the dire circumstances.

“…I see. So what will you do now?” “Well… after making amends for the disrespect we’ve shown you—we’ll continue our revenge. We won’t make the same mistakes.”

Why, despite everything they’ve done to us, am I thinking about wanting to help them now? Deceived, used, and putting my comrades in danger—the culprits of it all. Yet, having gotten to know them, I can’t truly believe they are inherently evil.

Nina is right. I am indeed too soft.

But I—who have betrayed my own party, even if under mind control—have no right to speak. Feeling a sense of self-loathing, I turned my gaze to Fana-san, our eyes meeting.

“Uh… Shin-san? —Ah, yes… that’s just the kind of person you are. Sigh… it can’t be helped.”

Seemingly understanding my intentions, Fana-san smiled wryly, exasperated, and then turned to address the restrained pair.

“Alice-san. As per your words, you will make amends.” “Yes… that’s fine.” “Ah, Alice-sama…”

Alice looked down, her expression resembling that of a condemned criminal, while Kaguya watched her with concern.

“In that case, you will both join 【White Lightning】.”

“「…Eh?」”

Both the master and the maid voiced their surprise in unison, their expressions turning blank.

“Of course, we’ll bind you with a contract magic to ensure you don’t harm us. You’ll be working a lot, especially Kaguya-san. You’re a maid, right? There’s a mountain of things I’d like you to handle: cooking, laundry, cleaning, and more.”

“But… but we—”

Ignoring Alice’s confused protests, Fana-san continued speaking.

“You’ll also help with quests, and I’ll be taking you around various towns, so be prepared. And—you’ll have the difficult task of spotting suspicious women.”

With a playful, affectionate wink, Fana-san left Alice and Kaguya unable to respond.

“Basically—”

Picking up where the somewhat mischievous Fana-san left off, I spoke up.

“—Let’s find your father’s enemy together. We’ll help you.”

“If the leader has decided… I can’t go against that. Don’t make her angry, okay? Our sage is quite fearsome. Nishishi.” “Yeah, yeah. Oh! But, let’s not use such rough methods anymore, okay?”

Nina spoke light-heartedly, and Lena, forgiving and guiding, both seemed incredibly radiant. It seemed our invitation had finally struck a chord with them after a moment’s delay.

“Ah… thank you… ugh… thank you…”

Kaguya wiped tears from her eyes.

“…Um… that…”

Alice fidgeted, searching for words as her gaze wandered through the air. It seemed she had trouble being straightforward with others.

To offer a helping hand with her charmingly youthful gesture, I leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

“—That’s what you say, right?”

Surprised and embarrassed, Alice’s face twisted variously before she finally took a breath and softly spoke.

“—Nice to meet you… okay?”

With a shy smile from the girl. Despite the harsh experiences, this smile was perhaps the greatest gain of all.