Maou Reijou no Kyouiku Gakari - Chapter 6 – Invitation –

Chapter 6 – Invitation –

「The back door….」

As I look in the direction that Rose’s hand is pointing, I can vaguely see a door beyond the darkness that is identical to the one that was at the entrance.

「You want me to go through that?」

「Yes.」

「If I go through that door , you’ll tell me who you are and what your intentions are.」

「Yes.」

The minuscule smile from earlier has already disappeared from Rose’s face as she replied briefly.

I slowly move toward the back door.

A dull creaking sound from the wooden floor echoes through the hut.

「I’ll hold it for you.」

Rose says, and holds out her beautiful white hand to me.

「Eh? Ah, yeah….」

After a moment’s delay, I realize she’s referring to the lantern in my hand.

It’s as if she can see into my mind as to which door I’m already going to choose.

I hold out the lantern to Rose and she takes it in a slow, elegant manner. For a moment, her hand and mine touch each other.

Although she looks like a doll, I can feel a high body temperature, the exact opposite of the impression I get from her appearance, which is firmly conveyed through our contact.

「Is there something you need?」

「N, No…its nothing…」

I can’t say that I was indulging in the feeling of touching a woman’s hand, so I decide to turn back at door again.

This situation is mysterious, but this is just an ordinary door no matter how you look at it.

It’s just a simple matter of making it easy to understand which door to exit through, and the outside is just a forest. I can listen to the story later and if I don’t agree, I can just leave. That’s all there is to it.

Despite these thoughts, an unpleasant amount of sweat drips from my hand that grips the hilt of my sword.

I’m getting closer to the door with each step. No matter how close you get, it’s just a ordinary door.

The forest outside is also faintly visible through a small window nearby.

I take a deep breath and put my hand on the door.

And then push it open at once.

The first thing I felt was the strong scent of flowers that stung my nose.

「Wha….!?」

Then, all at once, a vague garden came into view.

Colorful flowers blooming in the bushes of trees and shrubs.

The water drops on the leaves glistened suspiciously in the moonlight.

A winding, cobblestone pathway.

I can also hear the sound of water flowing constantly, as if there’s a stream or fountain nearby.

And further back, a mansion so large that it could be mistaken for a castle sits in the distance.

The beastly voice of a beast that should have been there a moment ago was now nowhere to be heard.

I look back in a hurry.

That wooden hut is gone, and only Rose with the lantern I gave her is standing upright as if nothing had happened.

「What did you do!?」

Before I could think, I instantly drew my sword and held it out in front of Rose’s eyes.

I did ask, but it was obviously due to magic.

But there was no indication that Rose had chanted the spell. So I should assume that the door or the hut itself had been embedded with a magic formula.

Even with the tip of my sword in front of her, Rose still doesn’t move her facial muscles, only slowly moving her little lips again.

「Frey-sama I have taken you to your future workplace.」

「I didn’t say I’d take the offer yet.」

「That was a premature decision. I’m sorry.」

Rose bows her head slightly without showing any concern for the fact that a sword blade is pointed at her as she says this.

Despite the fact that her words has no credibility, for some reason there is no hostility to be seen in the words that are spun so matter of factly.

Our eyes meet again.

Her eyes are so pitch-black that you would be sucked in just by looking at them.

In mutual silence, only the slight sound of the wind blowing and the rustling of the leaves that accompanies it can be heard.

「….Well tell me more about it.」

I return the sword in its scabbard at my waist.

「Very well. But first, there are some people I’d like you to meet.」

「Is it the client?」

「You’ll understand when you see them.」

I don’t know if she doesn’t want to answer now or maybe a picture is worth a thousand words, but Rose said that without answering my question and began to slowly lead me along the cobblestone pathway with the lantern in her hand.

At any rate, it looks like I’ll just have to follow her for now.

And while I don’t know who set up such a big performance, I’m sure I’d be disappointed if I didn’t at least get a good look at them, whether I accepted or rejected the request.

I follow Rose through the gardens. It seems we are moving towards the large mansion.

We don’t say a word to each other, there is only the sound of walking on the stone pavement and the mellow scent of flowers.

As we approach the mansion, the majesty of the mansion becomes even more apparent than it was from a distance.

Due to my previous job, I’ve had more than a few opportunities to see large mansions in the past, but this mansion is in no way comparable to those.

If there’s one thing that bothers me, even though it’s the middle of the night, there’s hardly any sign of life coming from this mansion.

「In a mansion this big, are there other servants like you?」

Unable to bear the strange tension, I talk to Rose, who walks in front of me on the left.

「No, the only servants in this mansion are me and one other person.」

「Such a big mansion and there are only two of you!」

「Yes.」

In response to my astonishment, Rose replies as if it were natural.

「So how about the care for this garden….?」

「I’m the sole caretaker of the garden.」

Look around the large garden.

I don’t know if it’s possible to take care of this alone…..

On top of that, this is a big mansion, there’s probably a lot of other things that need to be done.

It’s true that she looks like a competent maid from the outside, but it’s hard to believe it.

As I was thinking about this, we arrived at the entrance to the mansion, in front of a large door.

「Please come in.」

Rose said as she opened the door.

The interior, seen through the open doorway, is lit only by the faintest of lights, creating an eerie feeling that once you step inside, you’ll never be able to leave again.

But whatever was waiting for me down the road, it couldn’t be any worse than what happened back then.

I’m ready to cross that line.

It’s even quieter indoors than outside.

It’s too dark to see very clearly, but I can tell that the ornaments displayed everywhere are as expensive as the ones in the academy.

「This way.」

Before I know it, Rose, who has been inside for some time, is standing in front of me again, leading the way to the back of the mansion.

We walked down the dimly lit corridor, relying on the light from the lantern to guide us.

The only sound that can be heard is two people’s footsteps tapping on the ground.

Then, after walking for a while, I see a different light aside from the lantern Rose is holding at the end of my vision.

The light leaks out of the door at the end of the corridor, with a small window attached to it.

And it indicates that someone is on the other side of that door.

「Please come in.」

Rose stops in front of the door, but this time she doesn’t put her hand on it and looks at me intently.

I see, so she wants me to open the door myself.

I’ve already made up my mind.

Instead of checking inside through the small window, I put my hand on the old-fashioned, side-opening door.

Then I stepped through the door that opened with a rattling sound.