Volume 1 Chapter 6: It’s Alright

“Balor-sama, you were magnificent today. How many lords would never abandon their suffering subjects? I’m truly happy to be in your service.”

“It’s all good.”

It was night. The bullshit commotion of Marcel’s lackeys had ended, and my reputation had skyrocketed.

Because I, the kind lord, had saved my suffering subjects, Marcel’s standing plummeted while my position as lord became even more secure.

Hell yeah. I, too, want to avoid any situation in which my subjects suffer.

After all, they’re the ones producing the blood tax that supports me. Naturally, I won’t help them if it endangers me.

No question about it—I’m more important.

“But what about them…?”

I rubbed my chin in thought.

How can I toss them into the dungeon?

I never forgive anyone who bears me ill will. I absolutely never forgive.

Do they not know the terror of having a blade pointed at them?

Really, don’t mess with me.

The fact that they made me feel fear is, in itself, a death warrant. Though killing them outright might be excessive, I’ll definitely toss them into the dungeon.

What false charge should I level against them…?

“They’ll be fine. We’ll handle them,” said Ashvin.

“Really? Then leave it to me.”

Ashvin smiled brightly at me. I wondered if she and the other maids would manage everything.

Lucky me. Those lackeys—though they act tough—are just brats who get knocked around. I’d rather not see their faces.

If they’re going to handle it, I’ll let them.

“Ignorance is bliss.”

Nanashi remarked something cryptic.

Stop it.

It makes me uneasy.

“Now, how about a drink, Balor-sama?”

Ashvin asked, holding a bottle.

“Eh, is that alright? I’m usually told to avoid drinking as much as possible…”

“Yes. Today is special. Drink enough that you won’t sweat the small stuff.”

“Ha ha. I won’t go that far.”

I smiled as I handed over a glass, and Ashvin poured the drink with a smile of her own.

Ho ho! I don’t know why, but today is a good day!

Alright! I’ll drink now and then skip work tomorrow by pretending to have a hangover!

Oblivious to Ashvin’s schemes, I downed my drink in high spirits.

◆

“Hey, are you really going to do this?”

“Yeah. If we do nothing, that maid will kill us. We have to act before we’re done for.”

Yorda and his gang stood before Balor’s mansion. In the darkness, their figures were barely visible.

Their reason for coming was simple. They had come to assassinate that foreign maid—Ashvin—and, by extension, Lord Balor.

“Can you really do that to the maid? She’s foreign—and a woman, no less!”

“You lot don’t understand because you haven’t seen her face directly! I know… she doesn’t even think of us as human! She considers us no better than the stones lying around! Even if she doesn’t mean to kill us, we’d be crushed underfoot!”

It was Yorda who pushed for the assassination. He decried Ashvin’s threat and was determined to commit this heinous act.

But his comrades couldn’t understand why Yorda was so terrified. She didn’t even look strong—just an ordinary maid.

The idea of drawing a blade on a maid to kill her made even us roughnecks hesitate.

“But seriously, sneaking into the lord’s mansion to assassinate him… even if we succeed, we won’t get off scot-free!”

“Then what will you tell Marcel-sama when you get back? That you were scared off by Balor or that maid!?”

“…!”

They fell silent. Just sneaking into the lord’s mansion was a serious crime, and intending to harm the lord would surely earn them execution.

If Marcel found out they ran away with their tails between their legs, it would be even worse.

“Either way, we’re on the edge here. If we want to survive, we must kill Balor.”

At Yorda’s words, the roughnecks steeled themselves—when suddenly:

“Don’t kill him!”

“!?!”

A high-pitched, metallic voice rang out. In the quiet night, Yorda and his gang, not expecting to hear any voice besides their own, stared in shock.

Before them stood a maid. She resembled Ashvin, but her hair wasn’t silver—it was white.

Her hair, cut into a neat bob, shone pure white against the dark night. Her skin, too, was pure white.

But her eyes were red, like blood.

An albino.

She, like foreigners, was shunned for her appearance. Her stark whiteness evoked fragility, yet the way her cheeks puffed out showed she was full of emotion.

Dressed in a long-skirted Epron dress, she placed her hands on her hips and raised a finger as if scolding a child.

“Especially, that person is very dear to me. If you hurt or kill them, you must not do that!”

“A maid?”

At her angry, pouting words, Yorda and his gang were dumbfounded. Their faces turned pale in an instant.

If she had noticed them, it meant Balor would be informed too…

“Don’t be scared! She isn’t that foreign maid. If she were just an ordinary servant, we could easily kill her. Let’s take her out before things get noisy.”

“Even if the maid appeared unarmed, it didn’t matter. For our sake, we would kill her.”

Yorda declared that.

“Hey, her appearance is weird. She’s completely white. Gives me the creeps…”

“That’s awful, Yorda! You shouldn’t speak ill of someone’s looks. It’s so sad…”

The maid, who pretended to cry softly, seemed more shocked by those words than by the threat of being killed. That gesture made her even creepier.

In this country, albinos are despised just like foreigners.

While foreigners are scorned for their deeds, albinos are hated simply because they look different.

As a result, they are often abandoned or killed right after birth.

It was nothing short of a miracle that this maid had grown up to her current age.

Well, none of the others here were thinking about that.

“But hey, she doesn’t look so bad. Sometimes, I’d like to mess with someone like her.”

“Hey, this maid isn’t normal! Don’t be fooled by appearances!”

Yorda flinched at his comrade’s words. Although the man who spoke was lecherous, acting on it now would be a problem.

Still, he sneered at Yorda.

“Even so, I just don’t understand why you’re so scared of that foreign maid. She’s just an ordinary maid. Why be so terrified?”

“Because, that is… us!”

“Is it that you think we’re different? That’s just your perspective. We don’t mind one bit.”

“Damn… you idiots…!”

Only Yorda could sense the abnormality— the strangeness—of Ashvin. The others were merely trying to earn brownie points with Marcel out of fear.

There was a clear difference in awareness.

“Alright, let’s capture her and have a little fun. Then we can use her as a hostage against Balor—a double win.”

“Heh, sounds good. Hey, come over here!”

The men grinned maliciously as they grabbed the maid’s arm. The maid trembled.

“Ah, no! Don’t touch Izun—”

The maid—Izun—screamed.

Given the men’s vile smiles and their crude words, and having her arm seized tightly, it was natural for her to scream.

But Izun screamed not merely because she was hurt.

“Ah…?”

With a thud, one of the men holding her arm collapsed without even bracing himself. Glancing in with a mix of irritation and disbelief… he screamed:

“Eeeeeek!?”

After all, that man had been in a mummified state for centuries after death.