After being guided to a house that stood out as larger than the rest within the village, we were relaxing together
when Kanade tugged at my sleeve insistently.
When I asked what was wrong—
“—Huh? You want me to help with maid training?”
“Yes.”
Summarizing Kanade’s explanation afterward:
Maid service, at its core, exists to fulfill a master’s commands.
Yet in the Valley of Maids, while there are roles for masters, there is no true “Master.”
So it seemed they wanted me to play the role of the genuine Master in the Valley of Maids.
Of course, I had no objections.
“I came to the Valley of Maids searching for information on Orichalcum and the Wandering Silver-Haired Vampire. I’m not sure if this will repay that favor, but I’ll gladly help with the training.”
“…It would be a relief to hear you say that, Master.”
“Huh? But since Kanade is the principal of the Valley of Maids, couldn’t you just ask directly instead of us coming here…?”
“…N-No, that wouldn’t do at all…”
Then why won’t Kanade look me in the eye as she answers?
Well, I suppose it’s fine.
It’s not polite to make a request without even a proper greeting. Besides—
“You wanted me to see the Valley of Maids, didn’t you, Kanade?”
“…Yes. And one more thing.”
“Hmm?”
“—I wanted everyone here to meet the true Master.”
I didn’t fully understand what that meant,
but Kanade’s gaze was intensely serious—
“—So, I ask you: Please defeat every single maid in the Valley of Maids.”
“What does that mean!?”
What followed was Kanade leading me to the deepest part of the Valley of Maids.
There, hundreds upon hundreds of maids were engaged in a frenzied training session.
Specifically, they were practicing stabbing something with knives.
The sight was nothing short of horror incarnate.
“Um… what exactly is this…?”
“Training.”
“But why are they swinging knives around!?”
“Knives are the foundation of a maid’s work. If you can master a knife, you can cook anything. So it’s very important.”
“O-Okay… I guess that makes sense… maybe…?”
After hearing that, it did seem plausible…?
But setting that aside—
“Hey, Kanade.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, somehow.”
“What kind?”
“Well, specifically… like I’ll be attacked by a swarm of maids and stabbed to death from all directions with knives.”
Even as I said it myself, I thought, No way, surely.
After all, that’s clearly the realm of serial killers.
Even a tyrannical lord who abused their servants mercilessly wouldn’t go that far—usually.
Yet Kanade stared fixedly at me.
“As expected of Kanade’s Master.”
“Eh? What?”
“Great intuition.”
—Before I knew it, the maids had stopped their knife-swinging exercises without me noticing,
and were now all staring at me with beast-like, bloodthirsty eyes—!
6 (Yuzuriha’s Perspective)
Even Yuzuriha, a veteran warrior who had endured countless battles, could only gape at the scene unfolding before her eyes.
It was fine that Suzuha’s big brother was holding his ground against attacks from all directions.
Even the growing pile of corpses (or so it seemed) torn apart and thrown aside by Suzuha’s brother—well, that was acceptable.
But—why were they all dressed in maid uniforms?
“…Hey… are those really maids?”
Yuzuriha blurted out, to which Suzuha, watching from beside her, replied.
“They’re all wearing maid outfits. I’d say they’re maids.”
“No… compared to maids, don’t they seem more like assassins or ninjas…?”
“You don’t know, Yuzuriha-san? Assassins don’t wear maid uniforms.”
Of course, Yuzuriha knew this already.
“But surely even you can see that their knife work and movements aren’t typical of maids…?”
“I’ve heard there are types like guardian maids.”
“No, even so…”
“And besides, they’re no match for my big brother anyway.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
Yuzuriha thought this was undeniably true.
Observing with her warrior’s eyes, the combat prowess of these maids was terrifyingly high.
One-on-one, they’d probably be a match for a novice knight at best—
a formidable feat already.
But watching further, she could tell: these maids excelled at teamwork.
More than anything, they were skilled at silencing their presence and slipping into blind spots.
Each strike cleanly targeted vital points, their precision unmistakable.
“These maids here get exponentially more dangerous as their numbers increase…”
“Yes. They’re already quick enough to disorient, and if you focus on defeating the maid in front of you, another will slip behind and stab you.”
“…If they’re guardian maids, shouldn’t defense be more important? These maids seem entirely offense-focused.”
“They say offense is the best defense. Isn’t that fine?”
“Is that so…?”
Yuzuriha still felt uneasy, but she understood one thing:
“Either way, these maids are too strong. If you pitted ten against ten, they might even have a shot at the Royal Guard Corps of the capital.”
“If there were no rules, they’d definitely win.”
“…But regardless, even these maids are no match for Suzuha-kun’s big brother.”
“He’s blocking attacks from all directions at once.”
As Suzuha murmured, watching her brother fend off attacks from every angle—back, head, every direction—
“So in other words, my big brother doesn’t need anyone to guard his back—”
“N-No, that’s not true at all!?!”
Yuzuriha flustered wildly at an observation that threatened to undermine her identity.
“Well, that’s not important.”
“It is important, though!”
“But why are those maids still training against big brother?”
“Wait, I’m the one who’s supposed to protect his back—what?”
Now that she mentioned it, the training did seem excessively prolonged.
After all, they’d been at it for hours already.
“Hmm… Even for combat training, this is excessive…”
“…This might be a problem.”
“So? They’re just training against Suzuha-kun’s big brother—can’t be helped, right?”
“Think about it, Yuzuriha-san. These maids must have confidence in their skills after all this practice.”
“Naturally.”
“If they’re made to realize that—”
“Oh!”
“Don’t you think what my big brother’s doing is, in a way, akin to a maid’s discipline? Beating into them with fiery fists that he is their true Master…?”
“T-That can’t be… Ha… ha… ha…”
“You’re trembling, Yuzuriha-san.”
The realization was all too familiar.
Without needing to cite precedents like the Amazon tribe’s chieftain,
Yuzuriha was only too conscious of having been captivated by Suzuha’s big brother’s strength herself.
She could only laugh bitterly—
7
On the first day in the Valley of Maids, I was forced into mock infinite sparring with the maids. After that, however, our stay was surprisingly pleasant.
The sheer number of resident maids was staggering, and Kanade was conducting interviews with each one for information. It also doubled as a reunion, it seemed.
Thus, it would take some time for the interviews to end.
In the meantime, while occasionally helping the maids, we stayed in the valley—
“Brother, why are you flanked by maids on both sides!? And even Kanade is on your lap! That’s supposed to be my spot!”
“Well, you’re not a child anymore, so Suzuha shouldn’t sit on laps…”
“That’s a trivial detail!”
Whenever I helped the maids with training, Suzuha would frequently storm in, clearly upset.
“It can’t be helped, Suzuha. This is an important part of their training.”
“…What kind of training?”
“To grow close to the lord’s son, maids must constantly cozy up.”
“There’s no such training!”
Well, I thought it was odd too. But still—
“I even asked Kanade if such training really exists.”
“Then?”
“When I asked, Kanade just said, ‘I can’t say otherwise,’ so it must be real.”
“Brother, aren’t you being tricked!?”
How rude. I’m simply trusting my own maid.
Even if it were a mistake, there’s no real harm.
“Hey Suzuha, we’ve received so much hospitality from the Valley of Maids. We should repay them in whatever small way we can, right?”
“…Actually, you’re right, Suzuha-kun.”
“Yuzuriha-san. Seems the training’s done.”
“Ah.”
Yuzuriha oversaw the maids’ combat training.
Suzuha, meanwhile, did nothing in particular.
“But these maids are incredibly skilled. Their specialization in offense is a flaw, but still… I haven’t even seen them do other training?”
“They are. For example, poison mixing.”
“Hm.”
“And training with poison needles.”
“I see. Actually, I’m a bit bad at sewing. It’s a hassle when my clothes tear on the battlefield. Could I join?”
“That’s dangerous. Don’t.”
“I’m not that clumsy!”
While Kanade’s refusal was a bit exaggerated (since they weren’t actually using poison needles), Yuzuriha’s noble status as a duke’s daughter meant the sentiment was understandable.
I understand her desire to avoid any accidents.
*
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