Duke Valubilis Borgia.
The one who hurt Lily—simply listening to his voice is a hellish torment for Lily. I'm deeply ashamed that while I should share Lily's pain, I cannot prevent the proclamation made under the [Barrier].
Lily covered her ears, desperately shaking her head, trying to drive that voice out. All I could do was hold Lily and silently wait for the proclamation to end.
Lily's fear subsided slightly until Duke Borgia's proclamation came to an end.
"Sister Anna... I never... did those things...!"
Stubbornly holding back her tears, Lily looked up, choking back sobs as she denied Duke Borgia's one-sided claims. I wanted to tell Lily it was okay to cry in front of me, but for now I wanted to respect this strength.
Duke Borgia proclaimed to the world that Lily had destroyed and stolen his research results targeting the undead, and defined Lily as an associate of the [Demon King].
The [Demon King] was sealed a thousand years ago, but its curse still plagues the continent of Lemoria.
The undead were born from the [Demon King]—they are the calamity the [Demon King] left in this world. It could be said that all undead are the [Demon King]'s minions. Although the vast majority of undead are mindless puppets, intelligent undead still exist.
"Your sister believes in Lily."
"...........!"
As if a simple expression of trust was salvation itself, Lily's eyes moistened again.
"Anna. We're now..."
Sigrdrífa also crouched down, gently patting Lily's little head.
"...Our current situation is very dire."
Maintaining the composure of appearing as steady as an old dog is just the necessary dignity I must have as a maid—actually, I'm panicking inside too.
"Rifa, you might not understand the dukes of the Kingdom of Michel very well. Duke Borgia is the most respected among the current dukes, so no matter what he says, no one will doubt him. Even if he characterizes a frail little girl as a criminal related to the Demon King, people won't think there's something fishy about Duke Borgia—they'll be more inclined to believe that girl really did something."
Adventurers might remain cautious, but the citizens living under Duke Borgia's rule would absolutely trust him without question.
Using his accumulated prestige, he instantly turned the entire duchy against us.
No one will believe us—I don't have a powerful background, I'm just an ordinary maid without a master.
"The barrier has been deployed. Even using [Spatial Transfer] will bounce us back—we have no way to leave."
The barrier has physical defensive properties. Against physical characteristics, Gambantein's magic weakening cannot take effect—we can't even use Gambantein to smuggle ourselves out.
Sky, underground—everything is within the barrier's coverage.
We've become truly caged birds.
"Rifa, I... will protect Lily."
Sigrdrífa was slightly stunned, then somewhat excitedly grabbed my shoulders.
"Anna, what do you mean? Are you saying I... would only be a burden...?"
"I'm very grateful for Rifa's companionship these past few days, so I also care very much about Rifa's safety."
Our brief daily life has been forced to an imperfect conclusion. What we must face next is pursuit by nearly the entire duchy.
The duke's exceptionally generous rewards have probably successfully mobilized all the adventurers within the duchy.
Citizens and adventurers alike—no one will become our ally.
Following Lily and me could be life-threatening at any moment. Sigrdrífa, like me, is an NPC without the right to resurrection.
Protecting Lily is a decision I made alone.
As long as this matter isn't fundamentally wrong, I have an obligation to see it through to the end.
But Sigrdrífa has things she wants to do—she doesn't need to risk her life alongside us.
"How silly."
However, Sigrdrífa smiled with relief.
"If Anna doesn't dislike me, why would I have any reason to leave?"
"But..."
"I'll be helpful, definitely." Sigrdrífa said with unwavering determination. "Unless you drive me away, though Anna doesn't seem like someone good at losing her temper."
"I can't be happy being evaluated like that..."
I was speechless. Following a willful young miss, satisfying her unreasonable demands—even the sharpest edges get worn smooth.
I intended to continue persuading Sigrdrífa that this could really cost lives.
As if anticipating what I was going to say, Sigrdrífa preemptively blocked my words with an oath.
"I swear to the nature goddess—I, moon elf Sigrdrífa, promise to protect Anastasia and Amaryllis. May the nature goddess look favorably upon us. Through prosperity and adversity, health and sickness, wealth and poverty, joy and sorrow, I will never betray this oath."
"..."
I feel like if this continues and Sigrdrífa adds "may heaven strike me down if I violate this," should I kiss her like a soap opera heroine to stop her from making poisonous vows?
Sigrdrífa has made her resolution. It seems unless I really lose my temper, Sigrdrífa won't leave.
I'm very grateful for Sigrdrífa's goodwill, but there are some things I don't intend to compromise on.
A maid must guarantee her master's safety with her life. Though Lily isn't my master, if something unexpected happens, I won't abandon Lily to survive alone. This thinking might be somewhat selfish—when that time comes, I can only entrust Lily to Sigrdrífa.
I sighed and returned to my usual tone.
"We're still quite close to Rothschild. Let's flee a bit further."
"Alright."
I deployed the magic for multi-person [Spatial Transfer], locking coordinates to a more distant location.
Unlike last time, this time it was Sigrdrífa who took the initiative to grasp my hand.
[Volume 1: End.]