The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 182

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 182

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At some point, checking the time I woke up had become one of my most important daily routines.

‘6:40 PM…’

Now I’m waking up around 7 PM instead of 6 PM entirely.

Certainly, even compared to just two days ago, my physical condition today was considerably better. Especially the disappearance of sudden abdominal pain, headaches, and tinnitus, as well as the significant increase in basic stamina that I could feel.

‘Lately, I feel less muscle pain even when swinging a sword.’

Next was the second most important routine of the day.

In the memo I checked by opening my notebook, there was a kind reply to my apologies that had continued for two days.

『…As I said again, I’m really okay, Ash.

Please don’t apologize. I know best how much you care for me and consider me.

I realized something new after coming here.

Compared to the disasters these people have experienced, what I went through in Sereniye was nothing.

It would be shameful to even speak of it and demand sympathy…』

I pretended to have seizures to draw sympathy from the rebels. Is it because I’m trash after all?

‘More than that, saying what happened at Sereniye Castle was nothing?’

Dismissing one’s own misfortune as trivial is a bad habit and absolutely not helpful for mental health.

For the first time since sharing a body with Dian, I left a very long lecture. Perhaps annoyed by my constantly moving hand, Ash, who had come out of the cage and was waddling around the room interior (yes, that ghostly room), pecked at the pen tip with his beak.

“Stop it, Ash.”

“Squawk.”

Ash (the hawk) cannot fly.

I had only learned this fact two days ago. No matter how young, I thought it was strange to keep a hunting hawk, not a pet bird, in a cage, but there was a reason for it.

Dian thought it was an acquired disability, but originally his connection with Ash began when he found a baby hawk that had fallen from its nest.

Therefore, while Ash’s wings looked fine, he couldn’t soar through the sky.

“…Not being able to fly might actually be fortunate for you.”

“Squaawk.”

“You can just play, eat, and defecate thanks to Dian taking you in.”

“Squaaawk!”

“Hmm. Yes, you’re right too. What meaning is there in a life of just playing, eating, and defecating? Whether human or animal, one must work. Right?”

“Squaaaawk!”

I gently shook the glass bottle on the desk and extended my arm toward Ash.

“Come, let’s eat this. It seems like medicine Dian prepared for you. Should I mix it with meat?”

“Squawk?”

That’s when it happened.

“Th, that’s!”

White, who was staying in the same room under Lu’s orders for protection, suddenly shouted loudly.

When I turned my head, White, who had been polishing her sword for a while, hunched her shoulders and continued.

“…That’s for you, not the bird.”

For me?

“What is this?”

“You’ve been carrying minor w, wounds lately and moving around diligently, so… th, that’s why you made it! For nourishment… something like that! Right!”

Look at this.

‘The way she’s talking is way too suspicious, isn’t it?’

I put down the glass bottle and stood in front of White.

“Hey.”

White, who had turned pale, pulled the sword hilt she was holding strongly toward her chest.

—I’ll work hard. I’ll get stronger today, stronger tomorrow, and even stronger the day after!

It wasn’t an unpleasant resonance, but that’s not what I have business with right now.

“What’s your relationship with Dian?”

“Wh, what do you mean… Hic!”

“Tell me honestly. What do you know?”

At that, White’s eyes shook violently, engulfed in extreme confusion.

However, the chaos didn’t last long. Soon she closed her eyes tightly and shouted as if letting things be.

“Fine, I know everything! Unless you’re an idiot with no brain in your head, who wouldn’t know that you and Dian are different! You psycho! Violence is wrong!”

So she did know that our two personalities were different? Well, our temperaments are so different that she couldn’t help but notice something strange…

“Jane didn’t know.”

“That maid is st, stupid! She was just happy and relieved whenever you ate well and smiled once!”

Suddenly I remembered last night’s events.

Don’t tell me, the reason big guys enthusiastically challenged me to duels from all directions every time I went outside was…

“Did you tell the other guys about Dian’s condition too?”

“Ugh! Y, yes! I spread the word that he was suffering because of a psycho split personality! I felt s, sorry for Dian, so I did it! Got a problem…!”

“Good job.”

“…Huh?”

I walked past White’s dazed face toward the window covered with white frost.

‘Given what I’ve done, if rumors spread that there’s another vicious and nasty personality, at least Dian will be less bothered.’

After melting the frost with my breath, I wiped the window with my palm to check the situation outside. I could see men and women of all ages gathered around scattered campfires, chatting quietly.

After making this ghost castle our base, I learned that the rebel army’s scale was much larger than I had expected.

From what I heard in passing, there are 90,000 soldiers stationed in this castle alone, so if you add up all the personnel scattered throughout the Astrosia Kingdom, it would easily exceed 200,000.

“The atmosphere seems unusual. Are you entering Calepa or something?”

“Calepa? Do you know where that is?”

“Then what is everyone preparing for so diligently?”

“…We’re going to occupy Pushkov Castle tomorrow.”

It was a hesitant answer.

I turned my gaze away from the scenery beyond the window and looked at White.

“Pushkov?”

“It’s the family that the survivors of Sereniye sought refuge with. …If we occupy Pushkov Castle too, the Astrosia Kingdom will practically regain its freedom from the Rogues. The Lord of Pushkov is also the regent of the current King of Astrosia.”

Come to think of it, wasn’t the current King of Astrosia a young boy of 14?

‘So that regent colluded with the Rogues to offer the kingdom’s citizens as test subjects.’

Whether 150 years ago or later, unprecedented scum seemed to exist everywhere.

“If we successfully occupy Pushkov Castle, will this rebel army be disbanded?”

White’s black eyes took on a murderous aura I’d never seen before.

“No? What we want is Astrosia’s freedom and more. To completely eliminate the remaining Calepa forces in the Rogues. That’s closer to our most fundamental goal.”

With her lips turned down, she continued in a much lower voice than before.

“That demon… has been using Astrosia as a biological experiment lab.”

“The demon army.”

“Right, it’s a truly terrible army. My village burned down because of that army too. Those damn bastards deliberately hunted mainly remote villages.”

Lost in some thought, White closed her mouth after that statement.

Looking at the black back of her head as she quietly stroked her sword reminded me of my past self. The me who had set foot on the continent with only one chipped sword, driven by the single obsession of revenge.

How was I able to overcome that hellish period? Several faces naturally came to mind.

The faces of those who led me to the path of survival.

“…Draw your sword, White.”

“What?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep unless I fix your pathetic skills, so draw your sword.”

Her face, which had been darkly settled, instantly regained its bright energy.

“R, really? For real? Wait a minute! I’ll go get my gloves!”

Watching White’s back as she rushed out of the room, I let out a small sigh.

This is why giving back as much as you receive is troublesome.

* * *

That day was different from usual.

Everything was different in ways too numerous to list, but among them, the most different thing was the presence of a faint human presence near the door. I could instinctively tell that the owner of that presence had been there for a very long time.

Lu.

It was him.

Why was he here? What about Pushkov Castle? Had the occupation failed? Of all people, him?

“You’re finally awake, Ash.”

It was an unbelievably affectionate greeting.

Though his voice was as gentle as the future Lu I knew, far from feeling glad, an inexplicable chill ran down my spine. A strange eeriness made my heart feel as if it was being squeezed tight.

Thud.

It was the sound of something heavy falling.

The thing that rolled came to a stop near my feet by the bed. Unable to even breathe properly, I looked down at the ball that wasn’t quite perfectly round.

It wasn’t a ball.

“Now tell me.”

…A head.

“Which one of these bastards did that to your back?”

It was the head of the Lord of Sereniye, Ropski Sereniye.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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