The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 274

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

Part 2, Chapter 72

* * *

“…How could this be.”

A short sigh escaped. But that was all—no one could easily speak about the scene unfolding before their eyes.

Bewilderment.

And despair.

Everyone stood as if nailed to the spot, staring at the city turned to ash.

Solitorque was a small city compared to Midwintry, but it was still a settlement with enough scale that calling it a village would be inadequate.

This place that would have bustled with citizens of the Contaninus Republic no longer showed any signs of human presence. Yes, the moment I set foot in the burned city, I was certain.

‘No one’s here.’

Not even the members of Team 1.

Action had to be taken.

Everything was questionable. Where the residents had gone, why Team 1, which should have arrived at least 3 hours before Team 2, was nowhere to be seen…

Everyone waited for the Sword Master’s command.

But for some reason, the person in question remained silent. Though his face wasn’t visible, I could feel the familiar coldness from his solitary standing figure.

Without hesitation, I approached and grabbed the Sword Master’s shoulder. Then I firmly slapped his unfocused face.

“Snap out of it! This isn’t Trash Hill!”

“…”

Should I give him a concussion?

The moment I resolved myself and clenched my fist, the Sword Master blinked. Slowly pushing me away, he looked around at the party members with eyes that had regained their composure.

“…Party members and guild supporters will now enter Solitorque to search for survivors. Everyone else who isn’t a party member will wait here.”

As the Sword Master took the first step, the Golden Mage and Jewelry, who had been standing behind him, followed slowly with displeased expressions.

Thus began the exploration of the ruins.

Naturally, since there was no possibility of finding residents, we examined the streets rather than building interiors.

‘Even though it’s become ruins… this place has a strangely eerie atmosphere.’

Was it because of the blackened statues positioned throughout the city? There was something spine-chilling about it.

And before long, we discovered traces of Team 1. Supplies had been abandoned right in the center of the town square.

On top of the neatly and safely packed supplies, a short, fire-scorched memo had been left.

【Team 1</p】

abandons the purification agent delivery mission

and plans to return through the wall of fire

-Team 1>

The Weatherwax Baroness, who had followed behind, stroked his chin with an expression of incomprehension.

“Strange. It wouldn’t have been too late to decide after Team 3 joined as well.”

“They might have encountered remnants of Rien’s forces.”

“If that were the case, they would have left a warning for our team too. At least assuming they had that much sense left.”

Suddenly, Baron Piyora’s warning came to mind. The Weatherwax Baroness seemed to be thinking in a similar direction as me, watching me with subtle eyes.

“…It seems you’re thinking along similar lines.”

“Similar thoughts? You mean the secret missions that each party supposedly receives separately?”

He smiled meaningfully and asked me while looking around the ruins.

“You said you’ve directly faced Calamity Lien. What do you think—can you distinguish whether the fire that burned this city was the calamity’s fire or Yeonwang’s fire?”

The meaning behind the Weatherwax Baroness’s question was clear.

Was Solitorque’s destruction Legion’s will?

I shook my head.

“I don’t have the ability to distinguish the owner of fire from mere ashes, but no matter what, it doesn’t seem like Yeonwang’s party. Even if we accept the city’s state, isn’t it impossible for residents to completely disappear in less than 3 hours?”

“Right, it’s not Yeonwang.”

The owner of that confident voice wasn’t me, but someone who appeared from behind.

The Sword Master, who scanned Yeonwang’s memo with somewhat tired eyes, leaned against the supplies and muttered as if talking to himself.

“Everything… has cooled down without leaving even a small spark. This wasn’t burned just a few hours ago. Seeing that there isn’t a single corpse, it seems the residents were forcibly relocated.”

Then what on earth had happened here?

‘Since we’ve even touched the Corium base and Legion, it wouldn’t be too surprising for the city to end up like this, but… if everyone’s still alive, somehow…’

Then.

I raised my head. An unprecedented presence was infiltrating the city. Someone was approaching quickly. Small but fast steps, and there were two of them.

However, my wariness toward the opponents dissolved helplessly the moment I confirmed the faces peeking out from between the buildings.

“H-here! They really came, brother! Those people from before weren’t the end!”

It was two little kids.

At a glance, their condition was quite poor—they looked like they’d been suffering for at least several days.

Hearing that cheerful shout, the other party members began gathering in the street one by one. Jin, with a surprised expression, approached the children and asked.

“Are you survivors from Solitorque?”

“Huh? I-I don’t know. We just came to get purification agents…”

A slightly taller child stepped in front of the wary, retreating smaller one.

“My sibling and I are from Greenhill village, and we arrived in Solitorque two days ago. We always memorize the dates for receiving purification agents. Here’s the confirmation certificate we received last winter.”

Seeing how confidently he held out the crumpled paper, it seemed that confirmation certificate was necessary to obtain purification agents.

After checking the paper, Jin looked around the city and asked again.

“Was it like this two days ago too?”

“Yes.”

“Have you seen other people?”

“Ah, some people came and went earlier… but when we asked them to take us with them, they ignored us…”

Team 1 ignored them? My puzzlement was brief.

Bzzt—

Suddenly, light gathered in the air along with the noise of mechanical devices.

Intense and vivid light converged to begin forming an unknown shape in the air, and that shape eventually…

[Ah, ah. How is it? Have you arrived? Hm?]

As if it had been waiting, it created a familiar face.

Though it was a form of light, whose face it was remained clear.

Violet eyes gleaming with madness and long braided black hair.

Sharply curved eyes and an emaciated body.

“That’s…”

“Ca-calamity. Calamity Lien!”

The Golden Mage, who shouted with a trembling voice, quickly ran behind Jewelry’s back.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to cast defensive magic? Damn it, don’t just stand there stupidly like usual and move quickly!”

“Ha. Who just called who stupid?”

Jin urgently mediated between the two who started arguing.

“Don’t make a fuss. That’s a projection, not real.”

…Right, it’s not real.

Rien from the south.

He was projecting an image to Solitorque to send us a message. Could Team 1 have also seen this projection and left?

The welcome enemy looked much the same as before, but just one part was different.

‘…One arm?’

Gone was his intact appearance from 4 years ago—the area below Rien’s left shoulder was completely empty.

No way.

I reflexively turned my head.

Lu, who had somehow come to stand beside me, was staring at Rien with a coldly hardened face devoid of any trace of laughter. It was an expression that would rush forward to behead him immediately if he were standing right there.

[Daisy. You came? …Ah. Now it’s Andert Pager, isn’t it. How is it—is my heart beating well?]

Huu. Rien, who closed both eyes and took a deep breath, smiled with an excited expression.

[I can smell you approaching. Haha. I genuinely want to see you. No joke, I’m really desperate! Compared to dirty and disgusting Spollia or Kalerpa who live for their own arrogance, you’re really… cute.]

Crazy bastard.

Was it because of his incredibly friendly tone? I could feel suspicious glances turning toward me. I became very displeased and wanted to destroy the projection, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it since there might be mention of the residents.

[And beautiful. The sensation of the heart, I mean. Should I be honest? I still haven’t forgotten… that ecstatic beating from back then… My God! It comes to me even in my sleep! Hahaha!]

“…Heart?”

The Sword Master looked back at me with eyes full of complex emotions. For a moment, I recalled the sensation of Rien’s hands gripping and shaking my insides, and let out a hollow laugh.

[Was the small talk too long? Gentlemen, what I want to convey is simple.]

Rien, who had approached close in an instant, bared his teeth while his purple eyes gleamed.

[From now on, anyone who accompanies Andert Pager will be torn limb from limb and killed. Wow. Scary, right? That’s all! This was Rien.]

Crackle—

The image flickered.

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