The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 9

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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 9

What remained on the errand list were carrots and onions. And seeds to plant flowers.

Entering the market, I purchased carrots and onions while asking the merchants about the Merchant’s Union.

At first they were evasive, but when I mentioned what happened to the old man in the alley, they sighed deeply and clicked their tongues incessantly.

“They’re heartless bastards. They started as a vigilante group during the Mage War, but changed after the war ended. They got a taste for money with their membership fees and now they’re tormenting people who shouldn’t be tormented. It was hard to make a living then and it’s hard now, isn’t it?”

“There are about six leaders, and below them about twenty go around collecting fees. This whole area is in their palm. If you refuse to join, it becomes absolute chaos. They must be in cahoots with the police because reporting them is useless. Now everyone just pays the fees because they’re sick of it.”

As expected, the thugs calling themselves the Merchant’s Union were treating this area like their own territory.

‘That means they must know this city inside and out.’

They might be useful for finding artifacts? Having finished shopping, I hummed as I returned to the estate.

There was no need to think further.

I had to take action starting today.

That night, close to midnight.

I changed into regular clothes and secretly left the estate without the Head Maid knowing.

Such secretive and clandestine escapes were among the behaviors a maid should avoid, but that wasn’t my concern.

Sometimes there are tasks that cannot be accomplished without deceiving people. This was especially true when one had to hide their identity as a maid.

I entered the pub that the potato-selling old man had told me about.

Ding.

As I opened the door and entered, the crimson lanterns illuminating the interior flickered faintly.

The first thing I saw was a frame hanging prominently on the front wall. The faded black and white photograph contained the faces of my dear old friends – the heroes of the Mage War who had been publicized through newspapers.

The people inside the pub were one middle-aged woman, four middle-aged men, and the bartender. As I’d heard, there were six leaders.

‘These types always gather at their headquarters on the night of an incident in their territory to hold strategy meetings.’

I checked around their waists but saw no guns. That meant I only needed to be careful of the bartender.

I went inside and took a seat at the bar. Since no one had spoken up until then, I threw out the opening line first.

“Customer service.”

The bartender snorted.

“Hey, miss. You’re not from this city, are you? We’re not open for business, so please leave nicely.”

“Why not?”

“What?”

“Why aren’t you open?”

In the increasingly hostile atmosphere, a large man casually approached and took a seat next to me. His face looked somewhat familiar.

“Wait, wait. Hold on. I’ll handle this. Miss, where are you from?”

The man pushed his grinning face toward me.

“What’s your name?”

No wonder he looked familiar.

“Why aren’t you answering? You’re the miss, right? The crazy maid who smashed half my brother’s face.”

He was the trash’s older brother. Or rather, the older brother trash?

Click.

The bartender instantly pulled out a shotgun from under the table, aimed it at my forehead, and warned me with ruthlessly cold eyes.

“So it was this woman? If you don’t want to die, follow me inside quietly. I’ll beat you to a pulp and send you off on a slave ship.”

That action made me abandon even my last faint hope.

In the Empire, a pub was a space for hometown and people. But apparently not this place.

I obediently stood up from my chair following the bartender’s warning. As I walked along the bar, the gun barrel followed my head.

When I stood in front of the entrance leading inside the bar, I instantly lowered my body and spun my leg half a turn to kick the bartender’s wrist.

Bang! As the bartender flew into the display case lined with glasses and collapsed to the floor, glass fragments scattered like snowflakes over his body.

“Get her!”

Next, I slapped the older brother trash who bravely rushed at me and sent him crashing into the wall. I made the two who were gathered at the round table kiss the table, and had the remaining two share passionate kisses with chairs.

“Ugh…”

Now it was finally quiet.

This was the pub I knew. A space for people, not for trash.

“Do you have any hidden guns?”

The middle-aged woman who was standing with both arms raised looked at me while trembling.

“Do you have any?”

“They’re in the warehouse! I’ll, I’ll give them to you!”

“I don’t need them.”

I returned to the bartender.

The brave bartender who had aimed his gun at my head was rolling around on the floor, apparently having injured one leg. When I sat properly on top of him, he looked like he was about to die.

“So when are you going to answer my question?”

“Question, you mean…”

“The question about why you’re not open for business. Is the pub sign outside just decoration?”

“We’ll do business.”

“Why did you guys who don’t even do business form some Merchant’s Union or whatever?”

“We’ll, we’ll do business.”

“Just answer the question. Why did you form the Merchant’s Union?”

“To protect the interests of the city’s merchants…”

“Who agreed to it?”

“All the merchants…”

“Did they genuinely agree? You didn’t threaten them, did you? Should I go around this area right now and ask? I’ll drag you around like a dog and have you face them one by one. Every time someone says they were forced to join, your lifespan will be shortened by 20 years. Should I do that?”

How strange.

Talking at length to these guys didn’t make me feel unpleasant. My own voice reaching my ears wasn’t terrible.

It felt like I had returned to being Andert, making the corners of my mouth rise and fall more easily.

Thanks to that, my tongue moved enthusiastically like a fish in water.

“We’re sorry.”

One of the men sitting at the table with both hands raised asked me in a slurred voice with broken molars.

“Wh-who exactly are you, miss?”

I looked over the six terrified faces in turn, then pointed at the wall.

“That guy.”

A frame proudly displaying a black and white photograph that looked like it was cut from a newspaper.

In the photo, myself from my Andert days, Raphael, and Natasha who was the Empire’s princess, along with a total of seven heroes, were laughing with glasses raised toward the sky.

It wasn’t a photograph with any great backstory.

During the sudden offensive by Archmage Mephisto when the front lines were being pushed north, the pub owner had taken this photo to boost the allied forces’ morale.

I had wondered how such a photo could boost morale, but it must have been released through newspapers after victory.

“That’s me.”

“What do you mean…”

“I worked hard and saved the world. But I didn’t save the world for scum like you to run wild.”

The bartender’s eyes changed to those of someone looking at a crazy, deranged maid. I pulled over a chair from the table, sat down, and moistened my throat with water.

“You asked who I was? Wait, let me tell you my story. You can listen, right? Even if my words are a bit awkward, just laugh it off. I’m not very good with words.”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

“I have an important goal that I must achieve within three years.”

“Yes.”

“But you see, to achieve this goal, the area around the estate needs to be clean. Especially guys like you. You know who I’m talking about, right? Thieves.”

“We, we’re not thieves…”

“Does that street belong to you?”

I swept my gaze over the thieves. They all seemed busy trying to avoid my eyes.

“Does that alley belong to you? Answer me.”

“No.”

“If it’s not yours but you charge usage fees, that’s theft, right? Because of thieves like you, tonight’s dinner didn’t taste good. The potatoes were in terrible condition. The reason the potatoes were in terrible condition is because the merchant, afraid of the stall fees, was hiding in the alley to do business. Alleys aren’t conspicuous, so goods don’t sell for a long time. Then they spoil easily, right?”

“…Yes.”

“So if there were no stall fees, the potato condition would improve too. Fresh ingredients enhance the taste and quality of food, but eating poor quality meals can make you sick. What happens to sick people if they’re unlucky? They die before long.”

“Yes.”

I pointed at the bartender thief.

“To summarize, if you collect protection money, I die.”

“Yes. …Yes?”

“So I’m thinking of killing you first before I die. In other words, self-defense.”

I smiled at them.

“End of story. Who wants to die first?”

It was only natural that the thugs’ faces turned pale.

Someone desperately gasped for air.

Of course, I had no intention of actually killing them. Violence and murder are crimes of entirely different dimensions. Though both are serious crimes.

Just then, the Bartender who had been sprawled on the ground slowly got up. His eyes, which had been filled with terror, suddenly took on a defiant atmosphere.

“We have 【Buried Red】 above us.”

So he had something to rely on.

The Bartender pulled out his loose canine tooth and threw it away, pointing his finger at me.

“So you can’t kill us. 【Buried Red】 is a place that pays back double when wronged! If all our necks are cut, you’ll become an enemy of 【Buried Red】, and you’ll never survive.”

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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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