Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival [WN] - Chapter 37
Undercover Investigation
Starting from Dandol territory, it took me about three weeks to reach the Barony of Ceres, which was located almost in the northernmost part of the Cleydale Kingdom.
The journey itself was somewhat lengthy, but there were no incidents that were of particular concern.
However, being a woman and a child, I felt I was more easily entangled with both bad and good people compared to when I was a dirty vagabond.
I couldn’t accurately judge the goodness or badness of others. Even if they seemed normal at first, they may attack me out of the blue, like those boys did.
Therefore, from the latter half of the trip, I changed into men’s clothing that I had bought in the towns along the way and continued my journey, taking the forest animal paths along the side of the roads, instead of taking the city roads.
The season was about to change into summer. In Cleydale Kingdom, where there was no snow in the winter, the summers were reasonably hot, but even so, the breeze felt a little cooler, perhaps because of the river that was to the north and divided the town into north and south.
“…a big city.”
The territory itself was smaller than the Barony of Horace where I lived, but most of the towns and villages were along the waterfront, seeking the benefit of the river that flowed from the mountains that could be seen even from here to the north.
Perhaps because of this, the whole area was lumped together like a large city, and the center of the city, where Baron Ceres lived, seemed more developed than Baron Horace’s territory.
The river was large enough, and there were some large boats that appeared to be used for transporting goods. However, there were no fishing boats or small boats in sight, as was common in such waterfront towns.
I asked the shopkeeper while buying some preserved food at a stall if this was because the river was flowing faster than expected, and he replied that the high water volume was because of the seasonal rainfall, and that the lack of fishing boats was because demons sometimes appeared in rivers flowing from demon habitats.
Water demons rarely appeared. Still, several fishermen who caught fish near the water were harmed each year, so now no one dared to swim in the rivers.
Now I was walking around town dressed as a man. I bought a dark brown dyed jacket and trousers in a town along the way, and the top and bottom cost six small silver coins for the trip, a simple gown, which was unisex up to the age of 10, was much cheaper, but apparently my body was growing more than I had thought, and I didn’t really realize it, but when I exposed my arms and legs, I didn’t look like a child anymore.
It was probably because I was slowly becoming more and more like a woman. I have no choice but to wear the shawl Viro bought me around my mouth, but it made me look a little suspicious in the summer. I’d look for a thinner one next time.
I didn’t cut my hair just as I had promised Theo, but I tied it up with some leftover thread.
It’s the thread I used for the pendulum, but it’s really just cotton thread and not strong enough, so I’d do something about that soon.
The reason why I was walking around town in such a cumbersome man’s outfit was because I wanted to know what the town was like before I started working and to get the information I needed.
Almost everyone knew about the “monsters” that began appearing in the city about six months ago.
But the stories varied, sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes old, sometimes children, and sometimes truly consistent.
But according to the story of the young lady who was now being targeted, it seemed that it was a fat man who had appeared.
…It’s really a mystery.
Also, I wanted to know what was going on outside the city.
Around here, there were demons around the city. And if the city was this big, the area outside the city would be vast, and there was a possibility that the Thief group was hiding in the surrounding area.
That woman, whose knowledge I had received, had a master of magic who now lived in the outskirts of the forest outside this city.
I thought of hiding something in a safe place somewhere in the forest, like a book of medicinal herbs, to return it back to that master, which would be bad if lost.
I couldn’t investigate too much, but it seemed like a good place to do so would be in the forest along the river, not far from the town.
If I went along the river where people did not come close, I would not have to go through a gate and pay a single silver coin.
But there was a risk of encountering water demons, but since it only happened a few times a year, the probability of encountering one was low, and I figured I could get away with it in secrecy now.
“…I guess this is the place.”
A large tree in the forest that was in a sunny spot was used as a base.
I didn’t really think about the sunlight to live there, but because demons wouldn’t get too close in such a place.
I cut down some young trees about four centimeters straight and tied them to the thick branches on top of the trees with ivy. No roof or wall was built. The branches and leaves of the trees would be the walls and ceiling, so I didn’t feel much need for them.
Just in case, I could burn insecticide herbs and coat the trees with the juice of poisonous herbs that wild animals hate, so I wouldn’t have to worry about rats biting the herbs. …Maybe.
I went to search the surrounding area for medicinal herbs before nightfall.
Now that I had learned [Heal] and [Cure], I didn’t need so many herbs.
But even without alchemy skills, some poisonous herbs could be expected to have some effect just by being powdered, so I collected some of them and hung them on tree branches.
After sunset, I wiped myself with a wet cloth and climbed up the tree.
I laid down on a wooden stick that I had passed over the branch and finished my meal with only blackberries and black bread, and looked up at the starry sky that I could see through the leaves of the tree.
I was still not strong enough.
Sure, I could defeat a rank 2 bandit chief, a hobgoblin, and even a rank 3 Thief.
But in every battle I had fought, I barely won, and I had not yet reached the level of strength I was seeking.
The [dagger art] was my main strength.
[Taijutsu] for fighting and evasion.
[Throwing] for remote attacks.
Manipulation of pendulums
[Light Magic] to heal the body.
[Dark Magic] to control illusions.
[Non-Elemental Magic] to strengthen the body and Combat Skill.
The [magic control] that governs them all.
[Concealment], [night vision], [detection] to operate under the cover of darkness.
[Pain Resistance] was essential for my use of poisons.
I had mastered the basic skills that I assumed could be used in battle.
I was a woman and on top of that a child, so I was inferior to men in melee combat, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t win.
Even if we had the same skills, the way we use them and our skill level could make a considerable difference. For now, I would train this skill and sharpen myself as a “single blade”.
The next morning, I woke up before the sun had come out.
After checking that there was no sign of others, I climbed down from the tree and carefully washed my hair with the life magic [Flowing Water], wiped myself with a cloth, and then put my gear in order.
I put on thin socks and laced-up short boots, a black knife and a thin knife on my shins, and eight throwing knives strapped to my thighs with leather straps.
I wore a white blouse over my bare skin, then a black one-piece dress with a long skirt, with one throwing knife and a pendulum tucked into each cuff.
As Sera had trained me many times before, I fixed my hair and clothes before heading toward the city with a minimal amount of luggage.
Upon entering the city, several glances were directed at me but I walked straight ahead without moving my head to look at those people, as I was already accustomed to such situations by now.
I changed my clothes because I couldn’t knock on the door of a nobleman’s house unless I was dressed appropriately, but this outfit still seemed to stand out in some way.
I managed to arrive at the residence of Baron Ceres, and when I showed the letter of introduction from the Dandol family to the man who seemed to be the gatekeeper, he peeled his eyes lightly and hurriedly ran to the entrance, returning in about three minutes with the head steward in tow.
“I have received your letter of introduction from the Dandol family, no problem. Now, please come this way.”
“Excuse me.”
As I entered the mansion, I was met with subtle glances from several servants along the way.
Without understanding the meaning of their stares, I was led to the back of the house, where I was first introduced to the family members and led to a room that looked like the baron’s office.
When the butler knocked on the door, and we entered the room, we were greeted by a middle-aged man who did not seem to be strong-willed and looked uncomfortable.
“…I was the one who had written a letter to hire you from the Dandol family. They want you to be one of their daughter’s caretakers…. You might actually be the one who….”
My position was supposed to just be that of a young maid who had served the Dandol family since childhood.
Since I was still a child, it was only natural for people to be suspicious when I told them that I was sent by a strange organization to solve their problems.
So, I was supposed to infiltrate this mansion as an ordinary maid and solve the problem from the shadows, but the baron seemed to have a vague understanding of my true identity, having been sent to the Dandol family for help …Or perhaps he was adjusting the information he was provided so far by seeing it his own eyes, this was the only thing I could think of from his speech.
If I were told from the start that this was what the personnel were for, even I would be suspicious of me who was just a child, but if it was a conclusion I had arrived at on my own, I wouldn’t doubt it even a bit.
Then I should act like it.
“Baron, I beg you not to pry.”
“Yes, yes, of course you know what I mean. Come, let me introduce you to my daughter, Maria.”
Satisfied with my answer, the baron sent his butler to call the baroness. I didn’t have to go out to meet her, did I?
The young lady Maria who came was 12 years old, but perhaps she did not have much magic power, or perhaps her appearance was not so different from her real age, at best she was about the same as a commoner 13-year-old.
She seemed calm and lovely, but there was a bit of trepidation in her eyes as she looked at me, perhaps because she was still plagued by the monster problem.
At any rate, my job was to assist the first elderly woman who was taking care of the young lady. This housemaid lady seemed to be a married couple to the butler I mentioned earlier and served the family.
After being shown around the mansion and greeting all the servants, I finally understood why they were acting strangely.
The servants in the mansion were that couple and three maids. There were two men who received heavy work as gardeners and gatekeepers, and two cooks, but that was really all there were.
I had only known Royalty who had close to 100 servants and guards who were just there to recuperate, but this seemed to be the norm for a noble family of about the size of a local baron.
The young lady of the Count of Dandol’s frontier family must have been similar to Elena. They seemed to be frightened that I, who was introduced to them by such a high-ranking aristocratic family, would be scolded if I acted like a country bumpkin, even though I was a child.
Well, that’s okay. I didn’t have much expression, which may be the reason they were frightened of me, but if there was no unnecessary interference, it would be easy for me to move around.
With that in mind, as I was helping them and surveying the mansion, I suddenly noticed a presence approaching me.
“Hey, you maid! You’re the one who’s been scaring my sister!”
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Also check out my other novels: Reincarnated into a Game as the Hero’s Friend, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, and A Girl Who Was Told “You Have No Talent” Turned Out To Be A Talented Monster