The tsundere mistress and her fox-eared servant on a yuri journey to defeat demons - Volume 1 Chapter 2

The tsundere mistress and her fox-eared servant on a yuri journey to defeat demons

Chapter 2. The mission begins

“Searching for missing people, huh… It happens all the time, so this is exaggerated…”

The young Sacred Knight, who was the guide for Lisa and Shen Hu, looked back at them with curiosity and eyes that still held the innocence of a child.

“Normally, this kind of thing doesn’t happen very often. Is there anything else worth mentioning?”

On the way to the lordly mansion where Sarg, the lord of Naklabal, resided, Lisa showed her evident displeasure for the first time during the exchange with the young knight.

“You too, what are you laughing at?” Lisa noticed that Shen Hu was looking at her profile with narrowed eyes and asked in exasperation.

Shen Hu, with a cold expression, glanced between Lisa and the young man walking ahead of them and chuckled softly. Considering his appearance and the fact that he had been there for a short time, he was probably around eighteen years old. He was almost ten years younger than Lisa.

“It must bother you to be treated as younger than you are, right? It’s written all over your face, mistress.”

“Of course not!”

“Is anything wrong?”

When Shen Hu hit the mark, Lisa involuntarily raised her voice, and the young Sacred Knight turned around with a surprised expression.

“It’s nothing.” With a curt reply, Lisa walked past the young Sacred Knight. Shen Hu followed.

“Well, with your appearance, you won’t be able to convince him even if you tell him your true age.”

“And whose fault is that!”

Since the “contract” with Shen Hu, Lisa’s body had stopped growing. Fourteen years had passed, and her body, which would normally be that of a mature adult woman, still resembled that of a thirteen-year-old girl.

“I think it’s better this way. It would be a hell if my ideal beautiful girl aged.”

“But that’s just a matter of taste.” Lisa quickened her pace to escape from Shen Hu, who was devouring her with her eyes.

They were already at the lord’s mansion, and they continued to be guided by the young knight.

The lord’s mansion was richly decorated, and it was enveloped in a sweet scent of incense, perhaps to the lord’s liking. In the main room on the second floor, the scent was even stronger.

“Don’t be rude.”

When Lisa brought her lips close to Shen Hu’s fox ears and whispered, Shen Hu let out a slight sigh and gestured as if holding her breath.

“Lord Sarg, I’ve brought two mercenaries from Hazelnigrad.” The young Sacred Knight raised his voice at the open door.

Lord Sarg, who was spreading out his papers on his desk at the back of the main room, looked up with a relaxed expression upon hearing his voice and gestured for the young man to enter with a nod of his chin.

“I’ve heard your story. But have you really come from Hazelnigrad to search for missing people…?” Lord Sarg, who had received previous reports from the Sacred Knights through Averlla, alternately looked at Lisa and Shen Hu, raising his eyebrows in suspicion.

“Here’s the request form for the Lord and the Order of the Sacred Knights.” The young knight took the bundle of documents offered by Lisa and handed it to Sarg’s assistant.

While Sarg reviewed the request form, Lisa looked at Shen Hu and observed the situation in the lord’s house.

She nudged with her nose and glanced at Shen Hu, but she only tilted her head, annoyed.

Shen Hu isn’t reacting, but the chances of this Sarg being a demon are not zero…

Shen Hu, who had a keen sense of smell, was sensitive to the scent of demons. However, the sweet smell of incense burning everywhere in the lord’s mansion filled the air, hindering her nose.

I have my doubts, but there’s nothing conclusive. It’s possible that someone else is brainwashing Sarg and the people in the city.

Almost everyone in the city of Naklabal had accepted the disappearances as a “common occurrence”. Everyone continued their daily lives without realizing it was an anomaly.

…Brainwashing… but how on earth could it have happened?

A dark shadow moved at the edge of Lisa’s field of vision as she pondered. When she looked up, she saw that Sarg had finished reading the request form and was standing, shaking the loosely draped black garments around his body.

“If it’s a request from Lord Alber and the Sacred Knights, there’s no reason to reject it, but…”

Lisa secretly bit her lip as Sarg, who was slightly taller than her, looked at her as if testing her.

She wanted to point out that Hazelnigrad was not Lord Alber’s territory but Averlla Albertini’s. However, she swallowed it, knowing that she would first need some permissions.

“But we’re talking about missing persons. Hiring mercenaries isn’t that going too far?”

As the report stated, whether it was the Sacred Knights of Naklabal or even those of the lord, all the missing individuals were treated the same. Checking the reality that they viewed the situation as if it were natural, Lisa involuntarily looked at Sarg.

“No. If the Sacred Knights sent by Hazelnigrad, and the disappearance of the third-ranking Sacred Knights of the company commander class and more than a dozen of their comrades have occurred, it’s something even the lord cannot overlook.”

Sarg raised an eyebrow in surprise and silently looked at Lisa. He looked at her as if trying to assess her, and Lisa forced a strained smile.

“It’s not difficult to understand why you’re concerned about the disappearance of Alber’s subordinates… But…” Sarg inadvertently uttered the name of the lord with whom he should have had a long-standing relationship.

Lisa bowed her head politely, suppressing the curses that rose in her throat with bitterness.

“It’s a direct request from my lady, Averlla Albertini. Please grant me permission to operate.”

***

After leaving the lord’s mansion and parting ways with the young Sacred Knight, Lisa and Shen Hu immediately began their investigation in the city of Naklabal. The fact that they had a quickly issued activity permit from Lord Sarg made it easier for them to interview the city’s people, but it complicated the search for the missing people.

“I wouldn’t want that to happen to me tomorrow, but I’m sure my wife would manage without me.”

A young man, who mentioned that several of his friends had disappeared, smiled cheerfully and returned to work.

“The same response again…” The feeling of discomfort that Lisa had been experiencing all along weighed on her. None of the testimonies about the missing people got to the point. In fact, the abnormality of the city’s people continuing to live their lives without any concern for the missing only became more pronounced.

“Haa, I can still smell it…” Next to Lisa, who let out a deep sigh, Shen Hu looked up at the sky and sniffed.

“Do you mean the incense from the lord’s mansion? You still smell it?”

Shen Hu’s sniffing gesture was followed by Lisa smelling her own clothes. Shen Hu, noticing her mistress’s movement, brought her nose close to Lisa’s exposed shoulder and shamelessly inhaled.

“Hey! Why are you smelling me?!”

“Well, I was just…” With a mischievous laugh, Shen Hu tried to press the tip of her nose into Lisa’s armpit.

“Hey, enough already!”

“…I held back so much that my nose was about to fall off. Forgive me…” Shen Hu gently lifted Lisa’s arm and pressed the tip of her nose against it, breathing in and weakly complaining. “Oh, just smelling my mistress’s scent is enough to bring me back to life…”

“…I can’t do anything about that.” The scent of the overpowering incense from the lord’s house was a bit too strong even for Lisa. She could only imagine how tough it must have been for Shen Hu, who had such a keen sense of smell, so she didn’t even bother to reprimand her and let her sniff as much as she wanted. She let Shen Hu smell her, but when another passerby gave a curious side glance, Lisa quickly pulled away.

“Alright, cut it out. That’s enough, right?”

“P-please, just a little more, just a tiny bit.”

“But you don’t have to do it here!” She pressed her palm against Shen Hu’s forehead to prevent her from burying her face anymore and whispered loudly.

“So not here…?” Shen Hu stopped moving, looked into Lisa’s eyes, and asked as if confirming.

“Do-don’t you think it’s inappropriate…?”

“Thank you, mistress. I couldn’t help but smell a trap for the past few minutes…”

She thought Shen Hu was going to bring up the “meal” topic, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. Shen Hu continued to gaze into the void as she spoke.

“What do you mean by the smell of a trap?” Following Shen Hu’s gaze, all Lisa could see was the blue sky and white clouds. Lisa asked again while still looking at the empty sky.

“So, you don’t understand, mistress? Then let me help you. Could you close your eyes?”

“Like this?” Shen Hu’s words were more serious than ever, so Lisa did as she was asked and closed her eyes. Suddenly, something warm and soft, like lips, touched her eyelids. “What…!?”

Lisa opened her eyes in surprise, and Shen Hu smiled and pointed to the sky.

“This is…”

The sky above the city was covered by a thin mist that was not visible before. Lisa turned her head and looked around the entire city. The mist covered it, enveloping it with an eerie atmosphere.

“As you can see, it’s the demons’ Gehenna. This city has a strange barrier. It’s quite elaborate… But it can’t deceive my eyes.”

Gehenna: a creepy mist caused by a magical phenomenon used by demons, with very fine and opaque evil patterns like a cloud floating in the air. Lisa frowned at the conclusive evidence.

“I’m sure it has something to do with the demons. What is this barrier for?”

“Hmm… If I’m not mistaken, it seems to be a kind of barrier of mental pollution. The kind that involves the human subconscious…”

…Barriers that cause mental pollution.

Next to Shen Hu, who analyzed the matter naturally, Lisa grabbed her shoulder, horrified by a possibility that suddenly crossed her mind.

“Hey, that means we’re also being mentally polluted…”

“Don’t worry, it won’t affect us.”

Shen Hu smiled at her. The smile made Lisa slowly release her grip on her shoulder.

“A normal person wouldn’t last a week, but you have my spirit’s blessing. As long as I’m with you, you won’t be affected. If you’re worried, why not walk with me, holding hands?”

“Don’t treat me like a child.”

She shook off Shen Hu’s extended hand and started walking quickly through the city.

“Don’t reject people’s kindness so easily.”

“But it’s because you have a hidden motive!”

Shen Hu’s voice was as cheerful as ever. Lisa, embarrassed but also filled with anxiety, then took her hand, intertwining their fingers.

***

“This house and this one are also empty…” After giving up on collecting testimonies from the people in the city, Lisa wandered the streets on her own, marking them on a map.

“Are you sure you want to go all the way? You’re going to lose daylight.”

“There’s still tomorrow. We need objective information to find the missing people being treated as ‘common’.”

Shen Hu, who had bought a large amount of food, followed Lisa as she walked, eating.

“Why don’t you stop buying and eating and get serious?”

“The testimonies of the vendors are more reliable than you think.” Shen Hu was next to Lisa, chewing on a steaming bun. “Look, you haven’t had lunch yet.”

“Ugh…!”

Shen Hu was right; she had completely forgotten about lunch. And then, when presented with the dough that had absorbed a lot of meat juices and meat paste, and the soft steam filled with an indescribably delicious smell wafted in front of her, she couldn’t resist.

“I know, I’ll eat, okay?” She bit into it, the still-hot steam tickling the tip of her nose. “Mmmmmm!” Lisa’s eyes widened, and she stopped walking as the delicious taste of the meat paste filled her mouth.

“It’s exquisite, isn’t it?” Shen Hu laughed and offered another untouched meat bun.

Unable to resist this time, Lisa proceeded to eat the steamed bun, followed by a fresh and refreshing frozen fruit drink made with a magical juicer they also bought.

“Well, what else can you do when you’re hungry? You should learn to be as carefree as me…” Shen Hu, who had received Lisa’s map, added her own testimony.

Shortly after, the map had several markers indicating the homes of the missing people and the locations of disappearances they had investigated.

“But when you walk like this, you see many empty houses and closed shops.”

At night, stores serving dinner and drinks to travelers and wandering vendors began to open. During the day, it didn’t bother them too much, but as night approached, the presence of houses and shops remaining without light became more noticeable, giving them both an idea of the unsettling atmosphere that pervaded the city.

At first glance, the city of Naklabal seemed calm, but the buildings lining the streets clearly showed signs of people who had disappeared suddenly. Many of them.

“It’s madness after all.”

Several missing persons in a matter of months remained an anomaly.

“Can you hear me? Hey, you ladies over there…”

Lisa, frowning once again at the unusual situation in this city, looked back the way they came when they heard the voice of a boy calling them.

“Hey, miss… oh, until you finally look at me…”

Perhaps because she had been focused on the darkened buildings, she had walked past without realizing.

The boy, the owner of the voice, smiled at Lisa as he extended his hands to indicate the accessories he had in front of him.

“Take a look. They’re all perfect for beautiful ladies like you.”

Naklabal, famous for processing minerals, stones, and precious metals, was packed with stores selling such accessories. But it was not common to see a young boy attending the shop, so Lisa took a step back and looked at the accessories in the display.

“Are you helping your parents? How admirable.”

“This is my shop, you know? Well, it used to be my uncle and aunt’s shop, but they’re not around anymore.”

“Huh…?” Lisa involuntarily let out a concerned voice at the boy’s words, spoken so casually. The boy, noticing Lisa’s puzzled expression, smiled cheerfully and shook his head.

“Well, it’s normal in this city. Yesterday, the lady who attracted customers to the café here also disappeared.”

The boy lifted his chin and pointed to the café, which was illuminated but not very crowded. Judging by the splendid sign and the lined-up alcohol bottles in the display window, one would guess that the restaurant was originally a thriving business.

“Where was that girl last seen?”

“Near here. An old street vendor said she disappeared with her boyfriend.”

The boy pointed to a narrow alley, only there the color of the pavement was different.

“That different-colored place?”

“Yes. You know, in Naklabal, it rains all the time during the rainy season. That’s a drainage channel. It leads to an underground channel.”

Lisa listened to the detailed explanation from the boy and compared it with the map she had pulled out.

“But, tell me what you like. We’ve talked, isn’t there anything that caught your attention?”

Shen Hu was right; the vendors were willing to engage in trivial conversations and provide friendly testimonials.

“…Thank you.”

Lisa nodded and tucked the map into her bag, then leaned over the display window and looked at the jewels scattered on the table. Although all the jewels were small, they showed the careful work of a skilled artisan.

“Your aunt too…”

The boy’s aunt, who crafted these jewels, probably never thought she would disappear suddenly. When she thought about that, she couldn’t find the words to continue.

“She was good at this kind of fine work, you know? For example, this ring would suit you, miss.”

The gold ring the boy showed had a very small red gem. It was a simple design with a single stone, but the pure beauty of the gem seemed to stand out despite its simplicity.

“…It’s an unusual color, isn’t it? A bit pale to be a ruby, right?”

She brought her face closer to the gem and looked at it closely. She thought it was red, but it seemed to change color depending on the angle of the light, and up close, she could see it had a strange color, a mixture of light pink and orange.

“It’s not a ruby; it’s a kind of sapphire. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s like the color of your hair. It’s called red aurora.” The boy lifted the ring and showed it in the sunlight. The gem, small but brilliant, indeed resembled the color of her hair, just as he said.

Indeed, it resembles the color of my hair and Shen Hu’s…

“Since it’s so small, I couldn’t polish it, but it has a nice color, right? The meaning of the stone is also elegant…” The boy flipped the price tag and showed it to her, as if he had noted it down not to forget. There were the words: “decided love, doomed love, trusted relationship,” meticulously written by his aunt. “What do you think? I’ll give you a small discount since it seems destined for you…”

“…I guess so…” Lisa was about to take the ring with her hand.

“What’s going on? You’re staring at that ring a lot.” Shen Hu stretched her neck and looked directly at Lisa’s face. “I also gave you that precious fox necklace, didn’t I? ?” Shen Hu smiled smugly as she pointed to the necklace hanging from Lisa’s neck—the Celestial Fox necklace.

“That was a cursed object, wasn’t it?!”

“I was just kidding…” Shen Hu’s forehead was hit by the hilt of the sword Lisa had in her hand in anger.

“Ugh…” Shen Hu grumbled lowly and collapsed to the ground.

“What, hey, are you okay?”

When Lisa hurried to help her up at the unexpected response, Shen Hu rested her head on her thigh and exaggeratedly gasped.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to hit me in such a charming way.”

“Oh, well…”

Shen Hu, with closed eyes, painfully buried her face in Lisa’s thigh.

“Are you okay, ladies?”

“I’m sorry; I’ll come back next time.” The conversation ended, and Lisa walked away from the store to distance themselves from the gathering crowd.

Shen Hu, still panting and leaning on Lisa’s shoulder, abruptly stopped when they reached a storefront and raised her right hand as if she wanted to ask for something.

“I’ll have to eat that pudding there to cure this pain…”

“You silly!”