Sophie had chosen the man’s scroll for a couple of reasons.

Reasons that had nothing to do with the location of said target being near her house nor her desire to get some things from there.

No.

She chose that man’s scroll because his capture would help her get out of the hellish training she was going through in the castle.

But most importantly, it could be said that that man was responsible for everything that happened to her recently.

Something that the maid believed fervently as she remembered how she met the man in her living room.

It was a time after a certain Dragon Lord’s attack, after an Order was forgotten and the fall of a prince.

Back then, the maid known as Sophie was no maid nor was named Sophie.

She was not even a woman.

She was a he, and he was a guard, a new guard.

He was a young man who had arrived at the Kingdom’s Capital with the desire of a fresh start and leaving his past behind.

His appearance was rather unremarkable, if only a bit roguish due to his hair and strange laugh.

But such things would always just fade into the background of a city so rich in its variety of inhabitants.

And he was fine with that.

Just like he was fine with the routine and his uneventful rounds.

But life is not just that.

It will never be just that.

And such a reminder came in the form of the strange disappearance of weapons and pieces of armor from the guard’s armory of his district.

At first, it was just thought as an error made by the one in charge of taking inventory, but as things continued to disappear, it was clear that the guards had a thief among them.

Of course, the man who became Sophie was not of enough rank to be part of the investigation, but that failed to dissuade him as he felt sure that he could find the culprit.

For he had certain…experience.

Let us just say that his roguishness was not for nothing.

But…as it happens to those who stick their heads in matters that they are not supposed to, he found himself in the worst possible situation.

After all, a new guard being found inside the armory way into the night could only be seen in a certain way, right? Furthermore, one that managed to avoid the measures taken to guard the armory.

Truly incriminating…and convenient for the one who had been waiting there.

He had hoped to catch the culprit, but, in the end, the one caught was him. And by someone far worse than whoever was said culprit.

So, as he hid in the shadows of the armory, he heard something and went to take a look.

"—?!"

Sadly, he was knocked out as soon as he did.

"Wake up."

"Hrnn...where…? Who…?"

Shortly after, he was woken up by the voice of the one who captured him. Still, everything was hazy for a moment, making it difficult for him to realize the severity of the situation in which he found himself.

“Oh, where are my manners? I am Count Alessandro Vicci. I oversee this Kingdom’s intelligence agency.”

The young man could not see it well, but the bald bearded man even did the typical bow as he introduced himself. Although, it was clear that he did it more to amuse himself than anything else.  

"Hm…? Intelligence…? Wait…wha?!”

In any case, it didn’t take long for the young man to regain his focus as the severity of the situation finally began to dawn on him.

“…!! What the fuck is going on?!"

And when it fully did, not only did he realize that he wasn't in the armory anymore, but he also saw and felt the ropes that tied him to a chair.

That is when the Count spoke once more.

"You could call it a...personal talent hunt. It’s sort of my hobby."

"Hah…?!"

Of course, the man who became Sophie was understandably confused by the Count's words, let alone the with the whole situation, and the Count grinned at such reaction.

He grinned as he circled around the tied young man and stopped behind him, firmly putting his hands on his shoulders.

"You see, I was looking to make a tool from the idiot stealing stuff from this district's guards, but then someone with a bit more potential showed up. And I just couldn't resist to take them for myself. That’s you by the way."

"Gn...aa...nh...!"

Pain coursed through the young man's body as the Count's grip on his shoulders became stronger and stronger. To the point that he felt that the man's fingers would pierce his skin and break his bones.

"Haa…! Haa...haa…"

But then, the Count suddenly stopped and released his shoulders from his grip, prompting the young man to gasp for air as the pain had made it difficult to even breathe.

"Heh."

The Count chuckled before such scene and ruffled the young man's hair for a moment, soon stopping and positioning himself in front of the young man once more.

"Let's cut to the chase. Work for me and I'll make this stuff about you stealing from the armory go away. You’ll walk out of here innocent and all."

"...?! B-but I didn't steal a thing! I was there trying to catch the real culprit!"

At that moment, the young man's eyes went wide in both surprise and confusion. All as he desperately exclaimed what was the truth.

"So?"

But the Count did not care.

"Even if that's the truth, that no longer applies to you."

"Tch…!  Even if you arrest me, I'll just tell everyone the truth! I have my alibis for the other days things disappeared! Witnesses too!"

So declared the young man and the Count...just laughed.

"Hahahahah! Haha…is that so?"

"Gh…?!"

And when he stopped laughing, he proceeded to bath the young man in an intense killing intent, one that immediately made him start to shiver.

One he hadn’t felt in years.

"It seems that you are misunderstanding something about my offer. So, let me explain. What I offer you is the difference between leaving this place alive as an innocent subordinate of mine or as a guilty corpse."

"...!!!"

The man who became Sophie could see it in the Count's eyes, it was a look that he knew very well, the look of someone who was really going to kill him.

But then such look vanished as the Count saw that his very real threat had gone through and grinned once more while he patted the young man’s shoulder.

"But ok, let's imagine that it is like you think. I throw you into a cell and you tell everyone the…'truth'. Who will believe you?"

He asked as he began to pace around the room.

"Just think of your position. You were found inside the armory at night. You, a new guard who just arrived at the capital a few months ago."

"How…?"

"Please, I like to do my homework before doing my talent hunts. I investigated all the guards in your district and that obviously includes you. Now, don't interrupt me again or I'll break your knees."

"...!"

"Heh. You have no friends and no family to speak of.  And most importantly, you have no connections and no power." 

"..."

Then, the Count pointed at himself as he leaned closer to the young man.

"What can your word do against mine? The word of a Count of this Kingdom. Furthermore, I can easily make my word the truth."

"..."

He was right and the young man knew it. But the Count was not finished.

He wanted to make things clear, he wanted him to know how he saw him.

"Besides, do not lie to me you little shit. You planned to arrest the thief and then take with you what they stole, right? I can see it in those trashy eyes of yours. Like those of a stray dog. You are lucky I picked you up."

"..."

He smiled as he looked into the eyes of the young man who could only glare at him in frustration.

"So? Which is it? 'Jail'? Or a well-paid job under me? And do not worry, you will still serve the Kingdom in a way, if that is any consolation."

"I..."

With that, the choice was obvious.

No…there was no choice to begin with.

The story was already crafted.

He did not want to be in jail for a crime he did not commit, let alone be killed and be blamed for said crime.

So, he chose.

He chose the only option available.

He chose life and freedom over death and defamation.

At first, the man who became Sophie was afraid, afraid of what might be the things that would be asked of him.

But he instead received training, not that of a guard but that of a spy.

A very…thorough training.

One given personally by the Count, one that…hurt.

In any case, his job was to keep an eye on the people he was pointed to.

Relaying every bit of information that he was able to get from them with his particular skills.

Of course, that information was used for various things including blackmail.

There were times where he was asked to steal things too, making him laugh at the incredible irony of the situation.

One that hit in many levels for him.

But he did not care more than that, he was free, he was alive.

That is all that mattered.

Then he got accustomed to it and even enjoyed it in a way.

After all, the man kept his word about it being a well-paid job.

With that, he was able to leave the inn where he used to live and buy a humble house in the Capital.

Which was an achievement for him who had lived a difficult life up to that point.

You could say that he had even developed some sort of loyalty thanks to that, but in truth, he was afraid.

He did not want to be considered useless and a loose end.

Because that meant death.

"One more job."

That is what the Count said to him out of nowhere one night.

"After seeing it through, you can kiss goodbye to this shady stuff, Dog."

Dog, that was his codename.

He had heard it so much that he even believed that it was more real of a name than his actual name.

Until it wasn't.

Until he wasn’t a he anymore.

She became Sophie, a maid in the service of the woman who had captured her in the village she had been dispatched at with others.

She left everything she had been born with behind.

That being her name, her body and sex.

Of course, her job as Dog too.

After all, those were indeed hindrances to her newfound freedom.

And just as her new Master said, a new life awaited her.

But even after coming to terms with her new circumstances, only 'suffering' awaited her.

First, there was her position among the other maids.

She was deemed to have the same rank as a complete newbie and her skills as a spy were called into question thanks to the crazy standards her superiors had. Plus, her involvement with what happened in that village did not help.

And so, every night before going to sleep, and every early morning, she was subjected to a hellish training with a boorish person that had muscles for brains.

Even if she was pleasing to the eyes.

“Try not to get hit.”

She would say that before launching a barrage of attacks at her with a massive sword.

She could feel it, that woman, Kris, she was not holding back at all. If she was hit with even one of those, she would be dead or at least very, very, very, badly hurt.

But not satisfied with that, Kris would shout at her every little thing she did wrong followed by even more attacks.

Every time, Sophie gave her everything until she couldn't move. She had to.

Even then, the 'suffering' did not stop even in her dreams.

Why? Because every night the Goddess visited her in her dreams, scolding her about all the bad things she had done and their consequences while using her as a dress up doll.

"Oh! It's the Magical Girl Sophie Quartz!!"

The Goddess would say such things while making her do strange poses and say strange phrases.

"I-I'll slay all t-the evil d-dragons with the p-power of l-love and j-justice!"

All at the same time something called a 'theme song' played in the background.

A punishment that made her aware of certain parts of herself she had never wanted to know.

For at some point, in that strange dream world where time flows differently, she realized it.

She liked...dresses with frills, ribbons, and many colors.

She even started to enjoy the whole Magical Girl thing.

To the point that she would sometimes find herself playing with the frills of her maid uniform while humming the ‘theme song’. Something that freaked her out.

After all, it was beyond embarrassing.

It made her red to the point of looking like a tomato.

As such, she really wanted the 'suffering' to stop.

And then, a certain thought appeared inside her mind.

'If only I had never met the Count.'

Indeed, she cursed the day the Count put her on the path where she ended up in such 'suffering'.

And that same Count was now in front of her.

Alessandro Vicci of the Vicci household, a household that always kept their position as overseers of Kingdom’s intelligence agency.

Be it because of their achievements or because of their administration itself.

Alessandro used the former to keep the position and Sophie’s experiences supported that claim.

But all that information in the scroll did not matter to Sophie.

No…

She only had one thought and one thought alone in her head.

'I’m so lucky.'

__________________________________________________

Minutes before their uninvited entry at a certain maid’s house, Alessandro Vicci had been alerted about someone who had entered the home of one of his secret tools.

The one tool that had managed to escape the disastrous failure that was the Illumbee village’s operation.

Yes, the one who completely disappeared a mere day before such long running operation fell apart.

And he was the only one, for the Count had killed the other tool that had let that happen, Rat.

But that of course did not fix a thing.

That was merely the logical step to take after what happened.

A useless tool should be disposed of.

Simple as that.

"So, he returned, that ungrateful Dog. I will squeeze the life out of you after I make you spill the reason for your betrayal."

Such was his declaration as he got up from his seat and took a brigandine armored woman with him.

Cat.

Still, the failure of that operation weighed heavy on him.

After all, he feared that the King and the rest of New Glory would see him as useless.

That meant that he needed a win.

Something that could ensure his own survival.

That was why he had been doing everything to find those who took the name of the Knights of the Ever-Burning Will.

'Dog might have information on them. His disappearance and their appearance timings are just too close to be coincidence.'

That was his line of thought.

That was why he was surprised when he saw a brown-haired maid inside the house of that man, of Dog.

He immediately ordered Cat to immobilize her and bring her out of the room so that he could ask her some questions.

"Let’s start with an easy one. Who are you, lady?"

He asked as he released a terrible amount of killing intent upon the maid, but something baffled him.

The woman…smiled.

“Well, well, I was going to look for you, but here you are. Thank you for making my job easier.”

Said the maid with a calm tone and a roguish smile, one that vexed him.

Still, he decided to play along with the maid.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"What? Are you blind? Oh, right...you kind of are. Well, as you can kind of see, I am dressed as a maid. That can only mean one thing, right?”

Said the maid as she mocked Alessandro.

"Haa...Cat."

To which Alessandro sighed, facepalmed and signaled to Cat with the other hand.

"Answer the question."

Cat pulled the maid’s head backwards as she said that with a more threatening tone, exposing the maid’s neck and thus, making it easier to cut.

"Ok, ok, no need to get that rough! It's a pain to style my hair every morning! I bet it’s the same for you!"

Hearing Sophie’s words, Cat turned to look at the Count and he nodded, giving her permission to stop pulling the maid’s head like that.

"Talk. Now."

Said Cat as coldly as possible.

"My Master asked me to look for you, Count Vicci. She wishes to speak with you. If you know what I mean."

Alessandro raised an eyebrow at that.

Of course, someone trying to capture him and interrogate him wasn't that unexpected since his job warranted that kind of risk.

Either from those not part of New Glory or the Church.

But how did they come up with his name?

Why him?

After all, he had done everything in his power to cover his tracks, and yet that was not enough.

"But why are you here?"

"Mmm, take a guess."

Sophie shrugged as she answered the Count’s question, another thing that irked him.

And then, he realized something.

If the maid spoke the truth, then her being in the house of Dog could have been part of her plan to lure him out instead of her looking for him.

That not only implied knowledge of the house being under surveillance, but also knowledge of the reason why it was under surveillance.

Thus, if coupled with the disappearance of Dog, then all his questions seemed to have been answered.

He had fallen right into the maid’s hands.

With such realization in his mind, his eyes widened, and he looked at the maid.

She still had that roguish smile on her face and a confident look in her eyes, which only vexed him even more.

For he felt that he was being mocked by her.

As such, anger started to boil within him.

But instead of reining it in, he clenched his fist, walked towards the immobilized maid, and punched her in the stomach with all his strength.

*SLAM-CRACK*

"AaAaaGh…!”

He wanted the maid to scream in pain, but the one who screamed was him.

“My…hand?!"

Confused he looked at his hand and found his gauntlet to be broken along with all his fingers.

Of course, he was unaware that the maid's uniform was as hard as dragon scales.

In any case, while the pain was not unbearable, it was still shocking enough that he instinctively stepped back.

Furious, he looked at the maid once more and she…

"Ke...ke...ke...kehahahahaha!”

She laughed.

But she did not stop with just that.

“I was so waiting for that! Hmph!"

“Gn—?!”

Noticing that Cat was shocked by what happened too, Sophie did not miss such chance and headbutted her with the back of her head, causing Cat to release her as she staggered.

“Ha!”

“Nny—AGH!”

Sophie then quickly turned around and kicked her with the sole of her foot. And she did so hard enough to make Cat fly all the way back to the main room, specifically it’s wall, one that cracked as Cat crashed into it.

*thud*

A moment later, Cat fell to the floor, having lost her consciousness at the time of impact.

Then, Sophie turned her attention back to Alessandro, who was speechless at what transpired before his eyes.

After all, the maid before him had not used any skills nor spells, but she was still able to use that much force.

From where in that delicate and feminine body was such strength coming from?

"What? Cat got your tongue?"

Said Sophie as she stuck out her tongue and pulled her cheek down, mocking him further.

"You, biiiitch!!! This is nothing!! One hand is enough to teach you a lesson!! [Enhance Strength] [Shadow Brawler’s Trance] [Dark Crushing Fist]! RAAAH!!"

Alessandro screamed as he launched himself at the maid with his other fist in tow, but the maid didn't move.

"Keke..."

*thomp*

"W-what?!"

Alessandro expected his punch to at least connect, but his expectations were broken once more, and it utterly baffled him.

She had caught his fist with her bare hand.

“Nnn…!!”

“Kekeke…”

And no matter how much strength he put in such fist; she did not budge.

"Oooh, Count Vicci. You were just too slow, too painfully slow…and I’m sorry, but it is time for me to release my frustrations on you. After all...IT. IS. ALL. YOUR. FAULT!"

"W-wait…!”

*CRACK*

“GUH—!!!”

*thud*

Needless to say, she did not wait for him and she kicked him right in that 'place', in that 'partner' she lost when she was transformed by her current Master.

Yes, right there.

And she did so by using the same amount of strength that she had used on Cat, or perhaps a 'bit' more.

The pain made Alessandro's eyes to roll back as foam to came out of his mouth and he fell to the floor unconscious.

"Aaaaah~~. That felt so goooood~~."

Said a blissful Sophie while holding her cheeks with both hands.

"I hope that with this you can understand my feelings, Count Vicci."

Of course, the Count did not listen to Sophie’s words for he was too occupied being a twitching unconscious man on the floor.

But then, her expression turned a sour as she realized something. Something that she did not like.  

"Keh, now I will have to thank Kris for her training in controlling my strength. Meh, no problem. Anyways, I hope Master recognizes my usefulness when I bring these two to her."

With that, Sophie walked towards the unconscious Cat and carried her on one of her shoulders as if she were a potato sack, all while carrying Alessandro on the other one and left her house.

___________________________________________

Some time later, Sophie found herself walking through the tunnels under the city, but there was a problem.

"I am lost..."

Said Sophie completely dejected.

*sigh*

"[Transmit sense: Eyesight] [Transmit Voice] [Connect: Hearing] [Receptor: Allegra] Amm..."

"Ufufu…you got lost in the tunnels?"

There was not even a need for Sophie to say anything before Allegra giggled and figured out the reason of her call.

"Yes..."

"Do not worry, it can happen to anyone. Really. Besides, I did tell you to contact us if anything went wrong. Also, we are comrades, regardless of any pranks or jokes we put you through for being a rookie."

"Thank yo—Hey! Then what about Sylvie?!"

"Hmm, you should take a turn to the right."

"Don't change the subject!"

"Then go straight until I tell you."

"...ok."

It didn't take long for Sophie to find her way back.

 

To be continued....(cue double faced poster of Sophie's blissful expression and Magical Girl Sophie Quartz! Pre-order now and get a shiny version!!!)

Thank you very much for reading! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed giving it a good rewrite! If you liked the chapter please drop a heart! Also, what do you think are the lyrics for Sophie's themesong that Nerinne wrote? Tell me in the comments! And if you want to help me commission an illustration of such...painful moment, please consider donating to my Ko-Fi! Every bit helps! See you tomorrow!