Chapter 5 - II -

 

Well, I’m glad that it did not become something bizarre.

 

“…”

 

Although…

 

What the heck is that maid doing in the middle of the rain?

 

While going around on my brief tour, I saw a maid outside the windows amid the heavy downpour.  She just stood there, with her clothes soaking wet.  On her hands were a pair of a broom and dustpan.  And her head was downcast as if she was sad and crying.

 

Is that the maid the Marquise of Monfort is looking for?

 

I wasted no time.  Opening the window and calling out to her, I felt embarrassed when she didn’t even look at me.  

 

Did she hear my shouts in this loud rain?

 

Man, in this kind of weather, it wasn’t good to be soaking wet.  I mean, back on Earth the summer rains were warm and could be enjoyable from time to time, but Chersea’s raindrops were bitingly cold.  Even the palace guards, tasked to patrol the open grounds, would rather stay indoors unless their duty required them to walk outside.  And they wore thick clothing under their raincoats and armor when they did that.

 

So yeah, back to that maid.  Well, even if she might be one of those ‘killer maids’ that tried to get rid of me before, I think it’s my instinct to run to her and, at least, get her to a much warmer place.  

 

Besides, it will not hurt to treat your enemies well.  You might turn them to your side in due time.

 

I looked around for solutions; more particularly an umbrella, or anything that could shield me from the downpour.  But yeah, this was another world.  I guess there’s no umbrella or anything of the sort that could be found lying around.

 

Oh well, I still have my coat with me.

 

So, with no further delay, I climbed over the window—it’s not that high to be unreachable anyway, being on the first floor—and ran towards the maid.

 

God, this rain is freezing!

 

“Hey!” I tried to raise my voice to its highest volume, but the downpour drowned my shouts.  The maid remained unmoved, possibly because she didn’t hear or notice me coming.

 

“!!!”

 

“Hey!” I lightly tapped the maid’s shoulder the moment I reached her.  By then, I was also soaking wet.  She almost jumped in surprise, but finally, she turned to look at the one who surprised her.

 

“What are you doing here?  Isn’t it freezing?  Would you like to come with me to a nicer place?”

 

Err…why do I sound like I’m picking up girls?  Well, sorry Miss Maid, I’m not good with words.

 

Because of the heavy rains, the maid’s red hair had now covered her face entirely.  But I guess she could still glance at me through the gaps in her bangs?  I could feel her stare; however, what made me weirded out was when she suddenly ran, leaving the bewildered me behind, and disappearing into the thick fog.

 

“…”

 

Uh…do I look like a pervert or something?  What is her deal, anyway?

 

 

The next ‘day’ after that, my head was aching, as if it’s being pounded repeatedly.  Also, my body’s heavy and lethargic, and I had a terrible cold.  I just remained on my bed and sitting beside me was no other than Her Holiness the Saint herself…again.

 

“I know you’re a strange otherworlder…” Her Holiness didn’t hide her irritation, “But I never thought that you’d be stupid enough to brave the rains without a raincoat at least.”

 

Well, sorry.

 

“You better be.” the Saint replied, “Lily’s been worried sick about you when she saw you drenched outside in the courtyard.  What are you doing there?”

 

“I told you I saw one of your maids standing there, and I rushed over to see what’s wrong.  And then that maid suddenly ran when I asked her to come over here.”

 

“Ah yeah, you’re telling the truth.” Her Holiness agreed, having read my mind while I tried to recall the events, “Haa…can’t help it, I guess…you scared her, I think?”

 

Well, sorry for having this kind of face.

 

“Nah.” the Saint patted my head, “It’s not your fault you’re ugly.”

 

This girl…

 

“Hmm…what I find strange is, what’s that girl doing outside?” Her Holiness tilted her head on one side as she was feeling my body temperature.

 

“Well, I think I got an idea.  Lady Monfort was following a maid with red hair before.  I think it’s the one she’s tracking and that servant must’ve freaked out by her outrageous behavior.”

 

“It’s possible.  Lady Monfort is a well-known skirt chaser of maids around here.”

 

Hey now.  If you know about that, then do something already.

 

“It’s fine.  She’s a ‘safe’ pervert, after all.”

 

What?  A ‘safe’ pervert?  Is there even such a being?

 

“Well, she can’t do anything to us girls anyway, other than to get touchy.  Unlike you boys…well, you know what I’m talking about.”

 

There’s something wrong with your standards, Your Holiness, you know that?

 

“Mind your tongue.  I’m a holy person, you know?”

 

I’m not even speaking!

 

Dude, this conversation was going on a weird turn, so I changed the topic, “Ah anyway, Your Holiness, Lady Monfort mentioned back then that she’ll ask you for help about the maid.  Didn’t she come here and tell you about that?”

 

“Lady Monfort?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I haven’t seen her lately.”

 

“Hm?  That’s odd, she says she’d come to you and ask for help to look for that maid.”

 

The Saint fell quiet.  It seemed she was thinking of something.

 

Don’t you think now’s the good time you use your ability to read minds and peer into what your guards and maids are thinking?

 

“Impossible.” Her Holiness shook her head, “I can’t read all of their minds in one sitting, you know?”

 

“Oh…so it’s not possible, huh?  I guess even having the power of the gods, you are still being limited—”

 

“Ahem.” Her Holiness cleared her throat, “Technically, it’s possible.  However, if I read all of their minds at once, what do you think would happen to me?  Everything will be jumbled, it’ll be practically useless.”

 

Oh, so there are limits to your god-like powers for being a human—

 

“Ahem.” Her Holiness’ face looked calm, but I could see a vein popping on her head, “Being a human is out of the question here, K-Kuro.  It’s just that, I don’t want a deluge of information crashing on my head all at once.”

 

Uhh…what’s the difference between my statement and your excuse?  And what about those people who pray to you all at the same time?  Don’t you even try to hear their prayers?

 

“Ahem…K-Kuro…” Her Holiness was trembling, and her face was red, “I-I just…l-like, err…being organized…yeah, that’s it.  I want things to be organized, even in prayers.”

 

So you don’t hear their prayers after all!  Bad Saint!

 

“Grr!” Oho, it looked like Her Holiness, the Saint of Chersea was back to her usual conceited self!  She stood up and stomped her way to the door, “Alright, that’s it!  I came here because of Lily’s request to heal you, and now I think I’ll let you get sick for a while!” she thundered out of my room.

 

Err…seems like I struck a few strings, huh?

 

Heh!  It’s worth it!