Chapter 33

Once they climbed into the carriage, Lisbeth and the others set off on their herb‑gathering trip.

Their destination was just outside the outer city, not far at all, so it would take maybe a bit over thirty minutes to get there.

“Yaaawn~ I’m still so sleepy. Having to get up at the crack of dawn… being a Maid is rough these days.”

“Totally, totally. I drank a lot last night, so I’m still kinda hungover, you know.”

After the carriage had been on the road for a while, Lisbeth and Stalos were leaning against the wall, yawning nonstop, each one looking sleepier than the other.

Seeing this, Hilda could only shake her head and say helplessly, “Lisbeth, didn’t you turn in pretty early last night? What are you tired about? And Stalos, how many times have I told you—if you’re on duty the next day, try not to drink.”

“Huh? You drink? No wonder I kept wondering where that smell of alcohol was coming from.”

Hearing Hilda’s words, Lisbeth instantly gave Stalos a look of pure disgust and shifted away from him.

Stalos rolled his eyes at her and waved a hand. “Come on, what’s wrong with a guy having a few drinks? I mean, what kind of man doesn’t drink at all?”

Staring at Stalos—a ten‑year‑old loli body casually slouching against the carriage wall like some lazy delinquent—Lisbeth slowly covered her face and said, “Yeah, no matter how pretty the outside looks, it doesn’t change the fact that inside, you’re still a disgusting guy.”

“Oi, what’s that supposed to mean? It’s not like you don’t have a disgusting guy inside too. And don’t forget, we’re comrades who both adore big boobs!”

“Ah, now that you mention it… that’s true.”

Thinking about it, to Lisbeth, Stalos was probably the easiest one to get along with among all the Personal Maids.

On one hand, they were in the same situation; on the other hand, their tastes were pretty similar.

So with that in mind, Lisbeth tilted her head and asked, “Come to think of it, I never asked you. Why were you thrown into that body?”

“Yeah, I’m curious too,” Elinest chimed in, scooting closer with obvious interest. “As far as I know, only Lord Demon King and Hilda seem to know anything about you, Stalos.”

The moment Lisbeth asked, Elinest leaned in, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

At the same time, for some reason, Hilda quietly shifted a bit farther away from everyone, looking like she had zero intention of joining this conversation.

“Hmm, you’re asking why I ended up in this body? If I have to put it simply, it’s just my deserved punishment. I committed an unforgivable crime, after all. If Lord Demon King hadn’t protected me, I’d probably be dead by now.”

“An unforgivable crime? What crime?”

From what Lisbeth remembered, the Demon Clan had indeed produced a few major criminals who had tried to overthrow the entire clan before.

But according to the history books, no such people had appeared in the current era.

And judging from Stalos’s situation, he’d only recently been tossed into this body, so it probably wasn’t some ancient crime, either.

“Anyway, don’t ask too much. I might’ve been dangerous in the past, but right now I’m totally harmless to people and animals~ So you don’t need to be scared of me~”

“…Right.”

To Lisbeth, anyone who called themselves “harmless to people and animals” was almost always the most dangerous type.

Even so, she had no intention of distancing herself from Stalos. Instead, she smiled and said, “Well, same here. I used to be a Human Race Hero, but now I’m just Lord Demon King’s Maid. As long as you still truly love big boobs, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Oh? Now you’re talking! Lisbeth, come to my room tonight~ I’ll treat you to some good booze~”

“Uh, I’ll pass on that. I hate alcohol.”

“And why’s that?”

Lisbeth had turned down alcohol several times in a row, and even Hilda and Elinest were curious now.

“Lisbeth,” Hilda asked, “can I ask why you hate drinking so much?”

“Mm, how do I put it… It’s not the alcohol itself that I hate. It’s the consequences of drinking. Honestly, I do like the taste. But after that one day I drank and did something incredibly stupid, I never wanted to touch it again.”

“Ooh? Now I’m even more curious! Tell us, what did you do?”

The moment Lisbeth finished, everyone leaned in, interest written all over their faces.

Stalos, sitting right beside her, was already wearing a sleazy grin.

“I get it,” he said, snickering. “You got drunk and lost control, and then~ heh heh heh~”

Thud!

“Ow! That hurt!!”

“Can your brain not go straight into the gutter for once? I just did something I still regret to this day, that’s all. So don’t ask. It’s nothing worth talking about.”

Seeing that Lisbeth truly didn’t want to continue on this topic, Elinest puffed out her cheeks a little.

“Fine, if you don’t want to say it, we’ll drop it. Anyway, we’re about to reach the herb‑gathering spot. Once we get off, I need you all to help me focus on finding these particular herbs.”

She was right—without them noticing, the carriage had been moving for quite a while already, and the inner city was almost behind them.

After speaking, Elinest pulled a few sheets of paper from the bag she carried, each one with a herb carefully sketched on it, and handed them over.

“These are more or less what the herbs look like. I’ve written their effects, how to harvest them, and roughly where they can be found. Once we get there, we’ll split up and search.”

“Wait, split up?”

Hearing that, Lisbeth instinctively showed a shocked expression.

You couldn’t blame her—she was currently the number‑one person under surveillance, after all.

Letting her come along to gather herbs was one thing, but now they were even okay with letting her move around on her own?

Lisbeth honestly didn’t know what they were thinking.

Sitting beside her, Hilda saw her expression and shook her head.

“Lisbeth, I know why you look like that. But you should know this: letting you join this herb‑gathering trip today was also Lord Demon King’s decision.”

“Ever since you came to the Demon King’s Fortress, you’ve been under constant watch.

But we also know that with such obvious surveillance, there’s no way you’d slip up.

And this fortress is the front line of the war.

If we keep pouring manpower and resources into monitoring you—when your powers as a Hero have already been sealed—that’s just not reasonable.

So Lord Demon King decided we might as well just let you go.”

“…I see. So that’s how it is.”

Heh. That’s Christia for you—decisive since she was a kid.

After hearing Hilda’s explanation, Lisbeth had no trouble believing Christia would do something like that.

In her impression, Christia had always been the type who, if she didn’t see results, would cut her losses quickly rather than wasting resources.

And honestly, in this era, things like those listening stones or having people follow Lisbeth around everywhere added up to no small expense.

If there were no results to show, even Lisbeth understood that continuing surveillance would just be burning resources for nothing.

Thinking that, Lisbeth couldn’t help but smile.

“Got it. But don’t worry, granny—no matter what, I’m not going to betray Lord Demon King. Just remember, right now I’m nothing more than a cute little Maid, okay~”

“The moment you called me ‘granny,’ any trace of ‘cute’ was gone. But whatever. Now that I’ve told you all that, let’s move on to your assignment for later.”

Lisbeth calling her “granny” again almost made Hilda want to yank those fox ears right off her head.

But she knew the carriage was about to reach their gathering area, so she shoved one of the pages into Lisbeth’s hand and continued,

“The herbs you’ll be collecting are surrounded by roaming magical beasts, so be careful.

The longsword I gave you earlier has magic imbued into it. If something happens, use that magic in an emergency. Once we hear you calling for help, we’ll come save you.”

“Whoa, whoa, if it’s that dangerous, why send me there in the first place? The way you’re saying it is really freaking me out.”

“Hmph. I don’t believe a former Hero would be scared of a few magical beasts. Besides, you’re not stupid—you’ve probably already guessed we’re testing your current strength by having you fight them.”

Lisbeth had indeed already figured that out, but hearing Hilda say it so bluntly made her cover her face again.

“Unbelievable. I’m just an ordinary, cute Maid now. Why do I still have to fight?”

Looking at the on‑the‑verge‑of‑tears Lisbeth, Stalos laughed, patted her shoulder, and said,

“That’s what you get for being a man~”

“Get lost!”