Strongest Survival by Otome Game’s Heroine
chapter-29

Undercover Investigation and the Monstrous Person’s True Identity

I spent a total of three weeks since I left Dandall territory to arrive at Baron Seylace’s territory that was located almost at the northern most of Claydale Kingdom.

During the travel itself there were only several cases where I got picked on, but there wasn’t any incident that was particularly bothersome. However, it felt like it got easier to get involved with both bad and good people when I was looking like a little girl compared to my time as a dirty street urchin. I was still unable to judge the good and evil intention of other people accurately. Because there were also people who even though they looked normal at first, they would attack suddenly when they saw an opening.

That was why at the latter half of my travel, I purchased a male shirt and loose short pant to hide my hips measurement in a city that I stopped by in the middle to disguise my gender. Let’s consider the expense of one and half silver coin as a necessary expense.

The weather would become summer soon. Snow wouldn’t fall even at winter here in Claydale Kingdom, but it was quite hot at summer. Even so I was at the north region right now, and there was a river flowing in the middle of the city that separated the city into southern and northern parts. Perhaps that was why the wind blowing in this city felt slightly cool.

「A big city……」

The territory itself was smaller than Baron Horace’s territory where I lived, but the majority of the towns and villages here were built along the river that was flowing from the mountain at the north that was visible even from here. Perhaps that was why, the whole area got lumped like a big city. Baron Seylace was living in the city at the center of that. It felt like this place had more vitality than Baron Horace’s territory.

The river was quite big. It was used for item transportation and large ships could also be seen. However fishing ships and small ships that should be common in waterside city like this couldn’t be seen anywhere. The flow of the river was faster than I thought, so that might be why there was no small ship here. When I asked about that to a shop owner where I bought preserved foods, he told me that the water volume was great because it often rained in this season. There was no fishing ship because the river was flowing from the monster habitat, so sometimes monster would appear from the river.

Water monster rarely came out. Even so each year there would be several hunters who were catching fish at the river became victim, so it seemed that swimming in the river was considered suicide.

When I tried asking around for a bit before starting the work, I found that most people knew about the story of 『monstrous person』 that started appearing in this city since half a year ago. But there were many conflicting rumors. Some said that the person was male, some said that it was female. Some said it was an old man or a kid, there really was no consistency at all.

I also tried investigating the situation outside the city. In this area monsters also appeared around the city. Besides if the city was this large, the circumference of the city also became vast. There was a chance of bandit group hiding at the surrounding.

That woman’s sorcery teacher was living at the outskirt of the forest outside this city. It was far from here so I still hadn’t headed there, but I was thinking to create a base in a safe place somewhere in the forest. I would hide things that would trouble me if I lost them there, like the medicinal grasses book that I was going to return to that teacher.

I couldn’t investigate too thoroughly, but the forest along the river that wasn’t too far away from the city seemed like a good place for me. If I passed along the river where not many people approached, there would be no need to pass the gate and paid one silver coin. There was a risk of encountering water monster, but if it only happened several times each year than the probability was low, and the current me should be able to run away using stealth.

「……This place looks good.」

I made a large tree in a spot that seemed to receive good amount of sunlight in the forest as my temporary base. The reason I searched for a well lit place not to make it easier for living, but because monster didn’t really approach that kind of place. I cut down several straight young trees, laid them across a thick branch on the tree and tied them with vines. Just in case I also smoked the place with bug repellent grass and smeared the sap of poisonous grass that wild animals hated on the tree. With that there was no worry of rat munching the medicinal herbs. ……Perhaps.

I searched the surrounding before the sun set for medicinal herbs. Now that I had learned Heal and Cure, medicinal herbs weren’t really necessary for me. But, even though I had no alchemy skill, some poisonous grasses could be expected to be effective to some degree just by grinding them into powder, so I harvested some of them and hanged them on the tree branch.

When the sun set, I wiped my body with a wet cloth before climbing the tree. I lied down on the wooden poles that I laid across the branch. I finished my dinner with only blackberries and black bread and looked up to the starry sky that was visible from the gaps of the leaves.

I was still lacking strength. Certainly I was able to defeat rank 2 opponents like bandit chief and hobgoblin, and even defeated higher ranked opponent like the rank 3 thief. But, in all those fights I only won just barely. I still hadn’t arrived at the strength that I sought.

Short Sword Skill that became my main fighting strength.

Martial Art that I used for hand to hand combat and evasion.

Throwing for long range attack.

String Control to manipulate pendulum.

Light Sorcery to heal the body.

Darkness Magic that controlled illusion.

Non-Elemental Magic that was used for body strengthening and Battle Skill.

Magic Power Control that managed all of that.

Stealth and Night Vision to slip and act in the darkness.

Search to discover enemy and avoid ambush.

Poison Resistance that was indispensable for me who used poison.

I had obtained the skills that were the foundation of the way of fighting that I envisioned.

I’m a girl and still a child, so I would be inferior compared to man in close quarter combat no matter what, even so that didn’t mean I couldn’t win. Even if other people had the same skill, the way we used it and our proficiency would cause differences to come out. Right now I would train up these skills and polished myself into a single “blade”.

I woke up the next morning before the sun rose. I confirmed that there was no other presence around me before getting down from the tree. Then I used daily life magic Water and soap to wash my hair meticulously. Then I wiped my body with a cloth before tidying up my equipment.

I wore thin socks and high-laced boots, attached the black knife and a thin knife on each of my calf, and fastened eight throwing knives with a leather cord on my thighs. I wore a blouse over my bare skin before wearing the long black dress over it. After that I hid a throwing knife and a pendulum each inside my sleeves.

I arranged my hair like how Sera had done for me many times, tidied up my disheveled clothes, then stuffed all my stuffs until then into my bag and hid it on the branch. I stuffed the minimum necessary luggage into my trunk and started walking toward the city.

When I entered inside the city, my figure that was coming from outside and walking straight without my head swaying at all gathered some attention. As expected I couldn’t possibly knocked on the gate of a noble house without dressing up myself suitably so I changed into this outfit, but sure enough this appearance was quite conspicuous. Even so I somehow managed to arrive at the residence of Baron Seylace and showed the letter of introduction from Dandall House to a man who seemed to be the gate guard. The man’s eyes lightly widened seeing it and he hurriedly ran toward the mansion entrance. After I waited for around 200 counts, the gate guard returned with an elderly butler following him.

「We have read the introduction letter. There is no problem because the introduction came from Dandall House. Now, please come in.」

「Excuse me.」

When we entered inside the mansion, several of the servants sent me a conflicted gaze. I was showed in without even understanding the meaning of their gaze. First I was guided into the room that seemed to be the baron’s office to be introduced to the family member. The butler knocked on the door and then entered inside. There a middle aged man welcomed me with a look that was lacking composure. He seemed to be a person who wasn’t strong willed.

「The letter from Dandall House mentioned to hire you for a certain period. It told me to put you as one of my daughter’s caretaker. Could it be that you are……」

I was given a setting that I was just a young maid who had been serving Dandall House since my tender age.

I was still just a child, so even if I said that I was sent here by a mysterious organization to solve a problem, I would only be looked at with suspicion normally. That was why the arrangement was for me to infiltrate as a normal maid and resolved the problem secretly from the shadow, but the baron had sought help from Dandall House and then I was the one who was sent here. It looked like he was vaguely suspecting my true identity. ……No, perhaps the information that was leaked to him was arranged to arouse such thought.

If from the start I claimed to be a personnel who was sent here for that, the baron would harbor doubt toward a child like me, but he wouldn’t doubt a conclusion that he arrived at by himself. Then I too should act suitably with such setting.

「Baron-sama, I beg you to refrain from any needless inquiry.」

「R-right, of course I understand-. Now, I’ll introduce you to my daughter Maria.」

The baron seemed satisfied with my answer. He ordered the butler to call for his daughter with a fidgety attitude. ……Shouldn’t I be the one who went there to meet her?

Maria-ojousama who came into the office would be twelve years old this year, but her outer appearance wasn’t that difference from her actual age. Perhaps she didn’t have that much magic power. She only looked like a thirteen years old commoner at best. She seemed like a gentle and adorable person, but as expected the way she looked at me was just a bit scared, perhaps because of her worry with the monstrous person problem.

「Please take care of me, Maria-ojousama. My name is Aria.」

「Y-yes. Please take care of me.」

For now my job was to help the auntie who was taking care of Ojou-sama’s need. This housemaid seemed to be the wife of the butler just now who were a family serving this house.

I was shown around the mansion and greeted the servants. Then I finally understood the reason why they seemed to be acting strange.

The servants of this mansion consisted of that husband and wife and two maids, four people in total. There were three people who were in charge of manual labor while also taking the roles as gardener and gate guard. There were also two cooks, but there were really nobody else than them. I only knew about the 『princess』 who needed nearly a hundred servants and guards just for staying in recuperation, but it seemed this number here was the norm for noble house around the rank of baron at the countryside.

The daughter of Margrave Dandall must be similar like Elena. Although I was a child, I was 『introduced by a high class noble house』 to here. The people in this house were scared that they might get scolded by me if they acted like a country bumpkin.

……Well, it didn’t matter. Perhaps my lack of expression was also a cause of their fear, but it would make it easier for me to move if they didn’t interfere needlessly with me.

As I investigated the mansion while helping out with the housework and pondering that, I sensed a presence that was suddenly approaching me.

「Oi, you maid over there! So you’re the one making big sis scared huh-!」

When I turned around toward that voice, a boy around ten years old who looked really similar with the baron daughter Maria was standing there. If I assumed that he was Maria’s little brother, that meant he was also a noble, but this is……his kneecaps that were visible from the short pants he was wearing were covered with scratches all over. His cheeks and noses were also scratched. If he changed into another clothes, than rather than looking like a noble’s son, he would look no different from the naughty brat in the area.

「Oi, say something, don’t just keep quiet!」

「……Are you by some chance Maria-sama’s little brother?」

「That’s right-. Big sis and everyone have been acting strange since you came here! If you’re a bad guy then I’ll beat you up!」

「Are you confident in your skill?」

「That’s right-, after all I’m the boss of this neighborhood-. Even Chiko and Harry can’t win against me in a fight!」

……Who were they? Well, I could imagine his background somehow. Although he was a noble, there was no other noble child around here in this countryside. Even if there was, there would only be the children of knight or baronet governing a town or village nearby, even so it would already be many if there were even ten of them. In that case this boy’s playmate would be the children of this house’s retainers or soldiers. At this countryside the distance of this mansion with the streets and town was much closer. Perhaps in this environment he was close to the commoners and played with the neighborhood kid in a rough way?

But in that case it was simple. Currently I was feeling troubled because even though I wanted to ask around about the internal situation here, not only Ojou-sama, even my fellow maids were keeping a distance from me. A boy who wouldn’t complain even if he was treated somewhat roughly was just right.

「Oo, what, you want to have a go huh-」

When I turned to face him right from the front, the boy clenched his fists and took a fighting stance. I paid it no mind and gestured with my fingertip to him to follow me as I turned my back on him and started walking.

「Come with me. Show me the way.」

「Eh……ha? Wai」

It seemed his brain couldn’t catch up when I ordered him coarsely. The boy let out an inarticulate word before he came back to this senses and hurriedly chased after me who walked ahead.

「Y-you, even though you’re just a maid-」

The boy’s hand touched my shoulder. But, I smoothly dodged his hand before it could grab my shoulder and I lightly pushed his chest to corner him to the wall──

*Don-!* My palm hit the wall beside his face while I peered into his eyes from close by.

「You want to save your sister right? Work with me if you want to do that.」

「…………」

I glared at the boy who was about as tall as me with only around ten centimeters of distance between us. For some reason his eyes snapped wide open while his face turned bright red. Then he nodded up and down many times.

.

「Then, you don’t know when this monstrous person will appear?」

「Yeah. Sometimes they will come in three days, but there are also times when they didn’t come for nearly a month. That was why, before we had also tried asking other noble to introduce us to a sorcerer as guard once, but then they didn’t show up at all at that time……」

For some reason the boy suddenly became cooperative and told me about the when the monstrous person showed up.

The boy’s name was Rodi. He was the eldest son in this house. As a noble who grew up quickly, his outer appearance was around ten years old, so I thought that he might be around the same age like me, and yet apparently he became nine years old this year. ……I thought he was a rascal but he was actually older than me. Even so I too would become eight years old in several more months so we were about the same.

I thought he was similar with her big sister Maria that their bodies weren’t growing much for a noble, but it seemed that the cause was that both of them didn’t have any magic related skill at all and their magic power capacity was low.

When I pondered why there was this much difference between the nobles, a new information surfaced from the “knowledge”.

Whether it was education or sorcery, the right environment was needed in order to learn them. An orphan like me couldn’t obtain education because I wasn’t in an environment where I could learn education that was unnecessary for my livelihood. The priority for an orphan was to survive and the next priority was seeking wealth. But, orphans that never received education were unable to realize that education was necessary in order to become wealthy. That was why preparing environment to get education became low priority for them.

In other words, “wealth” was necessary in order to obtain education. Only those who were able to prepare that environment would obtain wealth even in the next generation. In this country only the high class noble was able to obtain even more strength. ……That woman’s “knowledge” even included this kind of information, in that case she too should study properly rather than living like she had done.

Seeing me walking inside the mansion with the baron’s heir made the other servants to look at me with complicated looks again.

This baron house didn’t have maid uniform for children, so in the end I dressed myself for a while with only the dress and apron dress that I brought with me. It was a maid uniform for serving the princess so naturally its quality was different from the maid uniform of a baron house. Perhaps that was also one of the causes why the other kept their distance from me.

「Rody, do you know why Maria-sama got attacked?」

「……Why am I the only one who don’t get honorific?」

「Speak.」

「I-I get it……」

Rody said that the monstrous person appeared in this city half a year ago. There was still no death, but the people who got attacked got injured and there were also some who got seriously ill.

It was from three months ago that monstrous person got fixated with Maria. Since that day they would leave behind 『bloody handprint』 when night came but, she herself still hadn’t been harmed yet. But that handprint was gradually getting closer, so the baron house was really worried of when Maria would get attacked. And it seemed the culprit was a human, so at this rate this situation might also cause various problems for her betrothal.

Grave was considering that it was fine even if this problem went unresolved because this wasn’t his organization’s jurisdiction, but if I was going to resolve this then the faster the better it would be. If possible I wanted to settle this at the next attack.

But before that, I was bothered by the monstrous person’s “objective”. Why didn’t they attack Maria right away even though they had attacked the citizens?

There was no consistency with the citizens getting attacked and the interval of the monstrous person’s visit, but was that really the case?

If I understood the enemy’s objective it would be easy to predict their action, and I also would be able to guess their weak point and true identity. But, until now many officials and sorcerers had investigated, but the culprit’s true identity and objective were still completely unknown. Various humane reasons like grudge, political motive, or simply the culprit was in love with Maria had been considered but, there was no proof at all to specify which was the culprit’s real motive. In that case I should investigate from a different perspective than those. ……In the first place I didn’t understand about the subtlety of human relationship anyway.

The sorcerer who investigated here discovered trace of magic power at the left behind hand prints. So it was thought that the monstrous person was also a sorcerer.

None of the servants witnessed it, but Maria said that she saw a 『fat man』. Some of the citizens also gave testimony that they saw a fat man or an old man, so at present it was thought that the monstrous person’s true identity was a darkness sorcerer with at least level 4 who could transform their appearance with sorcery, or multiple people carrying out an organized crime.

「…………」

But was that the case? If the culprit consisted of multiple people, it would make it easier for evidence like belonging or footprint getting left behind. Even sorcerer, if they could use sorcery that powerful, there should be trace of it remaining. If they used elemental sorcery, the magic particles of that element should linger behind. The trace of level 1 or 2 sorcery would immediately vanish, but the earth element magic particles from that female thief’s sorcery were remaining for a while at the site of scene. With my eyes I could also “see” the element of the residual magic particles. But, from what I observed, it didn’t feel like there was that many darkness element magic particles here.

「Tell me your family’s magic power elements.」

「My dad is wind and mom is water, but big sis and me still can’t use it you know?」

「What about daily life magic?」

「Err……then big sis is water I guess?」

It matched my investigation. There were a lot of wind and water magic particles remaining in this mansion.

Even if someone’s magic power capacity wasn’t big, just by living their daily life a lot of that person’s elemental magic particles would remain behind. And then based on what I saw, water magic particles were strongly remaining in this mansion. This was……perhaps I’d have to reinvestigate the city too.

.

「……I heard that you are investigating for my sake.」

Five days since I worked in the baron house. Maria who had been avoiding me during that time said that to me while I was changing the bed sheet in her room.

「Did Ojou-sama hear that from Rody……sama?」

「It looks like that boy has really taken a liking with you. He told me to keep it a secret before telling me happily.」

Perhaps her fear to me vanished seeing her little brother opening up to me. Maria was smiling happily. But, this wasn’t a 『secret』 at all. Boy had their pride, so I guessed that he wouldn’t tell anyone that he lost against me, but would he get attached to me again if I threatened him…….

「Can I……be saved?」

「Ojou-sama will be saved if luck favors you. If Ojou-sama has a god that you believe in then pray to him.」

「……Is that so.」

Maria muttered that to me who intentionally talked coldly like that. She raised her gloomy face and smiled softly.

「Then I’ll pray to the same god like yours.」

「……」

.

That night too I used daily life magic Water and poured it into the drainage channel in the mansion, just like yesterday. Yesterday was no good. But the water of Water that I poured last night should flow through the drainage channel and reached the location of the “fellow”.

I looked around inside the mansion to search for location where a lot of water element magic particles remained.

This mansion had a lot of magic particles. I thought that might be why the cloth items in Maria’s room had to be changed every day, but that wasn’t the case. It became like that not because there were a lot of water element magic particles here, but because Maria’s water element was strong.

Maria’s magic power capacity wasn’t high. That was why nobody noticed. But who could see the “color” of magic particle noticed that Maria was enveloped in water magic particles with extremely thick ultramarine color.

Most likely if she enrolled into the so called sorcery academy from next year, that talent would bloom immediately. But, the magic power remaining in this mansion didn’t come from just her.

The monstrous person’s appearance was happening irregularly, but from the testimonies it was certain that they always appeared at 『dark night』. Dark night……the night when the moon and stars were hidden. That fellow appeared in the day when it was cloudy or humid. Everyone who was attacked all had water element.

The river flooded half a year ago when the monstrous person started appearing. It seemed at that time a simple barrier to suppress that water’s spirit power was put on the river. The barrier itself wasn’t put up for a long period of time and it immediately got taken down, but as the result that “fellow” got separated from water and went mad.

The monstrous person was seeking water element magic particle. Thanks to Maria having thick water element, the monstrous person would go back just from obtaining the residue that piled up from her living for many years in this mansion. But the residual amount of magic particles that came from Maria who only had small magic power capacity was gradually becoming insufficient that the monstrous person was getting closer to Maria herself.

Now that fellow was hungry because the rainy season had passed. That was why that fellow would be lured and came here where I had been continuously trickling Water.

「There-」

When I threw a rock on the drainage channel, “something” leaped to dodge it and clung on the wall. The veil of water hiding their figure was dispelled.

A completely soaked fat man was clinging on the wall. His figure was bloated like a drowned body. Water and blood were dripping out from the tears in his fleshes at several spots of his bodies that looked like they were ruptured from the inside.

He wasn’t a living person. He also wasn’t an undead. This being was using a corpse like a shell in order to protect themselves from evaporating, their true identity was most likely──

「……A mad water spirit……」

When I muttered that, the bloated drowned corpse that had its true identity seen through turned its cloudy eyes glaringly at me.