CH 239.1

Southeast of Landbarn from the Empire, and southwest of Awoke from the Kingdom, a huge hole opens its mouth in the barren wasteland.

『It was caused by golems that devoured the earth beneath』

This is the opinion of the frontier Knight stationed in Landbarn, who investigated the situation. As if to prove its validity, there are countless golems swarming in the hole.

Stone golems and higher are useful mineral resources. That’s why this hole, named 『The Great Pit』, is also a resource-rich mine.

『Don’t break formation!』

On the way down the slope towards the bottom, a B-class with a yellow lily crest shouts out.

This is the Knight of the Lily Knight’s Yellow Lily Squad captain. The rider is a young woman with long braided blonde hair wrapped around her head.

『Roger that, Onee-sama!』

One B-class and C-class Knight replied with the external sound system. They were fighting in a diamond-shaped formation with the captain’s Knight at the top.

The opponent was a Stone Golem and three Clay Golems. In terms of strength, the stone golem is equivalent to a B-class and the clay golem is below a C-class.

「Hmmp!!」

The braid onee-sama took the Stone Golem’s fist with her shield. She exhaled sharply and struck her one-handed sword into the golem’s open side.

When the golem stops moving because of the crack, she swings her sword down on its face. Onee-sama who managed to crush its head looks back towards her subordinates behind her.

What she saw was a clay golem being knocked down the slope. Apparently that was the last one since she couldn’t spot any others around.

『That’s it for today. Let’s go back to the relay point』

The C-classe Knights looked relieved, probably because they were tired from the continuous battle. With a wry smile on her face, she pulled the golem up onto the cart.

One C-class Knight pulls the cart with the three golems on it, and the other Knight pushes it. In this way, they began to climb the slope.

『Thank you for your hard work!』

Waiting for them at the relay point was the vice captain’s B-class and two C-class knights. In addition to them, there are several other Knights of the frontier knight order, who continue to make round trips to and from the ground by cart

『The Lily Knights killed the golem, and the frontier knight order carried it to the surface』

This was the mining method they adopted as a result of confirming each other’s abilities.

『These are the last one. Let’s go back』

The vice captain and the other girls shouted with joy at their onee-sama’s words. From the way they were acting, it seemed that the frontier knights were also happy to hear that.

And so they all set out for the surface while protecting the carts.

『Well then, I’m counting on you.』

After climbing the slope, the Yellow Lily Squad handed over the golems to a group of Frontier Knights stationed at the Great Pit. After that, they headed straight to Landbarn.

They passed through the wasteland, forest, and grasslands at a fast pace, and arrived at the garrison outside the city.

They visited the lord’s mansion, where they bumped into the commander of the Frontier Knights.

「Oh, are you going to report to His Excellency now?」

『His Excellency』 the dull, skinny old man said, referring to the Margrave here.

「Yes, we are done for today」

Even if there was nothing special going on, she would still visit him and tell him about the day’s events. That was what she had decided beforehand.

When the knight commander heard the reply, he smiled and made a suggestion.

「I was actually about to see him too. Would you like to join me, if you don’t mind?」

The blond braided captain happily agrees. She tells her subordinates to wait for her and they start walking side by side.

The two of them started walking down the corridor while exchanging small talk.

「Is Lord Reaper still at the bottom of the pit?」

Onee-sama shrugs her shoulders and replies to the dull old man’s question.

「Yes, I’ve rarely seen him, as he descends into the depths alone」

He has been diving from morning to night every day, but truthfully, he has not been of any use in mining. That’s because there is no one to collect the golems that the Grim Reaper has killed.

If the remains are left unattended, they will soon be eaten by other golems. Therefore, there is no way to retrieve them later either.

『Golems eating golems creates stronger golems. What Lord Reaper is doing is like refining a mineral』

The Margrave seemed to be smiling in a good mood as he stated this.

The main reason, however, is probably his consideration for the Reaper, who is said to be a man who likes to fight.

「Oh, sorry about this」

On the way, a maid pushing a wagon stopped at the end of the corridor and gave way to the two of them. The dull old man noticed this and as he passed the maid, he thanks her and gives her a pat on the butt.

The maid reacted with a twitch, then blushed and bowed her head slightly.

(….)

She had always wondered about this, and decided to take the opportunity to ask.

「Um, everyone here is touching the maid’s butt and breasts at every chance they get but, is this some kind of custom?」

When the maids opened the door for them, served them tea, or opened a way for them like just now, they would say thank you and touch their body.

「Ah, that. It was an imitation of His Excellency」

The Margrave touches the maid as a greeting. He always touches their buttocks, breasts, crotch, and many other places.

It is normal for a master to love his maid, but in the case of the Margrave, he also encourages others to do the same. The knight commander doesn’t dislike it either, so he starts to put his hands on them as he is told.

「Isn’t there a maid who feels uncomfortable about it?」

In response to onee-sama’s question, the dull old man tilts his head and opens his mouth.

「I don’t think so. It is already well known that this is that kind of workplace, but there are still many people who want to work here」

“Is that so?”, the blonde haired, curled in braid onee-sama nodded with an unconvinced look on her face.

「Well, they probably have trouble with money. The maids who had been employed by the nobles and wealthy people of the Kingdom lost their jobs when Landbarn became a part of the Empire territory after all」

The words made her feel uncomfortable.

「Excuse me but, is the Margrave employing maids who have lost their jobs?」

The knight commander’s eyes widened at the blonde haired woman’s serious gaze, but after a moment, his expression relaxed as if he had realized something.

He realized that the reaction of the woman in front of him was more sensible.

「Right… There were also a lot of people who were surprised」

Speaking of maids, it is an occupation in which they should serve their masters by their side. There’s a possibility that they carry letters and documents in their pockets, or even poison their master’s drinks.

Until a few days ago, these maids were on the side of the enemy. It certainly seemed dangerous to have them by his side.

「He has always been a person who doesn’t care much about sort of things. On the contrary, whenever he goes to a new place, he hires the locals saying that he was promoting exchange with them」

Stroking his chin, the knight commander continues.

「Even so, it has always been successful so far, which means that His Excellency, who is conducting the interview, has a good eye for people. Although it may seem that he hired too many of them」

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Incidentally, he doesn’t tell her that the interview includes a swimsuit screening.

(Somehow, he seems to be a man of many talents)

The captain of the Yellow Lily squad assumed such impressions.

In the meantime, they arrived at the Margrave’s office. He knocked on the door and entered the room.

「Good work, it was a very impressive number. Tomorrow, no, it’s your day off tomorrow, huh. I’ll be counting on you again for the day after tomorrow.」

Hearing the number of stone golems she hunted, the Margrave praised her with a gentle expression.

Onee-sama bowed deeply and parted from the knight commander and returned to her subordinates.

There, she saw an incident and frowned.

「What are you doing?」

The person who she called out from behind was the vice captain of the Yellow Lily squad. She was a woman with short-cut blond hair.

She was currently doing a kabedon* to one of the maids and hitting on her.

[*TL Note: Wall slam. Sort of like pinning the other person against the wall. You can google it for more visual clarity.]

「Uwoah! Onee-sama?」

The vice captain turned around while screaming and immediately went stiff. The maid by the wall who’s cheeks turned red ran away during that time.

She looked around at the rest of her subordinate and spoke in a harsh tone.

「Why don’t you guys stop her? Hitting on your employer’s maid is unbecoming of the Lily Knights」

Her subordinates ducked their heads and looked at their vice captain with blank stares.

「…..It was vice captain’s order」

A girl with brown hair in a braid spoke in a murmur. Then the girl with her hair trimmed at the shoulder opens her mouth with a sigh.

「We tried to stop her and she got mad at us」

Hearing that, Onee-sama raised her willow eyebrows and glared at the blonde-haired, short-cut vice captain.

The vice captain backed away in panic, but unfortunately, it was a wall.

As she lectured and interrogated her in the corner of the entrance hall, she discovered something even worse. Onee-sama’s face became more frightening.

Her elegant and neat face made her look more frightening.

「The vice captain has already eaten some of them」

A girl with brown hair in a braid replies in place of the blonde short cut who remains silent with her face scrunched up. It seems that she had witnessed a lot of things during her previous time off.

The vice captain didn’t object, so it must be true. Onee-sama let out a big sigh.

「Anyway, let’s go to His Excellency’s office to apologize. Follow me」

She grabbed the vice captain’s ears and walked away with her. With a miserable scream, the blond shortcut disappeared into the depths of the corridor.

「She reaps what she sows」

The rest of the group nodded deeply at the words of the girl with shoulder-length hair.

「Excuse me」

The Margrave showed a surprised expression to the captain of the Yellow Lily Squad who returned to the office. The only other person in the office was the vice commander, a skinny man with a handlebar mustache.

While the knight commander was already gone.

「What’s the matter?」

The captain of a skilled mercenary Knights showed up in his office with a stern expression on her face. It was understandable that the Margrave would be nervous.

After her explanation, colors returned to the Margrave’s face.

「No, that’s… don’t worry about it」

The bald, middle-aged lord wiped the sweat from his forehead with a thick towel. Whether he is wiping his forehead or his head, is a delicate subject.

「I am honored to have a maid who is worthy of the esteemed Lily Knights」

Onee-sama’s expression remains stern, while the vice captain, with blonde short-cut hair, blatantly shows a relieved expression as if she had been saved.

However, even if her employer allows it, her pride as Lily Knights does not allow to just nod.

「I appreciate your kind words, but as the captain of the Yellow Lily squad, I cannot let this slide. Please give your punishment」

The Margrave was bewildered by onee-sama’s strong determination.

(What should I do about this…)

While thinking about this, he turned his gaze to his confidant, the vice commander.

Handlebar mustache, who instantly understood what his superior was thinking, cleared his throat. Then, he thought up something on the spot and spoke.

「Then how about having the vice captain act as the maid for a day? Since the whole problem was about a maid」

Onee-sama looked at the Margrave with a convinced look. Of course, she didn’t care about the vice captain’s though.

The Margrave inspected the blonde-haired, short-cut vice-captain from the top of her head to the tips of her toes with his eyes.

(She doesn’t have that maid-like atmosphere, but she is quite beautiful. She is tall and has a masculine look)

Perhaps this kind of thing is not so bad either. The Margrave narrowed his eyes and nodded, indicating his approval.

Onee-sama nodded and turned to her subordinate and commanded in a gentle voice.

「Tomorrow is my day-off, so this is a good opportunity. I’ll be sure to make you work to your fullest, although there will be no pay」

Then pulled the ear of the vice captain, who was about to protest.