Volume 3 - CH 14

Act 3-14: Devilish Choices(Side: Rosemary)

As a result of Asta’s appraisal, we learned that the dishes that were about to be served to Lord Oliver contained a delayed poison.

「My apologies for saying this, but it’s a baseless accusation.」

Lord Oliver frowned. He spoke with an expression as if he didn’t believe what we just said. Rather, it looked like we had gained his ire for suddenly dropping an oversized bomb as his guests.

「T-THAT’S A LIE!! Do you really think that we’re ungrateful ba*stards who will mix poison into the food for our master, our benefactor!?」

「Yeah! We’re not a bunch of ungrateful b*stards!!」

The middle-aged cook with a crew cut shouted at us with an enraged expression. The other cooks agreed with him.

The employees of this mansion, all of them, had special circumstances that had forced them to leave their city and wander till they had arrived in this city. Since Lord Oliver picked them up during the hardest days in their lives, they respected him like they did their parents. This was the reason for their rage when we said that some of them had put poison into their benefactor’s food.

Anyhow, all of them, including Lord Oliver, wasn’t in the right state to hear our reason.

What should I do now? There is no evidence, and we have no idea about the identity of the culprit either.

As I pondered this matter, Asta suddenly stepped forward with an eerie smile on her face. The moment I saw that eerie smile on her face, I got a terrible feeling.

「Since you have so much confidence that there’s no poison, let’s test that out by having you eat the dish on that plate.」

「Wait a minute, Asta! What are yo―」

Zack held me back before I could finish. When I turned toward him, he shook his head to the side, signaling me to shut my mouth for now. He was telling me to leave this matter to Asta.

Although Kai couldn’t tolerate crime, he was quite tolerant of those who lived honest lives. And despite her apathetic appearance, Asta was loyal to only Kai. She at least knew that Kai wouldn’t let the people in this mansion die from poisoned food without a reason. Therefore, Asta must have come up with a plan to convince these people.

「My apologies, Your Highness, but you must know that they are my important family. And I simply cannot doubt my family.」

Lord Oliver rejected Asta’s proposal with a resolute expression.

「I commend your character for choosing to trust them. But, you know what’s gonna happen to your so-called family if you really die after eating that poisoned dish, right? For your information, all the cooks over there would be sent to the gallow, right?」

Asta spoke as she slowly walked to the front of the table. Picking the plate along with the dish, she skillfully turned it around with her right index finger. Then, she asked that question while sending a sidelong glance to Zack.

「One thing is for sure. It’s a capital crime. All the suspects might be executed. And that’s only the beginning, since killing a noble is a capital crime. All members of your families would get executed too.」

All the employees trembled in fear upon hearing from Zack that their families could get implicated too.

That was only natural. After all, if one of them really turned out to be a traitor, then all of them would be sent to the gallows along with their families.

「I, Astaroth, declare that the dish on the plate in my right hand contains a powerful poison with a delayed effect.」

In such a noisy room, Asta made that bold declaration while striding inside.

「You people claim that none of these dishes are poisoned. Then, everyone in this place has to prove their innocence by eating the dish on this plate.

If none of you die, you have proved that we have made a mistake. On the other hand, if there really is a traitor amongst you people, you all might die but your families will be spared. Look, there’s no better choice than this for you, right?」

Everyone exchanged anxious expressions with each other upon hearing Asta’s cajolery.

「Stop trying to make us suspect each other! None of my employees are cowards who put poison into the dish!」

Lord Oliver stood from his seat as he shouted at Asta with an indignant expression. He seemed furious at Asta’s remark.

「Master, we ain’t afraid of this test. We’ll take this test to prove our innocence.」

The middle-aged cook with a crew cut walked toward Asta with an enraged expression. Then, he rudely stabbed the meat dish on the plate and ate it.

「Look! I’m innocent, right?」

「Indeed, you’re not the one who poisoned the dish.」

The people in the room heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that. Asta herself replied to the cook with an enigmatic smile on her face.

「Hah!」

Then, the long-haired young cook who stood next to the middle-aged cook with the crew cut ate his portion and sneered at Asta. After that, almost all the employees who were proud of their loyalty to Lord Oliver ate the dish without batting their eyes to prove their innocence.

All but one. And that one was none other than the red-haired maid called Jane. Her face had stiffened the moment she scooped the dish with her spoon.

「Is something the matter, Jane-cha~~n? Why you’re not eating the di~sh?」

Asta inched closer to Jane, asking that question with an extremely devilish smile on her face.

「E-EVEN If I eat that, there’s no proof that it’s poisoned! Patriarch-sama, please reconsider this!」

All the employees raised a murmur upon hearing Jane, who said that with a ghastly pale expression and while sweating like a waterfall.

「Yeah, I’m against your opinion after all. There’s no way I can doubt my fa―」

Lord Oliver couldn’t finish his sentence.

「Please don’t stop them. Master, this is the proof of our loyalty and pride in serving you. Please let them finish this!」

「I AGREE! Jane, get over with it already. The next one after you is me!」

The middle-aged cook with the crew cut and the gardener were keen to finish this. And yet, Jane didn’t move an inch.

「M-MASTER!」

Jane was trying to beg Lord Oliver, buying his sympathy.

「Sorry, Jane! I can’t tell them to stop since everyone has agreed to take this test. I promise you that I’ll be apologizing again once everyone has taken the test.」

「GUH!」

In the end, Jane spooned the dish and carried it toward her mouth with slightly trembling hands. However, the next moment, she dashed toward the entrance of the room with an agility unbefitting of a mere maid.

「Do you really think you can escape from me? Aren’t you a little bit too confident with your puny ability?」

A hand easily caught Jane’s head from behind and lifted her in the air. Asta slowly increased her grip strength as she turned around and sneered at Lord Oliver.

「GUH!」

「Well, now I need to know why you were trying to escape. Do you happen to hate this di~sh?」

Asta brought her face closer to Jane and asked her in a devilish voice that sent a chill running down my spine.

「Y-YEAH! I hate that dish! You think I want to eat that garbage dish!」

Jane’s outburst made the middle-aged cook with the crew cut—the head chef— and the other employees enraged.

The tips of Asta’s lips rose to a seemingly impossible height. Then. she forced Jane to sit in the chair.

「What a picky eater we got here. But yeah I agree with her. Even we have one or two foods that we dislike. Since that’s the case, we shall give you another chance.」

「R-Really!? Okay, I’ll eat any food as long as it isn’t that disgusting dish!」

Although Jane’s face brightly shone as if she had found a ray of hope, that expression turned into despair the moment she saw the thing Asta took from who knows where.

The thing Asta placed on the plate was a semi-circular, transparent container. Inside that container were countless, small living beings that would invoke physiological disgust in any normal human.

「We also don’t care about your choice. Now, will you eat that dish? Or my special menu? The choice is yours.」

Jane, who was trembling like a newborn calf, opened her mouth and said,

「Both a―」

It seemed she was about to refuse both of the dishes. However…

「Eh, you would love to eat both of them?」

Asta butted in before Jane could finish her reply. Then, she pushed the maid further into the abyss of despair.

「Y-You’re mista―」

Jane shook her head in refusal. She was on the verge of crying, but…

「Unfortunately, you have no right to refuse. Now you have to choose! Which one to eat?」

Asta gave her a final warning.

Jane had to eat either the squirming bug inside the container or the poisoned dish with a delayed effect. She was stuck between a wall and a hard place. Yeah, it was truly a devilish choice.

「N-NOOOOOOOOO!」

「You have no right to say no. Well, if you don’t make your choice before all the sand in this hourglass falls to the bottom, I’m gonna shove both of them into your throat.」

Asta took out an hourglass from her pocket and placed it on top of the table.

No matter how evil she is, there should be a limit to everything. Honestly, just what kind of training Kai use on Asta to distort her personality like this.

「N-No, I’m not…」

Jane tried to plead for mercy with a face messed up by tears and drool.

「Society is merciless, little girl. It’s a dog-eat-dog society. This is the truth. And you are the robbed side. That’s why you’re trying to rob the others. You know what I mean, right?」

The tips of Asta’s lips rose till her ears. On her face was a sneer displaying which should be impossible for a normal human.

Jane, whose eyes were swimming around, chose the plate with the container.

「CONGRATULATIONS! Your choice is correct!」

When Asta snapped her fingers, a pair of a man and a woman, whose faces were covered with something like a black mist, appeared in front of us.

The man had worn black foreign clothes, while the woman was dressed in something like a coat with a short skirt and black colored ch*st plate.

The woman proceeded to pin down Jane, who desperately resisted. Then, the man seized Jane’s jaw and shoved the bug into her mouth without even batting his eyes.

「STOHPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!」

Jane’s bestial wail resounded in the entire mansion, but it was only the opening gong of her nightmarish meal.