Chapter 5: A Goddess’s Woe

“This is the place.”

The three of them came to a stop before the high, wrought-iron gates of the Trefle estate.

Ard looked up at the grand residence, its stone walls warmed by the afternoon sun, its many windows glinting like watchful eyes. “I had my suspicions,” he said, a low whistle escaping his lips, “but seeing it with my own eyes confirms it. You two are maids of the Trefle family.”

Elienla’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh my, oh my! Did we not introduce ourselves to you, Lord Ard?”

Ard looked at the slightly dazed Elienla—the maid was endearingly, almost dangerously, airheaded—and shook his head with a faint smile. “No, you did not.”

Elienla’s face fell. “How rude of me! I can’t believe I forgot. It seems my training is still far from complete.”

Yexi placed a hand on Elienla’s shoulder, her expression one of profound solemnity. “It’s alright, Elienla. While I know your innate airheadedness is a terminal condition with no known cure, I will always support you. You’ll always have my vote in the election for Head Maid.”

Elienla’s eyes welled with touched gratitude. “Really? Even though there’s no such election… thank you, Yexi, for always encouraging me.”

Ard watched them from the side, a muscle twitching in his jaw. No, I’m almost certain she’s just taking the opportunity to insult you.

“Alright, let’s go inside,” Yexi said, turning her golden eyes to Ard, who was still standing there.

“?” Ard was confused. While this estate was his actual destination, he hadn’t mentioned that to them.

Seeing his confusion, Yexi stated calmly, her voice smooth as polished stone, “Well, you did help us carry that bear’s head for so long. The stench of blood clinging to you has practically taken on a life of its own. Surely you’ve noticed? I know some carrion-eaters grow accustomed to the smell, but I’m quite sure my ‘savior’ is no such creature.”

Looking at Yexi’s serene, smiling face, Ard felt as if his rank on the great chain of being had just been significantly downgraded. He hadn’t noticed the smell while carrying the carcass, but now he realized why people on the road had been giving him such a wide berth.

This little maid noticed it long ago, didn’t she? And let me suffer. Ard gave a wry, defeated smile. “Is it alright?”

“Of course. You’ve helped us a great deal, after all. I’ll just go report to the Lord and Lady. Elienla, you can take him. We’ll handle the ingredients.”

We? Ard looked toward the estate and saw that other maids and servants were already bustling out to help, their movements efficient and practiced.

“We’ll take it from here,” Elienla said to Ard with a kind smile. “Please, follow me.”

“Oh, right.” Ard quickly followed, the boisterous chatter of the household staff fading behind him.

“Who’s that man?” (Maid 1)

“He’s handsome, but he smells like a slaughterhouse.” (Maid 2)

“Could he be a secret boyfriend that Xi-chan picked up?” (Maid 3)

“All of you, hurry up and help! And he’s an adventurer who assisted us. I’m going to report to the Lady that we’re back safely.” (Yexi)

As he walked through the manicured gardens, Ard said to Elienla, “You all seem to get along so well.”

Elienla nodded happily. “Yes. It’s because Xi is amazing. She can help everyone with their tasks, and she can even defeat wild beasts. I’m not as good, so I can only try my best to keep up.”

Ard paused. “Wait, you know Yexi is a practitioner?” he asked, using the common term for a skilled individual in this world.

“Of course. A while ago, the Lord was injured but still had to lead the troops to fight off some beasts. The Lady asked Xi to go with him and take care of him. I heard the Lord say then that Xi’s skills are incredible.”

“???” Ard was thoroughly confused. “But you were so worried when the Tusk-Bear was coming at her earlier.”

Elienla stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Of course I was! That bear was so big and fierce, with such huge tusks! It looked terrifying! And Xi is so small and cute. Even for someone as skilled as Xi, it must have been dangerous. But it’s a good thing you were there, Lord Ard.”

“…” Ard didn’t know how to explain it to this hopelessly naive maid. In her mind, true strength was apparently directly correlated with physical appearance.

Elienla led Ard to the servants’ bathing area, a well-kept stone building separate from the main house. “Here we are. You can go in and wash up, my lord. Please leave your clothes outside, and I’ll take them to be cleaned. The smell on them must be quite strong.”

“Thank you for the trouble.”

Having come this far, Ard didn’t stand on ceremony. He went inside to bathe, blissfully unaware that a certain golden-haired goddess was watching his every move from the world’s celestial monitoring room, grinding her teeth in divine frustration.

I, Lifa Doland, ascended to godhood 500 years ago and was appointed as this world’s administrator. My job: oversee its development and security. Simple, right?

Wrong. For some reason, ever since I became a goddess, no one else has ascended. The world’s civilization has completely stagnated. No new gods means no performance points. No development means an incompetent administrator. An incompetent administrator means no promotions. And no promotions means I’ll be stuck as a bottom-tier, glorified celestial paper-pusher forever, working from dawn till dusk, with no days off except for the mandatory celestial holidays.

Lifa couldn’t believe such rotten luck had fallen on her. The other gods who had ascended at the same time as her had all been promoted, bought celestial real estate, and were enjoying their divinely mandated weekends. Meanwhile, she was still stuck here.

But Lifa hadn’t given up. She used every loophole in her administrative privileges to cultivate suitable candidates, giving them cheats and buffs. It always ended in failure. Until recently, when she discovered Isaac, a youth whose wisdom and courage rivaled her own from back in the day.

After carefully nurturing him, Lifa was sure she had it in the bag. Then, she was suddenly summoned to a miserable, soul-crushing business report meeting. Lifa hastily assigned him the task of retrieving the Reality Crystal—which had appeared for some unknown reason—and rushed off.

However, that wretched performance review meeting lasted for seven days. In the mortal realm, seven years had passed. She returned to a scathing review from her superiors and a zero-point performance score. If it weren’t for some reliable senpai pleading on her behalf, she would have been sent back to retake her divinity exams.

She had sworn to them that there would be no problem this time. But when she returned and checked the world’s status, she was dumbfounded.

The world’s time had been reset by ten years. Her chosen hero had been sent back to before he had ever met her.

Lifa felt like her lungs were about to explode. If she could just go down there, she would kill the person who reset time, resurrect them, and then kill them again until her divine anger subsided.

Disheartened, she consulted a senpai colleague.

Her senpai’s advice was simple: “Just kill the person who caused the variable. The Reality Crystal is a one-time use item. Then, just go back to cultivating your chosen candidate.”

Although it felt wrong, Lifa was at her wit’s end. After taking some time to find Ard, she realized it wouldn’t be so simple. In the seven years that had passed, Ard had trained relentlessly and become quite a skilled fighter. She couldn’t just send any random flunky to kill him.

But she hadn’t expected him to come to Pekoin. She remembered there was a very powerful, retired assassin there. Hehe, kid, you shunned the path to heaven and chose to knock on the very gates of hell!

Lifa gave a sinister smile and made a slow, deliberate throat-slitting gesture in Ard’s direction.

…….

“Lord Ard, your change of clothes is here.”

Ard was soaking in the bath, the hot water a rare and blissful luxury. He had to admit, the Trefle family treated their servants exceptionally well.

Hearing the voice outside, Ard asked, “Is that Yexi? I thought it was Elienla.”

“Elienla has other duties, so I am taking care of the clothes,” the cold voice replied. “Also, the Lady is very grateful for your help and would like you to attend the family banquet tonight. She awaits your reply.”

“Is that alright? I mean, I helped, but I think I caused more trouble for you, Yexi.”

“It is the Lady’s wish that you attend,” she said, her tone unreadable. “And you did, in fact, help me with good intentions.”

Her words were carefully guarded, giving no hint of her true strength. Ard decided not to be modest any longer.

“Then I would be honored. When should I go?”

“In half a quarter-hour. Also, guests are free to tour the Trefle estate if they are bored. However, please refrain from bursting into the women’s changing rooms.”

Ard sighed wearily. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“I reserve my judgment on that. And it’s best not to enter the men’s either. The male servants in this house are quite normal and are not for sale.”

“I wouldn’t do that either!”

After Yexi left, Ard let out a long sigh of relief. The “sharp-tongued maid” was a very fitting title indeed.

A while later, feeling the fatigue melt from his bones, Ard got up to get dressed, planning to explore the luxurious residence.

“Huh?” Ard looked at the basket of clothes in the changing room and let out a sound of pure confusion.

The basket didn’t contain his original travel-worn clothes. Instead, folded neatly inside, was a… maid’s uniform!

Looking around, Ard saw no other baskets. The horrifying truth dawned on him. He had been tricked. He had foolishly thought Yexi had forgotten about him calling her a sharp-tongued maid in public. It seemed he had been naive. One should never, ever underestimate a woman’s desire for revenge.

Ard had no idea that a man’s desire for revenge could be just as strong.