Chapter Two
“Faster, faster! Angelina, run!”
“Ah, the salary won’t run away on its own, so why are you in such a hurry, Lisbeth?”
Observing Lisbeth frantically sprinting down the Demon Lord’s Castle corridor, Angelina shook her head in exasperation. Hearing her words, Lisbeth turned around, her gaze fixed on Angelina. “No, no,” she insisted. “Who knows if that old hag will change her mind or pocket my salary! I have to get there on time!”
“She wouldn’t! The Head Maid would never embezzle your meager salary, no matter what!”
Listening to Lisbeth’s almost absurd remarks, Angelina sighed. She then gestured towards a nearby passage off the main corridor. “Besides, don’t just run wild. Salaries are collected in a specific location. Come with me; it’s actually not far.”
With her words concluded, Angelina took Lisbeth’s hand and led her down another corridor of the Demon Lord’s Castle. Angelina had been right; after walking for about five minutes, Lisbeth spotted several maids who had already collected their wages emerging from a door.
Upon seeing Angelina and Lisbeth, the ordinary maids quickly bowed in greeting. “Lady Angelina, Lady Lisbeth, good morning.”
“Mm, good morning.”
“Good morning~”
Though Lisbeth was eager to claim her wages, maintaining her composure before the regular maids was part of her duty. She offered a gentle smile, then addressed one of them. “It seems you’ve already received your salaries. How was it? Any raise?”
“W-well, it went up just a little. Hehe.”
The raise clearly delighted the maid before her. Seeing the maid’s beaming smile, Lisbeth nodded. “Mm-hmm, that’s good, that’s good~ Well then, I’ll be off to collect my own salary now!”
“Yes, goodbye then, Lady Angelina, Lady Lisbeth.”
After bowing to them, the maids departed. Witnessing the exchange, Angelina shook her head with a sigh. “Lisbeth, you were a hero once, weren’t you? Why do you seem so desperately short on money?”
“Of course I am! I don’t know which scoundrel came up with the rule that heroes get paid, and their salaries are even far lower than some generals! Thankfully, capturing a city brings many rewards. But before those rewards could even warm my hands, I’d be hounded by a throng of self-proclaimed philanthropists, telling me about disaster relief here, rescue efforts there, all while invoking noble causes to make me open my purse. In the end, I’d inexplicably find myself completely broke…”
“Uh… it seems you’ve had quite a rough time…”
Observing Lisbeth, who was covering her face and looked on the verge of drawing circles in a corner out of despair, Angelina’s mouth twitched. She patted Lisbeth’s shoulder. “Regardless, let’s go collect our salaries. From what we just saw, most people should have finished, so we probably won’t need to queue once we go in.”
“Yes, you’re right! The past is the past; now, my salary is all that matters!!!”
Whether it was the thought of her salary or something else, Lisbeth quickly recovered her spirits. Without a backward glance, she dashed through the door before them.
****
“Old hag! Where’s my salary?! Hand over the money, quick!!”
“Hey! I’ve told you countless times not to call me an old hag! Are those fox ears on your head just for show?!”
“Ow, ow, ow, ow! That hurts, that hurts, that hurts!!”
The moment Lisbeth burst in and brazenly called her an old hag, Hilda instantly grabbed her fox ears, eliciting a cry of pain from Lisbeth. However, she quickly released her. “Alright, come with me. I’ve prepared your salary. Once you’ve collected it, I have something I need you to do.”
“Alright, alright, where’s my salary?!”
Observing Lisbeth, whose fox tail wagged excitedly, Hilda sighed once more. She retrieved a bag from the money cabinet behind her, Lisbeth’s name clearly written upon it. Then, she emptied all the money from the bag, displaying it before Lisbeth.
“This is your salary. A personal maid’s salary is roughly five gold coins a month, but since gold coins aren’t very practical for direct use, I’ve converted it into five hundred silver coins for you.”
“Th-this is all my salary? Am I dreaming? When I was a hero among humans, I barely made one gold coin a month!”
Lisbeth’s eyes gleamed with a golden radiance as she gazed at the table piled high with silver coins. Yet, just as she reached out to grab the money, Hilda produced a slender stick from seemingly nowhere and sharply rapped her hand. “Who said you could take it now? I haven’t finished deducting your wages yet.”
“Eh?! You’re going to deduct my salary?! Why?!”
“Hmph, first, you’d do well to consider how much trouble you’ve caused since arriving here.”
After speaking, Hilda took a deep breath. She then used the slender stick in her hand to separate a portion of the silver coins. “Firstly, you unilaterally angered the Demon Lord, which resulted in you being hunted down by Her and subsequently imprisoned. Such actions severely violate the etiquette expected of a personal maid, so that’s a hundred silver coins deducted.”
As Hilda spoke, she pushed a pile of silver coins aside. Though Lisbeth wanted to protest, she knew it was her own fault, leaving her unable to resist.
But she wasn’t finished. Hilda pushed another pile of silver coins to the side. “Next, there’s your laziness during cleaning with Staros, your disregard for my instructions while gathering herbs, and your unauthorized decision to lure away a magic beast, almost causing a major incident. Finally, you snuck into Olivia’s laboratory and stole things without permission. All of these combined are enough to deduct your entire salary.”
“Wait!! Luring the magic beast was due to an emergency at the time! That can’t possibly be a reason to deduct my wages, can it?!”
Upon hearing Lisbeth’s protest, Hilda sneered. “Lisbeth, under no circumstances is that an excuse for you to act on your own initiative. In short, these are all the reasons for deducting your pay. If you have any further defense, I am willing to hear it.”
“How can this be?! By your logic, I won’t get a single coin!!!!”
Seeing all the silver coins taken away, Lisbeth was so distraught she nearly burst into tears, rolling about on the floor in despair. Witnessing this, Hilda sighed softly. She then pushed all the silver coins back towards Lisbeth. “However, considering you’ve just arrived, I won’t actually deduct your salary this time. Just remember your conduct and don’t do anything unnecessary in the future. Especially, if you dare call me an old hag again, I will truly deduct every last coin of your salary.”
“Eh?! Really?! Old hag, I love you to death!”
“Hm!?”
“Ah, no, I meant Head Maid Hilda, ahahaha…”
Overjoyed at receiving her salary, Lisbeth nearly blurted something inappropriate. Nevertheless, she had ultimately secured her wages, and so she happily clutched the money bag, a smile brighter than ever gracing her face.
“Alright, now that you’ve got your salary, take this money too. I trust you haven’t yet explored the inner district where the Demon Lord’s Castle’s ordinary residents live, have you? There’s a lively market there every day, so take this money to buy a few things I need, and you can pick up something for yourself along the way. By the way, make sure to return every single bit of the change; this is public money, after all, so if you spend it carelessly, you’ll be in serious trouble.”
“Yes, yes! I understand!!”
Lisbeth, now flush with her freshly acquired wages, was hardly paying serious attention to Hilda’s words. Witnessing this, Hilda shook her head once more in resignation, turning to Angelina. “Angelina, this is your salary for the month. And because I don’t trust this idiot, would you mind going along with her?”
“Mm, of course. I was planning to buy some things for myself anyway.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
After saying this, Hilda turned her attention back to Lisbeth. “Lisbeth, due to your original status, I haven’t given you any days off until now. In truth, personal maids have one day of rest each week. So, from this moment on, today will be your day off every week. Have you understood?”
“Mm-hmm, I got it!! Hilda, I never thought you were such a good person!”
“Of course I’m a good person! I truly wonder what you usually think of me. In any case, hurry up and go buy those things for me; everything I’ve asked you to get today is urgent. So don’t dawdle for too long.”
“I know, I know!”
Finally, with a nod, Lisbeth turned to Angelina. “Well then, Angelina, let’s go shopping right away~”
“Alright, let’s go.”