第三十二章
“Hmph… the restroom truly is the greatest masterpiece in the world. Without it, there would be no progress for civilization.”
After holding it in for the better part of a day, Lisbeth finally made it to the restroom, successfully relieving herself. Perhaps it was the first time in her life she realized just how crucial a place a restroom was, prompting her to spontaneously begin praising it right outside the door.
“Honestly, what on earth are you blabbering about so suddenly?”
“Hmm?”
No sooner had Lisbeth finished speaking when a strange voice suddenly reached her ears from behind. Turning around, she discovered a blonde demon girl, appearing to be about thirteen years old and clad in a simple maid uniform, standing right behind her.
At the sight, Lisbeth blushed, touching her cheek as she spoke: “Oh dear, I didn’t realize anyone heard me. How embarrassing. But I was truly about to burst a moment ago, so I couldn’t help but wax poetic.”
“Hey, what’s wrong with your head?”
“Huh?”
While Lisbeth might have been able to overlook the blonde maid’s impolite tone just moments before, her outright insulting words now caused Lisbeth to frown in displeasure.
After all, she was one of the Demon Lord’s personal maids within the Demon Lord’s Castle, making her a superior to this ordinary maid. Yet, this common maid showed no regard for how she spoke, even daring to utter such words. Lisbeth immediately took a deep breath, intending to properly reprimand the blonde maid.
Before she could even open her mouth, the blonde maid before Lisbeth dismissively waved a hand and asked coldly: “Never mind all that. Have you delivered the meal to that ‘Lisbeth’ person yet? I see you’re quite swift.”
…
In that instant, Lisbeth distinctly felt her heart nearly stop. With just that short sentence, she immediately understood the true identity of the person before her. To confirm her suspicions, Lisbeth tentatively asked: “Of course I’ve delivered the meal. Delivering a meal using Lightning Stealth is hardly a big deal, is it? More importantly, what are you doing here?”
“Huh? Do you have amnesia? I’m obviously here for our plan.”
‘Just as I thought…’
As the blonde maid’s words concluded, Lisbeth’s suspicions were instantly confirmed. Indeed, just as she had previously discussed with Clotilde, Natalie might not be the only one secretly infiltrating the Demon Lord’s Castle. The blonde maid standing before her now was the clearest proof of that.
Lisbeth immediately understood. Clearly, Natalie’s infiltration of the Demon Lord’s Castle was no impulsive act, but a meticulously planned operation. However, beyond that, Lisbeth was far more concerned about the fate of the original person who had been replaced by this blonde maid.
Since Lisbeth hadn’t been able to discern that the person before her was using disguise magic, it was clear that this individual, like Natalie, had directly used advanced disguise magic to obtain someone’s information, thereby ensuring they wouldn’t be detected by anyone.
Thus, Lisbeth quickly calmed her anxious heart. She took a deep breath and asked, “Is that so? Then I suppose I am a bit forgetful. More importantly, what happened to the person you replaced?”
“Hmph, I’m not as naive as you.”
…
As the person’s words faded, Lisbeth’s gaze instantly turned cold. Judging by their tone, the person who had been replaced had likely met with trouble. Staring at the blonde maid’s appearance, Lisbeth knew the replaced individual was probably just a child who had only recently joined the Demon Lord’s Castle.
At that thought, Lisbeth’s eyes grew even colder. She silently memorized the appearance of the person before her, intending to seek vengeance for the replaced individual if the opportunity ever arose.
However, Lisbeth’s cold gaze at that moment did not escape the other person’s notice. The blonde maid simply sighed, then slowly said: “You really can’t hide your feelings, can you? Don’t worry. The person I replaced was merely knocked unconscious and temporarily frozen. I’ll rescue her once this is over. Though she might not be able to move for a few days afterward.”
“What? So that’s how it is…”
Come to think of it, if one wished not to kill someone but also prevent them from running around, freezing them was indeed an excellent idea. After all, a person in a frozen state would be completely still, neither feeling hunger nor aging, and naturally, there would be no need to worry about meals or restroom breaks.
Therefore, while freezing was a rather crude method, it was far better than taking a life. Seeing Lisbeth’s expression significantly improve, the blonde maid before her reverted to her previous arrogant demeanor and said: “Satisfied now, you sanctimonious do-gooder?”
“Heh, that’s certainly a familiar epithet…”
Indeed, this was a name Lisbeth was often called by one of her former hero companions. After conquering a city, Lisbeth would absolutely forbid her troops from slaughtering or looting. As for the demons who had originally occupied human territories, Lisbeth would release them as prisoners of war, sending them all back to demon lands.
Her actions had always earned her the title of ‘sanctimonious do-gooder’ from that hero companion. It was why the epithet felt so familiar now. At this, Lisbeth suddenly recalled who stood before her, and she smiled, saying: “Folt, you still love calling Alex and me that, don’t you?”
Indeed, Lisbeth finally remembered. From the arrogant tone of voice to the unyielding attitude, there was no doubt that the person before her was her former hero companion, Folt Gared.
Hearing Lisbeth utter her name, Folt scoffed in response: “Hmph, of course. Death is normal on the battlefield, and for the defeated to be trampled by the victors is commonplace. But you insisted on your sanctimony, forcibly negating the obligations the demon side should have borne. In my eyes, your actions are truly speechless.”
“Oh? That’s the first time I’ve heard that particular perspective.”
To be honest, in Lisbeth’s memory, Folt was not one to waste words. Thus, hearing her thoughts now was quite a surprise for Lisbeth. Lisbeth took another deep breath, then slowly asked: “Folt, what exactly are these ‘demonic obligations’ you speak of?”
“The obligation to protect their own people, of course, isn’t it?”
Folt spoke, her eyes growing cold, as she continued: “If people are slaughtered due to defeat, it can only be attributed to the army or the demon high command’s own lack of strength. The responsibility for those deaths should be borne by those in power. Yet your actions forcibly erased what they should have carried, and in my view, that is incredibly unfair.”
“Even so, human lives are never something to be so easily determined by fairness or unfairness.”
“Hmph, say what you will. The priority now is to complete our mission quickly.”
“Right, you’re correct.”
Although Lisbeth desperately wanted to extract their purpose for being here from Folt, she also knew Folt was usually a very shrewd individual. Thus, she made a quiet decision and simply nodded, saying: “Then I’ll be going. Let’s just continue with our respective tasks for now.”
It was well-known that Folt was once the strongest mage among humans. Therefore, her presence here surely meant she was setting up something. Since Lisbeth couldn’t ascertain her objective directly from her, her only option was to investigate the area where Folt had just been.
After hearing Lisbeth’s words, Folt simply nodded and said: “Very well, I’ll be off then. But don’t let me hear that kind of talk again next time; it sounds utterly idiotic.”
“You actually remembered what I said earlier!”
With that remark, Folt departed from where Lisbeth stood. As soon as she was gone, Lisbeth immediately entered the restroom Folt had just exited, beginning to search for something. Yet, as time passed, Lisbeth found nothing within the restroom. This caused her to tilt her head in confusion.
‘How strange. If she wasn’t setting something up here, what else could she possibly be doing in this place?’
“She was obviously here to use the restroom, you idiot! And Alex, why are you still spacing out in the restroom? Natalie has already picked up the new food and is about to head back.”
“Eh!?”
As Lisbeth pondered the philosophical question of why Folt would be in a restroom, Clotilde’s exasperated tone suddenly hit Lisbeth like a slap to the face. Lisbeth immediately flushed and retorted angrily: “I was just overthinking things a little! After all, that was *Folt*! In a magic battle, she could single-handedly take on an entire squad of mages!”
“That’s still no reason to assume she’d be setting things up in a restroom in the Demon Lord’s Castle, is it? In any case, hurry back. She’s really coming back soon.”
“Alright, alright~”