Translator's Note
Chapter 481-544 are being translated in order to fill the gap from the previous translator on NovelUpdates, and will be released on any of empty slots (see schedule for details).
If you want to read the "new season" (the journey after the great war), you may skip to chapter 545. If you have read the latest LN (vol. 18 I think?), you may skip to chapter 591.
The servants went to bed early.
The next day, they had to get up before sunrise to work, staying up late at night costed money for candles and lamp oil, and during the night, when there was no light, there was nothing to do but sleep.
So after around 9pm (the second bell of the night), they would turn off the lights, get into bed, chat a little with our roommates, and then one by one would fall asleep, or someone would say, "Let's go to bed now," and they would all fall asleep at the same time.
By the way, if in case of Crimson Vow, Mile would perform Japanese Folktales at this time.
Well, Mile and her party could use lighting magic to stay up late at night at no cost.
Okay, everyone is asleep... Now, just to be sure, I'll cast a sleep spell...
Mile used a sleep spell in one of the servants' rooms.
Not to the whole room, but to each person individually.
And instead of casting a sleep spell on the last person, she covered her and herself in a soundproofing field.
"Shurana-chan, Shurana-chan, please wake up..." (Mile)
"...Hmm...What is it..." (Shurana)
The young girl managed to reply to the voice whispered in her ear, trying to fight off her sleepiness.
It hadn't been long since she'd fallen asleep, and it was the time of day when she was at her sleepiest. Therefore, even though she replied, her mind was not working properly, and her eyes were only slightly open, and it looked like she would close again at any moment.
So, Mile should get to the point here.
"Do you want to go back to the village?" (Mile)
Yes, she could not talk until she confirmed the person's wishes.
If, like Lilia (Sherry), she "wants to stay here," then Mile would leave without doing anything and head to the third person. That was what everyone in "Crimson Blood!" decided.
When the little girl (Shurana) heard Mile's words, her eyes widened.
"You're from the rescue team! I've been waiting for you! Ah..." (Shurana)
The young girl, Shurana, accidentally let out a rather loud voice and quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
Yes, this small room was for four people. If she made a sound like that, the other three would...
"Oh, it's okay. I've put a sleep spell on the others, and there's a soundproofing field around the two of us... a spell to stop any sound from leaking out." (Mile)
"Oh my, you're a magician! To think you'd ask a valuable magician to rescue someone like me! Ooooh! Ooooooh!!" (Shurana)
Shurana seemed to be trembling with emotion.
It might seem like an exaggeration, but there was a reason for this.
Of course, there were magicians among the beastkin as well, but their proportion was significantly lower than that of other races, and there were very few who were capable of fighting.
…In other words, there were very few magicians who could serve as soldiers or mercenaries or as hunters, so to have such a person accept such a request, how much money would it have cost…
She was deeply moved by the fact that the village had paid that money for her, a woman.
Of course, it was Mile's fault that Shurana had such a misunderstanding.
It was what Mile wore on her head.
...A homemade cat ear headband.
Because of this, Shurana believed that Mile was a beastkin magician who the villagers had paid a large sum of money to hire.
Considering the dangers involved during the rescue and the dangers that would come later, there was no way that a request to rescue a beastkin from a human noble's mansion would be accepted for a fee so cheap that a poor village could afford it, and there was no way that any other race, let alone any other human, would accept it. The only people who would accept such a request would be idiot beastkin, aside from the Goddess or the angels.
...Of course, in this case idiot was meant as a compliment.
If we ruled out the impossible options of a Goddess or an angel, the only option left was a rare beast magician who had accepted the job for a small fee in order to save a beast girl of her kind.
In the first place, the reason why the little girl (Shurana) believed Mile without any doubt was because she thought of Mile as a beastkin of the same race. If she hadn't, she might have been a little more skeptical.
From what she had said and done up until now, it was clear that Shurana did not want to stay here but wanted to escape.
Mile was relieved that this trip was not a wasted one.
Even if it was the general consensus, she was the one who requested it, so she would feel sorry for everyone if that happened.
…By the way, the fee for everyone was three days of coaching in magic and swordsmanship.
Apparently, accepting money from a friend for something like this was a matter of pride.
However, Mile was a little surprised at how different her reaction was from Lilia's last time, even though they didn't seem to have much different in age.
They look about the same age, but maybe she's actually older than Lilia-chan? Is that why her standards are different? Or is it because of the difference in treatment between being a "playmate for the son" and a "low-ranking servant"? Or does she know that in a few more years, when she grows up, she'll be forced to do a "different job"?
Yes, there was no way that anyone would use a beast girl that they paid a lot of money for as a regular servant.
And if you inflict violence on a young child, they can easily die or be seriously injured with just a light blow. In that case, you won't get your money's worth.
Therefore, they would likely use them as normal labor until they grew up. And once they grew up...
Plus, there's the devilish entertainment of watching the despair of someone who suddenly found themselves being treated like a slave, even though until yesterday they were working alongside everyone else like normal.
There was no need to ask anymore, but Mile checked anyway just to be sure.
"Do you want to stay here or go back to the village?" (Mile)
"Going back to the village!" (Shurana)
The answer was immediate.
She seemed to be a smart girl, so even if she wanted to go home, she knew that as a beastkin who stood out and was therefore penniless, she would be quickly captured if she ran away on her own, so she pretended to be obedient and endured.
Hmm, what should I do...?
And Mile, having heard that, was deep in thought.
Even if we all went back tomorrow, there's no way the lord would accept it so easily, and since they're not obviously treating them like slaves, if they insist on saying, "I paid 50 years' worth of wages in advance, she's just an ordinary servant," there's nothing we can do. They probably have all the forged documents, after all...
Yes, it was very easy to create forged documents in this world. Because the literacy rate of commoners was low, it was common for the signatures to only be marked with check marks or crosses.
And it was heartbreaking to leave this child with a sparkle in his eyes, convinced that she would be rescued at any moment.
Hmmmm...
And after thinking for a while...
"Wanna come with me?" (Mile)
"Yup!!" (Shurana)
"What the hell were you thinking?!" (Reina)
"Mile-chan, there are procedures and arrangements for things..." (Pauline)
"Mile, that's a bit much..." (Mavis)
Returning to the inn, Mile and Shurana quietly returned to their room, still encased in an invisibility field.
And naturally, Reina and the other two got angry at her.
"If the people in that room woke up tomorrow morning and this child wasn't there, it would cause a big fuss! So you had decided that you would either take it back openly, or if not, sneakily rescue it as soon as everyone was asleep and put some distance between you and it during the night! So why are you doing something so half-hearted?" (Reina)
It's no wonder Reina was angry.
If it was a stealthy operation, they would prepare for their move in advance, and then Mile would go alone to pick up Shurana after everyone had waited near the city exit. To buy themselves a little time...
"Well, what's already been done can't be helped. Time is tight, so let's leave town right away. Reina, Pauline, get changed right away! Mile, hurry up and leave a note for the people at the inn. We paid in advance, so if you just write a suitable explanation that we're sorry to have to wake everyone up in the middle of the night with our sudden departure, there shouldn't be any problem. Now, hurry up!" (Mavis)
As expected of a party leader, while Reina only got angry, she quickly gave instructions and quickly began to get changed herself. ...And she did so after lightly patting Shurana on the head, who was frightened by the angry Reina, in a very handsome move.
but…….
"Mavis, not yet?"
"Wait just a little longer..." (Mavis)
Yes, compared to Reina and Pauline, Mavis took the longest to put on her armor, and so she took the longest to get changed...