The butler will kill gruesomely
"What's this place?" Milady wondered aloud. She stumbled upon this shop while exploring the city once again after finishing her ice cream.
The shop was located in a side alley just off the main street. Curious about what was inside, Milady stretched to peer through the window, but honestly, she couldn't discern the nature of the shop.
"Please wait a moment."
"Well, fine. We'll figure it out once we're inside."
"Milady!"
I was about to open my notebook to look up more information, but before I could, Milady impulsively opened the door and entered the shop. I hurriedly followed her inside.
Inside the shop, an array of colorful fabrics hung on hangers, neatly displayed.
At first glance, they resembled lingerie, but upon closer examination, their designs and materials varied.
In essence...
"Are these... swimsuits?"
Indeed, every item lined up in the store was a swimsuit.
I hadn't seen anything like them in this world before, but in a seaside resort like this, it wasn't surprising.
Honestly, it seemed like there wouldn't be much use for them anywhere else, but visiting a place like this was a pastime reserved for nobles with spare time and money, so it probably wasn't a problem.
However, there was something worth noting...
"It's all women's wear, isn't it?"
I casually picked up a nearby swimsuit, only to discover that it was clearly designed for women.
Looking around, I realized that there were only a few scattered men's swimsuits tucked away in a corner of the store. The majority of the shop was dedicated to women's swimsuits.
Well, I guess when it came to men's swimsuits, any option would do.
"Oh, that's great. With so many options, I should be able to find a swimsuit that suits me" Milady said with excitement.
"That's true" I replied, smiling slightly.
Honestly, with Milady's fantastic figure, I thought she would look good in anything. But it would be impolite to say that while she was enthusiastically picking out swimsuits.
"Hehe, welcome."
As we chatted, the shop owner, who appeared to be a young man, finally appeared from the back of the store. He approached Milady, rubbing his hands together as he spoke.
"Have you made any decisions, ma'am?"
"I'm still choosing" Milady replied.
"I see. There are fitting rooms over there, so please feel free to use them if you find something you like. I'll be in the back, so if you need anything, just ring the bell at the counter" the shopkeeper said and then withdrew to the back of the shop.
With no other staff in sight, it was unclear if he was genuinely interested in making a sale, which bothered Milady.
However, my concern went beyond the shopkeeper's attitude.
While assisting Milady with her swimsuit selection, the shopkeeper had been eyeing her body inappropriately. Such behavior was already unacceptable, but I supposed it was somewhat common when dealing with someone as strikingly beautiful as Milady.
The real issue, though, was...
"Eins."
"Yes, I'm here"
While Milady was engrossed in selecting a swimsuit, I whispered quietly to avoid her notice, and Eins appeared silently by my side.
"Immediately investigate this shop, with a particular focus on the fitting rooms" I instructed.
"Understood" Eins replied before vanishing into the shadows to carry out the task.
I closed my eyes, recognizing the shopkeeper's lecherous gaze all too well. It was akin to the predatory eyes of the scoundrels in the slums when they targeted their prey.
"Sir Crow, I have something to report..."
"I see, huh....."
I kept a close watch on Milady for a few minutes and then quietly signaled Eins when she returned with the report. Honestly, I had hoped for a different outcome, but it appeared my suspicions had been confirmed.
"In that case, I'll entrust Milady to you" I told Eins.
"Understood" Eins replied.
"Wait, Crow. Where are you going?" Milady called out as I was about to head toward the back of the shop. Until that moment, she had been engrossed in selecting swimsuits.
I couldn't reveal our true intentions, so I needed to find a way to divert her attention.
"I'm just going to have a brief chat with the shopkeeper. Please continue shopping, Milady" I replied.
"I see? Make it quick then" Milady urged.
".....Certainly" I replied, attempting a convincing smile. I couldn't afford to darken Milady's mood over such a trivial matter. Suppressing the intense emotions surging within me, I turned away from her.
"Hehe, it's been a while since we had such a high-quality guest" the shopkeeper chuckled in the room at the back of the shop, gazing at a crystal ball on the table with an unkempt grin.
The crystal ball displayed an image from another crystal embedded in the dressing room's ceiling. At that very moment, it showed the golden-haired beauty who had just entered the fitting room with her maid.
"Come on, hurry up" the shopkeeper urged with eager anticipation as he stared at the crystal. In this world, crystals had a unique property - they could resonate with each other, allowing one crystal to project images or sounds captured by another. This technology was mainly used for long-distance communication between cities.
The shopkeeper had a dark past as a former royal mage who had misused this magic to secretly film women, including their nudity. He had used these illicit recordings to blackmail them into performing acts against their will. When his crimes were discovered by chance, he was expelled from the capital city. Somehow, he managed to elude the knights' pursuit and found refuge in this town.
Though he currently ran a swimsuit shop as a cover, he continued to secretly record customers changing clothes and sold these compromising videos to an illegal organization in the town's underground, reaping substantial profits.
"Hey? What's with that woman?" The man, who had been eagerly waiting for the customer to undress in the video, now wore a puzzled expression. He had noticed something strange happening in the footage.
In the video, the young maid suddenly turned to face the camera, as if she knew they were being watched. She delicately lifted the edge of her skirt and curtsied, then moved her lips slowly, as if conveying a message.
(G-o-o-d-b-y-e.....huh?")
Despite being a former elite magician of the kingdom, it was easy to decipher his words just from his mouth movements. As the man attempted to grasp the meaning of those words, the video abruptly plunged into darkness, obscuring everything.
"Hey! Why now, just when things were getting interesting! Damn it, this lousy crystal! Going crazy in a situation like this!"
In response to this sudden twist of events, the man shot up from his chair, clutching the crystal, and let out a scream of frustration. He tried various maneuvers, such as channeling magic into the crystal in hopes of restoring the video, but to no avail. The screen remained dark, reflecting only his bewildered face.
"...Huh?"
However, this unexpected turn allowed him to notice something crucial. Amidst the all-encompassing darkness, the crystal revealed an image of someone behind the man, poised to strike with a gleaming blade.
"Whooooa!?"
In a split second, the man swiftly dodged to the side. Simultaneously, there was a deafening crash as the table he had been seated at moments earlier shattered into pieces. Naturally, the crystal atop the table didn't escape unscathed, breaking into countless shards that now littered the surrounding area.
"Oh my, you managed to evade, didn't you? I had hoped to end it with one swift strike, but it appears that won't be so simple" remarked the person responsible for the chaos. He stood amidst the wreckage, wearing an untroubled smile, seemingly unfazed by the situation.
"Bastard....... Who the hell are you?"
"I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Crow, My lady Isabella's personal butler."
"A butler?"
The shopkeeper, who had managed to stand up after hastily retreating, glared at the man before him. He looked puzzled as he observed Crow, who had gracefully bowed and seemed unfazed by the hostile gaze.
Upon closer inspection, Crow indeed wore the attire of a typical butler. The shopkeeper hadn't noticed earlier, as he had been exclusively focused on the young ladies present, likely considering Crow to be one of the customers' maids.
"Now, what's a butler doing here?"
"I have no interest in your activities, but if you plan to harm the Milady, I'll have to intervene. Let me ask you this: Do you intend to admit your guilt and surrender to the knights voluntarily?"
With a reassuring smile, Crow crushed a large crystal shard that had been on the ground, locking eyes with the shopkeeper.
(Tsk... Looks like they've figured it out)
Realizing that there was no more room for deception, the shopkeeper began to think about his next move. Most likely, these intruders had something to do with the disruption of the crystal's display earlier.
(He caught me off guard earlier, but he's just a commoner.)
The shopkeeper couldn't sense any magical power coming from the butler in front of him. On the other hand, despite being expelled and no longer holding his title, the shopkeeper was once a royal mage of the kingdom. In a contest between a commoner and a noble, the outcome was already clear.
"So, what do you say? Would you be willing to atone for your sins quietly?" the butler asked.
"『Flare Lancer』!" Without warning, the shopkeeper unleashed a spear of flames, catching Crow off guard. The room was engulfed in a fiery explosion. In that situation, there was no way to dodge it. A mere commoner hit by a spell of such magnitude would surely meet an immediate and fiery end.
"Hah, if you hadn't done anything unnecessary, you might have lived longer" the shopkeeper sneered, still burning in the flames.
Having already involved himself with this man, there was no way they could simply let the lady customer go now. Regardless, with her exceptional physique, there was never a choice other than to indulge from the beginning, so the outcome would be the same either way.
"Rest assured, once I've had my fill and satisfied your mistress, I'll send you to the same place" he added, relishing the excitement of what was to come.
"──You, what did you say just now?"
However, his words triggered an unexpected response, and there was now someone reacting to them.
"What?!"
As the flames were abruptly extinguished, Crow appeared unscathed, leaving the shopkeeper bewildered.
"What's this? I think I heard something rather unpleasant. Say it again."
(What's happening? His demeanor has changed from earlier...?)
"I see, a magical tool. But even if you brought out a toy like that..."
The shopkeeper noticed Crow's intense aura but, like many other nobles, was accustomed to unconsciously underestimating commoners. It was not unreasonable for him to fail to realize the abnormality of a commoner remaining unharmed while dealing with magic.
"I had originally planned to incapacitate you and hand you over to the knights, but screw that"
"...Quit your blabbering, you commoner! 『Flare Javelin』!"
Enraged by the insolent remarks of a lower-class commoner, the former noble shopkeeper cast a more powerful spell than before.
The weakness of magical devices lies in their output. Although Crow had managed to evade the previous attack, he couldn't defend against this spell, which boasted particularly high offensive power from the shopkeeper's perspective.
"Out of my way"
"Wha.....!?"
With those words, Crow casually flicked his knife, causing the spell to dissipate into mere magical energy. The extraordinary sight left the shopkeeper shocked.
"It shouldn't be that surprising, should it? I may be imitating nobles, but I can perform tricks like this" Crow remarked casually.
"What...did you do?"
Despite Crow's nonchalant tone, the shopkeeper, now understanding the nature of the act, couldn't help but feel dismayed. While nobles, especially knights, could negate spells by infusing their blades with magic, it was merely a method to forcefully counteract magic. What Crow had just done was an entirely different kind of technique. He had severed the very core of the magic, making it vanish.
In such a perilous situation, where even the slightest mistake could lead to instant death, identifying and cutting only the tiny core of a spell was impossible for an ordinary person.
"Ugh... It's just a coincidence, it has to be a coincidence! This time, you'll die! 『Flare Javelin』!'"
The shopkeeper, trying to conceal his inner turmoil, unleashed the fiery spear once, twice, and thrice, but Crow cut through and nullified every one of them.
"...Is this all you've got?"
"What... No, this can't be happening..."
Once might have been brushed off as a fluke, but when his magic was continuously neutralized, the shopkeeper finally realized the extraordinary nature of the butler before him.
"Don't tell me you can only do this much? Looks like I overestimated you."
"What did you say!? Don't you dare underestimate me, you commoner!"
Furious, the shopkeeper continued to cast spells, looking down upon Crow, but every one of his attempts was effortlessly thwarted.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit! Hit, hit, for heaven's sake, hit!"
Even so, the shopkeeper persisted, casting spells frantically. For him, a noble, acknowledging any inferiority to a commoner was absolutely unthinkable.
"......."
"Don't come closer! Don't come!"
Amidst the barrage of magical spells, Crow effortlessly dodged and nullified those he couldn't avoid using his knife. He began to approach the shopkeeper methodically, an image that felt like a living nightmare to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper was desperately trying to defend against Crow, who seemed like a grim reaper, advancing steadily and seemingly impervious to his attacks.
"Strengthen."
"What... he vanished!?"
In the brief moment when the shopkeeper momentarily diverted his attention to use magic, Crow disappeared from his sight thanks to an enhancing magical tool.
"Ah...! My hand... my hand!"
In the blink of an eye, Crow, who had slipped past the shopkeeper's guard, flashed his knife and severed the shopkeeper's right hand, the one adorned with a magical ring that served as a catalyst. The shopkeeper couldn't react in time, and the sound of his hand hitting the ground finally made him realize the gravity of the situation. He clutched his bleeding wrist as he knelt.
However, Crow was not one to let such an opportunity slip away, and he showed no mercy.
"Haah!"
"Ughh....!"
Crow drove the tip of his shoe into the shopkeeper's abdomen as he knelt and kicked him away.
The shopkeeper was slammed against the wall, then slumped to the floor, completely losing his will to fight.
"Ugh, ugh..."
(What should I do? How can I survive?)
The shopkeeper frantically thought as he heard Crow's approaching footsteps. Although he had lost his primary magical ring catalyst, he still had a spare magic stone.
Using it to somehow—
"Gaaah!?"
In the midst of his thoughts, the shopkeeper suddenly screamed, overwhelmed by the excruciating pain in his ear. Blood trickled down his cheek.
(No way...)
"As expected, you were hiding one. I'll take this too."
Crow casually picked up the shopkeeper's ear and the magical stone earring attached to it from the ground.
Even though he had been rendered completely powerless after losing his last magical stone, the shopkeeper felt an indescribable terror as Crow effortlessly collected the magical stones, as if he had known about them all along.
He was clearly experienced, both in his initial attack and in how efficiently he incapacitated the shopkeeper. It was evident that he wasn't someone new to dealing with nobles. It seemed like he had confronted nobles like this countless times before.
"I'm sorry! My mistake! I truly apologize and won't do it again! In fact, I'll give you information about the organization I was working with. I was just following their orders."
As this realization dawned on him, the shopkeeper began to plead for his life earnestly. He no longer cared about his noble pride; his only concern was the overwhelming fear he felt towards the man before him.
"..."
"A, aahhh..."
Whether his plea had any effect on Crow or not, Crow knelt down in front of the shopkeeper and offered a reassuring smile. Seeing this, the shopkeeper let out a sigh of relief, not even realizing he had done so.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
The shopkeeper's world turned crimson.
"Aaaargh!?"
A searing pain pierced his right eye, and he screamed. Using his remaining left eye, he beheld Crow's knife lodged in the place where his right eye had once been.
(Why, why, why?)
"I don't care about your crimes or what you're involved in."
With an unpleasant squelching sound, the knife was pulled from his right eye, its tip smeared with a bloody eyeball.
"Ahh... A..."
"But you dared to touch Milady! Know your place, scum! Understand this! Milady is off-limits to the likes of you! You trash!"
"Guh!? Agh! Ugh...!"
With the shopkeeper no longer able to resist, Crow straddled him and angrily kept stabbing with the knife. Each time it pierced the flesh, blood splattered, turning Crow's body crimson, but he didn't seem to mind, driven by madness.
"I-I don't want to die...!"
"Don't worry, nobles are surprisingly hard to kill. You won't die that easily. Besides, in the end, they all beg for death themselves."
"No, noooo!"
The shopkeeper pleaded desperately, but Crow responded with a twisted, smirking smile as he raised the knife. Faced with those dark, haunting eyes, the shopkeeper could only scream.
"...Has he broken already?"
The voice that had been muttering something earlier had now completely stopped, and the shopkeeper's vacant eyes remained motionless. Crow halted the relentless stabbing with the knife, instead opting to grab the shopkeeper's head and slam it against the wall a few times. However, there was no response; it seemed like he had broken completely.
"Oh, well"
If he's broken, there's no use for this anymore.
With a swift slash of the knife, the shopkeeper's head thudded to the ground. After confirming this, I stood up and stretched.
"Geez, they made me go through all this trouble. Ugh, I'm covered in blood..."
Finally, I noticed that my clothes were soaked and blackened with dried blood. I couldn't return to Milady in this state.
"Excellent work, Master."
"Zwei huh."
As I thought about this, a bespectacled, blue-haired maid appeared before me. If Eins was my top subordinate, Zwei could be considered number two. In cases like this, when I entrusted Milady to Eins, Zwei often played the role of my support.
"First, take care of this one. I can't go back like this."
"Okay then, here we go. 『Cleanse』"
Zwei gently placed her hand on my blood-soaked clothes. A watery sphere formed in her palm, enveloping my entire body before vanishing in an instant. What remained were my clothes, now as pristine as if they were brand new.
"Your magic is as impressive as ever."
"Thank you."
Purification magic's effectiveness supposedly depended on the caster's skill, and Zwei's work was undeniably exceptional. Whether it was Eins or Zwei, I couldn't help but feel fortunate to have them.
"I'm heading back to Milady. You two, take care of disposing of the evidence."
"Understood! Master, what about the organization that man mentioned?"
"Ah, that... It's troublesome. Let the city's knights deal with it; it's not something we should get involved in."
"Understood"
We came here for a vacation originally.
Honestly, I didn't want to waste any more time on unnecessary matters. Plus, getting tangled up with the knights and their investigations would be a hassle. They were well-paid, so they should be useful in situations like this.
"I'm back, Milady."
"You're late! What were you even doing?"
After finally returning to the shop, Milady was waiting impatiently, her forehead showing signs of irritation. Dealing with the persistent shopkeeper took longer than expected.
"My apologies."
"Because you took so long, I've already finished choosing my swimsuit."
"Wha!? No... way....!"
Upon hearing Milady's words, I involuntarily collapsed to my knees. Out of all things, did I miss seeing the precious Milady in her swimsuit? What a monumental failure. I should have taken care of that shopkeeper much sooner...
"What... What's going on all of a sudden..."
Above my head, I could hear Milady's bewildered voice, but right now, the shock of not being able to see her in her swimsuit was too overwhelming for me to move.
"Mistress, it appears that Sir Crow is in great shock over not being able to see you in your swimsuit."
"Huh? Over something like that?"
I could hear voices, probably between Eins and Milady, but I was done for. This is depressing... I want to die...
"It may not be important for you, Mistress, but it was something significant for Sir Crow. I've heard that men, in particular, appreciate seeing women in swimsuits..."
"Is that so? I don't mind showing him my swimsuit anytime he wants."
"Really!? Milady, it's a promise!"
Upon hearing that Milady would show her swimsuit, I immediately jumped to my feet. I grabbed Milady's hand firmly and looked into her eyes.
"If you put it that way, I certainly won't refuse! I'll consider it an honor to see my beautiful swimsuit!"
"As expected of you, Milady."
"Naturally! Oh-ho-ho!"
With the swimsuit now acquired and Milady in high spirits, she headed back to the mansion.
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