Life in Another World as a Maid Mage

The square was wide open as if it had been cut through the woods. Alec was confronted by an Oriental Swordsman in a place depicted only in three colors: snow white, tree trunk black, and pale blue with shadows falling in the clouds.

The man's physique is small. Did I just tell you whether I have a height of 170 or not? Body lines hide in the loose oriental costumes on the sleeves and hems, so the overall impression is gorgeous and looks as if it's finally mature in the distance. But if you look closely, there are shallow wrinkles engraved on the slightly dull complexion of the skin, and its eyes are as heavy and sharp as a sword that is often used. The eyes of those accustomed to battle. Young man, that is not something a mere merchant can do.

Man - Shaunosuke thanked the Oriental style and gently pulled the sword with the opposite sword out of the sheath. A sword made of metal that attracts the magic of darkness - the Dark Moon Sword. The black sword emits dull light and dark waves.

Shonosuke lowered his hips in a slow motion and stepped forward and backwards, pulling his arm and placing his blade tip upwards.

(This is... hard to do)

Alec murmured his honest feelings in his mouth.

The stance itself does not seem to be much different from the kingdom's genre, but the black sword, which stands almost perpendicular to this side, is mistaken for a dark costume with plenty of fabric, and the opponent's product is visible and painful. Once I waved my arm, the snow landscape in the background and the contrasting colors would clearly be visible, but the appearance had the impression that it was somewhat miserable in the dark.

You look like you're not eating.

The dishes served were tastefully flattened, and the man who received the remaining bottle of garlic miso butter and gladly broke his face seemed like a different species.

The signs are strangely rare, even though there is a definite killer atmosphere. That's enough to melt away into the scenery.

(--I 'm accustomed to doing business with people... and that's not the same kind of person)

Clement, who laughed bitterly when she said that she had gone to a good place, grabbed the back of her head. Unlike myself and Zach, who are connected to Intelligence behind the scenes, Clement seldom slashes people. At best, when I met a bandit or a helpless person on the go. It is unlikely that we have ever fought against a target in the dark.

The moment I confronted Shaunosuke, Clement had a somewhat confusing color, perhaps because I felt his "darkness". Of course, Shonoske fought fairly. But it seems that Clement had a lot of difficulty with some confusing movements. I fought well, but I lost at the end.

(Although I'm not used to it either....)

I belonged to the Intelligence Department for only four years. One of the pillars of intelligence activities, the role of infiltrating the Imperial City's arms dealer's mansion - secretly given to the United States, no one appeared close to the relative of Emperor Vranov, and yet possessed enough skill to play that role. A white feather arrow stood in Alec, whose eyes were similar in color, body shape, and appearance. That's all. I can't reach my full-time job.

But what about Shonoske?

--The tight air was slightly shaking.

Coming!

Shonosky's dark moon sword, which remained low, drowned in the sky like a faint lightning bolt. The sword light flashes, and sparks scatter with a heavy sound. A close-up gaze. Light and darkness swayed alternately in the dark eyes.

But for a short while, they both took time at the same time.

Due to the size difference between men and women, Shonoske can compete and lose in simple force comparison. But the sharpness and speed of the sword and the accuracy of the dagger are higher. They will target our emergency precisely. If we're willing to take our lives, we'll probably lose.

As a result of repeated confrontations, the decision was made.

Keep your hips low and squeeze in between.

I don't know if there is snow in Mizuho or if it has been a long time since I came to the Kingdom, but I was told that the unsafe legs of the Oriental Swordsman were accustomed to fighting on snow.

(--there is no gap that seems like a gap,)

That was the moment I thought about it. Shonoske's expression clouds slightly. It also looked like some kind of troubled bitter smile. It was a self-taunting smile that never despised Alec.

Oh, I don't think so. Soon Alec instinctively stepped in. Because I took it out of his pocket.

After all, that seems to have been the correct answer. He managed to catch Alec's sword, which he cut down quickly. However, the heavy dagger with the weight on it would have endured the second one, and the dark moon sword flew in an arc with the sound of gin.

Shonosuke stood up with Alec's help, saying, "I'm sorry."

"If I were going to take my life seriously, I would definitely have lost. What's wrong with you? I was surprised at the sudden opening."

"You must have noticed something. If you think so, follow me. After all, I regretted that I couldn't deceive you."

He picked up the dark moon sword, checked his condition, and smiled bitterly as he put it back into his sheath.

"Someone who was originally a shadow - the other person will (...) find out about it."

The Shady One. I didn't know exactly what it meant, but Alec nodded after a faint sense of what it meant.

"But is that okay? Talk to me before I meet you."

"Whatever. I was dismantled during my apprenticeship due to the circumstances of a distant country, and I returned to my daily routine with little activity."

The body returned to the sun before it was dyed into darkness. I have lived in the sun longer than in the shade for a long time. However, it is said that the habits (...) that are familiar to me since childhood can't easily get out of my body, and if I do, I will be hidden as a shadow.

"... oh, that's it. Thank you for not knowing."

"That would be you, too."

In the snow where the sound was absorbed, and there was a reasonable distance from the spectators watching in the tent (Ciori and the others), but Shaunosuke hesitated to hide his voice. Obsidian eyes stared at him, and Alec took a short breath.

Clement and Nadia seemed to have a faint idea, but I didn't think they'd be seen by exotic men who hadn't seen each other long before. I wonder if there were any end-of-life habits that I didn't notice.

"No, what? I didn't know for sure, but I felt like I could be mistaken somewhere."

Reading through Alec's heart, Shaunosuke said so. It is precisely because he also had doubts about him.

"... I only stayed here temporarily. It's not really my job."

Alec nodded honestly after the tour, saying that he lost his role as an apprentice and that he could not deceive Shonoske, which would have been a secret.

Though I thought it had faded considerably, I suppose the "smell" stained after working as an agent for four years was still missing.

"Oh, that's why. Thank you for not knowing."

I can only laugh bitterly if I return the exact same words as my own dialogue earlier.

"Because I felt a smell somehow similar to something. That's why I decided to talk to you."

Behind Shaunosuke's gaze as he said, there were women waiting for the two while laughing in the tent. Theoli, and Nadia, and Yae, and the servant woman. I wonder if there is an exchange of information without seeing a match.

The dragonfly that was watching them loosens slightly.

"The original personality will be known to the person who sends you out from the dagger, body, and appearance. So I don't have a place to put myself. It was nice to go back to Japan, but Yae-sama picked me up where I was in the middle of a difficult time. If it's exotic, no one strangely blames it. I could use the technique that I developed."

"... is that so?"

It appears to have unexpectedly demonstrated the intelligence-gathering capabilities necessary for intelligence operations. It wasn't just a vigilante.

Yae's gaze turned towards us unexpectedly. Her gaze, which smiled brightly, was captured by Shaunosuke.

"Yae-sama hired me without neglecting someone. There are no extra interrogators because my friends have all the explanations. Therefore, it's more comfortable around him."

"Ah... I guess so. Neither do I."

The Adventurers' Association (Alliance) is a well-founded gathering. This tendency is even stronger, especially in the Tris branch of the border, which is far from the King's Capital and has a harsh environment. Regardless of Theori, Clement and Nadia, who didn't reveal much of their identity, were probably aware of their origins and, on the contrary, of the work behind them, but they wouldn't say anything. Sometimes you say something you care about.

Alec glanced at his friend standing next to the tent. Clement's gaze turned towards us, even though he occasionally mixed up with Siori's conversation. I didn't dare to come near us because I was worried about the two of us talking.

His blue eyes loosen up.

"You're a good man."

"Oh, it must have been tough being a twister, and it made me feel better. One of my understandings... is my best friend."

"... I see."

Ah.

A moment of silence came down.

The funny laughter of the women echoes. In contrast, Clement smiled bitterly, and Louis slapped her at her feet.

Looks like Nadia said something. I suppose that woman has known each other for a long time.

One of my friends with a reason. A woman who was chased from her homeland and passed away to this country where her bride slept.

--If my half-brother had lived, she would have been my stepsister.

If your brother had been alive, I might not have been called to the castle.

If that had happened, he would have known the existence of his half-brothers, Zach, and Nadia. I may have been surrounded somewhere by my famous father and lived a different life.

If it had been peaceful and safe, the lives of the three would never have crossed in this town called Tris by the death of their half-brother - which is strange to think so.

To Alec, who was filled with thoughts, Shaunosuke said a sleigh.

"Have you ever felt itchy?"

"What are you doing?"

When he blinked at the sudden question, he repeated his words.

"I work for your country, but I can't talk about it, I'm often pointed to the back of my finger.... no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. But that doesn't make my teeth itchy."

He ended up as an apprentice, but he worked several times and slashed people before the organization was dismantled. Falsifying identity, deceiving people, gathering information, fighting for the unknown, staining their hands with blood - that is the shadow of existence.

It must appear abominable to the honorable. But it was never for personal gain, it was only for the country. It must have been hard for this man to say that bad.

I know how you feel.

Certainly some of my colleagues leaked such stupidity. Protected from invisible places and living in peace, he said he would not like to talk back. I didn't tell him much because I couldn't tell each other who I was, but apparently the man was told to do so by his knight brother. A brother who is the same knight but wears knight's clothes and stands on the front stage, and a man who supports the Knights, and thus the country, behind his back without ever wearing a sleeve through his knight's clothes. The man must have felt anger and frustration at his brother who blamed him for his position without knowing his brother's role.

But...

"... I didn't think my teeth were itchy. Fortunately, I was surrounded by people who understood."

After a while Alec slowly opened his mouth.

"And that's what I wanted to protect the most. I'm satisfied with that."

It was my half-brother who wanted to protect me the most. I received one reply - no, on the contrary, it was a redemption for my half-brother who left me alone in the castle. He is the country itself. If working for him protects the country, I would not be happier as a brother - as a man named at the end of the royal throne.

Of course, I didn't tell Shaunosuke that.

"But, Lord Shonoske. I'm not denying your feelings. I know how much you regret being treated like a proud worker. But everyone close to you now admits to Lord Shonosky, right?

"... Alec."

Yae, his employer, of course, was intimate with Shaunosuke, both the woman he was taking as a gift today and the members of the Chamber of Commerce he met on the first day. There was no trace of dust in the neglect. I accept this man.

The sight of Shonoske, who was pointing at Alec, turned again towards Yae.

"─ ─ I met Yae for the first time after I was relieved of my role. Until then, I thought I was just working for your country... but yes, I am."

His mouth softens and loosens.

"If you think you were working to protect the person you met, the people you met - and certainly a lot of gossip and stuff."

Though not convinced of everything, the words no longer had a sad sound.

Looking at the shallow side of his sculpture, Alec smiled slightly at the edge of his mouth and turned to Shiori, who was waiting laughing.

--This is another strange encounter. I meet exotic men with similar backgrounds and talk to them as if they were old acquaintances.

Some edges have been severed, while others have been newly joined. It is an eastern border that would never have been spinned if it had not been tied to Shiori.

"... well, it's time to go. I'm a little hungry. It's starting to smell good."

Shonosuke, stroking the pattern of the dark moon sword back into his sheath, said with a smile that he liked to turn around from the sad expression he had just had.

Although he was working in the shade, his natural nature might be closer to the sun. Alec thought as he followed him to the tent.

--The lunch that Siori prepared that day focused on seafood dishes, whether it was conscious of the guests from the east who liked seafood. Of course, I don't forget to use soy sauce and miso for seasonings. Cheers rise to the double-shell au gratin and salmon grated pie that comes out of the cage that has removed the cloth for heat retention.

"Mm... this pie dish, with garlic and butter, is really delicious."

"... you know, as long as it contains garlic and butter..."

Stir-fried salmon sashimi in garlic soy sauce butter is mixed into mashed potatoes, and the fried pie dishes wrapped in the dough are cheeked up deliciously next to the shonosuke, and some stupid and creepy yams murmur.

Alec ate a sip of the gratin food he received from Theori, and then roared.

"Oh, I've eaten this au gratin before."

"Yes, we celebrated Annie and her at the Silveria Tower. I used salt for seasoning before, but this time I used miso for white sauce."

"Is that why the taste seemed solid?"

"That's right. I suppress saltiness, but I think it feels clearer because the taste is strong."

"I see... this looks good for white wine."

Alec gazed gently at Clement, who murmured and took the vial out of her waist pouch.

"Clemens, I don't know about you, but... what's inside?"

I wonder if it is packed with miserable brands of liquor as usual.

I thought so, but Clement laughed bitterly when she said that she had already stopped, and recommended it to the Yae and the others.

"It's the Vanscape of Nordlandel. You deserve it."

Speaking of Vancope, it is a white wine made from Vinter Berry. Anecdotal stories remain that seedlings were given to this region of Nordlandel from rival regions that make wines of the same lineage, where the beasts devoured their fields and not only harvested them, but also endangered their subsequent winemaking. Wines made from vintelle berries harvested from this seedling were named "vinscapes", meaning "friendship" - this is the origin of the brand.

"Hmm... Mr. Clements, that's quite a good plan."

Yae, who seemed to like the sweet and refreshing taste, broke his face pleasantly.

This friend likes an unparalleled alcohol that always holds a few bottles of alcohol in his expedition. Sometimes it is a substitute for the noticeable medicine, but it seems that the client is bringing the brand into the work that he accompanies, which is considered to be the kind of talk.

(That's why I was wondering what to do when you tried to make me drink an ominous brand.)

In return for grabbing the woman she fell in love with from the side, Clemens smiled strangely as he glanced at the man who was trying to make his best friend (Alec) drink the brand of heartbreak.

Siori and Nadia, who saw these two strange interactions, lean their necks.

"Well, let's toast to a new friendship."

With a subtle look on Alec's ass, Clement raised the cup instead of the cup.

He's in good shape.

With a bitter smile, Alec grabs the cup.

Here's to a new edge and friendship.

Several cups were raised on Clement's head.

The outside is extremely cold, but inside a tent as warm as spring. The people surrounding the small table on the cloth are all smiling.

Alec sipped the vanscape, hoping that the smile and the spinned edges would go on forever.

Then he enjoyed the arrangement and the fine feast, and made a firm promise of reunion, and said goodbye to the people of the East that evening.

Zach stopped Alec and Theori from returning home after saying goodbye to Clemens in front of the Guild.

"What's the matter? Sudden request?

When asked, he shook his head and lowered his voice slightly.

"... I'm calling from Uncle Border (Chris). He wants me to come by three nights later."

Siori took a breath.

"The clothes are fine as usual. I don't mind going for a drink with an acquaintance while I'm at work. They're going to pick me up from the carriage."

"Okay."

"Don't worry, Alec is with us and I'm going," added Zack, who stroked his anxious head lightly, and she finally relaxed her shoulders a little.