Chapter 19: Night service and no, your eyes don’t deceive you.

"Ah...ha...ah..."

The slim woman on top of the bed right now tries to get up, but her legs are trembling so much that she falls on the bed right away. Her waist trembles, slightly moving from left to right.

"Hmmm...!"

She tries moving again and fails, showing her lack of endurance...

"Stop moving or I will tie you to the bed."

I say with a reproaching tone while straddling her and moving my hands on her naked back.

"But...it...hmmm!"

"Weren't you going to endure everything I did to your body? Of course, it feels good! I'm doing your body a favor dealing with all these knots you have in your back."

Well, that's not the only reason why but it does feel good for her so...who cares?

"You...! AHN!"

"Oh, this is a big one. I can see that working for your boss is plenty stressful. Wouldn't it be better to serve me?"

"As..hyiii! If...!!"

"Do believe me when I tell you that my offer can beat whatever your boss is paying you."

Goddess...her shoulders are so stiff that it's a wonder how she was able to move those arms. I shall use this as a practice for the time I reward Erevain with a massage. My boss taught me that they increase productivity and they did so back in the office. So, I'm going to put that in practice here, can't let my maid-knights have a sprain because of stress or something like that.

Hm? How do I know how to give a massage? That is an easy one, my grandma, Nana, she hammered it into my head until she considered me worthy enough to be the one who massaged her tired back.

Love ya, Nana!

"You...ahn...turned me...haa..innn..to a womannhnn!"

She turns her blushed face around and tries to glare at me.

ME! THE OWNER OF THE EDGE ALTER GLARE! HAHA! AS IF!

HERE!! THIS IS A GLARE!!

I put some mana into it and my eyes turn red, just like Nerinne and I wanted when we were making this body.

Her attempt to glare at me quickly crumbles away by fear.

"Eeeek!"

Cute little yelp there.

I get close to her face. Close enough to be able to whisper into her ear.

"Yes, I did turn you into a woman. And a beautiful one at that. But it is necessary, or would you have preferred to keep your old and easily identifiable face when you betrayed your boss? Also, since we are on the subject, for them you are already a traitor and a loose end since you got captured. You know that, right?"

She opens her eyes widely and then bites her lip in a frustrated grimace.

I press a bit more on one of her back muscles. She holds her voice down. I just need to look at her eyes to know the reason.

"Hoh~~, you still have time to fear them even though you are locked in a room with a Dragon Lord. That means they are powerful enough to be my equal, at least in that head of yours."

Hearing me say that, her expressions go to a forced stop. Sumanai, but that only serves as confirmation.

You’re asking how do I know that? Well, I had to learn to read people if I wanted to make money to invest in the love for my waifu. Now it is something I do almost subconsciously for my narration type inner monologue though.

Anyways, let’s give her some options since the human mind likes options.

"Is it a merchant?"

Her eyes don't move, and her body is as relaxed as she could be.

"No? Then, the guild?"

Which Guild you ask? Heh, I just made that up, but it seems her body tensed up just a little. Huh, so there might be a guild out there somewhere. Interesting.

"The kingdom? To be more specific, a hidden faction within it?"

Her body tenses up in a way she wouldn't be able to control and that my sensitive hands are able to pick up on. I already knew it was something related to the kingdom, but not the hidden faction part. That was just another of my additions. So that makes it still a 'bingo' scene.

"A hidden faction then...hmmm."

"...!"

She is trying to move again. What a stubborn person. Is she deaf? She is in a locked room with me. Unless she is some secret op isekaid she won't be able to escape.

Very well, it is time to put my offer on the table.

"You know you can't move. Hear what I have to say."

I say while putting a bit of strength on her shoulders.

"Ahn!"

"What I'm offering you is a chance to redeem yourself and your only way to get out alive of this one. Even if I let you out of here, you know that they will find you and kill you wherever you run to. Serve me and you won't need to run away, serve me and you will have a place to live. You will be able to eat three times a day and train to realize your upmost potential. You will be part of something much greater."

Uwaaa...I almost feel like a devil offering a 'too good to be true' contract with all those lines, but it is honest to goodness what you get if you join me, and it has no downsides that I can think about. Just ask the maid-knights.

"..."

I stop my hands as I finish saying that and she closes her eyes. She is thinking about it. Considering all her options and so on.

Perfect moment for a little push.

"But if all of that is not to your liking, then just think that serving me saves you from the divine punishment of being vaporized by the Goddess Nerinne for taking part in a plot that desecrates her name."

"...!"

I let my whisper slither away into her mind and I give her some space.

But not even a second passes and she grabs my hand.

"You got me with having a place to live."

She says so while getting up and sitting on the bed. She is trying to pass it off with a smile and a strong front, but I can see that it was a difficult choice for her. She is still afraid of them more than she is of me. Her reaction when she saw me was raw, in the moment, but her expression at the times when I mentioned her boss and the hidden faction were some of the most deeply engrained forms of fear I have ever seen.

Ah, she is half naked too, but she doesn't seem to care. Heh.

"You made the right choice. After we finish with the pact spell, you will tell me everything you know."

"Yes, I will. There is also something else that you need to know..."

______________________________________________________

While the 'interrogation' was starting, the sun set outside the inn and hues of orange painted the sky.

A red-headed woman entered the bar just in front of the inn. She was wearing a mainly red maid outifit with some armored additions here and there. On her back one could find a sword so big it looked more like a slab of metal with a handle than a sword.

All the men and women stared at the stranger who had entered.

And she stared back at them, looking at their weapons and light armor.

Most if not all of them were hunters.

One thing someone must know about this village's hunters, is that they are not your run of the mil deer hunters. No. They hunt in a forest that is filled with monsters and beasts that could kill the inexperienced in seconds and the experts in minutes if taken by surprise.

In other words, they are strong, and she knows that.

As such, that brings a smile to her face.

"I will beat every single one of you in an arm-wrestling match while breaking all of your drinking records."

She declared, confidently and loudly, as she started walking towards her first target, a burly man, maintaining that fierce but oh so alluring smile.

"If I manage to do it, every single one of you will tell me everything you know about this so-called curse of the goddess. The whys, the hows, the crazy theories you have and so on. And if there is something reaaaaaaaally important here for someone to try to kill the whole village for it, don't forget to mention it, alright?"

With that, she sat loudly in front of the man that was drinking alone and gave him a challenging look.

He smiled.

"An' wha if ya don't, missy?"

Said the man with a heavy accent readying his arm. It was a battle hardened arm full of scars and rough skin. Just like how her arms used to be before her transformation. She got a bit nostalgic, but she remembered that she still had the only scar that mattered to her. The one on her cheek. So that nostalgic feeling was quickly thrown away.

After all, nostalgia is useless in a match.

Those were her thoughts just before putting her strong looking, but a tad slender and feminine, arm on the table.

"Then my master will pay the tab of everyone here for as long as we stay in this village. It can be a day, it can be a week, but no one will pay a dime. IF, I lose, of course."

““"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."””

Almost everyone was laughing and cheering for the man.

"Show this maid how it's done!!"

"Get me mah free mead, man!!"

The red-headed woman looked around and chuckled.

"Ya' on, missy!"

Exclaimed the burly man in front of her.

In response, she took the man's beer mug and drank its contents dry. Afterwards she cleaned her face with her hand while showing eyes full of confidence.

All while she kept smiling.

After all, she was going to enjoy this.

___________________________________________________

While Kris was in the bar, a blonde gorgeous woman walked in the plaza. Her beautiful face and calm smile made a lot of men turn their heads at her. Some got hit by their wives because of it, but for them it was worth it.

As she continued her stroll, she mingled with the people attending their stalls, never forgetting to buy something from them and always receiving a discount.

One would think that the women of the village would immediately be hostile to her but on the contrary, they talked with her while laughing and having a good time.

They would ask her about her hair, or her skin, even her clothes, and she gave them a perfectly crafted story with some truths mixed in. Like the recipe for a cream that helps the skin become softer, or a concoction that could revitalize hair that has been left unkempt. Because even though she specialized in healing magic, she had to learn alchemy too, given the circumstances of her group. With items like those beauty products being things she came up with while practicing on making things like medicines, poisons, oils, and poultices. And she always wrote down the recipe for every single one of those, even if she had no use for them.

Among giggles and smiles, they talked about the current gossip of the village and things like that. It wasn't what she was looking for specifically, but it helped to paint a picture of a village that reinforced the idea that they weren't giving up on it.

"Is it true that your master is from somewhere even farther than the empire?"

"Oh, yes, indeed he is. It's a small and isolated country but one rich in culture."

Said Gabrielle while smiling.

"Is he married? Because a man like that can't be free, I just know it."

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows at a specific word one of the women said.

Man.

There was something she knew that her comrades didn't. Or at least not that she had heard of others sharing her thoughts. And that was that her master was really a woman.

Every time someone said that her master was a man, she felt sad for her master, and bothered by how blind the others seemed.

Maybe it was because she was acquainted with the complexities of a humanoid body and the traits shared among the races. Or maybe it was that light but uniquely feminine sway that the hips of her master had when walking. In the end, she was a woman and she knew it.

But her master seemed to just go along with the misconception and so Gabrielle decided to follow her master’s lead. Because that is what a good servant does.

"He has a lover, yes. But if I am to be honest...it seems to me that she does not care if there are more as long as she keeps her place as number one."

Gabrielle put one of her hands on top of her chest while nodding. All while remembering something that she caught a glance of back at the castle, it was the Goddess giving a certain something to Erevain. Something that made her think that.

"Oh!"

"Really?!"

"I heard some nobles of the capital think that way too!"

"Yes, I heard about that too! So strange!"

The circle of women that had become a full-fledged gossip meeting was at full steam.

"Ah, but that means that anyone could take her place if they manage to enchant your master even more than her."

Gabrielle let out a small giggle. Almost telling that they wouldn't be saying that if they knew who that woman was.

"No, I do not think so. She is pretty much unbeatable so anyone who wants my master would have to accept being the number two at most."

'Although I wouldn't mind even if I was the third or fourth. Except if…'

Those were her thoughts while she talked to the women.

Some time passed, and Gabrielle could hear that there was quite some movement inside the bar, but she kept walking around the plaza and nearby streets. As if she was looking for someone. But then someone stopped her, it was a child not much older than the young one that seemed to be her master's daughter.

"Miss, my grandma says that you knows healing magic! She needs help! Please..."

She recognized that child by his speech and immediately knew of whom he was talking about.

"Indeed, I do, little one. Show me where your grandma is, and I will do anything to help her."

She smiled gently at the child and he answered with a smile full of relief. He quickly brought her to his home and opened the door telling her grandma that the woman she spoke of had come.

Shortly after, a pale elderly woman walked slowly towards her living room. She seemed to be keeping something inside her right hand quite strongly, but that wasn’t important for Gabrielle at the moment. For the elderly woman had wounds all over her body except for her face. Wounds that were roughly bandaged, with some of those bandages still having fresh blood on them.

"...!"

Gabrielle could not hold back her surprise at such a sight and her eyes widened.

"You look quite different from what I remember or maybe I'm already losing it because of my old age...heh..."

The old woman chuckled while sitting on the chair in front of Gabrielle.

"But my [Magic Eyes] do not deceive me. They are the only part of this damn body that still functions well. You are one of those 'bandits' that's always leaving those supplies for us every first day of the month. Your mana trail checks out. Heck, you even healed my sprained ankle one of those times…!"

"..."

Gabrielle was silent, not because her identity was exposed but because she was trying to figure out who would dare to hurt an old lady like that and go unpunished.

After all, she may be a servant and, unknowingly, a maid knight, but her heart was still one of a knight who loved her country and its people.

"Ah...don't get mad, you should have seen how the other guy ended up. Blew 'im to smithereens! I might be old but I'm still a caster who served on the frontlines! I—"

A powerful cough interrupted her, and Gabrielle quickly started giving her treatment.

"Spirits of nature and light hear my pleadings, [High Heal]!"

A green light came out of Gabrielle's hands and the color of the old woman's skin started to return.

"Aaah, that's the stuff...now that I see you up close you turned into quite the pretty girl, huh? You looked quite average as a man, but I thought you would still find a partner if you wanted to, you know."

"Ahaha...do not joke, reckless old lady. I'm fine like this, really. Now, I would like you tell me how and why you ended up like this."

Said Gabrielle with a familiar tone, different to the one she had while talking to the women at the plaza.

The old woman looked at Gabrielle's face and as if understanding something she just closed her eyes, nodded and shrugged.

"This old lady was just being honest. But if that's how it is, then I don't see the problem. As for your inquiry...why tell when I can show."

The old woman then opened her right hand and the object within it started to glow in a faint blue light.

"That's...!"

Gabrielle's eyes opened completely at what the old lady was holding onto.

It was an azure stone.

___________________________________________________

My first targets for my gathering of information were the houses of the most important people in the village, the Head of the village and the priest of the local church, but there was nothing related to my master’s objective. Not even inside their secret safes.

So, I kept searching, unnoticed by the people around me. Not only because it is my specialty, but because I’m not…good at talking with people, so this has always been my way of contributing.

And I can’t disappoint Master!

While looking around some more, I found some people gathering near my position and I moved accordingly. With care, I positioned myself in a way that I could hear them clearly without being noticed.

They were a group of hunters discussing something about an off-limits area inside the forest and how they had already lost some of their fellow hunters inside of it. What caught my interest was, however, that no matter how many hunters investigated the outskirts of that area, they couldn't find signs of whatever beast or monster lived in there.

No fur.

No scent.

No tracks.

Nothing.

Which was suspicious, for I knew that the hunters of this village were skilled at their jobs.

They had to.

That is why that was enough for me to go quickly and have a look at that off-limits area.

I ran, and ran, and ran some more. I was fast. Faster than before my transformation and I didn't get tired as easily as I used to. Master was right about our bodies' potential. And thanks to that, I managed to get to the forest in almost no time.

Thus, I entered it without fear.

Because places full of greenery are my home field. As a scout, moving inside a forest is something basic and necessary. Even staying there for days just surveying an area and waiting for the perfect moment to obtain valuable information is something normal.

Even then, I am proud of how my feet are so silent that I make almost no sound while jumping from tree to tree, until I finally reached the inside of the off-limits area.

The place where I am now.

It is strange to say the least. This feeling...

The chirping of the birds disappeared the second I entered this part of the forest, as if I had been teleported to a separate space...

"...!"

Thats it!

It’s like the feeling I had when I crossed the door towards my master's castle but lesser.

Maybe a barrier?

If that is the case, I'm glad that my grandpa trained me to use every single skill and spell I need to avoid detection from things like this. Although, that is also a pretty basic thing scouts must do...

But now I'm sure that there’s something in here, something that doesn’t want any visitors, and it is at least capable of manipulating an enclosed area.

I go a bit deeper into the off-limits area and that's where I find them. Hooded figures doing something to an open crevice in the earth.

They are bringing out some strange looking mineral that I can’t see clearly from where I am. I need to get a bit closer to have a good description of it for Master.

"..."

Silently, I jump to a tree close enough to them and the mineral, but not enough for someone to detect me. Although the tree feels strange, weak in some way, its greens have a tinge of an unhealthy gray unlike the ones behind it and the ones behind those.

I can guess the reason, but I need to focus.

There, a black mineral that is releasing miasma. My back shivers instinctively with just looking at it.

It is dangerous. Whatever that thing is, I'm sure it has something to do with what's happening in the village.

That’s enough, I have enough experience to know that if I stay here any longer the chances of being detected will grow exponentially and so, I run again at top speed, but now with valuable information for my master.

I am not good at talking and I fidget a lot Master...but you can count on me to always bring results!!!

___________________________________________________

I'm in front of my master's room door while wearing the nightwear the Goddess had provided me before leaving.

I was shocked when I saw it, but now I know why she did it. She knew. Just as the Goddess of our world should.

I feel embarrassed to say the least, but I would've never thought that I would be doing something like this, not even in my wildest of dreams.

Night service. For a man. For My Lord.

While I try to prepare myself, my mind wanders as to how I ended up like this.

To a few hours ago when My Lord was questioning the spy he captured.

"It seems My lord used a spell to stop any sound from leaving the room, but I can still hear them..."

Yes, I could hear the moans of the newly made female inside the room.

"Does My Lord know I can hear them? No, he must know."

He wouldn't have made a mistake delimiting the area of effect. He must have wanted me to hear just so I could know how he would procure the information.

And so, those moans kept going for a while until they stopped completely.

Then, the woman started talking about everything she knew, and then she said something else, something that made me laugh at myself for how foolish I was to underestimate My Lord.

"If you have done to them what you have done to me, then that woman who is still using that name, Erevain, she is—"

My heart stopped for a moment when I heard that woman say that, but then...

"She will tell me when she feels it's the right time to do so. I do not want to hear it from anyone else, understood?"

...My Lord answered with that.

"Ye-Yes..."

Even outside I could feel the pressure My Lord gave off to make that woman obey and she did.

I was surprised then, but the more I ponder about it, the more I accept it.

He knows but he does not intend to ask.

He trusts me to be the one to speak about it and is giving me the space necessary to do so.

I must reciprocate the level of trust that he has showed me.

The door to the room then opened and a slim woman with short brown hair came out wearing an outfit like ours.

She had changed sides and made a pact with My Lord.

He asked me to book her a room and explain to her our objectives.

And so, I did. When I finished the sun had already set and the others started returning one by one, until everyone was inside the room where our new companion was.

Kris reeked of alcohol and sweat, she gave me her report and left to the bath without a single care.

Seriously that ma-woman...never changes...

Gabrielle was fatigued, her mana had been exhausted using healing magic for a long period of time and so, she too just gave her report and was about to leave for her room, but just before doing so she said something to me.

"You are our leader and you will always be that. You even gave yourself first to our master so we could decide our fates, that is why you should be the first to provide him with warmth this night. Do not dare to waste his resting time with just reports, Erevain."

With that, she left.

Following behind her was Luca, who nodded nervously as she always does, and gave me her written report before going to her room.

Meanwhile, the newcomer, who had renounced her name and was waiting for the one my lord was going to give her, only laughed and said that Gabrielle was right.

And so, I left the newcomer’s room baffled.

I honestly did not know what to think about Gabrielle's words.

Was this also another purpose of the bodies we have now?

That is what I asked myself then.

And that's when I remembered what the Goddess had given to me, and I finally understood her intentions.

It didn't take long for me to go and change my clothes to the ones the Goddess gave me. They are made to showcase my figure and...proportions. Not...leaving...anything to the imagination...

I can feel the embarrassment fill my face, but the Goddess gave me this task...and I already made a pledge.

I, Erevain, find myself closing my eyes and opening the door of my master's room.

"E-excuse me, My lord!"

"Ah...Erevain. I was expecting you."

His regal tone and aura are truly of someone worthy of the title of king. His way of adapting to the situation, and quick decision-making to obtain results, show that his intellect is worthy of the task he shoulders.

And here I am acting unbefitting of his right hand!

I can't keep shaming My Lord with this pitiful appearance of mine, closing my eyes in embarrassment and so, I open my eyes.

"...!"

My Lord…?

Are my eyes deceiving me?

No…

Her pale skin bathed in the moonlight.

Her golden hair loose and falling freely.

Her unarmored figure breaking my preconceptions and leaving me speechless.

I feel drawn towards her, enamored by her raw feminine beauty and even if those desires are improper for a servant...

Yes...my master is...

A woman...

To be continued...(cue 'meanwhile' image of Gabrielle, Luca and Kris having a nice bath together!)(Thank you for reading!)