I Blue : Reincarnated as a Cursed Crit-Based Swordwoman-Chapter 17: Blood on the Floorboard

[Froschköning Manor's Hall a Few Days Prior – Noah's POV]

Noah could only stand there, looking in horror at the limp body on the floor, not knowing what to do.

"(What... is going on...?)" he thought.

He had never seen a human corpse in real life. He had never even gone to a burial ceremony. So, while his brain understood what that pitiful mass on the ground was, it didn't fully connect the dots yet. It was as if it was refusing to process the image in front of him.

"(What... is going on? Weren't we going to... train outside?)"

The maid stayed on the ground, ignoring him. She was too occupied with her bath of red water. Strangely, that said bath made her dirtier and dirtier.

"(No... That... That isn't how you do this... you have to use proper water. You have to...)"

"According to the law, a servant is allowed to kill anyone attempting to take the life of the employer," recited the black-haired maid as she used a handkerchief to clean the sharp knife she had used to stab his instructor. "However, to assure a fair arbitration of the case, it is required to seek a high-ranked priest to attempt a resurrection."

Noah stared at the black-haired maid in horror. He recognized her now—those cold and piercing yellow eyes. He knew who they belonged to.

"But we are currently in a period of long night. Religious officials won't move for such a little skirmish, so allow me to ask of you, servants of the Froschköning Manor: is there one here who is able to use resurrection spells?"

Her audience stayed silent, but Noah could feel it wasn't because no one amongst them was able to use that type of spell—it was because of that maid.

She wasn't asking them if they could use any resurrection spells; she was asking the ones who could to not attempt it. No, it was worse than that—she was asking them to hide that they could should an investigation take place!

"... Nobody, I see."

The black-haired maid turned around and crouched close to her mistress.

"Mrs. Orla-Nevesta, are you alright?"

The woman's frightened eyes turned to her maid. "C-Cécile?"

"Yes, it is Cécile. I came to save you, Mrs. Orla-Nevesta."

"Cécile... Ah, Cécile!!!"

Finally recognizing her chief maid, Orla-Nevesta's eyes welled up with tears. She crawled toward her, forgetting all notion of elegance, and clung to the maid by any part that allowed for it.

"C-Cécile!!! I am so glad you came!!! Where were you?!! That... That thing almost killed me!!!"

"I was leading an expedition in the hunting grounds, Mrs. Orla-Nevesta. As you know, with the long night ahead of us, food will be—"

"Who cares about food?!! You are supposed to protect me!!! Isn't that your work?!!"

"... It is my work indeed. Allow me to apologize. I failed at such a basic task. I will await my punishment as you please, but..."

She seemed to look at Noah for an instant.

"You are and must remain gracious in every circumstance, Mrs. Orla-Nevesta. Would you allow me to bring you to your room?"

The mistress of the house seemed to understand what her maid was getting at. Trying to look as composed as possible, she stood up all by herself.

"C-Clean this up," she said flatly, her voice calm and devoid of the fear it carried moments ago. She turned, her steps slow and deliberate, as she made her way toward the staircase, helped by her chief maid.

When she disappeared, the servants finally decided to approach Momo's lifeless body, ready to drag it away and wipe the blood, returning the hall to what it was a few minutes ago.

Yet an unexpected obstacle stood in their way. The stepdaughter of their mistress had stepped on the blood of the pink-haired maid, a wooden sword in hand.

"H-He... Heal... her..."

The servants froze. The cursed child dared open her mouth again, uttering a slurred command. Her dark eyes seemed empty of all light as if she was about to curse them all.

"Heh... hehehe... hehehehehe."

Yet, a few servants started to laugh at that bravado. Who was she trying to impress? They knew that the pink-haired maid had somehow sealed away Vasilisa's curse with her Eastern magic. If that woman had been good at anything from their point of view, it was at least that.

The dark-eyed girl gripped her sword tighter, her aura more menacing.

"Wh... Wh..."

She stepped on the ground with anger.

"W-W-WHAT... WHAT IS... WHAT IS MAKING... ARGH!!! WHY ARE YOU—"

"Hah, look at her trying to curse us!" exclaimed one of the servants.

"Wh... What?"

"Seems she doesn't even know that demon here took away her curse! Guess getting hit in the head too often damaged her head, eh?!" said another.

"You..."

"And here she stands protecting the demon's corpse! Is she dumb or what?" said another.

"Thought she hated demons after the thing at the reception, but guess filths like to stay together, eh?" laughed another.

"..."

The cursed child loosened her grip on her sword, her eyes downcast.

"Hey! You finally understand, don't you?! Glad to see it!"

One confident butler approached the young lady. He was one of the few employees here to be a rank Star, even if he only got there recently. Normally, that alone wouldn't be enough to oppose one of his masters, but contrary to the pink-haired woman, he was an employee of Mrs. Orla-Nevesta and Mrs. Orla-Nevesta alone.

The young girl before him was merely that—a young girl without importance. He was even told that, if she planned to get between him and a task his mistress gave him, he had the right to use violence on her as he would normally do concerning a stranger.

But he couldn't clearly see the little girl was grieving and angry. She didn't know the harsh nature of life as a servant. Getting rid of this body wasn't something that personally pleased him, far from it, but he just couldn't care either. The only thing that somewhat amused him was the girl's pseudo-heroic reaction. Was she under the impression they would do anything she asked if she showed a bit of a scary face? Pah! Such a stupid i—

"...Huh?"

*bong*

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

The child had closed the distance between them in a split second. By the time he realized, she had already delivered a swift hit of her sword to his forehead. It was as if a current went through his body, and the second after that, his vision went completely black.

The butler fell to the ground, his forehead bleeding and more than half of his HP bar down.

"..."

The cursed child looked down at her victim before turning to the servants around.

"Heal... or..."

She pointed at the one she already took down, the darkness in her eyes deeper than ever. This was the ultimatum she was giving them, and she had decided to go through with it.