Chapter 66: Lady Pandora is Indeed an Angel! (Subscribe!) (Patreon)

A laugh escaped Pandora, and she shook her head. "Louliana..."

She reached out toward Louliana, who didn't bother asking why — she simply handed over the lantern in her hand.

Taking it, Pandora said, "A lantern worth twenty Holy Ras. What do you think?"

Yes, she was about to "sacrifice" the lantern again... "Twenty Holy Ras?" The guard on the right blinked in surprise at the battered little lantern in Pandora's hand. "Miss, are you... joking?" That very lantern was sold all over the streets, dirt cheap — two Holy Ras, tops.

Excellent! She hereby formally declared that after a long hiatus, her swindling — ahem, her storytelling — had returned, right here, right now!

Pandora simply waved a hand. "I'm not joking at all. You know, there's always a reason something costs what it costs..."

Of course, if it had been anyone else, she never would have bothered with this.

The guard on the right found that oddly convincing, though something still nagged at him. "Then you—"

"All right, this lantern's been personally tested and verified by your own lord..." "Our lord... tested it..."

"That's right. See the girl behind me? She's a maid from the lord's household — yesterday she went out on his orders to run an errand."

"Of course, if you doubt the lantern's worth, you're welcome to fetch the lord himself and have him appraise it on the spot. After all, he's waiting for her to come back and report."

"Uh..." By now the guard was starting to panic.

Just the morning before last, he'd seen this very maid with his own eyes, walking right beside the lord.

He hadn't even noticed her a moment ago — he could only blame the girl in white, who was simply too dazzling to look away from...

At first her words hadn't seemed like much, but the more she talked — especially after hearing "running an errand" — the guard suddenly convinced himself the errand must have been fetching a guest, and that Pandora was that very guest, invited by their lord himself (entirely in his own head). And if that were true, then...

The thought sent him scrambling to press the lantern back into Pandora's hands. "Ah, no, I really couldn't... please, go right in, go right in..."

Pandora only smiled at that. "It's only right — times are hard for everyone."

"No, no, no..."

And so, under the guard's cold-sweat-soaked gaze, the two of them finally entered the Sacred Land.

The Sacred Land was noticeably warmer than the snowfields outside, but between the wind that still crept in and the region's lagging economy, most residents still lived in houses built from thick, heavy stone. Of course, there were also a few who lived in lavish villas.

"Louliana, what's wrong?" Walking down the sparsely peopled street, ignoring the stares she drew, Pandora noticed the girl beside her trembling. Assuming Louliana was frightened, she added, "I'm right here. No need to worry."

Louliana gave a small nod, her head still bowed.

But in truth...

Right then, Louliana's mind was awash in pink bubbles.

If the lord was a demon reaper dragging souls off to judgment, then Pandora was an angel!

"Are you... all right?"

Holding Louliana's hand, Pandora could feel the trembling growing stronger.

That left her puzzled.

They'd walked hand in hand the whole way here without any trouble...

At that, Louliana shook her head hard. "N-no, I'm..."

She really was an incompetent maid, wasn't she.

Seeing this, Pandora could only sigh. "All right, we're inside now. So the lord's manor would be..."

She looked off toward the lavish manor perched atop a distant mountain.

Louliana nodded, then wore a thoughtful look for a moment. "Mm... I remember it's on that mountain — a sprawling estate with a castle..."

"A castle? Even the nobles of the royal capital don't have those."

"All right then, let's head out."

Now that they'd spotted their target, naturally it was time to march straight for it.

"Lady Pandora, are we really..." Louliana asked, puzzled. "Are we really just going to walk in like this?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Don't tell me... you know magic?" "Nope."

"Then your martial arts or swordsmanship must be incredible, right?" "Not really."

"Then... how are we..."

Watching Louliana glance anxiously around, at a complete loss, Pandora sighed. "Don't worry, there's no real danger. And even if there is, I'll protect you. Besides, you're my maid now — I'll be counting on you to help me manage things going forward."

Honestly, if a certain someone hadn't kept protesting in the back of her mind, she might not have held back at all.

After all, Louliana's delicate, fragile look was simply too...

"Mm!" At that, Louliana, who'd still been a little worried, finally relaxed.

What Pandora had shown her before had been astonishing enough, but never having witnessed Pandora's actual power firsthand, Louliana couldn't help feeling a little anxious. Still, if Pandora said it would be fine, then it would be fine — absolute, unconditional trust.

Of course, that last line also left her thrilled beyond words.

And so, a certain scene unfolded —

a "princess" with platinum-blonde hair, trailed by a blue-haired maid, walking straight down the street, seemingly oblivious to everyone's stares.

Since all those "casual" glances were aimed squarely at Pandora, Louliana — trailing behind her, still lacking the poise of a proper maid — didn't feel nervous in the slightest.

"This place..." Pandora frowned as she took in the scenery on either side.

It was supposedly a commercial street, but not only were there few pedestrians about — few of the shops were even open.

Instead, firelight kept flickering out from the cracks of every stone house (not a fire — just people keeping warm).

"Louliana, was it like this here before?"

The question slipped out before she could stop herself.

Louliana shook her head. "I remember it — when I was first brought here, this street was packed with people, and the shops were all open."

"Is that so..."

A scene completely at odds with what lay before them now.

This couldn't be a coincidence.

"Hey! You up ahead — I'm giving you two seconds to stop!"

But just as Pandora was lost in thought, a rough male voice rang out from her left...