The next morning.
Aiolette and I boarded the carriage bound for the Imperial Capital.
"My lady, you haven't forgotten anything, have you? Did you pack all your undergarments? It's quite a distance from here to the capital, so you'll need to make sure you have everything."
"Are you my mother? I packed everything!"
Aiolette snapped and turned her head away. Hmm… She's grown up enough to manage on her own, I suppose.
Even if she had forgotten something, I'd prepared most necessities separately, so there wouldn't be any real problem.
But it was Aiolette who turned to look at me with a puzzled expression.
"Honestly, I'm more worried about you. Dia, where are your things? You've been empty-handed this whole time."
Come to think of it, I'd never properly shown her.
"I've already packed everything. Right here."
With that, I lifted the skirt of my maid's uniform ever so slightly.
Whoosh.
In that instant, an enormous quantity of provisions came cascading out of the empty space beneath the skirt.
Aiolette's shock hit me through the air like a physical thing. Even without sight, I could picture exactly how wide her eyes had gone.
"Y-you… what is that?!"
"Explaining it in detail would hardly be cool, my lady."
"What are you even talking about…"
Leaving Aiolette muttering something about how she got stranger by the day, I gathered up the scattered provisions and tucked them away again.
The truth is, this isn't some secret pocket hidden in a maid's skirt that every maid supposedly has.
Think of it as an inventory, in game terms.
In the world of Saintess & Hero, just like any other RPG, the player is granted an inventory function.
After I realized I'd been transmigrated into the game, I tried it on a whim—and it worked.
There are limitations, of course.
The biggest one is that I can only carry five types of items at a time.
For example, if I register sword, herbs, provisions, clothing, and water as my five types, nothing else can go in.
But the tremendous upside was that I could stack up to ninety-nine of each type.
Regardless of volume or weight.
This was one of the moments that made me truly feel I had entered the game world.
"That's not a volume that could physically fit under a skirt. How does all of that fit in there?"
"Love, care, and a touch of nonsensical compression technology, let's say."
I could feel Aiolette's exasperation at my answer.
Not that I can explain the mechanics either. Don't try to understand it. Just accept it.
Apparently giving up on understanding, Aiolette quietly climbed into the carriage.
I followed after her.
Ah, right—there's no coachman.
The carriage we boarded was a state-of-the-art Magitech Carriage that drove itself without one.
No horse to manage, no coachman to worry about—it was about as convenient a mode of transport as one could ask for.
As the carriage glided smoothly into motion, I turned my head toward the window—not that I could see anything—and spoke.
"Well then, my lady. We're off. There may be bandits or monsters along the way, so please stay alert."
Aiolette scoffed at that.
"It's not like we're taking some backwoods mountain path. We'll be on roads patrolled directly by the Imperial Army. And what lunatic would dare touch a carriage bearing the Drnaris Ducal House crest?"
Her voice brimmed with well-founded confidence.
She wasn't wrong—the ducal house's prestige was formidable, and the road to the capital was a well-patrolled route. Any ordinary person would have nodded along.
But.
*My dear lady still knows far too little about how this world works.*
In an RPG, random encounters during travel are practically a law of nature.
***
"Is the Empire's public order really allowed to be like this…?"
Aiolette could not hide her horror at the reality of the Empire she was witnessing for the first time.
Eight times.
That was the number of bandit groups they had encountered along the short stretch from the Drnaris ducal territory to the Imperial Capital.
Add to that the low-rank monsters that kept popping up every time she'd almost forgotten about them, and there hadn't been a single moment to let her guard down.
Honestly, every last one of them was worthless trash that turned to dust at a flick of Aiolette's finger—but still, wasn't this supposed to be the Empire's main road?
A road managed by the state and patrolled by the Imperial Army, and yet bandits and monsters roamed it as freely as if collecting a toll.
*What exactly are the Imperial soldiers doing with all those taxes?!*
The Empire… was it really going to be all right?
For the first time, Aiolette found herself genuinely worrying about the Empire's future.
To her horror, Gladia simply watched her with an expression that said *I told you so*, utterly unruffled.
That expression was so infuriating it was doing a thorough job of fraying Aiolette's already short temper.
In any case, Gladia finished dealing with yet another wave of monsters and called out to her.
"My lady~ All done~"
When Aiolette looked over, she saw Gladia standing amid the scattered, dismembered remains of the monsters.
The surroundings were drenched in blood, yet Gladia herself was immaculate—so pristine she looked as though she existed in an entirely different world from the carnage around her.
After a brief glance around, Gladia sheathed her sword, tapped the ground with her cane, and walked toward Aiolette.
She seemed to have no particular feelings about any of this. Perfectly calm.
Gladia walked over with a somehow buoyant step and set the carriage moving again.
The carriage lurched back into motion at her command, and Aiolette, already seated, watched her.
When they had first met, Gladia had clearly been smaller than her—but at some point she had overtaken Aiolette in height.
Long, lustrous white hair.
And a beautiful face that carried an air of mystery even with its eyes closed.
Three years had passed, and Gladia no longer looked anything like a beggar.
A maid with uncanny swordsmanship despite being unable to see.
From the very first moment they had met three years ago, Gladia had been a deeply mysterious and unpredictable person.
Come to think of it, Gladia had always been strange in one way or another.
*—There's a bidet in the bathroom…?*
Sometimes she seemed to lack the most basic common knowledge.
*—Look at this, my lady! Press here and… ta-da! A secret passage in the Drnaris manor!*
And other times she seemed to know everything. (For the record, that secret passage had been forgotten so long ago that no one in the Drnaris family had known it existed.)
Her past was murky… she was suspicious in every conceivable way.
*Still… well.*
But that didn't mean Aiolette distrusted her.
Three years of living together had been more than enough to feel that Gladia was on her side.
Aiolette, who had been destined to meet a mysterious death under the pressure of the other heirs, had risen to the position of leading successor—and that was entirely Gladia's doing.
Not content with simply stopping assassinations, Gladia had meticulously prepared everything: awakening Aiolette's mana, devising a training regimen suited specifically to her.
*—Did you know, my lady? They say lions push their cubs off cliffs.*
…Though the methods had been anything but gentle.
The memory of Gladia's training made Aiolette shudder involuntarily.
At that, Gladia's head—which had been resting still with eyes closed—turned toward her.
"Are you cold, my lady? Just say the word if you need a blanket."
"I-I'm fine!"
From those few words, Aiolette caught the concern directed at her.
Aiolette's mother had died the moment she was born, and her father had been indifferent.
Her siblings had been desperate to destroy her, and even the household servants had been quick to avoid her.
She understood why. No one wanted to be entangled with the youngest daughter of the house—one who hadn't awakened her mana and had no backing.
For Aiolette, who had grown up in complete isolation, Gladia was the first subordinate, friend, family, and teacher she had ever had.
…Not that she had any intention of ever letting Gladia know that.
***
I felt the carriage gradually slowing and drew my sword a fraction.
[Trait ⟨Sword Saint⟩ activates.]
[⟨World's Trial⟩ is nullified.]
In that instant, the darkness that had stained my vision gave way to light.
It would cost me later, but I simply couldn't resist.
The first thing my eyes found was a massive city wall stretching from the horizon as if to swallow the earth whole. And beyond it, the imperial capital, Libertis, finally revealed its magnificent form.
Something stirred faintly in my chest. The sight I had only ever seen as background art in my favorite game—I was looking at it now with my own two eyes.
But our villainess, Aiolette, who possessed not a single sentimental bone in her body, seemed to have an entirely different reaction.
"Hmph. That wall looks as stupid as ever."
"Does it? I think it's rather imposing."
"It's just mindlessly big and tacky. Imperial family, honestly—too thick-headed to have any taste."
"Someone might hear you and have you arrested, my lady."
"Ha! Who would dare? Let them listen all they like. They're nothing but hollow people coasting on the luck of their bloodline. Do you really think they'd dare lay a hand on the Drnaris house over something like this?"
Aiolette delivered what amounted to a treasonous declaration—the kind that could get her head removed for insulting the imperial family—as casually as commenting on the weather.
So this was the audacity of the villainess who held the title of the most powerful hidden boss in Saintess & Hero…
Still, no room for complacency. This place was a den crawling with all manner of dangerous creatures. I quietly slid my sword back into its scabbard and offered a low warning from within the returning darkness.
"Even so, my lady—this isn't the Drnaris ducal territory. This is the Imperial Capital. Even the family's prestige needs to be dialed back by half here. As they say, even a dog has the advantage in front of its own house."
"You're comparing the imperial family to a dog, and you think I'm the problem?!"
How could that be. Where else on this continent would you find a maid as courteous and refined as myself.
Aiolette grumbled, then clicked her tongue and muttered in a voice barely above a whisper.
"…And I know that already. Obviously I only talk like this with you. Do you think I'm an idiot?"
…Good thing my eyes were closed. I nearly got emotional enough to cry.
Three years of hard work, and it shows. I was quietly swelling with pride at the answer—so full of trust in me—when the carriage gave one heavy lurch and passed straight through the thick iron gate of the checkpoint.
For the record, the carriage of the Drnaris house—one of the Empire's three great ducal houses—received no inspection whatsoever upon entering the Imperial Capital. A free pass, every time. The prestige of the family was wonderfully convenient in moments like these.
Clunk. Whoooosh.
The carriage slowed smoothly and came to a complete stop. The presence of countless people pressed in from all around. The Imperial Capital, as expected. So many people.
I rose from my seat first and took hold of the door handle.
"Well then, my lady. Shall we?"
Click. Slide.
As the carriage door swung open, the bright sunlight of the Imperial Capital poured in through the gap.
Meeting that light head-on, Aiolette curved the corner of her mouth upward. Even without sight, I felt it clearly—the mana at her feet stirring with a pleasant, eager ripple.
"Right. Let's go, Dia."
Beneath the brilliant, blazing sun of the Imperial Capital, the youngest daughter of the Drnaris house stepped forward without hesitation.
At last, the witch of Drnaris and her maid set foot in Imperial Capital Libertis.