3 – 8

Just who on earth is that old woman?

Just where did she get that attitude from?

How can she be so utterly rude?

Even when she complained like that to the maid that had served to guide her back to the room, the only answer she got back was 'I don't know'.

This girl too reminded Camilla of a doll. With that expressionless mask and chestnut brown hair. Her cheeks were so white she could have sworn they were made of porcelain. She gave off the same impression as those two manservants from earlier. She even had that beauty spot under her eye. Perhaps she was the sister of one of them?

After guiding Camilla back to that room, that expressionless maid turned on her heel without a word and left.

○

"Ahh, how frustrating...!!"

"JEEZ! JEEEEZ! SO FRUSTRATING!!"

They were back in the guest room. Once that joyless maid left the room, Camilla and Nicole both shouted out loud.

"What sort of leap in logic was that!? Why was she so obsessed with death!? What year does she think this is!?"

"How can she show such an attitude!? Doesn't she know that she was speaking to the Mistress of the Montchat house!?"

"Nicole, you could use a little self-awareness as well!?"

When Nicole said that word absent mindedly again, Camilla turned to glare at her. But, Nicole was so lost in her own anger that she didn't seem to notice.

"That's just the kind of people the Meyerheims are! They won't feel satisfied until they've died for something!!"

The Meyerheim lineage had a long tradition of martial spirit. If you add that culture to the harsh environment of Mohnton, it was easy to see how such a terribly outdated worldview could be fostered. With their uniform streets, their passionless way of living and even those expressionless faces, it was as if they were all living under some strange kind of military leadership.

Moving as one, all following the same purpose, it was as if they had thrown away all personal feelings. If you cut off one head, another would rise in its place. There would be a replacement for that expressionless maid just like there would be one for that wizened old woman.

– No.

Camilla denied the thoughts that had begun to worm her way into her chest. It wasn't quite like that. That woman had acted with some measure of malice against Camilla. There were definitely some feelings attached to her words. For whatever reasons, she was angry with Camilla, and those feelings became obvious through her words.

"Mistress, is this the kind of treatment that you get all the time!?"

Her train of thought was once again derailed by Nicole's indignation. Camilla shook her head fervently.

"It has never been anything like this! This town really is all too strange!"

Even in Grenze, she was never confronted directly in such a way. She did have that one terrible experience back in the territory's capital, but she was able to eventually get rid of the chief troublemakers. At most, the only really problematic person there was Gerda.

"Is the whole town conspiring to harass me now!? I won't forgive something like this! I will absolutely make them regret it!!"

That said, Einst was one of the most important cities in Mohnton. Even if she had the people who were rude to her face punishment, that would only earn her the ire of the townsfolk. Not to mention if the people in town acted as uniformly as the servants in the mansion, it wouldn't be feasible to punish them all.

Changing the mindset of a town that had been mired in its ways for hundreds of years wouldn't be simple either. Just what on earth could she do to change how they viewed her?

Bringing one or two people over to her side wouldn't be enough. She would have to do something much more loud and showy.

– Such a thing, I can absolutely do it!

"I shall definitely have them all bow down low and call me 'Lady Camilla' before the end...!"

"That's right!! We'll definitely show them good! Ahh...!"

The moment that Nicole clapped her hands together as she said that, the vase beside her blew into smithereens.

"Hey...!"

"Yes! I am deeply sorry!!"

Nicole's magical powers were more unstable than ever that day.

○

Nicole gloomily swept up the remains of the vase alone.

After all the excitement earlier, there was a sense of emptiness now.

"You don't hold back when you get angry, do you?"

Perhaps due to that sudden shock, Camilla managed to regain her composure as she looked at Nicole.

Not too long ago, Nicole was a person who kept her emotions welled up inside of her, even when she was being directly tormented. Keeping her feelings to herself, she would always meekly lower her head when she was being scolded and never made any excuses. Camilla initially thought she had been quite an introverted person.

So, Camilla was quite surprised by how quick she was to anger.

"...I showed you something shameful."

Nicole lowered her head in embarrassment. After releasing a burst of magical energy as a result of her magical power, it seemed like she had returned to the usual Nicole.

"I don't mean to scold you for it. After something like that, it's only natural to be angry."

That person almost seemed to be trying to make her angry, after all. It would have taken someone with the patience of a sage to not lose their cool in such a situation.

– Lord Alois is having to deal with all sorts of people just like this.

She had only gotten into an argument with a single advisor. Having to deal with multiple people like that, she felt exhausted just imagining it. If Camilla didn't have time to let her passions cool, she would probably pop a blood vessel in anger after the third person.

She could understand someone breaking under the strain of something like that. Camilla, of course, had no inclination of ever being broken down in such a way, if anything she was the one who wanted to break her opponents, but she knew that not everyone felt the same way.

Perhaps Alois' will wouldn't be as durable as Camilla's? Especially if he didn't have someone there he could rely on, as she did now.

As she sighed, cold air blew through the window. Frowning at the sudden stiff breeze thick with miasma, Nicole raised her head.

"Should I close the windows? The wind is getting stronger."

"Just this much should be fine."

"But, it feels like the miasma is getting stronger, so I'm worried about your skin, Mistress..."

Nicole's words trailed off into silence. Before Camilla could ask her what was wrong, an even stronger wind blew into the room.

Her skin felt like it was burning in that sudden gust of air.

"...Mistress, something's wrong. The miasma is..."

She didn't hear whatever it was Nicole was about to say.

The deafening sound of an explosion drowned out Nicole's words.

That deep and rumbling sound caused the buildings in the town to tremble with its power alone.

The ground shook. The mansion quaked.

Camilla felt the floor beneath her shift. Unable to keep her footing, Camilla fell down on her rear as she looked towards the window.

It was as if the miasma had taken form, a dark and dense haze like an overflowing river swallowed up the town.