Master and Maid

The corner of Yaxiu's mouth curled slightly, and he glanced at her. "Have you noticed your skirt is a bit too short?" Vichy instinctively pressed down her hem and took a step back, only to hear Yaxiu's chuckle. "What are you laughing at?" "Nothing. I just noticed you became very... well-behaved after coming down," Yaxiu smiled. "Very good. Keep it up." After arriving in the basement, Yaxiu had keenly noticed that Vichy was no longer teasing him. She had diligently carried out her tasks without crossing any lines, so his praise was entirely sincere— This was the extent of his expectations for Vichy, after all. Yet Vichy lowered her head, biting her lower lip in frustration, her face burning as though scorched by fire. *Even if you called me cute, I could accept it, but calling me well-behaved? Isn't that an insult to the Spectre Prophet?!* *I just thought there were no other spectators here, so I couldn't be bothered to put on a show! It's not like I'm afraid you'd actually do anything to me in the basement! Damn it, the Spectre Prophet cannot admit defeat, and certainly cannot let him see through her bluff. She could never let him gain the psychological upper hand, or it would be far too hard to deceive him in the future!* Vichy decisively sat down before Yaxiu, kneeling properly with her legs together, and gently placed his head onto her supple, springy thighs. "Harvey was lying in a coffin, not on the floor," Vichy remarked nonchalantly. "You should recreate the actual scene as closely as possible to better immerse yourself in his state of mind." Yaxiu gave her a helpless look, though his line of sight was blocked entirely by the taut maid bodice. He retorted irritably, "Couldn't you have kept it up a bit longer?" "I have no idea what Master is talking about~" Vichy's voice was breezy. "This is how a maid has always been." Yaxiu somewhat regretted his loose tongue just now. He stopped talking and quietly contemplated Harvey's mindset at the time. The basement fell silent, so quiet that only the sounds of their breathing and heartbeats remained. The master lay on the maid's lap pillow, tracing the necromancer's final words. After a while, Vichy began to feel bored, regretting wasting time with Yaxiu. God only knew how much time Yaxiu would need to find the message Harvey left before falling asleep. If it turned out to be quotes praising Häagen-Dazs, he might not guess it in a lifetime. Vichy thought for a moment, then gently massaged Yaxiu's temples with her fingers. Yaxiu paused. Because Vichy had her head lowered, he was finally able to meet her gaze this time, silently asking with his eyes: *What are you doing?* "Well, I have nothing better to do anyway," Vichy said casually. "You do your guessing, I'll do my massaging. Who knows, maybe your affection for me will skyrocket because of this?" Yaxiu: "Do you think saying that out loud still works?" Vichy found it amusing too. "I've never seen a sorcerer like you. Anyone else wouldn't even dream of looking for 'vanished friends.' I can't speak for others, but you're pining after two whole men." "Because I know that if I vanished, they would definitely storm into Hell to find me," Yaxiu smiled faintly. "It would certainly be amusing if our roles were reversed. Imagine them realizing only I was gone, spending every day regretting for the rest of their lives why they weren't nicer to me back then..." "You really have bizarre tastes," Vichy said. "Though to think you actually believe people would spare no expense to save you..." "Is it childish?" "No," Vichy said quietly. "I think it's quite nice... but I would never harbor such extravagant hopes." Yaxiu looked at her and thought for a moment. "If one day you vanish..." "Hmm?" "...If saving you wouldn't take much effort, and I still had the ability to restrain your actions, then I might just save you." "Do you want to be my master that badly?" Vichy chuckled softly. "Has anyone ever told you that you're terrible at comforting people?" "...Yes." Yaxiu felt a little exasperated. "And it's not like I was trying to comfort you. Your tempered heart is far tougher than mine. The one who needs counseling is me, who can't guess the clue... What on earth did Harvey write?!" "People who aren't afraid of pain can leave their wounds alone to heal on their own, but if treatment is available, would anyone really turn it down?" Vichy smiled. "At least, I wouldn't. So... Yaxiu, your affection points with me went up just a tiny bit! In the future, once I become the Supreme of Sorcery, I'll treat you a tiny bit better." "Gee, thanks." "Don't get anxious if you can't guess it. The clue is right here. The more impatient you are, the harder it is to focus." Vichy gently pressed on Yaxiu's head. "Don't rush. I'll stay with you." Yaxiu froze, staring blankly at Vichy. The corners of Vichy's mouth curled up, her eyes dancing with amusement, wearing a mischievous grin. "Told you your affection for me would skyrocket, didn't I?" "Tch." Yaxiu clicked his tongue, turning back to write in the empty air. "However, I now believe the Sixfold Hell truly exists," Vichy said. "Looking back over my past experiences, I discovered an enormous loophole." "What loophole?" "Before I advanced to demigod, no demigod ever descended to the mortal realm to capture me; and after I advanced to demigod, I never once returned to the mortal realm," Vichy explained. "That doesn't make sense." Yaxiu blinked, realization dawning on him. "Right! Without the Sixfold Hell, demigods could remain in the mortal world. A little troublemaker like you would have been an absolute eyesore to the other demigods—they never would have let you grow up. And once you became a demigod yourself, there's no way you would have passed up such a juicy prize as the mortal realm; you would have exploited it ruthlessly." "The premise for demigods not interfering with the mortal realm is that the Sixfold Hell serves as their cage! If that cage didn't exist, demigods would inevitably become natural disasters upon the land!" "Though you're probably the only one who would notice a loophole like that," Yaxiu couldn't help laughing. "Ordinary people would hardly suspect something is wrong with the world just because 'their past selves unexpectedly didn't seize the chance to commit evil.'" "I didn't say any of that," Vichy huffed, tilting her head. "You just slander me every chance you get." "Bear with it, and you'll get used to my slander in the future," Yaxiu said. "I have to constantly remind myself what kind of person you really are, lest I fall under your spell." Vichy raised her eyebrows. Suddenly, she leaned forward, reaching out with both hands to press against Yaxiu's abdomen. Pressing his abdomen wouldn't have been an issue on its own, but as she bent over like this, her maid bodice—stretched to the limit of its elastic potential energy—pressed right against the ghostly traces. "...You're blocking me." "Am I?" Vichy inspected the area with feigned innocence. "Not at all. Can't you still see the ghostly blue traces?" "Do you have to massage like this?" "I have to give you a lap pillow and help you relax at the same time, so this is the only way," Vichy's voice was breezy. "Bear with it, and you'll soon get used to it." She paused, feeling as though she had vented a bit of her irritation, and raised her chin. "If you can't bear it... Eek?!" The maid's body froze, her back reflexively straightening as she distinctly felt Yaxiu's finger tracing beneath her bodice. She bit her lower lip, pressing into Yaxiu's abdomen with all her might, stopping just short of digging her nails into his flesh. Yaxiu couldn't be bothered to trade barbs with Vichy. He had just made some progress, accidentally sketching part of the outline of the first character. Now that Vichy had volunteered herself as a writing board, it was exceptionally convenient for him—writing in empty air was quite troublesome, and he needed to seize this spark of inspiration to decipher Harvey's clue right away. Vichy pursed her lower lip, her eyes glaring at Yaxiu's exposed waistline. At times Yaxiu wrote with too much force, causing Vichy to feel her soft curves sway, filling her with a humiliating sense of being trifled with. It wasn't that she hadn't prepared herself to be toyed with by Yaxiu—she had prepared for that since day one of becoming a maid. But that was supposed to be the Spectre Prophet using her charms as a trap, plunging Yaxiu into boundless lust and eternal damnation until even his soul became her trophy... not acting as Yaxiu's makeshift writing tablet like this! A mere Yaxiu, daring to be so arrogant... "With your capabilities," Yaxiu said suddenly, "you should be able to get the Sword Princess and the Witch to change their opinions of you a little." Vichy paused, her emotions quickly settling. "Aren't you afraid I'll bewitch them?" "The Silver Lantern will keep an eye on you." "And why should I do that?" "Because we're going to be spending a long time together," Yaxiu said. "From what I know of you, whether you like them or not, you would usually make them like you so everything you do later becomes much more convenient." "Do you want a harmonious harem that badly?" Vichy chuckled. "I can help you, you know." Yaxiu sighed. "You know that's not what I mean. At dinner, they... You wouldn't want to always be targeted either, right?" Vichy shook her head, the curly twintails on either side swaying gently. "The Witch's proposal was quite good. I don't feel like I was being targeted." "You know full well that with the Witch's personality, she would never suggest such a plan," Yaxiu exhaled. "The Silver Lantern used an open scheme. Pillaging the national treasury provides us with resources while also making me dislike you... Given the Silver Lantern's old and new grudges against you, she's destined never to treat you well, but you can still try to win over the Sword Princess and the Witch." "Why do you care about me?" Vichy smiled. "And don't make it sound like it's purely the Silver Lantern's unilateral decision. She has been trying to deduce your thoughts all along. She just wants to do what's improper for you to do. "'Using me like a rag and then discarding me with disgust'—that isn't just what she wants, it's what she believes you want." After a moment of silence, Yaxiu said slowly, "That's why I talked with the Silver Lantern just now, hoping she wouldn't focus her attention on second-guessing my thoughts. "And the ones I care about aren't you, but the Sword Princess and the others," he said calmly. "I don't want you to bring out the darkness in their hearts... Once someone appears in a team whom everyone looks down on and can bully at will, to say nothing of the victim, even those doing the bullying will have their nature warped. "What I fear even more is that in the future, they might frame you—first luring you into an environment where a massacre is necessary, and since you've never been constrained by moral rules, you'll end up standing before me covered in blood, accusing them of framing you..." Yaxiu paused, his voice turning somewhat weary. "Having two villains like you and Daedalarose in the team is more than enough. "So I hope you can build a good relationship with them, or at least not become an outlet for their dark impulses." *Though, if such a thing really happened and I used the Ruby Chains to guarantee I wasn't lying... would you be willing to shield me then?* Vichy sneered inwardly. Yaxiu's grasp of the Silver Lantern's scheming was still too shallow. The first layer of the Silver Lantern's plan was to make Yaxiu dislike Vichy; but if Yaxiu didn't, it would proceed to the second layer—when everyone despised Vichy and the only person who believed in her was Yaxiu, then Yaxiu would naturally become her emotional pillar, the light she could rely on... Although she looked down on the Silver Lantern for wasting effort on such trivialities, she had to admit that the Silver Lantern genuinely cared for Yaxiu. Yaxiu might know, or he might not. But he surely wanted to win her over with this kind of promise, using so-called trust to make a thousand-year-old demigod devoted to him. In that case... Vichy's body grew even softer, her voice turning all the more pitiable: "Since everyone hates me, it seems the only one I can rely on is you, Master." "No, you can't rely on me either," Yaxiu said. "When it comes to your explanations, I wouldn't believe a single punctuation mark." Vichy froze. Yaxiu: "If you slaughter the innocent, then you're slaughtering the innocent. If you report that the Sword Princess and the others framed you, that will only add to your guilt." Because she was so shocked, Vichy's tone turned agitated. "But if I use the Ruby Chains to guarantee I'm not lying—" "I don't trust the Ruby Chains. What if you could corrode the chains and influence my judgment?" Yaxiu said decisively. "Your credibility wouldn't match the Sword Princess and the others even after ten thousand years. Even if you produced evidence, I would firmly stand on their side." Vichy's lips moved slightly, but she offered no further defense, her voice subdued. "Speaking so harshly... really does make me a little sad." Yaxiu reached out, pushed her back slightly, stood up, dusted off his hands, and glanced back at her. Vichy remained seated on the floor, seemingly reluctant to get up. "If you commit a crime, whether framed or not," Yaxiu said, "I will accompany you in making atonement." "Atonement?" Vichy seemed to hear a completely foreign word. "You are my prisoner, and I have absolute custody over you. If you commit a wrong, it's equivalent to me committing a wrong," Yaxiu said. "If you break free of the chains and go on a killing spree, that is my dereliction of duty; if you are framed, that is my failure as a guardian. Either way, I cannot shirk responsibility. "If you insist on making enemies of the entire world, there's nothing I can do," Yaxiu squatted before her. "But you keep saying you're my maid, so I should fulfill a master's duty at least a little." With a gentle tug of his right hand, a collar materialized around Vichy's neck, and Yaxiu pulled her up by the chain. "I am not only your shackles, but also your guardian," Yaxiu said earnestly. "From now on, our fortunes are shared, our lives bound together. I cannot evade the sins you commit, and you have no choice but to face the perils I encounter alongside me. If you are in danger, I will not stand idly by; if I face death, I will surely drag you down into the grave with me. And if the chains shatter, only one of us will walk away alive. "In short," Yaxiu looked at her, "I won't let you face fate alone." He patted the maid on the shoulder. "Go on back. I want to look for more clues." Vichy stood in a daze for a while before suddenly snapping her head around to ask, "You're not guessing the clue anymore?" "I already figured it out while talking to you." Yaxiu examined the gym equipment. Vichy looked down and found that the ghostly blue traces had already been arranged into a line of text: "Yaxiu and Annan are lovers; Annan and Qinna are mother and daughter; Qinna and Yaxiu are lovers; Qinna and Nona are sisters." Vichy gave Yaxiu an odd, knowing look. "Then what's your relationship with Nona?" "No relationship whatsoever!" Yaxiu said through gritted teeth. "This is all Harvey's goddamn nonsense... If you dare spread word of this, I'll... I'll..." "If you don't want the Sword Princess to see this line, remove my Ruby Chains right now!" "Huh?!" Vichy snickered and strode briskly out of the basement. "I'll go call the Sword Princess and the others down to have a look—" "Hey!!!" Yaxiu held his forehead. Vichy had caught him by the handle again, and his head began to throb. Just then, footsteps sounded behind him. Yaxiu turned to see Vichy rushing back, her black-and-white skirt fluttering. "What is it?" The maid rushed up, threw her arms around him, planted a kiss on his cheek, and then sped out of the basement as if fleeing for her life. Yaxiu stared after her retreating figure in bewilderment. *What was that supposed to be?* *A routine formality?* *A daily quest?*