I had seen it somewhere. Ignoring the tacky back engravings, I opened the note. The paper had dots in an odd pattern I couldn't read. What was this?
"It's a cryptogram. He left a message here saying it'd be better if you learned how to interpret them in advance." I opened the small notebook the waiter handed me.
There were several patterns that made me dizzy just looking at them, but they seemed to consist mainly of phonetic characters. It was very hard and there were many of them. Was this how all assassins learned ciphers? I understood the intention behind this, but it was cumbersome. I'd have to return to the mansion and apply the patterns one by one to interpret this.
"There we go, then." The executives who had been cleaning and washing dishes stopped and began to bow together at the same time. "Have a good day, brother!" "Have a good day, sir!" Was this how a secret drug dealing guild should act? I was only supposed to be here to pick up lost and found objects, these idiots.
"Hey." Just as they opened the door for me to leave, I informed them of something important. "I am a woman." But before the executives could hear it, the door slammed shut. "Well, we could talk about this later."
After returning to the mansion. I deciphered the note with the help of the notebook during the intervals of my evening routine (which, today, was washing curtains). From what I interpreted, the contents of the note were as follows: [I obtained information about the client from the new servants. It is said the client changed the target mission due to repeated failures. The new mission is to eliminate all Weatherwoods mansion employees and investigate the interior of the mansion and steal all items and information about Dian Cecht. Beware of future assassins.]
He must be referring to the two assassins who crawled after him as servants. I guess those two guys had really decided to host at the Eachus mansion. The client's goal is also Dian Cecht's relics. As expected, there is a clear connection between the Weatherwoods and Dian Cecht. Rue, I and the client. I knew a total of three people aspiring to the legacy of Dian Cecht. I was almost certain about Rue, and the butler-assassin's testimony added to that. Dian Cecht's legacy is the only reason such a person would take a job at the Weatherwoods mansion.
"I need to enter the Weatherwoods room." The problem was that I didn't know where the key was. I searched her room while the head maid was out, but I couldn't find anything remotely like a key. She must be carrying it with her. Should I give her some sleeping pills? Life was never easy.
Two days later, a cloudy morning with gray clouds. The cotyledon called Rue grew a bit more today. The leaves that were moved to the garden became stronger than before, but considering they were not lined up in a row but gathered in a circle, Rue seemed to have redone the planting. "Good thing they're not buried underground."
But today there was a small problem. The chimney? Perfectly cleaned. Shopping? These days, simple cooking ingredients were brought by Rue himself from the farm, so he didn't have to go out most of the time. Wouldn't I lose my bet with Rue? Actually, I'd already given up halfway. The problem today was with the maid.
It was hard to state if you asked me if it was a big problem. But the maid of honor, from first thing in the morning until now, when Rue prepared dinner and left the office, examined me. I couldn't help but feel annoyed. Did she realize the existence of the "superpowered sleeping pills" I ordered at the pub?
The maid's eyes, searching secretly, didn't feel uncomfortable, but in the end I decided to open my mouth first. "Your business." The maid's expression hardened. She had been staring at me in the kitchen for ten minutes, resting while I hung curtains in the backyard.
"Miss Daisy."
"Yes."
"Do you have any thoughts about disguising yourself as a man?"
A short word made me break into a cold sweat behind my back. At the same time, numerous questions and assumptions flashed through my head like the wind. Suddenly you want me to disguise myself as a man? Do you know my past? Do you know I'm Andert? How... who the hell told you? Or did you find out on your own...?
"Ah, did you get surprised? I apologize, let that go out through the other ear." Did she... not? But she's definitely acting different from usual. Especially since that letter that arrived two days ago. The maid had been sighing while holding that letter ever since. What was going on? Judging by the luxurious quality of the paper used in the letter, it didn't look like a letter to a maid; instead, it seemed to have been addressed to the Weatherwood family.
"The reason."
"It's okay, you don't need to worry."
"I swore it (the oath)."
When I pulled up my arm sleeve and revealed the trace of the oath, the maid's expression became slightly serious. "Yes, now you are a member of the Weatherwoods mansion; it would be unfair to simply hide it. Two days ago I received a notification from the Noble Council."
"Noble?"
"Yes. The Noble Council refers to the seventeen most iconic aristocratic families of the Penrotta Empire. It's like a top-level social gathering for friendship and cooperation. There's too much politics behind it to simply dismiss it as a meeting." I think I roughly understood what that meant.
"The historically wealthy and prestigious Weatherwoods family has long belonged to the nobility. We used to participate in meetings once a year and share practical solutions to the problems that arose. But as you know, Mrs. Daisy, these last four years, the Weatherwoods family has..."
The boss in charge was an egg, not a human. Aha. Because unlike humans, an egg couldn't move on its own.
"Long absence."
"That's right."
"We were expelled."
"No, not yet. Although it is possible that will be the case soon." The maid leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh.
"By rule, noble houses must not miss meetings for three consecutive years. Until last year an exception was made due to the special Magic War situation, but not this year. If the head does not attend, he will be expelled from the nobility."
"That's a rather nice thing."
The maid opened her eyes and stared at me. "What do you mean nice? If we are expelled from the nobility, we will face greater problems than simple dishonor. There are many people who haven't touched us yet only because we're members of the noble council."
"And then," I asked as I hung the last curtain on the clothesline, "would you like me to attend instead of the master?"
"No. I just babbled it like an old woman. As I said, let this fade from your mind."
"I agree."
"What?"
I hit the curtain several times with a club and stepped to the window. Attending a meeting of the noble council disguised as Viscount Weatherwoods. If I could disguise myself properly, there was more to gain than to lose. In particular, I could identify or know a bit about the client who had been monitoring me. Given his access to intelligence, military influence and monetary power, the client sending assassins to the Weatherwoods mansion is likely a member of the noble council. If Viscount Weatherwoods himself makes a move, it will surely pique his interest. The client, if he takes the bait, along with the other aristocrats can be used to find Dian Cecht's relics. This was a very generous opportunity for me, who couldn't easily leave Midwinterre due to the nature of my work as a maid.
I appealed to my confidence by pointing my thumb at my chest. "I am more manly than anyone." The maid's eyes trembled slightly.
"Of course, you're tall and your gait is strangely dynamic for a woman, but..."
"If you send the master as he is to the noble council, the Weatherwoods family will be destroyed."
"Don't say those things. He's soft and handsome."
"He's still an egg."
"Who?"
At that moment, I was interrupted by a voice poking in from the side. I heard the sound of someone swallowing, and the maid and I turned our heads at the same time. "The anonymous master of Weatherwoods?"
A man with a smile close to arsenic was looking at us leaning against the wall. "This is quite interesting." No one but Rue.
It was a slip. I only said it because I knew there was no one else around us! However, Rue's level of power and skill was equal to or higher than mine. Could he not easily hide his presence at any time? I had been inadvertently ignoring something so important.
"What nonsense, Mr. Rue. How does an egg become a master? You read too many novels. Be careful not to confuse them with reality." Promises like "don't reveal secrets recklessly" were powerless in contingencies like now.
The maid made an excuse with a brazen face, but Rue didn't listen. Instead he poked one of my arms and shrugged. "I was wondering where you had engraved that mark. Hmm, were you both talking about secrets without me?"
"When did you get a look at my arm?"
"When you wash the dishes."
I didn't roll up my sleeves enough to show the oath when I washed the dishes. Ah. "It's reflected in the water." What a perceptive man. I couldn't believe he had figured it out with the little information called "egg." This made it difficult to lie to him and cheat him.
Don't look at me like that, boss. It's not my fault. Didn't you also relax and spit it out? Rue tilted his head while keeping his hands in his pants pockets as he looked at the maid.
"Got something to tell me?"
"What... do you wish?"
Looking into the chief's hostile green eyes, Rue replied calmly. "Please, engrave it for me too: the oath. The mansion only has three employees, so whether we live or die, shouldn't we do it together?"