Chương 269: Priceless Knowledge

The royal palace had not been renovated, so it still looked exactly like the House of Freedom with only minor changes, just as banners representative of the crown hung all over the place–There once was a statue of the first Leader of the Republic near the entrance to this architecture, but it had been removed and stored away to instead be exposed in what many believed would be a museum detailing the crimes and evil committed by the republic over its disgraceful history.

None of the guests brought anything up concerning the past as they walked through the gates and into the great white building. Immediately, they were stricken by the odd ambience inside. Guards stood and walked around like normal, but something simply did not feel right. The air felt a little too cold… A little too stale, even. It was only a feeling, however.

Not reality, but except for Jupo, everyone present had a fair amount of lived experience and had encountered their fair share of odd events and strange creatures. Hilene leaned closer to the group and whispered to them…

"This place feels haunted""That's what I was going to say…" Hortus agreed verbally, whilst the others nodded their heads, except for Binibelle, whose attention was pulled away from the words being spoken as she looked over at her disciple's face–Jupo seemed to be caught in a cold sweat.

"Is something the matter?"

"I don't know… I feel… It feels like I am in danger… My arm is tingling, like a thousand ants are crawling on and in it" As he spoke, he grasped the arm he had once lost. It had been a while now, and it had been a long time since he had found himself struggling with nightmares. He was a bit of an odd case. He had never known if his nightmares truly had to do with the Nightmare Plague.

He had never experienced the other effects of the dire plague, but the nightmares he had gone through were oddly similar to what the victims of the plague would describe. Nonetheless, both the bad dreams and phantom pain were things he had not experienced at all in a long time. Even when met with the black and white clown–Who should be closely linked to the monster that had once torn his arm off–He had not felt anything, but here? Merely walking into this building was enough.

"Act casual, folks. She's definitely here. She might already be aware of our presence" They didn't show any clear reactions and waited where they were as they had been instructed, and eventually, a pretty maid wearing the traditional black and white maid attire approached them with a warm smile. She gave a refined curtsy and proceeded to ask them the purpose of their visit.

They had seen a few other maids and butlers walking around in the distance, so it seemed like they had been quick in reintroducing true servants. The 'workers' had served the exact same purposes, but had been given another name because having servants was apparently considered a bad thing under the dead republic. … And they had definitely picked professionals. A single look and smile was enough to get all the males of the group to feel warm despite the ghostly cold in the air.

It definitely was very effective, as Gontra silently pulled Yeldt back as though trying to mark her territory. Binibelle found this quite cute. The trollish shieldbearer wasn't one to actually show any amount of affection–Though the halfling was more interested in Hilene's reaction, she had been hitting off quite well with Jupo, and as his master, Binibelle felt compelled to make sure he wouldn't end up a lonely old man. She didn't show any reaction, unfortunately.

"Aherm, we would like to speak with Miss Maya, would it be possible?" The maid brought her index finger up to her lips and swayed her body slightly back and forth in a display of cute behaviour that was so nicely crafted that Binibelle felt like applauding it. Whoever had decided to send this woman to take care of them had definitely picked the best of the best. Hortus looked like he would believe anything she said, even if it was the most nonsensical madness possible.

"Miss Maya just finished training the Unwanted Presences for today and returned to her private quarters. She does not like being disturbed…" The maid looked around as a mischievous smile spread across her face.

"... Don't repeat it, but there is definitely something between her and her carrier""Ah… Well, could we perhaps speak to the Unwanted Presences in the meantime? I am working on a case and really need to know something, perhaps she mentioned it to her three students?" The maid thought for a few moments and smiled.

"Sure, but for security purposes, I can only allow a single person to meet with the Unwanted Presences. As you know, they cost quite a lot to summon, and the price has been going up with each day of training they go through""I understand, I'll be speaking with them by myself" The maid smiled once more and waved to the right with her arm.

"Come with me" She led the way, told everyone beside Binibelle to wait inside a room, and then led the halfling further away. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Wait here, please. I will go fetch them" She disappeared for a few minutes, her steps growing distant.

"Good thing I am not a man, those three looked mesmerised…" Binibelle muttered to herself, but it wasn't like she wasn't familiar with this effect. She was a halfling woman of average height for her species, but of greatly unusual proportions. She, too, had a certain effect on men, though it was largely involuntary. The maid came back.

"They are each in one of these rooms. They are very talkative. You can speak with them all you want""Thank you, Miss… But I must ask, where are the guards? There were so many earlier, but I have barely seen any here""Oh, you must be unaware of Miss Maya's personal guards. She has been working on a combat art that summons warriors to fight alongside her. This wing of the royal palace is unused and left to her to instruct the Unwanted Presences…

And since it is closed off and inaccessible without going through other highly guarded areas, this wing is left to her""... Were the few guards around hers…?"

"Indeed, they look quite convincing, do they not? If you try speaking with them, though, they won't be able to respond""I see, thank you""I am only performing my duty. I will be waiting right around here if you need anything" The maid gave another curtsy before pushing open the door and ushering Binibelle in. Inside, sitting at a table was a young man whose features were definitely human, but slightly off–This was indeed an Unwanted Presence.

"Hello, my name is Binibelle, and I am an investigative mage. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

"Not at all, I am Kevin Baker, by the way" Kevin Baker was not so subtly forcing himself to look to the side, as his gaze would otherwise end up focusing on the chest area of his interlocutor, and his mind would race with questions, such as:'How does she not tip over?'

"Splendid. I wanted to speak with your instructor, Miss Maya, but she is apparently unavailable right now""Ah, yes, once she is done with lectures, you have to be very brave to bother her by knocking on her door. When we have questions outside of the designated hours, we wait until she is walking around to ask her. Otherwise, it is like playing Russian Roulette""Russian Roulette?"

"Oh, just a thing from my old world… I mean that disturbing her is like gambling, you might get punished, or everything could be fine…"

"I see. Tell me, I heard that Miss Maya was not alone. Who are the people accompanying her?"

"Her swordbearer and carrier. We pretty much never see her carrier, and her swordbearer often speaks on her behalf. I… I don't actually know their names, now that I think about it""Mmh… Is Miss Maya or any of her two assistants associated with the colour purple?"

"Purple? Huh… I guess the swordbearer has purple eyes""Is there something you find odd about this purple?" Kevin Baker scratched the side of his head.

"No, it's just a light shade of purple. An abnormal eye colour from my perspective, but nothing weird with the colour itself" Binibelle crossed her arms.

"Is that so? Would you say that she also has an unusual pale complexion?"

"I guess she is quite pale""I see… Anything odd with the carrier?"

"Nothing odd per se, but everyone thinks that she and Miss Maya are like… Something, you know?" Kevin Baker did not have much to say. He didn't find anything odd about the Silent Knightess, and did not seem to be the kind to take a deeper look into people. He had just accepted that Maya and her troop were as they made themselves look, and that was it. Next, Binibelle went into the next room and spoke with Rose Miller. A countryside girl who only had praises for Miss Maya, but she did reveal something new.

Namely, she described the way her instructor had beaten a bunch of people sent by the now destroyed assembly. It might not seem like much, but when it came to fighting, one's personality often shone through in the way they engaged in combat, and Binibelle couldn't help but notice that what Rose Miller described was eerily similar to how Mara Nebulo was described back when she used to be a knight trainee. It wasn't enough evidence by the halfling's standards, but coupled with the shared name…

It certainly was grounds for digging deeper. Last, she spoke with Daniel Williams. He was definitely the most sporadic of the bunch and used a bunch of words that Binibelle had no idea the meanings of.

"Hold on, what do you mean by:"'Miss Maya is definitely a dommy yuri mommy?'

"... I mean, I can guess what 'dommy' and 'mommy' imply in context, but what in damnation is that third word?"

"Huh… It means that she likes girls""Oh… So everyone is convinced that this woman likes women… I… No one has actually shown any proof of that. Where does everyone get this idea from?"

"Miss Binibelle, I assure you, it is quite obvious after a while of seeing her every day. Though I would say that she's definitely the kind to step on men, too""Alright, alright… Do you have anything to say besides this?"

"Not really, no. Miss Maya doesn't speak much about herself. The most personal stuff she speaks about is the importance of family, and how a carefully nurtured blood relation has practically supernatural powers" Binibelle stayed silent for a moment.

"The importance of family, huh? Did she ever mention any of her own family?" Daniel Williams pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought deeply.

"Well… One time, I ran into her late at night. I sort of wanted to sneak something from a pantry, and… And there was this weird moment where she grabbed me out of nowhere, squished up my face, and then proceeded to apologise because she thought I looked a lot like her brother in the dark for a moment""So I was like… Do I not look like him normally?"

"And she just responded that it was because of my stance""Your stance?"

"Weird, right? I guess my stance was weird because I had hurt my ankle during training that day, and I was sort of limping" Binibelle slammed her hand against the table.

"This is absolutely priceless information! Thank you!"

"I mean… It's no problem" The mage stormed out of the room. It made no doubt in her mind now. The Silent Knightess was Mara Nebulo. She needed to tell the others. She needed to tell them right now.

"... Where did that maid go?"