Chương 316: An Anglerfish's Idea Of Hope

For the first few days of looking after the young lord, I acted like a normal maid. I didn't make waves, and I didn't show any signs that the drain ability had no effect on me whatsoever… My plan is most simple: Firstly, I start off normally like any other maid, I follow the guidelines given to me, only that I make sure that the young lord comes to greatly enjoy my presence. If there is one thing I am good at, it is being an excellent big sister or mother.

Both roles are basically one and the same from my perspective. Secondly, as he start to like me more, the effect of the drain should increase, but I will simply continue to follow the exact same guidelines as when I first started, which should eventually tip someone off that something is abnormal, and when asked, I'll simply act none the wiser and say that I continued to do spend the same amount of time with the young lord because I never felt the pull of the drain ability.

Thirdly, I'll make Conduit stop the draining entirely, making it seem like I somehow was the answer to the problem all along… Once this plan is completed, I'll have quite a good reputation with Devilblood, which should allow me to easily act against him, all the while being completely free of suspicion from anyone else–After all, why would this random maid who worked so hard to help the young lord suddenly turn on the lord himself? I would be at the bottom of the list of suspects.

Frankly, once I discovered the existence of the junior and Conduit, my mission immediately became way easier. Time passed swiftly as I bonded with the unfortunate little demon… Another problem he suffered from was that he had no friends whatsoever. All of the friends that he might have had once couldn't come to see him anymore. He simply liked them too much, and it meant that they couldn't even be inside the manor without having every single thing that could be drained from them siphoned rapidly.

It was a sad existence, for certain, but for my current mission, it was actually a great thing. This boy was starved for relationships. The only person he could safely meet was his father, but it naturally wasn't enough when he had formed more relations before. He had come to consider many maids like surrogate mothers or kind older sisters, and he knew well that the reason he couldn't see them anymore was because of what he believed was an innate ability.

With this heavy baggage, I was able to crash right into his life and quickly secure his affection. Not only was he quick to latch on, but he had many things that he needed to be soothed about. I talked to him about how the previous maids were doing just fine. Whilst I was doing all of this, I was also studying Conduit closely. He was definitely a powerful Living Curse. He had lived for an incredible amount of time and been responsible for countless deaths and catastrophes.

Some had been during his time with Volthaim, the Ailing, but most had been all on his own. I would be damned if I wasn't careful around this fucker. Even though he indeed seemed stuck inside the young lord's body and forced into a state of weakness and vulnerability, I still didn't let my guard down. Every day, I would let Nara and Anathema analyse this guy, pick apart every single aspect of his being…

His drain ability was purely a curse, so it wouldn't affect me whatsoever, but it wasn't the damage he could inflict upon me that I cared about. It was the idea that he might be able to run away without me being able to devour him that worried me. Before leaving this place upon the completion of my mission, I would tear him away from the prison he made for himself and eat him.

Not only would it be beneficial to me since I had a lot of space to fill with curses and spirits since my evolution, but I also wanted to get him inside my collection of souls and the like. I was wondering if it would be possible to give his innate curse ability to Anathema this way… It was definitely possible. I only needed to figure out how to do it. It took a while, but after a full month of taking care of Hyotrask Junior, the fact that I seemed unaffected was noticed.

The one to take notice was Velpa, as I had continued to speak with her on a regular basis. Her shock when she realised it was so great that the wave of emotion basically punched me in the face. Damn… Shock feels more solid than other negative emotions… Without waiting, the little demoness grabbed my hand and dragged me to the lord. It wasn't much of a problem since Velpa was perhaps Devilblood's most trusted maid. So he wasn't upset at being suddenly interrupted.

He seemed more worried about what could have happened for Velpa to rush to him like this. He didn't get to ask any questions, as the purple demoness squeezed my hand and waved up and down at me.

"My Lord, this is the maid looking after the Young Lord, and she has maintained the schedule meant only for the first two weeks at most… For an entire month!" The large red demon's small eyes went wide open.

"Tell me everything" The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He kept his cool, but his abnormally deep voice still made my steel bones vibrate… Yep, fighting this guy head-on would definitely be a mistake. He is at least as powerful as Rarelian, perhaps even stronger… I maintained my nice, somewhat clueless persona without fail all the way through as he asked a mountain of questions.

He seemed overjoyed to know that there could be someone who was immune to the effects of the so-called innate ability of his son, but I could feel doubts and conflict as well emanating from him. I think this guy is worrying about details…

"Leomi, might I have a sample of your blood?" Sure enough, he is worried that I am immune because I shared some ancestry with him, heh? I guess it isn't really a silly idea. So far, only he who was blood-related was immune, and Conduit confirmed that it was the familial tie that was the cause of this… Also, I am a red demoness right now, just as he is a red demon, so… …Yes, not really a stupid idea when you lack the intel that I have.

"Certainly, My Lord" Good thing I obsessed over the smallest of details concerning the 'Gynoid Form'.

"May I have a blade?"

"Oh, of course" Being that I was supposed to be a maid, a little bit airheaded at times, I could just cut my own skin with my nails without hesitation. I needed to put on a little show, all the while showing my devotion to him. Melding all of this together was actually quite easy for me. My acting skills were truly out of this world! Why did I never consider an acting career when I was a human? Such a missed opportunity!

This also allowed me to display the many minuscule but–In my opinion–Essential additions I made to the 'Gynoid Form'. The subtle throat movement of swallowing saliva right as I neared the blade to my finger. The artificial lungs that allowed me to perfectly mimic a slightly stressed breathing, and of course, the artificial heart that pounded in my chest on my command.

It might not seem important outside of niche situations, but with how strong Hyotrask Devilblood seemed to be, I didn't doubt that such small sounds were things that he could hear clearly… Following my evolution, I noticed that the already sharp senses of my knightly form had improved, and focusing on them could allow me to detect quite a lot of subtle things. As such, it seemed obvious to me that this man could do the same…

These seemingly small additions, coupled with 'Thousand-Times Fool' and 'Charm', could fool even the most sensitive of people. Of course, my sublime acting did its part. As I showed much hesitation before finally managing to make a small cut into my false skin–Then came something else I had thought to add… Blood. Although the 'Gynoid Form' had clear combat capabilities, I primarily viewed it as a form meant for infiltration and deception, and as such, I wanted the illusion to stay in place even if I were attacked…

Which was why my steel bones were covered with a layer of white paint, why I could bleed real blood, or why I had all of these organs that were useless to me. It was all part of the disguise–All part of the act! The blood itself wasn't an ingenious invention of mine or Mari's. I had it thanks to Leou, who had convinced a demoness to donate rather absurd quantities of blood in exchange for an amount of coins the demoness couldn't refuse.

As such, I had barrels worth of this random demoness's blood stored inside of the Gravescape. The only innovation that had been needed was to conserve it, but Mari and I found a solution quite easily. When I could craft material and items with special effects in the Mindscape, solving such issues wasn't too difficult. In any case, the few drops of blood I gave to the Baron weren't even related to me in any way.

So when he put them in whatever little magic item he was using, the results showed that I was in no way related to his bloodline. He rubbed his chin in thought. He wasn't saying anything, but he was most definitely wondering how this could be possible. He had most definitely seen countless experts in all domains to try and find a way to allow his son to live normally instead of having to avoid other people, but of course, none had ever found a real solution to the problem. Conduit was too well hidden.

He had concealed himself as an innate ability excellently, but in the end, he wasn't one, so even the experts dealing with innate abilities would have been powerless. Only a curse slinger could potentially do something, but said curse slinger would need to actually realise he was faced with a Living Curse. It was quite unfortunate, really. Conduit didn't even mean to do any of this. He had just rushed to hide inside the first living being available to free himself from confinement inside a lifeless item.

All of this was caused by a series of coincidences. Even the 'evil' of the situation, Conduit, couldn't reasonably be blamed. With all the information I have, this all looks like a tragic theatre piece… The Baron was deep in thought, but in the end, he decided to call upon as many experts as possible so that he could get their opinion on the subject. He didn't know why I was immune, nor did he know if it actually meant anything.

For all he knew, I might be immune because I had an innate ability myself, or just because the world had decided that I would be unaffected for unknown reasons. The problem with this world is that everything is possible. Velpa and I gracefully bowed before leaving the room. The baron didn't want any help in contacting all of these people. He certainly wanted to be left alone so that he could think more clearly about all of this.

I didn't show it, but this man felt such a strong surge of positive emotion–Probably hope–That I almost recoiled as if I were a vampire exposed to sunlight… I suppose the positive emotions of strong people are simply more powerful as well. It genuinely felt like I got hurt there… Nara, make sure to remind me to make sure my future enemies are as miserable as possible before I fight them… Raw positive emotions are far too effective against me.