MPBAGS Chapter 29

I went to find the butler after a long while. The servants who'd been reporting something to him ducked their heads so low you'd think they were trying not to even step on my shadow, then disappeared holding their breath. The fact that this counted as an improvement in their reaction was depressing as hell.

"My lady? What brings you here...?"

"I need something."

"What might that be?"

"There was a maid named Daisy who worked here, right?"

The butler said nothing.

"Daisy. The one who entered the convent."

Oh, come on. Why's he playing dumb when he obviously knows? I came here fully aware of the situation too. This is ridiculous. The way I'm phrasing this makes me feel like a detective interrogating a criminal.

"I want to know where Daisy lives. Don't tell me you don't have that information?"

Like they immediately disposed of the records the moment someone quit. Though now that I think about it, keeping personal information on a former servant is pretty questionable too. Plus, upper management secretly investigating and tracking down a home address—not exactly ethical.

"I heard she sold her house when she said she was entering the convent. Her residence now would be the convent itself."

No, the problem is that Daisy isn't at the convent. That convent director committed so many atrocities that Daisy escaped and righteously reported it all to the convent authorities. And mentioned my misdeeds while she was at it.

Put like that, doesn't it make me sound like I'm on the same level as that vile convent director? Daisy comes off looking way more righteous in comparison.

"Isn't there anywhere else Daisy might stay?"

The butler looked like he knew more. Maybe it's the monocle giving him that vibe—like he's secretly the head of an information guild or moonlights as an assassin.

When I kept pestering him relentlessly, another piece of information finally came out. I knew it. He'd been hiding what he knew.

"Ainoa Orphanage?"

"She said she was from an orphanage. If she left the convent and needed a place to stay temporarily, that would be it."

An orphanage? So Daisy grew up in an orphanage, became a maid for a villainess of all people and got tormented, escaped to a convent where a deranged director traumatized her even further. I don't know the exact timeline, but she was also captured by slave traders, then managed to escape safely with Jelly who'd been caught alongside her.

Somehow... doesn't Daisy have a deeper backstory than Kanna? What if the real protagonist wasn't Kanna but Daisy all along? I'd thought she was a character the original story's corrective force planted to stop the villainess's rampage, but maybe I was wrong?

Whatever. I'll find out when I get there. Before coming to see the butler, I'd already changed into modest outdoor clothes and packed plenty of gold coins.

A carriage was already waiting outside. It didn't look like a Rohanson County carriage—must be one that was called separately. When did they even summon it?

"Mr. Jelly called it for you."

I feel bad for cursing him out in my head just now. Right. Jelly might be a bit of a punk, but he listens well and he's considerate.

"Did good, didn't I?"

Jelly grinned triumphantly. While sporting claw marks across his face. Real proud of himself.

"Where's Pudding?"

"Here."

Jelly handed Pudding over. Wait, why'd you bring him? We're taking a carriage, and you know how much those things jostle around.

"Pudding, want to come with?"

Pudding nodded. Too late to take him back now. Pudding seemed to want to go anyway, so I had no choice but to bring him along.

"Where shall I take you?"

Maybe because Jelly hired this carriage, the coachman was excessively polite. Though he did seem to have one bad habit. The coachman apparently had a habit of scratching his neck—the visible part was all red.

"To Ainoa Orphanage."

Well. That had nothing to do with his driving skills.

Today, Daisy had decided to visit the orphanage where she'd been cared for years ago. After fleeing the temple as if escaping, she'd rented a room at a cheap inn. With nothing to do but eat and sleep, her money vanished at an alarming rate.

While calculating her remaining funds, she noticed more money left than usual and realized she hadn't stopped by the orphanage recently.

'It's time for a visit.'

To repay the director's kindness, Daisy always set aside part of her wages to donate to the orphanage. Sometimes she'd drop by with bread and fruit for the children.

She'd visited once before entering the convent. For some reason, she particularly missed her younger siblings today. With that thought, Daisy bought an armful of gifts and headed to the orphanage.

Perhaps because it had been so long, the orphanage looked strangely unfamiliar. There seemed to be an unusual absence of any signs of life. Though puzzled, Daisy entered without hesitation.

Inside the orphanage, there wasn't a single person. She had no choice but to call for the children and the director while opening doors one by one.

Had they all gone on a trip together? The moment she opened the director's office door, she saw a very familiar design that should not have been there.

The same pattern that thing wearing the young lady's skin had drawn—the same image Daisy herself had summoned—was drawn in blood.

'Why is that here?'

For a moment, Daisy couldn't process reality. Why was that drawing in the orphanage, and why wasn't anyone inside? Some ominous imagination coiled around her entire body. Every hair stood on end. Her throat constricted.

Her legs gave out and she crawled forward on her knees. What was drawn on the floor was definitely a summoning circle to call forth a demon. And that sticky color was burned vividly into Daisy's mind. A fishy smell hung in the air.

'What is this...?'

At this point, it felt like that drawing was following her.

What had happened to the director? The orphanage children? The image of them running toward Daisy with innocent smiles was still so vivid. Surely they hadn't been used as offerings for this spell circle...

Hoping against hope, Daisy thoroughly searched the orphanage again, but there were no signs of life—not even corpses. Only the drawing in blood remained.

Daisy sat there for a long while, then left the orphanage on trembling legs. She couldn't stay there any longer and fled. Right now, she desperately wanted to see someone alive.

Half out of her mind, Daisy walked forward when a carriage swept past right in front of her nose. A wheel as large as Daisy's body rolled directly in front of her, and she collapsed in shock.

"Crazy b*tch! Got a death wish?!"

The coachman didn't even stop the carriage, just screamed at the top of his lungs. She didn't know what noble passenger might be inside, but most carriages, once moving, refused to stop lest they displease their high-born riders.

Even as sharp curses pelted her, Daisy's head was too fuzzy to do anything but sit there quietly. A passing pedestrian helped her up.

"Jeez. Hard to say who's the crazy one here. Miss, you okay?"

Not satisfied with that, the pedestrian even brushed the dirt off Daisy's clothes. Daisy bowed her head repeatedly, murmuring, "Thank you, thank you."

"Are you feeling ill? Then hurry home and rest..."

The pedestrian patted Daisy's shoulder consolingly before continuing on their way.

Daisy turned those words over in her mind, then buried her face in her hands. Tears threatened to spill again. Go home? Where? If home no longer existed, where should she go?

'Director. Children...'

"I should find the guards..."

No. That won't work. No bodies had appeared—people had just vanished. What could calling guards accomplish? Besides, with that spell circle involved, ordinary methods wouldn't solve anything.

Right now, she needed to find someone else. Someone who could resolve this situation immediately, just as Daisy hoped...

Daisy hailed a carriage.

"To the Rohanson estate, please."

‘If you need help, call for me again. Though I'll charge properly next time.’

‘If you have a wish, come find me. I'll grant it.’

She recalled what that demon and Evangeline had said. Those words about coming if she needed help. Was it true? Would she receive help if she went?

Common sense said she should go to the temple, not Evangeline. But could Daisy just waltz into the Grand Temple whenever she pleased? Last time, it took three days just to gain entry. That would be too late.

Besides, if she went there, they'd still be busy investigating Father Berga. That would delay finding the orphanage residents even more.

Whereas Evangeline... she'd definitely know about that spell circle.

"Five coppers."

Daisy reached for her purse to pay. But no matter how much she searched, the purse wasn't there. Where, where had she dropped it? Then she remembered the pedestrian who'd helped her when she nearly got hit by the carriage. They'd stolen it then.

"If you don't have money, get out."

"I'm in a hurry right now. Please, I'll bring the money later."

"Listen here, youngster. You think this is my first time dealing with that trick? Your sort says they'll get off to fetch money and then runs away. I've been burned a few times already, so I can't do it. Sorry, but catch another carriage."

Daisy had no choice but to get out.

And then she had no choice but to walk. One step, another step—Daisy's slow footsteps gradually quickened until she was running.

If she reached the Rohanson estate, there would be a way.

Daisy ran. When her lungs felt ready to burst, she walked briefly. When her calves cramped and her feet grew heavy, she kept running until she finally arrived at the Rohanson estate.

"What business brings you here?"

A gatekeeper blocked her way. Someone newly hired after Daisy quit? An unfamiliar face. If it had been someone she knew, it would've been easier to ask them to let her in.

Daisy agonized over what to say, then finally spoke that name.

"Evangeline... I'm here to see Lady Evangeline."

That day, for the first time, Daisy acknowledged that the thing that had stolen the dead young lady's body was known to the world as 'Lady Evangeline.' And Daisy addressed it as such.

It felt like killing a person who'd already died once.

"The young lady is out at the moment."

Of all times, now? When she'd said to come if I had a wish! Daisy bowed her head.