Reincarnated Maid is About To Be Captured by All Players

That evening.

In the private meeting room of the End Castle.

After dinner, Christiana asked us to talk in the private meeting room, a chamber used to entertain distinguished guests and keep conversations away from the ears of the servants.

I think it might be related to Enrique’s visit this morning. What exactly did he say to Christiana?

“There’s good news and bad news.”

After Nora closed the door and set up a [Sound Barrier] spell, Christiana struck a pose that was almost like a commander’s trademark gesture and slowly began to speak.

“Anna, which one do you want to hear first?”

“The bad news.”

“The good news is… Eh? Don’t people usually want to hear the good news first?”

I don’t recall any such conventional rule.

But Caro Cat, giving face to Christiana, instinctively asked.

“What’s the good news, meow?”

“The good news is, we have a way to leave Obi.”

“Meow! Miss Anna, we can leave…”

“However, the bad news is, the proposer is Enrique, a senior councilor of the Water City Commerce Guild, and he wants Anna…”

“?!?”

Christiana must be aiming for this shocking effect on Caro Cat. I had speculated on various reasons for Enrique’s visit and considered the possibility of him offering help, so I wasn’t too surprised.

When I went to Hest, I learned from an elder that the nobles and guilds were obligated to provide dowry gifts for the third princess’s wedding. The Water City Commerce Guild, with its influence across every duke’s domain in the Kingdom of Mikel, and specifically Enrique, stationed in Obi, theoretically had the means to provide such gifts.

He also thought of a way to smuggle us out… The condition is, me…

“Miss Anna! No way, meow! That guy must be coveting Miss Anna’s beauty!”

“Eh?”

“Anna…! He must have planned a wicked scheme to have children with you!”

Can this game really operate until I’m old enough to have grandchildren…

“Anastasia, you’re going to be a mother. Congratulations.”

“Thank you… No, wait, I won’t…”

“Anna,” Christiana spoke gravely, “I won’t allow such a thing to happen. I’ll storm the wedding chamber on the night of your nuptials!”

That’s not the point! Why does everyone assume I’m being given away?

“Stop, everyone, I know you’re all concerned about me, but…”

“There are no buts, Anna, I understand. If Anna were my maid and I were a man, Anna would already be a mother of three by now.”

Let me calculate the time… I’m seventeen this year, and three years ago my age…

I’m seriously considering reporting Christiana to the Kingdom of Mikel; she seems to have a high potential to be a criminal.

“Everyone, please calm down a bit. Lady Christiana, could you repeat Lord Enrique’s condition?”

“Well, that’s no problem. That guy named Enrique came to me this morning, started with a lot of boring chatter, then changed his approach and requested to see Anna. I firmly denied Anna’s presence in End, but that guy said he has an adventurer skilled in [Astrology] working for him…”

“Meow!”

Caro Cat excitedly wagged her tail.

“Trafalgar also said yesterday that the astrologer was hired away. So it was Enrique!”

“He should have been eliminated…”

Sigurdella narrowed her eyes, clearly harboring hostility towards Enrique.

The Water City Commerce Guild, unscrupulously trading in unicorn horns, has a worse reputation in Midgard than even Anna’s support team. Sigurdella had told me she first went to trouble Enrique, then came to assassinate me, although she was thwarted again by me.

“As long as I keep denying Anna’s presence, that guy can’t do much. But he’s quite cunning, proposing that he can help us smuggle out of Obi, asking for a meeting with Anna as his condition. He deliberately chose his timing, Nora.”

“Yes.”

Nora stepped forward, pulling out a list from her chest.

“I’ve investigated the current status of the caravans in Duke Obi’s domain that are providing dowry gifts for the third princess. The only caravan still in Obi belongs to Lord Enrique of the Water City Commerce Guild.”

“Meow… So, if we want to smuggle out, we have to ask that guy?”

“Correct. Timing-wise, he’s already missed the majority of Duke Carolingian’s troops, but that’s exactly the play he’s set up, using the ‘hurry or you’ll miss it’ excuse to reduce the scrutiny at the gates. It’s a bit pessimistic to say, but the success rate is indeed high. Nora.”

Christiana snapped her fingers, and Nora pulled out another list.

“This is a record of Enrique’s trades with major nobles.

He has an excellent reputation among the high nobility, with ample credibility. The Water City Commerce Guild even trades with the king himself, so they are frequent visitors on the trade whitelist.”

“…I see more than one trade involving sacred beast horns.”

Sigurdella sharply eyed the trade list, many items being ones Midgard prohibits from external dissemination.

“It’s their usual tactic. They sell good items to nobles at a loss, then use the trading privileges granted by the nobles to make a huge profit. Many places’ trades are monopolized by the Water City Commerce Guild. Obi is one of the ducal domains where the guild has less infiltration, but if Enrique steps in, his influence is probably higher than that of my father. Considering the guild’s background and credibility, the gatekeepers are likely to forego thorough checks.”