218 Maid Appears

"Finally got the round!?"

"Never thought you'd manage to get the upper hand on me in such a short span. You're quite the opponent."

Congratulations, round secured!

Kukuku.

Finally.

I've finally managed to secure the round!

I've kept coming back, challenging you repeatedly, and my skill has improved.

I've been getting close to winning a round—about once every three attempts—and I was beginning to think I might just do it. And now I've done it!

Hahahaha!

Let's go for one more round and claim my first victory!

"Too naive."

KO!

W-what...!?

Impossible.

You took me out before I could even react!?

M-maybe... was losing the first round intentional?

You sacrificed the round on purpose to build up the gauge!?

Damn!

But the match isn't over yet.

The fated third round.

Gauge is empty for both of us.

Then, here is where pure skill is tested.

Let me make one thing clear—

Before the call for the next round began, D announced.

In the next round, you will remember the difference in rank between us.

A divine aura rises from D's body.

Impossible.

Use it, you say!?

The power of the gods, sealed until now!?

"Please don't… show me your true strength."

The woman’s voice cut through D’s words.

At the same time, the game’s power source shuts off.

Ah!

Turning back toward the socket, there stood the Maid, having cruelly pulled the power cord from its source.

Eh, Maid?

I’ve been looking for you.

The Maid smiled warmly, her eyes flicking to D.

What is this.

A beautiful woman with the delicate grace of a classical Japanese maiden, seemingly kind and gentle—yet her smile is unsettling.

The word 'mother' came to mind, for reasons unknown.

That kind of meaning—something that must not be resisted.

An oversight. All the effort put into concealing my location, and I ended up releasing my power unintentionally.

You lack the awareness befitting a deity of the highest order. This runaway ends here. Now, return.

Hmm.

D—was she a runaway girl?

The image is collapsing at an incredible rate.

"And what is that, exactly?"

The Maid looks at me.

So that's how you address them, is it?

Irritated★

Ah... but I don't feel like I can win.

I didn’t notice the Maid’s arrival at all.

She was, in fact, an exceptionally beautiful woman, yet her presence was extraordinarily faint.

Not magic, then.

No unnatural features were apparent.

Yet, an impossible lack of presence.

She’s concealing her presence with some unknown technique I’m unfamiliar with—so skillfully, I might lose sight of her entirely, even when she’s right before me.

In other words, it means being caught within the opponent's technique.

Such an opponent who could ensnare me so easily could not possibly be weak.

"This is my new toy."

You called me a toy after mocking me like that.

No, I suppose that’s truly how you see me.

Precisely because it’s true, there is no mercy.

"Not merely a clone, is it. What is this?"

Don’t treat people like objects.

Ah, not a person—just a spider.

"A spider born from a patchwork lie to deceive your eyes—unexpectedly mutated into something divine."

"I don’t understand."

I really don’t.

Wait.

So what you’re saying is…

I was created specifically to hide your disappearance from House D?

Ugh, my value is low.

I’ve always wondered why someone would make a substitute like me—turns out it was for such a trivial reason.

Still don’t understand why using me as a decoy would hide your escape.

The world of the gods is truly most mysterious.

"Anyway, I'm going back. Work has piled up."

"I don't want to go. I don't want to work. I'd rather play like this forever."

Ah, this one's my original.

"Please don't be selfish. If you don't work, who will manage the Underworld in your place?"

"Hmm."

D points at the Maid.

Ugh.

A hallucination appears—smiling, yet a blue vein pulses on the forehead.

"I'm busy managing Hell, you know."

"There's no reason you can't."

"It's not about ability. Labor is duty. Now come, back you go."

The Maid finally resorts to force.

She grabs D by the back of the neck and drags him along, dragging him like a sack.

Using a primitive method to transport him.

"I'm sorry, but this means I won't be returning here for a while. As I said before, you may do as you please. Until next time."

D's farewell words are spoken while being dragged.

Then D vanishes from the room. Only I remain.

D— you're not so bad after all.

I'll remember you for a short while.

Now then— time to search, search again.

Given D's habits, there must be various items hidden throughout this house.

Wakaba-hime's memories hold no record of such things, but hidden treasures are not impossible.

After a thorough search of the entire residence, I discover cursed playing cards and other oddities.

D said I could do as I please— I'll make good use of that permission.

Still— Maid.

Will she address me as "master"?

That maid treated D as an equal, despite being a Maid.

Ah… I wonder if I could ever be called "master" like that.

Just hearing it would make me feel superior.

For now… D has been taken away, so I won’t be coming here again.

Ah—wait.

I never actually beat him.

He escaped after winning.