Victory Lies in the Hands of the Maid (1)
After hearing the situation from Kazuhito and the others, Alicia gave a calm, confident smile.
“So in other words, that thing is a fragment of the Princess’s past life. And it stole her body.”
“That’s what I think too. Iris wasn’t nearly that ominous before.”
Indeed, Iris had a cold and ruthless side. But the Demon King in front of them was something else entirely.
That was the truth. Just as Alicetia had changed from who she once was, Demon King Iris had also transformed while separated from Iris.
Alicetia had changed because of happiness. Demon King Iris had been corrupted by the hatred of a primordial evil god she had absorbed to obtain the Demon King’s power. She hadn’t mastered that power—it was controlling her.
“Anyway, we have to stop her. Who knows what she might do.”
Kazuhito said as he tried to rush forward, but Alicia placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“There is no need for concern. Even if that is the Princess’s past self, if she’s bringing harm to the Princess, I will stop her.”
“You just got killed, didn’t you?!”
“There are two fatal and severe weaknesses that the Demon King has. One of them is that she’s pretending she’s fine.”
“Pretending?”
Mai tilted her head, not understanding.
“Yes. Her movements lack sharpness, and though she hides it, her breathing is uneven. She probably doesn’t have the strength left to keep fighting.”
“She’s moving just fine, though.”
To Kazuhito’s eyes, Demon King Iris was still battling the remaining Alicetia clones without issue. She didn’t look even close to death.
“If it’s the Princess, she’ll keep moving until she collapses. But these maid eyes won’t be fooled.”
Alicia had watched over Alicetia since she was a baby—she could see through any false bravado. And there was a second weakness Demon King Iris couldn’t overcome.
Alicia charged forward.
“Huh? Alicia!”
“She’s alive?!”
One of the Alicetia clones had already been defeated, and the remaining three stared in shock.
“Princess, please return to yourself.”
“……… I’m not the Princess.”
“You are not! You are not my Princess!”
Alicia swung her curved kukri-like blade. Demon King Iris blocked it with her gloved, jet-black arm. The moment blade met hand, a surge of black mana exploded from Iris’s palm and blew Alicia away.
“You don’t belong in ‘my world.’ Therefore, die.”
Before Alicia could recover, Demon King Iris raised her arm to strike her down.
But Alicia smiled—because the Demon King’s arm had frozen in place just before reaching her.
“??”
A stunned expression overtook Demon King Iris. She knew that if she swung that arm, the maid in front of her would die again. Maybe she’d come back again—but maybe not. And yet her arm wouldn’t obey her, only trembling slightly.
Demon King Iris jumped back to put distance between them.
“…… What did you do?”
“As I thought, it is the Princess’s body.
It’s simple. I just used my tail as a shield. The Princess’s body won’t attack it.”
All Alicia had done was point her tail at the incoming blow.
“Ridiculous.”
“Even if her consciousness isn’t there, her body is honest. Her weak points are easy to spot.”
“In that case, I’ll burn you to ash—Fire Muguu... munch munch”
Just as Demon King Iris began her incantation, Alicia threw a cookie at her like a shuriken. With perfect aim, it landed right in the Demon King’s mouth, flooding her with a wave of happiness.
(The incantation stopped on its own!)
The half-completed incantation was disrupted, and the spell dissipated. She had only a limited number of spells she could chant in advance—wasting one was costly.
Demon King Iris stepped back again, cautious. But Alicia was already confident of her victory.
If Alicetia and Alicia fought seriously, without surprise attacks like before, Alicetia could not win. Why? Because she loved fluffiness. Last time was a fluke due to complete carelessness—if Alicia had used her tail guard, she would never have been stabbed.
“Help me stop the Princess.”
“O-okay…”
Takuto nodded under Alicia’s glare.
Alicia didn’t like something about Takuto. There was a visceral discomfort, a deep instinct telling her she couldn’t accept his presence. But the more pawns, the better. She didn’t feel that way about Kazuhito or Mai, so she decided to use Takuto. If he died, so be it. In fact, her instincts were screaming to eliminate this man and make it look like an accident.
“First, let’s wake the Princess.”
“Can you do that?”
“Of course. ‘Princess!’”
Alicia imitated Madame Smith’s voice and used Echo simultaneously.
This was a spell used by the intelligence division—it altered the perceived location of a voice. In other words, she made Madame Smith’s voice sound like it was coming from behind Demon King Iris.
It worked like a charm. Demon King Iris jumped in shock and, acting against her own will, activated one of her stored spells and dug a personal trench in the ground to hide in.
“W-what? What is this?!”
Bewildered by what had just happened, Demon King Iris was further confused by the pounding of her heart, her trembling limbs, and the sweat pouring from her body.
(Th-that scared me!)
“Ngh!”
With just that one voice, the Alicetia inside Demon King Iris had awakened.
(What, what is this? Who are you?! Give me back my body!)
Alicetia, having regained consciousness, was understandably confused. However, since she had already been absorbed by the Demon King Iris, there was no way for her to reclaim control over her body.
(Just disappear quietly. I'm going to become Iris.)
(So some remnants of my past life were still around, huh? No way—I have a grand ambition to fill the world with fluffiness and bask in the bliss!)
At that point, Alicetia grasped the situation. Just as the Demon King Iris had managed to interfere with Alicetia’s thoughts, Alicetia was able to read the surface of Iris's thoughts as well.
And Miss Alicetia—after slaughtering countless Imperial soldiers, her rage had subsided considerably, and she'd returned to her senses. In fact, it may have backfired—now she was overflowing with earthly desires. The dissolution of the Demon King Iris’s interference was another contributing factor.
Incidentally, in this world, fluff-lovers are considered the equivalent of terrorists on Earth—heretics. In the central region of the continent, simply calling yourself a fluff-lover is enough to be labeled a criminal. In some countries, you’ll be arrested and burned at the stake without question. This is due to the existence of fluff underground organizations across the continent.
They’re willing to betray their own kind if it means protecting other species. Most of the non-human refugees who flee to Arland receive aid from these groups, though neither Alicetia nor even Arland is aware of this. Their strict secrecy and lack of hostility toward Arland prevent those they've helped from ever speaking of them.
By the way, members of these underground groups can recognize each other by making eye contact, so they have no need for identification, making them a major headache for the Central Nations Alliance. They’re nearly impossible to eradicate. Almost all cells operate independently, without horizontal connections, yet they all act toward the same goal—that’s part of what makes them so troublesome.
(… Whatever. Just disappear already.)
The Demon King Iris found herself irrationally jealous of Alicetia. Even though Iris was in such pain and sorrow, Alicetia always seemed to be having fun. She had felt that way ever since she was sealed.
Standing alone in that dark, empty space, she had constantly been exposed to the overflow of Alicetia’s joyful emotions. That’s why she came to hate her. Why do *you* get to be there?
She believed their goal should be to return to the past.
Even after Alicetia woke up, the battle between the Demon King Iris and Takuto’s group continued. Iris tried to unleash magic without an incantation by unlocking her magic formula, and Alicia countered by hurling sweets to stop her.
(Hey! Share your sense of taste with me too! You're being selfish keeping it to yourself!)
Alicetia, whose sense of taste had also been cut off, protested loudly—but the Demon King Iris ignored her. She was becoming a nuisance.
(This isn’t how it was supposed to go.)
She was supposed to make a dramatic comeback, wipe out humanity, and reclaim her family's souls. But when she finally got a body, it was barely clinging to life. In front of her stood people she couldn’t kill. The annoying maid used her tail as a shield, and Iris couldn’t bring herself to attack that tail.
And the body, originally Alicetia’s, couldn’t resist the temptation of thrown sweets. The divide between Alicetia and Iris—who shared the same soul—was widening. Their compatibility was far worse than expected.
The Demon King Iris grew increasingly desperate as she was pushed into a corner.
(Myuuun, myuuun, myuuun...)
As always, Alicetia was refusing to be fully absorbed by the Demon King Iris and was interfering like undigested food. She had time on her hands, and she wanted her body back before anything terrible happened. She was moving far too much for someone on the brink of death. While it spoke to Iris’s sheer willpower, she was clearly beyond her limits.
(You’re so annoying!)
(I’m imitating a cicada. Pretty good, huh?)
(Cicadas go *miin miin*, not *myuun*! )
(The cicadas in this world cry *myuun*, you know.)
Cicadas exist in this world too. They’re native to the Country of Tranquility. They’re not monsters. They're a summer symbol of the Country of Tranquility.
When summer approaches, cicada extermination squads are assembled, marking the arrival of the season.
They're about a meter in length and only cry near humans. The sound is so grating that hearing it can drive people into uncontrollable rage or even madness.
Whether it’s harassment or something else, they never cry when people aren’t around. On top of that, they’re incredibly dexterous, often breaking into homes unless locked up tightly.
In the Country of Tranquility, they’re known as “Emperor-killing Traitor Bugs,” a hated pest. The name came from an incident where an emperor woke up to find three cicadas clinging to the ceiling, producing an unbearably irritating noise. The emperor grabbed a spear from beside his pillow and screamed as he stabbed one. The dying cicada fell onto him, and its weight crushed him. The unlucky emperor hit his head hard as he collapsed and died instantly. The cicada became the ultimate criminal. While the actual cause was the emperor spearing a bug directly above him, the event led to an official cicada extermination order.
Over 5,000 cicadas are exterminated each year, but their numbers continue to rise. When killed, they release an overwhelming stench of decay after about an hour. People believe these bugs exist solely to torment humanity. Like cockroaches, they have no useful body parts.
At last, Alicetia’s passive-aggressive mental antics pushed the Demon King Iris past her breaking point.
“Enough already... Fine, I’ll just remake everything from scratch!”
A torrent of miasma-like mana surged out from the Demon King Iris’s body.
It was a declaration to kill everyone present. Takuto, Mai, Kazuhito—she would kill them all. As long as she could secure their souls, she could rebuild it all again.
Alicia saw this and quietly smiled.
(Victory is mine, Princess.)
Her winning move was hidden inside the storage pouch at her waist. All that remained was timing.
What do you think about this chapter?
