All-Works Maid – Volume 2 Chapter 24: The Action Behind the Scenes

In the bushes somewhere within Royal Academy grounds was a certain broken sword

Earlier, because the maids had focused on separating it from Buque and then on the events following, they completely forgot the sword.

And though it was out of Buque’s hand now, the sword continued to leak a malicious miasma from its broken end. Its hatred for the previous Saint for sealing it and for the current Saint for interfering with its plan… remained unabated.

It continued to silently rage within the confines of its broken blade when a rat suddenly appeared from the bushes. Completely oblivious to the overflowing vitriol, the rodent haphazardly approached the fallen weapon.

This was a convenient development for the remnant of the Demon King. Having greatly weakened after its two most recent battles, it now also lacked a means of movement; this rat would be the perfect vessel to remedy those issues.

So the plan now was to… send itself entirely into the rat standing before it, binding the unaware rodent to its will and creating a pawn of it.

For now, the rat would be a temporary vessel to replace the now useless sword. The remnant quickly began sending its magical power into its new host when something larger suddenly entered the scene, pinning the rat in place.

“Squeak?!”

“Thou hast acted with great indiscretion, o fragment of mine.”

A shiver ran down the rat’s spine; while it was but a tiny piece of the Demon King, it still possessed not a small amount of power. What could have appeared that made it tremble so?

The rat turned its small head up to see the angry glare of a certain silver puppy. Indeed, it was none other than Grail, the beloved pet of House Luthorburg and the erstwhile Demon King.

It had been but a month ago when things had changed, when Selena had been feeding him. Grail was affectionately licking Selena, as though thanking her for providing the meal when it had happened.

Grail’s tongue touched the silver on Selena’s choker, the part that also happened to contain the power of two Saints. Some of that silver magic transferred over on contact, circulating through Grail like an electric current, and that had jolted awake the slumbering consciousness of the Demon King.

That was also why Grail had started avoiding Melody and Selena; with the Demon King ego now awake, it knew to fear the silver magic radiating from the maids.

Back in the present, the rat could only shudder under Grail’s paw. Though both were the same Demon King, the main body, within Grail, held much greater power than the remnant that now resided in the rat.

But seeing the fearful rodent underfoot, Grail let out something like a loud sigh.

“Thou art fearful now, before mine presence, but did thou not feel more so in the presence of that… aberration?! Didst thou see not the great sphere of magicks sent heavenward?! The likes of we must needs fear the aberration when it needst not but wave to consign to oblivion us! So what, pray tell, wouldst thou do, should ‘that’ turn to us, in earnest? There is naught that awaits but destruction! Destruction, I say! Completely! In posthaste! With no quarter! Know thine place, lest it is extinction thou seeketh, utter buffoon!”

And just like that, the Demon King had worked itself into a frenzied verge of tears, recalling the terror it felt from the ‘punishment’ Melody had doled out after the events of the Spring Ball. It was because it wanted to avoid a repeat of that terrible moment that it had secretly come to the Royal Academy to apprehend the remnant. In short, the Demon King was furious.

With one smooth motion, the Demon King used a paw to swing the rat into its mouth.

“Squeak?!”

“Mmm mmm! (Remember this, fool of a fragment!)”

It spent a brief moment carefully chewing at the rat before spitting it back out.

“Squeak..? Squeak!”

The freed rat looked about in a daze but quickly ran off as Grail looked on, ignoring its flight into the bushes.

“With mine fragment gone, the rat is but another rat. Hmph! Mine mend can begin in earnest. That destable Saint cannot learn the truth, that I yet live free of the seal! I-indeed, this is where mine time is bode, n-not from fear or what h-have you!”

Though there was nothing around to hear it, Grail spoke aloud, as though to cope with its circumstances.

“N-now, it should be time to return to mine abode. As I recall, the offering tonight is a meal of homemade sausages… Gufufu…”

So it seemed the Demon King had settled into more of a domesticated life. And like so, Grail, more pet than Demon King, returned to the mansion without anyone aware of this exchange.

Meanwhile, within the bushes somewhere within Royal Academy grounds was a certain broken sword, now completely devoid of magic.

Later that night, clouds of silver appeared in the skies. They seemed to be a condensation of magical power, and before long, the clouds gently rained silver over the city. It lasted but a moment, and it was late at night, when not a soul was awake, so there was no one to see it happen.


One response to “All-Works Maid – Volume 2 Chapter 24: The Action Behind the Scenes”

  1. Thanks for the new chapter!

    Like

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