The Butler of the Villainess Has Returned

Chapter 22

"Uh...."

Was it because it felt different from what I expected?

Aurora opened her eyes, which had been closed.

"Yuri?"

The place Aurora's lips touched was none other than the back of my right hand.

However, there was no time to answer her question.

The moment Aurora's lips touched the back of my hand, I reversed the mana imbued with the Trait of Devouring Greed.

Beyond the soft and warm sensation, I could feel the energy inherent in Aurora.

It was a familiar energy.

-What kind of hero am I supposed to be?

It was the energy I felt from the Hero with whom I had roamed the battlefield in my previous life.

Divine Power.

Aurora's identity as a Saintess was confirmed.

While this alone was a significant discovery, I couldn't be satisfied with just this.

"Please, a little longer."

"What?"

"With the heart of blessing me, until I say it's enough, for a long time."

"Ugh.... Alright."

Aurora, who had hesitated, nodded. Once again, her lips touched the back of my hand.

Now.

I drew mana only from the Mana Heart, not the Circle. This was because its purity was the highest.

Thanks to that, it flowed into Aurora's body without much resistance.

It seeped into every corner, identified its form, and then returned to my body, delivering the information.

It was a peculiar form of power.

Mana was often described as flowing water, while Aura was described as flickering fire.

Divine Power was both.

It was a fundamental form that could switch between water and fire depending on the need.

As I examined it more closely, I discovered something strange.

Even the smallest strand of the power was composed of an undecipherable language.

Suddenly, the words of the Hero came to mind.

-Divine Power is not just some power.

-Then what is it?

-It is the sacred message of the Goddess. I merely interpret the Goddess's words as a mark.

-What nonsense is this idiot spouting?

Who would have thought it was actually true?

The ancient language and rune characters of the vanished world were said to exert power just by being written.

Likewise, the language of the Goddess itself contained power.

The Divine Power inherent in Aurora's body was, in fact, the very voice of the Goddess.

-Can't you just steal it?

-Don't. You'll get Divine Punishment.

-.......

-Don't steal it, you bastard!!

-You stingy bastard. It'd be nice to share.

-You can't use it anyway!!

Now I understood.

Divine Power, in other words, the Goddess's utterance, was powerless unless translated.

It could only be interpreted with the Goddess's Mark, and only by uttering it in the language of the present world could the inherent power emerge.

Even if one imitated Divine Power and created Fake Holy Power, it was unusable.

-Typical loser trait: small capacity.

-I'm not a loser!!

-Typical loser trait: can't accept the result.

However, that was the Hero's perspective as a loser. For a manly guy like me, there was always a way.

You just have to steal the Mark.

Stealing the Goddess's language and the Saintess's Mark.

It was an extremely blasphemous act for which I could be struck dead by Divine Punishment right now.

Even I hesitated a little.

Because I didn't know what might happen if I provoked the Goddess's mood.

So I prayed.

'If you don't like it, just give it to me.'

There was a moment of silence, but no answer.

As I said before, silence meant approval, so it was as if I had received the Goddess's permission.

The Mark existed on the back of Aurora's hand.

The sacred Mark of the Goddess was still dormant, unable to awaken.

Crackle!

The moment I touched it to read it, an enormous amount of information flowed into my head.

The Mark, which seemed no larger than a palm, contained information on the scale of a grand library.

Well, it was the language of a god, after all.

It was bound to be vastly different from the amount of information contained in a mere 3rd Circle Translation Magic.

'Let's do this.'

After all, the Mark was magically created. Even if I couldn't understand it, I could still trace it.

Crackle...!

As I traced the Goddess's Mark, I quickly transcribed the information contained within.

How much time had passed like that?

"It's done...."

The Goddess's Mark was engraved on the back of my hand.

As the complete Mark was engraved in black, it faded as if it had never been there.

Fake Holy Power.

And a Fake Mark.

If I couldn't be chosen by the Goddess, I could just choose myself.

Mana resided in the heart, Aura in the dantian, and Divine Power seemed to originate from the brain.

Like a whirlpool in the deep sea, countless pieces of information swirled in my head.

When I finally managed to calm it and opened my eyes again, Aurora came into view.

"...Ugh."

Unaware that she had been imitated, she trembled her lips.

I raised my idle left hand and gently patted Aurora's head.

"Thank you."

Only then did Aurora open her eyes.

"I-is it done?"

"It was a tremendous help."

It was the Saintess's Divine Power. While it couldn't match the true power of the Saintess, it would be an immense asset in battles against demons.

"To think my kiss became your strength...."

Aurora beamed.

She smiled innocently, clenching her small hands, as if delighted by something.

Although I wanted to observe her a little longer and heal, now was not the time for that.

I had to move up the rescue of Kali, which I had postponed since entering the Academy, to tomorrow.

"I'll be going now."

"Already? At least have a meal at my house before you go! I'm good at cooking...."

Aurora trailed off mid-sentence.

Was it because I had touched the Divine Power inherent in her? A ripple of energy passed over her light pink eyes.

"Uh...?"

It seemed that a very small part of her awakening as a Saintess had been achieved.

"Yuri...?"

What on earth was she seeing? I wanted to ask, but I couldn't.

"Ah...."

Because Aurora was crying.

"What is this.... No, it can't be...."

As if recalling a sad dream, she tried to deny its contents while still facing them directly.

"I'm sorry.... I don't know what this is either...."

"It's alright. Please go inside and rest."

"...I think I should do that."

Squeeze.

Aurora bit her lips.

"Yuri."

Wiping away her endlessly flowing tears, she raised her remaining hand and waved.

"Let's meet again next time."

I responded with a smile and turned around.

As I retraced the path I had come, a piece of information surfaced in my mind.

"Saintess's Eyes...."

It was something the Hero had told me. Those eyes, which could only be used with the Goddess's permission, were said to see through everything about a person.

-What do they see?

-A person's entire life.

Heh.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not such a sad life, though."

Aurora really is an angel, after all.

2.

And the Young Lady is definitely a demon.

"Water."

"Could you say it a bit more clearly?"

"Waaater."

"...Thank you."

Good grief, I should just stop talking.

Letting out a sigh, I picked up the water bottle. I poured it into a fancy-looking crystal glass and handed it over.

The Young Lady took the glass and asked.

"You only hung out with Claudia again today. Where do you keep wandering off to?"

"I went on a date."

"What?! With whom?"

"There is someone."

Clatter!

The glass was placed down roughly.

As I followed the sound to its source, I met sharp eyes.

"Not 'there is someone,' tell me the name!"

"It's Yuri."

"Not your name!!"

Finally, her composure broke.

"Who did you go on a date with!!"

Her expression shifted from a seductive, mysterious one to that of a thoroughly annoyed little demon.

"Are you that curious?"

"I'm not curious!"

"Then why are you asking?"

"I-I just am!! I'm dying of curiosity, so hurry up and tell me!"

"Then let's do this."

I picked up a warm wet towel and placed it over the Young Lady's excited eyes.

"Ack."

Her flustered hand gestures were quite cute. It felt like covering the eyes of an angry puppy? As I adjusted the towel for her, I added.

"Get a good night's sleep today, and ask me tomorrow if you're still curious."

"I don't want to."

"In return, I'll answer anything you ask tomorrow."

The Young Lady's expression softened.

She hesitated as if about to ask something, but then closed her mouth again.

"...Really."

Finally, the Young Lady spoke.

She slightly lifted the towel placed on her and looked at me with her sparkling red eyes.

"You'll really answer anything?"

"Of course."

"Without a single lie?"

"Naturally."

Anything she asked would probably be mundane questions, so there was no need to hide anything.

"Alright."

As soon as she heard my answer, she let go of the towel. Covering her eyes again, she returned to her usual self as if nothing had happened.

"You're dismissed, Yuri."

"Thank you."

I woke up Claudia, who had been dozing off.

"...Sleepy."

"Go sleep after you're dismissed."

"...No. I'll sleep next to the Young Lady."

Claudia staggered toward the bed.

"Hey!"

That idiot!

I hurriedly reached out, but Claudia was surprisingly nimble at times like this.

Thump!

She threw herself directly onto the bed and began crawling toward the Young Lady's side.

If she were a maid from another family, she would've already been punished for such an outrageous act.

But the Young Lady laughed.

Looking down at the sleeping Claudia, she chuckled softly and whispered to me.

"She must be crazy."

"I'm sorry."

Just as I was about to lift Claudia and leave the room, the Young Lady shook her head.

"It's fine. You can go."

"But―"

"I'll scold her myself when I wake up tomorrow."

It was definitely a lie.

There was no way someone who said they'd scold her would smile so beautifully.

"20% salary deduction, memorizing all the Maid Studies textbooks, cleaning the entire villa alone, and―"

Good grief, it was possible after all.

"I-I'll take my leave then."

Just as I was retreating slowly, worried that the trouble might extend to me.

"Yuri."

"Yes, Young Lady."

"I'm not an idiot."

"What?"

My body froze. The Young Lady was still stroking Claudia.

"If you come back injured again this time, wall climbing is over."

"...Yes, Young Lady."

I never thought she would know I got hurt.

If it were the usual training, I might have taken a day off from wall climbing. But today, no matter what, I had to go out.

"If you're going out, go quickly."

The Young Lady pulled up the pale blanket and covered herself together with Claudia.

"Don't be late."

"...I'll do my best."

"Didn't we agree not to make empty promises?"

"Because it's better than lying."

"...That's true."

That was the end of it.

After leaving the Young Lady's room, I immediately climbed over the wall and left the Salvatore Villa.

Kali.

To retrieve a member of Moonlight.

3.

'The dead do not speak.'

That was a phrase the girl liked.

Conversely, it meant that the living do speak.

Tap, tap, crackle.

Following the girl's hand gesture, the shadow in the darkness moved.

It embraced the girl.

And it whispered.

"Mother loves you, Kali. Mother loves you, Kali. Mother loves you..."

The girl smiled brightly.

"I love you too."

See, what did I tell you?

You can speak.

So you're still alive.

The girl tightly hugged the hand placed on her.

"...Just wait a little longer, and you'll recover."

Tears seemed about to flow.

Even though there was no reason to feel sad at all.