Sophiette mansion

Great, Huge, Gigantic, Colossal. Perhaps these words could not describe the size of Sophiette's land.

The entrance to the garden was miles away from the mansion. Nearby, the Soul Za mansion looked like a humble hovel. Sophia's garden was certainly greener, livelier and had more plant species. Someone who has never visited the place, like Kurone and Ana, would probably end up getting lost there.

“Incredible... Just as the people say!” Ana, the Rank B adventurer, shouted looking out the carriage window.

“It's really huge…” commented Kurone.

“Some say this mansion is even bigger than the Demon King's own castle.”

“The Demon King's castle!?”

“These are just legends,” the marquise shouted from the driver's seat, “no one human has ever seen the Demon King's castle and come back alive to tell which is bigger... We don't even know if this so-called Beelzebub exists.”

“What do you mean?”

“According to ancient legends, Beelzebub was killed when the gods were still living on earth, in the Gods Era, and who rules the demons, in fact, are the members of the ‘Inferno's Council’, who pass the government to their descendants every generation.”

“I see.”

“These lands belonged to my great-great-great-great, and a few more times great-great grandfather, Karllos Sophiette. They say that in the Gods Era he was an incredibly powerful mage who helped the king of the time, Alexander Andeavor, and as compensation he received some of these lands. As time passed, his descendants also devoted themselves to helping the royal family, and the lands only increased.”

“Is that why you were the first choice to help Edward?” Kurone concluded.

“There's that too... But it turns out that Edward is not well liked by the nobles of the capital for supporting the ideals of the princess regent, logically, he could only be helped by someone who agrees with his ideals.”

“I see, you have the same ideals even though you don't like each other…”

After almost twelve hours, the trio arrived at Sophia's lands. Such a feat was only possible thanks to the horses, fed with special potions. They were animals used only in emergencies, such as that moment.

A line of servants awaited the return of the mistress in front of the entrance to the colossal mansion.

“Welcome back, Lady Sophiette,” everyone greeted in unison.

“You may come,” Sophia called out to the pair inside the carriage. “This is Nakano, and this is Ana, my guests.”

“It's a pleasure to welcome you!” the servants spoke in unison again.

“Of course…” The young man waved his left hand, clearly embarrassed.

“It's even bigger up close.” Ana stared in awe at the light pink painted building, thinking how the painter had suffered to handle such a large mansion.

“Please, come in.” Sophia followed the servants who pushed open the huge wooden door and showed the luxurious interior of the mansion.

Standing in the center, contrasting with the shiny floor, was someone in black uniform, awaiting the return of her mistress.

The girl wore a uniform different from the other employees, apparently it was made exclusively for her. Her long brown hair was adorned with a red ribbon. The young girl had a bright face, so clean that a tiny black dot could be seen in the distance.

“Welcome back, Lady Sophia.”

‘Is this girl an elite maid or something?’

“I'm gone for a day and you already forget my face!” Sophia said jokingly.

“W-what?... W-what?!... L-Lady Sophia!...” The maid panicked when she saw that she was bowing to a young stranger instead of her mistress, who was on the other side of the door.

“This reminds me of the times when I used to frequent maid cafes... How nostalgic…” Kurone sighed as he enjoyed the feeling of being treated like a nobleman arriving from a trip.

“P-Pardon!!!”

“All right, all right…”

“This is Noah, who is actually more like my daughter than a maid,” Sophia introduced the girl.

“Please don't say that, Lady Sophia…” the maid protested, her face red.

“This is Nakano, a brave stranger, and this is Ana, a Rank B adventurer.”

“Wow! They don't look very strong…” the girl said with no ill intentions.

"Noah, how many times do I have to tell you about this bad habit of yours of speaking your mind.”

“Sorry, Lady Sophia!” The maid bowed her head countless times, apologizing to Sophia and the supposedly offended pair.

“We've come to get some supplies, ask the servants to prepare some boxes with clothes, food, medicine and water.”

“Yes, Lady Sophia! But, we are short of clothes and medicine…”

“Damn... Tomorrow we have to go to Fallen.”

The nearest city to Sophiette's mansion was called Fallen. On the way to the mansion, Kurone could see the whole city through the window. It was a town that lived from exporting products from the land and apparently did not have many inhabitants — the few people they met had an unhappy expression on their faces.

“For now, I will guide you to the guest room.” Sophia pointed towards the staircase that led to the second floor. By the way, the mansion was five stories high. It was a real luxurious fortress.

…

The guest room had enough capacity to accommodate a family of four and still have room left over.

“Have fun! But don't overdo it, okay?” Sophia said goodbye to the pair.

‘That was unnecessary!’

“Everything in this mansion is huge…” Ana checked the quality of the sheets, first feeling the texture and then smelling them deeply. “But I don't feel comfortable sharing a room with you.” The witch looked disdainfully at the boy.

“Please stop looking at me like I'm a pervert!”

“Humpf... I'll trust you, but just in case, don't forget that I can use magic to incinerate you in seconds.” The girl threw herself on the comfortable bed and ignored the young man who had a book in his hands.

Luckily, the book Kurone picked up on the dresser was full of illustrations, something that helped him to get an idea of the content written in the yellowed pages. “Will you never forget what happened in the village?”

“Don't think that I hold a grudge... I have nothing against you... But I will still end up killing that annoying little girl.”

“I can't disagree that she is annoying.” Kurone put the book on the dresser and went to the window. “Wow! Looking from here, the garden looks like a forest.”

“Ahhh... The life of the nobles is something unattainable for us... Eating three times a day, bathing, changing clothes, sleeping all night... So many incredible things!”

‘How the hell do you live then?’ he thought as he looked at the girl who stared at the ceiling imagining herself as a noble of the capital.

“And what about you... Kuroto, right?”

“How can you forget my name? I'm going to cry!”

“Let's agree that you don't have much presence without your companion, and your name is weird.” Ana pointed out the facts in a cold way.

In fact, if Kurone were in a light novel like the ones he used to read, the young man would be nothing more than a simple extra, or at most, a supporting character for Rory.

“Your clothes…” the witch resumed the conversation, “I've never seen clothes like that, but you don't have a noble face... You also have strange abilities, and you hang around with that annoying little girl…”

The adventurer looked more and more into Kurone's afflicted eyes, one note led to another and these notes generated assumptions in her mind. The attack, the young man's ignorance, the strange clothes, the loli with a rifle...

“I-I go to the bathroom!” He tried to go towards the door, but was stopped by Ana who held his arm.

“I want explanations! You may have proved to the marquis that you are not a spy from another country, but that doesn't mean that you don't have ulterior motives in our lands... I won't let a suspect return to my village.” The girl looked seriously at the young man with several drops of sweat on his face.

“S-seriously so! If I don't go now I'll end up doing it in my pants...Y-you don't want a roommate stinking of…”

“I get it! Go on, but don't think our conversation is over!”

Ana led the way for the young man, who was through the doors, down the hall, and up the stairs in an instant.

…

‘Now...where is the bathroom?’

It wasn't just an excuse to escape Ana's sharp questions, if he had stayed in that room any longer, Sophia's expensive carpet would have been ruined.

‘Maybe I should ask some employee…’ He scanned the entire hallway looking for any employee who could help him in this moment of need.

‘No one! So many employees, but none available... Damn! If this keeps up I'm going to have to use this…’ Beside him was a jug that adorned the hallway. There were several like this, all under a different painting. Both the vase, the flower inside, and the painting appeared to be expensive.

‘That'll have to do!’

After relieving himself in a place that was not relevant at the moment, Kurone faced another problem: remembering the way back to his room.

“Nakano? What are you doing here?” Sophia called out to the young man passing in front of his office with the door open.

“Returning from the bathroom…”

‘I hope no one notices…’ What would be the reaction of the maid who changes the water in the jugs when she smells that flower?

“Right... Don't go to sleep late.” The marquise waved her hand and went back to signing papers.

Although short, the time she had spent away had caused her to accumulate work.

“So, good night,” the boy said goodbye and tried to remember again the way back to his room.

During the desperate race to find the bathroom, he barely had time to memorize the way. At that moment, all the corridors looked the same.

‘I don't want to find a maid holding a stinking jug in the corridor…’

“Hey, Nakano!”

“Hi!?”

“Come here…”

The young man entered the room — carefully, for the room was an area full of important papers. To carelessly step on or tear something there could result in a war between nobles or something like that.

“What I am about to tell you may sound strange, so just listen to me.”

“Hmm…”

“‘Stay strong to take care of what is important to you.’”

“Huh? I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand…”

“Once my master told me this and I didn't understand it either, but I felt as if she was guiding me to give you this advice. Don't look at me like that, it happens that I was born with an unusual gift for judging people by their eyes.”

“I see.”

“You don't look like someone who is used to battle, but still, in a fit of rage, you managed to protect your sister from the orcs. I also have two important people, but they are only alive because once I had to get strong and dirty my hands with blood…”

“Ah, it was advice…”

“You didn't hesitate to kill.” The Marquise's tone suddenly changed and she faced the young man.

“Huh?”

“The others may not realize it, but as I said, I have an unusual gift. I know the eyes of someone who has already taken a life. The others underestimate you, but the truth is that you… Oh, by the gods! Why am I telling you this? You're even scared, I'm sure I was wrong, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. This overwork is killing me.”

“Anyway…”

“Huh?”

“Thanks for the advice, Sophia, I'll stay strong and take good care of Rory, that was your advice, right?”

“Y-yes…”

The young man left the office, preparing to continue his search for the lost room.

“Nakano! Your room is on the other side.”

“Ri-right! Thanks again.”

“You don't fool me with that theater, Nakano, those eyes of yours are those of a dangerous madman... but that name, what relationship would you have with the ‘Devil of the Orient’?…” Sophia whispered, picking up another stack of paper, she stared at the open door for almost ten minutes before signing again.

…

The more he walked, the more he respected the work of the servants in that mansion. All the doors and hallways were the same, the vases and flowers were repetitive… ‘It must be a lot of work to clean all that.’

Luckily for the young man, some rooms were the exception and had a different colored door than the others, and one of those rooms was his bedroom…

“I'm back... Huh?” he let out a sound when he saw his roommate.

“Huh?” The girl looked in astonishment at the door that opened suddenly.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Huh....?”

“Huh?”

“Huh....”

Ana was getting changed for bed, the pajamas were a gift from Sophia that one of the servants had brought to her room. Kurone also got a pair of pajamas, which were next to the book he was reading earlier.

This happened a few minutes ago.

In her mind, Ana didn't think that the boy would return so soon from the bathroom and decided to change for bed. While putting on her pajamas, she looked in the bedroom mirror to check her development and ended up feeling inferior when she saw her breasts and remembered the size of the bust of the maid who delivered the pajamas, they were gigantic, but the maid looked less than eighteen years old.

Overcome with envy, The Adventuress began to massage her modest breasts while staring into the mirror, forgetting that her roommate could return at any moment… and he did.

“Wha-what the hell are you staring at?” Ana blinked nonstop and a vein appeared on her forehead.

“They're very small…” Kurone let slip.

Flames began to emerge from Ana's left hand while her right held an expensive white sheet to censor her body.

“I'm sorry!! Ahhhh!!!”

The apology was swallowed by the flames. Ana's flaming hand managed to hit the face of the young man who was desperately fleeing — the burn on his face was left with the mark of an open hand.

…

In the office, Sophia was awakened by screams coming from the guest room, the signed papers that had served as her pillow fell to the floor and got mixed up with the ones she still had to sign until the next day.

“These young people today are so wild…” She picked up the papers from the floor and signed them again. “I hope they don't get too excited and break the bed in the room.”