Chapter 05
Chaison, the spy posing as Nina’s uncle, and Natalisha, the spy posing as her aunt, were searching Rikita Bones’s house, where countless secrets yet to be uncovered lay hidden.
Now that Nina, Rikita Bones’s granddaughter, had moved into the townhouse, they couldn’t afford to waste even a single day.
Katahari, who was playing the role of Nina’s older sister, had decided to inspect everything from the roof to the townhouse’s exterior walls. Exi, playing Nina’s older brother, was to investigate Rikita’s room.
However, the signal devices they had agreed to use to periodically confirm that everything was fine had been silent for some time. Only signals from the two of them had been going back and forth.
Katahari and Exi were far too quiet.
Chaison and Natalisha, who were searching the first floor and basement respectively, sensed that something was wrong and met in the dark lobby.
“We haven’t heard from either of them. My signal device isn’t broken, is it?”
“Same here. Do you think something happened on the roof or the second floor?”
Chaison smacked his signal device against his leg a few times, but there was still no response from Katahari or Exi.
Creaaak.
At that moment, a faint noise came from the darkness.
“……!”
Startled, Natalisha performed a backflip, moving away from where she had been standing.
Before her feet even touched the floor, she drew her pistol and landed lightly.
Chaison, who had likewise pulled out a long, portable bomb, looked toward the figure emerging from the darkness and froze in confusion.
“……What is that?”
“A maid’s uniform? But it’s not human. A machine?”
Natalisha scrutinized the unidentified being with a sharp gaze.
It was a mechanical wind-up doll wearing a long maid’s uniform that dragged along the floor. It glided toward them as smoothly as a rolling wheel before coming to a stop.
Its gears turned slowly, making little noises.
Creaaak. Clack. Creaaak. Clack.
The two spies kept their guard up, glaring at the wind-up doll, ready to attack at any moment.
Then the expressionless doll, its face stitched together from metal scraps, moved only its mouth.
「Hello there! I’m this house’s kind and gentle maid. Whenever there’s trouble in the house, my friend Remington gives the intruders a good scolding!」
“Remington is the name of a broom? Pretty grandiose.”
At Natalisha’s comment, Chaison shot her an incredulous look.
“Is the broom’s name really the problem here? Soltum is a free nation. What’s a maid doing here?”
“……!”
Both their gazes snapped back to the mysterious wind-up doll.
「Oh. Riiiight. You’re correct! I’m not a maid, just a regular household servant. I’m employed for a fair wage. And since I’m made of machinery, I’m quite sturdy!」
The wind-up doll clasped its hands together, then dramatically spread them apart.
A glimpse of blue, circuit-like patterns could be seen inside its maid’s sleeves.
Chaison clicked his tongue as if this confirmed his suspicions.
“As I thought, it’s a magical tool. This house is full of all sorts of bizarre things. It’s creepy and unsettling, so let’s find the power switch and turn it off.”
“Good idea. I don’t know where the thing was stashed before it came rolling out, but it gives me the creeps.”
Natalisha agreed, taking one step at a time toward the wind-up doll.
At that moment, the doll, which had been standing perfectly still, turned its head with a creak and looked at Natalisha.
When she hesitated at its inexplicably chilling gaze, it turned its head with another creak toward Chaison.
「You two really are no fun, are you? Keep that up, and Remington will get very angry. Do you know what happens then? You’ll be in for a big sur. priiise!」
“Going on and on about a broom while holding it… Wait. Remington? Where have I heard that before?”
As Chaison grumbled and tried to place the name, Natalisha murmured with an expression of disbelief, as though she had just remembered something.
“Remington? Do you mean that Remington? The one that’s a specialty product of our Hollich?”
No sooner had she finished speaking than the wind-up doll’s eyeballs creaked sharply toward Natalisha.
「Your intuition is pret-ty good! But I don’t like intruders who catch on quickly. From now on, Remington 17400 is going to teach you a lesson. Woo-hoo!」
With that, it aimed the broom—whose bristles had been tossed aside—at Chaison.
Click.
Chaison hurled himself sideways, aghast.
BANG!
CRUNCH!
The spot where he had been standing shattered as bullets sprayed through it.
Natalisha’s face turned pale, and she hurriedly ducked behind a display cabinet.
“Are you kidding me?! Why is a wind-up doll holding a double-barreled shotgun……?!”
As someone from Hollich, a nation renowned for its firearms, Natalisha was very familiar with the Remington 17400 shotgun.
Click. BANG!
Click. BANG!
「Can you see that, everyone? Remington’s firepower is ab-so-lute-ly amaz-ing!」
The wind-up doll’s eyes gleamed like a killing machine as it pursued the two of them.
“Damn it! The stairs to the second floor and basement are blocked now!”
“Open the door! We need to get outside!”
Natalisha slammed her shoulder against the townhouse’s entrance, trying to force it open, but she was sent sprawling.
The door, which had been made of thick wood just moments ago, was now reinforced with iron bars.
“Urgh, damn it. The entrance is blocked too.”
“Over here! Get out through the window!”
Chaison spotted a window that hadn’t been locked yet.
Click. BANG!
The two of them barely managed to dodge the flying bullets and throw themselves out the window.
The wind-up doll chasing them stood by the window and waved its stiff arms.
「Goodbye, intruders! With skills like yours, this much is a looooss. Well. fought!」
Then it busied itself repairing the bullet-riddled floor before gliding smoothly back into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Nina was trapped in Rikita Bones’s room, sealed inside by an iron wall that had descended from the ceiling the moment she pressed the intruder-repellent button.
What on earth happened? Is this a wall meant to defend against intruders? I can’t hear a single sound from outside.
The iron wall seemed to have soundproofing capabilities as well. The surroundings were so quiet that Nina felt as though she were the only person left in the world.
Blue circuits glowed in various places along the iron wall, making it seem as though the wall itself was a magical tool.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a huge magical tool inside a house. Even the count’s estate didn’t have anything like this.
Nina marveled as she ran her hands over the perplexing wall.
Magical tools were various objects made using magic stones, minerals imbued with mana. Since magic stones could be refined in many different ways, they were used for a wide range of purposes.
In the Kingdom of Illite, only the extraordinarily wealthy could afford to create a magical tool large enough to surround a house with protective walls.
Just then, the red light on the button Nina had pressed went out with a little tick.
The iron wall that had descended along the room’s perimeter whirred as it rose back up into the ceiling.
Oh! Did it find the intruders?
Tilting her head curiously, Nina opened the bedroom door, only to find everything very quiet.
Relieved, she trotted up the stairs and returned to her room.
The hallway and landing were peaceful, as though nothing had happened.
But when she set her pillow down on the bed, she heard a commotion coming from the balcony.
Gasp! Were there really thieves in the house? Did the intruders escape?!
Lowering her posture, Nina nervously crawled toward the balcony, driven by both curiosity and fear. There, she spotted some unexpected people and widened her eyes.
“Oh my! Big Sis Katahari? What are you doing out there? Aunt Natalisha and Uncle Chaison are here too!”
Nina’s relatives, who had gathered outside the townhouse, flinched and looked up.
Worried that they might not recognize her, Nina waved and smiled brightly.
“It’s me. Nina.”
“R-right. It’s Nina.”
Chaison nudged the search device he had set on the ground with his foot, hiding it in the bushes.
Something went thump from inside the bushes, but no one paid it any mind.
Puzzled by their behavior, Nina leaned over the railing.
“Why is everyone outside? I don’t see Big Brother Exi.”
Katahari rubbed her shoulder with an uncomfortable expression, as though she hadn’t slept well, and glanced toward the bushes.
“It’s nothing. We heard a sudden commotion, so we came out to see what was going on. Exi…… must have fallen into a deep sleep.”
“Oh! I pressed the intruder-repellent button.”
Nina gave an embarrassed laugh and scratched her head.
“I thought I heard some strange noises. I was worried there might be a thief, you see. It turned out to be nothing, but I ended up waking everyone.”
“……The intruder-repellent button?”
Natalisha muttered wearily, and Nina nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes! Grandmother had even prepared something like that. Didn’t you all know? I don’t know how she managed to get a magical tool like that, but it’s really reassuring.”
At her cheerful remark, Chaison squeezed his eyes shut and replied.
“……Yes. It certainly is reassuring.”
Natalisha and Katahari also clenched their fists and silently ground their teeth.
The next morning, Nina was having breakfast with her family in the dining room. She glanced worriedly at Exi’s seat, which was still empty.
“Is Big Brother Exi feeling unwell? He hasn’t come down for breakfast.”
Katahari, who was spreading butter on her bread, replied with an awkward smile.
“Looks like Exi’s still asleep.”
“Oh, I see. So Big Brother Exi usually sleeps in?”
“No. He’s normally up by five. But today, he’s been completely out of it, sleeping as though someone had hit him with a sleep dart.”
