Side Note

"52 Elven corpses, check. Magic circle drawn with a special mixture of a virgin's blood, crushed unicorn horn, and the spit from the summoner, check. 72 licked cherries, check. Tea drank, check. All that's left is to prepare the runes." The summoner started grabbing rocks out of his bag, placing them around the circle.

Summoning a demon lord. What an exciting twist of events. Currently, I have a box of popcorn in my hand, watching the summoner do his thing. He has drawn this huge circle. It's touching the two walls, and this is in the throne room. The room that can also double as an impromptu party room for nobles. I learnt about that as a maid. Sometimes I forget I passed the maid exams. 

"You certainly are an excellent maid. I feel quite lucky to have randomly acquired you." The Duchess stood beside me, also eating some popcorn. The summoner had been preparing the ritual for the past hour or two, and since there's nothing nor no one in this castle of hers, we've been watching the summoner together. We've been chatting about things like surrounding nobles, the latest romance novels, and that time I had a run-in with this weird goblin wolf hybrid tribe. Really disgusting children.

"You know boss, I've gotta ask. Why is there no one here? Aren't you a noble?"

"Boss?"

"Well, I am under your employ. Even if you don't pay me."

"I see. I quite like the sound of boss. Continue calling me that."

"You got it, boss."

"As for your question, it's because the past servants all died."

"Died? How? What? Why? How?"

"Turned out half the servants were assassins, the other half were bandits, and only two of my servants, both of them being maids, were actually loyal to me."

"That doesn't explain how they died."

"One of the loyal maids found out about the others' loyalties and slaughtered them. Turned out she was madly in love. Emphasis on madly."

"Oh… OH…"

"She then killed herself after all the murders because she had accidentally poured blood in my favourite room. The other loyal maid and I were relaxing in one of the rooms I used to use to drink tea, when she came in to declare she'd end her life."

"Then what happened?"

"The remaining maid calmly went out of the door. She spent the entire day cleaning all the corpses. By the end of the day, there were no more blood stains or bodies in the castle."

"Why isn't she here anymore, then?"

"She got married. She's currently living with her husband in the nearby town. I hear they're expecting a kid soon. I'm thinking of visiting them."

"That is a wild story. How come you haven't hired anyone else?"

"Umm… I forgot to."

"Wow… just wow." That is… a stupid reason. I knew boss was a bit airhead, but damn. Not gonna say it to her face, though. Wait… she's looking kind of offended. Did it show on my face? Time to distract her with a different subject. "So how exactly are we summoning a Demon Lord? Like, I can see all the magical ritual things going on, but what makes you think it'll actually work?"

"The summoner here is actually a Sacred Power holder, just like me."

"Is he now? Hey Summoner, come here real quick!"

"I'm busy. Can't you see I'm still placing the runes down?"

"It'll be quick. I just wanna look in your eyes."

"Why?"

Time to bring out the surefire tactic I made so I can look into the eyes of a Sacred Holder power! "I have an eye fetish."

"Disgusting." I-it failed?! Impossible!! "However, I have a feeling if I don't let you look into my eyes, you will continue to harass me, hindering my progress on the ritual." He placed a rune then looked at me. "Do note that I am allowing you to observe my eye not for you to ogle at but for pragmatic reasons. Make it quick."

"Aye aye, captain!" I looked at his… what colour is that? Eh, doesn't matter. I look at his eyes.

"Oh, Demon Summoning. Makes sense."

"You can tell people's Sacred Power by looking in their eyes?"

"So why you wanting a Demon Lord, boss?"

"You're going to ignore my inquiry?!"

"I want them to be my lover."

Character profile: Ferry Deimos.

Sacred Power: Demon Summoning.

Favourite Demon: Belphegor. 

Description: The dreaded summoner of demons, he can be hired for personal summonings, with the price being the acquisition of materials and a cup of tea. He previously used to get the materials through his own pocket and charge summons through gold, but after 6 consecutive summonings where he didn't get paid because the client was killed by the demon upon summoning, he decided it'd be cheaper if the materials were procured by the client instead. He likes tea.

Chapter namesake: Summoner by Big Black Delta.