The Butler of the Villainess Has Returned

Chapter 39

They were caught immediately.

"Let go of meee!!"

"Do you know who we are!?"

"We are the Moon Wolf Clan's Main Branch!!"

Claudia grabbed two of them, and Kali held the other one.

I smiled kindly.

"Shall we resolve this with a conversation?"

"What conversation!? Let me go!"

As the biggest one struggled, the other two didn't stop squirming either. I squatted down in front of the biggest one.

"You're the big brother, aren't you?"

"Yeah!"

"What's your name?"

"Why should I tell you, bastard!?"

They were confident.

Not only had they trespassed into Sion, but they also stole the Young Lady's ticket.

I asked for the last time.

"So, you have no intention of talking?"

"Yeah! Let us go right now!!"

"Alright, I'll let you go."

I nodded toward Claudia and Kali. They hesitated but released their grip.

"Hah! See you later, idiots!"

They ran away quickly.

I looked around and confirmed we were alone. Then, I muttered softly.

"[Stop.]"

"Ack."

"Ugh,"

"Urgh."

With the consumption of one Circle's worth of mana, the three of them froze in place.

One Word Spirit per Circle, huh.

It's a ridiculous ability, but it still seemed difficult to use in combat. Anyway, that wasn't the important part right now.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to force a conversation."

"Then let us go, you bastard!!"

"Nope. What if you suddenly want to talk?"

"That'll never happen!!"

Are you sure about that?

I whispered to them.

"[Follow me with a duck walk.]"

The moment I gave the command, I heard the muttering of the three behind me.

"Ugh, that bastard is really...."

"Still, they're kids. Does he really have to do this...?"

"Oh, today there was more talk about Yuri than the Young Lady, you know?"

I looked down at the three squatting and clutching their ears, wondering if I had gone too far.

"What are you looking at, you bastard!"

"Hurry up and let us go!?"

"Ugh, you look just like a demon."

My heart felt a bit more at ease.

I drew out mana like threads and wrapped one around each of the three's torsos.

Even Luna had been reformed by me.

"Let's see who wins."

A delightful walk began.

2.

Philia Gospel felt frustrated.

It was because the Black-Haired Butler of the Salvatore Family kept lingering in her mind.

She leaned against the corridor, lost in thought.

"...Why?"

He was a crazy person.

With a demonic expression, he subdued her and her teammates as if toying with them.

When everyone was on the verge of being eliminated, hadn't he smiled brightly and even prayed?

-Please, don't let them hurt.

Like that.

Beating them up and then praying they wouldn't feel pain—he was undoubtedly a thoroughly crazy person.

But why couldn't she stop thinking about him?

"...Ugh!"

Philia Gospel shook her head.

It was clear that her heart was playing tricks on her because of the overwhelming shock she had received.

Approaching her as she lay collapsed.

-Congratulations on winning their hearts.

Whispering things like that,

-This is a gift to celebrate your growth.

-...What is this?

-It's my heart.

And handing her honey candy—those were things she shouldn't care about.

However, as mentioned before, Philia Gospel was a woman skilled in calculation.

This was undoubtedly love.

It could be a light affection of a teenage girl, or perhaps a genuine love between human beings, but what was certain was that it was love.

"...Yuri."

She uttered the butler's name.

Just saying it made her heart flutter, and the name lingered on her lips like a residual scent.

Philia placed her hand on her chest.

"Is this really love?"

It certainly felt like love, but her restless heart wouldn't calm down.

"I need to meet him in person."

If she could meet him directly, look into his eyes, and exchange a few words, she would surely realize.

Just as she was about to leave to find Yuri.

"Philia?"

A gentle voice called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.

How could even his voice be so kind?

Tightly.

Philia clutched the hem of her skirt.

Suppressing her pounding heart, she slowly turned toward the source of the voice.

"Ah...!"

Like a princess in a play she had once seen, she turned quietly and gracefully.

"Yuriihik?!"

And then she was shocked.

Villainess Frey, a maid with madness, and another maid who seemed to cast curses.

Even if they had met outside the Academy, she would have immediately averted her gaze.

However, even they were mere background figures next to the butler with the demonic expression.

Three beastmen, around ten years old, were tied with mana threads and waddling in a duck walk.

"P-Please stop...!"

"Hah, hah, hah!"

"T-Talk! Let's talk!!"

"Let go of me, you bastards. My brother is in the middle of socializing right now."

Yuri shook his leg, shaking them off. Afterward, he waved toward Philia.

"Have you been well?"

"Oh, oh, yes...."

"That's a relief."

"But what is this situation...?"

"Ah, this?"

Squeak!

Yuri pulled up the leash.

"I was teaching them manners."

"...Isn't this beastman abuse?"

"Ah! Don't misunderstand!"

Yuri waved his hand.

"If they weren't beastmen and were just humans, I would have made them crawl on all fours."

"What?"

"Rather, because they are beastmen, I let them off with a duck walk."

"...What?"

"Because it's an important time for beastman rights."

Philia felt dizzy.

Even though they were conversing in human form, she couldn't follow the flow at all.

"Anyway, I'll be going now."

"A-Already?"

"I think the education is complete."

The beastmen were on the verge of collapsing.

Holding their ears, they waddled in a duck walk, sweating like waterfalls.

They sent pleading glances, but she didn't interfere with what wasn't hers.

Philia nodded.

"Ah, yes...."

"Well then, goodbye."

With that, Yuri left.

Philia began to worry again.

And she thought.

'Is it not love...?'

...Then fear?

......Is it not?

Philia became even more confused.

3.

The young lady and Claudia entered the classroom first due to their class.

Entering the empty training ground, she made them kneel and sat in front of them, asking.

"How did you get in here?"

"While escaping, we ended up here!"

"Escaping?"

"Th-That is...."

As the two younger siblings hesitated, the eldest brother stood up, his legs trembling.

"First, let me introduce ourselves. We are Hana, Dul, and Sam, the main branch of the Moon Wolf Clan."

"What?"

"Our names, I mean. Starting with me, Hana, my younger brother Dul, and my youngest sister Sam."

How could beastman names be Hana, Dul, and Sam?

Just as she was appalled by the terrible naming sense, Hana continued.

"The three of us are the only main branch of the Moon Tribe. And until recently, we were kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?"

"We don't know the details either. Bastards in dark red robes raided the Moon Wolf Clan, kidnapped the three of us, and dragged us somewhere."

After thinking for a moment, she asked.

"Did those robes have a horn symbol? Golden, one to three?"

The moment the question ended, Hana spread his arms and stood in front of his siblings.

"...How do you know that?"

It seemed she had been misunderstood.

As she wondered how to explain, Hana growled lowly.

"From the way you look, you must be one of them!"

"...That's a misunderstanding."

"Don't bullshit me! Looking like that, are you trying to lie and say you're on the side of justice!!"

Smack!

After flicking his forehead to calm him down, she took out three candies and handed them one by one.

"The ones who attacked you are from the Demon God Cult."

"The Demon God Cult?"

She explained briefly.

Lunatics who desire the world's destruction, struggling to summon the Demon God.

Crunch!

Hana broke the candy in half and handed it to his siblings, then asked again.

"Why on earth?"

"I don't know that either."

Even in her previous lives, she had only learned their objectives, not their reasons.

And right now, that wasn't the important part.

"How did you get in here?"

Academy Sion.

While it is generally open to outsiders, they cannot access the main facilities.

However, the place where she first met these guys was a restricted area surrounded by a barrier.

Unless they were associated with Sion, they would lose their way like a maze and end up outside again.

"After escaping from there, we were looking for someone to help us."

"So why here, of all places?"

Hana pointed to his nose.

"I smelled the residual scent of the tribe here."

"The Moon Tribe?"

"Yes, and it was quite strong."

The moment the conversation ended.

Boom!!

The entrance to the training ground shattered.

She recognized it instantly.

It was the professor who ignored her words during the entrance exam and continued the test.

His name was definitely....

"Ringingdong?"

"...Ringo."

The moment Ringo revealed her name, the youngest, Sam, beamed brightly.

"Ringo Sis!"

"Sam?"

"It's Ringo! Heretic Ringo!"

"Heretic... It's been a while since I heard that."

Ringo examined the children.

After thoroughly inspecting them with her eyes, she closed her eyes, raised her nose, and sniffed.

"Huh?"

She seemed to sense something strange and checked the back of the children's hands one by one.

"...What is this?"

"Why, Sis?"

"Ah, it's nothing."

It seemed there was something she couldn't see with her eyes but could detect with her nose.

Then she looked at me.

To be precise, it was closer to glaring at me like I was her sworn enemy rather than just looking.

"Would you mind staying here for a moment?"

"Sure!"

She quietly stood up from her seat.

Even though I was watching her walk right in front of me, I couldn't sense any presence from her.

Her attitude was serious.

It was not the playful demeanor I had seen until now but the quiet, angry appearance of an educator.

"Let me ask you one thing."

She sighed and asked.

"Are you, by any chance, a slave trader?"

.

.

.

"What?"