By noon, the bound men had been moved to a vacant room in the basement.
The mansion lacked a proper jail. I didn’t have a penchant for keeping rooms specifically designed to imprison people. Perhaps the House Razgrim of old might have had a gloomy chamber like that somewhere, but at the very least, there wasn’t one ready for immediate use.
So, I had the old food shelves cleared out, boards nailed over the windows, and left Raisa in charge of the watch. All the men were left sprawled on the floor with their limbs still bound.
Their faces were a mess. It wasn't an exaggeration to say they were unrecognizable. They were breathing, at least. Serena’s definition of "stopping" someone was clearly lacking in moderation.
Raisa lined up the daggers taken from the men on a desk, tapping her finger against the black needle mark engraved at the base of the blades.
"These guys are from the Black Needle Society... They're one of the more troublesome underworld outfits in the royal capital. They handle everything from theft and intimidation to assassination. Word is they even take contracts from nobles."
"Why do the people in the capital leave such a thing alone? Do they only polish the main roads while the underbelly is crawling with vermin?"
"Because they never operate in the light... and when they do, the witnesses stay silent. They were just unlucky this time. After all, you happened to have a very strange apprentice maid on hand."
Raisa’s gaze shifted toward Serena. Serena was standing in the corner of the room with a bucket of water. Apparently, she intended to wipe up the mud tracked onto the floor when the men were carried in.
Whether looking at the men she had captured or the daggers, her expression hardly shifted. Only when she saw the black needle mark did her eyes narrow ever so slightly.
Clarice picked up a small wooden tag found among the men's belongings, her brow furrowing in distaste.
"This is a claim tag used at the post stations near the royal capital. They weren't acting with just three people. There might be more of their comrades nearby."
"This is the worst... I only gave them a bit of lip back in the capital; why does the trouble keep multiplying like this?"
"I don't trust your definition of 'only giving them a bit of lip,' Vain, but the other side is definitely at fault here. Normally, people don't go as far as sending assassins."
"I wish they'd follow the example of normal nobles."
"...You're one to talk."
I decided to pretend I hadn't heard that.
The problem was whether this Black Needle Society would give up now. We had captured three of them. From their perspective, that meant they had not only failed the job but also left evidence in our hands.
A decent organization might back off, but if they were decent, they wouldn't have broken into a mansion in the middle of the night in the first place. There was a high probability they would come again... which meant I would need to increase the guard. In other words, more money would be going out.
Genuinely fed up, I pressed my fingers to my temples.
"If you don't clean up troublesome filth at the source, it just keeps multiplying..."
Serena’s hands stopped. I didn't notice. My head was too full of security costs to worry about mud on the floor.
"Raisa... don't kill the ones we caught. Clarice, prepare a letter to be sent to the capital. Mylene, tell the gatekeepers to increase the lighting at night. Serena, your wounds aren't fully healed yet, so don't overdo it. Just keep an eye on the inside of the mansion."
Still holding the water bucket, Serena gave a quiet nod.
"Understood. I will watch the inside."
"That's right... only the inside, okay? And don't make their faces unrecognizable like you did yesterday. The level of cleaning Mylene taught you is more than enough."
"...Understood."
I felt like there was a slight pause, but I didn't think too deeply on it. That afternoon, Serena worked hard. She wiped the mud from the hallways, washed the window frames the men had touched, carried water to the basement, and even helped change the bedding under Mylene's instruction.
Her footsteps were as silent as ever, but she spoke a little louder when addressing someone. No matter how you looked at her, she was a slightly strange but hard-working apprentice maid.
I felt relieved by that... far too relieved.
◇
When night fell, Serena was watching the inside of the mansion.
The hallway windows, the bolts on the back door, the embers in the hearth, the stairs leading to the basement. Just as Vain had told her, she inspected everything inside the mansion. There was no danger. Therefore, the next thing she should look at was the path through which danger entered.
To Serena, this was not an act of disobeying orders. Protecting the mansion did not mean only looking within its walls. The Black Needle Society had come once. An organization that had lost three members would send more to silence them. If it were the Serena of the past, she would have accepted that logic as an order. If told to kill, she killed. If told to erase, she erased. There was no need for doubt.
But now was different.
Vain had told her not to kill. He had said that disposing of corpses was a hassle. He said he hated it because it increased the paperwork. In that case, she would stop them without killing... she would stop them to the extent that they could not move, while leaving them breathing and without destroying their voices. She would not stain the mansion or leave mud in the hallways. She would ensure Mylene would not be troubled in the morning. That was the work Serena had learned.
One of the men in the basement grimaced in pain when Serena showed him the black needle mark and asked for the location of his comrades. He was silent at first, but when Serena silently reached out toward his swollen face, the man began to spill everything while shaking his head.
That their comrades were at a nearby post station... that they had arrangements to send a messenger bird to the capital... that the client was Baron Barzen... and that the Black Needle Society would erase those who failed rather than help them.
Serena listened to the end and stuffed the cloth back into the man's mouth.
"The number of those who would defile Lord Vain's mansion... will they increase?"
The man appealed with his eyes alone. Whether he wanted to say they would increase or was begging for mercy, she didn't know. To Serena, it was all the same.
Serena threw on her cloak and slipped out through the mansion's back door.
◇
In an old stable at the post station, the remainder of the Black Needle Society had gathered.
They were still merely complaining that the three who had headed for the mansion had not returned. Had they failed, run away, or were they fooling around at a tavern? Some were making light of it.
However, only the man at the back of the stable remained silent. Ever since the Shadow-Stitcher had left, the sounds of the night had become strangely bothersome. The rustle of straw, the snorting of horses, the wind whistling through the cracks in the door. Into those sounds, a presence that hadn't been there before mingled.
One light went out.
Next, the man on watch collapsed. No sound escaped him. Before the man who had been drinking could even stand, the strength was sapped from his wrists and his dagger fell to the floor. The one who tried to flee dropped to his knees before the door. None were killed. However, not a single person could remain standing.
Blue hair materialized within the dim light.
"The sin of targeting my Lord is heavy."
The men could not answer. Some had their mouths blocked with cloth. Others had been struck in the throat and could not produce a sound. Only the man at the back retreated against the wall, his face pale.
"Wh—?! Shadow-Stitcher... Why are you here?!"
Upon hearing that name, Serena lowered her eyes slightly.
Shadow-Stitcher.
Every time she was called by that name, someone's order followed. Kill... silence... erase... that is all you are capable of.
But at the mansion, the treatment was different. Mylene called her Serena-san and taught her how to serve tea. Clarice entrusted her with stacks of documents while commenting that her speed was unnervingly fast. Raisa looked at her as a peer without a hint of mockery. Vain called her a bargain find.
...It was a blunt way to put it, but he didn't call her the Shadow-Stitcher.
—Apprentice maid.
That, too, was a strange term, but at least it wasn't a name for a killer.
"Right now, I am Serena... I am an apprentice maid for House Razgrim."
"Don't give me that! You, a maid...?!"
The man drew a dagger.
In the next instant, that dagger was stuck in a ceiling beam. The man realized the blade had vanished from his hand, and a moment later, he clutched his shoulder and fell to his knees.
Serena approached and picked up the Black Needle Society's ledger. The client, the payment received, the post station used, the location of their warehouse in the capital. Everything was written there.
"I have been told not to kill... therefore, I will not kill. But you shall receive the retribution for betraying me."
That night, the bird that was supposed to fly from the post station to the royal capital did not take flight. The members of the Black Needle Society were bound, their ledger was seized, and the gold and daggers hidden in the stable were packed into a single box.
Serena hid the traces of blood with straw and extinguished the light. It was rough for a cleaning job. Mylene would probably have done it a bit more thoroughly. So she thought.
—Next time, I will do it better.
◇
The next morning, when I went to the dining hall, Serena brought the tea as usual.
Her complexion was a bit pale. Likely the wounds she received in the capital were still bothering her. Despite that, the tray didn't wobble, the tea didn't spill, and her footsteps were almost non-existent.
The bread baked by Mylene and a plate of warmed beans were also set out. Compared to yesterday morning, it was a very peaceful morning. Apparently, a mansion could look this tranquil simply by not having bound men rolling around in the hallway.
Just then, Raisa entered the dining hall.
In her hand was a black ledger and several daggers engraved with the black needle mark. Apparently, they were delivered by fast horse from a nearby post station at dawn. It was reported that men in black cloaks had been found bundled and bound inside a stable, with a box containing the ledger and daggers placed beside them...
Clarice followed from behind and placed the ledger in front of me. Neither of them had expressions one should show before breakfast.
"Vain! I heard the members of the Black Needle Society were found tied up together at a nearby post station! Even the ledger with the request and daggers marked with the black needle were left behind in a box."
"...What's that? Weren't they supposed to be a famous underworld outfit? To line up the evidence themselves, they're quite a kind bunch."
Clarice opened her mouth as if to say something, then stopped. Raisa also tapped the hilt of a dagger with her finger while looking at Serena, who was standing in the corner of the dining hall. Even Mylene turned a troubled gaze toward Serena.
As Serena cleared the tea set, she spoke in her usual flat voice.
"...I did a little cleaning last night."
"Hmm... You're a hardworking maid, aren't you? But your injuries aren't fully healed yet. You should rest a bit."
—She must have cleaned the mansion until late... Her dedication to her work is impressive. I'm worried she might collapse, though...
When I said that, Clarice pressed her hand to her eyes, and Raisa stifled a low laugh. Mylene let out a small, sharp breath.
—What? Did I say something strange? It's not odd to tell an injured person to rest, is it?
Only Serena lowered her eyes ever so slightly.
"Understood. When I can rest, I will."
"Do that... If you collapse, the medical expenses will go up."
I opened the ledger and sipped my tea, exasperated by the stupidity of the group called the Black Needle Society.
I had braced myself after hearing they were an underworld organization from the capital, but perhaps they weren't all that special.
At the very least, even the ones lurking in the nearby post station were caught all at once, and I had obtained a ledger with the client's name in it. It seemed there was no need to pay high prices to hire new guards immediately...
Of course, I would increase the gatekeepers and night patrols for a while... But I had no intention of spending the domain's funds indefinitely just for the sake of the Black Needle Society or whatever they were called.
While I was thinking that, only Clarice, Raisa, and Mylene watched Serena in silence by my side.