Good day to you.
My name was Henrietta Argason, a human woman of twenty-five years. I served as the maid chief for Lady Erika-teze, the daughter of a Duke.
To put it simply, Lady Erika-teze was currently in exile in a certain village within the Demon Kingdom. She was working quite hard, but reality was a cruel mistress, and one could not survive on ideals alone. Specifically, we were desperately short on funds. Not only did we lack the money for wages, but we even struggled to cover our daily living expenses. The capital we had managed to spirit away from the Duke’s estate before our flight had been exhausted on various failed ventures. Reality was indeed unforgiving.
For the time being, I had sent most of my colleagues who had accompanied her ladyship to Shashato City to find work. It was a matter of finding seasonal labor, not a dismissal. Their term of service was indefinite, and while they received no wages from us, they were allowed to keep everything they earned for themselves. It was practically a dismissal in all but name, yet I insisted it was not. Lady Erika-teze was not the sort of woman to simply abandon her people. Besides, Shashato City was easily accessible via the Teleportation Gate; we could meet whenever we wished.
As for their place of employment…
"Literacy is sufficient. Arithmetic skills are most welcome. Loyalty to the Demon Kingdom? We seek the accuracy of letters and numbers over such vague notions!"
It was a workplace that boldly displayed such recruitment posters. I wondered if the Demon Kingdom authorities would not object to a workplace claiming loyalty was unnecessary, but it was a boon for us nonetheless. Every one of us who followed her ladyship could read, write, and calculate, and we were well-versed in etiquette—even if it was the style of the Human Kingdom. It was the ideal place for migrant work.
The only issue was that they had the audacity to recommend that I, and even Lady Erika-teze, join their ranks. While I appreciated the offer, we declined for the time being.
The person managing that establishment was Lady Miyo, the secretary to the Magistrate of Shashato City. She had the appearance of a young girl, but one could not afford to be careless; appearances were often deceptive among the inhabitants of the Demon Kingdom. In my estimation, Lady Miyo was the type whose maturity far outstripped her outward form. It was wisest to interact with her as one would an older woman.
Even though I had sent most of our companions to work, it only stemmed the bleeding of Lady Erika-teze’s funds; it did not replenish them. Her ladyship was attempting to rectify our fortunes through farming, but as we were ignorant of the local climate, progress was slow. Still, she was a genius. I expected she would have it sorted within five years. She had been obsessed with developing beauty products since childhood, and the cosmetics and delicacies she created had been hailed as national treasures.
Currently, she struggled with the biological differences between humans and demons, as well as the cultural divide between our nations, but time would surely resolve those issues. I believed that she would one day become a person of great influence within the Demon Kingdom. Because I held that conviction, I encouraged her to focus on her research and fields while I took it upon myself to earn our keep.
Admittedly, my options were limited. First, I sold the beauty products her ladyship developed. I marketed them to demon races that shared similar biology with humans. Since those seeking such luxuries were naturally wealthy, I was pleased to have established connections with the Demon Kingdom’s nobility. It was somewhat troublesome when they tried to scout me as a personal supplier to monopolize the goods, but since our production capacity within the kingdom was limited, the profits were modest. Still, we were in the black, so I had no complaints.
Next, I sold information. I provided details regarding the lands outside the Demon Kingdom—specifically, the Human Kingdom. At first, I felt some resistance to performing acts that benefited the Demon Kingdom, but I had to prove we were useful assets to avoid any unfortunate "accidents." At the very least, I had to ensure the authorities did not view Lady Erika-teze as an enemy.
Our primary client was Magistrate Ifuls of Shashato City. Through Lady Miyo, I was able to secure an audience with him. The information we provided mostly concerned influential figures and their interpersonal relationships. We knew little of troop strengths or military formations, and I feared he would be disappointed, but his evaluation was surprisingly high. He also welcomed information regarding the customs of the human lands. I wondered if such things were useful for governance, but I was simply grateful for the generous payment.
However, such information could only be sold once. While I still held some secrets, they would only lose value as they grew stale with time. Just as I was pondering our next move, Lady Miyo proposed a new task: leaking information about the Demon Kingdom back to the human lands. We possessed the means to contact the Duke’s household, and she suggested we utilize those channels.
I questioned if that was truly permitted, but Lady Miyo insisted it was important to accurately convey the reality of the Demon Kingdom. She argued that if information was too tightly controlled, the outside world would become paralyzed by fear and unable to negotiate. Indeed, since arriving here, Lady Erika-teze had frequently remarked on how different the reality was from the rumors.
Since the task did not involve spreading disinformation to cause chaos, I accepted. A few times a year, I would send reports on the Demon Kingdom along with news of her ladyship’s well-being. There was no censorship of my reports. This provided us with a stable income—hardly a fortune, but enough to sustain a modest life.
As we grew accustomed to life here and Lady Erika-teze began to fret over her marriage prospects, Lady Miyo brought us an extra assignment. She wanted us to report on the parade being held this spring. I initially thought it was part of my usual duties, but there was a specific request: "Be as accurate as possible."
I intended to be accurate regardless, but she offered a separate reward, so I gladly accepted.
On the day of the parade, I was glad Lady Miyo had arranged for me to see the rehearsal. It meant I was not shocked by the sight of the Inferno Wolves, though their sheer numbers still took my breath away. Beastmen, High Elves, Lizardmen, Giants, Lamias… it felt less like a parade and more like a display of an invincible army. And while they were not in the village, I knew there were numerous dragons as well.
I finally understood why she wanted me to be accurate. She wanted the human lands to know exactly what kind of military might the Demon Kingdom possessed. There was no use in hiding it, so I would report it all. However, the sight of so many Angels in the procession gave me pause. It was undeniable proof that the Garlet Kingdom had been swallowed by the Demon Kingdom. Or perhaps they no longer felt the need to hide that fact? It was better for the humans to know the truth.
As for the carriages that combined and transformed… was there any point in reporting that? Well, I was told to be accurate, so I would include it. Though I doubted anyone would believe me. That, however, was their problem. I would simply take my reward.
On a final note, I decided not to mention that Lady Erika-teze had applied her makeup with singular focus to hunt for a husband. It would only worry her family. However, her ladyship really needed to settle on a single target instead of eyeing all the young beastmen at once. Furthermore, those gentlemen were already married; I had seen them frequently at Lady Miyo’s office. I could not possibly introduce her to them, as we were not on such intimate terms.
Moreover, I wished she would show more social grace toward the family of the Village Head who governed our new home. The Village Head’s son had been waving to her with all his might, yet she ignored him completely. She claimed he was not her type because he looked "weak," but I doubted there were many people stronger than her ladyship. She had become so devoted to that bizarre martial art of hers that she was now stronger than our own guard captain.
She insisted those "Tezankou" iron-shoulder strikes were a secret technique of the Duke’s house, but I was certain it was a lie—likely a prank played by a previous head of the family generations ago.
I really wished she would stop performing those martial arts demonstrations in public. She was standing out far too much.