Another worry

"..."

Melinda was watching Ross and Catherine leaving the scene of a monsters massacre, peeking at them from behind the tree in silence.

"My lady."

"AGHFG, SHIT!"

All of a sudden, she heard a voice right by her ear and flinched so hard that she stumbled to the side, instinctively dodging out of the attack range, although very, very awkwardly.

Not to mention completely unnecessarily.

"...my lady, it's my fault this time, but please do mind your language. If you don't fix that habit, then ou might end up getting confused for an elf because of your beauty."

The person who startled Melinda was none other than a brown-haired mind, lowering her head apologetically towards the gold-haired girl rolling through the ash-covered, dried-up vegetation of the forest floor.

She felt sorry, but it was also hard for her to keep a straight face at the sight.

"Adi! You almost scared the life out of me! That's dangerous! What would you do if my response to being startled like that was to punch or something?!"

Melinda cried out in complaint, getting up and patting the ash off her clothes and hair, although her white shirt seemed to have suffered critical damage.

"I acted that way because I know how you react, my lady."

"...a… haaa… So that was on purpose, eh...?"

The maid straighened her back, shifting the position of bracelet of the scout on her wrist, and pointed out without a shred of guilt on her face, making Melinda open her mouth, close it, and then finally settle for a sigh.

"My lady, I've come over to check what was happening since my level increased. Again. Even though the experience gained after getting to level 80 is supposed to be extremely tedious - if not impossible - for anyone except those born with royal-type abilities. That means it should be impossible for someone like me with a non-combat common type ability."

The maid's voice became a lot stricter, but her expression showed that she wasn't all that angry about the whole thing.

"This time, I do have an actual reason and not an excuse."

"...?"

Melinda breathed out and declared, to which the maid politely tilted her head to show off one ear, indicating great attentiveness.

"Remember the warband of the Boarkins that we split apart to send the small, manageable groups of Battle-Scar Bloods around the Empire? Their warchief made his way all the way here, picking up a few of his old underlings as he went and even began to recruit more. They almost got Ross."

"Oh, dear…! I'm glad that you made it in time, then."

The gold-haired girl explained, satisfied with the maid's worried gasp.

"That indeed is a good reason for you to be on the hunt, my lady."

"Yeah. After seeing him using healing magic, no commander-type Orc would be able to resist recruiting Ross. Clerics and healers are invaluable for monsters."

The maid nodded with understanding, and Melinda pointed out while taking a peek at the lifeless scene of the slaughter.

"I was about to check whether anything worth selling endured. I actually hoped you show up."

The gold-haired girl added, motioning at the gore-splattered cliffside.

"Is that so…? I was under the impression you already did that, my lady…"

But in response, the brown-haired maid spoke up while leooking meaningfully at the crimson orb that Melinda held on to even while getting startled and rolling in the dirt.

"Hmm? Oh, this isn't from the Orcs. It's a sign of trouble."

Melinda raised her brows and glanced at the sphere before letting out a short gasp and revealing.

"...trouble…"

The maid muttered, furrowing her brows and staring at the crimson orb with a grim look in her eyes.

"Unfortunately. Hey, remember when you said we have more money than we can spend without getting the Empire's interest?"

Melinda confirmed before suddenly seemingly changing the subject.

"When I said that, I was referring to buying property - and more precisely, that as a foreign aristocrat, your choices are very limited - no commercial use, only one building and a stable - both with the strictly specified maximum size. You can use the money to buy equipment, jewelry, or whatever else you want."

The maid specified, leaning back with a cautious expression on her face.

"Scouts. We need to hire scouts to check on places where Deep-Dusk Silva Head and Deep-Dusk Glacier Head should be sealed… and if the seals are broken, then to try to track them."

"..."

Melinda said with a serious expression, finishing her instructions with a long sigh while the maid's eyes widened.

"My lady, by that, you mean…"

"Yeah. Yeah… this is Hearth Core. In the heat of the moment, I mistook Deep-Dusk Hearth Head for just some measly Flame Skull Champion…"

The maid took a deep breath and asked, to which Melinda sighed again in confirmation while showing off the crimson orb.

"Oh, dear…"

"Oh, dear indeed."

The maid gasped, and the gold-haired girl echoed her with a worried look on her face.

"I'm pretty sure that the Hearth Head showing up here wasn't my fault, but what if Zane misunderstands it?! He already knows I'm influencing monsters and bandits - what if he thinks that I'm trying to strengthen the Deep-Dusk Dullahan so that his party members will die trying to fight it?! Adi, we have to work fast. Go to the guild to put up the quest. Do you remember the locations for the seals, or should I go with you?"

"..."

And then Melinda started speaking, showing off what actually was troubling her in that whole scenario, which caused the brown-haired maid to stare at her with a disillusioned expression.

"Adi?"

"I remember. Please be at ease, my lady. I'll take care of it"

The gold-haired girl made a worried face and questioned the silence, to which the maid closed her eyes for a second or two before composing herself enough to respond.

"Thank you! You're the best~!"

The gold-haired girl cheered out happily and then went out to rummage through the massive pile of dust-covered, still steaming gore.