It was then revealed, when Vice Captain Dortmund said, "Amulet Maid"—he was indeed referring to me.
As to why and how such a useful instrument was suddenly linked to me, I had no idea…
"Umm, Vice-Captain Dortmund, did I do something…?"
The fact that the other party was a vice captain intimidated me. However, I still had to know the reason why I was being dragged away like this.
The opportunity for a cleaning maid to come in contact with a Vice Captain was low to begin with. Almost non-existent, even.
"There"s a little something to be discussed about, well, later you"ll know…"
A little…?
To the courage I displayed, that was all he said.
"Ha…" It seemed that I would only receive the full explanation once I arrived to wherever it was he was taking me. Hence, I gave up further pursuit.
Let"s walk properly, at least…
Once I decided such, I increased my pace and followed the Vice Captain.
In silence, we arrived at the Knight Directory Office.
Like the Knight Leader"s Quarters, which I saw yesterday, the office"s door was engraved with the knights" coat of arms—a wolf insignia. Vice-Captain then knocked at the door.
"Leader—!! I brought you the amulet—!!"
Towards his shout, every knight in the room raised their heads—including Ranbic.
""Amulet???""
…this is kind of like a deja vu.
"Bock, you…"
At first, he was as confused as the others, but, he immediately understood the situation. He looked amazed.
…Well, if it"s me, I still don"t understand anything.
"Leader, the Star Festival is nearing. No matter how unlikely it"ll help, you must still try it."
"Yes, but…"
I"m not sure what"s happening… are they hiding something?
"Ah, only now do I see you properly—it"s you, isn"t it? The maid that escorted me to my quarters yesterday."
"Yes, I"m Tina Walter."
When I was brought to this place, I was wondering if this had anything to do with what happened yesterday. It seemed so.
I could guess where this was going—
"—leave it to me. I promised you, right? That I wouldn"t tell anybody about yesterday."
"Huh?"
Eh?
It isn"t about yesterday?
Good. Because I was nervous, I jumped to conclusion. How embarra.s.sing.
His cheeks were dyed a gentle pink, too. Seeing our reactions towards each other, Vice-Captain Dortmund smirked.
…this is too embarra.s.sing.
"Ms. Walter. I still remember our promise yesterday. I know you aren"t the kind of woman who would will go back on her words. Bock brought you to me because of a different reason."
"Different…?"
I was stunned. As I had said, I never had any contact with the Vice Captain before.
"Yes, yes. It has nothing to do with being loose-mouthed."
The way Vice Captain Dortmund said that so casually only made it harder to believe. He continued.
"There"s something that I"d like to request of you." Said the Knight Leader with a smile.
"An escort? Me? For Knight Leader?"
I unintentionally inspected him from top to bottom. He had a well-trained body and was tall enough to make raise my head.
No matter how much I thought about it, I didn"t think someone like him needed an escort. I also didn"t think I was suited for the role. My level of experience was that of running around the mountains for exercise—and that was during childhood.
Shouldn"t knights be the one doing the escorting, anyway?
Vice-Captain Dortmund laughed bitterly once he understood the reason of my reluctance.
"No, no, it"s not your physical prowess that we require—more like, your mental fort.i.tude, or, to be more accurate, spiritual tendency?"
"Huh…?"
"She didn"t appear when Knight Leader was with you, for some reason."
"She?"
"Yes, that transparent woman who always attaches herself to our Leader."
Oh, right, yesterday"s topic.
Ghost.
"…isn"t that coincidental?"
Unfortunately, I only talked and walked with Knight Leader Ranbic for a short time yesterday.
I thought it had nothing to do with me. She probably didn"t appear because of a coincidence.
I mean, was this what they meant when they referred to me as "Amulet Maid"?
Because they thought I warded off the ghost?
"No, I don"t think so at all! Usually, that ghost doesn"t give me the time of the day. Even if it"s only a brief respite, the fact that she didn"t appear the whole time we walked through the corridor is enough to be called a miracle! That ghost also appears more often when I"m with a woman than a man!"
"Really…?"
"Yes!"
He then told me.
The other day, when he was escorting Christinsama, one of the bachelorettes at the ball, she appeared. The ghost"s gaze was more intense and creepier than usual.
Then, as a result—
"—Ms. Christina was terrified and said that she would never show her face to the Leader again. The ghost also sucked more life out of our Leader than usual that day. He fell asleep and didn"t wake up until the next day. It was terrible."
While his tone was light, Vice-Captain Dortmund"s expression was gloomy.
"If she"s around, he can"t rest. How would he be able to direct and train everyone, then? Or, essentially, do his job properly."
Even if our kingdom was peaceful, the knights must always be aware of their surroundings.
If they were to lose their concentration, they wouldn"t be able to intercept a bandit attack.
"…Especially because the Star Festival will be here soon. People from all over the world will gather. We already have enough loaded into our hand to be dealing with this ghost problem…"
I see, now.
The kingdom was peaceful—which was thanks to their protection.
I gripped my palm tightly.
Once again, I needed to be courageous.
"Um…"
"Yes?"
"I understand what happened. Yesterday, Knight-Leader Ranbic also said that he had exhausted all methods to banish the ghost… If I could be of any help, then let me help."
After I told him so, the smile Vice-Captain Dortmund gave me made me realize that I might have had decided too soon…
"If this really works, then I"ll a.s.sign you a real position to work alongside the knights. But for now, let us just see how it goes."
Vice-Captain Dortmund worked fast.
Immediately, the head maid was informed, and I was soon in charge of cleaning the knight"s grounds. My tasks were replaced with something more flexible than before.
Despite all that, Vice-Captain Dortmund still calmly reminded me that this was but "the trial period".
For the first week, we would only be trying something simple.
If I truly had that "Amulet" effect, then I would work full time alongside the Knight Leader in earnest.
The reason behind my "Amulet" effect would also be investigated.
—that seemed to be the gist of my schedule.
Then, as for my first duty—
"…Pathetic, isn"t it?"
"Huh?"
My first job this week was to accompany Knight-Leader Ranbic on a walk through the corridor at night.
I was exempted from the early morning"s duties by the Knight Leader. When he was in his office, I would be a.s.signed to cleaning duty of said place. The same went for when he was at the training grounds.
The system was to signal with a bell. When he was about to move, he would ring the bell and we would walk together.
Going by such appearances, I wondered what everyone seeing us thought…
Albeit, they must had been aware of my "Amulet" effect.
It seemed that this scene was only significant to me.
I also thought of this as practice. This way, I wouldn"t be nervous when I talked to a crush in person.
Although, as of current, I was still awkward. When he suddenly uttered something to me, I instinctively raised my head. I looked up at Knight-Leader Ranbic—
—and immediately lost my breath.
His deep-blue eyes, illuminated by moonlight, were in deep melancholy.
"What kind of Knight Leader is afraid of ghosts and makes such a delicate woman like you walk him through the corridor?" His tone was truly pitiful.
I shook my head repeatedly and said it was nothing.
Other than that, I didn"t know what to say at such times.
I didn"t know, but—…
"You shouldn"t feel ashamed about yourself, Knight-Leader Ranbic."
I didn"t know why the ghost attached herself to Knight-Leader Ranbic, however, I didn"t believe the reason was bad. The Knight-Leader that I knew was someone so kind, it was impossible to hold any grudges towards him.
"I"m but a lowly servant, to be of use to a knight who is working so hard for the peace of the kingdom brings absolute joy to me. I"m very happy."
I gave my all to show him my best smile. Although, I wasn"t really confident about it in the first place…
For a moment, Knight-Leader Ranbic looked like he was in a daze, before long, he showed me a relieved smile. Thank you, he said.
This time, I wasn"t able to meet his gaze.
I, whom had been full of myself that day, only noticed that we didn"t encounter any ghosts the next day, when Vice-Captain Dortmund declared to me—
"—you"re indeed the "Amulet Maid"."
*T/N: Her job is now official lmao.