I had only mentioned the minimum supplies I carried as Ethan’s maid, but I could feel the three pairs of eyes on me shining for different reasons.

“You go that far? Seriously, you two are such a hopeless couple.”

“Indeed. It seems that to maintain the basic dignity of a maid, one must go to that extent. Thank you for the insight, Ris.”

“…So the rumors at the academy about you being a ‘genius of seduction’ weren’t just empty words after all. Hmm…”

“I’m not sure why everyone is looking at me like that, but as Kru said, what I do is simply the bare minimum expected of a maid. It’s not because Dan is special or anything.”

“If that was the bare minimum, then over 90% of the imperial maids would be fired, Ris.”

“Leave her be. They’re just a hopeless couple. When you're head over heels, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do.”

“Are there any other minimum duties? As Seraphine’s maid, I’d love to learn from you, Ris.”

Despite my claim that there was nothing special about it, no one seemed to believe me. Only Luke appeared to understand what I was saying, so I limited my explanations to her, describing the preparations I usually made as Ethan’s personal maid.

“If you’re the personal maid of a noble or royalty, you should of course have the necessary combat skills. I’m not saying Kru is weak, but you should always be ready to draw your sword at a moment’s notice if there’s a threat. And while this doesn’t apply to Seraphine, you also need to be prepared for situations where young men’s desires might flare up, so in my case…”

“You’re getting further and further away from being a normal personal maid, Ris. What kind of maid are you? A personal bodyguard-slash-maid-slash… whatever else you’re doing?”

“…”

Since I had no real retort, I simply avoided their gazes.

I mean, it’s not like bodyguarding or helping with… certain urges was my main duty. It just came with the job.

Thinking such thoughts, I neatly folded Ethan’s shirt, which I had just finished mending, and began working on his academy uniform jacket.

“Ahem, Ris.”

“Yes?”

“Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to win Dan’s heart?”

“…Dan and me?”

“Oh, it’s purely for reference. There aren’t many couples at the academy as close as you and Dan. I thought maybe you had some secret to improving relationships.”

“….”

So she wanted advice on how to get closer to Gepmajo? Honestly, it was a request I had no desire to grant. Knowing what I did about the hero’s true intentions and future plans, I certainly didn’t want Seraphine and him to get closer.

‘A harem, fine, I could begrudgingly accept that. But abandoning three women after saving them? That’s just too much.’

I had no intention of helping that guy in any way, but since Seraphine had worked up the courage to ask, I couldn’t just outright reject her.

…Well, what could I do? I’d just share a little story about me and Ethan. And maybe make sure it would make things a bit more difficult for Gepmajo.

“Would you believe me if I said I seduced him with my body, Seraphine?”

“…W-What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. I used my body to seduce Dan and close the distance between us. It all started with letting him touch my chest.”

“““……”””

As soon as I mentioned seduction, the three pairs of eyes zeroed in on me.

It seems that no matter the world, sexual stories are a topic that draws universal interest. I then went on to explain in more detail how I had seduced Ethan, recalling the memories.

“It started with just letting him touch my chest. At the time, I had a favor to ask of Dan, and all I had to offer was my body, including my large breasts.”

“…Hmph.”

“….”

“Thanks to using my body as leverage, I achieved my goal. But the problem came afterward. After giving a man in his prime a taste, Dan became obsessed, thinking of my chest 24/7.”

“I see… I do recall hearing from my mother that men are quite weak when it comes to women’s breasts…”

Agnes and Luke, who had less to show in the chest department, seemed to lose interest, but Seraphine only grew more curious, eager to learn about the things that had happened between Ethan and me.

Thinking about how flustered Gepmajo would be if Seraphine tried a similar approach made me smile as I continued recounting my story.

“Of course, it’s a bit vulgar to just flash your breasts with no context. That’s why, at the time, I added a condition when I let Dan touch them.”

“A condition…?”

“Dan had to land a single valid strike in his sword duel against his father. If he succeeded, he’d earn the right to touch my chest for one minute.”

“Wait… you mean Dan’s father, as in the current head of the academy’s swordsmanship department?”

“Yes, the very same professor you’re thinking of.”

Setting a condition like that—land a hit on a Swordmaster just to touch a woman’s chest—might seem extreme, but young men’s desires can be overwhelming.

…Of course, at the time, I thought it would be impossible for him to achieve, which is why I set the condition.

“Thanks to that challenge, Dan pushed himself to the limit, improving his swordsmanship significantly. Now, he’s one of the top swordsmen at the academy. And of course, I’ve never once failed to reward him as promised.”

“….”

Gulp.

“Of course, given your status, Seraphine, this might not be the easiest method for you to use. But I can assure you, men are all weak for breasts. If you use this well, you might find it helpful in seducing Bart.”

“…Have I ever mentioned Bart to you before, Ris?”

“Well, you can just tell by watching from the sidelines. Besides, Nes and Kru probably noticed as well, right?”

“As Seraphine’s maid, it’s only natural that I would know.”

“Seraphine sometimes acts like you do in front of Bart, so it’s not hard to figure out.”

“…I’m not sure what you mean by ‘acting like me,’ Nes.”

“Really? Then maybe you should think back on how you’ve behaved around Dan. Just a while ago, you were pressing your chest against him and getting all lovey-dovey.”

…That wasn’t affection. It was treatment.

But knowing Agnes wouldn’t accept that explanation, I decided to ignore her and move on.

“If you can use your chest well, you can seduce the hero…”

…Well, with that thought planted in Seraphine’s head, Gepmajo is going to have a rough time.

If he recklessly goes around seducing multiple women, he deserves the consequences.

On the second day of our volunteer work in Bridget Village, nothing changed in our tasks from the first day. I was once again busy teaching the village women self-defense with daggers.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

“Great! That was awesome just now! Keep swinging smoothly, like water!”

On the first day, no one could follow along, but after a full day of practice, some of the women were starting to get the hang of it.

Of course, they weren’t perfect yet, and in a real situation, they’d likely struggle. Repeated training was crucial for improvement.

‘If they can practice for one more day, they should be able to defend themselves, at least to some extent.’

As I watched over the women’s dagger drills, a sharp, exasperated voice reached my ears.

Clang!

“Ugh, I can’t do this anymore! What’s the point of all this?!”

A woman with light green hair, who had dropped her dagger to the ground, began complaining irritably.

She had been the same one who protested on the first day, saying she didn’t want to do this.

“Why should we prepare for another bandit attack? They’ve already retreated! There’s no reason for them to come back to this village! If they had any sense, they wouldn’t return to a place like this!”

Her words, filled with frustration, seemed to unsettle the other women, causing them to lose focus. Before I could intervene, someone else stepped in, approaching her faster than I could.

Before I had a chance to react, the sound of a loud slap echoed through the air.

Smack!

“Ahhh?!”

‘…That woman.’

She was the one who had asked me on the first day if I could teach her combat techniques instead of just self-defense.

“Shut up. If you don’t want to do it, then leave quietly and stop disrupting the others. As for me, I’ll kill those bastards no matter what it takes.”

The moment when one of the bandits' collaborators hiding among the village women started to make her move.