MUSHOKU TENSEI

Volume 1 Chapter 2 - Expressionless Maid

Part 1

Lilia was once a guards-maid for Asura's concubines.

A guards-maid is a maid who is also a guard.

Guards-maids will usually do a maid's job, but if anything happens, they will take up a sword to protect their master.

Lilia faithfully accomplished her duty. As far as her work as a maid is concerned, there were no complaints.

But as a sword fighter, her ability is average, a dime a dozen.

And thus, she got careless in a battle against an assassin who targeted a newly-born princess, and she got injured in the leg by the enemy's dagger.

The dagger was coated with poison that was specifically meant to kill royalty.

There was no detoxification or healing magic that was capable of treating such a calamitous poison.

The wound was immediately treated, and she survived thanks to her doctors trying a variety of methods to cure her, but there were side effects that lingered.

There was no problem caused to her everyday life, but she could never run or stomp again.

The kingdom then sacked her without hesitation.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, and Lilia accepted this fate herself.

Having lost her abilities, it was a given that she'd lose her position.

Even though she wasn't given compensation money, she considered it fortunate that she wasn't secretly silenced because she served in the inner palace.

Lilia then left the capital.

The mastermind behind the assassination attempt wasn't found.

Having understood the rules of the concubines' staff, she knew there was a possibility she might become the next target.

Perhaps the palace let Lilia wander to leave to lure out the mastermind.

She always wondered why she, who had no significant background, had been accepted in the inner palace. It was now that she finally understood; they simply wanted to hire maids who could be used and discarded.

No matter the reason however, she had to leave the capital as quickly as possible, for her own safety.

Even though the kingdom treated her as bait, she had no obligation to stay as she was not ordered to in any way.

And she had no sense of duty to fulfill.

Lilia discreetly switched stagecoaches while traveling, and arrived at the Fedoa region, which had extensive agricultural lands and was located at the border.

It was a relaxing place of vast wheat fields, with the exception of the fortress city Roa, where the ruler lived.

Lilia intended to find work there.

But, as her leg was injured, she was unable to find a job that required physical strength.

She could resort to teaching swordsmanship, but it was best for her to be hired as a maid, because the salary was higher.

At this border, there were many who could wield a sword, and many who could teach swordsmanship, but a maid thoroughly versed in domestic affairs was relatively rare.

Since the supply was so little, the salary would be bigger.

However, it would be dangerous for her to be hired by the ruler of Fedoa, or any high class noblity of similar status…

Such people would surely have relations with the king.

If they knew she was a maid who once worked for the concubines palace, there was the possibility that she would be treated as a political tool.

And for that reason, Lilia stayed far away.

She didn't want to experience a near-death situation again.

Even though it was a little unfair to the princess, Lilia hoped to stay far away from the royals' contention for power.

But, if her salary was too low then there wouldn't be enough money to send to her family.

Trying to find a safe job and a guaranteed salary sure wasn't easy.

Part 2

After running around everywhere for nearly a month, Lilia came across a recruitment note.

A lower class knight from Buina village, located in the Fedoa region, was looking to hire a maid.

On the top of that, the note said he would give special priority to someone with experience in taking care of children or who had knowledge of midwifery.

Buina was a tiny village on the edge of Fedoa.

A village among villages. An extremely rural village.

It was very inconvenient, but this was the place that she sought.

The employer being a lower class knight was also an unexpectedly fine find.

And most importantly, she recognized the prospective employer's name.

Paul Greyrat.

He was Lilia's protégé.

A noble's profligate son, who on one day, suddenly barged into the dojo where Lilia was learning swordsmanship.

According to him, he had left home after a quarrel with his father, and had come to the dojo to learn swordsmanship.

Albeit a different style, he too did study swordsmanship at home, and soon after, surpassed Lilia.

Lilia was not amused by this fact, but she had since understood that she had no talent, and gave up.

Paul, who was utterly brimming with talent, was later banished from the dojo after making a mistake.

He only left Lilia a single sentence, "I'm becoming an adventurer."

A man like a tempest.

It was 7 years since they went their separate ways.

At that time, he had actually become a knight and gotten married…

Though she didn't know what sort of hurdles he had experienced in his life, Paul wasn't a bad guy as far as Lilia could remember.

If she told him about her problems, she was sure that he would help her.

If that didn't work out, then she would just mention some past events.

There were a few things she could use to negotiate.

Having contemplated all these factors, she headed to Buina.

Paul employed Lilia without any fuss.

It seemed he was really anxious as his wife Zenith was about to give birth.

Lilia had been taught extensively in midwifery for the princess's birth. Moreover, she was someone that Paul was acquainted with and he knew her background.

Lilia was received with a warm welcome.

Her salary was also more than what she had expected, so her wish was achieved.

Part 3

The child was born.

There weren't any labor issues or anything. It went just as she was trained for in the inner palace.

There were no problems at all. It was very successful.

However, the child didn't cry when he was born.

Lilia broke into a cold sweat.

The baby drew out amniotic fluids immediately after he was born, but he merely lifted his head up without any emotion, and made no sound.

The expressionless face was reminiscent of a stillborn child.

Lilia touched the baby, and he had a heartbeat. He was breathing too.

But he just wasn't crying.

Lilia remembered the words of a senior guards-maid.

That babies who don't cry at birth usually have complications.

The instant when she thought of this.

"Ah, ah." The baby looked over to her, and mumbled something in his grogginess.

Lilia relaxed after hearing that.

Even though there was no evidence for it, she felt that there would be no problems.

Part 4

The child's name was to be Rudeus.

He was an uncanny child, never crying or fussing. At first, she assumed his body was slightly weaker, and that taking care of him wouldn't require much effort.

But, such a notion only occurred at the beginning.

After Rudeus learned how to crawl, he started to move everywhere in the house.

Everywhere in the house. Kitchen, back door, storage, cleaning equipment place, fireplace…… etc.

He even climbed onto the second story, though one couldn't imagine how he did so.

Either way, he would disappear whenever nobody kept an eye on him.

But, he would always be found somewhere in the house.

Rudeus never left the house.

He would occasionally look outside the windows, but it seemed that he was still scared to go outdoors.

Lilia was instinctively afraid of this baby, and one had to wonder when it began.

It was probably the moments when she found him after his disappearances.

Most of the time, Rudeus would be smiling.

Sometimes he'd be looking at the vegetables, staring at the flickering candle flames, or just looking at panties that were yet to be washed.

Rudeus mumbled sounds and showed a smile that made people feel simply disgusted.

It was a smile that naturally disgusted people.

When Lilia was working in the inner palace, she'd had to go to the main palace for her missions, and the higher ranked officials nobles that she met there had similar smiles.

They were bald, had pudgy bellies, and were leering at her when they stared at her breasts. Very similar to a baby that was born not long ago.

It was exceptionally scary when she had to carry Rudeus.

His nostrils would flare, the corners of his mouth would rise, and his breathing hastens as he buried his face into her chest.

And then he would make strange noises, "Huuu" and "Orhhh", seemingly laughing as he made these sounds.

At that instant, Lilia's whole body was dominated by a terrible shivering cold.

And she has the urge to throw the baby and smash him into the ground.

This baby was not cute in any way. That smile caused fear in others.

It was the same smile the high ranking officials had when they bought many young female slaves.

He was supposed to be a baby who was just been born.

Lilia felt unbearable discomfort, and even experienced feelings of peril when she thought things over.

This baby was very strange. Could there be that there was something bad possessing it? Or perhaps it was something similar, like a curse.

Having thought this through, she started to feel extremely anxious.

She went to the item shop, and spent the pitiful amount of money that she had to buy some necessary things.

When the Greyrats went to sleep, she did her home's ritual to chase evil away.

Of course, this was kept from Paul and his family.

The second day, after carrying Rudeus again, Lilia understood.

It was useless.

And he was still as disgusting as usual. It was eerie that a baby would show such an expression.

Zenith said, "When feeding this baby milk, he will lick…"

This had become just outrageous.

Paul had no restraint when it came to women, but never did he become disgusting to this extent.

This was too strange to be dismissed as hereditary.

Lilia remembered again.

She had heard of a story in the palace.

In the past, an Asuran prince was possessed by a demon. To revive that demon, he would crawl around on his limbs every night.

And when an unsuspecting maid hugged him, the prince stabbed her with a knife hidden behind him, killing her.

It was too scary.

Is Rudeus something like that?

There was no doubt. He was that kind of devil.

He's still obedient for now, but one day he'll awaken, and when everyone is asleep, one by one he'll……

Ahh……It's too early, too early to decide this. I shouldn't have taken this job.

"I'll get attacked sooner or later.

……Lilia was a person who seriously believed in such superstition.

Part 5

During the first year of her work, she was still afraid of him.

But she didn't notice when Rudeus' unpredictable movements started to change.

He didn't disappear as and when he wanted, and usually stayed in Paul's study on the second floor.

Speaking of the study, it was just a room with a few books.

Rudeus stayed there without leaving. Lilia secretly observed him, and found him mumbling to himself while reading a book.

It was a meaningless mumble.

Or was supposed to be, at least, for it wasn't a commonly used language in the Central continents.

It was still too early for him to be learning how to talk. Of course, he had yet to be taught alphabets.

He was just an infant looking at a book and making random sounds.

Or else it would be just too strange.

Lilia always had the feeling that those sounds carried meaning and structure.

Rudeus seemed to understand the contents of the book.

It was too frightening……Lilia always thought that, when she observed Rudeus from the gap in the door jamb.

However, she never felt disgusted with him for some inexplicable reason.

Come to think of it, that unknown source of discomfort gradually disappeared from the moment he confined himself to that room.

Though he occasionally showed his disgusting smile while she carried him, it didn't feel unpleasant.

He wouldn't bury his face into her chest, and he wouldn't suddenly pant.

Why had she always found him scary?

Recently, she began to feel that he was sincere and hardworking, and didn't want to disrupt him.

Zenith seemed to share her sentiments.

After that, Lilia felt that not to care for him was better.

It was an idea that went against common sense.

In fact, it was abnormal for human beings not to care for a child that was born not long ago.

But recently there were signs of knowledge in Rudeus' eyes.

He showed only "chikan" eyes a few months back, but at this point, there was a strong will and dazzling knowledge in them.

What should she do? Even though she had knowledge of taking care of children, the inexperienced Lilia found it hard to discern.

She couldn't remember whether it was her guards-maid senpai or her mother back in her hometown who said this, that there was no one correct way to bring up a child.

At the very least, she no longer felt disgusted, uncomfortable, or frightened.

So she decided it was best not to disturb him, and let him revert back to how he was originally.

--Let's just leave him as he is.

Lilia finally concluded.