The Trial of the Great Scales had ended.
As head maid of the Royal Cabinet, I assisted with various matters after the case.
First, I searched for the party responsible for removing the upper body of Gilvert Trinity, the man who brought forth the Black Scales. Unfortunately…the search remained inconclusive.
I attempted to interrogate the lower body we were able to capture, but naturally, it was unable to speak. Additionally, it continued to twitch as if having convulsions. It looked almost as if the upper body, which had been taken somewhere else in this world, was being tortured. Gilvert Trinity’s lower body was going to be contained at a research facility as it carried out his life sentence.
Regarding the numerous other people who were impacted by this incident…
I discovered the Hero Laman tied up in a hidden room of the cathedral and rescued him. I rescued Alba from his hiding place in the basement of the congregational hall. Regarding the followers who were still experiencing confusion after their brainwashing, we decided to have them cared for by an expert. As for Gobta, Goburo, and Lyra…the maids escorted the Boucher family safely home.
My Master, Akuto Satou, stood at the center of the procedures after that.
Miss Judge was temporarily brought to the Royal Hospital. In addition to her severely poor physical condition, we needed to investigate the effects that holding the sacred artifact had on her body.
Still, she continued to communicate with Master over telepathy from her sickbed, as they coordinated with settling the legal side of things. It seemed they were going to take advantage of a support system for the victims of the case and proceed with the seizure of the church headquarters’ property.
Along with the case’s resolution, the truth spread across the kingdom.
After saving the evidence from the church headquarters, it was decided to demolish the building.
The building where such unsavory secrecy and brainwashing occurred is now gone.
In its place, may the story of Miss Judge’s verdict be passed down as the history of our kingdom.
The people in the city no longer showed any signs of unease.
It appeared that our kingdom’s peaceful days had returned.
Two days later, in the middle of my work, while waiting for Master outside of a park bathroom…
“Shirooo!”
Princess Ecstasia called out to me.
“Y-yes?”
It had been a while, so I was nervous. It was my first time speaking with her in about ten days.
“I’m so sorry…for pushing you away that time, Shiro.”
“Please…it was no bother at all.”
When she was near me, it was like being surrounded by the scent of a field of flowers. That was how lighthearted she made me feel. My body felt warm and fuzzy.
“It is all I could ask for that you are happy once again, Princess.”
Truth has the power to heal people.
How did the incident occur? Who is responsible, and in what way? After solving these questions and understanding the relationship between them, our own discontent naturally resolved as well.
“Oh, Shirooo, you’re too much! Let me pet youuu! ☆”
With a giggle, the princess did me the honor of petting my tail.
“Nnh…”
I couldn’t help but let out a whine. I was happy.
“…Shiro. You know, I may be a happy person, but I don’t have enough brains.”
As she held my hand, I sensed a shadow behind her expression.
“It helped us so much that you worked hard alongside Mr. Akuto. On the other hand, I was no help at all. I had no idea what was going on.”
Mr. Akuto. My designated Master.
His name carried a different weight within me than it had before.
“I believe your judgments were correct, Princess Ecstasia.”
When I first met him, I thought my Princess’s summoning spell had failed.
After a great amount of time and effort, what she managed to summon from the otherworld Japan was a young girl and boy. While the former was a judge by profession whose appearance had changed, the latter was just an average high school boy. At the time, I thought that there must be someone more capable that we could have summoned.
But my understanding changed.
This seemingly average boy, summoned to a world outside his own, shed tears for the people of this world, traveled all around for their sakes, and acknowledged their worth and complimented them. He even rescued a man out of a box of human compost and transfused his own mana to him, and in the end managed to reverse the brainwashing of over ten thousand people.
That was anything but average.
After this, we will hold a private conciliation.
A conciliation is a kind of discussion. I was told it was going to be a conciliation procedure used by the family court to attempt to amicably reconcile a marital relationship.
✦ ✦ ✦
We were holding the conciliation procedure at Mr. Goburo’s request to Master. Although his son Gobta’s case was decided not to be taken to prosecution, he was apparently unsure of how to talk to his wife after everything that happened.
What kinds of wounds are caused when a family is torn apart by the hands of a third party? Unfortunately, as I have an owner rather than a family, I do not know.
But Master would understand.
He was able to encourage Gobta and also enlist the help of Elma as a consultant. He said he didn’t want to handle the matters of a family in another world only using the common sense of the Japanese.
“Divine retribution”—I think I’m starting to understand the meaning of those words.
Master may have been given to this world by God themself.
In each case, Miss Judge handled the legal decisions.
But there was one fundamental issue—the understanding of what is important and what is unnecessary to the people of this world.
A heart that is not tempted even when in possession of awesome power and can destroy that power.
What the kingdom needed turned out to be the ability to judge powers that were not being used for good.
“Shiro?”
Those lovely, round eyes were looking up at me.
“I was not able to completely protect you all on my own.”
The words naturally came out of me.
“It’s all thanks to Master.”
After all this, I noticed how small I really was.
While repeating over and over like an idiot that I must protect my Princess, I wasn’t able to protect her at all. Trying to handle everything with my own hands and feet, I simply got swept away by the magnitude of everything.
Master’s “protection” was broader, larger.
He not only tried to protect Miss Judge from danger. He protected her convictions, which in turn protected the kingdom, which also protected Princess Ecstasia. That was how large it was.
“Princess Ecstasia, if you are unsure about anything, I believe you can rely on Mr. Akuto for help.”
My original Master opened her cute, round eyes wide.
“It seems I don’t need to ask you again to stay with Mr. Akuto.”
She sounded happy.
“I felt it from the very beginning…that Mr. Akuto was chosen by God.”
“God’s chosen…assistant?”
“Yeah, something like that!”
Just then I heard water rushing. I sensed that Master had finished his business.
Then I heard a yawn followed by the sound of him washing his face at the sink.
Master must have been very exhausted.
“…I must protect Master.”
Again my words slipped out of my mouth.
A Master different from the Master I had been with since I was young. I was ordered to serve him, accompanied him, and helped him. But now, after our significant amount of time spent together…some different feelings had begun to grow.
I felt calmed by his scent. I experienced kind feelings when I thought of him.
I was very interested in his feelings and thoughts. I wanted to work for him.
From now on, more—
As I felt this new sense of determination, I heard another maid speak up. “Princess Ecstasia, it is time…”
“Okay, Shiro! I’ll leave it to you!”
“Yes, Princess! I will work my hardest to serve Master Akuto.”
“Then I’m going to get back to my official business!”
Behind her with that dazzling smile, I could see the people waiting for my Princess.
“Everyone, thank you for waiting!”
She ran off, her cute, pink maid outfit fluttering as she went. Her maid bodyguards who had blended into the surroundings followed her.
“Oh, Shiro!”
In the middle of everyone, she turned around to face me.
“I’m looking forward to the party tonight!”
Right. We’re holding an event tonight.
A party to celebrate our accomplishment together…