MaruMA:Volume05:Chapter7

Chapter 7

When you're facing off against a masked wrestler, yelling 'take off your mask!' is a fairly unsophisticated thing to do.

If I were in the audience or a bystander, I'd write something derogatory on the back of a cardboard sign and boo him with a thumbs down. And if the coward attempted to remove the mask by force, everyone present would yell in a resounding chorus.

Stop! Don't take off Sir Norman's mask!

Starting off with a figurative jab, I pressed my hands to my stomach and began to moan.

Maxine with the cropped ponytail considered me only fleetingly with an uninterested glance. He doesn't attempt to use the customary words one would expect even though the guest next to him is in pain. It's like he doesn't have blood or tears.

They say if you hate the monk then you'll even hate his robe and I was even starting to hate how he shaved his beard. Don't connect it to your sideburns! But I secretly admired his manliness.

"So, Sir Norman Gilbit, it's lucky there are only men here. Shall I ask to hear your true intentions after you take off your mask?"

"Sir Maxine, is what you wish to know my master's face and his past?"

The middle aged butler, Baker, put up some daring resistance. Maybe it was because he was trembling with excitement, but even his beard was moving.

Like he was about to mount a step, he moved towards the enemy.

"Or would you perhaps rather hear what we Calorians think about the motherland? How we feel about the Shimaron motherland preparing for war?"

"Whatever it is I want to know, I would not ask some butler!"

The moment Maxine's voice turned rough, his left hand struck out so quickly I didn't even see it. Beard Butler sailed a few meters through the air, crashed against the wall, and remained lying there, motionless.

"Uwah! Baker!"

For some reason, the one who cried out wasn't his master, the masked feudal lord.

"Why are you getting worked up, Murata?"

"Sorry, I just felt like I was watching a pro wrestling match."

We poke each other in the stomach as we talk in low voices. It's about time for the Masked Man to enter the ring and I felt like I was in the white mat jungle.

A maid ran to the moaning butler and lifted his head onto her lap. I wonder if he has a concussion. When I got hit by a dead ball, the manager set my head on their lap too... he was a guy.

"He's got it good," I sighed.

It was a truly imprudent opinion.

Even with the loss of the butler who was his only ally, Sir Norman seemed unfazed. But then again, with a mask on, no one would be able to read his emotions.

"Now, Sir Gilbit, is this really the time to say that your voice is unpleasant to the ears when the motherland has doubts about you? If it were me, I would cast aside my mask and idiotic pride and immediately confess the truth!"

With each subsequent word, the level of anger in Maxine's voice increased. Wondering if his emotionless eyes were also trembling, I looked up stealthily from below, but his light brown eyes were as unreadable as before.

Crop-Pony, perhaps annoyed by the fact that Norman did not move at all, moved to where the butler stood before and wrenches Norman up by the chin. This could no longer be classified as a meeting between the representative of a suzerain state and the feudal lord of its autonomous territory.

"What exactly have you done behind our backs despite being a territory of Shou Shimaron? Have you dared to make direct contact with Dai Shimaron's royal family? Answer me now!"

Maxine's hand that had been near me until now moved from Norman Gilbit's chin to his mask.

Once again, what a horrible situation this is! Mr. Cropped Ponytail Maxine is trying to take off Norman Maskman's mask. You're in a pinch now, Norman! Will you be able to escape to the ropes? I'm unconsciously becoming the announcer for this match, but the representative from Shou Shimaron was going a little overboard with the delicate and composed Gilbit. And since I was too inconsequential to step between them and be taken seriously, I could only murmur, "Hey, stop that."

Maxine was not the type to lend an ear.

Ohhh, Norman, he's losing consciousness. Norman is desperately trying to tap out and is reaching his hand out to the corner of the table, but that corner isn't where his allies are. On top of that, his partner, Bearded Seal Baker, is still out cold from Maxine's illegal move!

"Mura- Mr. Robinson, Norman seems to have taken a lot of damage."

"That's right, Mr. Crusoe. He might be suffocating."

Oh? Maxine looks like he might have realized he can't get the mask off like that and has begun to undo the leather cords! Norman tries to hold them together with his thin fingers, but he can't put up much resistance with his head held in place.

Now Maxine tries a chokehold! Norman can't stand it and taps out!

"... Hey, can't help you over here," I quietly tell Norman, who is reaching out to me, so Adalbert can't hear. "Your partner is laid out on the ringside. There's no other competitor to tap out with."

I don't know if he's mistaking me for his butler or if he's just in pain, but his thin, pale fingers reach straight towards me.

That is the hand that believed our lie that I was a descendant of the Wincotts who had a long and deep history in these lands and very kindly shook my hand. They were smooth and did not know hard labor and were cold and beautiful like a lady's.

"... Damn it."

"Ah, what? Shibu- Captain Crusoe?"

With my sunglasses on, I stand from my chair and lightly grasp Norman's fingers. He is a heroic young man who is working hard as a feudal lord without giving in to his increasing accidents and illnesses.

He is a man who has been enduring his pain without being able to cry out because his voice doesn't work properly.

"Damn, I get it! I just gotta tap you out, right!?"

"What are you saying Captain Crusoe!?"

Keeping my face turned forwards, I came around the table.

If he can recognize me just by my voice, Adalbert will be amazing. He's not in my fan club and he hasn't seen my black hair and eyes so how would he be able to tell that I'm the Maou?

"Hey, you there, Mr. Maxine! It's true I've kept my mouth shut until now, but don't you think your methods are a little brutal? Norman has been through an accident and an illness so don't you think it's a bit harsh to demand that he take his mask off and speak?"

His fake-looking eyes lock onto me.

"I don't know you are, but it is useless to interfere. This man is a traitor to his suzerain state, Shou Shimaron, and he circumvented other lands to cut a deal with Dai Shimaron. If this betrayal proves to be true, we will be forced to withdraw Caloria's autonomy and all her other privileges."

His dry voice sounded like the growling of a predatory animal.

"But if you try to force a confession out of him like that, he won't be able to say anything even if he tried. First of all, let go of his throat. He's going to suffocate like that."

Without taking his eyes off me, Maxine loosened let go of Norman Gilbit's neck.

"Sir, who exactly are you and where have you come from that you dare to criticize Shou Shimaron's methods? You don't seem to be from a neighboring country."

"I... I'm Captain Crusoe. I can't say what my native country is because it's very far away from here."

Japan doesn't exist on this planet, after all.

After violently coughing a few times, Maskman lets out a fine voice.

"... So..."

The voice was so high-pitched and minute that would make everyone present tilt their heads and put a hand to their ears to hear it better.

"So you really want to see my face that much?"

"Sir Norman, please don't do it!" the butler pleaded from his lap-pillow. "Why would you reveal your face!? What will happen to your people and this country?! If you take your mask off now, there won't be any future for our people!"

"... Baker... but..."

Because his voice was so low, everyone was staring at him all the more intensely.

"I'm just... tired."

With the cold and smooth fingers that I had grasped, Norman Gilbit, the masked feudal lord, began to loosen the leather bands at his neck. He was about to remove his mask voluntarily.

Is the curtain about to fall on the life of Maskman?

"Sir Norman!"

"Sir Norma~~n!"

The butler and maid harmonized splendidly. Both of them were about to break out in tears.

"It looks like my time has come. I don't believe I'll be able to protect my secret any longer."

He pulled his head out of the silver mask.

The platinum blond hair that had been tucked inside rolled down his back in waves.

His cheeks and chin were a translucent white, which probably stemmed from the fact that they'd seen no sun in years. His light bright green eyes seemed to be sensitive to the light.

He smiled a desperate smile.

There were red welts under his eyes and along his ears which were probably caused by wearing the mask such a long time. Yet these small injuries couldn't impact her beauty.

Her....

Huh!? Her beauty...

Her!?

A woman!? Which means that it wasn't a masked feudal lord but... a feudal lady!?

"So it was Mask de Feudal Lady?"

The one governing Caloria was not a dainty and thin-fingered man.

It was a perfectly beautiful, strong-willed, Mask de Madame.

"... What is the meaning of this, Sir Gilbit- no, Norman Gilbit?"

We had been fully entranced by her beauty for an entire twenty seconds, but hearing Maxine's subdued words brought us back to our senses and had us trembling.

"So you weren't even Norman Gilbit. So we have left this territory to some unknown woman and the citizens have pledged their loyalty and tax money to an unknown woman!?"

The butler returned to her side on unsteady feat and placed his hands upon her that were still holding the mask.

"My lady..."

"Who the hell are you?! What have you done with the real Sir Gilbit?!"

Up until a moment ago, this was a man who had not revealed his emotions to this degree, not revealed his emotions at all. Now the whites of his eyes were bloodshot and his light brown irises burned with anger.

Maxine smashed the plates on the table one after another and even tried to rip the table cloth off. This is a terrible hidden talent. He had turned so violent that the servants huddled in the corner cried out.

"I came here to speak with Norman Gilbit! At the command of His Majesty Saralegui, the King of Shou Shimaron, I came here to question Gilbit! And now it turns out that the person in question is nowhere to be found and some horse bones might have been impersonating him!"

The butler, who had very obviously had his cheekbone caved in, grabbed Maxine fearlessly by the lapels and shook him.

"You dare to call my lady horse bones?! My lady stood faithfully by her husband's side since when he was still well!"

"Baker, it's alright. Sir Maxine's anger is more than justified. We have no alternative but to end all the secrecy and plead for forgiveness from the Shimaron mainland..."

The volume of her voice raised slightly.

Murata, the messengers from Shou Shimaron or whatever, and I all stared at the woman.

I was probably the only one staring at her frivolously while trying to guess her age and bust-waist-hip measurements. She was probably a few years older than me. From her looks at least, she had to be about twenty.

"I... Flynn Gilbit, married my husband Norman Gilbit six years ago in the spring. Because of my husband's childhood illness, he lived his life under this mask. But that never bothered me... That man... Norman was incredibly kind and had gained respect as both a man and a feudal lord."

She intends to make us listen to her speak fondly of her loved one.

"However, three years ago, Norman lost his life in a carriage accident."

"He died!?"

Crop-Pony, the butler, I, Murata and even American Football Macho all exclaim at the same time:

"What did you say? So for three years, the Gilbit territory of the autonomous region of Caloria was ruled not by the actual leader, but his wife?"

"Ah, my lord, how sad. But, please be at ease my lord. I will support my lady and protect the Gilbit territory for the rest of my life."

"Leaving such a young wife behind, he must have had a lot of regrets. Maybe he's worried about her and unable to find rest and is haunting this place."

"So, seeing as she is here alone, this country probably has some Edo period style rule of succession where you can't adopt a successor on your deathbed."

"... I feel like there's a voice I've heard before somewhere in there..."

Flynn Gilbit couldn't hold it together any longer and she began to cry. The pearly tears of a beautiful woman didn't seem like normal tears. Almost like they were filled with a lot of love or loneliness or something.

"But, I didn't have much time for mourning. I had realized something terrible: Norman and I still had not been blessed with children. So now that he had passed, there was no one to inherit this household. I had even thought of adopting a child from the lord's blood relatives, but according to Shimaron's laws, it is forbidden to adopt an heir after a lord's death and such an arrangement would be null. Although, under this country's original, unwritten laws, it was possible to declare an heir after death if the person were related by blood."

"Hmm..."

All of our expressions simultaneously became troubled.

"Even though you're autonomous, this land is still under Shou Shimaron's control. It's a given that you would obey Shimaron's laws," Maxine naturally objected.

"What a pitiable lord I served. He probably wanted to pass on after seeing his heir's face just once. Well my lord, even I haven't seen the face of my lady's child. In this instance, we will have to wait patiently."

"He was probably all in love with his new wife without any children getting in the way that whole time. In other words, he was a guy who would say 'there's already a big child here so we don't need one for a while.' There's the possibility that he had a severe mother complex."

"See? There is a rule against adopting a successor on your deathbed. This comes in handy in preventing the territory from being taken over or destroyed, but it causes more and more problems as time goes on. Then the rule gets overturned in the end and they can quickly decide a successor after the previous ruler's death."

"You know I really have heard that voice before. But, I don't have enough faith in my memory to place them by voice alone. I'm not proud of it, but I'm really bad at that."

Adalbert was the only one worrying about something unrelated.

Flynn Gilbit could no longer endure and she began sniffling noisily.

"Even more troubling was that Shimaron's laws prohibit women from inheriting a household. With things as they were, this household and territory would be returned to the state and end up as part of Shimaron's property. What could I do to prevent that from happening... I toiled away trying to think of a solution with my nonexistent intelligence. This is the result." Flynn wrapped her thin white fingers around the silver mask and twisted it until the material squeaked. "Luckily, he left me this. No one had seen his face since childhood so wouldn't we be able to squeak by if we managed to hide my voice? So I donned that person's mask and decided to live my life as Norman Gilbit."

"How naive," we all interjected at once, but this amateur trick had fooled the entire world for three years.

In any case, we now know the origin story of Mask de Madame.

"It wasn't exactly easy, though... It would grow stuffy under the mask and it would stink of sweat. And in the summer you also get a heat rash!"

Flynn keeps on complaining. It seems there are many troubles in the masked life.

"Laws have been shamelessly broken here and you have nothing better to do than complain about sweat and farts?" Maxine says.

Nobody said anything about farts.

"Oh my lady, what a pitiable fate you've been forced to suffer! I would never have been able to bear that sweat-soaked mask," the butler lamented.

"I chose Judo and Kendo in gym class, but I guess the inside of the mask would kind of smell like the Judo wear left out in the gym. If so, that'd be pretty harsh."

"It's amazing you got through meals wearing that thing. If it was me, I'd probably barf up everything I ate."

"... Someone please wash that thing."

Adalbert makes a housewife-worthy complaint.

---

Flynn Gilbit's story dragged on for an eternity and we had to sit through six years' worth of memories and even her philosophy on raising children (even though she didn't have any). It was nice and all, just watching over this beauty speaking passionately, but we weren't attending some meeting about Flynn Gilbit. If I had to say, it was more like she was torturing us.

She may have thought she had skillfully evaded her interrogation, but Maxine's emotionless eyes had not forgotten.

"The parliament will deal with Norman Gilbit's death and the lack of successor. But Norman, no Flynn Gilbit, is it true that you have spoken out against Shimaron's war plans and independently launched an anti-war movement?"

In regards to this, the answer Flynn (Former Mask de Madame) gave was short and to the point: "Absolutely not."

I was a bit disappointed.

A woman who even told us her theory on raising children was obviously looking toward the future and planning her life.

If war started, all of that would disappear and all that would be left over would be despair and ruins.

Despite that, she wasn't against war at all?

"Then how do you explain the information delivered to us?"

"What information?"

Maxine helped himself to my chair, sat down, crossed his long legs and said, "I'm talking about the Wincott Poison."

And so once again here in this foreign country, Miss Julia's family name became the topic of conversation.

When Adalbert - supposedly her ex-boyfriend - heard this name, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"We received information that the Wincott Poison was used on someone to control something."

"Really? On who?"

Flynn was no longer the soft-voiced lady she had been until now and was answering everything asked of her calmly. The quality of her voice hasn't changed, but her confidence as the female feudal lord of Gilbit is coming out.

"That is precisely what we wanted to learn from you. If one does not know the usage of that troublesome and horrible Wincott Poison, it is just a simple drug. Also, the Wincott clan moved to the west and now resides within Shin Makoku so the only place where the real poison is stored is this estate."

In other words:

If they wanted to use it, they could use it at any time.

If they wanted to give it away, they could give it away to anyone.

"Whenever we talk about this poising, this place always becomes the center of the discussion. Has it ever left this estate? Was it perhaps even sold?"

Flynn's smile did not reach her eyes and she tilted her head slightly to the side. Her adorableness and beauty attracted all gazes straight to her.

"But of course the Wincott Poison is stored in our cellars. And for the right price, we are always prepared to hand it over to a third party. Naturally, that includes you, Sir Nigel Weisz Maxine."

Maxine's lips contorted savagely amid his extravagant facial hair.

Apparently, being addressed with his full name by Flynn Gilbit really rubbed him the wrong way.

"Then why don't you tell us who you've handed it over to lately?"

"Unfortunately..."

Butler Baker was sitting in his chair after having his head treated during her long story of her life. The maid who had put his head in her lap was serving tea to everyone.

Flynn Gilbit without her mask left a formidable impression. You can't feel any of the trembling from before and she did not hold back with her intimidation. In the three years of ruling under the mask, her face had surely looked exactly like it did in this moment.

"... I can't answer that," Flynn said.

"You won't get off with saying you can't answer that. This land is Shimaron territory. It is the duty of a vassal state to answer to the suzerain of the Shimaron mainland."

"And that is precisely why I cannot answer."

No one could keep up with this conversation the two of them were having that sounded like they were just answering each other with riddles. Only Murata had both ears pricked as if searching for the name of some place he recognized.

How many times would I have to tell him that his isn't Earth for him to understand?

Nigel Weisz Maxine (that's his full name) called the maid over. She wore a bright blue apron and held a full teapot in her hand. Unlike the other servants in this estate, she sported a friendly smile as she went to pour the hot tea into his cup.

Before she could realize what happened, he turned her around and sat her upon his lap.

I thought I saw something silver flash and in the next moment, she was kneeling on the ground and clutching at her neck with both hands. The teapot fell from her hand and broke on the ground and hot, red liquid sprayed out of it.

"... What are you-...!"

"Let that girl go immediately!" Flynn called out before I could run to the maid's side. A strand of what looked like piano wire was wrapped around the girl's neck and Maxine's hands held both ends taut.

Adalbert, who had been watching the scene unfold in silence, said in an exasperated voice, "His habits are as bad as always."

The girl scratched at her throat like a madwoman in attempt to get her fingernails under the wire as it dug deeper and deeper into her skin. Seeing how her head was tilting farther and farther backwards, I don't think she's having much luck with that.

"Did you not hear me?!" roared Flynn. "Let that girl go!"

"Did you not hear me? Tell me who you handed the poison over to."

What's up with this guy? Was he planning on killing an unrelated girl over some poison being sold!? And Flynn wasn't much better. This is the life of your cute maid that we're talking about so since you know the answer to what he's asking then hurry up and tell him.

While those two carried on their absurd staring contest, the maid gave a quiet cough. Pink liquid mixed with froth ran down from her mouth in a line.

"That's blood!" I run forward in a panic and reach a hand out to the maid. "She's going to die! If you don't let go of her- ow!"

As my fingers touched her light blue apron, a small electrical shock jerked through my body.

"... What... Anyway, hurry and let her go!"

I also try to grip the wire and break it, but no matter how many times I searched around her neck, I couldn't find the piano wire strangling her.

The girl's eyes pleaded with me as they were beginning to go blank.

Please stop! I want to save you! I'm looking for it! I want to do something about your neck...

"Maxine, hurry up and let go of this wire!"

With the girl pressed between us, I grab the sitting man's clothes at his chest. He doesn't laugh and simply says "Ask that of Flynn." Even if I turn to the master of this estate, as expected she won't open her mouth. Her undone, platinum blonde hair is flowing over her shoulders and shining as it lays on her chest.

As I suddenly lift my head, my gaze met Adalbert's who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He seemed about to start to say something and then strained his eyes as if to confirm something. His lips began to mouth, "It's you."

This wasn't the time to worry that my cover had been blown or that I'll get killed and I face general Grantz and yell out to him for assistance.

"Please help her!"

Adalbert seemed baffled for a few seconds about what he should do. During those seconds, Murata joins the fray while yelling, 'Don't bully that girl!' and tries to put Maxine in a sleeper hold. With just a quick turn of his head and shoulders, Maxine was able to fling him off.

"Murata?!"

I felt as if my friend fell to the floor and rolled awfully slowly. He ran the back of his hand over the corner of his mouth, pulling away a trail of blood. As he raised his head frame by frame, a contact flew out in a single frame. That tightly narrowed eye was black and in middle of that blackness, at a single point as if stabbed by a needle, there was something trembling there that stirred up my emotions.

I can't look at that. I can't look. If I look at that point then...

In the next moment, the world around me turned pure white.

It felt as though someone had left me to stand all alone in a landscape of dry ice.

I heard a woman's voice last time, but today that person tells me nothing. Even if I reach my hand out, I touch only the white smoke and no matter how far I go, there's nothing.

It's like I'm feeling my way through white darkness.

In the distance, I hear energetic and scathing words as if someone were banging the mallets of a Japanese drum against each other.

'Well they're pretty energetic,' I think, amazed. Exhausted, my face slackens. I mean, I'm so tired.

I don't know who they are, but I want them to share some of their energy.

---

"... You are beasts that take the form of men; tanuki should quarrel with tanuki and foxes with foxes. Driven by greed you foolishly descend upon human settlements without even understanding your own morals. Behold this girl's smile who courageously carries out her duties without advance pay. You dare paint this heart-warming, apron figure with blood?!"

Those who were witnessing this form for the first time were speechless with surprise.

Neither Flynn, Maxine, nor Adalbert could interrupt. They just had to wait until the preamble ended.

"Playing with this deadly poison, and you do nothing to censure those who harm the righteous and make haste to praise the wicked as you work to find its whereabouts. Should those of your character be allowed to roam free? No, of course you should not."

He's answering his own rhetorical question.

He pointed at the shocked duo of Flynn and Maxine in turn. His body was tilted at a diagonal angle and the tip of his foot was extended in front of him. It's the spitting image of a model on a billboard.

"With that character, you are no longer human! Although I would usually refrain from wasting such a luxury item this way... if it is to disinfect and polyphenol(used as a verb) evil, then I am willing to spread these deep red droplets! It is not my intent to take lives, but... you leave me no choice. I will cut you down!"

Although he speaks of cutting them down, he has never once attempted to use a sword on his prey.

With a glance, the broken teapot's spilled contents, along with the remnants of tea in the teacups, splash to the floor and then flowed together into a large puddle.

"W-what is this?!"

Out of reflex, Flynn lifted her feet off the floor and sat like a child in her chair holding her knees.

Maxine was the calmer of the 'Punishment Targets' as he examined the situation. What he was seeing for the first time in his life was the so-called 'magic.' It was a vulgar display, but there were also some exorcists who had similar tendencies.

Adalbert had torn the breathless maid out of Maxine's grip and after releasing her from the trick wire around her throat, he focused on the blue magic stone shining faintly upon Yuuri's chest rather than the tea slowly taking on a human form.

That stone belongs to the Wincott family. No, Susanna Julia had worn it from the moment she was born. Why was it around that brat's neck? Who the hell had given him Julia's magic stone?!

The surface of the red liquid, which had by now formed a large puddle, stilled for a moment like the surface of a lake and everyone calmed down. However, before they could take a breath, it changed into human form and stretched all the way to the ceiling. It formed pistols with the four fingers on both of its hand-like appendages and clearly aimed at Flynn and Maxine.

"A-an angry tea-god...?" The one person standing behind Yuuri did not know whether he should laugh or be surprised. Crimson bullets shoot out relentlessly at its targets from the angry tea god's fingers. "... or rather a Cheese Alien?"

From its color it was obviously a Tomato Alien, but he could swear even the sound effects were 'chee-chee-chee-chee-chee-chee-chee.'

Fear was written across the faces of those being fired upon, but it was actually quite fun to watch as an outsider. Well, they were inside a room and there weren't that many bad people, so perhaps the Maou himself was unconsciously holding himself back and the scale of his judgment was lessened.

"Small-scale judgment!"

Red liquid sprayed forth and both targets were soaked. For the man, every drop became a blade his arms and cheeks were covered in small cuts, but for the woman, the drops were kindly on the scale of scattered raindrops and she would walk away with only bruises. It's times like these that he's needlessly feminist. There are no distinctions between gender when it comes to Evil.

"What is this! What is this! What is this!? Is this the power of a descendent of the Wincott's!?"

Ignoring Flynn as she panicked, Adalbert snatched up a shopping list that was sticking out of the apron of the unconscious maid.

Why was it that Yuuri was able to use magic right in the middle of human territory? In this small country sandwiched in between Dai and Shou Shimaron, there should not be any elements that would obey mazoku...

Soap, de-wormer, black tea (from Kikal).

I see. Kikal lay on the border of Shin Makoku. That's why this black tea obeyed the orders of a mazoku.

Meanwhile, Ue-sama Yuuri seemed to notice there was something missing as he was looking around the room. Not finding what he was looking for, sighed as if to say 'oh whatever' and gave up.

In reality, what he was searching for really was there. In the middle of the snow white tablecloth, a tea stain had formed the two characters for "justice."

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