I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 257 [Red Riding Hood (2)]

I felt a bit bewildered by the words of the girl who suddenly appeared, who seemed to be something similar to, if not exactly, Little Red Riding Hood.

A girl wearing a red hood and a big bad wolf. These were characters from the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood,” which most people from the previous world would have heard of at least once.

‘Since Luminor Academy is originally a game, it wouldn’t be strange to have episodes inspired by fairy tales…’

The problem was that this episode was one I didn’t know about and couldn’t remember at all.

Was there such an episode in Luminor Academy? I didn’t see it even once in my 25 playthroughs, though? [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

Considering my past self who searched through not only Korean communities but also English, Japanese, Chinese, and even Indonesian-speaking communities using translation tools for Lilith’s virgin route, it was rather strange that I didn’t know about this episode.

Of course, I might have skimmed over it back then, thinking it wasn’t helpful for Lilith’s route, but even if that were the case, I should have heard about such a memorable event at least once.

‘I’m curious. What kind of episode is this, exactly?’

While part of me didn’t want to get involved in troublesome matters, what made me hesitate even more was the instinct of a hardcore Luminor Academy player.

This was the first time I was experiencing an episode where I truly didn’t know what was going to happen, rather than knowledge I deliberately chose not to investigate.

…Besides, although it wasn’t intentional, I had already made a verbal slip with this child, so it seemed okay to at least listen to what she had to say.

“If you just say she was taken away, I won’t fully understand what happened. Could you explain in detail what happened, Little Red Riding Hood?”

“So, the night before last, my grandmother…”

After listening to the Little Red Riding Hood girl’s story, this was roughly how the events unfolded.

First, the name of this girl who approached me and Ethan asking us to find her grandmother was Cat. As she said earlier, her parents had passed away in an unfortunate accident, and she had been living alone with her grandmother, her only blood relative, for about 3 years.

She said that her grandmother always stayed by her side until she fell asleep, as she was still scared to sleep alone. Her grandmother would tell her various stories to help her fall asleep soundly. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

However, there were 2-3 days each month when her grandmother regularly left the house, and on those days, she had no choice but to sleep alone. The fact that she could sleep without her grandmother suggests that she wasn’t entirely unable to sleep alone.

Cat said she didn’t know why her grandmother left the house for 2-3 days each month. She had heard that her grandmother went out for work, but she didn’t know what kind of work it was because she had never seen it, and when she tried to go along, her grandmother would insist on leaving her behind.

The last time her grandmother left the house for work was about half a month ago.

The next time her grandmother was supposed to leave the house was half a month later, on her monthly cycle, so naturally, the night before last wasn’t a day when her grandmother was supposed to be away from home.

So, when she went to her grandmother’s room to call her before going to sleep, what she saw was a big bad wolf… or so Cat claimed.

“…Wait, there was a wolf inside your grandmother’s room?”

“Yes!”

“Then where was your grandmother?”

“The big bad wolf took her away!”

“……”

…So, we’re back to square one.

Many things were hard to understand with a normal person’s mind. It didn’t seem like she had filtered or omitted anything in between.

Of course, it could be that it felt this way because children tend to speak incoherently. But the idea of listening to this incoherent story from the beginning again was quite daunting.

“Umm…”

“Big Sister, Big Brother, you two are incredibly strong adventurers, so you two can defeat even a big wolf, right?!”

“No, as I said before, we’re not adventurers…”

“It doesn’t matter! Even so, I’m sure you two can save my grandmother!”

“Well, we could probably defeat a wolf, but, um…”

Right, with my and Ethan’s skills, we could easily defeat one or two wolves.

Ethan and I had already dealt with monsters far more dangerous and frightening than wolves. Moreover, Ethan had almost certainly reached the level of a Sword Expert recently.

Ethan alone could probably easily cut down about a dozen wolves, and with my support added, we could handle twice that number.

What I was worried about wasn’t whether we could defeat the wolves or not, but rather something else. …Even if we found the wolf that had taken Cat’s grandmother, it might be too late to save her. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

After all, it had already been two days since Cat’s grandmother was taken by the wolf.

Objectively estimating, she probably died within an hour of being taken, and in quite a miserable state at that.

I didn’t want to explain to this child the cruel situation her grandmother must have endured among a pack of wolves. It felt very uncomfortable to make a child who had already lost her parents understand her grandmother’s death.

‘Even in the unlikely event that she wasn’t killed immediately after being captured, after two days, we should assume it’s already too late…’

I couldn’t know how old Cat’s grandmother was, but considering this child’s age, she must be a woman at least in her 50s.

In this world, a woman in her 50s was considered elderly. Even if she wasn’t, if she had been kidnapped while bitten by a wolf’s fangs, the injuries she sustained in the process would have been severe. 

So, even if the wolves hadn’t eaten her, she would have succumbed to her injuries after two days.

One way or another, Cat’s grandmother was no longer in this world. 

…Unless some miracle had occurred.

‘Did I bring this up unnecessarily by offering to find her?’

I just thought she was a young child who had come to the market with adults and gotten lost. Of course, I couldn’t have guessed she had such a deep story.

Glancing at Ethan, I saw him with his head bowed, seriously pondering something. Probably Ethan also found it quite heavy to have to tell this young child about her grandmother’s death.

Having lost his own mother at a young age, perhaps Ethan could empathize with Cat’s feelings.

“…For now, would you guide us to your house?”

“What?”

“If we’re going to find traces of your grandmother, we should first check the place where she was kidnapped. If we go to the last place she was seen, we might be able to track where that wolf disappeared to.”

“Ed, are you really…”

“…We should at least recover the body, or something that can prove it was her grandmother. If we get the girl’s consent to hold a simple funeral, we might be able to make her understand her grandmother’s death.”

Ethan whispered to me in a voice low enough that Cat couldn’t hear.

It seemed he intended to at least find traces of Cat’s grandmother and honor her spirit, since saving her alive would be difficult.

I agreed with his opinion to some extent, so I had no choice but to nod for now.

“Cat, can you guide us to the house where you live with your grandmother?”

“Are you going to find my grandmother, big sister?”

“…I’ll try my best as much as possible.”

This was the best answer I could give for now.

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything harsher to this young girl who hadn’t yet lost her innocence.

“This way! This way~!”

As soon as Ethan and I said we would help find her grandmother, Cat led us with a bright expression to a house on the outskirts of the capital.

It was an old brick house showing traces of time, so this must be the house where Cat and her grandmother lived together. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

It was a single-story house that seemed adequate for three people to live in but might be a bit cramped for four. As soon as I faced the house that Cat introduced as her and her grandmother’s home, a question naturally arose in my mind.

‘…The exterior looks more intact than I expected…?’

Actually, when I heard that a wolf had entered the house, I had imagined a house with one or two places broken.

No matter how intelligent wolves are compared to other mammals, being canines, they wouldn’t have quietly opened the door and entered through the front door when attacking a home.

I had expected to see a large hole in a door, window, or somewhere in a collapsed wall, but the intact appearance of the house was the first question that came to mind.

‘Surely a wolf isn’t going to suddenly jump out from inside as soon as we open the door?’

Detective novel-style narrative tricks like ‘Actually, the culprit didn’t escape from the locked room but was hiding inside’ are a bit…

Even I would be startled if suddenly told to catch a wolf jumping out from in front of the door. After all, whether an adventurer or an academy student, one doesn’t always go around in battle mode. If a wolf really suddenly jumped out from behind the door, it might be a bit dangerous.

“I’ll go in first, Lili.”

“…Okay, Ed.”

It seemed Ethan had sensed something off about the same things I had, as he stepped ahead of me and stood in front of the brick house’s door, carefully opening it and pushing one shoulder in while maintaining a vigilant stance.

“…Is there no one?”

“…It seems not.”

“I considered the possibility of a wild beast remaining inside the house, but fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Children’s words can be incoherent, so we can’t fully trust them.”

…Well, if there really had been a wolf remaining in the house, we wouldn’t have come here in the first place.

She said her grandmother was taken by the wolf the day before yesterday, so if the wolf that had taken her grandmother had actually remained in this house, Cat would undoubtedly have been the victim last night.

It would have been difficult to mistake a wolf leaving such a small house in the first place. Even for a young child, her mind wouldn’t be so addled as to mistake a wolf taking her grandmother and running away.

“Cat, are you sure the wolf took your grandmother and left the house?”

“Huh? No?”

“No?”

“Yes.”

…Is she deliberately trying to tilt me this way?

Reminding myself once again that I was dealing with a child, I asked Cat another question about the ‘whereabouts of the wolf’.

“Could it be that the wolf is still inside the house?”

“No.”

“Then what was that reaction just now, Cat? You seemed to have an expression as if I didn’t understand the story.” [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“…But, the bad wolf didn’t take Grandmother and leave the house.”

“…Pardon?”

…I’m pretty sure she said at our first meeting that a big wolf had taken her grandmother away.

To find out what happened to Cat’s grandmother, I needed to clear up the misunderstanding that remained between Cat and me.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Quick shoutout to the Indonesians! It’s rare for you guys to get mentioned along with the typical East Asian countries. Y’all deserve more love.