I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 275 [The Three Elders of the Forest (1)]

In the Witch’s Forest, there are no horses.

There are no witches raising horses, no witches riding horses, and no witches driving carriages.

The reason was simple and straightforward. Unexpectedly, raising and caring for horses requires quite a bit of communication skills.

Horses are intelligent animals and they know how to express their emotions.

They can express joy with their facial expressions, show sadness by lowering their heads, convey pain through tears, spit when they are in a bad mood, and even kick anyone nearby with their hind legs when angry.

Of course, even if witches, whose blood is half made up of drugs they concocted themselves, get kicked once by a horse’s hind legs, they won’t die or anything. 

The relevant point here is that horses are animals that express their emotions more freely than one might think.

“Ho-ho-ho-horses? Why are they in front of the Elders’ house…?”

The witch’s personality of always being mindful of others’ gazes and feeling dejected was no exception when it came to horses, and witches who couldn’t handle emotions when dealing with people didn’t want to bother regulating their own emotions for livestock, either.

That’s why witches are afraid of horses. Lara, who was trembling just by looking at the horse next to me, was living proof of that.

It’s not that they’re scared because horses can physically harm them. They’re just afraid that they might upset the horse’s mood. 

In fact, it’s not just horses. Witches are afraid of all animals that have rich emotional expressions, like dogs, sheep, goats, pigs, deer, etc.

You can assume that among mammals, they dislike all of them except cats. If witches do keep any other pets, it would be birds, amphibians, or reptiles.

In other words, the presence of well-groomed horses and shiny carriages here meant that there were guests from outside visiting this house of the Three Elders, aside from the royal carriage we had all ridden together.

‘It’s still a long way off until the Royal Family’s regular delivery date.’

Since the next regular delivery, which would take place 2-3 weeks after wrapping up Lara’s event, was Seraphine’s job, there was no reason for the Royal Merchant Carriage to arrive now.

‘Huh? This is…’

Just in case I could recognize it, I examined the carriage and noticed an emblem that seemed familiar from somewhere.

It wasn’t the royal emblem, nor was it an emblem from the church. It obviously wasn’t the Blackwood emblem, either.

I tried to recall in my mind all the other noble family emblems I might know, but none of the ones that came to mind seemed to match.

‘Well, even I can’t possibly memorize every single noble family emblem.’

Still, if it was an emblem that left an impression on me, I would probably recognize it when I see it. 

With the same thought, I knocked on the door of the Three Elders’ house three times without hesitation.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Is anyone there~? You’re the Witch Elders, right~?”

“Wa-wa-wait a moment, Lilith Rosewood…! I-I-It seems there’s a guest, so let’s come back next time…! We-we’ll visit again later…!!”

“The witch exam is in just three days, so when is the ‘next time’? You said the Elders have a ritual to perform before the exam. We should inform them about this as soon as possible.”

“Th-that’s true, but… I-I-I’m not mentally prepared yet to see the Elders… A-and if there’s another guest…”

“…I won’t ask you to speak, Lara, so don’t worry. If there’s anything to discuss with the visiting guest, I’ll handle it somehow.”

“…O-O-O-Okay… I-I-If that’s the case…”

When I said I would speak on her behalf, Lara carefully nodded her head while hiding behind me.

Even though she was taller than me and had a similar chest size, hiding behind me wouldn’t conceal her at all, but I just let it slide.

We waited in a somewhat awkward posture in front of the Three Elders’ house for someone to come out, but even after quite some time had passed since knocking, no one emerged from the house.

“……”

“……”

“Ma-maybe they’re not in right now…? Sh-should we come back later…?”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Excuse me, Elders~? Are you not inside~?”

“Eek, hyaa…?! Li-Lilith Rosewood…! Wh-what if you startle the Elders by knocking like that…?!”

“Just now, you suggested they might not be in, but suddenly, you’re saying this? If they’re inside, they might not have heard, so I’m knocking again. Also, if all three of them are out, there’s no one to hear it anyway, so there’s no one to startle.”

“Th-th-they might be pretending not to hear…!!”

“What?”

“Ah, they might be inside, but for some reason, they might not be in the mood to see anyone today, so the-they might be pretending not to hear…!! Wh-what if that’s the situation…?!”

…Considering the witches’ communication skills, it was a plausible story, but my hand knocking on the door didn’t stop.

In the first place, this kind of situation never appeared even once in the original game. There was never a single instance where the Elders pretended not to be home when someone knocked on the door.

“Then, we should tell them to come out quickly. Isn’t your witch exam the urgent matter right now, Lara?”

“My-my exam is important, but… Still, the Elders might need to prepare themselves mentally too…”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Eek, eeek…!! Eeeeeeeek…!!”

At the third knock, Lara grasped her head as if committing some great sin and even sank to the floor.

Finding her reaction absurd, I was really starting to wonder if there was indeed no one inside the house right now. At that moment, the door opened from the inside and a person slowly poked their head out.

It was a familiar face of a young man with sky-blue hair characteristic of the August family.

“The Elders are currently speaking with our sister. So, if you could visit another time…”

“Young Master Caraham?”

“…Miss Lilith?”

Ah, I see. No wonder the carriage emblem looked familiar.

The emblem I saw on the carriage turned out to be the August Marquis family emblem attached to Lizzy’s uniform. It was an emblem I used to see almost every day while doing Student Council activities, so it couldn’t help but look familiar.

If it had been another witch visiting, he would have probably intended to turn them away, but facing me, whom he knew, Caraham couldn’t bring himself to do that and let us into the Three Elders’ house.

In the first place, even if he tried to kick me out, I, who had a clear purpose, would have forcibly entered the house anyway.

“Young Master Caraham, what brings you to the Witch’s Forest?”

“It’s a regular trade of the August Company. The August family also conducts business with the witches in the Witch’s Forest.”

“Pardon…?”

What is he saying? Was there such a fact in the original work?

As far as I know, witches are extremely cautious when it comes to meeting new people, and they tend to avoid doing business with anyone they don’t know well.

First of all, witches generally try not to make deals with people who are blatantly profit-driven. This is not because witches are particularly good at reading people, but rather because their uniquely cautious personality can cause various problems when dealing with profit-seeking groups.

Usually, companies that try to extract the maximum benefit from witches immediately present an estimate as soon as they meet the witches living in the Witch’s Forest. They think, ‘These girls seem a bit naive, so if we tie them up with a trap contract, we can extract profits from them for a long time.’

Then, they push a contract full of difficult terms that ordinary people cannot understand and symbols that can be toxic clauses onto the witches, mixing in contract terms that can change at any time, such as ‘market price’, ‘price fluctuation’, or ‘futures options’. 

They dream of using that contract to extract potions from the naive witches at dirt-cheap prices for a long time.

Now, every single company that has handed such a contract to witches so far has had to return empty-handed without exception. 

Even though witches are said to have communication disorders, they are not stupid enough to not understand the meaning of a contract with toxic clauses.

In the first place, being a witch is a profession that requires intelligence.

Even apprentice witches have to keep hundreds of types of potions in their heads, and as Elders gain experience, they need to memorize the recipes for tens of thousands of potions.

Moreover, while they avoid talking to strangers, their network among themselves is better established than most siblings, so being rejected by one witch essentially means that contracts with other witches will also fall through.

A sentiment spreads like:

“That person came with this and that kind of contract last time, and they hid something strange with toxic clauses. I almost fell for it.”

“Wow, really? I should never even exchange words with that outsider.”

So, I couldn’t help but express my doubts about the August Company, a profit-driven group, having made a deal with witches.

“The August Company conducts regular business with witches?”

“Yes. Of course, regular business doesn’t mean buying and selling fixed goods. You can think of it as a kind of merchant carriage that only our sister can operate.”

“…Does Miss Lizzy do business similar to Princess Seraphine?”

“Ah, yes. Our sister said she learned a lot from the princess’s methods.”

There was only one way to do regular business with witches. 

Bring a company carriage, but don’t act like a company.

Just get to know each witch one by one, visit them whenever they need something and buy it, or suggest, “I have this and that item, would you like to buy it if you need it?”

It’s a type of trade that requires a lot of time and effort, and the stability is low, so most companies give up on this method. 

It was a method that Seraphine, who has almost maxed-out social skills in the game, could manage.

After all, a popular person who is kind to loners was an object of admiration in this world, just like in my previous life. *1

Now, right before my eyes, there was another person who was as socially skilled as Seraphine.

“Elder~, can’t I also take the upcoming witch exam? I want to become a witch too~.”

The young lady of the August family was persuading the Three Elders with a sweet voice. 

I was reunited with Lizzy for the first time since summer vacation began—albeit in an unexpected way.

T/N

1. Damn bro who hurt you

Thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter!