[V13C20] The Pitiful Creature That Lost Its Tail

The Royal Institute of Magic requested Louis Miller’s cooperation as an experimental subject for a period of two months.

But then, Louis made a series of thinly veiled threats to the person in charge, and his tenacity won out in the end. He managed to regain his freedom after a period of ten days.

Several decisions had been made in those ten days, which Louis later heard from the Starseer Witch.

The culprit responsible for stealing Gluttonous Zoe was reported as the magical creature biologist Theodore Maxwell. His true identity as a black dragon was not publicized.

Meanwhile, the black dragon that suddenly appeared in Sazandol was deemed the “Black Dragon of Sazandol” and considered unrelated to Theodore.

Louis was frustrated to see Carla’s brother falsely branded as a criminal, but he could understand the reason. The fact that dragons could transform into humans needed to be kept secret.

In addition, they announced the rewards for the heroes who resolved the incident.

The most prominent was, of course, the Silent Witch, for vanquishing the Black Dragon of Sazandol. The Dragon Slayer Mage, the Third Abyss Shaman, and the Fifth Thorn Witch were also recognized for their efforts in minimizing casualties.

Bonuses were granted to everyone at the Sazandol Mage Association, including the Fourth Thorn Witch, Melissa Roseberg.

Of course, there were many others fending off the dragons in other areas of the country, like Louis and Bradford. Awards had been reserved for them as well.

There were also two other individuals who received special recognition.

The first was Cyril Ashley, son of Marquis Highown, for deciphering Gluttonous Zoe’s abilities and predicting a large-scale dragon disaster, which saved countless lives throughout the country.

The second was Glenn Dudley, who contributed to the defeat of the black dragon despite being a novice mage.

For their efforts, Cyril was to be awarded a viscount title, and Glenn would receive the newly established title of ‘Magic Knight.’

The title of Magic Knight was specifically created for Glenn, as he was a disciple of a Sage. Similar to how the title of Mage Count was equivalent to a noble count, the title of Magic Knight would make him equal to a knight.

Considering his commoner background, this was an unprecedented rise in status.

Apparently, all of these awards and appointments were to be given out during the Sage Appointment Ceremony of Silas Page.

However, absolutely none of that mattered to Louis. All he wanted was to grab the collar of each and every one of them and shout, “Wow, I’m so glad for you! Everyone else gets rewarded while I get my hair set on fire!”

＊　＊　＊

Louis stood in front of his mansion for the first in a long while, but he found himself hesitating to open the door.

Despite wanting to see his family as soon as possible, he didn’t want them to see the disgraceful state of his hair. Especially not his beloved daughter, who had loved his braids so much.

And so, Louis stood frozen in the refreshing early summer afternoon, until he heard a voice from behind himself.

“Excuse me, I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

Louis turned his head to see a beautiful blonde maid standing behind him with impeccable posture. It was his contracted spirit, Rynzbelfied. Apparently, she had returned from Rainfield after finishing her job with Carla.

Meanwhile, Ryn observed Louis thoroughly from head to toe and continued…

“You must be a visitor. I have just returned myself, so please wait one moment while I check if the head of household is present.”

Louis felt a vein popping out of his temple. This good-for-nothing maid could not even recognize her own master.

It only required a tiny amount of concentration for a contracted spirit to sense the link to their contractor. In other words, Ryn was completely ignoring this link.

Right before Louis exploded in anger, Ryn quickly opened the front door and slipped inside, closing the door behind her.

Louis immediately slammed open the door and shouted, “You shitty failure of a maid!”

He ended up freezing before letting out any further insults.

Ryn had been conversing with Louis’s wife Rosalie on the other side of the door, so his sudden intrusion left both of them staring at him.

“Such vulgarity. Could it be that you are Louis-dono?” Ryn asked, showing no change in expression.

Louis gulped down the remaining insults as he locked eyes with his beloved wife.

Rosalie was staring back at him with her eyes wide. She seemed incredibly shocked, as the laundry basket in her hands slipped out, falling to the ground with an audible thud.

Louis did his best to force a smile, though his cheeks were twitching.

“Ah, Rosalie… I’m… I’m home.”

“…Welcome back.”

Rosalie replied in a frail voice, practically a whisper. Then, she quickly gathered the fallen laundry and turned her back on Louis.

“…I’ll prepare some tea. You can have a seat in the living room.”

Leaving only a few words, Rosalie promptly rushed out of the room.

Louis had remained energetic after getting ambushed with a magical battle, and after having his hair set on fire during the experiments. Yet now, he could only collapse to his knees in despair.

Rosalie clearly detested his new appearance, so it was only a matter of time until their divorce. He should have brought flowers, sweets, or some other gift to appease her. Louis knew that she had never been very fond of such things, but anything was better than nothing.

Louis ran his hands through his shortened hair, groaning in agony.

“Louis-dono,” Ryn said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

It seems this good-for-nothing spirit had acquired enough common sense to try comforting her master. Though this did not make him happy in the slightest.

“It appears that Rosalie-sama is in shock after witnessing your drastic change in appearance.”

“…”

“You can trust me, your capable head maid, with comforting her. In the meanwhile, I ask that you refrain from entering her line of sight.”

“…”

As if Ryn would ever show concern to her master. She would rather twist the knife and add to his misery.

Did that good-for-nothing maid even have a heart? Of course not, she was a spirit.

Louis covered his face and let out a deep sigh.

＊　＊　＊

When the pitiful Louis Miller fell to his knees at the doorway of his own mansion, there was a small figure observing him from the corner of the corridor.

It was Louis’s two-year-old daughter, Leonora.

To Leonora, Louis had always been the “scary creature with a long tail that is sometimes home.”

The creature was scary when awake, so Leonora only dared to approach while it was asleep. She enjoyed tying ribbons to the creature’s long tail.

But after a long absence, the scary creature returned, and for some reason, its tail was missing.

——No tail!?

Leonora was shocked.

How did the creature lose its tail? Had it been torn off by a hungry dragon?

Leonora felt very sorry for the creature, so she decided to pat its head.

Suddenly, the creature turned around and picked Leonora up. It looked down at her with tears welling in its eyes.

It must be crying from the pain of its torn tail. Leonora gently stroked the area where the tail used to be.

“Rosalie! Rosalie! Leonora is…! She’s patting my head!”

Louis Miller had finally experienced the joy of interacting with his daughter for the first time in his life. He immediately lifted Leonora into his arms and chased after his wife.

Leonora did not return the hug, so she didn’t seem particularly fond of her father. Still, this was a huge improvement to the times she cried whenever Louis picked her up.

“Rosalie!” Louis called out, practically on the verge of tears.

Louis found Rosalie standing in front of the door to the kitchen, still holding the laundry basket. This seemed a bit strange, as Rosalie was usually very quick to handle chores.

“Rosalie! Leonora just…”

Louis trailed off, noticing that his wife’s ears had grown slightly red. Was it just his imagination?

Rosalie turned slightly in his direction, then let out an audible gasp and covered her face in the laundry. This was very unusual, as Rosalie was famous for always keeping her cool.

“Um… Rosalie?”

“Hold on, I need to mentally prepare myself… because…”

Rosalie started muttering intermittently, her voice muffled by the laundry.

“…Because I fell in love with the short-haired delinquent.”

It took a few seconds for Louis to understand the meaning of those words. He observed Rosalie again, finding that her cheeks were bright red.

“Rosalie?”

“Wait.”

“Rosalie?”

“No.”

“Look at me.”

“…Ugh! You’re being so… unfair…”

After Louis switched to a tone reminiscent of his mischievous teenage years, Rosalie finally lifted her head and glared back at him. Her usual intellectual and cool demeanor was nowhere to be seen. How adorable.

This was the best reward he could ask for. Now, he could forget all of his recent struggles and setbacks.

——Because Louis Miller had joined the Seven Sages for the sake of this woman.

Louis smiled, hugging Leonora in his left arm and reaching out to embrace Rosalie with his right. But in the next moment, he found the expressionless face of his maid blocking his way.

She had quite literally slid right in between them, without even moving her feet.

Louis walked to the right to avoid the good-for-nothing maid, but Ryn slid again to block him off.

Louis feigned a move to the left, then darted back to the right. Ryn followed suit in complete sync.

This series of silent maneuvers continued for a while, until Ryn spoke in her usual monotone.

“Louis-dono, it appears that your new appearance is detrimental to Rosalie-sama’s well-being.”

“Oi.”

“That is why you need to be kept out of Rosalie-sama’s line of sight.”

“Get out of my way.”

“This is a technique I have dubbed the Stylish Defense.”

“I said move, you stupid maid!”

The volume of his shout caused Leonora to burst into tears in his arms. Louis panicked as he did his best to soothe his daughter, but ultimately, he had to ask for his wife’s assistance.

Rosalie Miller knew that Louis’s hairstyle and manner of speaking was a result of the great efforts he went through to marry her, so she didn’t want to say anything bad.

But truth be told, she had always loved the short-haired delinquent version of him more.

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