Reincarnated Maid is About To Be Captured by All Players

“Um, I don’t think that’s reliable. Isn’t that just putting our fate in someone else’s hands?”

“That’s why Plan A is the most passive approach.”

True, the king might send envoys to negotiate with Duke Bogia, but we don’t know how those talks will go. What if the Duke convinces the king? We’ll be stuck in Duke Obi’s territory, helpless and angry.

“By the way, Anna’s lap pillow is quite comfortable. You smell so good… Ow!”

Karate chop × 1.

“Plan B: Smuggle ourselves out.”

“You can’t even escape with your spatial teleportation. Do you have another way out?”

“At its lowest power settings, the barrier isn’t completely sealed; there are a few entrances and exits. Completely isolating such a large duchy would seriously impact trade and other industries, so I think Duke Bogia would provide some openings.”

“…But they’ll definitely be heavily guarded.”

Anyone could figure that out. Duke Bogia would surely have heavy security.

He first co-opted all the adventurers in his territory with task rewards and then concentrated his own troops to guard the few exits. This is Duke Bogia’s strategy.

“I’m just throwing out this idea for now. Theoretically, it’s a viable way out.”

“And if we get caught, I feel like it might turn into a ‘If you don’t want to get caught, pay us with your dirty body…’ kind of situation… Ow!”

Karate chop × 2.

That’s not going to happen.

“Duke Bogia personally issued the orders; no one will neglect their duties. Bribing the guards would be very difficult.”

“We’re lacking information, Anna. We don’t know what’s happening outside.”

Siegrid hits the nail on the head. Since escaping from Rothschild, we’ve been avoiding contact with outsiders. While it’s kept Lily safe, it’s also left us lacking in information. We have no idea what’s happening in the outside world.

“They probably haven’t seen much of me. I’ll go to the nearby Barony of Biliran to gather information later.”

“No need. Lady Carol should be joining us soon. She’ll know more than we do.”

With her continuous use of spatial teleportation and a full day of travel, Carol, who doesn’t have a mount, couldn’t possibly catch up to us.

“Carol… She should have received Duke Bogia’s adventurer rewards as well. Are you sure Carol won’t betray us, Anna?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Then why…”

“If she betrays us, I’ll deal with her.”

“That’s a terrifying thing to say so casually…”

For now, I’m willing to trust Carol. From what I’ve observed, she’s not a hardcore player. Whether she has any interest in rewards that require a bloody struggle to obtain is an unknown. But I also can’t be careless about trusting Carol; neither Siegrid nor I have a quest panel, so we can’t even confirm the specifics of the rewards Duke Bogia is offering.

A maid is obliged to remove all obstacles for her master, and besides, Carol can respawn. If she turns out to be an enemy, I won’t hesitate. For now, I consider Carol a friend.

“What’s Anna’s third plan?”

“Before I go into that, don’t roll over and face down.”

Karate chop × 3.

“Who can help it? Anna’s thighs are so soft… I thought it would be more comfortable face down…”

I don’t know about comfort, but enjoying a lap pillow face down would certainly give anyone who walked in on us the wrong idea.

“Plan C: Assassinate Duke Bogia.”

“…Wow. Interesting.”

“Siegrid doesn’t seem scared at all.”

“I’ve killed bandits on my way from Midgard to the Kingdom of Mikael.”

Siegrid surprisingly has experience killing NPCs.

“Is Anna planning to terminate the quest by killing the provider of the rewards?”

If Duke Bogia dies, the quests he offers will be in the awkward situation of “losing the source of rewards.” Unless another NPC or player can provide the rewards, the quest will soon be forcibly terminated.

I won’t deny that some players might become hostile out of frustration, but most adventurers should cease their pointless actions.

“That’s one reason. Another is that if Duke Bogia dies, the barrier will temporarily break down.”

“Why?”

“Dukes are granted special rights to use [Barriers], and they also serve as the core of the [Barrier], like a human heart.”

If Duke Bogia suddenly raises the level of the barrier while we’re trying to sneak out, we’ll be helpless. His death would both eliminate the threat from adventurers and remove the biggest obstacle to leaving Duke Obi’s territory.

Most importantly, Duke Bogia is the one targeting Lily.

“I see… Then it’s definitely Plan C… No need to ask…”

“Assassinating the Duke won’t be easy. Duke Bogia is one of the strongest combatants in the Kingdom of Mikael. Even if he’s old and not as strong as he used to be, he’s not someone you can just kill.”

“I’m good at… sneaking…”

“Rifa?”

“(.-ω-)zzz…”

She fell asleep.

For some reason, I can’t see Siegrid’s sleeping face, but my lap pillow must be decent, right?

“Anna… hehe… prprprpr…”

“…”

Karate chop ×… No, I’ll let it go this time.