The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

The train traveled half a day before it arrived in Holl City in the middle of the night.

Alice had fallen asleep with her earphones on partway through the journey, so she failed to hear the announcement announcing the train's arrival at its destination. Fortunately, she managed to wake up when she sensed someone patting her shoulder.

When Alice opened her dreary eyes and saw the words displayed on the screen at the front of the car, she hurriedly rubbed her eyes and slapped herself on the cheeks. After her consciousness fully recovered, she noticed that the silver-haired maid had long since vanished from the seat beside her. However, when she recalled the pat on her shoulder that had woken her up just now, she felt that it should be the maid who had woken her up on her way out.

It seems she's not as unapproachable as she looks.

After chiding herself not to judge a book by its cover, Alice got up from her seat. The other passengers in the car had mostly left already. So, after grabbing her luggage, Alice promptly exited the train with the Milu Rabbit hanging off her waist once more.

According to Father Kasandora, there would be someone picking her up once she arrived at Holl City's train station, and all she needed to do was exit the train station once she arrived.

Although Alice's identity as the Hero would typically warrant a grand welcoming, taking into account Alice's intent on hiding her identity until she fully matured, Chris Hatter dared not welcome Alice in too grand of a fashion. Needless to say, he dared not welcome Alice in person, either. Instead, he decided to only send one of his subordinates to welcome her.

Alice wasn't a person of extravagance back on Earth, so she didn't care about receiving a grand welcoming. She was satisfied so long as someone came to pick her up. Thus, after exiting the train station, she began searching for her ride in the plaza outside.

Although it was in the middle of the night right now, the plaza was brightly lit, so Alice had no trouble finding her target—a figure holding up a large wooden sign with the words "Miss Alice" written on it. Without hesitation, Alice started making her way to this figure.

However, to Alice's surprise, after walking closer to the person holding the sign, she found that the other party was actually the silver-haired maid who had sat beside her on the train.

"...???"

The silver-haired maid grew a little confused when she saw Alice approaching her. After hesitating for a moment, she lowered her sign and crouched down to the same eye level as Alice and asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Cough, cough… That…"

Alice grew a little embarrassed when she saw that the other party had failed to realize that she was "Alice." However, she found that this was a somewhat reasonable outcome. After all, she looked like an ignorant wealthy young lady. She looked considerably young. Moreover, judging by the maid's reaction, Alice assumed that the Gryffin King had not informed the maid of her appearance and simply told the maid to escort someone going by the name of "Alice" at the train station.

With the lack of information, the maid had probably assumed that the "Alice" she was tasked with escorting was an adult woman. After all, this "Alice" was someone the Gryffin King had personally tasked her with escorting. It was only natural to assume that this "Alice" was someone important. Meanwhile, no matter how she looked at it, there was no way a girl who looked to be around 14 years old could be of any importance to the king.

"I'm Alice."

"Huh?" The silver-haired maid was momentarily stunned. Then, she switched her gaze between her wooden sign and Alice several times. After seeing that Alice didn't seem to be joking, the maid fell into thought for a moment before saying, "Please give me a moment."

After saying so, the silver-haired maid turned around, pulled a phone out of her uniform's pocket, and dialed a number. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was probably calling to verify whether the "Alice" she was tasked with escorting was a blonde little girl.

Alice didn't mind this action. Instead, she pulled out her phone and logged into the Hero's official LINK account, and posted a photo she had taken beforehand. The photo was taken in Mana City's suburbs, and she attached with the photo were the words:

"Finished my training in the Gryffin Forest and just arrived back in Mana City."

Along with this post, Alice guessed that many of the demons, who had snuck into the human realm to assassinate the Hero, would be sneaking into Mana City for the foreseeable future. However, while Mana City might be a border city, it was still a human territory. So, the most the demons could do was conduct some investigation in secret before withdrawing without accomplishing anything.

"I have verified your identity, Lady Alice."

After Alice uploaded the misleading post onto LINK, the silver-haired maid also verified that her escort target was indeed a blonde little girl. So, she turned back to Alice and said, "I am Luna Cecilia, the maid whom His Majesty the King has sent to receive you. I will be responsible for your daily life in Hall City from now onward."

So she's the person sent to take care of me…

Alice scratched her head awkwardly when she looked at the expressionless maid in front of her. She couldn't help but suspect that the king might have sent Luna to her because he couldn't bear the air-conditioning effect Luna exhibited 24/7.

"Please follow me. I will bring you to meet with His Majesty."

Luna did not notice the strange expression on Alice's face. To be precise, she might have noticed it but chose not to pay attention to it. Instead, after she finished speaking to Alice, she turned around and began walking away.

Is this maid not going to help me with my luggage? Alice mentally voiced an exasperated complaint as she quickly followed Luna.

After following Luna out of the station plaza, Alice found herself arriving at the street. Then, she watched as Luna walked up to a black luxury sedan, opened the door to the back seat, and said, "Please get in the car, Lady Alice."

"No need to refer to me using 'Lady.' It feels strange being called that. Just call me Alice."

Alice felt a little uncomfortable when she heard Luna addressing her with honorifics. She still wasn't used to others addressing her using such a respectful title, especially when her name connected with the title. Rather than "Lady Alice," she'd rather go with Father Kasandora's "Lord Hero" instead. After all, she didn't think that she was the Hero, so when others referred to her as "Lord Hero," it felt like they were talking about another person. However, as Luna currently did not know of her identity as the Hero, Alice's only option was to have Luna drop the honorifics.

Fortunately, Luna wasn't the stubborn type of maid typically mentioned in novels. She readily accepted Alice's request and said, "I understand, Alice."

Alice nodded in satisfaction. Then, she climbed into the back seat of the car, her right hand gripping the door as support. However, just as she was about to put her foot into the car, an information window appeared in her mind.

…

[Weapon: Camilla B50 Sedan - Black Edition That Is Tainted by the Demon King’s Power]

[Quality: Fine]

[Effect: Agility +20, Control +20]

[Additional Effect:

Veteran Driver (Passive Skill. Prevents the driver from ever causing a car accident);

Demon King's Gaze (Passive Skill. The wielder of the Demon King's Power can see everything happening inside the weapon.)]

…

"..."

Alice's body paused momentarily. Then, she entered the car as if nothing had just happened.