novelonline Chapter 1017 The Last Routine 196
Chapter 1017 The Last Routine 196
Chapter 1017 The Last Routine 196
"I'm Chris. I've always operated as a thief, but lately I've been doing something else. It was something I didn't want to start, but it feels somewhat meaningful. Alright, today, as part of Axel's Angel Team... let's go!!"
Unlike her previous verbal reluctance and strong resistance, Chris was starting to enjoy being a nurse. Perhaps it was her goddess-like nature interfering; the feeling of helping others was truly wonderful. And that's why she'd stayed and hadn't quit.
At Cecily's request, they went out into the streets to look for other people in need of help. Because they all pitched in and indeed resolved many problems, they weren't ordered to leave.
"Hmph hmph hmph~~" Cecily hummed a cheerful little tune happily, and exclaimed, "Oh dear, thanks to everyone's efforts, the Angel Team has received very good reviews. Lady Aqua will surely be very happy too."
"Even now, can Chris really do things that benefit the Church of Axis?" Lynn looked at her strangely. Although she wasn't deliberately hiding it, she knew that Chris belonged to the Church of Eris, which was essentially an opposing force. Helping her would inevitably cause some psychological problems.
"Hmm..." Chris thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Well, it's true that it's beneficial to others. So far, it hasn't had much to do with the cult's evaluation, so there shouldn't be any major problems." Of course, what she didn't say was: if there were any negative implications, she would show them just how powerful a thief's stealth skills are.
Just then, Darkness rushed over and, seeing her, quickly said, "Chris, I've found you. There's something I want to ask you..."
“Darkness?” Chris looked at her with some surprise and asked, “What’s wrong? You seem to have something on your mind. If you have any problems, feel free to tell me.”
After all, the two are friends, even if they are not in the same team.
Darkness paused for a moment before saying, "...Actually, I'm a little worried about the condition of an elderly nobleman I used to know."
"Oh dear! This is quite an interesting conversation! Please be sure to tell us the details!!" Cecily squeezed in somewhat forcefully, as if she wanted to get involved, and the mercenary smile on her face was rather unpleasant.
"Your face is too close, Cecily!" Startled by Cecily's sudden closeness, Darkness was reluctant to tell her the truth, but considering that she was from the Angels team with a good reputation recently, she could only reluctantly say, "That old man seems to have become difficult to get along with lately. I heard that he always distances himself from those around him. I hope you can think of a way to find out what's going on."
"I see, that's truly worrying!" Cecily said with deep sympathy, her demeanor quite priestly, but then, "In that case, I—"
“I understand!” Chris didn’t give her a chance to agree, but instead decisively interrupted and accepted the request, saying, “This time it’s Darkness’s request. I’ll go see that old man. Is that alright, Miss Cecily?”
"I want to go too!!"
Cecily sensed that Chris was subtly excluding her, and without bothering to pretend, she quickly said so, giving Chris a slight headache. But she had no choice but to agree, along with the other members of the Angel Team.
Upon arriving at the mansion, everyone was slightly surprised by its luxury.
"Wow—" Youyou looked around, amazed by the magnificent decorations. "What a huge mansion. To be taken care of by people living in a place like this, no wonder it's Darkness."
After all, she is a noble lady, and a high-ranking noblewoman known as the "Kingdom's Blade." To be honest, it's not certain who will take care of whom.
“It must be tough living alone without family,” Alice said gently, more concerned about the old man’s safety than the decor. “You want us to help that old man regain his senses, right?”
"Speaking of which, why did it turn out like this?" Youyou asked curiously. "It's strange that such a large mansion doesn't have any servants."
And the fact that he's all alone makes it even stranger.
Darkness sighed helplessly and said, "It seems that something unpleasant happened, and both the nanny and the cook were fired."
That makes sense now.
Seemingly noticing the slightly speechless expressions on her companions' faces, Darkness spoke up as if to elicit their sympathy: "Before, although she was a noble, she was also active as an adventurer, a lively and cheerful person... It's just that I don't know why she became like this."
“An adventurer of noble birth?” Cecily said with some surprise, “He’s just like Miss Darkness.”
Darkness was the daughter of a local nobleman, and this fact was not kept secret; many people were actually aware of it.
Even she herself nodded and said, "That's right. I really look forward to his adventure stories."
Then, Darkness looked at the people who had appeared at the mansion and said with some surprise and astonishment, "Speaking of which... I only intended to ask Chris for help, but I didn't expect that everyone from the Angels team would come."
"Alright, alright," Chris waved her hand and said, "Our recent evaluations have been surprisingly good, so there's no problem! Besides, Miss Cecily will behave, right?"
"That old man is a follower of Eris, so don't say anything unnecessary," Lynn warned Cecily earnestly, afraid that she might lose control and cause Cecily to convert, thus angering him.
“No problem…!” Cecily patted her chest and said loudly, “Who do you think I am? A beautiful priestess of the Axis cult, the captain of the angels of Axel?”
"That's why I'm worried..." After all, the more confident this person is, the more trouble they're likely to cause. I just hope she won't do anything reckless.
Lynn said with a smile, "Don't worry. If Miss Cecily does anything unnecessary, I'll break her."
"...Huh? From...from where...?" Cecily took several steps back, a hint of fear in her voice. "Um, you were joking, weren't you, Miss Lynn?"
Unfortunately, that dangerous expression didn't seem like he was joking.
At that moment, the door to the room opened, and an old man appeared. He looked somewhat sickly and gloomy, and stared at Darkness and the others, saying, "I was wondering why it was so noisy. Oh, it's Lord Darkness's daughter. What brings you here today?"
"I'm so sorry for not keeping an eye on you for so long and for coming uninvited," Darkness said respectfully, then explained his purpose, "I heard you haven't been feeling well lately, so I wanted to ask if there's anything I can do to help."
The others followed suit and introduced themselves.
"Nice to meet you. I am Darkness... no, I am Lalatina's friend Chris. I am very sorry that so many people have come all of a sudden."
"And I am Cecily of Axel's Angels! You've become a lonely and dejected old woman, it must be Eris's fault... Ughhhhh!!?"
"So, didn't I tell you not to do that?!"
As soon as Chris finished introducing herself, Cecily couldn't wait to introduce herself and shift the blame to the Church of Eris. Chris then covered her mouth to stop her from talking nonsense.
This guy has completely forgotten what he just said.
"Hey! You nosy folks who make a ruckus as soon as you enter someone's house! We don't need your help! Mind your own business!" Sure enough, this concern angered the old man. He chased them away while shouting, "Treat me like an old man! If you have nothing to do, go back home! That's enough!"
After saying that, he slammed the door shut, as if to avoid seeing guests.
"...They've left." Chris looked at the tightly closed door and said angrily, "Honestly, it's all Cecily's fault for saying such rude things."
“But since we’ve already called, why don’t we just go back?” Lynn said, equally annoyed and impatient. “I’m not exactly free either. We still have Duster to keep an eye on in the team.”
"Hmm..." Alice looked at the tightly closed door with some concern and whispered, "I feel like there's a loneliness in his eyes, and it makes me a little uneasy..."
She must have felt the same way. Back in the capital, no one cared about her. She was all alone with no one to talk to, so it was natural for her to feel lonely.
“Yes, I care too.” Chris felt the same way; the last thing she could do was see someone injured and ignore it. “So, we can’t just go back like this.”
“Everyone…” Darkness was touched to have such a group of companions who cared about the old man, and said somewhat apologetically, “I’m sorry, he used to be a very gentle person. He played with me many times when I was little. I hope he can go back to how he was before.”
She's a very sentimental person.
“Hmm, what changed the old man?” Cecily asked, somewhat puzzled. “It couldn’t have been a sudden change; there must be some reason.”
"It's said that she's not feeling well and has been staying at home a lot, so she's become difficult to get along with. She's also become annoyed by the worries around her..."
Simply put, he refuses to accept his age. He always feels that he is not old yet, but the limits of age and physical fitness no longer allow him to be as active as he was when he was an adventurer. In addition, the concern of the maid and the butler makes him feel even more unhappy, which is why he has become so irritable.
“Then how about we work together to heal the old man’s heart?” Chris said with a smile. “If we’re together, we might understand something.”
"Thank you. Anyway, I'll go talk to him and see if there's anything I can do. I'll be right back." Darkness quickly went into the room, talked to him for a while, and came out shortly after.
When questioned by the crowd, she said she had heard from the old man, "If you have to do something, clean the mansion," and the angels split up to clean.
"Whoosh...!" Chris wiped the sweat from her forehead and exclaimed, "A big room is a real pain to clean, and it's decorated with lots of expensive-looking equipment. Wow, that's impressive."
“These must be things she used when she was active as an adventurer…” Darkness said with a sigh. But judging from the high-end equipment displayed in the room and the marks on it, the old woman must have had a lot of adventure experience when she was young, which was a big reason why she chose to become an adventurer.
Suddenly, noticing someone lurking around suspiciously, she couldn't help but ask, "...Cecily, what are you doing?"
"Eh?" Cecile, caught red-handed, did not feel ashamed or scared. Instead, she naturally showed Darkness the portrait on her chest and said, "I just wanted to exchange the portrait of the cult goddess with our Lady Aqua."
"Didn't I say the old man is a follower of Eris? Don't do anything strange!" Darkness said, somewhat angrily and nervously.
Cecily, however, said dismissively, "Is it because of something like faith that your personality has become worse?"
"How dare you address someone as 'Lord Eris'! You rude person!" Darkness, a devout guardian knight of the Church of Eris, could not tolerate such a denigration of his faith.
The noise from their argument seemed to disturb the old man in the room, who slowly walked out and said, "...What's all the commotion about? Are you done cleaning?"
"Sorry, we're still cleaning!" Chris quickly apologized, adding skillfully, "I got so engrossed in looking at all the cool swords and armor..."
This remark clearly struck a nerve with the old man, who proudly introduced, "Hmph, to know the value of things placed here, you're no ordinary young lady. Especially that sword, it was a gift given to me to celebrate completing my mission—"
Just as he was proudly recounting his past glories, Cecily, quite oblivious to the humor, interrupted, saying quite naturally, "Of course he knows its value, right? This guy is a thief—uhhhhh!!?"
Chris covered her mouth, not intending to let her say what she was about to say, while at the same time Darkness suddenly howled, as if trying to cover something up.
"Ahhh, there's nothing there!"
"Ugh, really, it's so noisy!" The old man's mood was ruined and he was a little angry. "Anyway, let's finish this quickly."
He left, trembling.
Darkness finally lost her temper and, suppressing her anger, whispered a rebuke: "Cecily!! We were finally in a good mood, and you have to say something unnecessary again, you idiot!!"
"Alright, alright, calm down!" Chris didn't want her to argue with Cecily about this, as that would only complicate things further. "Anyway, just finish the cleaning in a few seconds."
Moreover, once they understand why the elderly are so irritable, they can find solutions, so they don't need to rush; there are plenty of opportunities.
(End of this chapter)