Chapter 92

### Rank 1 Eve vs. Rank 2 Cubero

If this confrontation had to be described in one word... it was "usual."

Always, the 1st and 2nd ranks were these two.

"I'm sorry for the lack of variety."

"......e......ni"

"No, it's fine, I was just saying."

Eve, one of the Ten, faced Cubero, the butler. Beside her, for some reason, was another maid.

Her name was Luna, known as the "interpreter."

She was neither beautiful nor cute, nor particularly ugly—just an ordinary face. Her hair, figure, and voice were all ordinary, with no distinctive features. She was a maid without any notable characteristics.

Her true identity was the most skilled assassin in Yuki's secret assassination team, the "Eve Squad." However, she had never actually carried out an assassination. Her "investigative abilities" were truly remarkable. It was she who had found the surviving member of the R6 bandits, Biside, and who had set up the "stage" to capture Tender, the leader of the assassination team under the Third Knight, Jalm.

Moreover, she had one unique trait: she was fearless. Her lack of the emotion of fear was so pronounced that it could almost be called an absence of fear.

Thus, it happened that she had the opportunity to converse with Eve, the squad leader, who was feared by most of the maids. Luna discovered that Eve was simply a shy, introverted, and socially awkward girl who was just quiet and expressionless. Despite being called a "white devil" and a "puppet assassin" and being feared, Eve wanted to get along with everyone. Moved by the squad leader's earnestness, Luna decided to act as Eve's interpreter, staying by her side to help her communicate with others.

"......i"

"I'm the one who should apologize, I was just saying."

"H, ha"

However, Luna herself had her own issues.

She was also quite socially awkward.

She could manage to speak seriously if she always added "I was just saying" at the end of her sentences, but in her daily life, she never made eye contact with anyone, rarely initiated conversations, and would go straight to her room after work to talk to her pet spider. She was truly a person who lived in the shadows.

"......yo......su"

"Nice to meet you, I was just saying."

"......Yes. Nice to meet you."

This was a truly odd pairing of two socially awkward individuals. The other maids had long since gotten used to this scene, but Cubero was still not accustomed to it.

After exchanging greetings, the two bowed to each other, took a step back, and faced each other. Luna, having completed her task, moved to join the row of spectators.

Cubero sighed, lamenting the peculiarities of the household staff, and slowly got into a fighting stance. As usual, he used [Martial Arts].

On the other hand, Eve. She stood with her arms hanging loosely at her sides. At the tips of her pale fingers, something invisible glinted. Yes, she was a user of [Puppet String Manipulation], a skill recognized even by Yuki.

"Well..."

Cubero, in his fighting stance, slowly closed the distance. Eve simply waved her hands gently.

...These two were a truly mismatched pair.

[Martial Arts] was a close-range type. Get close, attack. It was a simple and straightforward skill.

However, [Puppet String Manipulation] was a mid-to-close-range type. It allowed for attacks from a distance, wide-area attacks, and close-range responses, making it a versatile skill.

"This is really hard to dodge!"

The invisible strings that stretched between them—Cubero dodged them one after another, relying on his intuition from experience, and continued to close the distance.

The skill Eve activated was [Gold General Puppet String Manipulation]. It released strings like tentacles in a radius of about 4 meters around her, restraining anyone who touched them.

"Ha!"

Cubero used [Lance Martial Arts] to kick and sever the strings that were about to entangle him. Kicks were more effective against the strings than punches. Through repeated battles, he had gradually learned how to deal with them.

"......"

Eve silently attacked Cubero with [Lance Puppet String Manipulation]. Cubero immediately took a step back to avoid it and returned to the original distance. Then, Eve reactivated [Gold General Puppet String Manipulation] to create her territory.

"Well... this is getting boring."

This infinite loop made it difficult for him to close the distance. If he tried to attack recklessly, he would be caught by the strings, leaving him with no options and forcing him to concede. It was the usual pattern.

"But, I have my pride as a former bandit. I can't keep losing like this, it's not befitting of a man."

Cubero rolled up his butler's sleeves, reinvigorated himself, and approached Eve's territory again.

This time, he had a plan.

"......"

Eve showed a slight reaction. Something seemed to shimmer at Cubero's feet where he suddenly stopped.

She had poor eyesight, so she couldn't tell what it was. But she was certain that "something was about to happen."

And indeed, it was not just her imagination.

"Wha—!?"

The exclamation came from the spectators.

Cubero had activated [Magic]—[Wind Attribute: Second Form]. The shimmering light at his feet was the magic circle that appeared during skill preparation.

"I learned it recently..."

Second Form was a ranged attack magic.

The gust of wind from Cubero blew away Eve's strings one by one.

"I'm coming."

Immediately, Cubero ran towards Eve, as if taking a running start.

"Rude of me to use such rough tactics."

About 2 meters away, he leaped, performing [Knight Martial Arts]—a flying kick.

The wind from Second Form had disrupted his balance, and there was no way for Eve to dodge. She had no choice but to take the flying kick. However, she didn't have a powerful enough [Puppet String Manipulation] to withstand [Knight Martial Arts] at such close range.

...Or so Cubero thought.

But in reality...

She could use it. She just hadn't used it before.

"Unbelievable!?"

Cubero's flying kick was neutralized by Eve's [Rook Puppet String Manipulation]. It was a skill that attacked with a whip-like motion using multiple bundled strings.

It was a triple shock. The shock of her mastering a high-level skill like [Rook], the shock of its power being enough to neutralize [Knight Martial Arts] two times, and the shock of her holding back in all previous ranking battles.

"I concede, it's a complete defeat."

Cubero, now bound by the strings, declared his loss upon landing.

Match over—ranking unchanged.

### Ranking

1. Eve

2. Cubero

3. Lily

4. El

5. Champagne

6. Cosmos

7. Es

8. Just

"This time, I thought the top ranks would be shaken up... but there wasn't much change, was there?"

After the ranking battle ended and the latest rankings were announced, the top ranks saw only minor changes. Champagne won against Cosmos and moved to 5th place, and the stablehand leader Just lost to the Ten, Es, who moved to 7th place. Otherwise, there were no significant changes.

To this comment by Cubero, a single man with a sullen face turned to him.

"I can't accept it..."

"What's that? Plum, you didn't even participate."

Plum, a 14-year-old stablehand who looked up to Just as an older brother.

He didn't participate in the ranking battle, but he looked dissatisfied with the posted results.

"My brother's ranking. 8th place... if Sobara-senpai returns, he'll definitely drop to 9th."

"Wh-what? Are you making fun of me?"

"N-no! It's just that..."

Plum was slightly dissatisfied with his admired older brother being "the lowest of the Four Heavenly Kings." Not only that, but there were also five maids above him. "The world's coolest older brother" being so low in the ranks... he couldn't accept it as a younger brother.

"Isn't it strange that greatness is determined by fighting strength alone?"

But he couldn't admit such an embarrassing thought, even if his mouth were to split open.

So Plum complained about the system.

In his heart, he thought, "A system where my brother can't be number one is wrong!" But he couldn't say that either, so he took a roundabout way to criticize it.

"Plum. Are you complaining about something Yuki-sama decided?"

"No! But... isn't it strange?"

"No, it's just that I'm weak. Great people can handle both work and fighting. I just can't do that. The ranking is correct."

"But... brother..."

Just as Plum was about to continue his whining in a pitiful voice, the atmosphere in the room changed.

"......u"

Eve raised her hand and said something. The gathered staff turned their attention to the interpreter beside her.

"I also think it's strange, I was just saying."

A murmur of surprise spread through the room.

"......wa......shi......"

"I can't do investigations or assassinations, yet I'm somehow in first place, I was just saying."

Her statement was incredibly convincing.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

At the same time, a question arose. "Does that mean Yuki-sama is wrong?" But they immediately negated this thought. To them, Yuki was as absolute as Second.

Then, a presence that would perfectly resolve everyone's doubts arrived at the right moment.

"The next ranking battle is undecided. I'll inform you later."

It was Yuki herself, making a matter-of-fact announcement.

Cubero, being the committee chair, seized the opportunity to ask a question.

"Yuki-sama, there are complaints about the system that determines the ranking based solely on combat ability. What do you think about it?"

A very smooth way of putting it. Yuki paused for a moment before responding.

"I don't understand the part about 'based solely on combat ability.' What else do you think is needed in the ranking battle?"

A question mark appeared over both their heads.

A few seconds later, Yuki realized something and began to speak.

"I see. You all think that the ranking in the ranking battle represents your status as staff members, don't you?"

"Yes."

"That's not correct. The ranking battle was created to visualize your individual combat abilities, which were previously unclear, and does not represent the staff hierarchy."

"!"

Surprise spread among the staff. It seemed that many had been mistaken.

"Basically, there is no hierarchy among the staff. You are all equal servants of Master and members of the Firstest family. If anything, there is a seniority system between the zeroth, first, and second generations."

"Then, what about the ranking battle?"

"It does represent the hierarchy in combat ability, but it has no other special meaning. However, rest assured, evaluations are done separately."

In other words, the ranking battle was just a reference for measuring the staff's combat abilities and did not directly determine their hierarchy.

...Oh, so that's it.

The staff felt a bit let down.

But nothing really changed.

Just then, a rare visitor arrived.

"---Oh? What's going on, everyone gathered here?"

"Master! What are you doing in such a place?"

"Well, I was just taking a walk."

The world's most handsome man, their master, Second, stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the gathered staff with a bemused expression.

"Hmm? What's this? A ranking?"

"Yes. This is..."

Seeing the posted results of the ranking battle, Second tilted his head in confusion.

Yuki briefly explained the ranking battle to Second, who was unaware of its existence.

It was an event where the staff fought each other to determine their combat ability ranking...

...She had explained it.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO