Kazuya didn't expect to encounter this person this soon. Even though he had his memories from his previous life, the difference between the two lives he led was affecting him subconsciously. Though he had not met this person before, her ident.i.ty by itself was something that greatly affected him more than Elrich did. 

The hero calmed himself inside his mind and showed a neutral expression towards this girl who seems to have mistaken him for someone else.

"(Calm down, me. She doesn't know who you are yet.)" he breathed in before slowly turning towards her. 

The current him was vastly different from the hero that was summoned the first time. The him who was gullible because of all the sufferings he had to endure on Earth was almost nonexistent. From the boy who was barely making enough to get by, he had come to Edea as someone who was a scion of a two of the Kouzuki family.

Of course, as a person from Earth, Kazuya also shared his fair share of habits. He was looking forward to soaking in a large bath. Though this was not something that all humans from earth could understand, this was a part of his daily routine. Even though he was basically clean with the help of his own magic, he still craved the feeling of a hot and warm bath after traveling through Edea's wilderness. His mind went into overdrive trying to think of a way to get himself out of this situation.

"I apologize miss. It has not been long since I arrived here so I can be called new to this place. However, I was a.s.signed by the duke himself to this room, so I believe I do have the right to enter." Kazuya tried to brush her off.

"My father did?" Sodina was puzzled. Why was a man a.s.signed to clean this room?

She hadn't paid attention to any of the changes in their household for the past few days. Sodina believed that Kazuya's words were true because no one would have been able to sneak into their property with how tight the security currently was. Another observation she had was that he had yet to be given the proper attire so there was no doubt that he was a new employee.

"(Could it be…?)" a thought immediately entered her mind. "(Is he supposed to be Zwei-san's successor?)"

This way, it would have made sense. He was given clearance to do his job on important people's rooms so it was proof that he was someone that was trusted by her father. The occupant of this room was currently doing missions but that doesn't mean that the room that she always stayed in should be left to gather dust.

"Huh?" When she tried to look for him to confirm, he was no longer in front of her.

Kazuya already slipped past her as soon as he noticed that Sodina had sunk into deep thought. He didn't want to linger too long in front of a person he knew that he wouldn't be able to get along with so he tactfully retreated.

"Did he…" Sodina felt irritated as he had entered the room despite her being against it. Even though it was her father that a.s.signed him to maintain this room, everyone would have hesitated as long as she was displeased with it.

Giving it another thought, Neun or Acht could have been a.s.signed instead. It wasn't proper for a man to maintain a woman's room, so she wanted to send this boy to another place while she talked to her father about it. Currently, Acht, who was supposed to be with her, was called to the kitchen for some reason so Sodina couldn't send her to talk to Elrich on her behalf.

"Hey!" Sodina barged into the room. She looked around but only found the s.p.a.cious room without any sign of the boy she had found earlier.

"Just where did he—" her gaze stopped on top of the table. She was familiar with what kind of uniform it was but was unable to identify which unit it belonged to.

"Is this a new kind of uniform for the steel wolves unit?" She examined the clothes which she found clearly superior to the fabrics that the soldiers were currently wearing.

She unfolded the uniform and found it a bit small for the person it was supposed to be intended for. She also felt a strange sensation when her fingers touched the unique military uniform so she carefully looked at it.

"This is… amazing!" it didn't take her too long to find the invisible formations that were all over the piece of clothing. This was unlike she had ever seen even the most elite members wear.

*splash* a faint sound of water was heard inside the silent room.

"Wh!? Is that boy…." Sodina's eyebrow twitched as she connected the dots. The boy couldn't be doing anything but slacking off.

Her temper flared because not only was the boy who had been entrusted with this room slacking off, he even dared to take a bath here. Even more unforgivable for her was that she had suspected him of taking the clothes of the owner out and had planned on doing who knows what with them.

"Tch!" Kazuya who was relaxing in the bath immediately sensed Sodina approaching the bathroom. He quickly grabbed a towel and glared at the girl who had just entered with an angry expression.

"(Shouldn't I be the one mad at this situation?)" he clicked his tongue at Sodina and didn't hide his displeasure.

"You dare click your tongue at me after I've just caught you in the act?!" she shouted at him.

"Why are you the one who's mad? Aren't you the one who just shamelessly intruded on a person who is taking a bath?" Kazuya tried to remain calm and relaxed his posture.

"YOU!!!!" she pointed at him with a trembling hand. She had caught him doing something he shouldn't have yet he was trying to make her the bad one? What a shameless guy!

"What about me? Tell me, young miss, you should be aware that even if peeping is your hobby, you should at least try to not make me notice it." Kazuya shook his head sideways disappointingly. "Or is it that you think that you can look at anyone naked directly because of your status? I really can't help but be surprised at the different unique hobbies that n.o.bles have."

Kazuya was already aware of why Sodina was acting this way. She had mistaken him for one of the servants. He only continued to feign ignorance because he was displeased at how this girl had been persistent enough to follow him all the way to the bath.

"I don't have such hobbies!!!!" she screamed at him in rage and grabbed things she could grab and threw it at him.

"Once again, isn't this supposed to be my part? Why am I treated like I'm the pervert when I'm the victim who is currently being peeped on." Kazuya gestured coming up with an idea and continued. "Oh! I see. You probably can't see anything clearly because of the steam so you're making me move from here." he grinned at her. "What a pervert…"

*Sching!!!*

Having had enough of his teasing, Sodina drew the rapier from her waist.

Kazuya noticed another presence approaching from inside the room. Looking past Sodina, he saw that Julia had just arrived and checked to see what all the noise was about.

"…" Julia was a bit surprised but chose to remain silent. this was a good chance for the relations.h.i.+p between the duke's house and the hero to collapse or at least, have the young lady of the Eberbach house to suffer even a little bit of what princess Alicia did.

"Are you sure about what you're about to do, little pervert?" one of Kazuya's arms that were spread finally moved. He pointed an arm towards her. "Remember, you're the one who is in the wrong here. If you're one of those types of people to cover up your mistakes by eliminating people, I wouldn't mind teaching you a lesson."

Sodina was immediately puzzled. What could the boy, that was currently naked and unarmed, possibly do to her? Was he some kind of magician?

"(No… he's definitely bluffing!)" she made up her mind and pointed the rapier at the naked Kazuya.

"Ah!" A familiar figure who was shocked to see what was happening showed up beside where Julia was silently standing. She glared at the Julia for not doing anything despite the seriousness of what was happening.

"Please stop! Sodina ojou-sama, you must not engage this person!" Acht rushed to enter the bathroom.

"Huh?" she turned back and saw the maid that was called away from her side earlier. "W-wait!" looking at Acht's intentions, Sodina immediately panicked.

*CRAs.h.!.+*

The two girls fell on the ground after Acht successfully tackled Sodina.

"Tsk!" Julia clicked her tongue and went back to the room since her presence would only alert Sodina of the ident.i.ty of the person she just tried to attack. She didn't want to help Alicia's rival in any way since she had been saved from Kazuya's retaliation.

"Ow.. ow… What the h.e.l.l do you think you're doing Acht!?" Sodina immediately glared at the girl who was clinging to her back.

Her glare immediately subsided after seeing the look on Acht's face. The maid's eyes were shut tight but there was no doubt that what she was showing was an expression of fear.

"(She's scared? What was she so afraid of?)" Knowing Acht's strength, there were hardly any candidates that the steel wolves considered that should be afraid of anyone. She immediately turned to look back at the boy taking a bath to look for answers but what she saw stunned her.

*click* a metallic object which Sodina had not seen before could be seen on his hand. Looking at it made her realize that this person is the mysterious hero who everyone had been talking about recently. 

"(Is this really the person who saved me?)" she couldn't help but have doubts. 

From Sodina's perspective, other than the fact that he appeared to be from the eastern countries, there was nothing specifically redeeming about him. He had a pretty face, this was something that made her a.s.sume that he was a servant rather than a capable warrior who she everyone was already convinced had done great merits. 

 "I see. From the way Acht treats you, you must be Elrich-san's daughter."

"Wh!?" Sodina immediately flinched. He actually dared to call her father by name? Even if he was the hero, shouldn't that be too rude?

 "Be thankful to Acht. I almost took away the life I saved back in that forest." He slowly pointed the gun towards the ceiling before it disappeared.

Kazuya's thoughts were simple, the best way to deal with this girl was to make her hate him. That way she would avoid him rather than himself doing it. This girl was prideful so it wouldn't be that hard to have her hate him.

"K-kazuysama is correct. This is Sodina Eberbach ojou-sama." Acht's stuttering showed just how nervous she was at the situation. She knew from the way that Kazuya's demeanor hadn't changed that he had no problem with dealing with their little miss if she intended to attack.

"Though I don't recognize her from that time. I do find her hair color to be familiar." He leaned back again to relax. "Anyway, take her out. This is not the place for introductions. I won't seek reparations for this event unless she wants to pursue it." He waved his hand to shoo them away.

Sodina trembled in anger but held it in as Acht acted quickly to pull her out of the room. After they were out, her eyes immediately met with Julia's condescending gaze.

"Still as willful and dumb as ever I see," Julia commented as she put a few pieces of food in her mouth.

"From a dog to a lowly slave. I don't know which fits you better." Sodina immediately retorted. She may not know much about the hero but news about Julia's fall was definitely something Sodina would not forget.

"Better than being a pervert who walks into guests'Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

The two glared at each other. From Acht's point of view, this was an unavoidable incident since these two were at odds with each other ever since Sodina had bested Julia in a practice match and had achieved a draw with Alicia afterward.

It was not because Sodina had been superior, Julia lost due to the time restrictions. Her tactic was simple, it was to wear out this girl to make Alicia's performance more dominating.

Unfortunately, both Julia and Alicia had underestimated this girl. Sodina had more spirit and stamina than they expected and defended against Alicia's strongest attacks at the time. It was just supposed to be an exhibition to uplift the morale of the people so, in the end, it had been judged as a draw. This was the time that Sodina Eberbach's name had been known to be alongside Alicia as one of the talented youngsters of the next generation.

"There you are Sodina ojou-sama!" Neun who had been looking for her was surprised to find her inside the hero's room. "What are you doing here?" She looked at Acht for answers.

"Neun? Can you tell me why this room is being occupied by the hero and his slave?" Sodina made sure to not call Julia by name but by her status to spite her.

"I will inform you on the way. The duke has asked for your presence…" she noticed the grin on Julia's face, so it wasn't hard to guess that something had happened.

Sodina's attire was also partially drenched. They needed to stop over to her room where Neun planned to hear everything from Acht. They silently left without minding Julia who quietly ate her meal while waiting for the bath to be free.

"You are free to go in now." Kazuya walked out after a while. He wore an expensive looking robe that looked to have been provided by their host as it had been st.i.tched with the Eberbach insignia.

"…" Julia looked at the robe and pondered about wearing something that bore the insignia of the princess' enemy.

In the end, she ended up taking a change of clothes that were already recovered from where she used to live. From here on out, this was the place she was going to stay so she had to get used to it. That would be unless her father can somehow convince Kazuya to set her free today.

"(Hmm… I don't remember women in this world to be that forward…)" Kazuya contemplated on the stare that Julia just gave her as well as Sodina and Acht's actions while he was in the bath.

He shook his head and decided that it was unimportant before changing unto the clothes he had set aside. He figured that it was most likely Sodina who had intruded in the room who unfolded them. She was truly spoiled by the former resident of this room if she could do that. Even the Kazuya from his former life would have been beaten up if he had done something similar.

"Now then, how to deal with this troublemaker who dares to discuss about taking something that is mine away from me…."

.