“…Escort Maid?”
I couldn’t help but mutter the unfamiliar words, and Sera, who had spoken them, nodded slowly. A maid… so they figured out I was a girl after all. Viro didn’t react to that, so he must have noticed too.
“Before we get into the explanation… what is your name? And how old are you?”
“Aria… seven years old.”
“What?!”
Viro, who hadn’t reacted to my gender, raised his voice this time when I mentioned my age.
“Aria, you’re only seven?”
Sera shot a cold glance at Viro, who seemed surprised for some reason.
“What are you so surprised about? Seven is the age I started as a maid apprentice, and it’s about the time when children usually start helping their parents. Viro… how could you not know her age when you brought her here yourself?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have let a seven-year-old kill Goblins on her own or taken her out to hunt Bandits. She’s got so much guts, I thought she was a small ten-year-old…”
I see… No wonder I wasn’t treated like a baby.
“Street Urchins in the Slums are often malnourished, but looking at her Mana Capacity, you should be able to tell that her growth is accelerated.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Is that confirmed?”
I interrupted the two adults’ conversation, and Sera turned her gaze back to me.
“We were in the middle of a discussion. If you’re going to refuse the job, we won’t force you. We don’t need half-hearted people.”
Sera coldly stated, with a slightly provocative tone, and continued with a faint smile, “However…”
“Are you satisfied with being just strong enough to barely defeat a Hobgoblin?”
“…………”
The reason I accepted Viro’s invitation and decided to take this job, knowing the danger of associating with nobles, was to gain the “strength” to overcome that danger.
Being an Escort Maid would mean even more involvement with nobles and important people. But the strength of Sera in front of me, and the strength that could be gained through her training, felt close to what I was looking for.
“…I accept.”
“Very well. Then let’s introduce ourselves. I am Sera Leighton. I am in charge of managing the maids in this mansion and the neighboring castle, as well as security from the ‘backside’. Now, introduce yourself.”
“Aria… just a homeless Adventurer…”
From that day on, I started working at this mansion as a “Maid Apprentice.”
I would be separated from Viro again, but either way, that man was too hands-off to be a meaningful guardian.
Originally, the maids’ workplace was the neighboring castle, but it seemed they couldn’t put a Street Urchin who didn’t even know how to do the job in a place where she would be seen by nobles without any training.
A normal Maid Apprentice would follow other maids and start with helping behind the scenes, but since I was a “Escort Maid Apprentice,” I would be working under the direct orders of my superior, Sera.
Sera Leighton… Judging from her demeanor and position, I suspected that she was also a noble, and she easily read my mind as if it was written on my face.
“I am just the wife of a Baron who governs a local town without any territory.”
“…………”
There’s no way the wife of a mere Baron would have a combat power of over a thousand…
“In the case of general maids, you may add ‘-sama’ to the names of those from noble backgrounds, but in the case of the head of your workplace, you add ‘-san’, and in the case of general colleagues, you call them by their first names regardless of their origin. However, when referring to me in front of guests, you can omit the honorifics.”
“Understood.”
“You should say, ‘Yes’ or ‘Understood’.”
“…Yes.”
“And… Mina! Is Mina here?”
“Yeees.”
As Sera called out to someone while walking down the mansion’s corridor, a drawn-out voice came from one of the rooms, and a woman in her late teens appeared, holding what looked like sheets. She widened her eyes slightly when she saw me with Sera.
“Could this be… ‘that child’?”
“Yes. Mina, you don’t have to work today, so wash this child, choose work clothes that fit her size, and teach her how to wear them and about this mansion. Her room will be an empty room near your room, so please show her the way.”
“Yes! I understand!”
“Aria. Your work will start tomorrow morning. Please memorize the minimum common sense by then. Come to the Backyard in your work clothes as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”
“…Yes.”
*
The woman named Mina seemed to be the maid I had seen in that Forest, and she was told that she had been saved thanks to me, so she happily taught me various things.
“The maids like Sera-san can use warm baths, but the general maids like us get the leftover water to clean ourselves. Even if you’re tired, be careful to clean yourself every day, or Sera-san will get angry.”
“Got it.”
I didn’t really understand the difference between a lady-in-waiting and a maid, but it seemed that maids had a role like housekeepers, and their roles were fundamentally different from those of ladies-in-waiting who served nobles.
I had the lukewarm leftover water poured over my head and was washed all over with something like soap that Mina personally owned. It seemed that there was still solidified ash left in my hair, and as I was washed, my slightly grown pink-blonde hair regained its original shine and fell over my cheeks.
“Okay, you’re clean now. Next, let’s choose a maid outfit.”
Sera’s lady-in-waiting outfit was a long, all-black dress that covered her neck and wrists with extremely little exposure, but the maid outfits that Mina and I would wear were long dresses with open chests over white blouses, and then apron dresses on top of that.
I wondered if there were even maid outfits for children like me, but it seemed that helper maids were being replenished, and most things were prepared for those people, from maid outfits for ten-year-olds to larger sizes.
“Aria-chan, you can’t wear shoes directly. Wear these socks.”
“…Okay.”
Until now, I had always been barefoot or in leather sandals, and it was the first time in my life that I was wearing shoes, but there were many troublesome things.
The maid outfit for ten-year-olds was a little big for me now. Mina said it was cute, but I guessed that it was the kind of cuteness you get when you dress up a pet.
After that, we went around the mansion and she roughly taught me where things were placed, what kind of work the maids did, and so on.
Meals were prepared in the dining room from early morning until late at night, and it seemed that you could take stews and bread from there and eat them yourself during your free time.
“I’m from a commoner merchant family, but there are people among the maids who are related to nobles, so be careful. Some people get upset if commoners use the bath or eat before them.”
“Hee…”
It seemed like I should keep my weapon with me.
After that, Mina lightly taught me how to speak and behave.
Basically, don’t run or make noise. When walking, straighten your back, look straight ahead, and don’t shake your head carelessly. Maids don’t directly talk to nobles. When there is something to say, they go through the ladies-in-waiting, but when told by nobles or guests, that takes priority.
As a matter of fact, it was all new to me, but I felt that I could manage somehow because I had that kind of information in my “knowledge.”
For example, I had never used anything other than my hands or a spoon to eat, but because I had “knowledge,” I wouldn’t be confused about how to use a knife and fork.
When the sun completely set at night, the maids’ work ended. There were maids who worked later, even if they shifted the time, but it seemed that the work didn’t progress well with the light of the lamps, so it inevitably turned out that way.
“Well then, good night, Aria. Do your best from tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Mina.”
My room was next to Mina’s. The 4×3 meter room had a bed, a closet, and a small table and chair.
It seemed that I could get candles if I asked, but I didn’t need them.
I took off my maid outfit and changed into simple sleepwear, then rolled up the blanket that had been placed on the bed into the shape of a person, and with my Black Knife, I hugged my knees in the corner of the room, suppressed my presence, and quietly fell asleep, ending the day.
*
The next day, I woke up to the air before morning.
“…Light.”
I lit a Light with Utility Magic to put on the maid outfit that I wasn’t used to yet.
I took off my sleepwear and put on the white blouse. Fastening the buttons was a new experience, but maybe it would be faster than tying it with a belt once I got used to it?
The blouse was white, but only the collar and cuffs could be removed, probably because they got dirty easily. The chest area was baggy and quite loose. Mina said it was “to prevent chafing,” but if it was as big as Mina’s, a special chest pad would be needed.
After that, I put on socks and shoes, wore the black dress that reached near my ankles, and put on the apron dress, and I looked like a maid.
…But where should I hide my weapon?
The throwing knives are small, but my body is still small too, so they’re too big to hide in my sleeves.
There’s nothing to hook them onto at my chest, and hiding them in my apron would be too conspicuous.
“…Guess this is the only place.”
I retrieved the leather straps from the sandals I used to wear, tied the Black Knife and throwing knives to them, and tossed the oversized “drawers” that were just issued to me yesterday, which I inevitably couldn’t wear anymore, onto the bed.
After changing into my maid uniform, I snuck out of the second-floor window, using Stealth to head towards the temporary base I had hidden in the forest.
I don’t have much luggage, but money and my book of wild plants are important. I can leave the other things hidden there for now, but I need to retrieve the wild plant book and potions, fumigate them with insect-repelling grass just in case, and head to the backyard Sera-sama specified.
The backyard of the mansion, where I arrived, was out of sight from the mansion and easy to spot anyone approaching, so it seemed like a good place to hide and train.
“…………”
I arrived in the backyard at the specified time, “as soon as the sun rises,” but Sera-sama hasn’t come yet. I thought I might be a little early, but if Sera-sama used Stealth, I wouldn’t be able to notice.
Thinking that this might be part of the training, I carefully searched the area with 【Detection】, and found a small presence in the grove.
“…Heeh. You can tell.”
When I turned my gaze there, I heard that voice, and a figure slightly smaller than me appeared from the grove.
“You’re pretty good. Are you the rumored ‘newbie’?”
“…Who are you?”
With light tan skin and black hair… Is this kid also Cruz? The boy, with his remarkably well-featured face, stared at my whole body with curiosity shining in his blue-grey eyes, approached me with a mischievous smile without answering my question.
“But, don’t get cocky just because you’ve been recognized, okay? I bet I could take down a Goblin or two, and there are attacks in this world that you don’t know about.”
“…Like what?”
“Let’s see…”
Is he a member of this place? I don’t feel any Killing Intent from the boy, even though he’s talking about attacks. The boy, who was approaching me as if he were taking a walk while grinning, suddenly disappeared from my sight.
“Like this—!”
Whoosh!
An unexpected movement and an unexpected attack.
I think I could have dealt with it if my life was in danger, but my skirt was flipped up almost all the way by an attack that didn’t seem like an attack, in which I ducked down in an instant.
“っ!?”
The boy’s eyes widened in astonishment.
He must have seen the throwing knives and Black Knife that I had hidden inside my skirt, wrapped around my thighs and calves.
As the boy’s movements stopped in a flustered manner, I activated Body Enhancement to the fullest in that instant, kicked the boy’s chin with a momentary step, and as he fell backwards, I straddled him and thrust the Black Knife, which I had pulled from my calf, at his throat.
“…G-Gomen nasai, yurushite kudasai. Sonna tsumori wa, nakattan desu. Sekinin toru kara, hontou ni…”
“…………”
I don’t intend to kill him if he’s not an enemy, but…
When I stared at him intently, the boy, for some reason speaking in broken Japanese, turned his wheat-colored face red to his ears and covered his face with his hands as if to avert his eyes from me.
It was a shocking event that changed the boy’s life (lol).
Perhaps due to the difference in our living environments, Aria doesn’t understand the meaning.
Next time: Training with the Combat Maid. An encounter with the approaching Villainess.
Next update is scheduled for Wednesday.