[V9C5] Maid Examination

Monica headed to the location designated by Elliott for their meeting: the plaza containing a statue of the Thunder Mage.

Being a renowned hero who had saved the country on countless occasions, the Thunder Mage had statues erected throughout the nation. In fact, he had three statues in the capital alone. The most splendid one was the stone statue in the central park’s main plaza.

Monica arrived to see Elliott staring up at the statue with his arms crossed. Benjamin was still nowhere in sight.

“H-Howard-sama… S-Sorry for the wait.”

Upon hearing Monica’s timid apology, Elliott turned to greet her, before raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“…Who’s that woman?”

By ‘woman,’ Elliott was referring to the beautiful blonde maid standing behind Monica with a travel bag in hand.

“I am Ryn, the head maid of the Everett household, here to be of service to you. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Along with her introduction, Rynzbelfied, the contracted spirit of Louis Miller, offered a polite curtsy.

＊　＊　＊

“I want you to take Ryn along on your business trip.”

This was the request Monica received from Louis after the meeting of the Seven Sages.

Ryn was Louis’s contracted spirit, and Monica had received a great deal of assistance from her when secretly acting as the Second Prince’s bodyguard. It’s not as if Monica disliked Ryn or anything.

That said, Monica was very confused, having no clue as to why Louis would request such a thing.

“Me bringing Ryn-san…? Um, but why…?”

“Several years have passed since my contract with Ryn, so even that useless maid has probably learned the bare minimum of common sense… Thus, I wanted to test Ryn to see if she can actually act like a human.”

In the first place, contracted spirits didn’t need to act like humans. Many preferred to take the form of animals, one example being Cyril’s contracted spirit Ashelpikeh. In fact, Monica had seen Ryn transform into a bird on multiple occasions.

“But um… Louis-san, why did you make Ryn-san your maid in the first place?”

“Because that’s what she wanted.”

“…Huh?”

Monica let out a gasp of genuine surprise.

Given this man’s character, she had always believed that Louis forced Ryn into working as a maid, with logic along the lines of, “I’m the master here, so as my contracted spirit, you must obey my every order.”

“S-So you didn’t… force Ryn-san to become your maid?”

Louis’s smile deepened. While he still looked cheerful, there was a slightly menacing glint in the eye behind the monocle.

“I wonder why everyone thinks of me as some evil slave driver who works my contracted spirit to the bone?”

“Uh, um… well, y-you know…”

Though Monica hadn’t said exactly that, her actual thoughts were quite similar, so she unconsciously averted her eyes.

Louis let out a deep sigh, as if implying that he was deeply hurt by the heartless words of his fellow sage. After adjusting his monocle with a finger, he continued explaining.

“Ryn acts like a maid because she wants to. Moreover, she contracted me in the first place because she wanted to work as a maid in the capital.”

The totally incomprehensible reason caused Monica to go dumbfounded.

Spirits could only exist in places with high mana concentrations. Thus, if one wanted to live in the capital, they needed to contract with a human.

And it couldn’t be just any human. They needed to find a willing mage with the same elemental affinity, as well as the skill and mana capacity needed to form a contract.

The greater ice spirit Ashelpikeh managed to form a unilateral contract with Cyril, but this was an extreme outlier. If she had attempted the same thing on someone with less mana resistance, it could have easily resulted in the human’s death.

“Ryn wanted to be a maid in the capital, and I wanted her power. We entered a contract since the terms were mutually beneficial.”

“B-But why would Ryn-san want to be a maid…?”

“If you really want to hear her nonsensical reasons, then you can ask her yourself.”

After disregarding Monica’s question in a dismissive tone, Louis cleared his throat and put on a more serious expression.

“Anyway, she will accompany you on your mission, posing as a human maid. If she makes it all the way through without anyone realizing her true identity, then she passes the test. I’ve already informed her of the details.”

“Um, why does it have to be me though…?”

Indeed, couldn’t Louis simply take Ryn on one of his own business trips? In response to Monica’s doubts, Louis gave a completely serious answer.

“I hear you are going to Rainfield, yes? That is where Ryn used to live. I believe her presence may prove quite useful.”

Of course, the timid Monica could not possibly refuse a request from the pushy Louis.

In the end, she was ultimately made to accept Louis’s request, making it a repeat of the time she was pushed into becoming the Second Prince’s bodyguard.

＊　＊　＊

While still glaring suspiciously at Ryn, Elliott spoke in a low tone.

“I can arrange for any staff you need during your stay. There’s no need to bring any maids.”

In other words, he was implying that Ryn should leave.

However, Ryn was not about to be intimidated by such lukewarm sarcasm. Elliott’s comments were nothing more than a gentle breeze to the contracted spirit of the Barrier Mage, famed for his offensive comments. She probably didn’t even notice his malice.

“There is an important reason that I must come along,” Ryn declared.

“Yeah? And what might that be?”

“Silent Witch-dono is so lonely at night that she can’t go to sleep without me.”

The sudden and blatant lie left Monica speechless. Meanwhile, Ryn turned her head to Monica and continued.

“…That is the excuse I have come up with just now.”

“Why would you say that part out loud!?”

Monica found herself shouting back on reflex, to which Ryn responded with complete seriousness.

“Can I ask you to cooperate with this story, Silent Witch-dono?”

“T-That’s clearly not going to work…”

“How unfortunate,” Ryn replied, though she didn’t seem the slightest bit disappointed.

This absurd exchange only caused Elliott’s gaze to grow even colder. As a proponent of strict class-based hierarchy, he was likely disgusted at Ryn’s disrespect. He promptly broke in to scowl at Ryn again.

“In the first place, what’s with that outfit?”

“I am wearing a traditional maid uniform. It is the physical representation of my conviction.”

Ryn’s somewhat off-kilter answer only caused Elliott to scoff.

“Any maid accompanying her master on an outing should be dressed in proper outdoors attire. The outfit you’re wearing is clearly not meant for the outdoors.”

Come to think of it, Isabelle’s maid Agatha had always changed into a casual dress with subdued colors when accompanying her master outside.

Ryn muttered a nonchalant “Oh no!” with a complete lack of expression on her face. Then, she placed a finger on her chin, as if lost in thought.

“I have failed to notice that mistake since no one has ever pointed it out. Please excuse me, I will change into more suitable clothing.”

Saying so, Ryn retreated to the other side of a nearby tree, leading Elliott to shout in surprise.

“Oi, don’t tell me you’re actually planning to change over there…!?”

“My apologies for the wait.”

In a mere two seconds, Ryn emerged from behind the tree. She was now wearing a plain dark green dress rather than her usual maid outfit.

Stunned speechless by the incredible speed of Ryn’s outfit change, Elliott could do nothing but quiver his lips.

Meanwhile, Ryn continued in her usual tone, as if nothing out of place had occurred.

“Quickly changing clothes is a skill acquired by any competent head maid. By the way, in the case that I am accidentally left behind, I am skilled enough to catch up by flying… I mean, running. Please do not concern yourselves with me.”

At this point, it was doubtful if Ryn seriously intended to hide her identity as a spirit.

As Monica held back a migraine, Elliott complained to her in a strained voice.

“Oi, Little Squirrel. What kind of education are you giving your maids?”

Unable to say this was the fault of the Barrier Mage, Monica simply looked down and fidgeted with her fingers.

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