Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – What exactly counts as “Cleaning”?

Mireille eyed the hare as it struggled in the snare.

She licked her lips, then pushed Fayette towards the struggling animal. “Alright, let’s see how far you can take this ‘Cleaning’ thing of yours”

“This is pretty different from killing monsters...” Fayette responded, eyeing the hare with just a bit of apprehension.

Mireille shrugged. “Eh, they are pests for gardens are they not? It’s worth a try.”

Fayette still wasn’t completely convinced. She had never come along on these hunts of Mireille’s before, but she was a new woman now. A prospective hunter wouldn’t shy away from hunting . The [Maid] took up her broom, readied it, then slammed it right at the hare.

She missed. The hare had managed to kick itself just a bit off the path of the hit.

Fayette narrowed her eyes. Taunting her, was it? Well, she had a lot more broom to give. She took up her broom, then hit again. This time however, she did not stop—no, she kept hitting. The first strikes were still misses, but then she got the creature, right on the head.

The next dozen hits were a lot easier to hit. So were the dozen after those.

Fayette only stopped when she felt a drop of blood splash against her uniform, which made her recoil away from the creature instinctively. Though “creature” was putting it a bit generously—little more than bloody pulp remained. As the haze in her mind cleared, Fayette realised that she may have gone too far.

She turned to Mireille and made an attempt at her best [Disarming Smile]. “Hey, I got it!”

The [Seamstress] was staring at the remains of the hare with a complicated expression on her face, as if she couldn’t choose between fascination, resignation and disappointment. “That you did. The creature was plenty dead after the first strike.” She turned her eyes to Fayette. “I don’t think the next 20 served much purpose. Also, after a display like that I really don’t think that smile will work.”

“Hey, you’ve got to make sure it’s dead, alright? I’m just being thorough. Monsters are easy, they just go pop when they’re done. How am I supposed to tell that this thing is dead?” Fayette said as she pointed at her handiwork.

Mireille turned her eyes back to the bloody pulp. “How indeed? I think it was a bit of a clue when it stopped moving.”

“Hey, you never know if its playing dead, and waiting for a chance to escape or something. Always be thorough!”

Mireille shook her head and turned to walk away. “I don’t think we’re going to be making lunch of that, I’m impressed you managed to mangle it that bad with just a broom to be honest. Besides, we’ve gotten side-tracked. Did it work? Get any progress on your levelling?”

Oh, yeah, that was the reason I was hitting it.

Fayette closed her eyes and tried to focus on how her class was feeling. She did not hear any system notification, but maybe that just meant the experience gain was too small to be noted? Or maybe it was taking its time? No, I don’t think that’s it. This just doesn’t feel... right.

There had been that certain feeling of cleanliness, that satisfaction that she had felt with the other kills, but she did not get the same feeling here. It did not feel like she was cleaning anything. Was that indeed the key? The [Maid] opened her eyes and looked at the remains.

This hare was in its natural place, running about in the woods. There was no disorder here, no grime or wrongness to be cleaned away like there had been with all those others. Hares moving about the woods is part of the natural order, so it wasn’t an issue. Maybe if they were invading a garden en masse, I might change my perspective. Would I then gain experience? Probably.

“Nope, I don’t think I got one bit of experience for that,” Fayette finally said, exhaling the breath she had not realised she had been holding.

“Well, to be honest I expected that. But as you said, there is no harm in being thorough,” Mireille admitted, walking on. “C’mon let’s go, we’ve still got more traps to clear.”

“What, more tests?”

“Yes, but not for you. For me. I want to try a few things too.”

Suddenly more interested, Fayette followed while wiping the blood off the end of her broom. Guh, is that a bit of skull lodged in there? Why can’t everything just dissolve away like monsters! Cleaning afterwards would be so much easier.

The pair continued their forest stroll and checked out more traps. Most were still empty, so Mireille just gathered the threads to take along.

“You’re taking them all away? Why?” Fayette asked, curious.

“Well, the caretakers have been dropping hints for quite a while, I’m going to be leaving the orphanage soon. No sense leaving these here.”

“Oh, right. You are leaving... You could leave them for the other kids or something, couldn’t you?”

“What? These are my snares—good material. I’m not leaving them for someone else.”

“I guess that’s fair. Where are you going to go? You told me there’s no work in these parts.”

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“Where else? The city. I have to at least take a look at what the offerings are like in Palogne. If all else fails, I can always go apply for a class change.”

Fayette grimaced. She had always found the idea unsettling, to just... change what you are. “You shouldn’t be so quick to change, you’re not even level 10 yet! You wouldn’t be getting the leveling bonus for the new class.”

The woman turned back and gave her a severe look. “It’s still more efficient for me to change right away, at least until I gain a few more levels.”

“Well, Mary the [Cook], she’s dead now, I heard her say that the lines for appointments have been packed lately. It could take long for the church to get to you.”

Mireille turned back forward. “That is true. Look Fay... It’s not like I want to change my class or anything, alright? I do like being a [Seamstress], but you need money to live.”

Fayette felt at her pockets. “Mireille, I got a good bit from the manor. I could—”

“No.” Mireille answered instantly, not letting the [Maid] get started at all. “I’m not relying on handouts to live one bit more.”

Fayette sighed—the girl could be particular about the strangest things. “It would be just for a bit, you wouldn’t have to—”

“No, I’ll do fine on my own. Let’s just end this conversation, alright? Look, the next snares actually have prey.”

That they did, two hares had been caught right next to each other. The [Seamstress] eyed her catch with a gleam in her eyes, then took out some needle and thread.

“Perfect, I wanted to test something like this.”

“What exactly are you testing?” Fayette asked, cautious of that gleam.

Mireille did not answer. She approached the hares, then threw her sewing needle at them. “Sorry about this, [Quick-Stitch]!”

The needle began to glow, then pierced the fur of one hare, taking along thread with it. It exited, then moved to the other one and repeated the process, zig-zagging between the two, then tightening. The hares cried out and struggled, but it was futile. Fayette winced as the two struggling animals were stitched together in a flash.

Mireille had a thoughtful expression on her face as she looked at her work. “Sorry good animals, but it was a necessary test. I’ll let you out of your misery.”

She approached them and snapped their necks with practiced ease. She turned to the wide-eyed [Maid]. “Look. This is how you don’t ruin your dinner.”

“W-what was that about? You sewed them together!”

“That I did.” Mireille answered as she began untangling the now stitched-together animals from the snares. “You talked about how you fought using your [Maid] skills, so I wanted to see if I could do the same. Worked surprisingly well to be honest, guess there’s not much difference between leather and skin. Counts as material for needlework all the same.”

“I guess that makes sense... Did you gain experience from it?”

“Not the act of killing itself, no. Guess the whole [breed a bunch of animals and power level by killing them] plan is off for the both of us.”

“There was such a plan?”

Mireille ignored her. “But I do feel the rest is treated just like any other needlework—the more challenging it is, the more experience you get.” She turned to Fayette. “I imagine the danger factor from trying to sew a monster’s legs together would prove for very effective leveling.”

Fayette’s eyes widened. “Are you thinking of becoming a hunter too?”

The woman shrugged. “How good is the pay?”

Fayette blanked out for a second as she thought. “Umm, I don’t actually have any idea.”

“What? You’re thinking of becoming one without any idea on what the pay is like?”

“I’m sure it’s going to be just fine.”

“You are too cavalier about all this. Alright, next thing, we are going back to the orphanage and going over your skill leveling plan.”

The pair bickered along for quite a bit on their way back to the orphanage.

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