Chapter 52: Chapter 52 – Gathering Steam

A [Maid] stepped into a dressing room, looked around, then nodded. It was up to her standards. Time to relax.

Fayette slowly peeled her layers of clothing off, freeing herself from the grime of travel. Despite her best efforts, she hadn’t quite managed to stay freshened up for the whole trip—during the latter part, she had felt like her [Maid Armour] was barely at one-third efficiency.

At first, she had been able to maintain a balance. Find enough time here and there and she could keep herself up to a passable standard, but then that balance had been broken. The culprits?

The [Bandits].

Oh, how simple the first half of the journey seemed in retrospect. She had even had time to run around, plotting different ways to utilize the [Lady] for her experience grinding, but throw a messy bunch of [Bandits] into the mix? Disaster.

Suddenly there were six prisoners who demanded a round-the-clock guard of at least two people on them, and they had to be fed, watered, and… Fayette ended the train of thought before it got a proper start. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, imagining herself cutting the throats of each of the six bandits, personally.

“Relax, you’re here to relax, Fay.” She opened her eyes and tightened her fist. “I swear, I’m never going to transport [Bandits] again.”

They can't stop me if I'm like... sneaky enough, right? A lot can happen in battle...

She continued peeling her clothes off.

Yes, the [Bandits] had finally been transported to their destination, and the handoff at the church had been handled a few hours earlier. Their caravan had been forced to make a slight detour, so they were still some days off from their destination. Fayette had slipped off at the earliest opportunity to relax, and where else would she go other than a sauna?

They had booked rooms at an inn for the night, and Fayette had made sure the place came equipped well; she had suffered long enough.

Already, the sauna’s dressing room already was promising, wooden benches lined the walls, and the walls even had hooks drilled into the boards for towels and such. Fayette finished taking off her stockings, then stared at the pile of dirty clothes in despair.

I got a [Dry Laundry] skill, yes, but where’s my damn [Do Laundry] skill? Hello? Anybody listening?

She shook her head, then opened the door further inside. Hot air hit her face, and she smiled. Finally. She stepped in, quickly securing the door behind her so no more hot air escaped.

Fayette took one of the buckets of cold water she’d prepared from outside, lifted it above her head, and turned it bottoms up. Her whole body shivered as the icy water poured all over, wetting her completely from the top down. She spent a bit of time getting the worst of the grime off her, then headed up.

Armed with a smaller bucket and the wooden ladle, Fayette sat down on the highest bench. The contact with hot wood stung her a bit, but she was dripping with cold water, so it all normalized pretty fast. Soon enough, a pleasant hot steam was wafting off her skin.

She took out a proper ladleful of water and threw it on the hot stove. Hot steam poured forth, and she leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. The hot steam mixed with the cold water on her bare skin, and gradually started to heat her up. Her legs quivered. Perfection.

For a long moment, she just laid there, back against the wall, eyes closed. She listened to the drops of water dripping down from the stove, and the quiet bustle she heard through the wall.

No energy to throw more water into the stove.

She thought of that slime she had once given some of her [All Purpose Cleaner] to, then let escape. I wonder how that fellow is doing. Right now, I want to become a slime too, just melt down... right here…

Fayette's attempts to turn into a [Maid Slime] were interrupted as she heard a door creak open, and steps inside the dressing room. She opened her eyes, fixed them on the door, then slowly threw another ladle of water at the stove. The hiss of steam filled the room, but still, she heard an unmistakable sound—rustling clothes. Someone else was coming.

Don’t the others still have to give statements to those officials for a while more? They can’t have finished already… It can’t be some other guest of the inn, can it? I booked this just for us.

She waited with mounting anticipation, peering with anticipation at the door. There were no windows, so only the stove acted as the only light, drawing long shadows on all the walls. Then, finally, the rustling of clothing stopped. A few more steps. And then the door opened.

It was the [Lady]. Fayette saw a brief visage of a shadowed form framed against the brighter doorframe, then sighed and leaned back, closing her eyes. Of course. She would be able to escape some bureaucracy.

“Ah, hello Fayette. I heard you booked this for our party, so I came to partake.”

Fayette didn't have to open her eyes, she could picture the nervous smile framed by blond hair well enough. One glance had been quite enough. Besides, it was rude to stare.

Briefly, she opened her eyes and nodded at the newcomer. “Well, welcome in miss—” Fayette said, then paused for a moment. They hadn’t really brought up the subject while on the road, but maybe here… “—or, well, should I say my [Lady] now?”

The frozen face that answered her was quite amusing, so Fayette leaned back, satisfied. There was just something about teasing a fancy [Lady]...

It took a moment, but eventually, Fayette heard a sigh, and a few steps inside, then the door closing.

“I suppose it really is obvious by now. No point trying to hide it from you all anymore.”

Based on the sounds, she was now... wetting her hair? Hers is rather long... Fayette could imagine those soft fingers elegantly twirling hair out of knots. Or maybe... am I thinking too fancy? Maybe she is actually super clumsy.

With the stealth of a snoopy [Maid], she opened her eyelids just a tad, and watched the hands move, lit by a warm orange glow. Elegant it is then.

It was rather hard to make out with the flickering flames, but still... Fayette found her gaze lingering. True, you weren’t really supposed to stare in a sauna per se, but they were all girls here. And she would be careful to not be noticed.

And well, it felt a bit unfair.

Fayette hadn’t managed to give the miss her trademark S-level service on the latter parts of the journey, busy as she was with everything else thanks to the [Bandits], but the [Lady] didn’t look like it. Despite several rougher days on the road, her skin still had a healthy glow to it, and her hair was nearly pristine.

Skills, upbringing, or just birth? Maybe all three.

The [Lady] finished getting her hair wet, then turned back, just barely managing to catch Fayette turning her head back. Drat, my [Dangersense] didn't warn me...

“Hm, where you looking for something?” A playful voice eventually asked.

Fayette sighed, throwing more water onto the stove. “Sorry. Just didn’t know nobles partook in saunas. Only took baths back in my previous place. Maybe a regional thing?”

The [Lady] climbed up the benches, joining Fayette on the highest one. She sat down just a bit to her left, a few paces away, where the shadows hid her form almost completely. “You shouldn’t generalize like that. I’ve always liked these.”

Fayette shrugged, put her ladle down, then brought her legs up to the bench, hugging them against her chest. It felt odd to have the miss here, at her relaxation place. Sure, they had spent a bunch of time together lately, but this was supposed to be her time off!

Feeling just a bit annoyed, Fayette decided to throw out a barb. “You know, you really need to work on your secret identity more. It was pretty obvious from the start.”

“Wait, you knew it before? From how early on?”

Fayette smirked. “From the very start, miss. It wasn’t just me, we all knew right away. You made a lot of mistakes.”

Each sentence hammered at the not-so-undercover noble, until Fayette saw her shadow slump forward, dismayed. Her face was turned to look at the glowing stones on the stove, still with a hint of orange in them. “…was I really that bad?” She asked quietly.

“Yes,” Fayette answered, punctuating the word with more water on the stove. She was maybe overdoing it a little with the water, but she was harboring a small competitive streak right now. A little bit of her wanted to make the sauna hot enough to force the fancy [Lady] to step down to a lower bench.

Fayette began counting things out. “First of all, you rented out a suite in that inn. You were supposed to be a [Governess]. One of those wouldn't have so much to spend. Maybe try to go for a [Merchant] next time, or stick to humbler abodes. Second, you were dressed much too fine. Mireille saw it right away, and she wouldn’t be the only one. Many professions pay a lot of attention to class. Third!”

She turned, pointing a finger at the [Lady]. “You were utterly incapable of taking care of yourself! It was clear you were used to being waited on!”

The words finished off the miss, sending her slumping against the wall opposite Fayette, the fight completely gone from her. Fayette turned back, satisfied.

“So, I really was that bad…”

Ah, did I maybe overdo it a bit?

The miss sounded genuinely upset, and Fayette felt a bit sympathetic. She gave a [Disarming Smile] “Hey, you got that far at least, so you had to be doing something right.”

The slumped shadow rose up just a bit, and Fayette thought she could almost sense the frown. “Don’t go using that skill smile on me, I’m only after the genuine article.”

Fayette let the smile fall from her face, returning her face to a cool normal, then turned back forward. “So, which scenario is it for you? Can you tell? Mireille set up a betting pool for us.”

“Scenario? What do you mean?”

Fayette held up one finger. “Well, I think we pruned it down to two options. A: The run away from family because of a marriage scenario, or—” she raised a second finger. “—B: The run away from family because of a succession dispute scenario.”

She heard no answer, so she turned to the [Lady]. “Well? Which is it?”

The shadowed form had frozen solid, almost becoming a statue then and there. Slowly, hands were brought up to a face, then the form slumped down even more. Her voice was a quiet whimper. “Am I really that predictable?”

Fayette felt her heart stir. “Did we get it right? My money’s on scenario A.”

The [Lady] slowly turned to look up at the [Maid]. “…Yes. It’s the marriage scenario.”

Fayette threw a celebratory bit of water on the stove. Yes! That betting pool is mine.

The [Lady] slumped backward as the steam hit her, changing the wall she was laid against. “I can’t believe it was that predictable. You had it down to two options! Am I really that typical?”

“Hmm, don’t feel too bad about it, miss. It’s not like you’re alone.” Fayette said. “In a class system like this, I figure we’re all repeating patterns of sorts over and over.”

The [Lady] was silent for a moment, thinking. “Is that why you’re adventuring as a hunter, despite being a [Maid]?”

Fayette frowned and stared at the bucket by her legs. She was reminded of that conversation she had with Mireille, at the start of this journey. When she had decided on her path to becoming a truly great [Maid].

“It’s not the main reason, but I guess it is part of it. Just a thought I had recently. Well, if you’re running away from a marriage, what’s your big plan? Maybe you can hire us to help.”

“It’s really not much of a plan.”

“Have you talked it out? Mireille’s pretty smart, maybe she can think of something.”

The [Lady] sighed. “Well, I suppose there’s no harm in it. It’s a simple issue really, skills. And classes. In my family’s opinion, the skills I have point in a certain direction, so in that direction I should marry.”

“Aren’t you a spellcaster? I would’ve thought that type of class would go well.”

The [Lady] sighed, then stretched out an arm. A green glow rose from the center of her back, and vines of green lit up her from as they out, eventually reaching the tip of her fingers. The shadows were chased out by green light, and Fayette turned her gaze away.

She saw the sauna stones shift about on the stove for a moment, putting the cooled-down stones further down, and pulling the more hot stones up. Handy magic, that.

The miss continued. “It’s really about what kind of magic you can do. This stuff, it’s mostly useful for building things. You heard my boon skill, right? [Boon of the Stone Bastion]. That’s what it turned into with this magic I took on.”

She held the magic for a second longer, then let it go, and the vines began retreating, and shadow followed them back.

“Do you know where they send classes like that? Where the most desirable matches are gotten?” The miss finished.

Fayette thought for a moment. Where did one need building skills, and the ability to defend places well? It took her a moment to get it, she had to think about where the money was shifting. “The colonies,” she whispered.

The [Lady] nodded, a “That’s the match they gave me. I was to be sent far off, to help hold some fort with a colonial [Lord]. You know the sort, the new frontiers.”

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Fayette whistled. “Well, I can understand running away now. No way would I go work in a place like that.”

“Not just work, but marriage. But, well... I don't know if I'm really running away from the whole family like that.” The [Lady] said. “Just trying to get a small bit of leverage. A hint of time.”

“Well, go on.”

The miss sighed. “Don’t laugh, I know it’s not great. I just needed to get away, so... Basically, they never really let me do anything concrete here, so I just wanted to prove I could be useful for the family in other ways too, not just a match to be traded."

"So you wanted to go do something? What, get ambushed by [Bandits]?"

"No! It's at our destination... I heard there was trouble at one of our family’s mines, and we had no one to send there to handle the matter. Just angry letters. I just thought I could go there, handle things, and show that I could do things too.”

Fayette was silent for a moment. “That’s really not a great plan. Will they really respect that?”

“Look, I know! I know they probably won't! You promised you wouldn’t laugh! I'm not working with much here.”

“I’m not laughing! I’m just—” Fayette threw some water on the stove. “—thinking. I don’t really know what to say, miss.”

It took a bit for the hiss of steam to clear, revealing a [Lady's] pout. She pointed an angry finger “Well, whatever you say, don’t say that! I’m revealing a lot here, quite literally baring myself out, and you’re still doing that!”

Fayette turned and met her shadowed gaze. “Doing what?”

The [Lady] fumed, the sauna's steam rising up around her. “Miss, miss miss! It’s always you or miss! I told you to call me Marie, didn’t I? Several times! The others do it. Don’t try to say it’s some etiquette thing! We both know it doesn’t work like that!”

Fayette fell silent for a moment. She turned and looked down, spinning her ladle in the bucket. She took a deep breath, feeling the hot air burn her lungs. Ah, she noticed. Of course she did. Well... I guess it shouldn't hurt. Deserves that much.

“You’re right. I’m intentionally keeping a certain distance from you, even now.”

“Why? I don’t think I’ve offended you, and you’ve been doing this from the start.”

Fayette took her ladle out, and watched how the water kept spinning inside the bucket for a moment longer before stopping. The water wouldn’t spin around long without her using the Ladle. How long could she be a [Maid] with no master? Was that really the issue? She didn't feel like it was.

“My last master—I don’t think he was a good man. I don’t really have many good experiences with nobles.” Fayette paused for a moment. “Apart from you now, maybe.”

This time the [Lady’s] voice was softer. “Alright, I understand if it’s a tough issue, but I promise I’m the woman you see here. If you think I’m alright so far, that’s who I am.”

Fayette turned to look at her, at the shadowed form. The dim flickers of light mixed with shadow and the vision she had in her mind, forming a [Lady]. A figure she knew quite well in many ways, but in other ways, not at all. Certainly an elegance, grace, even beauty she could admit. Somebody who liked to draw what she saw out in the world. Really nice drawings too. I didn't think I looked that nice...

But still, there was that feeling. The sharpness after dealing with the bandits... It itched at her core still.

She shook her head. “It’s not about that. I can believe you’re a good person, but that doesn’t matter. Right now, I’m a [Maid] with no real master, and my class feels something is missing. I manage to ignore it these days, but even now it's throbbing, most when I’m near you.”

The [Maid] paused for a moment, reminiscing, then continued. “When we were ambushed by those bandits, you asked me to act as your [Maid], temporarily. There weren’t many options, so I did it. There was meaning in that. Do you know what I felt back then, when I was acting as your [Maid]?”

Her gaze was growing more intense, now with some sort of yearning in it, and the shadow shook under it. “I felt good. So good. Calm and easy, like things were right. There was a completeness in that. A [Lady] and a [Maid]. No itch.”

Fayette trembled for a moment, remembering that moment with the [Lord] and kobolds, then turned away, calming. “Later on, when I thought about it, it scared me. That bond has power. My last master used it to override my will. Never again.”

She threw more water out, and the veil of steam drew out the silence, until the miss finally parted it.

“I don’t have skills like that,” she said after a moment. “I know of those, I don’t like them. I’ve never gotten them.”

“Can you promise you will never be offered one?”

The [Lady] fell silent for a long moment, then sighed. “You know, it’s all beside the point, really. I’m not asking for you to be my servant here. Enough of those at the estate. I just… want to be a bit more friendly at least.”

Fayette chuckled, skeptical. “Can a friendship between [Lady] and [Maid] ever be equal? You already asked me to act as your [Maid] once.”

The miss leaned forward, and the stove's fire lit her pursed lips. “You act as [Maid] for your other friends, don’t you? Can’t this be the same?”

Fayette frowned. “I… don’t know. There’s just this feeling I have with you. I don’t know.”

After humming for a moment in thought, the [Lady] started nodding her head slowly. “So, you need me to show decisively that I’m not a master here? Am I getting it right?”

“Well, basically yes. Kind of difficult when you’ve hired us.”

The [Lady] smiled and stood up. “A customer is not a master. No, I’ve got an idea now.”

She stepped down the benches, going down all the way to the stone floor. She walked to the dressing room’s door and went in. Fayette found herself following the small magical diagram on her back with her eyes. Now that she saw it, it felt like she couldn’t stop focusing on it. Was I really missing that the whole time? Should I have seen it before?

After a moment, the [Lady] returned, carrying a small bag. Keeping her eyes on the bag, deep in thought, she beckoned Fayette down. “Get down here.”

Fayette slowly stood up. “What are you planning?”

The [Lady] turned to her and grinned. “You’re worried about how you seem like a servant, and I like a master. Like it’s a fundamental truth. Well—” she opened the pouch and took out a bar of soap, “—would a master wash their servant’s hair?”

Fayette blinked blankly. “—Um—”

“Wouldn’t you say—” The [Lady] continued, “—that servants washing their master’s hair is a fundamental truth? You talked of patterns, right? It doesn’t go the other way around, does it?”

Fayette could follow the logic. She started nodding slowly. “I suppose that makes sense.”

The [Lady] winked, then pointed the soap at Fayette. “So, get down here, and let me wash your hair!”

Well, I guess there’s no harm in trying this out. The [Maid] carefully stepped down the benches, out of the upper bench's shadow, finally sitting down under the warm glow of the stove at the bottommost step.

It was a bit cramped, two women in that small place, which felt strange to Fayette. She hurriedly turned around, back to the [Lady], giving her easy access to her hair. Fayette closed her eyes and leaned back. Her heartbeat was accelerating. Why is this making me nervous?

It felt like an eternity, sitting there, under eyes she didn't really know, waiting for something. But what? Would something this silly really work? Fayette's nervousness built up, almost fearing the eventual touch she should feel, until—

Soft, warm fingers touched her scalp, her heart skipped... and then she relaxed.

The fingers ran down her head, gathering up wet hair and splitting tangles, and the touch felt good. Fayette hadn’t ever really had her hair handled by others like this—she usually even cut it herself. It was a strange feeling. Almost... surrendering to something? Intimate.

Fayette squirmed a bit under it, feeling like a cat getting just the right itch out. If she were one, she might have purred. Focusing on the touch of those fingers... It was too distracting. Too many jitters. Don't make any strange sounds! How about... focus on what she's doing. Not how.

The [Lady] was gradually working the soap into her hair and massaging it to her scalp. She let it sit a bit while she worked on other areas, then came back to wash the soap away, leaving a clean result. Then it was back to the scalp...

And the [Maid] had to fight to keep herself from squirming under it.

As she worked, the [Lady] got into a rhythm and started humming a tune. Fayette found herself nodding with it, strangely familiar. She froze for a second, because... it was a tune she remembered, something almost forgotten, from back in the orphanage. No, of course, she hadn’t always handled her hair herself, but that song…

Before she could complete the thought, the humming stopped, and the [Lady] stepped away. Fayette opened her eyes, and blinked, waiting a moment more for the soft touch to return. Over already?

“Well, do you feel any better now? Do you think it worked?” The [Lady] asked.

Fayette did feel better—that had been a really nice experience. She almost answered so, before she remembered. Right, there was a point to this...

The [Maid] focused on her class for a moment, searching for that distinct itch, and found it relaxed. It was still there, but it just wasn’t as intense right now, as it had been around her. Not solved, but not really an issue. Hmm, so not the [Lady's] class, but something else. No, not the [Lady], not the miss…

Fayette slowly opened her eyes, and turned her head, meeting expectant eyes. “You know, I think that really did help, it feels better. Thanks… Marie.”

Marie smiled. She held up her soap again, a twinkle of mischief in her eye. “Want me to dry it off and style it too?"

Fayette realized that here, before the stove, there really wasn't much dark to hide in. She held her eyes up carefully, then covered her bosom with her arms and turned away. “…I think this was enough. I’ll do the rest myself.” She turned to look back. “I don’t want you to be my servant either, alright?”

A chuckle left Marie’s lips. “Alright, fine. I get it.”

Fayette frowned in suspicion. “By the way, that song you hummed… I don’t think it’s one a noble should be singing. A servant’s song.”

The [Lady] winked. “A girl’s got to keep some secrets, right?”

“Hmph. Marie." Fayette tasted the name against her lips, letting the R roll over her tongue. "Ma-rie". Did it taste sweet, or spicy? She wasn't really sure. “Feels strange to change it suddenly. Can’t I keep calling you miss?”

Marie threw the soap at her, and Fayette dodged.

She picked it back up, then got up and took a few cramped steps forward, to the shadows near the door. Marie hummed and got back up to higher benches. Fayette frowned at that and began washing herself off. Marie had already prepared a bucket of lukewarm water for her, so it was quick enough. She had really overdone it with throwing water—the sauna was feeling really hot right now. If she wasn’t fast with washing, she would just get sweaty all over again.

She finished, then stepped through to the dressing room. She looked behind, one more time, and saw that Marie had claimed the ladle and bucket, and was preparing to throw more water onto the stove. Fayette felt like she had lost somehow.

“By the way, Marie—”

“Hm, what is it?”

“—sorry for using you to farm experience.”

“Wait, wh—”

Fayette slammed the door closed behind her, and began dressing into her spare uniform furiously.

Have to get a bit away from here. Think.

Marie. Had she really managed to solve this? Fayette smiled, the [Lady] really was...

Then she frowned. No, the wrongness, the imbalance... it was just subdued some. Still there. Waiting for her to face it.

The [Maid] grimaced, then kept on ignoring the real answer.

Things were just much easier, much simpler this way.