Chapter 33: 8

All-Works Maid – Volume 2 Chapter 8: A Reunion with the Knight and the Maid Wavering

“I’m off to class, Melody!”

“Please have a safe trip, my lady.”

It was now the morning of the fifth day of class. Luciana had just left for class with Melody seeing her off; once Luciana was completely out of sight, Melody returned to the room, and… let out a small sigh.

“…Okay. Let’s get to work.”

After a turbulent start with the first day midterms and second day orientation, classes finally settled down into real lessons on the third day. As the orientation had explained, the morning lessons covered the general courses, but first-years would have a free afternoon. Of course, this would only last until the second semester, but until then, the first-years were free to use this time to explore the elective courses, which covered the material they had gone over the previous year.

Over the past two days, Luciana had attended a number of elective courses: Applied Magicks with Luna, Pharmaceuticals with Perriand, and Chivalry with Lukeev, and the four had also attended Advanced Etiquette together. On a side note, because Chivalry was more male-oriented, Luciana had been an observer to the lessons, though she later told Melody that it had been quite an interesting experience.

So Luciana’s Academy life had been quite the peaceful experience… if only she were not the constant target of Olivia’s cold stares. Even so, despite a separation from her closest friends, Luciana was able to fit in with her class and make new friends along the way.

“I’m glad that my lady is doing well at the Academy… I, on the other hand…”

Melody quickly glanced over her completed work; the entirety of Luciana’s bedroom was immaculate, without a speck of dust in sight. The building itself was already clean by nature of being new, but in its current state, the room looked as though Luciana had only just finished moving in.

Melody gave a contented sigh over the satisfying job; this level of detailed cleaning amounted to back-breaking work for any normal maid.

She looked over to the clock — it was only eleven in the morning.

“I’ve finished all the chores…”

Since coming to the dormitory, Melody… has had quite a bit of free time on her hands.

“Could you tell us again what, exactly, are you having trouble with, Melody?”

At the servant’s dining hall, Sasha could only ask in a shocked tone.

Meanwhile Blish rapidly blinked in surprise from Melody’s explanation.

“What I want to know is, how are you so good at your job, Melody? You somehow finish all the cleaning, do the laundry, clean your own tools, and even make dinner preparations all before lunchtime, and then you somehow still have free time.”

Despite not intending to crack a joke, Warren laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

“Ugh, this is actually a serious problem for me…”

Melody adorably puffed her cheeks out in a pout.

“…She’s lovely even like this”

And of course, no matter how Melody is, Blish can only find her actions cute and endearing.

Is he in love with Melody? If he is, it would be for the best if Luciana did not find out.

“I have never seen you working, Melody, so I don’t know how I should feel about it. If you are able to do things as you say you do, I think every maid would be quite jealous of you.”

“Personally, I would prefer more responsibilities. I am not dissatisfied with taking care of my lady, but there was so much more to do at the estate. It was fun always having another area to clean, and the madam always had more chores for me to do…”

“And you still want more work? Melody, you’re quite a weird person.”

“But… is it not fun and fulfilling to do all this work?”

She tilted her head in confusion from Warren’s remark; it confused Melody that he, a fellow servant, had found her work ethic strange rather than admirable. Warren could answer back with a wry smile.

Melody had been the sole caretaker of the Luthorburg estate prior to coming here, so handling a single dormitory room was practically no work at all for her, not to mention the downscaled amount of laundry to clean or food to prepare.

In truth, the student dormitory was actually a step backward compared to the mansion for her, and Melody felt as though her working environment had actually worsened in a way. Overall it was quite a strange consideration for anyone but Melody to have.

Perhaps it had been correct for Luciana to forbid the use of magic while here; after all, with magic, Melody could finish the chores in an instant.

“Then maybe what you should do is improve the image other servants have of you. Although that seems more like a long-term goal than anything you can achieve in a short amount of time…”

“It is quite the difficult endeavor, but I believe it is because I have had fewer opportunities to talk with other servants than I would have wanted.”

Indeed, Melody has interacted with other servants much less than she had imagined, but it was simply a matter of location; the communal laundry room should have been the best place for her to meet other servants, but it was never not empty in the Upper Dorms.

Laundry aside, other servants also usually found themselves fully occupied managing the workload of chores. Melody was simply an outlier able to complete her work in no time, but it was more common for servants to spend most of their time working.

And so it came down to this: the dining hall was Melody’s last bastion for social interaction. But even that was proving to be an ineffective measure; after all, over the past few days, Melody has only been dining with Sasha, Blish, and Warren.

As an aside, unbeknownst to her, the servants of Luciana’s childhood friends were also somewhere in this dining hall, so while Melody did have more friends to make, there was simply not yet an opportunity to make the introductions in the first place.

“How is everyone else doing? Have you become acquainted with other servants yet?”

“To be honest, I haven’t thought too much about meeting others. I used to be a parlor maid, but I have to work as a housemaid for my lady now, so I have my hands full handling all of that.”

“How enviable…”

Sasha gave a tired sigh in response; perhaps from the fatigue of doing unfamiliar chores. Blish, on the other hand, appeared to be in charge of tool maintenance and heavy lifting.

“Well, unlike these two, I’m working alone, but since we’re in the Commoner’s Dorm, the room is a lot smaller so it’s much more manageable even alone.”

“How unlucky…”

“I think most people would actually be jealous of my lighter workload.”

Most students living in the Commoner’s Dorm lived alone, but there were some exceptions that brought along a servant. As a result, there were rooms with extra space to accomodate the servant.

“As a maid, I should be satisfied with being able to completely fulfill my lady’s needs, and yet, all I can feel is frustration.”

Melody let out another large sigh. Blish watched her in bliss, making another comment on her melancholic expression, but Sasha gave a start, having come up with a solution for Melody.

“Hey Melody, have you seen the bulletin board in this dining hall?”

“The bulletin board? There was such a thing here?”

“Yep, there is. It’s over there.”

Melody turned to look where Sasha pointed; there, by the entrance of the dining hall, was a large bulletin board. There were qutie a few loose pages hanging on it.

“This whole time, I never noticed something like that…”

“Oh Melody, you might be quite good at being a maid, but you always miss things going on around you. You need to be more careful!”

“O-of course, I shall keep that in mind. So is there anything special about that bulletin board then?”

“I think one of the listings asked for a temporary servant? It was something about being the assistant of a temporary instructor of an elective course. There weren’t restrictions on age or gender, so if you have free time, why not try it out?”

“Huh? Would it be acceptable for a mere servant, of a student no less, to apply for such an important position?”

“It should be fine since it was posted here in the servant’s dining hall. I think it also said they were urgently hiring and the instructor would only be here for a single semester. Maybe they were hoping there would be students who brought along more servants than they actually needed.”

Thus, with those words in mind and having finished her lunch, Melody walked over to the bulletin board and found the posting Sasha had mentioned.

The posting was recruiting an assistant for the temporary instructor of the Chivalry course and would only be for the current semester. The work involved lesson and classroom preparation as well as some assistance during class. There was no gender or age restriction, and servants only required permission from their master. The contact for the listing was…

(Oh they really are recruiting someone. There probably won’t be hard labor involved since there isn’t a restriction on age and gender, too. If I take this job, I certainly would have something to do in the afternoon, but…)

Although she was interested in the role, Melody could not help but wonder if it were acceptable for her to take on another job.

If she became an assistant to an instructor, she would be able to visit the school building, and that would open a whole new area for her; she may even meet new maids there.

So Melody was definitely interested in the job… and yet there she was, hesitation clear on her face… Why was she hesitating?

That night, with the unspoken doubts still in her mind, Melody consulted Luciana about the job.

“I don’t mind. Being an assistant for an afternoon elective course sounds like a good idea.”

“Are you sure it would be fine?”

“You have a lot of free time, don’t you? I’ll be attending different elective courses on a trial basis, so my afternoons will be busy for the rest of this semester. There won’t be a problem if you want to do something during that time, and even if you were a little late coming back, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Um, I understand. Thank you for your consideration.”

Luciana seemed to have been aware of Melody’s free time dilemma, which was why she happily gave permission and encouraged her maid to try this new job. However, Melody only appeared half-hearted about it all, still hesitant over it all.

And so the next day, after submitting an application in the morning, Melody would be taking an interview later that same afternoon.

Despite the number of servants at the Academy, it seemed Melody had been the only applicant to the posting. In truth, most servants were busy enough taking care of their own masters, and it was only the servant of the “Fairy Princess” that had the luxury to free time.

So as part of the interview, Melody had special permission to enter the school building.

There were a number of topics the Chivalry course would cover, such as building a chivalrous spirit or marching in formation, but it was primarily a class on learning how to fight that focused on swordsmanship.

And it was for that reason that the classroom would be the arena on school grounds. Of course, there was also a requirement for the instructor to be an active or retired knight, so the job qualifications were also quite demanding.

Melody’s interview would be taking place in the instructor’s office, located not far from the arena.

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When she entered the office, Melody immediately made eye contact with the instructor, a familiar young man with short red hair and golden eyes that widened as he saw her.

“Oh? Sir Lect?”

Sitting in this office was none other than the knight Lectias Frodo, the third love interest of The Silver Saint. This Lect, currently twenty-one years old, was secretly in love with Melody and the only person in the world to know that she was Celesti, the trueborn daughter of Count Reginbars.

After their initial mutual surprise, the two quickly settled into their seats. Two weeks had passed since they last saw each other, as Melody had become busy with preparing for Luciana’s move-in to the Academy; this unexpected reunion had left both of them them unsure of how to react.

“I, uh, hadn’t expected the one who applied to be you.”

“I-is that so… I also had not expected to meet Sir Lect here… Ah, please excuse my rudeness, I should be referring to you as Instructor Lectias since we are at the Academy now.”

“You needn’t do that when it’s.. just the t-two of us…”

By the last part of his sentence, Lect had fallen to a whisper, but it seemed there would be no issue if Melody were to treat him as she always had.

“Understood. Then, for now, let us address other matters. If you would forgive my boldness, Sir Lect, but may I ask why are you here? Were you not Count Reginbars’s knight?”

“Ah, yeah. Well, long story short, His Excellency ordered this of me.”

“The Count ordered you?”

Lect began explaining his circumstances.

It had started with the attack at the Spring Ball; when it happened, several children of nobility, Luciana included, had become trapped within the assailant’s magical barrier. Among the victims was Crown Prince Christopher, and it appeared the kingdom would lose the heir to its throne.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince had defended himself and even subdued the attacker. On the other hand, the attack had left a single thought in the minds of those who witnessed everything that night:

Nobles should be capable of defending themselves.

“And to facilitate that idea, they decided to use the Royal Academy’s Chivalry course, revamping and expanding its curriculum. However, because the change had happened so quickly, the Academy was hard pressed on finding a replacement instructor to fit this new course.

“So you were chosen for this role, Sir Lect?”

“That’s correct. This is just a temporary position until they find a full-time instructor, so I’ll only be here for a single semester. They couldn’t find anyone in time before the semester began, so His Excellency ordered me to take on the role.”

“…You must have had quite a bit of free time.”

“Ugh..!”

Melody casually pointed out Lect’s situation, and it was a correct guess. Count Reginbars had originally ordered Lect to locate Melody’s mother, Celena, but it seemed he had received no new orders since his return to the capital. Of course, his primary job was to serve as Count Reginbars’s assistant and bodyguard, but there was enough staff around the Count that missing Lect would amount to no trouble at all.

In the game, Lect was supposed to be the knight escorting the heroine, Cecilia Reginbars. However, because the Count had not found his daughter in this world, Lect’s current situation was… rather tenuous.

In other words, this was all Melody’s fault, and of course the perpetrator herself knew nothing about any of this.

“A-anyway, I’ll be the temporary Chivalry instructor for this semester. I’m looking for an assistant because my servant, well, you know…”

“Paula… might not be the best person to bring to the Academy.”

The person in question was Paula, the all-works maid at Lect’s mansion. Paula was a headstrong girl even when talking with her master; she was quite practical-minded and helpful, but it was clear her temperament and behavior would cause issues at the Academy. That being said, even if Lect did bring her along, that would leave the mansion without a caretaker.

“Normally, I would pick an assistant from among the servants at my house, but as you know that is not possible for me. I could ask His Excellency, but because I will only be teaching in the afternoon and commuting from home, borrowing a servant every day from another House would be quite…”

“That is quite the dilemma you have, Sir Lect. Was that why you decided to hire a servant from among those at the Academy?”

“It is exactly as you have said.”

“But… Would that not be more awkward?”

“…That’s true. I only realized it after seeing you were the one who answered the job post.”

Lect had a complicated expression on his face; he recalled the unmitigated glare a certain blonde-haired girl had directed his way.

(If she were to find out about this, she may actually rip me to pieces…)

…It seemed Lect’s intuition as a knight was very sharp.

“Sir Lect, could you explain what it is the assistant would be doing as part of the job?”

“Basically, the job is mostly about helping prepare for each class and providing some assistance during the lessons. You won’t need to perform any heavy labor since we can send for the Academy caretaker, so the most you may have to do will involve organizing documents, preparing things for class, and occasionally collecting materials from the library.”

“From the library? That sounds like a wonderful job.”

Melody’s eyes sparkled with excitement; there had not been many opportunities for her to read in this world. Books were were quite expensive and arduous to make in medieval Europe, and that detail had carried over into this world.

So it was unsurprising that Melody, a commoner from a small village, had very little access to books while growing up. Even at the Luthorburg estate, there were few books for Melody to simply read.

Thus the only books she has read thus far were those from her previous life on Earth as well as the textbooks she read in preparation for tutoring Luciana.

Now that Melody knew it also came with library privileges, she became more interested in the assistant job.

“I understand. Then, when should I begin working?”

“Oh? A-are you taking the job for certain? But, uh…”

Having just awakened to his first love, Lect felt a pang of worry as he realized he would be working alone with the girl he was in love with, not to mention the ever-looming threat of a certain golden-haired demon. It was unfortunate, but perhaps it would be for the best for him to…

“Um, is it because I may not be… qualified for the job?”

“– ?!”

Melody turned to stare at Lect, her brilliant, upturned eyes capturing his attention; was she truly unaware of Lect’s feelings? Alas Lect, inexperienced as he was in love, could not resist that charm nor deny her request.

“…We’ll be starting next week. I look forward to working with you from here on.”

“Understood, Sir Lect! Oh, I cannot address you in such a casual manner… Understood, my lord.”

” ‘M-my lord’…”

This air-headed maid of immeasurable density had another unexpected remark that would leave Lect completely useless for the remainder of the day.

Regardless, Melody thus became the temporary assistant of the temporary Chivalry instructor, Lectias Frodo.

The two worked out a weekly schedule that would not interfere with Melody’s duties as a maid. Of the two elective slots available each day, Lect’s Chivalry class was always in the later slot, so Melody would have enough time for lunch before coming to the office for class.

“I think that should work well enough. For now, we’ll go with this scheduling and then make adjustments as we go along.”

“Yes, understood.”

Melody nodded, a bright smile on her face.

“You seem… quite excited to get to work. Does being my assistant make you that happy?”

Lect held a heartfelt expectation, wondering if he were the reason for Melody’s fountain of positivity.

Well, Lect probably already understood the truth of the matter, but he still could not help but hope…

“Yes! I get to visit the library, after all!”

“Oh. R-right. Of course, for the library.”

And of course, the small hope he felt amounted to naught; this was just another learning experience for the twenty-one years old Lectias Frodo and his brittle glass-like heart, inexperienced as he was in love.

Ever the diligent one, Lect still took Melody’s words to heart, working to remind himself to give Melody an opportunity to visit the library.

“Thank you again for everything. Honestly speaking, the amount of free time I have in the afternoon was leaving me too confused, but because of this job, I will have more to do starting next week.”

“Is that so? Well, I’m glad giving you this job helped with that, Melody. But… I just want to make sure, but are you sure you have the free time to do this?”

“I am sure. Ever since coming here, I have been doing a significantly lesser amount of chores here compared to at the estate… Is there something wrong?”

Lect’s face had suddenly taken on a bewildered expression, to which Melody responded with a confused tilt of the head.

And then Lect’s next words shook the very tenets of Melody’s being.

“Melody, you mentioned to me before that you had sworn to your mother to become ‘the greatest maid in the world’, so I had expected you would to be far too busy to find free time. But I suppose it’s natural to have free time when you’re finished with your work. And good, too.”

Lect nodded to emphasize his words, but Melody had frozen in shock.

Their chat continued for a time, but Melody found herself unable to focus on the topics they went over; instead, she could only think about Lect’s words…

(What… am I even doing? What am I supposed to be doing? Is any of this… even part of becoming ‘the greatest maid in the world’?)

And at the very least, Melody doubted being the greatest maid in the world included finishing work early and having extra free time.

Something in Melody’s mind… started to waver.

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