BXBX NOVEL Chapter 62: Mini Social Gathering
Chapter 62: Mini Social Gathering
“Ma-, Ma-Ma-Ma-, Mm, Ma-Mas……! ? “
Ahh, there she goes, a Ma-Ma broken record. This is a first.
“Ma-Master! ? Wh-why are you here! ? “
Windfield and I entered the servants’ mansion, and as soon as one of the maids walking across the garden noticed us, she opened her mouth and raised her voice in surprise. What am I? A rare animal or something?
“I have some business with Yve…… well, it doesn’t matter, where is a place where the servants gather? “
Since I wanted to give a light greeting to the servants, I thought to ask that question.
“Yes. Currently, it’s break time for the captain class maids in the kyafeteria! P-lease, let me gu-guide you! “
The maid, who was tensely standing upright, managed to complete the explanation while biting her tongue and showed us to the cafeteria awkwardly walking like a robot.
She was visibly nervous to the point of being overwhelmed. Thus, I started to make some small chat to try and ease her tension.
“What’s your name? “
“I’m called Ma-Marina. I’m serving as the Vic-Vice Captain of the Es Squad.”
“Hee.”
What the heck is the Es Squad? The moment I was wondering that Windfield secretly explained it by whispering in my ears. It seems to be one of the squads in which one of the ten maids that Yukari brought initially are serving as captains. And each of them has at least ten members. Eh? Does that mean that right now there are over a hundred maids working here? For a moment I thought this might’ve been too much of an increase…… but considering my home is too wide, they may not be enough.
“Marina. Do you want me to show you how not to get nervous? “
“Th-That is……I’m ve-very s-sorry. I-I I a-am s-s-sor-sorry fo-f-for b-being n-n-n-ne-ner-n-nervous.”
“Whoa! Sorry, that’s not it, I’m not trying to blame you.”
Marina apologized, looking like she was about to burst into tears. Contrary to her strong, lady-like appearance, with long blonde hair and slanted eyes, she seemed to be more like a weak child.
“Most of the time people can’t bring out their full potential in different circumstances. That’s why you need to figure out some way around it.”
“……F-Figure out a way? “
“Yeah. Like a prayer, autosuggestion, or a routine. Well, it’s different for every person.”
This is nothing more than finding a way that suits the person.
“However, one day, I noticed. It’s really a trivial thing to find a way to have a peace of mind, or to try and make the most of it. You just need a normal state of mind, concentration, and be in good condition. To perfectly prepare your mind and body to surpass their limits you need to be immersed in it.”
“Immerse……? “
“Yeah. In short, always be prepared. Be prepared to excel in your area of expertise. Have the determination to never stop, nor slow down. Immerse yourself to the point where you can’t go back to being your previous self. Pour your whole body and mind into it. Then, you won’t be nervous.”
Marina was listening to my words impressed, with her eyes wide open. And then, Windfield with a face of amazement, butted in.
“Second-san, you know she can’t do it right now, right? “
“Obviously. It is tiring to do that for daily life stuff.”
“It sure is.”
“…………? “
Huh? Marina had that kind of wondering face. And, gradually, she noticed. “Could you be speaking about me? “, I’m sure she wondered.
“It’s not like I’m just joking. Still, isn’t your tension somehow gone? “
Windfield followed up with a light smile. Marina then said “Thank you very much” with a taken aback expression and followed with a bow.
“This is the cafeteria.”
A delicious smell drifted from across the end of the hallway. And also, lively voices could be heard. It’s great the cafeteria has this kind of atmosphere. I just ate, but it makes me want to eat again.
“M-Master has come! “
Just before we arrived, Marina entered the cafeteria ahead of us, reporting our arrival.
Then, there was a moment of silence.
――Immediately afterward, the cafeteria became quite noisy.
Rustle and bustle! As the sound of moving chairs was heard, about ten servants in the cafeteria stood up at the same time, bowing towards me. No, no, I’m not the King or anything of the like, you know……?
“Sorry to interrupt your meal. Pay no mind to me and just keep eating.”
……Nobody moved a muscle. What’s going on?
“Hey, the food will cool down.”
At that point, a couple of people finally raised their faces, looking at each other. The first one to raise her head was a maid with red eyes and snow-white hair and skin. The next one was a middle-aged man dressed as a cook with shabby hair.
“Let’s eat. We shouldn’t cause too much trouble for Second-sama.”
Ohh, Cubero was in the back too. As expected of the butler, I wonder if he’s like everyone’s leader? With that serious atmosphere around him, he totally looks like the president of a company.
And following that leader’s voice, everyone sat down. However…… for some reason this feels like a vigil over a body. Nobody is even speaking.
“Ohh…… you, what’s your name? “
Ignoring the blatant efforts of the white maid to not look at me while stealing glances, I talked to the man in the cook attire.
“My name is Sovra. I work as the head chef.”
“You can speak casually.”
“P-Please, don’t joke.”
“I’m not kidding. Huh? Do you smoke? “
“Y-Yes. I tried to stop.”
“Not that, it gives you a nice impression. Care to join me after you’re done eating?”
“H-Haha! I appreciate it. It’s a welcomed invitation.”
As unusual as it was for the MMORPGs, in Mobius, tobacco existed as an item. Moreover, rather than being random, it was quite elaborate. There were more than 20 manufacturers prepared, and the characteristics of each leaf and their production area was quite detailed. Perhaps one of the developers was a heavy smoker.
After speaking for a while with Sovra, there were still some awkward honorifics but at least they were decreasing.
“Huh? Is a single plate enough for you? “
Then. I noticed a muscular macho man…… or more like an ‘onee’ with a lot of makeup.
“O-Oh my. My belly is already full.”
“Don’t spout nonsense, you always eat at least three times that amount.”
“Hey! Shush, Sovra-chan! “
I’m sure he was holding back since I’m here.
“Don’t hold back. What’s your name? “
“I am Lilly, Second-sama. I’m working as the lead gardener.”
“You can speak casually. Ahh, the same goes for everyone else. Except when it’s really necessary, I don’t mind if it’s a slightly rude tone.”
When I declared so again, the people were divided into two: those who had a bitter face, and those who were thankful. The former was the majority of the maids and Cubero, and the latter were Sovra, Lilly, a yankee-looking guy with his hair all to the back, and a red-haired maid with semi-long hair and sharp eyes. Ohh, looking closely, everyone is quite unique.
“In any case, those are some nice muscles you have there, Lilly. It almost looks like a piece of art.”
“Zukyuun! ! “
“……Oh? “
After praising his muscles, Lilly screamed a single word and hardened. Maybe it’s my imagination but I feel like I can almost see hearts in his eyes.
“I…… I……! Always had a complex for this body! But! I won’t let myself get down because of it! From now on, I will train in order to achieve the ultimate body! ! “
That was a bold determination expressed in a somewhat girly voice. Lilly turned around and opened his mouth while his cheeks were reddened.
“Please look over me, my dear Second-sama. I will become a butterfly……! “
And then he left while saying something I couldn’t quite understand.
“Please look over me, my dear Second-sama. I will become a butterfly……! “
And then he left while saying something I couldn’t quite understand.
“……Is he always like that? “
“No, that guy’s usually more like a kind older sister……”
Answering to my mutters was a gentle-looking maid with red hair and a side ponytail.
“I see, that’s good. And you are? “
“My name is Es. And this here is my older sister El.”
“H-Hi. I’m El. Nice to meet you, Master.”
“Ahh, best regards. However, like I said. No need to be so stiff.”
“No, I’m just nervous, so I slipped and went back to speaking politely, albeit broken……”
The older sister scratched her head while saying that. She was the same semi-long red-haired girl who was thankful when I said not to be so formal. Contrary to the younger sister, who appeared to be more girly, she had a rougher tone and looked a bit more tomboyish.
“Speaking of which, isn’t Marina a subordinate of Es? I taught her how not to get nervous. Ask her about it later.”
“Ehhh, is there a way not to be nervous!? That’s amazing.”
“Incredible. As expected of Master.”
……I kind of feel like I’m in a hostess bar. No matter what I say, they all give it high praise. Maybe I should stop talking about myself.
“What do you guys usually do? “
“It’s different for each squad. My squad is training in serving and cleaning, and working hard on various studies.”
“Mine is just a combat squad! We go to the Dungeon to train, or we train in pairs, one against another.”
“Hee…… so it’s different for each…… huh? Combat? Like battle maids? “
“Yeah. The more energetic are assigned to the combat maid squad.”
“Battle maids? ……how cool! “
“Ohh, you can tell!? As expected of Master! Cool! “
A fighting maid is kinda nice. It’s a man’s romance. And more than anything, they stand out. There’s no doubt that in a Title match, fighting out in maid clothes would surely gather a lot of attention.
“I’m wondering how strong you are. Want to give it a try?”
“You mean me? ……want to play a match? “
Ohh, nice, this is exciting. She’s quite passionate.
“It would be for your own interest to just stop.”
Just when I was considering this proposal, the leader, Cubero came in to stop her.
“Why? Is it because I’m being selfish? “
El argued against him. However, Cubero continued speaking without minding those words.
“……Last night, I challenged Second-sama.”
The cafeteria immediately became noisy. Well, that’s to be expected. It would be like hearing the principal of the school suddenly went to the school building at night and broke out all the windows.
Cubero then dropped a bigger bomb.
“My Martial Arts are in the Grade rank. In the past, thanks to these fists, I used to be the young leader of a bandit group.”
Everyone gasped in surprise. Well, that’s to be expected. They thought he was a serious chairman, but he then turned out to be the leader of a bike gang.
“……The fight ended in an instant. I was beaten, blown away a few meters without even knowing what skill was used.”
“For real!? ? Was it that high-level martial arts? Wow.”
“Yeah. However, I think that was just a hit without using any skill…… right? “
“Ahh, yeah. I just punched you back then.”
When I answered, everyone attentively listened.
Well, after all, my 【Swordsmanship】 skills are all almost at Grade 9, therefore, my STR is high. If I’m serious I can kill with a punch. That result couldn’t be helped.
“We’re literally on different dimensions. If you want to challenge him, you need to prepare accordingly.”
After talking to her, Cubero smiled somewhat satisfied. Is this the result of this guy completely showing his resolution?
“Whoaa, how impressive, Master. I’ll need to train harder with my squad then……”
Considering the flow of the talk, it’s obvious the El squad is a perfect fit for the battle maids. It’s not my bad. If you want to blame someone, blame Cubero.
“My master is coming.”
And then, Yukari appeared in here. Windfield’s announcements have been 100% reliable so far.
“――Master, this way. Yve, you come too.”
So, the moment finally came.
Well then, it’s time to learn Brainwashing Magic.
I left the cafeteria while saying “I’ll come again later”. Everybody saw me off with a smile. And I made a ‘cigarette’ gesture towards Sovra implying “Next time”.
Following behind me by three steps was the white maid who stubbornly tried to avoid making eye contact with me. When I occasionally glanced at her, she immediately averted her eyes. Her cheeks were slightly dyed in red, but other than that, her face was expressionless. Apparently, that’s just the way she is.
“About Yve-san, I’m sure she’s bad at talking, rather than a shy person.”
That was Windfield’s analysis. I wonder if she had already met her? No, in her case, it wasn’t that she didn’t know what to talk about, but that she was rather bad at talking? She might be a poor talker so the real contents of her mind are hard to put in words.
“For those types of people, it’s better to let them be the ones talking to you, allowing them to take their time and just listen.”
Ohh, she jumped straight to the capture method. Amazing. Let’s give her the nickname “Wincyclopedia”.
“……? You’re thinking something rude, aren’t you? “
“How do you know that……?”
Scary, this spirit.
——
“Master. No one will watch in this place. It pains my heart to do this, but…… I’m ready to do it if it needs to be done.”
After a short walk, the place where we arrived was a dimly lit basement in the servant’s mansion. Why in a basement?
And Yukari too, why say such a thing with that meek expression? It’s almost like you think I’ll be forcing you to do something shady, isn’t it?
“Yve, I’ll be blindfolding you.”
“Ah…… Ye—, huh……? “
Why blindfold her? I mean, considering her current reactions, she doesn’t even know what we’re going to be doing from now on, right……?
“This is the ‘Painless Whip’ I bought at a specialty store, so we can carry out the endeavor safely without having to worry if it hurts.”
Ehh…… wasn’t there something else to use? Rather, aren’t you quite into this already? I mean, to go to such lengths as to buy that at a specialty store.
“Well then, let’s begin.”
Setting up threads, Yukari used 《Knight Thread Manipulation》 against Yve. Originally, this was supposed to be a skill to attack others by manipulating people or dolls, but right now I can’t see it as anything more than enjoying tying up a defenseless blindfolded girl who is ignorant of her current situation.
“P-Please be quick.”
“Yes.”
After secretly asking for that, a huge smile was given as the answer.
……Then, one hour later. While being watched over by a brown beauty and a tall beauty, I continuously received 300 slashes from a blindfolded girl.
To be honest, it wasn’t that bad.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Aniki. The horseshoe of the ‘El Purple’――Huh? “
Shortly after Second had left, the stable-hand Ploum appeared in the cafeteria. It seems he had come to look for the Lead Stable-hand, Jast.
“Something happen? ……It’s incredibly quiet in here. “
Ploum felt that something was out of place, after all, he had frequently visited this place. It was true that the cafeteria was quieter than usual.
“Ahh, Ploum? Just now, Second-sama came here.”
“Seriously! ? Master did! ? “
“Yeah. And he talked with us for a while…… Wow, it was incredible.”
“Whoaa, this is the first time I’ve seen aniki with such a slovenly appearance……”
Turning away from Jast, Ploum looked around the cafeteria. There were several of the captain-class maids with a face of “Wow” in the cafeteria, and even the head chef Sovra was grinningly staring at a cigarette for some reason.
“What’s wrong with Sovra-niisan?”
“He’s full of himself since he got praised for having a good sense. He’s been like that for a while now.”
“I can hear you, Jast! “
“Whoa! Sorry, niisan! “
Jast simply apologized on reflex. But when he and Ploum apologized, they both were forgiven in an instant.
“Is this for real? Sovra-niisan in an extremely good mood.”
“Yeah. It would usually be a one-hour sermon.”
These two talked in murmurs. Certainly, there was something weird with Sovra. Or rather, the same was true in a smaller or greater degree for everyone in the cafeteria.
It was the first time in four months that they had seen their master. And because everyone was looking forward to that moment, a surprise meeting when nobody was mentally prepared had an incredibly destructive power.
“……Everyone loves him. They all love that person.”
Jast muttered. Everyone inside the cafeteria had those same strong feelings gushing out.
“But even then, it seems aniki is the only one that’s more or less the same as always, huh? As expected of aniki! “
“No, you see…… I was the only one who couldn’t speak with him……”
“Ohh……”
“Hey, brat! What’s with that ‘ohh’! “
“Hiii, sorry! “
“Way to look down on me. HUH? Haven’t you been slacking up lately, Ploum? I think you might need a bit more education, right? “
“Gyaaa! Oh, please spare me of that! “
“I hate slackers.”
“Hiiiiii! “