Chapter 88

Chapter 88. The Maid Uniform Rides On (2)

Yurina’s hand touched my shoulder.

I could feel the hand gripping my shoulder trembling slightly, as if she was nervous.

Though her hand looked soft, when it actually touched me, I could clearly feel the calluses covering her entire palm.

Just how desperately had she swung her sword to develop such calluses?

As I tried to push such thoughts away and deny reality…

“H-How is it? Um… M-Master?”

A cautious voice tickled my ear.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Feels good.”

I nodded stupidly, unable to turn around.

If Rozanna saw me like this, she’d probably question, “Is this really the same guy from back then?” given how dumb I looked.

‘What else can I do?’

A comrade I thought was a man for hundreds, thousands of years (though physically male at the time) turned out to be a woman in this life, and now she’s wearing a maid uniform, massaging my shoulders, and calling me “Master” in a shy voice.

‘What the hell kind of situation is this?’

My mind was a tangled mess, unable to figure out where things went wrong.

“Alright, that’s enough, right? Go change your clothes and come back.”

“Huh? Already?”

Yurina, who had been kneading my shoulders, pouted her lips as if disappointed.

“…You dressed Mother all night, though.”

“No, that was just to mess with that lady.”

“Even so, Dale seemed to enjoy it a lot, didn’t he?”

“……”

Well, honestly, if we’re talking about whether I enjoyed it or not, I did.

“Ahem.”

Suddenly, an image of Berald raising his thumb and shouting, “Welcome to the microcosm, brother!” popped into my head.

‘Get out of my head, you devil!’

As I was locked in a fierce battle with the demon (Berald) in my mind…

“See? Dale says no, but his body is honest, right?”

“Where did you learn such a delinquent-like line…?”

“Eek.”

Yurina, who had been massaging my shoulders, hugged me from behind.

Unlike Iris, who boasted overwhelming softness, Yurina’s touch was bouncy like a rubber ball.

“Master… Are you really going to stop here?”

A bewitching whisper sweetly echoed in my ear.

As I was about to shake my head uncontrollably, overwhelmed by rising desires…

*Beep.*

[Candidate Iris, access confirmed.]

A faint mechanical sound from outside the door.

“……!”

“……!”

Yurina quickly pulled away from me, looking at me with shocked eyes.

Her gaze was filled with questions about why Iris had access, but there was no time to explain.

“Yuri, no, Yuren! Hurry to the changing room!”

“Y-Yeah!”

Yurina, her silver hair fluttering, dashed into the changing room at a blinding speed.

*Bang!*

As soon as the changing room door slammed shut…

“Mr. Dale~ Are you still training? I brought lunch, so take a break and eat.”

The training grounds door opened, and Iris walked in.

“O-Oh, you’re here?”

I waved at Iris with an awkward smile.

“Yes. By the way… Where’s Mr. Yuren?”

Iris looked around, searching for Yuren.

*Click.*

The changing room door opened, revealing Yuren, who was catching his breath.

“Haha. So it was Iris who brought lunch?”

“I brought some for Mr. Yuren too.”

“Thanks.”

Yuren wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and let out a relieved sigh.

Then…

“But… What’s that in your hand, Mr. Yuren?”

“……!”

Only then did Yuren realize he was holding the maid uniform he had just changed out of.

He must have been so focused on changing that he forgot to put it away.

“A maid uniform? Why are you holding a maid uniform?”

“Uh… Well, you see…”

Private Training Grounds.

Two men panting heavily.

A maid uniform in one hand.

Suspicious, very suspicious.

“Y-You two aren’t…?”

As Iris’s expression gradually hardened…

“D-Dale made me do it!”

“What?”

Yuren’s quick betrayal.

I looked at him in shock, but it was too late to stop his explosive statement.

“Dale asked me to get him a maid uniform from our family!”

“…Mr. Dale did?”

“Yeah! Dale said he has a unique taste for making girls wear maid uniforms and call him ‘Master’!”

“W-What?!”

No.

‘You crazy bastard!!!’

I screamed internally, glaring at Yuren… no, Yurina.

Yurina avoided my gaze and let out a fake cough.

“M-Mr. Dale has… that kind of taste?”

Iris looked at me with trembling eyes.

Her eyes were filled with undeniable anguish and hesitation.

“No, it’s not like that…”

“Then why did you ask your friend to get a maid uniform?”

“……”

How could I explain?

Yuren was actually a woman who had almost been forcibly gender-swapped, and after saving her, Rozanna Helios, the mastermind behind it all, acted like nothing happened, so I forced her to wear a maid uniform and treated her like a slave to humiliate her, but then Yurina brought a maid uniform and declared she wanted to be treated like a slave too, and as I watched her call me “Master,” I started to feel conflicted, and just as I thought, “Fine, if that’s what you want, I’ll humiliate you like I did your mother, you bitch, hahaha,” Iris suddenly walked in, and now we’re here.

“Uh… So…”

As I tried to organize my thoughts, I smiled and opened my mouth.

“I actually like maids.”

I don’t even know anymore, damn it.

Let’s just say I like them.

“Mr. Dale has that kind of taste… Huh! Then, could it be…!”

Iris flinched, her shoulders trembling as she widened her eyes.

“Were you planning to make me wear that maid uniform?”

“What?”

Why is the conversation going this way again?

“You wanted to make the Saint of the Holy Kingdom wear a maid uniform and treat her like a slave… Hmm. If the people of the Holy Kingdom found out, they’d go crazy over this blasphemy, wouldn’t they?”

Iris smirked, her lips curling into a mischievous smile.

She took the maid uniform from Yuren and held it up to her chest.

“Hmm. The chest area seems a bit too small. I might need to alter it.”

“…Too small? That?”

Yuren’s gaze turned icy.

Iris nodded and continued.

“The maid who wore this before must not have had much of a chest, huh?”

“H-Hmm. Really? I thought it was a decent size.”

“Well… It’s not as big as Camila’s, but I’m not sure if it’s ‘big.’ Maybe slightly below average?”

Iris tilted her head, touching the chest area of the maid uniform.

A faint “Tch!” escaped Yuren’s lips, but Iris didn’t seem to hear it.

Iris swayed the maid uniform in her hand and approached me.

“I’ll alter it and let you try it on… ‘Master’?”

“……”

“Fufufu. Well then, I’ll be going. Enjoy your lunch!”

Iris hummed a tune, seemingly very pleased, as she left the training grounds.

“Dale, uh…”

“……”

“Sorry.”

A heavy silence fell over the training grounds.

“How did it…”

I reminisced about the past… no, my mistakes, with a distant expression.

“How did it come to this?”

And so.

The Helios family’s maid uniform, passed from person to person, eventually made its way to the Saint of the Holy Kingdom.

* * *

“…Candidate Dale?”

On my way back to the dorm after training with Yurina.

A familiar voice called out.

“Why does your face look like it’s been split in half?”

Elisha Baldwin.

Known by the terrifying nickname “The Spider of the Abyss,” she approached me with a concerned expression that didn’t match her alias.

“Did something happen?”

“Well… Something did happen.”

A lot of things, actually.

“Hmm. I had something to ask of you, Candidate Dale, but seeing your state, it might be difficult today.”

“Something to ask?”

Come to think of it, this path was quite far from Professor Elisha’s office.

‘She didn’t just run into me; she was waiting for me.’

For Professor Elisha to come all the way to the dorm without sending an assistant, it must be something important.

‘Could it be…?’

I narrowed my eyes and asked.

“Is it related to the Grand Archbishop of Beasts?”

“You catch on quickly. I like that.”

Professor Elisha smiled and nodded.

“Well, there’s not much else you’d come to me for.”

“Hmm. Hearing that makes me feel a bit sad. Do you really think I have no other reason to seek you out, Candidate Dale?”

Professor Elisha, now close, flashed her purple eyes and stroked my cheek with her black-gloved hand.

“Maybe… I came to ask you out on a date?”

“……”

Her breath was close enough to feel on my skin.

The faint smell of tobacco tickled my nose.

Professor Elisha, who had been about to kiss me, lightly pinched my cheek and stepped back.

“Fufufu. Just kidding.”

She shrugged and turned her head.

I chose not to point out the faint blush on her earlobe peeking through her hair and continued.

“So, what did you want to ask?”

“Recently, there have been reports of abduction cases by monsters in a small village on the outskirts of the Empire.”

“Well… Isn’t that pretty common?”

Monster abductions weren’t rare, not just in the Empire but across the continent.

“According to witnesses, the monster had eight eyes.”

“Wha, eight eyes?”

An eight-eyed monster.

In a small village without even a decent hero, such a monster would be nothing short of a disaster.

“This is a sketch of the monster based on the witness’s description.”

Professor Elisha showed me a drawing of the monster.

It had a long snout, steel-like skin, sharp claws, and a long tail.

“This is…”

“Doesn’t it look familiar?”

It bore an uncanny resemblance to the alligator monster that had invaded the exam hall during the midterm evaluation.

‘Monsters with similar appearances are common, but…’

That was only true for monsters with fewer eyes.

The more eyes a monster had, the more its form would distort, making it rare for an eight-eyed monster to have an identical appearance.

“Do you think this is one of Jackal’s subordinates, Professor?”

“I’m not sure. But it’s worth checking out.”

Professor Elisha shook her head and continued.

“Since it’s a village on the outskirts of the Empire… We can’t use the warp gate.”

Even if we hurried, it would take quite some time to get there.

Considering travel time and investigation time, it would take at least three days.

“By the way, Candidate Dale, you were suspended for a week recently, right?”

Professor Elisha looked at me and smiled.

Only then did I realize what she meant by “something to ask.”

“…You want me to come with you?”

For at least three days?

Just the two of us?

“Fufufu.”

Professor Elisha chuckled softly and pulled out a cigarette from her pocket, placing it in her mouth.

“Didn’t I say it? Maybe I came to ask you out on a date.”

*Click.*

The flame from the lighter lit the end of the cigarette, turning it red.