Back in Kiana's temporary residence in Arc City, the group stared at each other in awkward silence. After mooching a meal at Raven's apartment, Knight Miss had whisked her entire family away, relocating to a new apartment generously provided by the local big shot and perpetual sucker, Ms. Island Bomber.
"Rita, why did you follow us here?"
Kiana's cat ears twitched restlessly as she eyed Rita, who stood beside her with a constant, unnerving smile. The Knight Maiden felt a shiver run down her spine under the maid's intense gaze.
"Hmm... I am merely here at someone's request to look after Miss Kiana for a few days..."
With a slight bow to the visibly uncomfortable Kiana, Rita conjured a vacuum cleaner and a mop out of thin air, as if by magic. She seemed poised to give the temporary residence a thorough cleaning.
"At someone's request... Auntie?"
Kiana tilted her head in confusion, staring at Rita.
"Precisely, Lady Theresa—"
The maid nodded, seemingly recalling Theresa's endless stream of worries.
"Before I left, Lady Theresa was constantly fretting about whether Miss Kiana had enough money, if you were getting injured during your frequent battles around the world, if you were surviving on unhealthy instant noodles or skipping meals altogether. Now that the seasons are changing, she worried if you needed to change your old clothes to avoid catching a cold, and since you only brought one outfit, she wondered if you'd have anything else to wear—"
Rita relayed Theresa's entire litany of concerns to Kiana, whose mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"Yeah, but... doesn't Auntie know that a Herrscher's clothes don't need changing? I can wear this one set forever... And I can sustain myself by absorbing Honkai energy..."
The Knight Princess mumbled with a nervous laugh.
My wallet's really been empty, and a few days ago, that Imhotep jerk ripped me off big time.
"..."
Rita simply watched the Knight Miss muttering softly, her expression filled with sympathy.
"Uh... Miss Rita, what's with that look? I'm doing just fine, really..."
"You've been through so much, Miss Kiana... Now I understand why you ate at least six times a normal person's portion at dinner earlier—"
Rita was deeply shaken to learn that Kiana had been surviving almost entirely on Honkai energy. Then, a thought struck her.
So her training wasn't thorough enough? To think she'd let her master suffer like this...
Rita's wine-red eyes fixed on Benares, who was blissfully sprawled on the sofa while the Sirin Dolls climbed all over her, using her as a slide.
The maid felt her professional pride being relentlessly challenged by the lazy dragon lounging on the couch.
"Miss Bella..."
Just as the Dragon Girl was curling up contentedly on the sofa, ready to doze off, Rita's chilling voice suddenly echoed in her ear. The deep, terrifying tone instantly brought back the fear of being dominated by the maid's training in the past—
"M-M-Master Rita...?"
Cold sweat beaded on Benares's forehead as she stared at the Schicksal maid radiating a terrifying aura. She seemed to recall her actions throughout the journey—
"It wasn't my fault! The Queen was just too clingy... no, too dragon-clingy!"
Sensing a dual threat to both her life and career, Bella lifted the Sirin Doll—who had been happily using her as a slide, rediscovering childhood joys—and held it up as a shield.
The suddenly hoisted Sirin stared blankly at the maid before her, then turned to look at Bella holding her. Her short-circuited brain reached a conclusion—
This bad woman is bullying my Bella!
Generally speaking, while Snow's doll-making skills couldn't compare to the legendary Alice Margatroid from next door, they were still top-tier.
Rita had to admit, the little doll's initial dumbfounded expression was quite cute, even making her heart flutter... Too bad the doll had to open its mouth.
"What are you staring at, you sweeping hag! Get this place cleaned up already!"
"..."
The room fell into a brief, heavy silence.
"I believe I understand you now, Maid Apprentice Bella..."
"Now, for the Maid Training Side Story lesson: How to Deal with Unreasonable Guests and Masters."
The vacuum cleaner and mop were carefully set aside. In their place, the maid now held a scythe glinting with cold light.
"Master Rita, calm down!"
"Bella, when you can't solve the problem... why not just solve the person who created the problem?"
-
"So you just trashed my backup apartment like this?"
Cioara glared furiously at the group before her, who remained stone-faced and utterly unrepentant.
After a three-hundred-round battle between a scythe and scissors, the room's furniture had been utterly reduced to history, leaving only splintered wood and cotton fluff.
"Please rest assured, Miss Cioara. We will clean this up promptly and compensate you for the full original price of the furniture."
"You'd better. I'm here for you, Kiana. That psycho Jackal has gone completely nuts again, saying she's going to pull something big tonight."
"And just my luck, the government just announced a temporary lifting of the curfew to relieve months of public stress and celebrate Arc City's victory over that big monster."
"If things go as expected, there'll be major celebrations tonight. That lunatic probably chose this timing to suddenly go crazy and move up her plans."
Jackal huffed angrily at the group, seemingly having just had another huge argument with a certain dog-masked figure over the matter.
"Didn't Imhotep say anything?"
Hearing it was time for serious business, Kiana perked up and started asking about the others' stances.
"That 'Little Ancestor' told us to just focus on screwing Jackal over completely. She said she wouldn't interfere with anything else."
Raven shrugged.
"So what exactly is Jackal's plan?"
"...This is where I say she's gone completely nuts. Because she actually told me..."
"She fucking doesn't know! From the looks of it, she probably intends to let the World Serpent subordinates improvise..."
Raven slammed the table furiously.
"She actually told me she doesn't know! Doesn't know! How could she say that with a straight face?!"
Her audience—a dragon, a Schicksal Valkyrie, a Herrscher, and a Doll—exchanged glances, the same thought written all over their faces...
"I don't understand... but I'm utterly shocked..."
"If I don't have a plan, no one can predict our plan, right...?"