VAP - Chapter 44
Chapter 44: The Supreme Sage Hopelessly Obsessed with Beauty (3)
After that, another Holy Day passed. Yue Du dutifully took on the role of a maid-in-training, undergoing training with the other girls in her group.
To become a qualified maid, one first had to be well-versed in all sorts of etiquette, maintaining a dignified and graceful demeanor at all times so as not to bring shame upon the master's household, no matter the occasion.
In addition, they had to practice basic household chores to ensure they could perform flawlessly when their master required service.
Finally, and most importantly, each girl had to master a specialty.
What did "specialty" mean?
One of the instructors explained it thus:
"In the castle of the great Lord Galor, every maid and manservant has their own specific duties. We focus on our assigned tasks, striving to provide Lord Galor with the most attentive service possible."
"Girls, if you manage to stay, you will have an unimaginably easy job—just like my friend, Brianna. She only has to fold three napkins a day to live a comfortable life, with bread and jam at every meal!"
That's right.
A "specialty" meant that a maid in the castle was only responsible for a single task.
The true upper echelons of the human empire were all this particular. They would hire maids specifically for household cleaning, laundry maids for washing clothes, and personal maids to attend to all the master's needs, with the scope of work for each clearly defined.
But Dharma Saint Galor was exceptionally particular, to an almost insane degree!
Take dining, for example: there was one person to set the dishes, one to serve the main course, one for the soup, and one for dessert. There were also maids for folding napkins, placing cutlery, arranging the food, and playing music during Lord Galor's meal... Other than these designated tasks, the maids had to do nothing else. As long as they performed their one job well, it was enough.
The rest of the time was their own. They could stay in their residences or wander about outside. As long as they didn't reveal their identities to outsiders or loiter in front of the castle's master, they were completely free.
After listening to the instructor's explanation, Yue Du was simply at a loss for words.
Such wealth and willfulness! Such a blatant display of "I'm extravagant and proud of it"!
No wonder the servants' quarters were so large. Just how many idle people was Lord Nai Yin supporting in this castle complex? Based on this division of labor, there had to be several hundred, if not a thousand, right?
However, perhaps because the First Dharma Saint's reputation was so terrible, the maids-in-training remained distrustful of the instructor's words, even after hearing about such generous treatment. They were very pessimistic about their futures.
"There must be a conspiracy," a young maid said, trembling. "I don't believe anything could be this good. Maybe as soon as we stand before that lord, she'll seize us and bathe in our blood!"
"If it were just death, that would be one thing, but don't they say that lord takes both men and women? I'm just afraid of being..."
Sob, I want to go home. I don't want to stay here. This castle must be filled with the ghosts of those who died unjustly—"
Yue Du: "..."
She was amazed by the girls' wild imaginations but made no comment on anything else.
Yue Du had long since noticed that the instructors looked at them with the air of veterans observing a younger generation, a look that seemed to say, "How can you be so hopeless?"
The First Dharma Saint must be different from her legendary image of debauchery and cruelty—perhaps even the complete opposite. Otherwise, these "old-timers" who had been in the castle for so long wouldn't look at them that way.
But why didn't they explain the truth to the maids-in-training with concrete examples? Even Butler Nord had only mentioned it briefly. Could it be that some restriction prevented them from speaking out?
Yue Du shook her head to herself. What a bizarre situation.
Her roommate, Lika, didn't seem to think anything was amiss. The blonde girl seemed a bit simple-minded; she was overjoyed at the thought of only having to fold three napkins and spent her evenings in their room fantasizing about her future life as a maid.
"I'm going to use a new folding technique every day," Lika said, full of longing. "If I can, I'll fold a Beagle-bunny for Lord Galor. Those little things are so pretty."
Yue Du felt compelled to remind her, "Senior Brianna, the one who folds napkins, is doing a very good job right now. I think you should pick a different goal."
Lika looked blank. "Uh, is that so? Then I'll just fold clothes, I guess."
Yue Du: "..."
Whatever makes you happy.
During this period, Butler Nord came by once more, but only to give a speech, much like a senior manager on an inspection tour.
The head maid, Connie, on the other hand, came every day. She was responsible for inspecting the results of the day's training and was a serious, composed woman. And, of course, very beautiful.
...In fact, Yue Du suspected that neither of them were part of the castle's true core staff. They were both ordinary people with no special constitutions; their titles of "butler" and "head maid" likely only applied in relation to the ordinary servants.
The young maids-in-training had only seen the tip of the iceberg of the continent's First Dharma Saint's castle complex. Deeper, more profound things were hidden within the magnificent walls—a realm they might never touch in their entire lives.
And as expected, the castle's master—Lord Nai Yin—had never once made an appearance.
In a way, not having to see the infamous Dharma Saint was a relief to the maids-in-training.
Yue Du, however, was not very happy—
The system's solo mission had to be completed within three Holy Days. This meant she now had only eighteen days to find an opportunity to make contact with Nai Yin and convince her to bind with her.
Eighteen days wasn't even enough time for a maid-in-training to complete her probation!
As for forcing her way into the main castle where Nai Yin resided, Yue Du hadn't even considered it.
Setting aside her future host, who was a max-level boss, Yue Du knew she couldn't defeat even a single one of the powerful individuals under her command—any of whom could be a major figure in the empire.
Why waste the body she had worked so hard saving points to redeem?
Since that path was blocked, Yue Du had to proactively create an opportunity to attract the First Dharma Saint's attention. Otherwise, she wouldn't even get to see the host's face by the deadline, let alone complete the mission.
On her simple wooden bed, hidden from Lika's view, a dancing flame ignited in Yue Du's palm.
Even though she was no longer in the previous small world, Yue Du's Esper Ability hadn't disappeared; it had been brought over along with this body.
Perhaps because the power system this world could accommodate was of a higher level, the strength of her Five Elements ability had also quietly increased.
Yue Du had not yet seen anyone here use magic, but if magical fluctuations were similar to the fluctuations of her ability, she could perfectly disguise herself as a mage with an affinity for the three elements of water, fire, and earth.
The Ayers Continent had nine magical elements: water, fire, wind, earth, ice, lightning, light, dark, and space. The ability to commune with three elements at once was already a rare talent among mages.
If such a special existence were to suddenly appear among the maids-in-training, who were all ordinary people, she would surely get a chance to meet the master, right?
Yue Du quietly waited for her chance.
Finally, a few days later, that chance arrived.
One morning, Yue Du and the other trainees were eating in the small dining hall.
Most of the maids-in-training had been sold here after struggling to survive in the lower strata of the empire. In the past, they would have stuffed any food they saw into their stomachs without a second thought, with no regard for elegance.
But now, after some ten days of training, they had mastered some etiquette, and their table manners were much more pleasing to the eye.
The instructor on duty that day sat at the head of the table, secretly observing their dining etiquette and nodding in approval.
It should have been a peaceful morning, had it not been for the sudden arrival of a squad of patrol knights and a mage.
The members of the patrol knight squad were young men and women, all professional warriors. They wore silver-white knight uniforms with purple trim, the exquisite tailoring tracing smooth lines from their shoulders to their boots. Their belts were cinched tight, and their backs were ramrod straight.
Even the knight squad responsible for patrolling the entire castle complex was composed of attractive people. Yue Du had to admit, she was impressed by the castle master's obsession with good looks.
This knight squad was not the most elite force. Yue Du secretly estimated that she could probably handle three to five of them herself, but she stood no chance against the entire squad.
Seeing the knights approach in formation, with a robed mage among them, the instructor quickly stood up and said respectfully, "Good day, my lords. May I ask what brings you here? Did Connie send word?"
The leader of the knight squad—the captain—stepped forward and said in a low voice, "This has nothing to do with the head maid. We are here to search for signs of an intruder."
"...An intruder?"
"Yes. This morning, we discovered suspicious magical traces and bloodstains nearby, apparently left by an injured wind mage." The knight captain paused. "The temporary residence for the maids-in-training is the closest area, so the intruder might have hidden here in a panic. That's why we've come to search. Don't worry, it won't take long."
As he spoke, he looked to the tall, thin mage beside him and asked, "It won't take long, will it, Jonny?"
The mage, Jonny, replied, "Of course. Ten minutes or so should be enough. That wind mage is a lower level than I am; he can't hide from me."
Hearing this, the instructor grew a little worried. "Then I'll have to trouble you."
Yue Du didn't know what this business with the wind mage intruder was about, but she knew it was an opportunity—an opportunity to come into contact with magic.
Her gaze fell upon the mage's arm, where he held a staff inlaid with a small crystal. A peculiar power fluctuation was emanating from it.
This fluctuation seemed very similar to that of her Esper Ability, yet slightly different.
However, that wasn't a problem. The slight difference could easily be concealed by other means; at the very least, an ordinary mage wouldn't be able to tell.
As for whether Lord Nai Yin could tell...
They would soon be in the same boat. Could there be secrets between a system and its host? Impossible!
That day, the mage Jonny found no trace of the intruder in the maids-in-training's temporary residence, and he and the knight squad soon departed.
Yue Du, however, used the half-hour of free time after breakfast to wander the area. She spent ten points to use the system's special perspective to locate the intruder.
When she saw where the person was hiding, Yue Du was momentarily speechless.
The man was actually hiding underground beneath the rockery next to their residence, curled up in a ball like a hedgehog and looking extremely wary.
He wasn't just a wind mage; he could also burrow through the earth!
Yue Du took a moment to appreciate the dual-element wind-and-earth mage's predicament before slowly strolling toward the rockery.
At the same time, she activated a detection skill.
The feedback she received indicated that the man wasn't very strong; at the very least, he couldn't defeat her.
Oh, good. I can proceed without worry.
Standing by the rockery, Yue Du suddenly remarked, as if to herself, "Strange, the color of the soil here looks a bit off. Let me take a look..."
The unlucky intruder: "?!!!"
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