Chapter 34:

The girls traipsed behind their professor, small footsteps struggling to keep pace with his lengthy strides, and Eres stared daggers in his back. Whether he noticed, she wasn’t sure, but her venom was no less potent than the creature which had changed residency to the belly of the lake’s dragon. 

Something about that damn perfect face ticked her off. How dare he drop in at the end and pretend like he helped?

She held back a breathless laugh, exerted as she was, at the thought of his expression when the creature had been pulled from his grasp. In all honesty, she’d forgotten about the dragon (current giant monsters seemed more important) and though shocked when it had surged from the lake, she felt a certain kinship with the thing. The feeling was akin to seeing a good friend beat someone in a fight you knew they could win. 

Pride.

A strange feeling for an algae covered lizard, but one she carried nonetheless. She put it from her mind. The man who walked before her was more pressing.

Why was he so angry? If she hadn’t caught his face at the last moment, maybe that nameless irritation she’d had of him could be chalked up to a personality mismatch—but she felt something was deeply wrong with this professor. 

Now, however, was the time for warm blankets, hot cocoa, and a good, long, scouring shower. Her lengthening hair fell in greasy strands, the sight sickening her. Maybe Lana will let me cut it over break.

Amira sidled up next to her, though not by intention. The girl was staring at the branch she still carried, and the calluses in her hands. A strange expression fell over her, complicated and thoughtful. She swung the branch to the side, air whipping as she did, and a thin smile pulled over her lips. The wand sat unused in its slip. 

Eres leaned over, bumping shoulders with her. “Maybe you need a bigger wand.”

Startled, she realized Eres’s closeness and pulled back, ears tinging red. “N-no…someone like me shouldn’t use something so…crude.”

Eres raised an eyebrow. “What’s crude about it? You got more use out of a tree branch than your wand.”

The girl flinched. Shit, had she taken it poorly? Stupid Eres, use words betterer!

“What I mean is,” Eres continued, voice gentle, “That you’re pretty damn good with a stick, even when you’re not using it to sling spells. Maybe you just need…”

She scratched her cheek. How could she put it? “A different direction?”

Amira blinked. “A different direction?” She looked again at the stick in her hands, then to the unused wand. Her forehead crinkled as she thought. 

Eres left her to them. It wasn’t her place to dictate what she should do. The only one she had that authority over was the unconscious bonehead that she worked for. 

For him? She could run his whole life and it’d turn out for the better. She snorted as she saw his lolling face, and giggled as a stream of saliva ran down his chin and onto Felix’s back. 

Not for the first time, she wished she could capture the image. Could she invent smart phones? No way, right? I’m not that smart.

Eres was prideful, not deluded. She wasn’t like those civil engineers marrying monster girls in novels, she was a lowly peasant, unimportant and of little value. 

She could clean. That was about it. Her position as a maid seemed rather suitable suddenly. Though, the thought remained—what to do after her contract?

Run a café? Maybe. It was something she could put some thought to. She felt a small amount of pity for Leo. Nobility had its benefits, but ruling? That was something she wasn’t fit for. Eres pitied the poor soul who’d end up his bride.

They were in for a rough time.

***

Eres melted into the bath. It had been so long she’d almost forgotten what her body looked like when fully clean. She flicked her head when water entered her ear, annoyed at the feeling. Clicking her tongue, she sat up. She adjusted the water.

She hadn’t run her baths particularly warm in her past life, but here, it was like the heat soaked into her bones, a comfortable and addicting feeling. She’d never had the opportunity to visit a hot spring, but if one existed in this world, she had it at the top of her priority list. 

Maybe she could drag Leo there in the future?

Some time later, she walked out wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe and entered her dormitory room. The girls were cleaned and pampered and dead-tired. They lifted lazy heads at her entrance. Celise grunted, Arille lifted a lead hand to wave, and Eliza wiggled her tail. 

Eres dodged the girl’s fluff-trap and climbed into bed. She’d just gotten clean. No way was she letting that living lint trap anywhere close to her. 

The mattress felt like heaven. It was soft and held her in a sweet embrace of silk sheets and downy comfort. 

Eres stared at the ceiling for a moment and spoke what everyone felt in their heart-of-hearts. “If I ever suggest going camping in the future, shoot me.”

A collective grumbling fell through the room. Eres smiled. She turned her heads to her friends. She hadn’t expected to become so close with them—even saved by them. 

She felt an indescribable comfort and warmth in her heart. 

A sentence slipped from her lips that detonated the room like an unstable explosive.

“I love you guys.”

It was quiet for a heartbeat before, altogether, her friends sat up with uncanny speed. They looked at each-other, incredulous, before looking back at her. One by one, glowing smiles grew on their faces. 

Celise giggled. “Eres~ I didn’t realize you were such a cutie…”

Arille slipped from her bunk. “Mhmm, Eres, were you always this adorable?”

Eliza slithered up from the bunk below, tail wiggling in serpentine patterns.

Eres’s blood ran cold. She scooted back, slipping the sheets from over the mattress in her escape. Her back hit the wall. 

She held up a hand. “W-wait! Don’t do anything rash!”

The group ignored her as they flew into her bed, wrapping her in tight, crushing hugs, jumbling together in a saccharine knot of giggles and desperate exclamations.

No! 

Eres nearly cried, eyes watering as something drifted across her mattress. She gave a heated glare at the fluffy weapon that desecrated her bed.

I just got it clean…

***

The girls left with teary eyes and more hugs than Eres could count. She snorted as each one was escorted off by their parents, giving casual greetings and heartfelt goodbyes. It wouldn’t even be that long. So sentimental. 

Eres rubbed her eye dry as Leo strolled up next to her. His mocking smile dried her tears in moments. She sighed. “Just when I was in a good mood…”

He laughed, slapped her shoulder, and leaned over. “Eres, should you talk like that to your young master?” He pointed to her uniform.

Eres’s muscles tensed. She glanced down and indeed saw that cursed uniform. She was Eres, Maid, once again. She gave a suspicious glance at the boy next to her. He wasn’t going to make her do anything dumb, right?

She suddenly felt aggrieved. Maybe I should just quit.

Eres reached out to pinch the nuisance when loud, running steps from behind drew her attention. She turned, eyes widening at the sight of Amira running toward her.

The girl stopped short of crashing into her, though not by much. Eres laughed. “What are you doing?”

Amira straightened, face flushing red. She twiddled her fingers together and shifted her weight. “I was wondering…um. Eres, do you want to be my friend?”

Eres blinked. “Weren’t we already?”

Amira’s mouth fell open, wide enough to drive a carriage through. She blinked, clearly discarding a part of her pre-prepared script, and leaned in, smiling. 

“U-um. Then. Can I invite you to stay with me? As friends?”

Eres scratched her head and smiled with a hint of second-hand embarrassment. “Of course. I’d love to.”

Amira smiled again, hugged Eres in a forceful embrace, then ran off without another word. From the expression on her face, it seemed she hadn’t expected it to work out. 

Leo pat her head. “Look at you, making friends.”

Eres snorted. “Where’s your heartfelt goodbyes? Ed run off without you?”

He chuckled. “We already said bye. Guys don’t need such melodramatic endings.”

“Hah? ‘Guys?’ Did you forget you’re speaking with a bonafide man?”

Leo rubbed his chin. “For a guy, a maid outfit really suits you.”

She pinched his waist. It was no use talking sense into him. His head was already empty. 

They looked up as a marked carriage rolled toward them. Her hand fell from his waist, brushing his hand.

“Looks like this is us.”

Leo nodded. “Almost makes me sad to leave.”

“Sad? Why? We’ve got years left.”

Leo looked at her with a bitter grin. “You know how quickly it goes.”

That was true. One moment you’re young, the next you’re dying and getting sent off to different worlds. Still, life moves on. 

You can only take it step-by-step.

The driver opened the carriage door. 

Leo pulled her by the wrist and glanced down at her. “Ready?”

Eres smiled. She flexed her other arm. “Born ready.”