"I guess that's about it..."
In a dimly lit room stood an ashen haired maid that was finished wiping all the weapons that were stored in a certain table
The maid was none other than Lia
"Haaa....that damn master of mine...in what world do you just let your son beat up a fragile maiden?"
'Oh that is bad...well whatever, just let him throw his tantrums and play with him for a bit~'
Lia remembered what master had said which caused her to let out a tired sigh as she continues to ensure that her weapons are all in perfect shape. She would thoroughly wipe it and inspect it up close to see if the edge is still sharp and durable enough, she also swung some of the weapons to see if she's still used to it
Lia at the moment was shining a shorthand knife with a black handle. the blade of the knife was so shiny that Lia could see her own reflection in it, she stared at it for a while and became lost in thought
'But still...It's already been two years huh?... I think I'm finally getting used to this face'
When Lia was first brought to this world, she wasn't really used to her new appearance, after all, she had a European look and her hair and eyes were of a weird shade and was a far cry from her simple appearance in her past life
In fact, Lia found this entire world to be a far cry from her past life, Granted, it was like this because it's from a novel and all but the place that she was on seemed a bit too crazy, it was nothing like the rosy environment that she imagined from the book
'Well, not like I'm supposed to talk. People here have said how weird I am too'
Lia continued cleaning her weapons until the morning light began shining through the window of her room and began illuminating it
Lia didn't realize it, and only took notice of it when the light began hitting her face
"Huh...It's already that time? I didn't get to sleep at all again...oh well, I guess it's time to go"
Lia then somehow packed most of her weapons in a drawstring bag and grabbed the nearby basket beside her and proceeded to exit her room
(----)
The Garden of the Rosenblade family is said to be one of if not the most beautiful in the entire continent of Azis
And Lia could see why. the sheer size and the wide variety of plants and flowers, combined with the way they were arranged was enough to enchant her, she may not have an admiration for plants in her previous life but looking at the surroundings as she walks is enough to make her excited like a little child
'Well...technically I am a little child'
Lia thought to herself as she continued to walk around through the garden until she finally reached her destination, Unlike the previous sections of the garden, this one was a flat grassland, and only had a huge tree at the center
Lia could feel the morning breeze blowing through her face as she looks around
'So this is where the knights train huh?...the place is spacious so I could see them doing that...'
Lia's eyes landed on the tree, specifically at the leaves of it, she could see a faint crimson glow that came from it, and it didn't take her long to realize what it is
"Hmph...so you're finally here"
Lia walked closer to the voice and saw someone, It was a handsome young child that was sitting on one of the branches, he had a menacing atmosphere that seemed to suffocate all those who come close to it
The young boy was Raiden E. Rosenblade
"Good morning my lord, I hope that you had a nice sleep"
"A nice sleep huh?...hadn't experience that since forever"
Raiden then looked as if he was lost in thought and began staring in the distance before regaining his focus and turning back to Lia
"Still I'm a bit surprised...To be honest, I expected you to run away and tattle me to my mother"
"Well, I did report this to your mother in hopes that she would do something about it but she's oblivious as ever"
"Heh... as a servant, the way you act around her is really strange...do you two have some sort of history?"
" Well...something like that, though if I could turn back time, I would tell myself not to involve with her any further...she's too irksome..."
"Well, you and I agree there"
Raiden then jumped down from the branch and landed on the ground, the nearby grass surrounding him seemed to be blown away by the sudden gust that was created by the sheer force of his feet touching the ground
"Well...are you ready...Lia?"
Raiden then drew the sword from his sheath and took on a fighting stance, Lia could sense the atmosphere being dire and tensed up a bit
"I'm always ready my lord...but before that"
"What? don't tell me you wanna back out at the last minute? I don't really mind but you know what happens after that right?"
"No that's not it...I was just wondering if you already had breakfast"
"....Huh?"
"I was asking if you already had breakfast, my lord"
Raiden's serious demeanor was suddenly replaced with one with sheer confusion
"...We're about to have a duel right now....and you're asking me if I've eaten breakfast?"
"Yes"
"...Is such a thing right now really necessary?"
Lia suddenly felt a bit ticked by that statement
'This little brat...the number one rule of the day is to always eat breakfast! not eating could throw your rhythm for the entire day and could result in high-stress levels!'
Lia may have been a workaholic both in this life and in her previous life but she had never skipped breakfast even once and considers it to be of great importance
"It is, my lord, being in a hungry state while in combat is a dangerous thing, I need to ensure that both of us are in top shape"
'because I could definitely see you using hunger as an excuse when you lose'
"I haven't but-"
"If you haven't then let's eat right now my lord, I've prepared a few slices of cutlet sandwich with chicken, eggs, and cheese to ensure that you would receive the proper nutritional requirements for the day"
Lia says this as she opens the basket that she brought
"H-Hold on! Why should I have to eat your garbage cooking! for all I know, you could've poisoned the damn thing!"
"I ensure you that It's not poisoned my lord, and besides, didn't you like the food that I made yesterday?"
"Don't you bring that up! that was that and this is this, You don't really expect me to trust you over one simple meal?!"
'This kid....'
"Fine then...I swear in the name of the great goddess Dina that the sandwich that I've brought to you is safe to eat and not poisoned"
In this world, Dina is the name of the goddess that is said to have created the entire continent and bestowed wisdom to the humans, everyone here considers the name of the goddess to have an extreme weight, if you made a promise under her name and broke it, then society as a whole would forever hate you and would treat you as if you weren't human
Raiden's doubts seemed to vanish in an instant as Lia says this
"Y-You don't really need to go that far...but If you insist then..."
Raiden reached for the basket and got a slice before sitting down the nearby tree, he inspected it for a bit before giving a bite
"! This is..."
The wonderful flavor of the eggs and cheese combined with the crunchiness of the chicken was enough to make Raiden lose all reason and made him chow down the entire sandwich like a wild animal
Lia felt extremely satisfied upon seeing the sight
After finishing the slice, Raiden felt a sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction in his stomach, he looked at Lia like a puppy asking for more which pulled Lia's heartstrings
'You know, If you're always like this then I might actually not mind being tricked by that woman...'
Lia thought to herself as she shows a smile while handing over another slice to Raiden
Raiden smiled and was about to eat once more before he realized something
"Come to think of it...have YOU eaten breakfast?"
"Of course my lord, It's important for a maid to be fully energized before going to work"
For some reason, Raiden still felt a bit doubtful
"Yeah? what did you had?"
"An energy potion"
"What the-!"
Raiden was so shocked that he nearly choked at the sandwich that he was eating
Lia had never skipped breakfast before, but whether or not the breakfast she had was healthy is another thing
"So much for being in top shape! that's worst than the rations that the knights are getting!"
"Oh, but an energy potion does make me in top shape my lord, it has all the elements needed to ensure that I'll be working effectively and efficiently for the entire day"
An Energy potion could make a person active for nearly an entire day without any side effects, and as a person that indulges in the power of 8-hour energy drinks in her past life, Junko sees this as rocket science
"I know that! but-... You know what, I have a feeling that it'd be useless to continue arguing with you so just take this"
Raiden reached for the basket and handed a slice to Lia
"But this is for you my lor--"
"Don't make me repeat myself, two of these is enough for me, any more than that is just unnecessary"
Lia tilted her head and seemed to be in complete disarray due to Raiden's actions
'Hold on a minute...he's actually acting nice...Is he plotting something again?'
Lia thought long and hard but realized that Raiden was still holding the sandwich so she quickly took it from his hands
"Well if you insist my lord"
Lia then sat down beside Raiden which caught him off guard
"Oi, I allowed you to eat but you should still observe personal space"
"That's true but what's the harm, my lord? no one else is here so no one will mind, and I believe that the food will taste better this way"
"Tch...do what you want"
They both ate in silence as the morning breeze continues to blow through them, Lia saw that Raiden was eating a lot more slowly, probably to keep pace with her. She also noticed that he would land occasional side glances at her
"You look like you want to ask me something, My lord"
"H-Huh? Oh right, I was just wondering, are you gonna fight me wearing only your maid uniform?"
Lia smiled and nodded before saying
"Your concern is appreciated but this uniform is specially designed to allow the wearer to move more freely. and In terms of protection, there are a few specialized fabrics that are sewed in between the cloth that would prevent skin contact from most deadly weapons"
Raiden seemed to take a mental note of the information
"I see...One other thing, when you introduced yourself yesterday... you didn't really told me your last name"
"Oh, did I not mention my lord? I don't have a last name"
"Huh? Why is that?"
"Once we accepted the role of becoming a Victorian maid, our old names would be erased a sign of devotion to become the perfect servant, and the institution would give us a new name"
"That so...doesn't that frustrate you?"
"Well in my case I didn't really have any memories of my original parents or relatives so I don't really mind, and besides, I love my new name"
Lia thought the face of Hava, her foster mother that took care of her and thought her the lessons she needed to survive in this world, and she felt grateful
"Hrmm...all right, since we're done we might as well start now eh?"
Raiden stood up and walked away a few yards
"Are you sure? Ideally, we should wait a few more minutes for the food to be digested you know?"
"Shut it, The end is the same no matter how long we wait anyway so we might as well start now"
Lia then showed a smirk
"If that's what you wish then so be it"
Lia then stretched both her arms out which revealed two hidden knives in her sleeves
Raiden was a bit surprised by this and began to draw his sword
'Her movements don't look constricted so I didn't even notice it...It looks like I can't let my guard down around her'
Raiden adjusted his position and performed a battle stance while Lia lowered her hips and was holding both knives with her hands in a backhand position
Just by her stance alone, Raiden could tell that his earlier assumption of the girl being trained is true which made him feel both fear and excitement
Both of them stared at each other for a while before the sound of a roar echoed throughout the garden
"This is-"
"That's!"
Both of them looked up in the sky and saw a flying creature, The figure looked like a giant red reptile that had though scales throughout its body, it had teeth that seemed to be so sharp that just touching it would cause your hand to bleed, and the overwhelming presence that it let out screamed that it was an apex predator that is not to be trifled with
They both instantly recognized the creature to be one of the most powerful creatures in the world, A Dragon
"Hello my sweet little dears!~"
Both of them then saw the Rosenblade family leader, Aithen, Casually sitting atop the creature's head. Unlike before, she was wearing a proper red dress and a scarf that made her look like a proper family head this time
Aithen then jumped from the flying dragon's head and quickly landed in between the space of both of them. The height of which she jumped from is about 200 feet, and she landed on the ground with no injury what so ever
"Show off"
"That's what you two are saying after a cool stunt like that?!~"
"Yeah Yeah whatever, so what's the event? What made you come here using Azgoth of all things instead of walking?"
"I have to ask the same question, my master, If it's about breakfast then I'm sure I already handed it over to Sir Gunther"
"...You kids could at least act more surprised...But whatever~"
Aithen pointed her hands in the direction of the Dragon which caused it to glow a bright red light before it completely transformed into a small crystal which Aithen quickly catches it as it fell to the ground
"You two are asking why I'm here? Well, it's to liven up this place of course~"
"....What?"
Aithen then whistled using their hands which echoed throughout the garden
"It'd be boring to have a duel with no spectators so let's start with that"
"Wha- Master do you mean?-"
Lia could sense and hear the multiple footsteps approaching them, once nearby, she saw that the people coming are the staff of the manor. Maids, Butlers, Knights, even the gardeners could be seen coming here
"Master! Didn't we agree to keep this from the others as much as possible?!"
"Well Lia dear, I did but you know me. I'm an indecisive woman so, in all honesty, you should've expected this"
'This woman!...'
Lia felt exhausted hearing her master's reasoning but continued to accept the situation nonetheless
"Well, I'm fine either way...In fact, this is more Ideal for me. I could show the others what happens when they cross against me"
Both of them looked around the place and saw that the once empty section of the garden was filled with inspectors, There's still enough space for them to fight but Lia felt the atmosphere to be a bit suffocating, especially with the stares and all
"All right everyone! Thank you so much for coming at short notice, right now you'll bear witness to a duel to be conducted by the two cuties that I love the most in my life!~"
Both Raiden and Lia felt a bit embarrassed as she says this
Aithen then took out a piece of paper and began reading it aloud
"Now before we begin let's discuss the agreements first~ The duel is a one-match round conducted using any weapon that the combatant's desire and the match ends if one of them yields or is put into a position in which a fatal wound would be received If Raiden wins then he wants Lia is to be fired from working at the manor while if Lia wins then Raiden would do whatever she desires...Oh, I see what you're playing at you sly fox~"
'That's not it!'
Lia screamed inside her mind
"So? Can both parties swear in the name of Dina that you would both uphold your agreements?~"
"I swear in the name of Dina"
"I swear as well"
"Then without any further ado let's begin! I'll be acting as the ref to make sure that nothing goes wrong, Let's see...If this coin lands the ground then the match will start is that okay?"
Both of them nodded
"Then let's start!~"
Aithen then tossed the coin upwards, most of the eyes of the inspectors turned to it as it proceeds to slowly rise up and quickly fall, once it landed on the ground, it finally signaled the beginning of the duel