Chapter 181

The Daily Routine of the Three Maids
It was around six in the morning. Ryoko Sasara woke up.

Stretching on her bed, she got down and opened the curtains. Sunlight poured into the room, and the two girls sharing the room with her pulled their heads under their blankets.

“Come on, get up. It’s morning already.”

“Just a little longer… let me sleep. Like, three more hours.”

“… Same here.”

Unlike Ryoko, the twins were not morning people. On the other hand, once Ryoko woke up, she could get up right away.

With a sigh, Ryoko pulled the blankets off the two of them.

“If you don’t get up soon, we’ll be scolded for being late.”

““… Nngh…””

The twins groped around for their blankets in unison, but after a while, they finally woke up and stretched at the same time.

These girls had originally been summoned to the Imperial State as Heroes from another world. Now, they were being sheltered in Arland and worked as maids—personal attendants to Princess Alicetia.

However, Alicetia required very little care as a member of the royal family, and she was often not even in the castle. So the girls mainly cleaned Alicetia’s room and assisted with her work.

Once they were awake, they washed their faces and had breakfast. Back in the Imperial State, they’d been kicked awake, and the meals had been bland at best. Here, they were served soft bread and hearty soup, and they had no complaints. As for the work, the three of them had been summoned as Heroes, so they had high physical abilities, and the tasks weren’t hard on them.

At Arland’s royal castle, all the maids ate meals together. It was more efficient that way. After quickly finishing breakfast in the staff cafeteria, their day of work began.

They didn’t need to attend Alicetia’s wake-up. The reason? It was dangerous. That was Alicia’s job.

Their first task of the day was feeding Alicetia’s pets.

In a corner of the castle grounds stood a cluster of doghouses. When they filled the bowls there with raw meat and other food, the scent brought out the magic beasts from their houses, and they began eating. They looked like large dogs, but it was just camouflage. With her unique ability “Detection,” Ryoko could see through their disguises, and although they were calm, she still found them a little scary. Meanwhile, Miwa Shimiya and her younger sister Shion happily petted the beasts on their heads.

After watching the two of them fawning over the magic beasts for a while, they next fed the magic cats, who lived a short distance away. The wolf-like and cat-like magic beasts didn’t get along well, so they lived slightly apart—only a short distance, really.

The magic cats slept together inside a large house-like shed. When the three girls brought in the food, the cats streamed out of the building and started eating. When disguised, the magic beasts looked adorable. Their true forms were fierce, but they didn’t attack people without reason. Because if they did, they’d be subjected to Coote’s purging. And they had no complaints about their current life, where they got to eat safely. Just by living under the absolute powerhouse known as Coote and following his will, they lived more fulfilling lives than when they were in the wild.

Even the occasional visits from the berserker Alicetia and her obsession with fluff were surprisingly pleasant. The magic beasts brushed thoroughly by her had fur so luxurious it made beastkfolk jealous. Honestly, the beastfolk should tone it down a little.

By the time the feeding was done, Alicetia would already be up and active. Typically, she’d teleport out to work in Ostland. Yes, even a princess worked to earn money. Though she earned so much that the number of monster incidents in Ostland had sharply declined.

Once Alicetia left, it was time to clean her room.

“Come on, let’s finish this quickly.”

While wiping the window, Ryoko gave instructions to the twins. She was basically the leader of the group—that hadn't changed from Earth. The twins, being young, weren’t good at acting on their own initiative. That was the result of having everything decided for them since they could remember.

They cleaned quickly. Alicetia’s room wasn’t much bigger than theirs and was always tidy, so it didn’t take much effort.

Their next job was delivering documents to each department. This was actually a batch of important documents, many of which were classified.

First stop: Technical Development Bureau. This facility wasn’t in the royal castle. The bureau itself was a newly established organization, and magic experiments often carried danger. Therefore, it was located on the outskirts of the royal capital—but thanks to Miwa’s “Teleportation,” they could get there easily.

"Excuse me~ We brought the new documents."

After completing the formalities and entering the facility, they saw the magicians either continuing their calculations at their desks or meticulously checking prototype magic tools using diagnostic magic devices.

They were working with expressions like those possessed by something. And the smell. They were so engrossed in their research they had forgotten to go home.

"Let me see it now!"

Several magicians snatched the bundle of documents from Ryoko and began scanning through them with bloodshot, darting eyes. After a while, they started dancing.

"Amazing... it's too amazing. No matter how many times we calculated, we couldn’t get results, but now the answer is already here?

Hey, start the experiment immediately. Wake the test staff up now!"

The test magicians, who had been sleeping like the dead on the sofa, were forcibly woken up. When they heard the details of the experiment, their eyes turned bloodshot too, and they began stretching exercises.

The Technical Development Bureau was a den of madness. A gathering of lunatics who thought only of advancing magical technology.

To them, Alicetia was a goddess. She had created a new system of technology and produced numerous refined magic tools. Most of them still couldn't replicate her work *yet*, but every time they saw the results of her magical research, their own skills improved.

In reality, on the continent, the theory of magic acquisition was the mainstream. Magic development wasn’t easy and had caused many major disasters. In addition, many magic users were lost in repeated wars. The continent had given up on developing new magic and embraced the belief that mastering existing magic was supreme.

One major reason was that many of the academic disciplines necessary for spell theory were lost to the flames of war.

However, this approach had its downsides. Modern magic, due to forced modifications by many factions, became bloated with inefficient spell formulas. This was caused by the secrecy among magic users.

Furthermore, the traditional research method of only sharing findings with close acquaintances was already obsolete in Arland.

To them, Alicetia was a goddess. A great magician worthy of standing at the top of all magicians.

And she, when it came to allies, disclosed technology freely. Influenced by her, they reached the same conclusion.

There was a limit to doing research in small groups of individuals or close associates.

As they formed research groups and began collaborative magic research, the results were astonishing.

There were many magicians secretly conducting similar research. However, the points where they struggled weren’t always the same, so sharing information led to positive developments.

They were magicians. And magicians are beings who respect those more skilled than themselves. If Alicetia disclosed her information, then they, with inferior magic skills, believed they too should do the same.

"Hurry, hurry. Let’s start the experiment—Hyahaha!"

With bloodshot eyes and mad grins, the magicians moved. Of course they did. Since Alicetia had become director of the Technical Development Bureau, she had barely slept, constantly researching.

They had no complaints that a problem which had troubled them for years was solved so easily.

Instead, they were ecstatic. The magician who led them was truly great. And being able to witness such greatness firsthand was like witnessing a miracle again and again.

The days of envying the Magic Kingdom were over. They now had unlimited funds. The magicians were certain that serving Alicetia was the greatest happiness.

Magical theories and technologies they had never seen before—these things enchanted them completely.

The three quietly left the research facility. Just being there felt like it could corrupt their minds.

"... Let's go home."

Ryoko muttered, and the twins nodded firmly. The Beastfolk Temple and the Technical Development Bureau would soon become known as Arland’s two greatest dens of madness.

Having seen something terrifying, the three returned to the castle in silence. The senior maids who knew what had happened silently embraced them. Taking care of them was their job. They now understood what it meant to have your sanity value drop.

They quietly received some sweets from a senior maid and ate them through tears, recovering a bit. It had been the toughest task of the day.

Those people worked with clouded eyes and smiled. From their perspective, it was probably a workplace full of joy. But wanting to stay far away from it was the unanimous sentiment of everyone working at the castle. Even the Noble Council avoided going near that place. If one carelessly insulted Alicetia, they’d be used for human experimentation. It was well-known that some Council members who made a fuss were dragged into the lab. Apparently, the knights tried hard to stop it.

Those captured Cuncil members became recluses in their own mansions, essentially turning into shut-ins.

Though it was a little early, the three washed away the day’s fatigue in the servants’ bath. Though the bath had been renovated to suit royalty in size and elegance, it was still a servants’ bath. Alicetia’s clone had built it in a single day.

The excessive decorations had horrified all the staff at first, but people adapt—now it was just part of everyday life.

When they exited the bath, there was even a large mirror and hair dryer.

After drying their hair, they returned to their room.

"Hey… don’t you think this country’s a little off?"

Ryoko murmured.

"Feels like it’s slowly getting as convenient as Earth."

Miwa agreed.

"But…"

As Shion began to speak, the three of them spoke in unison.

“““Convenience is a good thing.”””

What do you think about this chapter?