Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 4 - Chapter SS2

The Very First Soul Sisters Society

“Haaah... I’m exhausted.”

“Hahaha. Lyu-chan sure is attached to you, huh, Meru-nee?”

Miledi and Meiru made their way down one of the hallways of the giant tree that served as the beastmen capital’s palace. Meiru looked worn out, while Miledi appeared quite chipper. The reason for Meiru’s tiredness wasn’t the war, which had been dragging on for a few weeks now, but rather Lyutillis’ obsession with her. The masochistic elven queen was always begging Meiru to punish her.

“But you know, Meru-nee. You complain a lot, but I secretly think you’re enjoying this,” Miledi mused.

“Please never say that again!”

However, the fact of the matter was that whenever Lyutillis got on all fours, Meiru reflexively would use her as a chair. As a natural-born sadist, she was surprisingly compatible Lyutillis.

“Aww, but you two look so cute together!” Miledi said with a mischievous grin.

Meiru glared at Miledi, thinking of what prank she could pull to get back at her cheeky leader. Just then, though, a timid voice called out to her from behind.

“U-Umm, Meiru-sama!”

Turning around, Meiru saw one of the catgirl maids who worked in the palace fidgeting bashfully. Another four girls were hiding in the maid’s shadow and they all squealed when Meiru turned to them.

“Wow, you really called out to her!” one of them said to the maid.

“You’re so brave!” shouted another.

In general, Meiru was nicer to girls than she was to guys. Her tired expression transformed into a gentle smile and she kindly asked, “Did you need something?”

The cat-eared maid blushed and started fidgeting even more. She looked like a hardcore groupie meeting her favorite celebrity for the first time.

“U-Umm, umm, I-I-I-I-I...” she started tripping over her words, her ears flapping back and forth. From the looks of it, the starry-eyed maid was still in her teens. Her youth brought out Meiru’s doting side. She hugged the young maid and gently patted her cat ears.

“There, there, calm down. I won’t go anywhere, so take your time, okay?”

“O-Okaaaaaaaaay!”

The catgirl was so excited she looked like she was about to faint. Being enveloped in Meiru’s ample cleavage was one of the happiest moments of her life. The girls behind her started muttering jealously to each other.

“I can’t believe she’s trying to steal a march on us!”

“I’m so jealous!”

“Off with her head!”

The maid seemed to have heard her friends’ grumblings, as she hurriedly extricated herself from Meiru’s embrace. She took a deep breath to steady her resolve, brought a hand to her chest, looked up at Meiru with tears in her eyes, and shouted, “P-Please let me be your younger sister!”

Her words echoed down the hallway.

“Ummm, what? Sister?”

Confused, Meiru turned to Miledi for help. However, Miledi seemed just as confused.

“Y-Yes! After seeing how Her Majesty called you onee-sama, all of the maids in the palace... no, all of the women in the republic, have been dying to become your sister!”

To people who didn’t know the full picture, it seemed as though Lyutillis was infatuated with Meiru, and Meiru acted like a kindly older sister toward her. Though if any of them had looked closer, they’d notice the smile Meiru had in Lyutillis’ presence always looked oddly strained. Even her kind act in public was mostly to spare Parsha any more suffering. Moreover, Lyutillis always returned from their dates alone looking extremely happy.

“You’ve shown all of us a part of ourselves we never knew existed!”

“And what part would that be!?”

“The part that wants to cross the taboo boundary between sisters.”

“Bury that part of yourselves somewhere deep and never let it see the light of day!”

“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible.”

Once opened, that door could never be closed again. Meiru and the maid continued arguing back and forth for a few seconds, but soon the maid’s friends joined in on her side. This was their one chance to get Meiru to accept them. They’d make her swear to make them her sisters by hook or by crook. Feeling a little overwhelmed, Meiru turned to Miledi for help. However, Miledi didn’t look too happy right now.

“Hm... So you’re going to make these random strangers your little sisters too, Meru-nee?”

“Miledi-chan?”

To Meiru’s surprise, it looked like Miledi was sulking. Like a girl annoyed that her popular boyfriend had become friends with yet another girl. Miledi pursed her lips and shot Meiru an accusatory look.

“Meru-nee, you... you sisterizer!”

“What the heck is a sisterizer!?”

“I can’t live with a sisterizer like this!”

Without even answering Meiru’s question, Miledi turned around and ran off.

“Meiru-sama, may we call you onee-sama!?”

“Umm, sure. Do whatever you want.”

Meiru had no idea what was going on anymore. Still confused, she ended up saying yes to all of the cat-eared maids’ other demands without really listening to them. Sighing, she looked tiredly up at the ceiling while the maid and her friends cheered around her.

Ten days later, Miledi, Meiru, Lyutillis, and Naiz were heading to the usual spring for their daily tea party. Along the way, they were interrupted.

“Ngh, Meiru...” Valf groaned, jumping out of the nearby woods. He was covered in wounds, and his face was twisted in fear.

“Valf-kun!? What happened!?”

Meiru was certain she’d healed the injuries he’d incurred on the battlefield, which meant all of these cuts had to be new. In other words, an enemy strong enough to beat Valf was currently hiding nearby. Miledi and the others instantly went on high alert. Meiru quickly began gathering her mana, but just as she was about to cast her restoration spell—

“There’s no need to show him any mercy, Onee-sama.”

The cat-eared maid Meiru had talked to ten days ago walked out of the woods. Her gaze was unnaturally sharp.

“Damn, she caught up to me already!?”

“Huh? Valf-kun, are you saying...?”

Judging by the current situation, it was obvious the maid was the one who’d attacked Valf. Or rather, she was one of the people who’d attacked him.

“The second-in-command was right. We have to dispose of any disgusting men who try to hang around Onee-sama.”

More beastmen started pouring out of the woods. In seconds, Meiru and the others found themselves surrounded by nearly a hundred of them. Panicking, Valf shouted, “Meiru, be careful. Their love for you has driven them crazy and now—”

“Who gave you permission to address Onee-sama?”

The women all moved in perfect sync. Their coordination was so great it was hard to believe they were civilians. Moreover, the bloodlust in their eyes was intense. It took only ten of them to overpower Valf and wrestle him to the ground.

“What are you girls doing!?” Meiru screamed.

While Miledi and the others watched on in utter confusion, the cat-eared maid the others had referred to as their second-in-command stepped forward and smiled warmly at Meiru.

“We’re simply doing our duty as your sisters.”

“That doesn’t explain anything!”

“Men will only sully your surroundings. All you need is us sisters, who’ve pledged a soul-binding oath to you.”

“Stay still, I’m going to cast restoration magic on your brain.”

Orange light rained down on the cat-eared maid’s head. However, her rapt expression didn’t change. If anything, it became even more fanatical.

“We were thinking, and we came to a realization. It’s you who we must serve, Onee-sama, not Her Majesty. You are our ultimate goal, the paradise we must strive for.”

“What do I do?! They’re just getting worse!”

“And so, we’ve banded together!”

The hundred-odd women lined up behind the cat-eared maid. In perfect sync, they all sucked in a breath and shouted, “We have decided to offer our lives to you, Onee-sama! We are known as the Soul Sisters!”

“Lyu, I’m sorry, but I think your republic’s doomed. It’s too late to save it.”

Even Lyutillis was a bit put off by their zeal. She opened her mouth to scold her maid, but before she could the maid said, “Incidentally, I’m the second-in-command, Paretta. Naturally, the head of our organization is you, Your Majesty!”

“My, what a wonderful organization you have here, Paretta! I expect you to do everything in your power to make it grow!” Lyutillis replied, doing a complete 180.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Paretta and her subordinates knelt in front of their queen. Stupefied, Meiru muttered, “I had nothing to do with this... I didn’t make these sisters appear...”

Once they were done kneeling, Paretta turned to Miledi and pointed at her. Miledi twitched, surprised that she was being singled out.

“Miledi-sama, don’t think you’ll always get to be Onee-sama’s special little sister.”

“Uhhh, okay?”

A little overwhelmed, Miledi nodded. Her expression suddenly stiffened though as a horrible realization hit her.

I don’t even want to think about what these girls will do if they find out Meru-nee has an actual, blood-related little sister.