Side Story:
The Wonder Trio Get a Job
“A DIRECT REQUEST, you say?” Marcela repeated to the guild clerk, suspicion plain on her face.
Anyone would have been puzzled by what had just happened. The moment they arrived in town and stopped in at the Hunters’ Guild hall to make themselves known, the Wonder Trio had been pre-emptively pulled aside into the conference room, a clerk announcing that someone had requested them.
How could a party who had only given their name and rank receive a direct request, just like that, when they weren’t known for anything in this region? They weren’t even high-ranking, just a group of young C-rank hunters…
Naturally, they were suspicious. No hunter who had lived this long could afford not to be.
“Explain,” said Aureana, her voice cold. If she showed any weakness here, others would take them for naive children and force some manner of dangerous or inconvenient work on them—the kind of unpleasant jobs that the local hunters refused to take, waiting instead to foist them onto the first dunces who wandered along. Not a hunter in the world would fail to find it suspicious for someone to purposely try to enlist the services of a party of outsiders, whose talents they knew nothing about, and to do so away from other hunters’ prying eyes.
The guild clerk then described the job.
“Of course. One of the noble houses in town has been hiring their servants through an employment agency…”
A normal state of affairs. Those who worked for a noble household rarely came from the upper echelons of society themselves. The daughters of lesser nobles might occasionally serve as apprentices for their own edification, but that was only within high-ranking households and reserved for higher stations, like a lady’s maid. Beyond that, the bulk of the servants—laundresses, scullery maids, and such—came from common stock.
“Several of the servants employed there should have gone home on holiday, but they never made it back to their families. Furthermore, they were all young girls.”
The Wonder Trio fell silent, listening intently.
“Two days ago, the household started advertising for five new servants for a ten-day limited labor contract. It is typically considered rude to call upon a household while the servants are away, and no one would be foolish enough to throw a party or similar large event while their staff was not present. In theory, this family should be living modestly, making do with only the minimum of staff—those who have no need to visit home, such as those who have already lost both their parents; those who are elderly; those who are originally from this town; and those who intend to take their vacation at a later date. So, between not letting these young girls go home and hiring more servants…”
“There’s clearly something fishy going on,” Marcela calmly finished the clerk’s sentence, clearly not sharing his hesitation to cast suspicion on a noble household without proof.
“An ‘Arbeit,’ isn’t it?” Aureana muttered. “You know that strange thing that Adele was always saying: ‘Catch it in the morning and clinch it in the evening. It’s the Kohbay Times Arbeit News!’—or something? I have no idea what half of that means, but I think it had to do with part-time jobs, like these short-term contracts.”
“So, I’m guessing you would like us to infiltrate this operation as hopeful servants?” said Marcela.
“Yes. We would like you to observe the behavior of any reprehensible old men in the family and confirm the whereabouts of the girls who did not return home. The families of the girls pooled their money together for this job, worried about what may have become of their daughters. Still, the compensation is not especially generous…”
“I see… But you’re saying that this is a job that is perfect for us, a group of young ladies unknown to everyone in this town? In that case…”
“We’ll take it!!!”
***
“Is this really the servant employee exam?”
“Awful lot of hopefuls here…”
Though it was only for a short-term contract, a placement at a noble house was nothing to sneeze at. You’d still be a servant, of course, but it was nothing like being a maid-of-all-work at some commoner’s home. The reputation and prestige that came with working in a noble’s household would be powerful when it came time for a young girl to marry, so naturally they had come out in droves… If they landed the gig, they could truthfully say they had been employed at a noble household. No one needed to know it had been only for ten days.
Plus, though the chances were incredibly slim, there always was a possibility that an heir might take a fancy to them. They would never be a first wife, but perhaps a mistress…
And so, the Wonder Trio had plenty of company as they waited to submit their maid applications. However…
“It seems there were multiple recruitment announcements put out for these maids who did not return home.”
“Monika, Aureana, be on your guard…”
“Of course!”
***
“Well, somehow or other it seems that we all made it in.”
Despite the sheer number of applications, all three members of the Wonder Trio had passed the test. They had planned on trying to get just one of them into the household, with the other two supporting her from the outside.
“Perhaps they were just recruiting in order from youngest…” speculated Aureana.
The three of them were but fourteen and still considered minors. Most of the other applicants were already of age; the other two who were accepted had been the next youngest of the bunch at fifteen and seventeen.
“W-wait, don’t tell me…”
“Oh no…”
The Wonder Trio had a very, very bad feeling about this.
***
“Now then, the five of you will be working as maids in the home of Viscount Szedlak. This is a short-term contract of only ten days, but I expect you to comport yourselves impeccably as staff of the Szedlak family. Take care to conduct yourselves in a way that brings no shame upon that name,” proclaimed the housekeeper—the highest ranking of all the female staff.
With that, she turned them over to another servant for the rest of their training. It appeared they would be carrying out the usual duties of low-ranking servants, at least for the time being.
That much made sense—it was the job they had been recruited for, after all. A commoner hired on a temporary basis wasn’t about to end up with any special tasks. The real question was at what point in those ten short days they would find out what additional work would be requested of them.
***
“Marcela, you seem to have a fairly good air about you. If you like, I could put in a good word with the housekeeper to bring you on as an official maid.”
“Hm? Th-thank you…”
Apparently, it was Marcela who had garnered the highest marks. It made sense, if one thought about it. Obviously, Marcela knew the most about what being a maid of a noble household entailed—though of course, she had been the one being served, rather than doing the serving. At least, this meant that she knew exactly what was expected of her by the person being served, something that would be difficult for a new maid to grasp. She was skilled at determining what level of service their masters would expect of them, what was unnecessary, and what might be involved in every kind of duty. She had plenty of experience in being waited on.
Although Monika came from a fairly affluent merchant family, she still wasn’t a noble, and Aureana was a real thoroughbred, as common as a commoner could get. Unlike Marcela, they didn’t know much about the workings of a household like this one.
And so, almost before she realized it, Marcela had been appointed leader of the five rookie maids.
***
“Well, nothing strange has happened yet,” Aureana said to the other two at the end of their first full day of service, as the three of them ducked away somewhere secluded to talk before bed.
“You’re very right,” Marcela replied. “It seems like we really might just be temporary hires brought on to fill in while they’re short on staff. We’ve only been asked to do jobs that would make sense for the role—tidying up and making beds, setting out the cutlery, drawing water… There truly hasn’t been anything out of the ordinary.”
“What I can’t get over is how well you seem to handle the maid work, Lady Marcela…” mused Monika.
“Huh?!”
Marcela went red in the face. Perhaps as the third daughter of a poor noble, her household had been lacking in servants, leaving her forced to handle many tasks herself. Or perhaps she had simply imitated the servants’ work from time to time out of curiosity. Either way, it was embarrassing for a young noblewoman to be so adept at this alternate role.
“There actually is something strange, though, if you think about it,” said Monika.
“Hm? What might that be?” One could practically see the question marks in the air over Marcela and Aureana’s heads.
“We’re being treated way too well for servants, especially young girls! We get heaps of delicious food at the second morning bell, second noon bell, and also for dinner! At this rate, we’re going to get fat!”
“You don’t have to eat all of it.”
“You could just leave some behind.”
“And turn down good food?! Would you really spit in God’s face like that?!”
“Apologies…”
As a merchant’s daughter, Monika could not abide waste. Additionally, she would not back down until whoever had offended her admitted their wrongdoing—even if that offender was Marcela. And so, the other two swiftly apologized. Of course, as the child of poor farmers, Aureana also had an aversion to wasting food, but it was Monika who verbalized a far stronger reaction.
“A-anyway,” Monika continued, “this is definitely odd! No noble would ever spend this much money on their servants’ food!”
“Is that so?”
“What do you think, Marcela?”
Though her family was relatively poor, Marcela was still the daughter of a baron. The food they had been served thus far was quite cheap, compared to what she was accustomed to seeing in her own household. Of course, she couldn’t reasonably compare the food provided to noble children with that provided to servants.
Aureana, meanwhile, could not even begin to judge, as this food was in a totally different sphere from what was served in her own home. She didn’t even know enough to consider what they had been served strange; setting aside the food that was served in the academy dorms, she didn’t have much to compare to, and could only recognize the foods here as delicious meals she had never eaten at home. Her only conclusion was that it must be nice to always enjoy such food as a nobleman’s servant. No matter how bright she was, there would always be certain things for which she lacked context.
“Maybe they feed young girls delicious foods to fatten them up, and then…”
“Eeeeek!!”
“But regarding our duties and the reason that we came here…”
Monika’s expression suddenly shifted. The food was one thing, but there were potentially more serious matters afoot.
“I haven’t noticed anything.”
“Me neither.”
“Nothing on my end…”
The three of them had kept their eyes and ears open as best they could but had observed no suspicious behavior from either the viscount himself or any of his family. There were no young girls imprisoned in the cellar, mysterious sobs that could be heard in the dead of night, strange disappearances of any members of the household, or even any strange behavior or suspicious comments from the other servants. In fact, everyone in the household seemed perfectly kind and genial.
“Didn’t they say at the guild that all of the girls who hadn’t come home shared similar features?” asked Aureana.
The other two went quiet. That was awfully suspicious.
“Perhaps the viscount has already done his worst… Lady Marcela, there is not a moment to waste! Even if it means a bit of danger, we must continue investigating their whereabouts!”
“You are correct!”
And so, the real investigation began. No longer would they passively observe the household, worrying for their own safety. It was time to question the other servants and find those hidden underground rooms…
***
“We really haven’t found anything?”
“Tomorrow will mark our eighth day. At this rate…”
Their term would be up after the tenth day. The job they had accepted had simply been to infiltrate the household, so not turning up any results would not be counted as a failure. They would be paid their fee no matter what; however, that was not enough for the Trio. And yet, there was nothing they could do if they could not get their hands on any information. They were growing desperate now, but the march of time cared not for their worries…
“Now it’s day nine!”
“Our contract ends tomorrow, and we still haven’t turned up anything…”
Marcela and Monika had grown incredibly frustrated by this point, but Aureana was not yet ready to throw in the towel.
“There has to be some reason for hiring all these young girls. Tomorrow we’ll be gone, which means that something is going to happen tonight…”
Marcela and Monika’s eyes glittered with a last spark of hope. “That makes sense!”
And then, that night…
***
“Nothing happened.”
The next morning, the three girls stared bleary-eyed at each other over a very generous breakfast. They had spent the whole night lying awake in bed, holding attack spells at the ready…
“But this is our last day, isn’t it? Our job will have been completed, but we haven’t learned a single thing to help those girls whose whereabouts are currently unknown, and their poor parents who hired us!”
“I am aware of that. But what are we to do?”
A dark look crept over their faces. There really was nothing they could do. They had accepted an official job through the guild. They could not detain and question a noble without proof. Not only would they be expelled from the guild if they tried, but they would also be captured, and probably executed. They had truly done all they could.
It was only after they ate their morning snacks, their overgenerous lunch, and their afternoon snack that they began to hear a noisy chorus of voices as ten-odd girls marched onto the property from a side entrance.
“Huh?”
These were servants, any way you sliced it. They were all wearing the estate’s livery. The group was neatly divided into girls who were just barely of age and those who were older. And also…
Oh!!! The Trio’s mouths fell open.
The younger group matched the description of the girls who had gone missing. That group headed over to the viscount and gave some manner of report, after which they dispersed.
The Trio caught up with one of the young girls, picking the one with the friendliest, most open expression.
“Um, pardon us,” Marcela began. “We were brought here on temporary hire and we’re wondering, well, where did you all just come from?” Her tone was less aloof than usual—even she was capable of being a little more down-to-earth when she put her mind to it. Typically, she took great care to maintain an air of grace and nobility, but she could still conduct herself like a commoner if need be.
“Oh,” said the girl, “you all were filling in for us, then? Thank you for that. I suppose you would be curious. They’ll probably end up doing another round of hiring like this later, so I may as well tell you… But you can’t tell another soul, all right? Swear you won’t.”
“Of course…”
The girl began her tale.
“Well, the master of this house is something of a gourmand. He values food more than anything else, both in terms of flavor and quantity. But he’s a bit eccentric, and he always thinks about things very much from his own perspective. By and large, he is a good person. He’s kind to everyone, even common folk. If you’re going to work in any noble’s manor, I definitely recommend this one… There’s just one issue. The master of the house seems to think that, however much food it takes to satisfy him in his advanced years, it must be nearly doubled in order to feed an active young servant. And the problem with that is if you eat every last bite of the food he offers you…”
“What happens?” asked the Trio, on the edge of their metaphorical seats.
“You get fat.”
The Trio said nothing.
“Those who are hired here tend to realize this the first time they have a chance to go home for holiday. You look at yourself and realize that if you go back home with your cheeks and tummies this plump, your friends and families—and any of the men we were hoping to court—will notice that something has changed.”
“Ah.”
Now, it all made sense.
“So, instead, we all go out into the forest, with the servants who’ve been here longer acting as our coaches…”
The Wonder Trio did not even have to ask why.
“It ends up being quite an operation, with not just us, the serving girls, but also all the servants who help out as coaches. I suppose that’s why you all were hired to pick up the slack while we were gone.”
Absurd. After all that, it turned out the situation was absolutely absurd—incredibly silly. The shoulders of the Wonder Trio slumped in disappointment. They should have been happy that it turned out that no one had met a terrible fate, but—well…
“Starting tomorrow, we’ll take our actual holiday, a little delayed. Our master really is a good person. If only the food were portioned out correctly!”
Apparently, all the girls were of the same mind as Monika. None of them would even think of asking for smaller portion sizes. People who had known hunger would always eat anything you put before them. And there were those among them with healthy appetites as well, so it would be cruel to think of demanding anything different.
“Are you three all right?” the girl asked, gesturing at the Wonder Trio.
“What do you mean?”
“Going home like that…”
The Trio fell silent. Then slowly, they reached out their hands.
Marcela reached out to put a hand around Aureana’s waist. Aureana reached out to Monika’s. And Monika reached out to Marcela’s.
Then, they all squeezed.
Squish.
“Gaaaaah!!!”
In the end, the Wonder Trio asked to be allowed to stay on for one more day, to be tutored in the dieting methods passed down among all the house’s servants…
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