Chapter 88: A Maid Outfit Chooses Its Wearer (2)

Yurina touched my shoulder. Even though she had gripped my shoulder with determination, her fingers trembled slightly as if she were nervous. From the outside, her hands looked soft, but the moment they touched me, I could feel the rough calluses embedded in her palm. How desperately must she have trained with a sword to earn such hardened skin?

I tried to brush off the thought, attempting to deny the reality unfolding before me, when a cautious voice tickled my ear.

“Um, so… H-how is it, Master?”

I nodded blankly, unable to bring myself to turn around. “Huh? Oh, yeah. It feels good.”

If Rosanna saw me now, she would probably go, “This idiot, is this really the same guy from before?”

That was how dopey my expression was. I mean, who wouldn’t be? A former comrade from my past life, someone I had assumed was a man for centuries and physically had been at the time, was actually a woman. Now, she was dressed in a maid outfit, massaging my shoulders, calling me “Master” in a shy voice. What the hell kind of messed-up situation was this? My head was a tangled mess, unable to trace where things had gone wrong.

“All right, that’s enough. Go change back into your clothes already,” I said firmly.

Yurina pouted, her lips sticking out in disappointment. “Huh? So soon?”

She continued massaging my shoulders and said, “You made my mother wear it all night, though.”

“Hey, that was just to mess with that old lady!” I replied.

“For just messing around, you sure looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

“Ahem.”

Well, if I were being honest, I did kind of enjoy it. Suddenly, an image of Berald popped into my head, giving me a big thumbs-up and shouting, “Brother, welcome to the world of MILFs!”

Get out of my head, you damned demon! I shouted internally.

While I was mentally wrestling with the intrusive thoughts, Yurina suddenly spoke up. “See? You say no, but your body’s being honest, isn’t it?”

“Where do you even learn trashy pickup lines like that?”

Still behind me, Yurina wrapped her arms around my neck. “Hmmph!”

Unlike Iris, whose softness was like overwhelming silk, Yurina’s hug had a springy, bouncy feel, like a rubber ball gently pressing against my nape.

“Master, you really want to stop here?” Her voice was a dangerous whisper, sweet and tempting against my ear.

Just as I was about to shake my head, almost unconsciously, swept up by a surge of desire, a quiet mechanical voice echoed from beyond the door.

[Cadet Iris, access rights confirmed.]

Yurina immediately leaped away from me, panic written all over her face. She looked at me, stunned, clearly wondering why Iris had access rights. But there was no time to explain.

I immediately said, “Yuri— no, Yuren! Quick, get to the changing room!”

“R-right!” With her silver hair trailing behind her, Yurina dashed into the changing room at lightning speed.

The changing room door shut roughly just as the door to the training ground opened, and Iris stepped inside. “Dale, still training? I brought lunch. Have some before you continue!”

I awkwardly waved at her, forcing a smile. “O-oh, hey. You’re here.”

“Hi.” Iris glanced around. “By the way… where’s Yuren?”

A moment later, the changing room door creaked open, and Yurina stepped out in Yuren’s disguise, slightly out of breath. “Haha, I was wondering who it was. Turns out it’s you, Iris. You brought lunch?”

“I brought enough for you too, Yuren.”

“Thanks.” Yurina wiped the sweat from her forehead, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Wait.” Iris’s gaze fell on Yurina’s hands. “What’s that in your hand?”

Only then did Yurina realize she was still holding the maid outfit she had just taken off. In her rush to change, she had completely forgotten about it and walked out holding it.

“A maid outfit? Why are you holding that?” Iris asked.

“Uh, well, this is…”

The situation probably looked highly suspicious to Iris—two men were panting in a private training ground, and one of them was holding a maid outfit.

“W-wait. Don’t tell me you two are…”

As Iris’s expression began to harden, Yurina blurted out her betrayal in a flash. “It was Dale!”

“What?” I turned to Yurina, shocked, but I was too slow to stop the next explosion.

“Dale asked if I could get him one of the maid outfits from our family!” Yurina added.

“Dale did?” Iris asked.

“Yup! He said he had a very specific kink, dressing girls in maid outfits and making them call him ‘Master!’”

“W-what?” I shouted.

Wait, you crazy traitor!!!

I screamed internally, shooting daggers at Yurina, who avoided my gaze with a weak cough.

Iris turned to me with trembling eyes. “D-Dale, you have… that kind of preference?”

Behind those eyes, I could see the torment, the hesitation, and the effort it took her not to judge me.

I tried to explain. “No, that’s not it…!”

“If it’s not, why would you go out of your way to ask your friend to get you a maid outfit?”

How the hell was I supposed to explain this? The whole scenario flashed past my mind.

Yuren has actually been a woman all along and was nearly forcibly transformed into a man. I managed to save her somehow, but the real culprit behind the whole mess, Rosanna Helios, had the nerve to try and brush the whole thing off like nothing had happened. That smug attitude pissed me off, so I forced her into a maid outfit and treated her like a slave, humiliating her in the process.

But then suddenly, Yurina showed up with a maid outfit of her own and declared she wanted to be treated like a slave too. Mother and daughter slave declaration, just like that. I told her that was absolutely not happening, but she insisted, calling me “Master, Master” over and over. Honestly, the more I watched it, the more something stirred inside me, and I thought, “Ah, screw it. If that’s really what she wants, I’ll humiliate her just like I did to that other woman.” Kehahahaha! But right as I was about to fully commit to that wicked thought, you barged in. And, well, that’s how this whole mess started.

I thought, Screw it. I don’t even know anymore. Let’s just say I do.

Trying to collect myself, I smiled warmly and said, “Uh, so, erm. I actually kind of like maids.”

“To think you had such tastes, Dale. Huh! Then, don’t tell me…” Iris flinched and widened her eyes in shock. “That maid outfit, were you planning to make me wear it?”

“What?” I was stunned.

How the hell did the conversation take this turn again?

Iris smirked mischievously, her lips curled into a teasing grin. “To think you wanted to dress the Saintess of the Holy Empire in a maid outfit and treat her like a slave. Hmm! If word got out back home, they’d call it blasphemy and raise hell.”

She took the maid outfit from Yurina and held it up to her neck. “Hm. The bust area looks way too small. I’ll probably need to have it altered.”

Yurina’s eyes went icy cold. “Too small? That?”

Iris nodded casually. “I guess the previous maid who wore this didn’t have much up top?”

“H-heh! Is that so? Personally, I thought it was on the larger side,” Yurina replied.

Iris tilted her head thoughtfully as she rubbed the chest area of the outfit. “Well, maybe compared to Camilla, but I don’t know if I’d call it ‘big.’ Isn’t it slightly below average?”

Yurina let out a soft, muffled gasp through clenched lips, but Iris didn’t seem to hear it.

Humming, Iris gently swayed the maid outfit in her hand as she walked over to me. “I’ll wear it once it’s all altered, Master.”

I was speechless.

“Heeheehee! Well then, I’ll take my leave. Enjoy your lunch.” With a spring in her step and a hum on her lips, Iris skipped out of the training hall, clearly in a good mood.

“Dale, erm, sorry,” Yurina said to me.

A heavy silence settled in the training ground.

“How did things…?” I stared off into the distance, my face wistful as I reminisced on the past, or rather, my past mistakes. “How the hell did things turn out like this?”

That was how the Helios family’s maid outfit made its rounds, passing from person to person, until it eventually found its way into the hands of the Holy Empire’s Saintess.

***

As I was on my way back to the dorms after training with Yurina, a familiar voice called out to me. “Dale? Why do you look so pale?”

It was Professor Baldwin. Despite being known by the terrifying nickname “The Cursed-Eye Spider,” she approached me now with an expression of genuine concern. “Did something happen?”

“Well, yeah, a lot happened,” I replied gloomily.

Too much, in fact.

“Hm. I actually needed a favor from you, but judging by your condition, I suppose today’s not the best time,” she said.

Now that I thought about it, this hallway was nowhere near Professor Baldwin’s office. So she wasn’t just passing by. She was waiting for me. If it was important enough for her to come to my dorm instead of sending a teaching assistant, it had to involve something that she could only tell me personally.

No way!

“A favor?” I narrowed my eyes and asked, “Is this about the Archbishop of Beasts?”

Professor Baldwin smiled slyly and gave a nod. “Sharp as always. I like that.”

“Well, considering you came here in person, there aren’t many other possibilities,” I replied.

She stepped closer. “Mm. Hearing that makes me feel a bit hurt. Are you saying there’s no other reason I’d want to see you?”

Her violet eyes sparkled as she reached out with her gloved hand and gently touched my cheek. “Maybe, I came here to ask you out on a date?”

Her breath was warm against my skin, and the faint scent of tobacco tickled my nose. Just as she leaned in, almost as if to kiss me, she pulled back and gave my cheek a playful pinch. “Pfft. I’m joking.”

She shrugged her shoulders and turned her head away. I noticed the tips of her ears, just barely visible through her hair, had turned slightly red, but I said nothing. “So? What’s the favor?”

“There’s been a report from a small village on the outskirts of the Empire. It’s about monster-related kidnappings.”

“Well, that kind of thing’s not exactly rare.”

Kidnappings by demonic monsters were common not only in the Empire but also across the entire continent.

“According to eyewitnesses, this particular monster had eight eyes.”

“Eight?”

To a tiny village without even a decent hero, an eight-eyed demonic monster could be a full-blown natural disaster.

She handed me a drawing. “This is the sketch of the monster, based on eyewitness accounts.”

The drawing depicted a demonic monster with a long snout, steel-like skin, razor claws, and a whip-like tail. I said, “This is…”

“Looks familiar, doesn’t it?”

It looked nearly identical to the crocodile demonic monster that crashed the midterm evaluation’s arena. Some demonic monsters did look alike, but that only happened when they had fewer eyes. The more eyes a demonic monster had, the more its form would mutate. Two eight-eyed demonic monsters having the same appearance was rare, suspiciously rare.

“Do you think it’s one of Jackal’s underlings?” I asked.

Professor Baldwin tilted her head. “I’m not sure. But it’s worth checking out. And since the village is beyond the Empire’s borders, there are no warp portals.”

It would take a while to get there, even if we left immediately. Considering the travel time and the investigation, I estimated the trip would be at least three days long.

“By the way, I heard that you were recently suspended for a week, Dale,” Professor Baldwin said with a grin.

At that moment, I finally realized what this “favor” was. “You’re asking me to go with you?”

For a multi-day trip that would take at least three days? Just the two of us?

She let out a soft laugh, pulling a cigarette from her coat and placing it between her lips. “Hehe! Didn’t I tell you? I might have come to ask you out on a date.”

The spark from her lighter flared, igniting the tip of the cigarette with a soft glow.

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