Shizu-chan!”
“It's Shizu-chan!”
The person who had just entered the canteen was one of the Pleiades, CZ Delta.
The battle maids were like idols to the regular maids, and CZ was the most popular of them all. There were frequent struggles to sit next to her.
“Ah, the penguin’s here too.”
CZ held a penguin under her arm, and a worried-looking manservant was trailing behind her. It was the Assistant Butler, Eclair. He flapped his wings with all his strength, but there was no way he could escape with the strength of a level 1 Birdman. His futile struggles quickly lost their vigor while the maids looked on.
In the end, the penguin ran out of strength and went limp, like a wet dishrag.
“Shizu-chan! Over here! Eat with us!”
“No, come over here! Shizu-chaaaan~”
“Just throw that butler away! Over there would be fine!”
“Send that useless bird to the head chef, at least he'll contribute to Nazarick that way!”
There was a marked difference in the reception that the Assistant Butler and CZ received from the maids, but that couldn't be helped. He was disliked because he loudly proclaimed that he wanted to take over Nazarick, despite being a mere assistant butler. Even if he had been created that way by the Supreme Beings, his frequent announcements of those wild words made him difficult to have around.
CZ peered through the commotion around her, as though she was searching for someone. The adorable way in which she did so, like she were a child who didn't know where to sit, made many of the maids' hearts beat faster.
“How surprising, even that penguin looks cuter when Shizu-chan hugs him!”
“I want a Shizu-chan hug pillow, Albedo-sama seems to know how to make those, I wonder if she'll teach me?”
“Albedo-sama is very kind, I'm sure she'll agree. Why don't you try asking her next time?”
The sound of a book closing with an audible thud came from the next table over, and when Sixth turned to look, her eyes met Increment's.
“This place is getting noisy, so I'm going back. Since you're attending to Ainz-sama today, you should probably finish breakfast quickly and head over to him. Any mistakes you make will reflect on all of us.”
Having said what she wanted to say, Increment turned and left without waiting for a reply. As she watched her fellow maid leave, Sixth took out her pocket watch. Fortunately, she still had some time. After freshening up, she should be just in time.
“All right, I'll go grab some more stuff to eat while everyone's focused on Shizu-chan!”
Foire and Lumiere nodded at Sixth's idea.
“Oh~ that's a great idea~”
The sudden answer from the side made the three maids gasp.
“Lu-Lupusregina-san!”
With hands clasped over her lurching heart, Sixth turned to face the source of the voice. There hadn't been anyone there, but in the moment when everyone had been distracted by CZ and looked away, Lupusregina had appeared out of nowhere. She sat on a chair with her legs crossed and even had her food placed on the table.
“Aw, don't scare us like that, come on~”
Foire was still clinging tightly to Lumiere, her eyebrows pressed into a / shape.
“My heart almost jumped out of my mouth~”
Lumiere murmured like she was shocked out of her mind and paid barely any attention to Foire clinging to her.
Lupusregina —the friendliest of the battle maids— was unpredictable. Still, given that she spent her time moving between the different maid groups, being approached by her was a sign of good fortune. The proof was evident from the envious looks of some of the other maids, who had noticed Sixth and her situation.
“Ah, sorry, seems the experiment in the village was effective, you three made some pretty nice reactions~”
The way Lupusregina supported her face with her arm on the table, while having an evil grin on her face, made her look a little like a cat out of the storybooks. Although her smile was nothing but mischievous, it was still surprisingly attractive. The battle maid’s smile made Sixth’s head go blank for a moment. The other two seemed to feel the same way, but the first to recover was Fiore.
“The village?”
Foire tilted her head, which made her short hair scrape against Lumiere’s face. Resisting the urge to sneeze, Lumiere pushed Foire away before facing toward Lupusregina.
“Lupusregina-san, you work outside, right?”
“Yup, in the human village.”
“The human village, huh… it must be tough.”
Lumiere looked at Lupusregina with sympathetic eyes.
“Nah, it’s nothing like that! Since Ainz-sama ordered it, it’s worth doing! …Although, I have to say, it’s kind of boring. How should I put this… it would be so much more fun to squish them beneath my feet.”
Sixth has no particular reaction to that statement. Humans and their villages and whatnot were unimportant to her. Whether they prospered or were destroyed, the only thing that mattered was if they were useful to Nazarick.
“Even if Ainz-sama says that village has value, I still can’t see it~”
“Did Ainz-sama say that out of compassion for those worthless people in the village?”
“No, no, isn’t Ainz-sama like a hurricane of death? I’m sure he’ll grind them into dust when he feels like it.”