10 Oarburgh's material

When Mera left, Gil and Dora went to call Daniel who was to be responsible for Ink for the time being.

"Let us help" 2 maids who were closest to Ink approached him with smiles on their faces and tried to support him.

Ink just raised his hand for them not to touch him which visibly confused them.

"The leader said that I shouldn't touch anyone of the opposite gender."

Hearing his words, Taeko who was looking at him worriedly started having a hard time suppressing her laugh and Babara just placed her palm over her face.

"..." 2 maids looked at each other with wide-open eyes before they giggled a bit.

"Don't worry about that for now!" Both went to each side and supported him.

'...He is a child after all. Mera-sama, you shouldn't teach kids these things.' Both maids looked at each other and thought of the same thing with a small smile on their faces.

Ink looked at Taeko and Babara as he was being practically being carried away with his blank expression which caused Taeko to have an even harder time holding it inside.

---

"I heard there is a job for me to do." An older man wearing a butler outfit arrived with Dora and Gil in tow.

"Ink is supposedly his name. Mera-sama said to treat his wounds first and then explain to him general information about this place, and most importantly...make him look more presentable in front of Mera-sama." Gil explained while 2 maids supporting Ink retreated back to do their duties.

'...His eyes, they remind me of a time when I was sold off by my own parents and then forced to work in a circus before meeting Mera-sama...Maybe he will fit in just fine, however...If it wasn't for Mera-sama's love, I wouldn't have recovered but who is going to show him that love here?' Gil thought while looking down into Ink's lifeless green eyes.

"Before you go with him Daniel, I have something I want to ask him" Dora said taking a few steps forwards while looking at Ink. This action caused Gil to be slightly surprised as she was wondering what her friend wants to do.

"What is your reason for being loyal to miss Babara? Will you show the same or even higher amount of loyalty towards Mera-sama and Oarburgh itself." Dora asked, standing in front of Ink.

"...Truthfully, granny and Taeko just make the time flow much faster for me. They saved my life so I guess my life belongs to them? Granny is loyal to the rightful leader of Oarburgh, so I will do the same." Ink replied and when Dora heard his reply, she frowned. She wasn't expecting this kind of answer. Even Daniel looked quite interested in what Ink said for some reason.

"I see...Anyway, you have good moves. Also, the way you can completely disregard the threat of being injured or killed in exchange for killing your opponent is quite a unique fighting style but I can see why miss Babara restricted you from using it too much." Dora finally smiled a little before returning next to Gil.

"Let's go, young man" Daniel said politely and every move he performed was filled with grace.

Ink nodded his head towards Gil and Dora before following after Daniel.

----

'Tch...that boy, what is wrong with him?! What kind of fighting style is that?! It's not something Babara could teach him.' Mera clicked her tongue as she was heading towards her room. She was looking at a small nick on her shoulder. The real reason why she walked out of there so fast wasn't to avoid Babara's lectures but to hide the fact that Ink managed to injure her.

"Mera-sama?" Gil and Dora caught up to Mera however when they saw how upset she looked, they worriedly called out to her.

"?! Ah, Gil, Dora...My cute girls. Just what I needed..." Mera looked a bit surprised to see them before she smiled seductively just as usual.

"Mera-sama, is there something wrong?" Dora asked worriedly.

"...No, I was just thinking about that boy's fighting style at the end. He has good basics for being so young but what he had shown at the end was something you could call uniqueness. Just like how you were born different from others Dora or just like Gil's superhuman strength." Mera stopped smiling and replied with a bit more serious expression.

"Eh? Dora also just complimented his fighting style but is it truly so unique? Isn't that just fighting recklessly without fear of death? I would also be capable of fighting wildly like that if it was for Mera-sama! I mean, it's admirable for such a young kid to have no fear of death or pain but to think that Mera-sama would put so much importance on it..." Gil said with a wide smile, showing off her white teeth. If one were to describe her smile in one word, it would be "savage" however that in itself held an extremely unique charm.

"...That's the thing, that boy isn't your regular fearless assassin. Still, hearing your warm words is comforting"

"Eh?" This time, both Gil and Dora were surprised by Mera's words.

"No, it's not like he doesn't fear death...He embraces it with each of his attacks. When I was fighting him, there were so many openings when he attacked, screaming at me to take the chance however if I were to take it, I would have definitely got injured or worse while he would receive the same fate as me However I couldn't find a single good opening between his attacks. Whenever he attacked me, it felt as if he was begging me to cut him down." Mera said with furrowed brows, completely shocking both Gil and Dora, rendering them speechless. The only one who could truly describe Ink's fighting style was the one who fought with him.

"...Truly Oarburgh's material" Mera said with a wide happy smile after a few seconds of silence.

"Such a shame he isn't a girl...He doesn't look bad, he would definitely look good as a grown-up girl. *sigh*" Mera sighed with a disappointed and slightly sad expression, once again shocking the maids with her words.

'Mera-sama said he doesn't look bad?!' Both Gil and Dora thought with astonished expressions while looking at each other. They were well aware how she hated men, for her to trust Daniel was already quite a surprise for them but for her to compliment a young boy...In the end, they ended up thinking that Mera is treating Ink as a child, not a real man.

----

"I am 12 years old, I doubt I can be called a man but maybe I have the wrong definition of 'man'" Ink said to Daniel while obediently following him.

"?! Are you truly only 12 years old?" Daniel turned his head at him within a second upon hearing his words.

"Why would I lie?"

"...True, I guess. But that means you have a great deal of talent and a bright future in front of you. You should use your time effectively. But for now, let's just focus on changing your tattered clothes." Daniel said and opened the door for Ink to go inside the room.

"There are some clothes on your bed, please come out once you are done changing. Hopefully, they will fit you." Daniel said and closed the door behind Ink.

...

When Ink walked out of the room, his expression was looking pale and more blank than usual as if even he felt uncomfortable.

Two maids coincidently walking down the hallway past his room started to giggle with a hand over their mouth upon seeing Ink in a full black butler outfit except for the white gloves.

"...I prefered old clothes." Ink muttered while looking down at his body.

"Now you look presentable and dignified, your old clothes were making you look too wild and unrestrained." Daniel said with a gentle smile, pleased with Ink's change.

"..."