Danger Surrounds The Grounds

The Alucard family was a well-established family of Knights. It had a long history and vast resources to boast about. However, it was plagued by internal conflict. The representatives of the two most dominant fractions were Aciano and Yale.

Aciano Alucard massaged his neck as he looked at the training grounds. It was unsure if all the maids were inside, but the probability was huge. He had already surveyed the surroundings and found no one lurking in proximity. This was an important mission, and he treated it as such.

All the preparations on his part were done, but some things were left to be desired. First, his body was a little stiff and achy because never before had he slept on anything except soft beds. Last, his custom made sword was stolen. More accurately, snatched by an unknown person when he sneaked into the prison to rescue Yale.

Thus, he had bought the closest resembling sword, but it still felt uncomfortable. He rechecked his pockets and took out a small cylindrical container with a small red pill. This was just a reassurance. He had no plans to use it, but he felt safe and bold on seeing it.

Now was the time to act! He stealthily rushed back upstream through the trees. The preparations he made were hidden under an ordinary-looking bush. He was quite satisfied by the method he was about to use.

***

In the tournament grounds, Naomi and Arnacia were standing in front of Rosalia. The mentor maid had a stern expression. Whereas the two trainee maids had their heads low.

"Forget about it," Rosalia said, but her expression was way off from what she said. "Focus on the contest."

'Finish up with the contest and I will punish you later, is what you mean.' Arnacia stole a glance at Rosalia and secretly sighed. She apologized again and bowed deeply along with Naomi before she headed towards the backstage.

Naomi followed and held Arnacia's hand just as they disappeared from Rosalia's view. The backstage was filled with trainee maids, a few of them had red bands around their arms. Whereas the rest were participants. Everyone was waiting for the Cooking Contest to begin.

In the opposite corner was the largest group of maids. They formed a circle and Isabelle was standing in between. Eleanore, Cecelia, Emma and Ester were chatting, and it looked like Isabelle was pretty comfortable and took an active part in the conversation. Arnacia sighed and was about to move forward when Naomi pulled her hand.

"Stay with me," Naomi said. "We will surprise them later." She took a quick glance at Georgia, who helped her tamper Arnacia's contest form.

"Surprise them?" Arnacia asked.

"No, never mind." Naomi remembered Arnacia didn't know that they were a duo in this contest. "Let's greet them."

Arnacia nodded. Her attitude was different from the last time she saw these maids. She didn't know much about them, thus they felt like strangers. But now she was fine and faced reality head on. It would take some time but she had already decided to put an effort into knowing her friends better.

"Isabelle, I am here. Eleanore, Cecelia, aren't you standing too far? Ester, Emma did you miss me?" She said. Maybe I overdid it, she thought. But coincidentally, this was close to what the real Arnacia would sound like.

"Alright, it's time for the contest," Georgia said in her normal tone yet the maids began to quiet down after hearing it. The process felt like a chain reaction. "Line according to your rankings last year." She turned a page on her clipboard and began reciting the names.

"Clementine, Emma and Isabelle, Iris…." Georgia announced the names and maids stepped forward one by one. They formed a line and entered the stage.

Isabelle stole glances at Arnacia multiple times. She believed Arnacia had joined the contest to help her in some way. Emma reassured her multiple times they would do very well, but still, lingering doubts remained in her mind. She tried to focus and headed towards the stage.

"It's the cutlery maid. She looks very serious up on the stage." The audience saw Clementine step on the stage and the hubbub of conversation rose.

"Do you mean it's her sharp nose?" another maid said.

"It makes her look cool, as if nothing can scare her."

"Oh look, it's Emma. She was the runner-up last-"

"Isabelle!"

"Don't tell me they are a duo." The audience was less in number, but every last one of them cheered and said one thing or another.

"Interesting to think that Isabelle knows how to cook. If she could also battle, then she would be an all rounder like Iris."

Maids stepped on stage one by one. The most interesting thing was 6 out of 7 maids from the Garden of Chambers stepped on the stage. This increase in the number of participants was shocking to see.

"Arnacia and Naomi stepped together!" A maid pointed out.

"Are they really a duo? A duo from different camps??" Just when everyone was used to the shocking developments this fact was brought up!

'Are we a duo?' Arnacia was still not sure. There were doubts in her mind because her name was called together with Naomi. But their names were the last names to be called. It was confusing, since she didn't know what would happen next. She suspiciously looked towards the audience.

***

"Hey, finish up fast. All the participants have entered the stage. Isabelle is also there," Claudia rushed towards a booth set up beyond the audience's rows. She had a red band up her arms and had made her way from the backstage. Thus, she was breathing heavily, but excitement couldn't be hidden in her voice.

"I am done!" Alice said as she smiled at her friend, who came to inform her as promised. In reality, she had heard commotion and was just about to leave to join the audience.

Claudia and Alice were the only maids present here. All others were at the stage, backstage or watching as an audience. Suddenly, Claudia squinted her eyes. She saw a small raft flowing downstream. The wooden carrier was surrounded by an eerie aura.

"What's that?" Claudia pointed out.

Alice turned to see in the pointed direction. There it was! A raft was wrapping around the tournament grounds. If not for the commotion in the audience, she would have heard rhythmic footsteps approaching. And probably saw the clocked person. But her eyes turned drowsy. She leaned back and hoped to take Claudia's support, but the latter had already fallen.

'And so it begins,' Aciano stepped onto the training ground.