Gina the Battle-Maid

After our audience with the king and queen, we were guided by a group of maids to the "guest wing" of the castle. We had to cross a beautiful garden full of flowers and art sculptures to reach it.

Once we were there, an older maid, who seemed to be the leader, told us we would be getting a room and a personal chambermaid, in case we needed anything. Of course, Vespera refused and asked for a room that was big enough for us to share. Surprisingly, the maids complied and we ended up getting a room with a much bigger bed.

Right after we were done locating our rooms, the head-maid introduced the woman who would be taking care of me and my familiars while we stayed at the capital. Her name was Gina, a young 17 year old beastkin with orange hair and fox ears. Her eyes were as green as they could be, and her tail looked fluffy with a small spot of white hairs on the tip.

Her uniform looked exactly the same as the other maids, except for a pin that she wore close to her chest, which indicated that she was a "battle-maid", whatever that meant.

("Hmmm, she might get pretty bored if all she has to do is take care of me… I mean, it's not like I really need anything from her…") I thought.

I wanted to squeeze in some sightseeing while we still had some hours of day time. So, I asked Gina if she was okay with giving me and my familiars a tour of the city. Or at least a part of it, since there was no way we would be able to check out the entire city in half a day.

After shooting the head-maid a glance, she was given a nod of approval, then accepted my request.

Gina was calm and serious, maybe a bit too serious, but she seemed extremely competent in her job. She quickly went to her chambers to change clothes into, what she called, something more appropriate for walking on the streets, and promptly made our way out of the castle. Her outfit consisted of a high-quality looking button shirt, pants, and sandals.

As we walked down the main road, Vespera couldn't help herself into stopping at almost every single shop with Yoru following closely behind her. I mean, I was curious and excited too, but they really just looked like two children visiting their first big city.

Both of my familiars stopped and ordered a meat skewer from a street vendor, and I couldn't help but notice both of them smiling and having a good time while waiting for their food. "I wish I had a camera… This would make a great memory…" I thought.

I smiled as I admired my two familiars, when my thoughts were interrupted by Gina, who was standing next to me.

"This is your first time here, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, we hadn't really left End Town… They are just trying to take it all in before we have to go back."

Gina smiled slightly. "I see…"

("Woah! Was that a smile?") I thought as I glanced at Gina, who had been pretty serious and professional ever since we met at the castle.

"Have you visited other places?" I asked.

She nodded. "I was born in Kalusia, the kingdom located on the opposite side of the continent…"

"Kalusia, huh? I've never heard of it… Although, I haven't heard of any other place in this world anyways…" I responded, without thinking about my wordage

"In this world?" Gina asked while raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Uhh… Nevermind!"

("Damn… for a moment it felt like I was talking to Jackson or my familiars… I need to be careful with what I say.") I thought as I broke eye contact with Gina.

"So… Uhhh… Is Kalusia a nice place? Maybe I should go visit one day" I said, trying to divert her attention from my previous comment.

Gina looked down with a serious but sad expression. "Oh no, did I just ask something personal?"

"Kalusia… Isn't really what it used to be…" she muttered.

I didn't want to pry into her life too much, just like I didn't like when people pried into mine, so I decided to not push the topic further, even though I was now interested in what happened to that kingdom.

Just in the knick of time, before our conversation got more awkward, Vespera and Yoru met back with us and brought two extra meat skewers. One for me and one for Gina.

It took her a few seconds to hold on to it, but after seeing Vespera smiling from ear to ear, she couldn't say no.

After eating our fill of meat skewers, the sun started to settle, so we made our way back to the castle. Gina guided us to our room, even though I knew where it was already, then went to her chambers to change back into her maid uniform.

A few minutes later, Gina came back to my room with tea and refreshments. Yoru was already sleeping, laying down on a soft carpet next to the bed, and Vespera was sitting with me on a small table that was next to a window that overlooked the city.

"I brought some tea and cookies…" said Gina as she placed the cups on the table for me and Vespera.

"You are not joining us?" I genuinely asked, but Gina looked a bit shocked.

"I-I could never…" she said, looking down a bit embarrassed.

"Why not? You hung out with us today too, it's only fair you also get to relax with us, no?"

"N-no… Nobles shouldn't treat their maids as equals…"

"Alright, sure. But I'm not a noble… Soooo, how about you just join us for tea?" I said as I pulled out one of the chairs for Gina to sit on. After a few seconds, she reluctantly sat down with us.

The tea she served us looked and tasted almost exactly like black tea, except it felt a bit more bitter than usual, but it wasn't bad by any means.

I noticed that she was still wearing the pin, and now that we had some quiet time, my curiosity got the best of me.

"Hey Gina, I've been meaning to ask… You said the pin that you are wearing is to show that you are a battle-maid. But, ummm… What does that even mean?"

From her explanation: battle-maids were a title given to maids that were proficient in combat back in the Kalusia Kingdom. Apparently, lots of maids there went through rigorous training as children to become the perfect combination of strength and service.

While she explained that to us, curiosity got the best of me, so I used my "Hidden Inspect" spell that allowed me to look at people's information without it being too obvious. The problem with that spell was that I couldn't get too much into the details of each skill or title, but it was enough to check the general information.

<Name: Gina

Age: 17

Skills: Blade-dancer

MP: 24,000

Titles: Battle-maid.>

("Woah! She is pretty powerful!") I thought, just at the perfect time when she started explaining how she became a "blade-dancer" at the age of 14 and managed to get the title of "battle-maid" a year later.

Blade-dancers were fighters capable of using literally any blade they came across in an efficient way in combat. Meaning that Gina could easily handle something like a great-sword, all the way down to a small razor.

Battle-maid was the title that they got after passing a rigorous test, where they would get evaluated in all of their combat capabilities and house-keeping skills.

"The people of Kalusia must all be pretty strong then, huh?" I asked, but once again, Gina looked down with a sad expression.

"It still wasn't enough…" she muttered. I was going to leave it there, but she continued:

"You see, two years ago Kalusia was attacked by a huge horde of monsters that were led into the capital by a devil called Zagor. At first, the military managed to hold them off, but eventually the monsters broke through the front lines and entered the city.

All we could do at the time was get the royal family to safety, but it cost us the capital…"

Both me and Vespera stayed silent, closely listening to Gina's story. From what I understood from the rest of her story, was that after Zagor invaded the capital with a legion of monsters, Gina and the other battle-maids at the castle took the royal family and helped them evacuate the country.

That's why she was here, because the king, queen and prince of Kalusia were staying at the Sephyr Kingdom's Palace, so the rest of the maids that escaped with them were now working here to show their gratitude.

As for the fate of the capital, it seemed like Zagor closed off all the gates and enslaved all of their citizens. Meanwhile, the other cities in the Kalusia Kingdom have been trying their best to survive without the support of their military and merchants from the capital.

("That's a really tough situation… This is now the second devil name that I hear from someone, but it wasn't the same name as the one that brought the goblin king… I wonder how many of these devils are out there…") I pondered, but was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

*knock, knock*

Gina stood up from her chair quickly and faced the door, since she had to bow and greet anyone who entered.

("Isn't it kinda late? Who the hell is knocking on my door right now?") I thought before promptly asking. "Umm, who is it?"

The voice of another maid came from outside the door.

"Princess Melina Sephyr would like to speak with you, if you have a moment." she said firmly and confidently.

"The princess? Uhh yeah sure… Wait…" I stopped myself as I replayed her exact words in my head.

("Princess… WHO!?")