Both Odeta and I got a good lecture from Instructor Henry after that.
I didn’t really listen since but he was basically telling us to pay more attention to our surroundings even when fighting.
He was less upset about us almost destroying the field and more upset that we had tunnel vision during our fight, to the point that he could sneak up on us and flip us without us noticing.
Even I could tell that he was impressed by our abilities but disappointed that we were still careless.𝑶𝑣𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t
“Why was that teacher so mean?” Delmare pouted, joining us for our lunch in the school garden.
As usual, it was brought here by Katsuki who ensured that our meals were freshly made and delivered from the kitchen.
I giggled, “Oh, it’s fine~ He’s actually looking out for us to be honest, he’s just a little rough with his teaching methods.”
Odeta huffed, “Bah! I don’t like it! One day I’ll definitely become stronger than him and make sure he can’t do that again!”
So cute~
This feels nice~ Having a nice, relaxing lunch out here with the people I care about~
“More tea, Mistress?” Katsuki asked.
“Ohhh~ Yes please~”
Katsuki moved to pour the tea for me when she suddenly let go of it, causing it to crash onto the floor.
I was a little stunned by the action and turned towards her, only to see that she was now holding a dagger in the teapot’s place and what looked like a silver needle was stuck on the flat of the blade.
In front of her, two other maids seemed to have appeared out of thin air and it took me a moment to recognise them as Rita and Tracey, the Yoblin and Infrid maid from the mansion.
“There,” Katsuki pointed towards one of the rooftops in the distance with a finger, prompting Rita and Tracey to leap up and dash across the rooftops in that direction.
Katsuki then flicked her dagger to dislodge the needle from her blade, right before she slashed her arm in an arc towards me, stopping another silver needle from hitting me.
The needle was so fast that I didn’t even see it…
“Mistress, I apologise for the tea, would you still like more?” Katsuki asked. “I may need to ask someone else to serve it to you in that case, would that be alright, Mistress?”
“No, no, at this point shouldn’t you be insisting that I head somewhere safe?” I asked.
Katsuki bowed her head, “If I am unable to let Mistress be wherever you wish without being able to ensure your safety, then I have failed as your personal maid.”
Is that normal? Actually… I can totally imagine Mother just sitting in the middle of a battlefield and casually sipping her tea while Mary fought off anyone who tried to harm Mother without letting anything get close to them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the standard that the maids of our house were expected to have…
“Umm… I think we’ll head inside,” I decided, right as Katsuki blocked one more silver needle with her dagger that was aimed for my head again.
The good thing was that whoever was attacking me did not target either Delmare or Odeta and was focused solely on me for some reason which I was quite grateful for.
I went back inside with Delmare and Odeta following me, Katsuki covering our rear and blocking off a few more silver needles that were thrown after me.
“Sister Aster? What’s going on?” Odeta asked, feeling more confused than afraid.
“I err… I guess I’m being targeted,” I answered her. Not really sure if this was related to that letter I received the other day.
Who am I kidding, it definitely is… The only question was if that person really wanted to kill me, why would they even bother sending me a message first before they try to do it? Wouldn’t it be better if they don’t even send a message at all and just head straight to killing me?
Plus… Why are they so desperate to kill me? They were already spotted weren’t they? Shouldn’t the rule be to relocate once a sniper or assassin has been spotted? Why are they still staying in the same spot to attack me? Not only will all of their attacks be predictable, they are also in danger of being flanked as well.
Unless… They’re confident of dealing with whoever goes to them?
I turned back just as I went through the door, catching Katsuki’s eye as she shut the door behind us.
“Do not worry, Mistress, both of them are very skilled fighters. What’s more, they are not the only ones headed towards the assassin’s location. There should not be any problems.”
Delmare tugged at my sleeve and I turned to see her holding up her sketchbook with shaky fingers.
‘Will you be alright?’
I directed my gaze at Katsuki who answered in my stead, “You do not need to worry, Miss Delmare. Mistress’s safety is our top most priority. They will need to get through me before they can even hurt Mistress.”
Odeta growled, “Which bastard dares to attack sister Aster so sneakily?! If I get my hands on them, I’ll definitely grind them into meat paste!”
Katsuki turned to me, “Does Mistress recall anyone who might try to attack you?”
“Erm… Not counting the bandits I subjugated as well as those pirates… I don’t think so?”
“Was there anything out of the ordinary the past few days?”
I decided this wasn’t the time to hide the letter so I told her about it.
“I did receive a letter that had the words ‘I’m coming for you’ written on it yesterday actually… I thought it was a prank or something but… Actually… I don’t even know if this is even connected…”
“Does Head Maid Mary know about this?”
“She does, actually… She said she already knows who was the one who sent the letter and that she would take care of it.”
Katsuki frowned, “If the person who sent the letter is the same person throwing the needles… no, that’s not possible. It must be a different person. They would have already been dealt with by now if the Head Maid was taking care of it so that person that’s outside attacking Mistress must have used someone else to deliver the message instead, or they are unrelated.”
That’s true…
Mary should have already caught the person who sent the letter by now so there’s no way they would be the same person. If that guy could evade or defeat Mary, then I would also already be dead. There would have been no need to throw those needles at me from afar.
“What should I do?” I asked.
“Whatever you want to do, Mistress,” Katsuki answered back without hesitation. “I will ensure that your daily life will not be disrupted at all. Although I will have to let the principal know that I would be accompanying you out in the open now.”
“Wait, wait! Isn’t that really dangerous? Shouldn’t sister Aster hide somewhere instead?!” Odeta pointed out.
Katsuki shook her head, “As I said earlier… If I, as Mistress’s personal maid, am unable to protect my Mistress’s daily life just because of some fools who dare to try and attack her from the shadows, then I would be a failure as a maid.”
She’s really serious about it I see…
‘But are you able to protect her right now?’ Delmare scribbled.
“Regrettably, I am not confident of dealing with this on my own.”
Odeta crossed her arms, “So we should go somewhere safe then!”
“That is unnecessary, because right now I am not alone.”
All of us started looking around and I seriously half expected maids to start appearing around us, except nothing of that sort happened.
“My apologies Mistress… But the others are rather shy so they won’t reveal themselves unless you wish for them to.”
“Err… They don’t need to… But is this really alright though? Should I just go home?”
“If that is Mistress’s wish, then we will follow Mistress as well.”
I noticed that Katsuki seemed to tremble a little when she said that.
“Umm… Is something wrong, Katsuki?” I asked, feeling a little concerned.
She seemed surprised by my question and looked down at her hands, as though only just realising how she was shaking slightly.
“My apologies Mistress… It seems like I need more training…”
“No, no, what is going on?”
She hesitated, “If… If the others were to know that Mistress had chosen to change your schedule because I was unable to fully protect you in this situation, I… I may lose my position as your personal maid…”
“What? Why would that even happen?”
Her hesitation got stretched for a while longer, “That is… As proper maids, we are to serve our masters to the utmost of our abilities. The masters should not need to accommodate us, it is us who need to accommodate our masters’ wants. If we are unable to do so, then we are only third rate maids at best.”
What is with this standard of judging maids? So you’re telling me that if I were to want to bathe in a volcano, you’re supposed to just somehow make it possible or something? That’s pretty unreasonable don’t you think?
With the way that Katsuki was looking at me, I can see that she’s serious about it.
Ughh… In that case, I can only just continue school and pretend that nothing is happening around me…
This is going to be so awkward…