As such, the maids took their concerns directly to Ainz. They said, “Please don't take our jobs”, “We want to do it all day and night”, and so on.
Ainz shot the suggestion down on the spot. A fatigue system existed in Yggdrasil and while it could be easily solved with magic, there was no guarantee that fatigue would be healed as easily in this world. Even with magic, it would be bad if the workforce was worn down to the point when it could no longer function, like a cog gradually losing its teeth due to overuse.
Yet, the maids adamantly refused to back down. Faced with their tears, Ainz gave in and proposed a new type of work for them, which was to personally serve him. That task entailed staying by Ainz's side to attend to his every need and whim, and the maids would take turns filling that role.
This offer was as tempting as sugar honey sprinkled with sugar to the maids, whose greatest joy in life was to serve the Supreme Beings. They accepted the order without a second thought, telling themselves that “we need to take care of ourselves and rest well the day before, so we can serve with all our strength when it's our turn.”
“We need our nutrients so we can work hard, you know. Plus, depending on the circumstances, you might need to skip a meal too.”
“Of course, when you serve Ainz-sama, your brain needs all the nutrients it can get.”
“I want something sweet~”
The three girls nodded in unison. It should be noted that all the maids carried several meals' worth of candy and other such treats on them. They would snack on them whenever they had free time while serving Ainz. However, be it fortunate or not, they simply could not find that free time. As such, the morning meal was very important to them.
“Have you heard? They say they're going to cook using ingredients from the outside world and have a food tasting.”
The other two gasped at Sixth's statement. She felt that was natural, because few of the maids thought well of the outside world — the world that lay beyond Nazarick. Some of them felt that the outside world was inferior to Nazarick, but most of them were afraid of it, because the floor right above their home, the 8th floor, had once been invaded by people from the outside.
“Can we all go to the tasting? Or will only a few of us be allowed to go?”
Just as Sixth was about to answer Foire's question, the atmosphere in the canteen changed. The air itself seemed to heat up. As the newcomer came into the maids’ sight, they couldn't help squealing in delight.
“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.”