*Sigh*

 

Leaning against the sofa Iris sat on the edge, her hands laid flat on her knees as she stared at the closed door in front of her.

 

Half a bell had passed since Kia left and the tireless risen had finished what previously would have taken her two bells. Even though their room had been cleaned thoroughly and then treated with cleaning magic leaving the distinct smell of burned nothingness behind, the undead elf felt uncomfortable not having cleaned things herself.

At least when she was travelling with Shiro, the old nekos provided enough distractions to take her mind off the fact a figurative empty hole grew inside her chest while away from Kia.

Previously she managed to last almost a week with this hollow feeling but from the most rudimentary knowledge of magic, she would expect the hollowness to expand faster now that she was focusing on it.

 

"I don't even know where she is now..."

 

The tall undead turned her head toward the large window with the view of the sprawling city behind it. She was told that Kia would return to her once the recess ended but at the time her mind was too preoccupied with making sure her innocently naive kitten was ready than asking obvious questions.

 

"I have to find someone to ask." 

 

The motionless statue rose to her feet and reached for the door handle. With the sound of the bolt closing the doors shut, Iris began to walk down the empty corridor with little knowledge of where she was going.From the tall windows which fed light inside the building, she could see the imposing facade of the Academy building. From where she was humans buzzed with activity around the building like ants. Some of them strayed away and walked through the meandering paths going through the many gardens Iris could see.

 

Exiting the lonely building, Iris was instantly hit by the strong wind sweeping the city seemingly in an effort to remove it. Her tall body acted like a sail on a ship catching the howling element causing her to fight for each step, leaning her body against the wind.

 

Iris noticed a guard standing in the doorway, hiding from the harsh element raging just a hand reach away. She figured that the guard had to know when morning classes would end, and more importantly, when will she get her Kia back.

 

"Who are you?" The guard's silky voice pierced the wind's howl. He offered a not-so-subtle command for Iris to not step closer as he allowed his aura to be partially unleashed.

 

"I'm servant," Iris replied before realising that the man was intently staring at the adventurer symbol hanging under her neck. "This is my Master's first proper day being here."

 

"If you say so..." The man replied. The following silence made the elf think that the guard was thinking how bad she was as an infiltrator with the story she tried to pass through him. "You certainly speak correctly, although I expected foreign high nobles to have a proper manservant or a squire."

 

"..." Iris stared blankly at the wooden panel in front of her as she noticed that old habits die hard. She contemplated correcting the guard who eyed her and her Master with a dirty eye. "Do you know when the morning break ends?"

 

"A bell before the noon." His great black crest on top of his helm brushed against the wood as he nodded to himself.

 

"Thank you." Iris said before hastening to leave.

 

Gazing at the clouds with a golden trim around them, Iris's chest rose and fell as she sighed. Four long bells separated her from reuniting with Kia.

 

"I guess I have to find something to do." The undead risen muttered to herself figuring out that rather than do nothing and await Kia's return she might as well explore the Academy's grounds.

 

She didn't wait long for her to spot something interesting or rather smell something which the village girl inside the terrible undead couldn't pass on. Among the many empty gondolas and winding paths, a humble building mostly made out of stone brick stood in the shadow of the towering magical citadel behind it. It looked so humble yet like an unassuming Wiseman, it held precious things inside of itself as the enchanting smell of freshly baked bread pulled Iris to itself. With a creak of oak, still giving off a fragrant smell of forest even years after being cut down, a corridor illuminated only by the candlelight revealed itself to the charmed woman. Going inside the elf was flanked at both sides with doors left ajar.

 

Turning left, her lavender eyes pierced the twilight to see a room packed to the brim with sacks packed with food. From common earthfruit which had spilt onto the floor from a ripped sack to exotic syrups from berries of the middle and northern edor such as medlar and hawthorn, exotic at least to the southern-bred elf that is.

 

Swivelling her head to her other flank she saw a kingly kitchen which could fit as many as twenty chiefs if only guessing from the amount of identical stations Iris's eyes could see.

 

"Hello," A maid wearing an apron over her light green uniform noticed the skulking undead. "Are you lost, adventurer?" As the white fabric moved when the woman stopped cutting a slab of meat into tin pieces Iris could briefly see an image of a white rider couched with a lance followed by a swan embroidered on the maid's clothes.

 

"I don't think so." Iris responded and took a step forward, closer to the enchanting smell which had brought her here.

 

"Unless you have permission to be here, only servants are allowed to enter." The Catalinan woman spoke puffing up her posture seemingly to appear bigger to the monster butcher or more likely she did so to hide her fear.

 

"I'm a servant." The tall slayer defended herself although her frown didn't help to ease the maid.

 

"... then where is your uniform and why are you dressed like this?"

 

"I had arrived here only yesterday." The undead elf told the human a half-truth, as she had arrived in the city much earlier but nevertheless, her words eased the maid's worry.

 

"You must be from the frontier," The woman with hair similar to Iris's but braided into a crown at the back of her head said, a womanly spark lighting up in her brown eyes as the tall elf passed her. "Is that true that a frontiersman can slay three trolls without breaking a sweat?"

 

"..." The elf who had traveled much of Edor stared bewildered at the young woman. The question's premise was ridiculous beyond what she thought possible. 

 

The woman in front of her watched her with eyes resembling the puppy-like eyes of her naive creator. Yet the sight of the curiosity brought upon by innocent ignorance brought the risen no joy, her millennia-old creator had an excusable vindication for her folly and strange view of the world, unlike the human in front of the elf.

 

The poor woman shrunk under the towering elf's gaze. Maybe the undead judged the romantic city girl too harshly, many tavern minstrels singing songs of fiction rather than the truth so who could blame her for believing them, or maybe the hateful grip of undeath toward the living lashed out at the innocent human or perhaps it was the maid's gleaming eyes full of curiosity which annoyed Iris so much. Regardless of which it was the spark inside the bark-brown eyes was snuffed out causing the maid to visibly deflate.

 

The elf silently walked between the tables toward the opposite side of the room, near the stairs leading to the attic there was a parade of the most valuable and prestigious food in Iris's imagination.

 

"... If you are hungry you can eat in the servant's canteen. Those are for making food for our wards." The maid gathered up the strength to face the evil undead as she greedily stroked the still-warm crust of one of the fair loaves.

 

"For all of them?" Iris asked astonished both at the amount of wheat bread in front of her and by the price it would have cost the mages, although her astonishment was shared by none inside the tall walls as most of them grew up knowing little of the inventions like tough horsebread and grainy tarbread who had to be eaten either with great and foolish bravery or slowly picked in fear of bitting a piece of grindstone accidentally mixed in the flour and cracking a tooth.

 

"If you mean can you take some to make something for your ward, then the answer is yes." The maid said as she picked up a loaf and cut it in half. She put back the half next to the others covering it with a rag before walking away.

 

Seeing this an idea manifested inside her mind, filling up the void she felt. Iris picked up a plate and a knife and began to make food for her ice-cold devourer.