Huh? What happened?

I felt strange. It was almost as if I slept for almost 6 months or something. I dreamt of helping a fox-girl out with something?

‘Ehh…. I’m probably imagining it.’

Anyways, back to the matter at hand!

I stood before the door of death. Beyond it lie a slumber dragon; face cold like ice. One misstep and I’d be devoured.

“Ummm, why are you standing there?”

I needed to trek across this land carefully. As soon as I opened the door, a shadow would tail me.

“Astrape?”

A pursuer. The protector of the dragon. The personification of obsession. She would not stop until my entire life was ruined.

“A—”

“Fuck, I get it.” I sighed and turned around. What stood before me was Artoria. She was looking at me with concern. 

“E-Eh?”

“I said I get your worry. Go back to our room. I have business to take care of here.”

Artoria gulped. “P-Please don’t go too hard on her. I-I don’t know what she did, but she doesn’t deserve to die.”

‘Eh? What is she on about?’

Did she really think I could beat Miseria? The Miseria? Hah! 

I gathered all my courage again and pushed the door open.

“I’m here, my liege.”

Two cold blue eyes shone in the dark. The room was dark, but I could still make out the outline of things.

From what I could see, Miseria sawed the bunk bed in half. She placed the two halves next to each other to make a big bed.

She then filled it with a soft mattress and an incredible amount of pillows, making it look like a really comfortable fortress.

Without saying a word or getting out of her comfortable bed, Miseria pointed toward her wardrobe with her scaly tail.

“Strip.”

Well, my assumption was wrong. She spoke after all.

I could only comply. Once I was in nothing but my underwear, I approached the wardrobe and opened it.

“Maid outfit. Find.”

It was lucky that Miseria wasn’t like the usual noble girl. She kept so few clothes that it didn’t take me a second to find it.

‘Hey, isn’t this familiar?’

Did Petra and Miseria buy the maid clothes from the same place?

Whatever the case was, it didn’t matter. I had a debt to pay. I put on the outfit, with gloves and all, and stood before Miseria with perfect form.

It was a standard military form, but still, it exuded subservience.

“I’m at your disposal, my liege.”

Miseria finally got out of her bed. I was almost disappointed that she was wearing her usual clothes. She approached me and placed both of her hands on my shoulders. Her face was so close to mine that I could feel her cold breath.

Her pink lips slowly parted, giving me the command that would decide my fate.

“Leave…. For now.”

“Eh?”

She shuffled through her pocket and took out her phone, which was of course the latest model that I couldn’t ever hope to afford. She then showed me an email; one that she didn’t look too pleased about.

[Team 4:

Miseria Ecertold 

Erika Vermillion]

“T-This is….”

“The teams for the upcoming practical exams. I’m sure you also received an email.” 

I didn’t. Eh, it was probably sorted into the spam section.

“Go. Prepare. Do you know what will happen if someone under my wing performs badly?”

“I-It would reflect badly on the Ecertold family?”

“Indeed. You’re a smart servant.”

Miseria finally let go of me. She lingered her gaze on me for a few more seconds before plopping back down on her bed face-first. Her voice was muffled by her pillow when she spoke again.

“Nwow lweave. Youf mwy kif the outwfit.”

I turned around and pulled out my phone. I pulled the door open and checked my spam box. As I’d expected, the email was there.

[Team 16:

Marie Kilvillain

Astrape Knovski]

I was fully out of Miseria’s room. With my finger on the voice-search feature’s button, I spoke.

“Hey Gogglesearch, how do I defend against someone jamming her arrow into my throat while I’m asleep?”