On the side of the road, sitting in the carriage by herself, Lady Washington listened to the sounds of nature. It wasn't their true sound, but a distorted version that she listened to as this body was incapable of hearing things as they truly were. As she listened, she felt a familiar presence approach.

 

“Hey, uh Lady Washington.” Eir said hesitantly.

“Is something wrong?” She asked.

“Well, yeah.” Eir admitted. “It seems that they want us to return. Something urgent happened.”

“If that’s the case, we’ll have to cut our trip short.” She said.

“Yeah, sorry about this.” Eir apologize. “We can continue this some other time.”

“Of course.” She said. “And what of the horses?”

“We can bring them with us. I have some people who can help take care of them.” Eir said.

“Very well.” She nodded. “I suppose we simply need to wait to be picked up?”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t take long.” Eir said.

“Waiting is one thing I excel at.” She said.

With the sun rising, Etrius lifted Lily into the back with her mom and sisters. On the main road of the town was a convoy of covered wagons, each holding up to 14 maids including the drivers. Aside from those that carried passengers, there were also a few that carried supplies. Food, clothing, and spare parts for the wagons.

The next town was six days away by horse, but considering that they had almost 24 wagons, Etrius wouldn’t be surprised if it took them three times as long. Not only that, but Etrius didn’t want to risk injuring any of the horses. Especially since most of the horses that were in town were older and didn’t get much exercise.

With everyone loaded, and every last piece of luggage accounted for, Etrius jumped up into the driver’s seat next to Hilda, and gave the signal. With the slight creaking of wheels, the wagons rolled down the road. Leaving the safety of the buildings, most, if not all of the maids couldn’t help but keep an eye out for the angry one. Luckily, the skies were clear. Giving one last cheer, the maids bid farewell to their prison of a town.

As the hours passed, and the sun rose into the sky, Hilda, along with many others looked out at their surroundings with new appreciation. They saw a few wild creatures but nothing dangerous.

 

“Master Washington, what is that thing?” Hilda asked, pointing into the woods.

“That is a two headed squirrel.” Etrius answered.

“So, I take it squirrels normally only have one head?” She asked.

“Yeah, most do.” Etrius said. “You don’t normally see things with more than one head, unless its a hydra.”

“Not true.” Haley, the cat eared maid, poked her head in between them from inside the wagon. “Men have two heads. The upper head and the lower head, also known as a pen-”

“Stop talking.” Etrius said.

“Are you referring to the tip of a coc-” Hilda started.

“How about we talk about something else?” Etrius suggested. “Bring out the map.”

“Ah, yes.” Hilda complied.

 

Pulling out the map, she opened it for all of them to see.

 

“How long do you think it’ll take for us to get to the city?” Etrius asked.

“Hm… A week? Maybe two?” Hilda suggested.

“A couple days?” Haley added.

“If we are luck, we can get there in two, though we are probably looking at around three weeks.”

“Three weeks?” Hilda asked, surprised.

“There are just over 200 of us here. There are five of us who are used to traveling and everyone else has been stuck in a town for who knows how many years. That’s not even mentioning the condition of our horses.” It said. “Add all of that up together and we aren’t going to be winning any races anytime soon.”

“I see…” Hilda muttered. “I didn’t think it would take this long. Do we have enough food?”

“If not, I can always hunt some.” It said.

“Considering what your bow did to the angry one, I don’t think there will be anything left if you shoot it.” Hilda said.

“Yeah I heard about that.” Haley said. “It went ‘boom’ and then the angry one went ‘nah’ and fell to the floor in flames.”

“That was a special arrow that I shot. Most don’t do that.”

“Is that so?” Hilda said. “In that case, I suppose we’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure we will.” It nodded. “Also, I know that this is late of me to ask, but is there anything I should know about you girls?”

“Our three sizes?” Haley asked.

“Are any of you criminals? Are there bounty out on your heads? People looking for you for  any reason?”

“The mob for me.” Haley said.

“We’ve been isolated for many years, I think everyone forgot about us.” Hilda said.

“I hope so.” Etrius said.

“Oh, actually we have a few special holidays!” Haley said.

“Ah! That’s correct!” Hilda said.

“Like what?” Etrius asked worried.

“Maid appreciation day.” Hilda said. “It’s on the 23rd of every month.”

“I guess it passed before we arrived.” Etrius said.

“Sadly, yes.” Hilda nodded. “For future reference however, as our new master, you must pick a maid who deserves to be the ‘Maid of the Month’ when the time comes.”

“Is there any reward for whoever wins?” It asked.

“For us, it was a day we were temporarily the master for the day and everyone else was at our call.” Haley said.

“Now that we have a master, that will need to change.” Hilda said.

“I suggest that whoever wins gets pampered by master.” Haley said.

“I second that.” Hilda said quickly after.

“Sure, why not.” Etrius said.

“So it is decided.” Hilda nodded. “I will inform everyone during our lunch break.”

“You do that.” It said.

“Also, we can’t forget ‘Maid Appreciation Day’ but a bigger one.” Haley added.

“You have two of them?” It asked.

“Yes, we cannot forget them. Especially the big one.” Hilda said.

“Isn’t that in the middle of spring?” It asked.

“It’s closer to the start, but yes.” Hilda corrected.

“Do you girls ever get vacation days?” It asked.

“No.” Hilda said.

“We’ll need to change that.” It said.

“Will that cut into our pay?” Haley asked.

“And we’re going to need to talk about your pay.”

“Forgive me for asking, but can you afford to pay us all?” Hilda asked.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine.” It nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure you’re rich.” Haley nodded.

“For tax reasons, no, but yes.” It said.

“I see.” Hilda nodded.

“Exactly.” It nodded. “Also Haley, sit down, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

“Yes master.” Haley complied.

 

After 18 days of travel and irregular messages to April, the tall walls of the city came into sight. Peaking out of the wagon, Iris, her children, and the maids looked at the city in wonder and worry. There was a small queue to enter the town, though even with all of them combined, their caravan held more wagons and people then those originally waiting. This must have alarmed the gate guards since two of them were sent out to speak with them.

 

“Excuse me, miss?” The lightly armored guard said.

“Yes?” Etrius answered.

“The gate for merchants is that way if you want to enter. It should be faster then waiting in this line.” He said.

“We’re not merchants.” Etrius said.

“Eh?” The man looked confused.

 

He glanced at Hilda sitting next to Etrius and then turned his attention to the many maids controlling the other wagons and those peaking out at him. Glancing once more at Etrius, he decided that this was above his paygrade. If this was a visiting noble, they would know that they could skip the line. If this was a noble traveling incognito, they were doing a poor job of it.

 

“Right, well in that case there's no problem…” He said hesitantly.

“Is she single?” The elf next to him unwisely asked, pointing to Iris.

“Get back to work.” Etrius said, throwing a biscuit at him.

 

Yep, this was a noble alright, the elf guard confirmed his theory.

 

“Sorry about that.” The elf said. “He’s new.”

“No worries.” Etrius said.

 

Taking his leave, the elf half dragged his coworker away to inform his boss of a possibly troubling convoy. Uneventfully, they waited in line as members of the guild entered and left the city through another gate made especially for them. Many of them gave the convoy strange looks, but that was understandable. In the meantime, as they waited, Etrius worked on expanding it’s mind reading function, especially since it didn’t harm Iris in any way.

 

“I wonder if butterflies taste like butter.” Rose thought to herself.

 

Only some did, but she’ll likely find out on her own some time in the future. Just under two hours later, the convoy finally arrived at the gate.

 

“Identification.” The elf in charge said.

“Right.” Etrius handed over it’s guild card as well as Iris and her kids cards.

“…” Looking at them, he obviously noticed that none of the maids handed over any sort of identification. “And the others?”

“They don’t have any.” Etrius answered.

“And why is that?” He asked.

“Have you heard of that town named Klean?” Etrius asked.

“You mean that death town that nobody comes back from?” He asked.

“Yes, we just came from there and nobody had any valid Id’s.” It said.

“You’re joking?” He looked at it in disbelief.

“I’m not.” It said.

 

Looking Etrius in the eyes, the elf had no choice but to believe that Etrius was telling the truth.

 

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to need to ask you to come in to answer some questions.” He said.

“If possible I would like for everyone to be able to enter first.” Etrius said.

Of course!” He said.

 

Entering the town, the wagons were parked near the market in what would normally be reserved for trading caravans. Along with all the maids, there were several officials questioning the maids and Etrius about the nature of Klean. From the visual description, sounds, and death of the “Angry One” it was concluded that it was some sort of previously undocumented dragon.

The next problem was documentation. None of the maids had any identification. The good news was that nobody could trace back any crimes to them. The bad news was that Etrius now needed to pay and wait for new guild cards for them. This would require the cooperation of the guild. Something that Etrius wanted to avoid.

Sighing to itself, Etrius headed to the guild by itself. After their last experience, Iris and her kids didn’t exactly want to visit them again. As for the maids, that would bring too much attention to it if it were to bring any of them. With it’s hood up, bow and arrows on it’s back Etrius approached the guild, which was significantly more impressive then the previous guilds it has been to since arriving. However, Etrius couldn’t help but worry upon its approach.

 

“They’ll never know…” Someone inside thought to themselves.

“Nobody knows…” Another thought.

“I need to keep it a secret…” Thought a third.

“I can’t tell anyone…” Thought another.

“That I’m reincarnated from another world!” The minds of almost every occupant cried out.

 

“This is why we hate gods!” Etrius couldn’t help but complain to it’s collective.