Cate sent the young masters up to their rooms and swiftly cleaned up the dining room. As her body swam around the mansion she planned the trip. A carriage in both directions, - if only the dragons could get those sticks out of their... - snacks and beverages for the breaks in the dungeon, a proper educational tour around the shrines to the Wisemen. She cursed the Spiderlings insistence on making Her... interesting. The maid chuckled, keeping the sound from spreading with a blink of a barrier around her mouth and continued her work.
Half an hour later, the four got into an ordinary carriage, one you could find anywhere if you bothered to notice it. A Jon hurried the dully average horses and the trip began with the children shooting mana projectiles off into the sky.
The maid stroked the soft hair of the blonde toddler napping on her knees and looked out the window. The villas slowly turned into rolling fields, dotted with small groups on picnics or adventuring outings. She wondered if she'd one day become one of the flashy figures, or if she'd always remain an ordinary maid. The woman fixed her ordinary butler outfit and thought that she wouldn't mind either path.
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As soon as the carriage stopped, Diada shoved the curled up form of the sleeping kitten out the door. As Tom hit the ground, she jumped down onto him and made herself comfortable on his soft shoulders. She looked up from her prime position and regretfully admitted Mads might have gotten a much better option in her nap. The toddler exuded the feeling of content, as she was carried by the maid.
"Time to wake up, mistress," Cate ordered and unceremoniously dropped the baby.
Mads shot along the ground, spewing out sulfuring flames and let out a short litany of swears - aimed at the unfair world, devoid of naps.
Diada nodded her head and pulled a glass bottle of hot chocolate from her room. "Here, have a drink."
Her friend responded by jumping onto the kitten's other shoulder and drank greedily from the bottle. The little devil looked around and asked, "Where do we begin?"
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Mads looked around the large, cobbled plaza, noting the inns and museums surrounding it and the three hills further behind. It wasn't even noon yet, but the place was filled with tourists and adventurers walking in every and which direction.
"We will enter the dungeon in the leftmost hill and go to the museum," Cate pointed towards an old-looking, wooden building to the right, "to eat dinner there and listen to the evening seminar on the local history."
The girl nodded and boosted up, to look over the rooftops. There was a small, traditional-looking village surrounding the touristic attractions. Each house had walls painted white, with colourful flowers on them and thatch roofs. The space between and beyond them was filled with flower beds.
Mads dropped back onto Tom's shoulder and smiled. "It's pretty here."
As Tom moved to follow Cate, the little devil tuned out the sounds of the surroundings and focused on her mana. Slowly, she pulled thin strings between her fingers and began forming them into geometric shapes. Once she filled the space between her hands with tiny triangles and circles, she moved them to form three-dimensional objects.
Once the group reached the entrance to the dungeon, the girl was covered in a mess of interlocking shapes and mana strings.
Mads watched the maid talk to a receptionist, - who sat on a small wooden stool, while painting a picture - tilted her head at the various papers the woman had to show and began cleaning up her spell-work. As she was nearing the end of the clean-up, she frowned, the shapes furthest from her head were all wibbly-wobbly and seemed more like blobs of mana than string constructs.
"Mistresses, master? Let us proceed," Cate let out a ring of a school bell and gestured towards the entrance, framed by a wooden portcullis.
Tom charged forward and the children fell into the deep hole beyond. As they passed through the black liquid, they found Cate already waiting for them, next to a group of wolfkin adventurers in some sort of Sarmatian cosplay.
Once the kids collected themselves from the ground, the maid gestured to the side and they followed.
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They stood in a forest clearing, surrounded by abnormally tall birches and pine trees. Aside from the wolves, the place was filled with groups in a wide variety of getups and a multitude of races. People ranging from tanuki in samurai outfits; to ochre half-eagles - half-humans, were milling together.
Cate noticed the children staring and swivelling their heads all around. "Like most Dragon Mountains, this region brings many visitors from around the world," the sound of dusty books resounded, "and this group of dungeons offer challenge fitting for anyone from fairly competent mortals, to those on the verge of divinity."
"The hermits who lived here, are believed to have been almost divine even in the world they came from and are suspected to be among the currently living gods." The maid continued, while leading the children towards a small path, snaking between the trees and bushes.
"As soon as the clearing will be out of view, we will face the first ambush." Cate withdrew a simple, practice sword from a pocket and flourished it twice. "I will leave one creature for the three of you to take care of."
Diada jumped over to the trees and began skittering along the low hanging branches. Mads stayed on Tom's shoulder and readied a few packets of mana in her horns. Tom poked her on the knee and pulled his sword out of her pouch.
The maid led the group, showing no tension as if the place of an ordinary maid was in the middle of a dungeon.
As if on cue, the moment the group walked past a bend in the path, descending a slight decline, Cate rose her sword before her face, checking her reflection and an arrow just so happened to bounce from the blade.
Moments later, more arrows flew towards the group and a pack of tiny blue people in red hats jumped out of the bushes whining and screeching as they run.
Cate stopped most of the projectiles with a liquid-like mana-barrier. The few arrows that passed, harmlessly clank off of Diada's black limbs.
The maid walked through the pack and disappeared into the forest. All, except one, creatures fell to the ground in pieces.
The remaining dwarf screeched louder and rushed towards the children.
Mads boosted over the creature and blasted it in the back with a fireball. The projectile sticking to the back of the small figure.
At the same moment, Tom extended mana-claws out of his feet and kicked the monster, cutting open its face.
For the finisher, Diada enveloped the creature in mana-silk and lifted it on the ground. The spell caught on fire, enveloping the dwarf.
The trio walked past the hanging lantern, looking around for Cate. "That wasn't too hard..." Mads got interrupted by a screech and the sound of a small body hitting the ground.
Diada immediately covered Tom's back in a jagged limb-barrier, barely managing to block a dagger strike.
The blue monster scowled at the group and pulled its bleeding nose off its face.
With a screech, it jumped, bounced off a tree and slashed at Mads's neck.
The girl boosted away, leaving a ball of fire behind. The dwarf flew through it and threw its dagger back, hitting Diada in the teeth.
Tom cut into the creatures back, throwing it to the ground and the two girls pelted the spot with mana and fire balls.
The kitten charged forward, splitting the ground with a cone of mana and twisted around. He dropped to the ground and slashed his sword in the direction of the dwarf.
The blade slammed into the monster's shoulder, just as it jumped out of the bushes.
Diada caged the dwarf - mid-flight - in her spider legs, allowing Mads to boost into the creature, dagger first.
The moment the blade sunk into the monster's chest, the little devil let a torrent of fire from between her horns. The area filling up with the smell of sulfur and roasted pig.
"Well done mistresses, master." The sound of blades cutting through flesh, caused the children to tense up. A blink later, they relaxed and looked towards the maid.
She stood in the middle of the path, ordinary and calm, with a warm smile on her face. "Let us continue, shall we?", a light breeze resounded. The next moment, she stood next to the tiny body, withdrawing her blade out of it. "Don't forget to cut deeper in the future."
For the next few groups, Cate dispatched all enemies, not letting the children see a single spell or swing of her blade. "The hermits made these creatures in the resemblance of the forest spirits from their land," she weaved a tale while walking, "forming them from the rotting leaves, morning dew and bones of small animals."
Mads noted down the lectures, occasionally sketching caricatures of the monsters. Tom simply observed how the maid walked, trying to mimic her gait. Diada occasionally skittered down to the ground, to eat berries and collect the tastier looking monster parts.
The little devil kept a ball of fire and a mana bowl next to her head, letting the other girl perform culinary experiments.
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As the sun reached the zenith, Cate paused in front of a stream crossing the path and set out a picnic blanket and boxes with lunch. "After the meal, we will cut through the forest, towards the first minor boss," she informed the children, "Afterwards Both mistresses will show me their notes."
"As for the master, I hope you've been listening, as I will have a test prepared for you." She smiled and gestured the children towards their pillows.
As the children sat down, Cate withdrew a pitcher of juice and four glasses from the box and set them before the pillows. She gave each of the children a sandwich and allowed herself to sit, enjoying her own meal.
She smiled, watching Diada shove various fried meats into her sandwich and wondered how she might convince the divine child to respect proper manners.