“So, boy, what’s your name?”
“Hailey, miss.”
“Right. Now, Hailey—just hold onto my hand for a bit and I’ll pull you up to the rooftop… like that. Feeling steady?”
The boy nodded. Fayette tightened her grip on his hand.
“Good. Now, make sure to keep quiet and watch your footing—we’ll help you over any bigger gaps.”
The boy gave a determined nod, and Fayette finally let go, trusting him to manage the rest himself. Doesn’t seem too shaken by the whole zombie chase situation he just went through. Is he just putting on a brave front, or does he genuinely not mind?
The [Maid] couldn’t quite parse the boy’s face, so she shrugged and turned to the others. Having climbed back to the rooftop ahead of her, they had watched Fayette guide the boy up, and now bore strange expressions. Especially Marie, who looked fascinated.
“What are you looking at?” Fayette asked her, frowning.
The [Lady] blinked, finally realized she had been staring, then finally managed to stammer out a reply as her face colored. “Oh! Sorry—it’s just… seeing you manage a child is quite… different to say the least.”
Fayette quirked an eyebrow. “What did you expect?”
“Probably you handling him like a hay bale, causing permanent trauma in the process,” Mireille said, snorting.
“That was just one time, and we were all kids back then,” Fayette replied, rolling her eyes. She looked back and bent down so her eyes met Hailey’s, and used another [Disarming Smile]. The kid flinched back. Is my smile really that odd?
“Hailey, can you show which way the orphanage is?”
“That way miss, the darker building in front of the big spires.” He replied, pointing at a building about 5 blocks away, standing in front of a church. It stood taller than the ones beside, making it visible even from this distance.
Fayette nodded, then began marching forward, steps quiet. “Let’s go. Though first—”
She activated her mana sight and grimaced. It’s gotten thicker. The miasma of nasty dark-green mana had been barely visible on the outskirts, but just a bit deeper in the district, it suddenly became a lot thicker. And though she had a plague mask artifact counteracting it…
Fayette turned and saw the miasma swirling around the unguarded boy. She frowned. It doesn’t seem to get indoors as much, so his orphanage might be fine—but rummaging out like this can’t be good for him. “Hold still for a moment, Hailey.”
The boy froze in surprise as Fayette removed her own plague mask, then bent down to fix it over the boy’s face. “There. Make sure you don’t lose that, or I will be very cross.”
Hailey gave the mask a reverent touch and nodded furiously, and Fayette rose up—satisfied. “Don’t look at me like that Mirrie, we’ll only be out for a bit more.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Mireille answered.
“Don’t act like you weren’t thinking it.”
Shaking her head, Mireille turned to the other edge of the roof, rope already in hand. Fayette prodded Hailey with her broom, and once he started moving forward, followed along, Marie at her side. Her bucket of acid slime sloshed, but she wasn’t too worried about the sound. The groaning of monsters just a bit below the roof covered it up.
Almost too well…
Suspicious, Fayette gave the [Lady] walking by her side a nudge, noticing that she had her eyes focused forward like they were when she drew. “Are you doing that?”
The [Lady] jolted and the moans quieted for a bit, and she spoke in a hush. “[Control Conversation]. Keeps our talk silent, and I thought it could cover other noises this way too.”
Fayette nodded. “Good thinking.”
There were all sorts of ways to use abilities if one really thought about it, and got creative. Flipping a fork in her hand idly as she walked, Fayette wondered what she could eventually make of that skill. That [Murder-Cook] probably had some skills like that… but not my style really.
Arriving at the edge, Mireille began to cast the rope over to the next rooftop, guiding it with threads and needles both. Fayette said a silent prayer for her sake too. She’s trying all sorts of things too, and her next level-up should be soon. Hopefully, it works out for her.
They crossed the gap in silence.
—
Traversing the rooftops was surprisingly easy once they all got the hang of it. The widest gaps they had to jump over were around 7 feet, which was trivialized with Mireille tying a rope to either end for balance.
A few times they had to stop in place and wait for a larger group of zombies to pass by, but none bothered them this high up. At least not at this time. Fayette felt very aware of the sun shining down on her face. I wonder how different things get after nightfall.
And though the danger wasn’t too bad, Fayette felt worse and worse about the place the further into town they went. It wasn’t just the increasing numbers of monsters, signs of decay, or even the many corpses lining the streets. No, the miasma of plague mana just kept getting thicker.
“Marie, are you feeling what I’m feeling?” Fayette asked, eyeing a corpse on the street below that had a bouquet of flowers placed beside it. Did someone find time for that during all this?
She looked up, meeting her friend’s eyes, and saw them glowing with magic as the [Lady] looked over the ambient mana. It wasn’t just the air, the very ground seemed to be seeped with it here.
“Never seen the like of it before,” Marie answered, peering around. “It’s just… everywhere. Mana usually has a distinct source, like the corpses and stains before, but this has struck so deep into the very earth…”
Fayette eyed the figure walking beside her, glad that the boy was wearing the mask now, even if it meant forgoing her own protection for a bit. Forget the zombies, this feels like it could infect just by presence alone. “Let’s hurry, I want to see what the conditions in the orphanage are like.”
They increased their pace for the last two rooftop crossings, passing over more corpses with flower bouquets by their sides and hordes of monsters that seemed to be growing in number by the second.
But they passed unnoticed, not getting into any delays or trouble, and soon stood atop the last rooftop. They stared at a thickly-boarded-up grey building complex, which loomed among the shorter buildings like a giant coffin.
This orphanage was very different from the one Fayette had once called home. This was not a former manor fallen into disrepair or any other repurposed building—it had clearly been built first and foremost to house as many as possible as tightly as possible. It wasn’t wide, only taking the same space as the other buildings by its sides, but it was tall, and the denseness of its prison-like windows spoke of cramped rooms.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
But most of all, it was the drab greyish exterior that made Fayette shudder, and only tapping into her [Maidsense] could she see why. Wait a minute… there’s supposed to be reddish brick under there! Not… that. What the heck?
She couldn’t help asking the question. “Boy, is your building’s façade never cleaned?” Are your caretakers absolutely useless?
He looked up at her, confused. “What would be the use in that? It would get dirty all again from the smoke.”
“Over there, Fay,” Mireille said, sensing her friend’s thoughts. She pointed at the factories, which had shifted position to the party’s right side as they had moved. “They’re not active now—but I bet you when the furnaces are burning this side of town gets a healthy dose of smoke to enjoy.”
Fayette felt at the wind, and looking at the other buildings around, confirmed it. Every façade was marred by years of smoke, much worse than she had seen it even in Palogne. Wait a minute, was this district this drab before this whole zombie situation?
On some level, she had put the black coloration of the buildings as the plague's fault, but thinking things through more carefully, it couldn’t be true. The outbreak hadn’t lasted that long yet. She could recognize ingrained grime when she saw it.
“Well, that’s depressing. But not our real issue now—is it? Kid, how are we supposed to get inside the building? I don’t feel like breaking through all those windows your friends have so carefully worked to barricade.”
“Over there, by the street level,” The boy answered, pointing at a window low to the street. “It looks boarded up, but actually it’s very loose, and I managed to get it off!”
Will we fit through that little window there? She herself probably could, and Mireille too now that she thought about it—that girl never did eat enough. As to Marie… Fayette gave her bosom a practiced side-eye, then chalked that one up to a maybe. I guess we can widen the gap if it becomes an issue.
Her [Maidsense] and eye confirmed there shouldn’t be any foes near their position at the moment, so Fayette nodded to herself and judged the timing good. “I’ll bring the rear. Marie, can you help Hailey through?”
Quickly, they helped themselves to the street level with some of Mireille’s ropes, then shuffled over the street to the window. Hailey bent down and pulled the plank covering it up easily enough, then slipped through like a cat into a box. Marie followed him in, much less gracefully, falling in with a loud crash.
Next went Mireille, and Fayette handed the girl her bucket and broom before taking a final look at the streets—still clear—and slipping through herself. Having to crawl on the dirty ground to reach the window made her grimace, but she managed it. Oh no—now my uniform’s all dirty. Could have swept it all first?
Scowling, she fixed the poorly attached plank back into place, and then with a thought, turned back to Mireille. “Can you put something here to make this more secure? I don’t think we should leave vulnerabilities.”
The [Seamstress] gave her a curt nod and went to work, so Fayette turned to the other two. Marie was nursing her shoulder, apparently having barely evaded landing right on her head, while Hailey next to her looked oddly… nervous?
It was an expression Fayette recognized well. “Feeling guilty are we?” She asked, evoking her best impression of a strict caretaker’s tone.
The boy almost jumped, but seeing that it had been Fayette, relaxed a bit. He eyed the ground. “I’m just worried about what they’ll say.”
Naughty kids doing stuff they’re not supposed to do really all look the same. Will my [Disarming Smile] work this time? She gave it her best shot. “Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
It did not work, and the boy seemed to only grow tenser, at least until Marie rose to her feet, stifling a giggle. “That really does look odd on you.”
Fayette’s skill-forced smile shifted as her natural scowl crept beneath it, resulting in a truly horrifying combination, which only sent the [Lady] into more giggles. “What, is my smile really that bad?” Fayette asked, feeling oddly self-conscious. Does Marie not like it?
“It’s not bad exactly…” Mireille said, clapping Fayette on the shoulder. She gave her friend a sympathetic look. “I think it’s just that you use your smile muscles so little that they’ve all atrophied away. I’m pretty sure I saw one of the dead ones making that exact face.”
Fayette stopped smiling. “Then I’m never doing it again.”
“No no no!” Marie said in a panic, waving her hands and stepping forward. “If anything that just means you have to smile more. Smile all the time! Practice!”
Fayette sighed, and then stealthily looked at the kid, and saw that his nerves seemed to have relaxed with the silly act. Good, was worth a try. Picking up her slime bucket, Fayette kicked the room’s door out and started marching further in. “Let’s get this over with.”
[Good job escorting a lost child home and consoling him!]
[Progress towards next level: 45%]
That counts?
—
Now, when one was under zombie siege and had been hunkered away in a damp building for days on end without contact with outside humans, one might naturally be a bit startled by a [Maid] suddenly stomping inside like a bull in a porcelain store.
Most of the building had been empty and abandoned, showing little signs of recent life, so Fayette had managed to march through it quite a bit before she found people. And there were obstacles. Hailey had neglected to mention that the boards covering the outer windows were just the first line of defense, and most doors leading further in had also been barred from the other side.
Of course, the kid led them to a few less well-reinforced spots, and eventually to one which was too small for the adults to fit—forcing Fayette to return to the main route’s barred door. It was time to batter obstacles down.
Thud, thud, thud. Went the great oaken doors as Fayette battered them first with her ironwood broom, then her legs, and deeming it all inefficient, eventually used [So Fresh, So Clean] with a small charge to smash through.
With a great blue flash and a crackle of wood, the big oaken door fell right off its hinges onto the ground, revealing the dining hall beyond. Fayette stepped over the door and stared at the occupants.
They all stared back. Two dozen or so children faces gaunt and jumpy, watched her with wide eyes from the far end of the room, where they were cowering in fear of the monster battering at the gates.
Four Caretakers held pots, pans, and kitchen knives in their shaking arms, faces determined to face their foe until the very end—but seeing a [Maid] be their intruder, all their weaponry clattered to the floor. Fayette scoffed at their weak hands. Amateurs. What if I had been a [Maid Zombie]?
Shaking her head, she quickly took in the space’s occupants, getting a picture of the overall situation. Bedrolls lined the walls, and flickering candles as well as a dim skylight lit the room. She didn’t sense much plague mana within. Guess oak doors are a solution to many of life’s problems.
The scant few occupants within and the state of the outer rooms revealed that the orphanage hadn’t been at full capacity for a good while, so Fayette could agree with the tactical value of gathering everyone into one room.
“Umm, excuse me, but who—” one of the caretakers finally began, still goggling at Fayette, but the [Maid] just sighed. I don’t want to deal with explanations.
She looked back, then pointed at the caretakers. “Mireille, take Hailey along and handle them.”
The [Seamstress] grimaced, but then marched past Fayette to the adults, dragging a now-more-reluctant Hailey behind her. “Fine, fine, I’ll do it. Hello there, sorry for the intrusion, we are—”
Issue one handled. Fayette turned away from the adults, to her real object of concern—the children who were no longer cowering at the back. With their intruders revealed to be mysterious strangers instead of hungry monsters, their eyes had turned curious. Like a dam bursting, a tide of children suddenly cascaded upon Fayette and the [Lady] standing behind her.
“Who are you?”
“Why are you here?”
“What’s it like outside?”
“What is that uniform?”
Fayette again sighed, rubbed her forehead, and pushed a few children away from her. I’ll never get any work done mobbed down like this… Looking behind her, she saw a very flustered Marie trying to get a word in against the children crowding her, and had an idea. Wasn’t that last bunch of kids very interested in…?
She clapped her hands loudly, and instantly all attention was on her. Fayette gestured at herself, highlighting her outfit. “Hello children, as you can see—I have a uniform like this, therefore I am a [Maid]. You all agree, right?”
The children stayed silent, and nodded, agreeing with her impeccable logic. Fayette smiled, deciding to show what her real smile was like—a lot more impish than the last one. Her eyes turned to Marie, who was watching her curiously. Fayette pointed.
“Now, as I am a [Maid], what would that make her? She is with me, and just look at how pretty she is! Isn’t she obviously a [Lady]?”
Marie blushed, “Wait. Me, pretty? Are you say—”
And then her voice was drowned as the tide of children engulfed her, completely forgetting about Fayette. The girls in the group were practically frothing at the mouth at the chance to see a real [Lady], and the boys were shouting out questions, equally curious.
Fayette smiled wider. Problem two solved. That will teach her.
With that, she looked over the room again, quickly identifying what her duty in this situation would be. Mireille would question the adults, getting all usable information from them while Marie would entertain the children—which left Fayette the most important job of all.
She had seen how gaunt the kids had looked, and though they were trying to hide it—the caretakers looked quite skeletal too. Food must have run short days ago. Clapping her hands clean of any dust and getting some soap out of her apron, the [Maid] marched into the kitchen, already pulling out ingredients from her apron.
What she saw were pots and pans in rather good condition, if left unused due to the rather empty pantry. Fayette was impressed by having an actual stove to use. Last time I had to cook up a feast, I was in [Cave Maid] mode. Maybe this is why [Maids] tend to stick with households, it does make things easier…