“For our next task, a good slave should always be able to clean up after their Master!” the prince announced once the audience had settled down. “Therefore, a slave must be selected to clean up a dirty room. Whoever is able to do it properly, thoroughly, and quickly will win!”
This was a maid duty, so I immediately wanted to use Faeyna again. However, the rules stated that I could only use one girl per competition. Since I had used Faeyna to win the cooking competition, I wouldn’t be able to use her in the cleanup. She could only shrug helplessly.
Cleaning up was a task that anyone could perform. Unlike cooking, I saw no reason that either of the other two people the mysterious Shao, or Carmine, either one would be able to offer competition. In that case, the most important thing to winning would be speed. Although Lydia was extremely quick and agile, she wasn’t necessarily the most refined girl. Although she was always willing to clean, she was a bit careless at times with messes.
That’s when my eyes fell on Celeste. The more I thought about it, the more I realized she was the perfect candidate. After all, she was fast and even had the ability to cast haste on herself so that she could move faster than anyone could believe. She could change her size, allowing her to get into hard to reach areas or see things from angles no one else could. Finally, she had the wind attribute, allowing her to pick up or move things without necessarily touching them. Simply put, Celeste would be perfect.
“Celeste, can you do it?” I asked.
She made fists and nodded. “I-I’ll do my best for Master!”
By the time we turned back to the stage, servants had turned the stage into two separate rooms. There appeared to be a magical wall separating them to keep one person from tossing stuff on the other side. There was a couch that looked dirty, a rug that needed to be beaten, several counters that still had dust on them, and a floor full of various items strewn about. There was even a spill on the floor. In short, it looked like a messy living room that needed cleaning.
On the opposing side, it was actually Shao who was up. I didn’t know what her ability was at all, but I still felt threatened by it. The unknown was something to be wary about. I tapped Celeste on the shoulder.
“Use Haste when the match starts. I have a feeling she’s going to be moving fast. Go as fast as you can. Use wind magic if you have to. Just get it done.”
“Ah! O-okay… master…”
I looked back to see the other girls looking at me uncertainly.
“What? We need to win…”
“Of course… Master, it’s just…” Miki looked uncertain. “Ah… it’s probably nothing.”
I cocked my head, looking at her with a questioning look, but Miki shook her head and the other girls didn’t seem to want to explain. I shrugged and turned back to the main area to watch.
“Alright, the match will begin on my mark!” The prince announced. “3, 2, 1, Begin!”