“Welcome home, Milady.”
It was a chorus, delivered without the slightest deviation. Their bows came in perfect sync, movements and words aligned so precisely it was beautiful to behold.
Indeed, there were arts in this world where beauty arose from unified motion—dances, for instance. This was one such art, and enough to make Inari murmur in awe, “Ohh…”
From just behind Inari, Eri maintained a composed expression and began her formal declaration to one of the butlers.
“Lady Inari will be staying with us for five days. We have also received the required documents from the Master, so please accept them later.”
“Yes. During her stay, we shall ensure not a single inconvenience befalls her.”
“Fuh.”
“Fufu.”
Eri and the butler both chuckled. Then, as if on cue, everyone except Inari joined in, laughter breaking the formal mood.
“Oh come on, Nagao, your acting has gotten even better!”
“You too, Shikishima. You’ve really become more authentic than last year.”
“Eh? Shouldn’t you say indistinguishable from the real thing?”
“Not quite. Compared to Sebastian…”
“Using him as the standard is unfair!”
“U-um… is the acting over now?”
When Inari timidly asked, Nagao and Eri pressed their hands together and said, “Yes, thank you for your cooperation!” with perfectly polished smiles. Their movements were flawless—no doubt even that was practiced.
“I scarce understand, but this talk of upper-class maids… what doth it mean?”
“If it pleases you, allow me—Nagao, head butler of this retreat—to explain.”
Nagao returned to his butler persona with sharp dignity. At his signal, a pair of maids brought in a large board illustrated with explanatory diagrams.
“As Lady Inari knows, this is Servant Uniform Workshop’s retreat facility. Now, if we were to apply the ‘equal servants’ status here, things would become troublesome. Thus, for convenience, we define all guests as upper-class servants. That allows us to provide them services appropriately.”
It was essentially framed as a rehearsal for receiving a true Master or Lady. The “welcoming and farewell,” the “meals,” the “various services”—all were roleplayed in the maid-and-butler setting. Outside of those moments, they dropped the act. Everyone was, after all, colleagues and friends.
“Does that explanation suffice?”
“Aye. It soundeth like much labor, though.”
“Not at all. It is our duty.”
So it was: because this was a retreat, they limited the acting so guests would not feel fatigued. Experience—and years of user surveys—had proven this balance was best.
“And so, during your stay, Milady, all of us will provide the finest service we can offer.”
“U-umu. I shall be in thy care.”
“It’s actually fun for us. Entertaining a Lady is relaxing compared to the tension of entertaining the Master… the representative.”
Inari could understand that. This was not merely a workplace of maids and butlers, but a group who enjoyed being such. For them, lifting Inari up as the Lady was just the right balance.
“Then, let us guide you to your room, Milady!”
At the maid’s cue, the butlers briskly prepared to carry the luggage. Inari, of course, had none—everything was stashed away in her Divine Concealment.
The rooms were two-person as assigned beforehand. Inari was paired with Eri. Inside, the room was furnished in classical style… but with a modern television and refrigerator, much like a themed hotel. Well, it was a retreat, after all.
“This too is rather amusing.”
“Inari, you once spoke of improving your living space. Would you not try something like this?”
“Hmm… I know not. I am more accustomed to plain wooden floors.”
“Not tatami?”
“Nay.”
Tatami required constant care, and even then only lasted ten to twenty years at best. The abandoned village houses before Inari’s manifestation had long since rotted away, their tatami far beyond saving. True, well-kept tatami was something Inari had little experience with.
In modern luxury apartments, Japanese-style rooms were considered more of a stylistic choice. In fact, neither Inari’s current apartment nor her old one had a tatami room at all.
“Tatami, hm… perhaps I should try it.”
“Anything’s possible! If you jot down every idea like that, one day you’ll know exactly what your ideal home looks like!”
“Fumu… I see.”
“Let’s go buy a cute notebook sometime! Oh, once this mission is done, we can shop for one in town!”
“Aye, aye. Let us do so.”
The dungeon expedition would begin tomorrow. For now, Inari and Eri simply enjoyed their idle talk.