Xyrin Empire
Chapter 561: Senior Sister, What’s Wrong with You?

Chapter 561: Chapter 561: Senior Sister, What’s Wrong with You?

Rider’s words made sense. After all, Mercury Lamp was just a visitor from another world. With all transmigrators being sent back, her departure would happen within a month, tops.

Of course, there’s always the remote possibility that her world might never be discovered. The Endless Void holds countless worlds in corners that we currently cannot detect, but the likelihood of that is minimal—such distant worlds almost never experience transmigrations with our universe.

Transmigration occurring implies proximity between two worlds, and two worlds drawing near each other could hardly escape our increasingly powerful spacetime detection.

Moreover, Mercury Lamp was different from Du Dao Kazuko and the others. To this doll girl who survived on mere obsession, Luo Zhen (whom I firmly believe is long gone) had extraordinary significance. Even if she never finds that elusive champion, Mercury Lamp would want to return to the world she once lived in. This was her resolve ever since she arrived here, and it likely hasn’t changed.

Given her personality, she probably wouldn’t be interested in the painful job of a Space-Time Administration Center Reviewer either. I somewhat knew what Mercury Lamp was conflicted about.

Even a wild bird would know to say goodbye before leaving after a few days of care. Does Mercury Lamp suddenly being so clingy indicate that she knows her departure is near?

This isn’t like her character at all...

"Don’t underestimate my woman’s intuition and your charisma," R said seriously, facing my skeptical expression. She rolled up her "Handheld X" into what seemed like a potent paper tube, smacking it against her palm, "I believe anyone around you would quickly become dependent under such charm, and if they had to leave suddenly, they’d find it hard to let go. It’s not just Mercury Lamp, but each one of us."

Are you referring to the Daddy Halo? Does it work on you, a mature lady? Does it work on Uncle B? What about Red A, the secretly sultry guy? The nature of your halo is completely outrageous!

Too bad Rider had already returned to the world of conquest, turning a blind eye to my sarcastic remarks.

Go drown in side-scrolling shooters and triple jumps!

Still, Rider’s comments about Mercury Lamp weighed on my mind for quite a while, probably for more than an hour, all the way until I got home. Then, I was thoroughly dumbfounded by an even more impactful and vexing event.

"Du—Dao—Kazuko!! What the heck are you doing?!"

That was my first sentence after coming out of the Shadow City teleportation gate and entering my own living room, shouted at the top of my lungs.

Standing in front of me, side by side with Anwina, was the second maid, a purple-haired, explosion-prone high school girl. Facing the head of the household’s shock, she simply offered a mild smile, then bowed gracefully: "Welcome home, master. Also, as a member of the Royal Family, please maintain dignified speech at all times."

Dignified speech, my ass! Anwina, explain this to me!

"Master, I will definitely complete my tasks well and strive to make Du Dao into an excellent maid," Anwina’s hands were clasped in front of her as her face bloomed with an eerily bright smile, "Although Anwina herself is far from reaching the perfect maid standard... Anwina will work hard!"

Towards the end, this slightly dense little maid even energetically waved her feebly powered little fist, striking a pose of striving.

Beside her, dressed in a black short skirt-style maid costume similar to Anwina’s but without the ornamental crest on the hem (Anwina’s maid costume had the Imperial Cross etched by Alaya’s energy on the hem, and I always found such arcane skills to be a pain), standing in a pose mimicking her companion, was... Du Dao Kazuko.

Maid-mode Du Dao Kazuko.

Anwina, you blockhead! Single-minded! Dull crow! Cold fluorescent tube! Little effort! You know what I’m agonizing over, right? It’s already chaotic enough at home every day, do you really want to turn this place into a legion front-line too?

"Oh~~ so this is the method of showing gratitude that Du Dao Kazuko mentioned," Lin Xue, curled up like a lazy cat on the sofa in the south side of the living room watching TV, nonchalantly said, "At first, I was really startled, Wood, I didn’t expect you to be into this kind of hobby—speaking of which, does this Miss need to dress up like this tomorrow to satisfy you? Do you prefer black or white long stockings? Du Dao’s are black!"

"Just watch the TV and don’t butt in! Freeloaders have no rights; didn’t you know?!" I yelled from a distance and then gloomily looked at Du Dao, "Honestly, are you really not here to cause trouble?"

"Being accused like this really breaks my heart," Kazuko immediately exaggerated a long sigh, "I only wanted to repay you with the only method I know. Compared to you all, I have no strength, no knowledge (I’m sorry I don’t), and no wisdom (equally sorry, I still don’t). I’m almost completely useless, but I don’t want to become a burden you have to support, so..."

So you decisively decided to sell yourself... uh, to become a maid? What kind of drama plot inspiration is this! After Sister Jinlian, I’ve stopped believing in this kind of payback with one’s body, really!

Ah, something very suspicious just slipped in...

Du Dao Kazuko’s sudden actions were a huge shock to me and left Qianqian and the others dumbfounded—being able to dumbfound Qianqian, from that perspective, Du Dao, you’re indeed formidable. The group of beauties in the household naturally had various... spectating attitudes towards this sudden appearance of a maid. Knowing what type I am, they would naturally not tease like Lin Xue that this is "some perverted Wood’s long-conspired plot", and among these bored spectators, a consensus was reached: Let’s ignore Anwina, the extraordinary maid, but just how far can this ordinary girl Du Dao go in household chores?

I have to say, it’s a terrible taste, but I can’t deny it—the initiator of this bad taste is Big Sister.

"Ah Jun, just let Kazuko try," with her usual gentle smile, Big Sister propped herself up on the sofa and looked over here, "It’s rather nice that Anwina has always been the only one bustling about the house, and now she can have an extra hand."

Are you sure this terrifying, extraordinary maid Anwina needs such help?

However, I also knew how stubborn Du Dao Kazuko could be once she decided on something. She wouldn’t willingly become a "burden" that we need to protect, just like she said, this strong, autonomous girl wants to "pay" for her current life in her own unique way. And since it’s Big Sister’s idea...

I nodded, turning to Du Dao: "Alright then, since Kazuko, you insist, start by getting accustomed to the household chores with Anwina. But, really just to help out with some housework, not a maid... uh, let’s skip the maid part..."

While the maid version of Du Dao Kazuko was filled with all kinds of cute points, I feared Sandora getting jealous and all of a sudden preparing some highly energetic cooking or something—that would definitely be lethal, whether I ate it or not.

Unfortunately, I underestimated Du Dao’s stubbornness, or more precisely, I underestimated top maid Anwina’s commitment to the "maid career." My words were completely ignored, whether it was Du Dao Kazuko or her "master" Anwina, both were already engrossed in training the new maid.

The results were unexpected, surprising me, Big Sister, Lin Xue, and even Sandora.

Cleaning, full marks—cleared all the graffiti at the door by Little Baobao within twenty minutes.

Tidy-up, full marks—arranged the toys scattered around Little Baobao’s room neatly within fifteen minutes and satisfied the Little Princess.

Etiquette and tea ceremony, full marks—I don’t understand this at all; Sandora was in charge of scoring.

Cooking, full marks—I’m skeptical about this score because the one responsible for tasting and scoring was also Sandora, who could eat anything off the periodic table as far as I know. I have my doubts about the grade she could distinguish, but by my standards, it would still be a good score, around eighty or ninety.

I didn’t see it coming; Du Dao Kazuko was so formidable in household chores, for a high school girl, she was already beyond exceptional — nowadays, eighteen-year-olds who only know how to eat and can’t even wash dishes are everywhere. Miss Lin’s current highest cooking skill is still Master Kong’s, of course, Sandora’s high-energy cooking is another form of art that we’ll not discuss.

So it’s clear how bizarre it is for Kazuko Du Dao to be a skilled and gentle housekeeper... I originally thought she was just meant to be some kind of mascot to the shakes... Can’t help it, I really don’t remember much from the original.

Of course, it should be mentioned here that the perfect scores are evaluated entirely based on human standards. When Kazuko Du Dao received a stack of perfect scores and felt a bit proud, Anwina demonstrated to her the real strength that a legendary Level 99 maid should possess—true perfection.

Cleaning, EX, transforming herself into a "Holy Light Shock Body" and moving along the wall, she removed all the graffiti Little Baobao made in the corridor including theoretically indestructible ion ink, all within 0.3 seconds.

Organization, EX, merging with the room after energy conversion and using arcane art of mind transmission, she arranged all the toys in Little Baobao’s Treasure Vault (branch two) in positions adhering to the golden ratio, all within 0.6 seconds.

Etiquette and tea ceremony, EX, though utterly incomprehensible, Anwina seemed impressive assuming the posture of a maid who had been educated among the elites from a young age in a major household, tricking the real Miss Lin Xue into believing the dog’s tail grass somehow tasted like Longjing tea (Little Ghost, good job!).

Cooking, EX, allow me to worship for a moment. If Sandora’s high-energy cooking could make you see Lilina’s radiant smile from across the Santu River, a simple tomato and egg stir-fry from Anwina could make Jack the Ripper weep as he listened to "Hallelujah" at the gates of Eden Garden. This, I believe, defies the laws of physics, but well... who cares.

"To become a qualified maid, you still need to work harder!"

After accomplishing these feats, which to me seemed more terrifying than the twelve labors, our dual-trained, high-mana, unmatched martial arts expert Anwina, the Maid Chief, stood breathlessly at the living room door, radiantly speaking to Kazuko Du Dao, who had already turned into a monument.

Her expression was almost Christ-like.

"Shaken... I am utterly shaken..." Kazuko Du Dao muttered to herself as she looked at the dazzling Maid Chief—at the right title and brightness level—"Are maids such terrifying creatures?"

No, only this flashlight-like maid is so terrifying, and please don’t try to imitate her unless you plan to die once like this glowing entity.

"Phew, these are only the basic skills of a maid," said Little Ghost, who had been upgraded to Maid Chief because there was finally another maid in the house. She licked her lips, still seemingly unsatisfied, and consoled the utterly disheartened Kazuko Du Dao, "Just practice diligently and you can master them too, then come the advanced skills of a top maid. Once you’ve learned a thousand dishes, you can begin practicing those skills... maybe I can teach you a few in advance!"

Kazuko Du Dao dazedly looked up at the faintly glowing Anwina floating mid-air, like a confused believer witnessing Jesus.

Seriously, Anwina’s radiant, suspended figure was quite something—Maid God? Maybe I should discuss setting up such a divine position in this universe with Dingdang.

"Ah, the advanced skills," Anwina nodded vigorously, pointing at Kazuko Du Dao’s eyes, "Start practicing shooting laser beams from your eyes!"

"Huh?" The normally mature Kazuko was momentarily dumbfounded, then disbelief filled her face as she watched Anwina perform the unique eye beam apple-peeling technique.

I felt much the same: This quirky Little Ghost was definitely planning to go off track.

"And then, mastering the use of the ribbons tied at the back of the maid uniform, using them to launch attacks at a range of 100 meters, and then comes weight training, firearms assembly, driving lessons, psychology, medical training, command, economics, hand-to-hand combat and various weapons, Transformation Magic X female, all these can be supplemented by classes at the Shadow City Military Academy. But before that, there are some basics like swinging a 700-kilogram hammer with one hand, rushing at 300 miles per hour to deliver lunch to a forgetful master, submerging underwater for seven days and nights for work, walking across the Sahara Desert for work, helping master quell military riots for work, and needing for work..."

"Kazuko," I suddenly slapped her shoulder heavily, rescuing the petrified girl, then spoke earnestly, "Forget being a maid, go learn how to pilot Gundams with Pandora, it’s more efficient for saving the world."

"Um..." Kazuko looked uncertainly at Anwina, who was caught up in some inexplicable zeal, and shrank her neck, "I think I could learn the thousand dishes..."

"Whatever, I’m not going to worry about those two who have already entered some weird loop. I always felt like they were actually planning to create a Terminator."

"Only idiots gather around idiot humans!"

Riding on my shoulder and watching everything from start to finish, someone suddenly gave a tragically accurate comment, and sadly, I couldn’t find a way to rebut.

I wondered if that doll had become part of my own equipment named "Secret Technique Mercury Lamp Patterned Plate Armor (Purple) Shoulder Guard". It’s such a troublesome piece of equipment! When the little ones get lively, I have to carry Mercury Lamp on my shoulder, Little Baobao hanging in front, Pandora’s mother hanging in the back, holding Pandora with my left hand, pulling Visca with my right, Dingdang perched on my head, and Qianqian scratching her cheeks beside me. You’d think I was clad in plate armor ready to take on Death Wing!

"Hey, idiot human," Mercury Lamp suddenly knocked on my head, "Take me out tomorrow!"

"Huh?" I thought he had something important to say; I didn’t expect such a request.

"Since arriving in this world, I’ve been moved from one large house to another, from Shadow City to another space, but I’ve never actually gone out to see what’s outside this house," Mercury Lamp said while holding my head, her gaze drifting toward the sunlit window. "I want to know what the outside world is really like since I mysteriously ended up here."

"Outside?" I scratched my head, "It’s not much different from your original world; in fact, the northern district of Shadow City is exactly like the outside world..."

I was only halfway through my sentence when I suddenly realized something.

Even standing outside the door, seeing what this big house looked like after having lived here for a month would satisfy her, wouldn’t it?

"Okay, I’ll take you out tomorrow," after a silence of two or three seconds, I reached out and tousled Mercury Lamp’s hair. This time, she did not dodge or protest. "We’ll see the scenic beauty of K-city—but you have to behave like a good doll, and I’m guessing you’ll have to spend most of the time in my travel bag."

"Hmph!" Mercury Lamp immediately started grumbling dissatisfiedly, then began a rapid tapping on my head, as if trying to hide something.

"Your Majesty, this is a report from the Space-Time Management Center."

Suddenly, a voice in the communication channel interrupted my counterattack to Mercury Lamp’s sudden assault, and Qianqian and the others were also startled, apparently having all received the message. Sandora activated the living room’s hidden three-dimensional imaging device, and immediately, an image of a robed Imperial People appeared before us.

"What’s going on?" I managed to calm down the squirming Mercury Lamp on my shoulder and asked.

"Identification WER421DF154E, commonly named ’Rose Maiden World’ has been located, and a stable space-time channel will be established in twenty-four hours. We require the exact time of departure for Miss Mercury Lamp."

The Xyrin Apostle in the image remained expressionless, merely reporting their work in a routine manner.

The playful movements abruptly froze mid-air, as Mercury Lamp became unusually quiet.

"Little one...you can go home now."

There was a moment of silence before I quietly spoke up.

"...Yeah." (To be continued, for more information, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)