"Basically, the concept of a maid starts from the idea of a housekeeper. Do you think you understand what this means? To work as a maid, you need to first understand what the concept of working for others really entails."
"There are two key elements that every maid should have. The first is filling the master's deficiencies, and the second is satisfying the five senses."
"To explain the first in more detail, the master doesn't need to do anything other than place an order and eat the food. Once the food and drink are ready, we bring them to the master and place them neatly on the table. That is the fulfillment of the deficiency."
"Now, for the second, satisfying the five senses simply means pleasing the master visually and auditorily. It could be decorating the food with syrup or saying a greeting like ‘enjoy your meal’ before eating, or if the master wishes, taking a photo together..."
"The most important thing here is movement. You must stand with your back straight and always present yourself as a graceful maid. This way, people will finally realize they are being treated in a special way."
"And also..."
"When something falls to the floor, there’s a formal way of picking it up. I taught you once before, so let’s review again... Whoa, teacher!?"
"I came to see how you're doing, and I see you're holding the new Mecha trainees like you're catching mice. Excellent. Ah, you don't need to take off the red hat. It actually suits you quite well."
"Ah, oops."
Hmm, a faint nostalgic scent rises from the back of my mind. Specifically, it reminds me of the military training I did before my body changed. Thinking about it, does this mean I've been to the military twice?
Anyway, as I continued watching Iris’ training with amusement and secretly observing, I found that just watching was more boring than I thought. I eventually had to step in.
Making a sound like "kki-eek," I softly coaxed and calmed the approaching Mecha Biyams and added:
"You said you served as a trainer in the military, right? Your leadership and vocal abilities are impressive, even by my standards."
"...Back then, it was really like hell. I never imagined I’d use the skills I learned back then in society or in this body. You didn’t ask me to do this because you knew about it, did you?"
"Would I do that? Ha ha."
I adjusted the tilted trainer’s cap, fixing its angle and shape.
Luckily or unluckily, this person’s height had also become the same as in their profile. 168 cm. For a woman, it wasn’t considered short. One thing was certain: she was much taller than Dice and Harmonie.
From her perspective, she had probably shrunk by about 10 cm, so it must be quite frustrating.
Anyway, being a bit shorter, it was now easier to adjust her hat.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
"I'm curious about your military experience, but I haven’t exactly shared much about what I did in the past either, so let's call it even."
"Ah, heh heh."
"Anyway, let’s take a break here. We’ve been going nonstop for about an hour and a half. If this were reality, my throat would already be sore."
"Eh, yeah. Then let's take a break. I can’t ignore your kindness."
Ignoring the slightly strange comments in between, I sat down with the editor.
Since this was virtual reality, I didn’t have to worry about the durability or strength of the chairs, which was quite nice. So, both the editor and I sat on a bench-shaped chair for the first time in a while.
I started first.
"The expo is about four days away, so I plan to do a trial run a day before."
"Should we push for more training?"
"Quite the opposite. There’s no need to forcefully instill job ethics. While being overly skilled might be impressive, even the clumsy actions of the Mecha trainees can become a sales point."
"Ah."
I’m glad the conversation was moving fast.
The editor nodded, understanding that my point made sense.
Basically, Jin, Rain, Mav, and Nasty each had their own scenario. Because of that, even though their appearances were similar, they each had their own personalities.
Even Mav, the most mentally mature, once pulled a huge stunt on Nasty during an escape, so... Anyway, if their individual freedom became more apparent, it might attract more attention.
Among the things the editor would be glad to hear about, one thing stood out:
"Well, we don’t really need to go overboard with adjusting the curriculum just to emphasize individuality. In fact, regular people are less likely to care about it."
"...Really?"
"If we think about it simply, just having the Mecha trainees come out and serve will be enough to leave the guests spellbound."
That was my thought.
I also thought a lot about how many participants would be okay and adjusted the internal flow of the café accordingly, so the Mecha trainees could adapt to it.
Of course, I summarized this in a message to Iris, saying, "You don’t need to worry, the outside matters are my responsibility, so just focus on the main job."
"By the way, the other two didn’t come today. I thought for sure they’d be watching."
"Oh, Mina and Yerin... They’re probably doing some tests under Olivia right now. Simple physical exams, and checking how useful they’ll be during actual operations, to see what kind of performance they can deliver."
"...Has Christopher Lorentina come while I’ve been here?"
"Exactly, they're preparing for the shark."
Strictly speaking, and of course, Lorentina didn’t have the authority to bring those two to the U.S. or enlist them.
He was the type to use his image to fulfill his own pleasures, so he probably just wanted to tease Harmony and Dice, my trainees, within a playful limit.
That’s why it’s better to measure their skills now. It’ll prevent the shark from coming around later with the excuse of testing their abilities when he has free time.
Anyway, once the results are more specific, I think Lorentina will be happy with it. But that’s something we’ll see later.
‘It’s basically impossible to stop a shark wandering around distributing enlistment letters in the first place.’
That’s just... like a natural disaster, something beyond control.
Anyway, the conversation was nearing its end, and I started calling out the list of people who would participate in the trial run at the expo café.
"It’s simple. I’ll invite the people who were at the maid café last time, my acquaintances, and everyone who’s with Eugene’s squad, so we won’t be short of people."
"...So, Kato, Hoduk, Limit, and Kimstone?"
"No, we’ll call the people who were working with Iris, too. You know, the third-generation trainees. They’ll be fine with the dronecam’s avatar overlay function, and does Iris have anyone she wants to invite?"
"Let me think about it."
"Just let me know before the café opens, so don’t worry too much."
On a whim, I thought I’d start contacting people now.
I sent out a message to two group chats—one for Eugene’s squad and the other for my acquaintances.
It didn’t need to be long, so I made it as simple and clear as possible and sent it out.
The numbers beside the messages didn’t take long to disappear.
-[Eugene: Looking for anyone available this Friday. There’s streaming. We’re doing a Mecha trainee maid experience at the Expo A café. If interested, contact me.]
-[Eugene: Mina and Yerin must join. It's a legal chance to touch a Biyam’s tail ☆]
-[Eugene: You can legally promote this stream, too xD]
How long had it been?
-[Harmony: Heh]
-[DICE: xD]
-[If a tiger pounded rice cakes, would you even make a hotteok? Gasp, even a hotteok? ㄷㄷ]
-[Cartographer: Please don’t tell me you’re kidnapping us and making us work as maids?]
-[LIMIT: I didn’t say anything, haha~]
...
"Teacher, suddenly there are hundreds of messages piling up in my inbox?"
"I just sent out the messages, so that’s to be expected. By the way, the Mecha trainees are supposed to take the maid role, but why is everyone asking if they’ll be made into maids? That’s just... not going to happen."
"..."
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
This was strange. I’ve only been providing curriculum with good intentions all along.
Maybe the world’s become a harder place to live in recently. Otherwise, there’s no way everyone’s head would be filled with suspicions like this. I’ll have to treat my acquaintances better from now on.
While thinking that, Iris gently placed her hand on my left hand and added:
"Though it's a bit late, I’ll make sure to tell the people I meet that Eugene School’s enlistment is exaggerated. So don’t worry too much."
"...Right, it’s my fault again."
As I said earlier, I’ll treat my acquaintances better from now on.
Especially Kato.
I’ve always felt that way, but karma is a truly scary thing.
<"I’ll make sure to treat you better from now on, Kato.">
And then came the donation:
<"I’ll make sure to treat you better from now on, Kato.">
"...No, come on. Seriously, I was really uneasy about it, okay?!"
"Right? I’m not that desperate."
The responses were overwhelming, and even though Kato tried to refute it, it didn’t stop.
The whole thing was becoming a spectacle.
"I mean, I still don’t understand what’s going on. And why are you making me go through all this now?"
But it was too late to stop.
At this point, the air had been cleared. There was nothing to do now except to deal with the inevitable aftermath.
The tension finally let up, and Kato, exhausted but begrudgingly accepting his situation, began to ease into his new reality. He didn’t want to face the fans’ teasing anymore and decided to let it go for the time being.
"Well, whatever, I guess. But..."
With one last heavy sigh, he gave in.
Despite everything, he knew there was no going back.