Life in Another World as a Maid Mage
Volume 1 - Daily Life of A Maid Mage
05 – Accepting to-go food orders (1)
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This chapter is narrated from Shiori's perspective
Clatter… rattle.
I slowly woke up to the sound of a passing wagon echoing under the window. The soft sunlight shining through the curtains told me that it was still early in the morning. I listened to the occasional footsteps of people outside rushing past and the chirping of birds, all the while basking in the warmth of my sheets as I drowsily roused from sleep.
Dong.
The bells of the church resounded through the curtained windows. One, two, three… I counted up to six tolls of the bell. Six o'clock. It was time to get up.
I rolled up my sheets, sat up, and stretched. Rurie, who was apparently already awake on the floor, was spread out like a puddle of water, the slime's wobbly body stretching and contracting. It seemed to be Rurie's way of doing morning exercises. It reminded me that, before going to bed, she had also stretched and contracted in a different pattern. Maybe that was supposed to be bedtime stretches.
"Good morning, Rurie."
When I greeted her, a part of her body stretched thin, as if she were reaching out to me. This was also Rurie's way of saying hello.
(She is acting more and more human-like….)
When I first met her, I thought she was still an ordinary slime.
I left the bed and changed into a dress with an indigo hem and a square neck collar; the dress was embroidered with ivy patterns in unbleached thread. It was one of those pieces I normally wore to work instead of a mage's robe.
I lined up two basins that had been stacked on top of each other beside the kitchen and filled them with a water spell. I put one of them at my feet and Rurie stretched out two tentacles from her body and used them to wash her face. When she was done washing, she drank up the water. Every time, I wondered what part of her body exactly did she wash?
I washed my face, too, and gently wiped it with my favorite linen towel from the Republic of Rinothuania. I applied a lotion that my fellow adventurer and dear friend, Ms. Nadia,
I transferred the water I used to wash my face to a small watering can and walked over to the window and opened the curtains. I contemplated the morning view of the city of Toris as seen from the window of the apartment. The city was lined with colorful roofs contrasting against a high, clear sky. Far beyond, the tall cathedral tower rose in the distance.
While enjoying the scenic view, I watered the potted plants on the small balcony. There were no houseplants of any kind—all of them were herbs and vegetables. I plucked a few baby leaves that had grown fat and lush in a large potted plant, then picked one of the tomatoes and headed for the kitchen.
Breakfast was a light and nutritious baby leaf salad and some multigrain bread from a bakery that had a reputation among my fellow adventurers for being cheap and tasty. To that, I decided to add some bacon and eggs. I took out a frying pan from the shelf and drizzled some fruit oil on it, then I rubbed the magic stone to turn on the stove. I sizzled two pieces of bacon in the pan then cracked two eggs and fried them until the yolks were covered with a crispy, thin film and the edges of the whites were golden-brown and crunchy. Breakfast was done by serving the salad, the lightly seared multigrain bread, and the bacon and eggs on a large, flat plate.
I placed the bowl with magic-made water and the freshly prepared breakfast in front of Rurie, who was fidgeting at my feet, politely waiting for me to serve her. Then, after leaning forward for a moment as if bowing, she began eating her breakfast. At first I wondered if it was okay to give her the same food as humans, but it seemed she would eat anything if it wasn't too hard. No, strictly speaking, rather than eating, she was absorbing everything on the plate into her mucus and dissolving it.
Looking sideways at the display of Rurie's eating habits, I also started on my own breakfast. First, I moistened my throat with fruit juice, then cut up a piece of bread and brought it to my mouth. Although it had a simple taste, the more I chewed, the more the sweetness and faint saltiness of the grains spread to my mouth.
"Yeah, it's delicious. I'll buy more bread later."
Squesh, squesh.
I looked down since my leg was being prodded. Rurie was holding an empty bowl. It looked like she wanted a refill of water so I activated the water spell and filled it up one more time and she happily drank it down again. To be honest, I'd like to offer her some fruit juice or soup, just like what I drank myself, but she seemed to love magic-made water, so currently I just gave her what she wanted.
(Well, if she's okay with it, I guess it's fine…)
I ate the salad and started on the bacon and eggs. It would have been best if the eggs were poached, but I couldn't expect the same quality of raw eggs as back home, so I had made sure they were cooked thoroughly. I didn't want to get food poisoning in this world where the level of medical technology was so low that it couldn't even be compared with that of home.
Home.
I knew I could only return to it in my memories….
Dong.
I was surprised at the sound of the bell ringing again. Seven peals this time. It was time to finish eating and get ready to leave. Pushing down the nostalgia that filled my chest with a lingering pain, I focused on eating the rest of my breakfast.
After finishing the food, I picked out a caped jacket with a similar design to the dress, pulled on matching boots, and put on a triangular hat with a feather for decoration. My own formal uniform for work. Even though I wasn't planning to talk to any clients nor take any requests today, I still wore the full attire in case of emergency work orders.
I put on a shoulder bag filled with packed, portable homemade meals and held a basket, also full of meals, in my hand.
"All right, let's go."
At my feet, Rurie bounced as a reply.
The adventurer's guild was located about five minutes away from the apartment. You could find grocery stores, general stores, armor stores, and miscellaneous stalls lining the street between my home and the adventurer's guild, making it convenient for shopping. Because my job required me to do a lot of shopping, I really liked my conveniently located apartment, even though the rent was a bit high.
The door to the adventurer's guild creaked as I opened it and the adventurers inside, who had been waiting, looked at me all at once. I felt like running away.
"Good morning," one called out.
"Morning!" another greeted.
"Sorry to keep you waiting…" I couldn't help but speak out when I saw Linus, who I had grown close to from the other day's request, approaching me in a good mood while rubbing his hands together.
Nevertheless, as I looked around the room, I thought it was still a tad earlier than the appointed time, but many adventurers were already there like every other time. That was how much they had expected to see me and it made me happy. I braced myself, holding in this feeling.
"Then, I'll deliver your orders now!"
[1] TL Note: Shiori speaks very politely to everyone. In Japanese that translates into using suffix honorifics all the time. Most people gets a "-san (～さん)" which is basically a Mr. /Mrs. However, Nadia gets a "-neesan (～姉さん)" which is usually reserved for older sisters or similar older role model figures, signaling that Shiori is closer to Nadia than other people and she somewhat looks up to her. This don't translate so well in English without the honorifics so this time we modified the sentence slightly as "dear friend"; just keep in mind that every time Shiori addresses Nadia she does it with the neesan honorific.