Let's Go!!!
"First stop—right here, this bookstore!"
They stepped inside at Toria's lead. The sign out front was eaten with rust, and the shelves within had fared no better. Left untended, some of the books were rotting where they stood, and plenty more had gone a sickly yellow.
"I remember this place..."
Leyre murmured it almost to himself.
"Oh—do you know it?"
Toria asked.
"Yeah. Before I went into the cryo unit, I caught the display for that bestseller, Preparing for the Apocalypse, and stood there reading for a bit."
Marx tipped her head.
"Human. You were in a freezing unit?"
"Yeah. I don't know what happened, but I was the only one who survived and woke up."
"So that's how you ended up the last living human... Interesting."
Marx's mouth curved in a thin, amused smile.
"You don't feel anything about being the only one left?"
"Hmm... I don't know. I'm not especially lonely or anything."
"Why not? I heard humans get lonely when they're alone. Are you some kind of special specimen? Or do you just like being by yourself?"
Leyre caught Marx's hand and pressed a kiss to it.
Marx's face went scarlet in an instant, and she jerked her head aside.
"Ah... I get it."
Leyre didn't let go. He pressed her hand to his cheek and nuzzled it.
"Mmm, so soft. Your hands are warm and tender, Marx. How about using them to dance something nice and hot with me tonight?"
"Wh-what are you even saying!"
She put up a fight, but she didn't pull her hand away. Leyre laughed and finally let it go.
"Master, don't you like Marx a little too much~?"
Hias plastered herself against him and whined.
"Like me too~"
Still hugging him, she rubbed her face into his stomach. Leyre only stroked her hair, as if she were nothing but adorable.
"I like every maid, you know. Have I been stingy with you, Hias? Want some now?"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
At that eager yes, Leyre's smile turned meaningful.
"Hias and I are going to step away for a bit. Mind waiting here?"
He led her off toward a secluded corner, and the rest of the maids only tilted their heads.
"..."
"We're back!"
Hias's face was flushed to the roots of her hair. She couldn't get a word out. Her eyes dodged everyone and stayed fixed on the ground.
"Oh my, oh my~"
Agrippa took one look at the hair clinging to Hias's cheek, put the situation together at a glance, and grinned from ear to ear.
"Our baby master is bolder than I gave him credit for~"
"?"
Marx hadn't caught on at all.
"..."
Toria and every other maid already had. Faced with a feat like that, they blushed—some from embarrassment, some from envy—and found urgent reasons to look anywhere else.
"Our baby master~ what exactly did you do to Hias~?"
Agrippa asked it like a tease.
Leyre only smiled.
"I just gave her all the love she asked for."
"Oh my~ is that so~? Hias, is it true?"
Agrippa turned the question on her.
Hias startled and looked at Leyre.
"Yeah. I'm fine now."
The words came with a thick, audible swallow. Then she let out a long, shaky haaah.
"Y-yeah..."
"Oh my~ good for you~"
Agrippa drifted over to Leyre and put her lips to his ear.
"Next time... me too. You know what I mean? I want it both ways, our incredible master."
She punctuated it with a kiss on his cheek.
Leyre scratched his head and could only laugh.
"What? What is it?"
Marx still understood none of it. It wasn't that she lacked instinct so much as that she simply didn't have that kind of knowledge.
"Hey, human. What did you do?"
In the end she came right up and asked. Leyre only smiled.
"You really want to know?"
Marx nodded.
"It might be more praise and love than you can handle."
"What? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hmm... not sure I've got another one in me... Toria?"
"Y-yes?!"
"Do we have time to spare?"
"W-well... we left early and got here early, so even at the worst, thirty minutes..."
"That's plenty!"
Leyre seized Marx's hand.
"Then I'll go give you your praise!"
"Wh-what? H-hold on, where are we going, human?!"
And once again he led her off—this time to somewhere more secluded, darker, quieter, and stiller than before.
"..."
An hour later.
"Baby master~ you're so late~"
Agrippa came over scolding the both of them for the delay.
Marx had no idea where to put her eyes and stared strictly at the floor, her face burned so red she might as well have been named for the color.
"Well, that's how it went. She wanted praise that badly."
Leyre said it while stroking Marx's hair. She only clutched his hand tight and bumped her forehead against his shoulder, again and again.
"Really something~ Keep this up and you'll have plenty left over after taking on every maid in our little band."
"Hahaha. Not a chance. I'm human. I have limits."
"Really~? Either way, you're amazing, our baby master~"
Agrippa reached out and stroked Leyre's hair. Marx's hand shot out and tapped her in the waist.
"...Right now he's my human."
Agrippa beamed, sunny and innocent.
"Oh my, oh my~ that praise really did satisfy you~ To think our Chairwoman would end up like this~"
She slipped away from Leyre, and as she withdrew she turned a coquettish smile on him.
"Well? Any other maids who want more praise, or more love?"
The rest of them hemmed and shuffled.
"Um... we don't have much time, so maybe we ought to get to work... I think."
Toria found the courage to say it, and the others agreed. Someday, yes. Not now. Work came first. Praise after the work wouldn't be so bad.
"Yeah? Hias, you were satisfied with the love I gave you?"
Hias flushed and gave a calm, steady nod.
"Marx, need any more praise?"
Marx let go of his hand and shook her head hard.
"Not here... later..."
At that shy little verdict, Leyre broke into a delighted smile.
"All right! Then this time for real—let's get to work!"
He headed into the bookstore with the maids at his side.
"Hmm... this is mostly a little neighborhood shop, stocked for casual browsing."
Leyre moved through the aisles with the maids, turning over what the shelves still held. Novels, comics, and exam-prep guides, and that was nearly all of it. Nothing you could call a real specialist text—certification manuals, at best.
In the end their entire haul was a single certification book on electrical installations.
"Toria, I don't think local bookstores are going to be enough."
"Ehh... you think so..."
"Are there more bookstores around here?"
"Yes. Probably... about three more?"
"How big are they?"
"About the same as this one. Or smaller."
Leyre propped his chin on his hand and thought.
"Then their stock is probably the same as this... which means going would just waste time..."
He swallowed.
"If we hit all of those local shops, how long would it take?"
"About... three hours?"
Toria said it while opening and closing her fingers, counting.
Leyre nodded, decided.
"We go straight to the university. Hitting every other neighborhood shop would be a waste. We won't find anything good. Better to get there fast."
"So that's how it ends up? Can't be helped..."
Hias let out a long sigh. It carried a bit of a smell.
"That means a forced march, doesn't it... Honestly, maid or not, energy only goes so far, and this is rough..."
She grumbled on.
"Nothing else for it. The local shops aren't enough. A university will have far more specialized books, and if we can just get there, the rest of the work gets easier."
"But you know~ however hard it is on us maids~ I still think it'll be harder on Master~"
Agrippa said it with a smile—a sly, scheming little smile, as if she were already up to something.
"So what if we gave our baby master a ride~?"
What she pointed at was...
"A shopping... cart?"
"Where did you get that?"
Toria asked.
"Mm~ there was a supermarket nearby, so I sneaked it out~ Wheels still roll just fine~ I figured we could load books into it later. But we don't have any books right now, do we? So~"
Agrippa came up to Leyre.
"W-whoa?!"
She scooped him clean off his feet and set him down inside the cart.
"Until we reach the university, Master rides in here!"
"..."
"...Hey. Agrippa, was it? Why are you stuffing my human into a shopping basket where he looks ridiculous?"
Marx rounded on her.
"Hm? Our Chairwoman... our master gets to travel in comfort, and somehow that's a problem?"
"He looks pathetic, that's the problem! My human is supposed to have dignity! He should walk out in front of everyone with his head up, and if it hurts, he endures it! Right, human?!"
She whipped around to look at him.
"Woohooo! First time in a shopping cart since I was a kid!!! Let's run, right now!"
Leyre was having the time of his life.
"..."
"Oh my~ our master looks thrilled?"
"H-human? Why are you enjoying this?"
"Huh? Riding one of these at a dead sprint is a blast. Want to try, Marx?"
"Umm..."
She only stood there, torn.
"Try it!"
Leyre grabbed her arm and hauled her in.
"Ah—aah! Human, what are you—!"
"Everyone, let's go! To the university!"
"Okay~ off we go~!"
Agrippa took the cart and pushed.
"Let's go, let's go~!"
"Aaaah, wait for me!"
Hias and Toria, and a whole crowd of other maids, broke into a run behind them.