Want me to do the 'I won't move until I can serve Lady Dea' samurai act?

"Want me to do the 'I won't move until I can serve Lady Dea' samurai act?"

"What even is that?"

"I'll throw a tantrum right here. And this is the living room. By quietly staying close to Lady Dea's daily life, I'm essentially already serving her. No matter how this plays out, I win. Yay me."

Hmm. This maid homunculus has absolutely zero shame.

"What do you want to do, Dea-kun? She's saying some troublesome stuff."

"What would you like to do, Onee-san? I'll figure something out based on that."

It'd be easy to just say kick her out, but if we did that, I have a feeling she'd turn into a stalker, lurking somewhere beyond our reach and watching Dea-kun's every move.

Maybe it's safer to keep her within arm's reach and tame her instead.

"Dea-kun, think you can tame her?"

"Hmm… if she's the type that listens when given proper rewards, then maybe."

"I'm a loyal maid, so taming me is easy, you know? I'd make the perfect pet, too. Woof woof."

Too bad. We've already got Arthur filling that role.

"What if we flip it around and make her pay Dea-kun a service fee?"

"Shall I pay with my body? Money works too, but in that case, give me permission to work as an adventurer or alchemist and I'll go earn it."

She's really committed to this, huh.

But I totally get wanting to be by Dea-kun's side even if you have to pay for the privilege. Because Dea-kun is a beautiful girl!!

"How skilled are you at alchemy?"

"I am a follower of the Chaos God, after all. I can make anything that can be made with alchemy in this world. Materials required, of course."

"Yeah, the Five Elders would probably be thrilled…"

Or maybe they'd get competitive about it, but that would be its own kind of joy for them.

"Alright, I've decided. Dea-kun, let's hire this maid. She'll earn her own salary and pay you from that."

"I see. So I can legally pay tribute to my lady? No objections here. Lady Dea, I've received Karina-san's permission, so I'll be serving you from now on."

"Um. I feel like a lot of things are off about this, but… oh well. Then here's my first order: please be polite to Onee-san and everyone else who visits."

"Understood, my lady."

The maid homunculus lightly lifted the edge of her skirt and bowed her head reverently.

I'll need to prepare a room for her too… otherwise she'll definitely claim she's sleeping in Dea-kun's room.

"Now for the Contract Magic. I will sincerely serve Lady Dea."

"I accept."

Well, if you think about it, it's basically charging her exorbitant rent while paying her pocket change as a salary.

What a black company… Labor laws? Those don't apply at our base. We have actual slaves, after all.

"Then, my orders once more. You will not oppose Onee-san. You will not take provocative attitudes toward Onee-san. You will treat Onee-san's orders as if they were my own and obey them sincerely."

"Yes, input complete, Lady Dea."

"Very good. I permit you to attend to me, but you will not follow me into the bath or toilet. You will not enter anyone's private rooms without permission. Getting permission once does not mean you have unlimited access; it's on a case-by-case basis. If I need something, I'll call you. I'm in charge here. Know your place. Understood?"

"Kuh… understood."

"Also, you will obey general laws. You will not pilfer other people's belongings without permission—"

"Ah, ah, the list of restrictions keeps growing…!"

Wow, Dea-kun is piling on order after order. He's really got a knack for this.

(I later learned that the lengthy list of orders was apparently standard practice when buying slaves to restrict their behavior.)

Just as Dea-kun finished rattling off his commands, Aishia arrived.

"Welcome back, Master… What's with that maid over there?"

"Ah. Well, I kind of… picked her up?"

"Since when do you go around picking up maids?"

I mean, she mostly just followed us here on her own.

"Also, she's become Dea-kun's maid, so… yeah, have her help with housework and such. Feel free to work her hard."

"Understood, Master. Oh, I'm Aishia. Pleased to meet you."

"Yes, Aishia-sama. I am Rena. Pleased to meet you as well."

Aishia greeted Rena.

"Aishia-san is Rena's supervisor. Day-to-day, you'll follow Aishia-san's instructions and help with housework. Never be rude to her."

"Understood, Lady Dea. Once again, I look forward to working with you, Aishia-sama."

"I never expected to have a subordinate… it feels a bit ticklish, in a way."

And so, Rena came to have a room at our base as well.

… I made sure to place her room a good distance from ours, though. Obviously.