There was one thing Nemo loathed, one thing that always butted into her play time with no apparent reason other than to waste her time in absolute boredom and that thing was lessons at school. When she found herself in a fantastical land she thought she was done with all those dumb and boring bits of her life but apparently not.

Nemo was fuming. She had half a mind to ask the Count to teach her some magic to better express herself and one of them would be how to release steam from her ears.

Nemo understood working as a housemaid. Her Grandpa once said that it was only right to work her keep and not burden others, especially friends. The Count was her friend and provided her with a place to sleep, food, and most importantly an opportunity to have so much fun. She understood working for those opportunities.

However! Lessons? Boring!

Why Nemo needed to learn anything was beyond her. Anything relevant to her quest of exploration she would’ve been able to learn about them through experience, and to gain that experience all she had to do, or the Count had to do, was to allow her to go on an adventure. She especially didn’t understand the need of holding buckets of water and throwing the water into the dirt only to had them refilled and repeat the process.

All under the supervision of Demon Lady.

It was odd to think that Demon Lady was the person she had the most interaction with, and by interaction she meant veins popping, scolding, outbursts, and Nemo trying her best to appease, but mostly run from, all of the above. With time Nemo noticed that Demon Lady’s expressionless gaze slowly formed into a perpetual scowl whenever the two met.

The Count charged his housemaster to teach Nemo something and with a reluctant smile full of subdued rage the demon found herself once again with the child, who was now wasting water.

“Lady Nemo,” Demon Lady said through gritted teeth. She was clearly unhappy that instead of a worker in the mansion, the lesson was taught in the name of helping the Count’s friend. It didn’t help that Nemo knew it and she decided to be smug the entire time. “Remember what I said? You have to feel the water and embrace it with your mana. Then, the system will register your attempt and increase the likelihood of it recognizing it as your skill. If it succeeds then you will be able to use Splash of Sanitation whenever you…”

Nemo threw another bucket of water into the dirt.

“Stop. Wasting. Water.”

Nemo thought that was what they were supposed to be doing. With an exasperated sigh Demon Lady started to explain again.

“Lady Nemo, the reason we are doing this practice is to ensure that you can acquire the skill needed for your next assignment. You do not have a Class and your Origin is only three points in mana. Thanks to an unknown special ability you can use the skills of a Class but since that Class is not granted by the System but by an ability of yours, it skipped the Class creation and registration process, making it impossible to use skills unless we practice and emulate them so that the System can register it.”

Nemo pondered hard then clapped her hands. So that was what they were doing. Why didn’t Demon Lady say so?

“I am certain I told you all of that, in even further detail, before we began your lesson.”

Nemo stuck out her tongue and looked to the side.

Demon Lady clenched her fist and Nemo quickly went back to practising. She knew her supervisor wouldn’t hit her but it was still a sign that her teacher’s patience was running out.

Nemo lifted the bucket full of water by placing her palm at the side of the cold metallic surface. She closed her eyes and tried to feel the water swirling within, to picture its subtle waves and its motion. Suddenly a spark in her mind ignited and just for a moment the bucket within her grasp became water. She only felt the water.

Nemo chucked the bucket, the liquid within glowed like rainbow and sparked like stars. It was beautiful.

[Skill learned - Splash of Sanitation (rank E)]

Nemo grinned. There was only one thing to do. She had to do it again.

Nemo dashed to the pond but was quickly stopped by Demon Lady.

“It seems like you can read her mind better now, my dearest housemaster,” said the Count who appeared out of nowhere. Nemo was already used to seeing him show up whenever and wherever. At this point she just assumed every shadow within the mansion was the Count.

Demon Lady raised an irritated eyebrow but decided to stay silent. Nemo figured that whatever was bottled up inside would explode if given the opportunity. She had to tread carefully. For at least a couple of days.

“Still, Nemo, congratulations. One more lesson and you will be able to use all of the housemaid basic skills,” the Count said and Nemo instantly sank to the floor when she heard there would be another lesson. The Count simply chuckled and continued. “Do not despair as once you have completed the lessons you would then be equipped to serve tasks in other places of the mansion.”

Nemo’s eyes sparkled.

“Yes, Nemo. You will have graduated from the hallway in front of your room!” the Count bellowed, arms raised high and his cape fluttered. Nemo celebrated with him and jumped in rhythm with the motion of his cape.

“Another one?” came a silent yet eerily grating voice. With gritted teeth the Demon Lady stepped to the side and punched a pillar. With a loud explosion the entirety of the structure was ground to dust. “I feel better now. I’ll have it fixed soon. I’ll take my leave now master. Lady Nemo.”

Demon Lady left the yard and Nemo could do nothing but stare with a slacked jaw.

“At least her reaction was less explosive than I anticipated. You should’ve seen what she did when Headless Housemaid began her training. I had to terraform the entire north wing of the mansion.”

Is this not the north wing?

The Count simply smiled.

Oh boy. In order to change the topic, Nemo quickly asked the Count who Headless Housemaid was.

“She was one of my loyal servants and excelled at what she did. However, after a certain incident she decided to hole up in her room and only comes out to work. Even then with her knowledge of the layout of the mansion she avoids everyone. Even I require some effort to get into contact with her.”

Is everyone in your mansion a shut in?

“It seems like you have hit the nail on the head as they say,” he said with a smile and a paused. “Most if not all who live in my manor carries a heavy burden. Due to my very nature I am unable to help them or even lighten their pain. You however, seem to be able to do something. These are my dear friends, whether they are guests or my servants, and I wish that in the process of working here, I would also like your aid in this particular matter.”

Nemo stood straight gave the Count and salute. If she would be able to get all those interesting people to open up to her, who knew what fun shenanigans she could be apart of.

Why me though? What can I do?

“I do not know exactly why or what. However, one thing is for certain that should prove you far more capable than you think you are” the Count said and the smile beneath his mask grew mischievously, like a kid who was about to pull a prank. “You are still alive after all this time, are you not?"

Gulp