[Don’t you think he’s becoming less of what he’s originally was?]

A sudden remarks made by Yohana as he’s pointing out toward Rud, while in the middle of munching a hamburger together with Hilda, Chris, and Josephine while Vram was standing at the back, in the middle of conversing together with Yohn and Rosa.

[Uh… what do you mean by “originally”?]

Rud, somehow looked worried, asking the most obvious question while averting his eyes.

[You… got a point there.] [It feels like we’ve been played around by him without noticing the difference in our position.] Hilda was completely agreeing with Yohana on that subject somehow

[I guess it’s all thanks to his peculiarity and his trustworthy partner that we forget it all.] And Chris just calmly affirming the situation while she’s munching out her hamburger.

[Umm… What are you all talking about?] And Josephine, as usual, just munching her hamburger happily while letting out pure expression of not understanding anything.

[[THAT GUY IS YOUR SLAVE, RIGHT?!?!]]

In unison, both Hilda and Yohana shouted straight while pointing at Josephine now.

[Hoe…?] And Josephine can only react as she herself confused with their statements

[Master… don’t tell me you forgot what was he originally...?] Vram, whom somehow overheard their shout from the back, started to look at Josephine.

[Well if he’s as cute as Yohn, then maybe he could be a pet, right Yohn~?] As Rosa commenting on the back

[I don’t even wanted to become one.] As Rud expressed his own opinion against Rosa’s, suddenly….

[Don’t get cocky, you slave.] Hilda just scorned Rud while looking sharp to him.

[Yes ma’am.]

[But still….] as Yohn was trying to talk his way for his partner. [I know that sometimes he’s an no-brain idiot, irresponsible, dense, and all talk, but that doesn’t mean he’s just doing as he please.]

[Thanks for the compliment, partner.] as Rud sitting there annoyed hearing Yohn’s banter.

[At any rate.] [I’ve always doing everything I can to help finding what was he capable of, what he could contribute to Josephine for all her helps, and to train him to become something better.] [Heck, even Vram helped us so much regarding this.]

[And…?] Yohana frowns her eyebrows as she looks sharply toward Rud.

[He’s useless.] As Vram take a deep breath before answering. [His fighting skill’s only as good as a foot soldier, making him a free meal in this island. He’s unable to focus at something in front of him, easily distracted. Also, I don’t really have to mention the chaotic thing inside his body, do I?] [To be honest, if not because of Yohn, I’d be forced to kick him out of my master’s eyes.]

All the people there can only sighing deeply as they saw the most useless person in the whole island, or maybe even the whole world.

[Ugh... then at least let me do something that doesn’t have anything to do with labor works!] As Rud was trying to reject their dissapointment

[Sadly none of us know what kind of works would be suitable for you]

As they all having quite a trouble thanks to the idiotic red-haired man, suddenly Rosa steps into the group as she observes Josephine.

[Umm... Lady Hilda.] [A slave is... someone who would serve their master and would fulfill every needs of their master, is that right?]

[That’s right.] [Why are you asking that?]

[You see....] [Does she ever have the needs to be fulfilled?] [I mean, all she ever does is eating, studying, playing with Vram or us, and experimenting.] [Does she ever need a slave to begin with?]

And suddenly the staring gaze shifted toward Josephine, whom somehow feeling the pressure and guilt of that stare.

[Wait, why is it my fault now?!?!?]

[Nonono.] Hilda’s starting to feel disheartened after listening the fact from Rosa. [In the end you’re not fit to have a slave under your wings.]

[Then if he was unable to fulfill his role as a slave, there’s only execution awaits in front of him.] As Yohana tried to ascertain his fate.

[[Ugh...!]] Both Rud and Josephine reacted at the harsh words thrown by Yohana.

[Eat, sleep, study....] And just then, Vram was muttering all by himself on the back.

[What, you have some problem with my daily life, Vram?] As Josephine pouted and depressed by herself after being pointed that out by Rosa.

[Why I didn’t think of that before!?]

[Yes?]

***

*JYASH!!

*GYAAAAAAAAAKH!!!!!!

As a sword still hanging on its body, the creature that looked human-like, though having a reddish, brown skin as well as pointy ears, and wielding something like an axe on its hand, was already dead. As its eyes somehow lost its color, the creature just lost its balance and fall into the ground. It’s still breathing, but it’s pretty much dead at this rate. The place where the sword piercing it were also being slowly closed, with no wound to spare.

[*Phew*... I guess that’s the last one of them, Master.] Vram was calling out to her master while dragging the monster with his one arm. For the record, its height was as big as Vram.

[Thanks a lot, Vram~!]

[Umm... Senior Josephine....] a junior on a Gallant unit was tagging along with Josephine, together with her familiar, a creature with its long head, though having a small mouth and a horn attached in it as well as a long body with 4 legs attached on it, with fur-like tail, it often referred as Unicorn. [We were ordered to kill each and every last one of the monster whom somehow were trying to force through here, right?] [But....]

[Ah, no worries~] [They were pretty much dead already, only leaving its body intact.]

[But... They’re still breathing.]

[Yeah....] [I need their body, still active at least, so that I can do some experiment on them....] [It feels wrong to do this, though.]

[Experiment?] [But most of the monster you caught was a humanoid-type.] [Even that familiar you had itself keeps switching its equipment all the time.] [What kind of experiment are you trying to do, Senior?]

[Hmm... I can’t really say for sure, since it was rarely performed by our ancestors....] [To explain it in a better words, it would be....] [Assembling and Destroying, then Re-Assembling, I guess?]

[He?]

The Junior suddenly confused with what Josephine was trying to say, as suddenly Yohana came back from her area of patrol.

[You’re almost making no sense at all, Fina.]

[Ah, Senior Yohana.] The Junior suddenly making a gesture of respect at the presence of Yohana.

[Well that’s why I’m experimenting it!] [I have the gist of an idea of what I’m going to do, but I don’t even know whether it’d work or not, that’s why I can’t explain it very well.]

[Hmm...] [Is it related to what your slave is experiencing now?]

[Um... Yes....] Josephine hestitately answering Yohana’s question.

[*sigh*... well I guess you do need to do it for him, though I still don’t like that idea.]

[Senior Josephine... why do have to go that far just for that human?] The junior asks Josephine in a curious manner, considering the Witch was taught to despise humans since birth.

[Uhm... well....] Josephine was trying to ponder at something before starting to open her mouth [At first I wasn’t really interested in him at all....] [But hearing about how he was becoming something different than the rest of his race, I just....] [I kinda emphatizing with him....]

[Just for the record, Master.] [At the very least, you’re not causing other people trouble like that guy.] Vram suddenly interject from behind as he’s collecting the monster’s corpse.

[G... GEEZ! I know!!] [W... well, we’re supposed to be done with our assignment today, so shall we get home now?] [I’m wondering how he’s faring now with his new assignment~!]

[Well Lady Hilda and Chris are overseeing him, so I guess nothing’s going to go wrong, right?]

***

[YOU’RE SLOW!!]

[I’m sorry...!]

Inside Josephine’s camp, chaos ensues. Rud was frantically turning left and right while Hilda and Chris was behind him, observing what Rud has been doing all the while Josephine and Vram was away on their new assignment.

[WAIT A MOMENT, REDHEAD!!] [ARE YOU TRYING TO JUST POUR IT ALL IN A SINGLE SWING LIKE THAT?!?!] [YOU CAN’T!] [THE TASTE WILL MIXED UP AND TURNING WEIRD!!] [PUT THEM UP SEPARATELY!]

[Y... YES MA’AM!]

Somehow, even Rosalinda, whom was always cheerful and seemed to be having fun all the time, becomes a spartan at trying to fix what Rud was doing.

[WHAT ARE YOU DOING, TAKING THINGS SLOWLY LIKE THAT!] [THE SOUP WILL OVERHEAT!!!]

[YES MA’AM!] [I’M SORRY!!!]

[WAIT! DON’T JUST PLUNGE THEM UP LIKE THAT!] [THE SOUP WILL SPLATTERED EVERYWHERE!] [YOU’RE ALSO DAMAGING THE INGREDIENTS LIKE THAT!!!]

[I’M SORRYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!]

This is what Vram had in mind, to put Rud in charge of cooking. Considering all he need to do is to exactly follow the recipe given to him, it shouldn’t pose much of a trouble.

[Still though, I don’t really think he was that useless, don’t you think so?] Suddenly Chris brings up a weird conversation out of the blue toward Hilda.

[What are you trying to say, Chris?]

[Well... I mean, look at him.] [His hand maybe not that dexterous, but it doesn’t mean that he was incapable.] [It was just a case of getting used to it.] [Given enough time, he should be someone better, don’t you think?]

[The problem wasn’t lies in his skill.] As if she’s feeling remorsed, Hilda was pouting for a bit.

[Then...?]

[It was Josephine’s Familiar.] [He was too capable despite being a former human.] [He does sometime shows his arrogant side, but all of that was supported by his ability.]

[Umm....] Chris suddenly become confused.

[Hrmm....] scratching her head for a bit, Hilda immerses herself trying to explain it better to Chris. [Well, you see....] [Since we’re both a Frontier unit, I’ll give you some example.]

[O... okay....]

[Imagine if two witches, whom had the same class as well as their magic proficiency the same altogether.] [Then there’s their familiar, in which both of them had combat ability as their main point.] [Now, what if one of the familiar was weaker than the other?]

[Obviously we would asks the strong ones to keep maintaining their works and fill their quota and....] [... wait a minute...!] Chris suddenly realized something amiss among it.

[Right, the weak ones would be redeemed incapable of completing their works and often being a subject to a transfer of her delegated work.] [Even if she herself still manages to complete a set number of quota within the delegated time, when comparing it to the other ones, it was disregarded easily like that.]

Suddenly Chris feels like she was having opened up an ol wound that was closed for a long time, as her face contort to that of a regret.

[I... I’m sorry, I....]

[Don’t be....] [I do feel the same way as that Naked Idiot do toward him.] [He may be annoying, but his situation resembles the way both of us living right now.] [And Maria was also the same, that’s why I didn’t do anything when she does that.] [She was feeling insecure of what would happen to her....] [The same as me back then....]

[Lady Hilda....]

When she finished talking, she turned her head back to Rud when suddenly she caught Rosa in the middle of scolding Rud.

[THIS IS UNNACEPTABLE!] [HOW CAN YOU WORK SO SLOPPILY LIKE THAT!?] [LOOK! THE SOUP’S STARTED TO GET TOO THICK BECAUSE YOU TOOK A LONG TIME MIXING IT!!]

[I’m really sorry...!!!]

[IF YOU REALLY FEELING SORRY THEN START TO MAKE THE NEXT DISH RIGHT AWAY!]

[YES MA’AM!!]

[[....]] Chris and Hilda can only show their face in disbelief seeing how Rosa act when it comes to cooking.

[Well, in a way, I’m also thankful to her.] Says Hilda while looking at how Rosa act toward Rud.

[I agree.] [She maybe a simpleton and not really good at understanding complicated stuff.] [But she has a good heart.]

And with that, Hilda return back to where Rosa and Rud is to continue their lecture of cooking while Christine can only looked at their back.

[....] [If only I can also cook....]

***

[Wow... it’s good!] Yohana was having a hard time trying to hide her expression upon the surprise that lies before her.

[I really underestimade it....] [This really taste better than I thought.] Even Vram was astonished by itself.

[Umm....] Josephine also taste it out and it does satisfy her, but somehow she couldn’t utter a single word of it.

[What’s wrong, Fina?] [Eat up, you’ve worked hard today after all!]

[I agree with Lady Yohana.] Chris suddenly speak up toward Josephine. [You wouldn’t want these delicious food to go to waste, right?]

[W... well it’s true that I’m hungry and it does taste superb...!] [But....]

[Well it is quite surprising, but I kinda expected it though.] [That Rosa and Lady Hilda would be able to produce such high quality of food in such a short amount of time.]

While the others were enjoying the warmth of the freshly made food, Josephine take another glance at the other table where Rosa, Hilda, and Rud are sitting together, and Rud can only lower his head, somehow looked ashamed.

[He’s experiencing living hell right now, that’s for sure.] Yohn can only commented on the other tables while also enjoying the food that both Hilda and Rosa made.

[I’m kinda curious, what exactly happened when we’re away, Yohn?]

[It was chaos.] [Making a meat soup, he accidentally slipped too much water inside.] [Frying a fish, he ended up over-heating the fire, making the inside still totally raw.] [When he tried to roast it, the place where it roasted wasn’t even.]

[... I wonder how is it that you guys did manage to survive all this time.]

[Well you already know that Rud is immortal as long as he isn’t killed, and me being a random small primate can eat anything as long as it is edible.]

[By the way, Vram.] Suddenly Chris was looking toward Vram with a worried look.

[What is it, Lady Chris?]

[Why are you still wearing your upper helmet and only opened the lower part of it?] [We’re just eating leisurely here, so....]

[NO!]

Suddenly Josephine cut out both of their conversation which makes Chris and Yohana confused.

[Um... but....] [Your familiar looked a bit uncomfortable there, so....]

[NO!] [I don’t want to!!]

[Ummm....] Chris looked back to Vram before looking at Josephine again.

[But... you see, even if he looked hideous or scary, it doesn’t mean you should hide it or what, right...?]

*BRAKK!!!

[ARE YOU SAYING THAT MY FAMILIAR IS UGLY?!?!?]

[Eh?] [He’s not?]

[He’s...!] [He... he is....] [....]

Suddenly Josephine’s head reddened so much that it looked like her head was fuming out.

[... Vram, can I ask you to come with me for a minute?] Yohn asked that as he come down and went somewhere secluded.

[What?] Vram, sensing something serious, trying to follow Yohn.

[Hmm....]

While Chris was still concerned about Josephine’s reaction, Yohana being dumbfounded in the sudden situation in front of her eyes, the two of them spend quite a long time on a secluded place where almost nobody can see them. After a while, the two finally came back while Yohn was hurriedly running toward Chris.

[Lady Chris...!]

[Yes, Yohn?] Chris suddenly preplexed upon hearing Yohn’s serious tone.

[Let’s not talk about his face any longer.]

[E?] [Why??]

[It was deadly!] [SO DEADLY THAT IT’S ALMOST UNFAIR!!!]

[Wait wait.] [Was his face supposed to be his ultimate ability or what?]

[It may be!] [At any rate, you can’t!!] [For us men, it’ll cause us to shrivel down beyond words, and for you girls, you won’t be able to think straight any longer!!]

[Wait, are you saying that Josephine had fallen to such scary ability!?!?] Said Yohana surprised while pointing toward Vram.

[Wait a minute, I don’t remember having that kind of ability....] Vram was somehow flustered by the way Yohana react.

[NO! YOU HAVE!] [IN FACT, THAT’S THE ONLY THING THAT EXPLAIN YOUR MASTER’S CONDITION NOW!!] [I REMEMBER YOU SAID SHE DOESN’T LIKE TO WEAR CLOTHES UNTIL YOU APPEAR, AND IT’S BECAUSE OF YOUR FACE!!!]

[That doesn’t make sense, though?!?] [Master, are you sure that was the case?!?]

[That...!] [That is...!] [That....]

Before being able to confirm it herself, she ended up sitting back on the chair and lowered her head, blushing all the way to her ears.

[See!?] [She already confirmed it!!] [Your face is dangerous, Vram!!]

[That... was it...?] Vram can only baffled at the truth coming out suddenly.

Somehow or another the two tables turned awkward for the better or for the worse. Not too long after that, Rosalinda start to ease up her own expression.

[*sigh* Let’s stop this.] [It’s really uncomfortable after all, having to scold you over and over again.]

Seeing somehow Rosa just easily let him off, Hilda also ended up letting go of her own feeling.

[I... I’m sorry....] Rud ended up only lowering his head in Rosa’s confession.

[Oh well....] [At least one thing is clear to us now.]

As Hilda said that, she suddenly went toward Josephine’s table, leaving Rud confused by himself.

[Naked Idiot.]

[Umm... yes?] Still in a daze after Chris’ question, Josephine can only reply empty headed toward Hilda.

[Your slave.] [Give him to me.]

The sudden exclamation Hilda made out of nowhere turns everyone’s face there as white as a paper. Unable to react against it, Josephine can only open wide her mouth.