"...This is amazing."

  Spreading out the uniform I was handed in the linen room, the words slipped out of my mouth. It was heavy. This was on a completely different level from the flimsy polyester costume I wore at that short-lived Akiba maid cafe. The thick, bck fabric was elegant with a subdued luster, and the stitching was impeccably solid.

  "The size should be a perfect fit. Please try it on."

  Prompted by Anastasia, I slipped my arms through the sleeves. A long skirt that reached my ankles. A stoic, ascetic colr that buttoned all the way up to my neck. And a practical, unadorned white apron. When I stood in front of the mirror, the reflection wasn't a modern high school girl, but a "servant" who looked like she had time-slipped straight out of 19th-century Britain.

  "...Surprisingly, it's not bad?"

  I lifted the hem of the skirt slightly. It felt like I had wandered onto an authentic movie set, and I couldn't help but get a little excited. But then, a question popped into my head.

  "Um, Anastasia-san. Can I ask you something?"

  I looked at her standing behind me through the mirror. Anastasia wasn't wearing a maid uniform like mine. Today, she was again wearing that crisp, cssical suit—or maybe a dress?—that made her look like Sherlock Holmes.

  "Aren't you going to change, Anastasia-san? Our outfits are completely different."

  Was she getting special treatment because she was a senior staff member? Or was that outfit her own "exclusive maid uniform"?

  While re-tying the strings of my apron, Anastasia answered in her usual ft tone.

  "Shigure. That uniform you are wearing is the attire of a 'House Maid'. It is functional workwear designed for cleaning the mansion and performing miscelneous chores."

  "A House... Maid?"

  "In contrast, my position is that of a 'Lady's Maid'. My duties involve attending to the young dy's personal needs and accompanying her when she goes out."

  Anastasia adjusted her own elegant colr.

  "Historically speaking, a Lady's Maid does not wear a uniform. In order to not disgrace the master's dignity, it is customary for us to wear fashionable dresses or high-quality garments such as this."

  "O-Ohhh...! So that means you're like the elite among the maids, right?"

  "Elite... Hehe, well, you are not entirely wrong."

  The corners of Anastasia's mouth rexed for a moment, but she quickly returned to her strict instructor face. Her hands precisely fastened the top button at my colr.

  "Have some self-awareness as a House Maid. That uniform is also a symbol showing that you are the property of this estate."

  "Yes! I'll do my best!"

  The word "property" caught in my mind a little, but I answered energetically anyway. Anastasia's eyes took on a cold yet feverish gleam, like someone meticulously inspecting a brand-new tool.

  ◇

  After that, Anastasia took me on a tour of the massive mansion.

  Corridors so vast you could get lost in them. A library sleeping with countless antique books. A kitchen lined with rows of gleaming silverware.

  "And that door you see over there is the entrance to the basement."

  At the end of the hallway was a heavy iron door, sealed shut with thick chains.

  "Do not go near it. It is an old wine celr, and there is a possibility that toxic gas has accumuted inside."

  "U-Understood. I absolutely won't go near it."

  It practically screamed "haunted." I wouldn't go near it even if she hadn't warned me.

  "For today, we are only doing introductions and expnations, so this concludes your shift."

  "Eh, it's over already? It hasn't even been an hour."

  "It is fine. The young dy has also entered her deep concentration mode for writing... You will begin working in earnest starting tomorrow."

  Just then, from the depths of the study, I faintly heard Lady Sofia's voice. She sounded displeased, yet somehow amused.

  "...Hmph, this ink isn't bad. It smells just like that battlefield from long ago..."

  "...The young dy?"

  "She is talking to herself. Pay it no mind."

  Anastasia shut me down firmly and urged me toward the entrance.

  ◇

  Seeing me off at the entrance, Anastasia said, "Hold out your hand," just as I was about to leave.

  When I offered my left hand, she took a cute bandage out of her pocket and carefully pced it over my index finger—the same one she had injured during our contract. Her movements were businesslike, but for a split second, the gaze she directed at my finger sharpened, resembling a predator eyeing its prey.

  "...The wound has closed, but just in case. I cannot have you wasting precious 'materials', after all."

  "Y-Yes... (Materials?)"

  "Also, this is your allowance for today."

  She handed me a brown envelope. Peeking inside, two 10,000-yen bills with Yukichi Fukuzawa's face on them were staring back at me.

  "T-Twenty thousand!? For just one hour!?"

  "Consider it something like an advance payment. ...I look forward to working with you from tomorrow onward."

  "Yes! Same here!!"

  Moved by the sheer thickness of the cash, I bowed repeatedly. The 50k a day wasn't a lie. It's a sketchy Western mansion, the young dy is spoiled, but Anastasia is beautiful and (though a bit scary) kind. Above all, this sary! At this point, I have no choice but to work here until my bones turn to dust.

  Beaming with joy, I passed through the mountain pass at dusk and headed home.

  ◇

  That night. Having eaten my fill for the first time in a while, I slept like a log. Perhaps it was because I had let my guard down so completely. I had a "nightmare," the likes of which I had never seen before.

  —It's hot. My feet are burning hot.

  When I came to, I was in a stone-paved pza. Where is this? It looked like an old European townscape. Half-timbered houses lined the streets, and an ash-gray sky hung low overhead.

  [■■■■]!! [■■■■]!!

  There were so many people around me. A mob dressed in filthy clothes had surrounded me. They were screaming something. I couldn't understand the words. But I knew for a fact that it was "abuse" being hurled at me. Stones were flying. Rotten vegetables were being thrown. Why? What did I do?

  I tried to move, and then I realized. I couldn't move. I was bound to a thick wooden pilr erected in the center of the pza.

  —Ego te absolvo...

  Standing before me was a man draped in magnificent clerical robes. A self-important priest wearing a tall hat—no, perhaps a bishop. He looked down at me, chanting some solemn words. It sounded like a prayer, but it also sounded like a death sentence.

  Cck, ctter. A dry sound echoed as something was tossed at my feet. A torch. Crimson fmes leaped onto the piled-up firewood.

  "S-Stop... Please..."

  No voice came out. My throat was bone dry. The crackling sound of burning wood. Smoke stung my eyes. And then, an overwhelming "heat" crawled up from my feet.

  Hot. It's hot. Hot hot hot hot!!!!

  Skin burning. The stench of roasting flesh pierced my nose. I couldn't breathe. My lungs filled with smoke. Someone, help me. Someone. Someone—!

  Suddenly, in the corner of my distorting vision, I thought I saw someone standing there. A single person amidst the mob. Just silently staring at me as I burned... someone with silver hair—.

  "GYAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

  "Hah...!?"

  I violently shot up in bed. My heart was hammering like an arm bell. My entire body was drenched in a cold sweat. It was my room. The familiar ceiling. The cheap curtains.

  "...A dream...?"

  Desperately trying to regute my ragged breathing, I hugged my own body. I could still feel the phantom sensation of scorching heat on the soles of my feet. That wasn't just a dream. It was the visceral, raw sensation of death.

  "...What the hell was that..."

  Outside the window, a crow cawed ominously. It seems my new part-time job life isn't going to be peaceful after all.

  (End of Chapter 2)

  ◇

  [Maid Trivia] Here is a brief expnation as to why Anastasia and the protagonist wear different outfits in the story!

  Lady's Maid A senior servant whose duties include helping the mistress (Lady) dress, doing her makeup, and serving as a conversation partner. Because they reflect the dignity of their master, they did not wear standard uniforms; instead, they had the privilege of wearing fashionable dresses or their own high-quality clothes. Anastasia falls into this category.

  House Maid They are in charge of cleaning and physical bor. To avoid getting their everyday clothes dirty, they wore the iconic "printed dress with a white apron"—what we typically call a "maid uniform." Shigure is a House Maid.

  Ego te absolvo Latin for "I absolve you." In the Catholic Church, it is part of the standard phrase of absolution chanted by a priest when forgiving the sins of the faithful (such as during the Sacrament of Penance). The full sentence is "Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis" (I absolve you from your sins).