chapter 01

Prologue

“Let’s see…”

Arms crossed, I looked over the three figures standing in front of me—
no, not people. Monsters.

Hmm… but is “monster” really the right word?
They could talk, they had intelligence. Maybe calling them that was rude.

Anyway, I flipped through the files I had carefully prepared, glancing back at them one by one.

Monster No.1: Alex.

[About 4 meters tall, with long arms and legs.]

He didn’t seem useful right now.
Pass.

Monster No.2: Marina.

[A transparent slime. Leaves sticky pieces behind whenever she moves.]

Too gooey.
Pass.

Monster No.3: Farkan.

[Human-shaped, but his arms turn into sharp blades.]

“Oooh…”

My gaze swept slowly along the length of his arm, down to the razor-sharp tip.
Farkan shivered as if I had stripped him bare.

That long, pointed blade…

“You. Perfect.”

“Farkan.”

“M-me? Head Maid, you mean me?”

His eyes widened, and he nervously raised the blade-arm to his own face, like he wished I had made a mistake.
As if he was begging me to say I meant someone else.

But no.

“Nope. You. Definitely you.”

I rolled up my sleeves, eyes fixed on that beautiful sharp blade.

“Yes. I need your help.”

Before he could retreat, I grabbed his arm and tugged him closer.
We didn’t have time for chit-chat!

Facing the other two, I barked calmly:

“Alright, back to your posts. Now.”

Alex the giant and Marina the slime hurried away to follow my earlier instructions.

Once they were gone from sight, I pulled Farkan right up to the window.
His blade fit perfectly into the narrow groove of the window frame.

“Yes. Just the right size. I knew it.”

I ran the blade smoothly along the frame.
Dust that had been stuck for ages came off in one clean sweep, clinging to the sharp edge.

See? Thin and pointy. Absolutely perfect.