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CHAPTER24
I sat blankly on a chair someone had dragged over for me.
Snow-like fur was already falling on my head.
I had half given up.
Because—ridiculously enough—this strange situation of fur raining from the sky was all thanks to the monsters’ shedding season!
“Should I even call them beast-type monsters, or something else?”
When I lifted my eyes from the floor, the monsters staring at me suddenly flinched.
It looked so awkward compared to their big bodies.
There weren’t even that many fur-covered monsters in the mansion, yet the amount of fur flying around was insane.
And for some reason, it wasn’t just nearby—it was falling from the sky.
The other monsters were suffering.
Not only was the mansion dirty, but they were itching to death.
Especially the werewolf triplets.
They refused to meet my eyes.
And from the look of it, most of the fur in the air was coming from them.
I watched them scratch their heads awkwardly, then suddenly stood up.
“We need to clean this up. Now.”
“Eh?”
Dozens of voices answered in confusion.
I narrowed my eyes.
“I said, we’re cleaning.”
“……”
A few opened their mouths as if to argue, then quickly shut them.
Shedding or not, there was no way I’d just watch the mansion get buried in fur.
If we waited until shedding season ended, the whole place would be covered.
“Alex. You’re the tallest—clean the roof first.”
“Yes, Head Maid!”
I quickly assigned cleaning duties based on their size and abilities.
Then I turned to head to the storage room—
And suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me.
*
Eight down. Well, eight shedding monsters solved.
I shook off a thin cloth covered in signs of resistance, then laid it flat on the ground again.
“Now for the last one.”
I scanned the room.
The moment our eyes met, the monster flinched.
“Come here.”
“……”
Trying to hide, even though fur was flying from his body nonstop? How cheeky.
When I gestured, the monster shrank his shoulders and slowly approached.
The final target was the youngest of the werewolf triplets.
His eyes trembled nervously.
“H-Head Maid, I—”
I coldly pointed at the cloth I had spread.
“Raise your arms. Lie down here.”
“T-that’s a little—”
“Shhh.”
“…Yes, ma’am…”
Shame all over his face, he lay down slowly.
He lifted his arms as I instructed, but kept hesitating.
Seriously. Covered in fur yet acting shy about it.
‘Oh, good grief.’
I grabbed his arms myself and yanked them up.
He stared at me with wide, shocked eyes, but I didn’t care.
Then I pointed dramatically.
“Go, Squeakies!”
“Chiiik! Chuuiik!”
At my command, small creatures rushed forward, squeaking loudly, and swarmed over him.
“Uwaaaagh!”
His face turned pale as the Squeakies rolled across him.
Meanwhile, I crossed my arms and smiled in satisfaction.
Yes, it did look a little… devilish.
‘His brothers reacted the same at first.’
But in the end, they were grateful.
The Squeakies soon covered him completely.
They were small monsters shaped like mice.
At first, I thought they were just rats attracted by the dirty mansion and planned to exterminate them.
But I was very wrong.
According to Eki, they had been living in the mansion for ages.
Not exactly servants of the Duke, but not outsiders either.
So I started observing them carefully.
That’s when I discovered two things:
-
Their black spiky fur made anything stick to them.
-
They loved attaching things to their bodies.
Which meant—
“They’re perfect for cleaning!”
Ever since then, whenever sticky messes or stubborn dirt wouldn’t come off—no matter how many tools or monsters I tried—I called the Squeakies.
They just had to roll over it, and pop, it came right off.
They got the joy of sticking things to themselves, and I got a spotless mansion.
Win-win.
That’s why I named them “Squeakies.”
Not very creative, but they squeaked all the time anyway.
“Uwaaaaagh!”
The werewolf’s painful scream echoed, but I only clicked my tongue.
Every time the Squeakies rolled across his body, clumps of dead fur came off.
“See? I knew it!”
The youngest of the triplets had the most fur, yet made the biggest fuss.
But once the dead fur was gone, only soft, healthy fur would remain.
It was the perfect plan.
And sure enough, as more and more monsters went through the Squeakie treatment, the falling fur from the sky grew less and less.
“Hang in there, little brother!”
“Endure it! Once you do, a whole new world awaits you!”
The older brothers cheered passionately.
What that “new world” was, I had no idea…
The Squeakies worked hard, almost like they were singing along with the cheers of the werewolves’ brothers.
Clumps of dead fur stuck neatly onto their spiky bodies—so much that anyone could see it with the naked eye.
The werewolf, who looked like his soul had left his body, slowly began to change.
His back straightened, and he even raised his own arms high to make it easier for the Squeakies to pull fur out.
His eyes shone brightly, filled with madness and delight.
He now looked just like his brothers earlier.
Before long—
“Chuiiik!”
The leader of the Squeakies climbed onto the middle of the werewolf’s stomach—the highest point—and squeaked proudly.
By then, his body was five times bigger than before, swollen with the mountain of fur attached to him.
The shedding was completely finished.
I clapped my hands and approached.
“Good job, Squeakies.”
“Chuiik! Chuyik!”
I had no idea what they were saying, but they looked very satisfied.
They bowed their heads at me, then waddled off, proudly showing off their giant fur-covered bodies.
Meanwhile, the werewolf lay dazed, then slowly sat up with a shy smile.
“Head Maid, thank you so much.”
“It’s nothing. I just did what I had to.”
In truth, all I did was lay down the cloth and call the next monster once the fur-cleaning was done.
The Squeakies had done all the work.
Still, when I said it aloud, it sounded like something a hero might say.
It left me with a strange feeling.
The werewolf hesitated, then added:
“It feels like… a whole new world has opened before me.”
“…Ah, sure.”
All of them kept saying strange things like that, lost in bliss.
One even claimed he had been “purified.”
I didn’t understand, but looking at their happy faces, I let it slide.
Then—
“Woooooaaah!”
Cheering erupted nearby.
The sound came from a monster who had been furiously shaking fur off the flowers in the garden.
“It’s over!”
“We can finally rest!”
The cries spread through the mansion.
Everyone dropped their cleaning tools and shouted at the sky.
It didn’t take me long to realize why.
“The fur… it stopped falling.”
The snow-like rain of fur had ended.
I smiled faintly.
“We did it.”
I had hesitated to act at first, but choosing the Squeakies had been the right decision.
The rain of fur was truly gone.
Cleaning always made me feel proud.
It was a blessing to have such a rewarding duty every day.
But today—that pride soared even higher, as if it could reach the sky—
“E-everyone! Look at the sky!”
—Until it all came crashing down.
“Now feathers are falling!”
All eyes turned toward the bird-like monsters.
They tried to cover their mouths with their wings, but that only made feathers burst out even faster.
“…This time, birds?”
A red feather floated down and landed lightly on my head.
“Head Maid, what do we do now?”
“You can handle feathers too, right?”
I couldn’t answer.
I looked away from their desperate eyes.
“…I can’t. I just can’t.”
I crossed my arms over my chest in an X.
Yes. Better to faint right here and now.
If I fainted, maybe everything would be over when I woke up.
I was just about to give up when—
A cool breeze brushed past.
I felt someone’s presence.
Even though my eyes were half-shut in surrender, I knew immediately.
The Duke had arrived.
When I lifted my head, he stood there, arms crossed, wearing an expression that was neither cold nor warm—just unreadable.
“The mansion is noisy again.”
Silence fell instantly, as if a miracle had struck.
“All this fuss… over something so trivial.”
Around him, the sky was still raining feathers.
But strangely, none fell near him.
“……!”
I froze when I saw it.
The Duke had picked a feather from my hair.
For an instant, his touch was cold. Or was it hot? I couldn’t even tell.
But the real problem was—
I could still feel his hand on me, and my face burned red.
“Well. It doesn’t look good, after all.”
He twirled the feather between his fingers, then let it go.
But it never reached the ground.
Fwssh— It burst into flames and vanished.
The Duke’s eyes swept across the servants.
Everyone trembled under his piercing gaze.
At last, his eyes settled on the bird-like monsters.
Tap! He flicked his finger.
“H-huh?”
The bird-monsters squawked in confusion, scratching wildly at their wings.
Fwoooosh!
In just a few seconds, every feather vanished.
“Clean.”
The Duke muttered with satisfaction and turned away.
The bird-monsters collapsed to the floor, looking utterly defeated—
as if they had just lost their homeland.
