The Wish Shop, ???
Inside the now quiet living room, Adam's maid waited for his return with a book in hand.
"7 weeks have passed since Master left." She muttered, eyes locked on the door instead of the cookbook in her hand.
Since then, she sat in her chair close to the door, waiting for him. There were no windows here so she couldn't look out, the only sense of time she had was the antique clock on the left wall. Its golden pendulum swung side by side just like her impatient heart.
'I should've tagged along.' Grayfia started regretting her choice right after the door closed.
But, staying back had its importance. The past weeks hadn't been wasted. She had spent each passing moment improving her existing skills several times over, Grayfia had no idea how she could improve that quickly though. Before coming here she felt that most of her abilities had reached their limits. Then her abilities started to grow at an exponential pace again, was it details in the book, or has something else increased her capabilities? The answer eluded her.
'Even the Ice Magic I learned from Master's books came naturally to me when it was from a completely different magic system from what I have used my entire life.' The things she could do now had skyrocketed.
Even her cooking skills soared to the sky after reading the books just once, if Grayfia took any book from the library and read it, the words would print in her memory and her understanding of the subject became clearer by the second. Practice was still necessary to get used to it, but it still made no sense. However, taking advantage of that, she started to learn the intermediate levels of cooking and cleaning. The original spells created by Adam were wonderful in their way, and she wanted to learn it all so he didn't have to use them.
Grayfia picked up the piles of books, leaving for the library. When she set them on the table, the books flew up and went back to where they came from. Even if she was reading since Adam left, this place seemed to have an inexhaustible amount of books.
Yet, something had changed since she first came here. The books that flew out that day, she had tried to call them a few times, but none came out. Even if she recalled the covers nothing clicked in the system, and looking at the endless depth and number of floors in this place, her luck in finding them wouldn't be high.
Rather than the content within, the faces on the books took her interest. One of the books had Rias on it, which wasn't that unusual in her mind given the context. But, the other two were people she had never seen before. The only thing common was that they too were beautiful women in their own right.
'Would I meet them in the shop someday? Maybe they are also clients or just like Rias-sama who turned into Master's fiancée.' She nodded to herself as if the mystery had been cracked.
That was until the bell rang. She rushed to the shop hall, but Adam hadn't arrived. It was unusual. Blue screens of light flashed before her eyes, almost blinding her.
[A Returning Client is at the doorstep!]
[Running checks!]
[The Main Shopkeeper isn't available.]
[1st Registered Servant Grayfia Lucifuge is available in the shop, canceling emergency summons.]
[Shop Mode: Missing Shopkeeper. Activated!]
Her eyes widened as the idea of what she had to do settled in. How would she deal with the client? The question was answered by the parchment paper and pen that floated in front of her. Right now, she was the proxy, and she had to make the contract in Adam's stead. As for the Client.
"Hmmm? He isn't here?" It was one of the women she saw on the books.
"Are you looking for Master? He isn't here right now." This woman had an expression as calm as a lake, yet her eyes appeared sharp.
'This bloodlust, she isn't like the other ones.' Grayfia felt the pressure crashing on her, yet it didn't feel overpowering. A white film covered her body to protect her, the barrier Adam made. But it didn't look like the woman had any other intention aside from checking her strength, satisfied with the result she withdrew the bloodlust.
"I'll wait for him." Unohana sat down on the couch, placing the katana on her thighs, as if meditating.
"If you need anything in the meantime do tell me." Grayfia received a curt nod before Unohana closed her eyes.
In Adam's absence, it was her job to take care of the clients. She looked at the contract on the table, even wondering if she could make contracts on his behalf. If she could how would they work?
'It can't be that right?' Thinking about the normal price for the contract, she wasn't sure how that would work. Not that she would go through with that even if it did work.
'I can't do those things with anyone else aside for… Ahem!' Grayfia cooled down her hot face in an instant with ice magic. The correct answer was to wait for Adam.
So, they waited. As three weeks passed by in silence, both Unohana and Grayfia kept to themselves. One spent her time meditating while the other kept reading, yet both of their focus lay on the door, and when it opened their eyes went to it in a flash.
Adam walked into the room while stretching his arms. It took a lot of effort for him to get out of Esdeath's sticky grasp, but in the end, he won at the promise of another such date in the future.
"Oh? When did you come?" His confused eyes landed on the Unohana.
"A few weeks ago." She said without any emotional inflection in her voice.
This confused Adam, the shop never notified him of her arrival. The time difference was one thing, but he did get an emergency summons when Esdeath came. What changed this time?
'Could it be Grayfia's presence?' He checked the shop system to confirm his guess. And it did come out true.
Because of the Contract, the shop considers Grayfia as Adam's Servant. So, in his absence, she could very well run the shop and make contracts on his behalf, only If she could solve the client's requirements on her own. As for the compensation for her hard work, it would still go to Adam.
The shop said A servant's belongings and rewards should go to their Master. Weirdly enough he could see Grayfia nodding to this.
'What a weird way of thinking.' Adam closed the window and focused on Unohana.
"You haven't fully absorbed the progress you made last time. So, another contract won't be possible." He said, straight to the point.
"That is what I need help with." Unohana stepped forward. "Help me absorb it faster."
Years had passed, yet she had made minimal progress compared to what she expected. It had left her disappointed to the point she used the card again to deal with this.
"That's not a good thing to do. It'll cause adverse effects to your vessel, as it is much to let the process be natural." Adam's words didn't faze her.
"You haven't said it is impossible." Her calm gaze matched his in that moment. Unohana didn't come here to take No for an answer. "It shouldn't be impossible if I make a contract and the negatives should also be voided."
Adam sighed. He tried to not make too many contracts before, so he left a lot of things very ambiguous to prevent back-to-back contracts. Her personality of doing things on her own also helped with that.
"Is it really necessary?" Although he did see her point, Unohana had a good level of patience. If she had come here something must've become a problem, and he was correct.
"I don't think I will ever be able to absorb it all at this rate." She had fallen into a perilous state.
"I understand then." Adam respected her seriousness and the contract came about.