Bonus Story:
The Maids of the Mansion
AT A TIME PRIOR to Liam entering primary school...
One of Liam's mass-produced maid robots, Shirane, busily carried out her
duties at the mansion as always. The mansion's human staff feared these maid
robots like Shirane, who carried out their work so expressionlessly, because they
could never tell what the robots were thinking. Artificial intelligence had long
been dreaded in the Algrand Empire, so many people held a strong dislike for
robots and AI. As a result, the number of humans willing to interact with House
Banfield's maid robots was limited.
As Shirane saw to her work, she overheard a conversation in a
neighboring room. The voices, which were probably too quiet for a human to
overhear, belonged to some of the mansion's human maids.
"Three months from now, the lord will be starting primary school. What
should we do?"
Liam's entry into primary school was fast approaching, so lately he'd
become the focus of much of their idle chatter.
Shirane continued listening to the maids' conversation while she worked.
She could pick out three distinct voices.
"I heard from my father that after he enters primary school, he won't be
back for three years, at least. If he doesn't take a break, he might not even come
back at all until after graduation."
Liam's noble training was beginning in earnest, and apparently these
women found that a matter of concern.
"The lord seems to want to finish his training as soon as possible. After he
graduates, he'll probably head straight for university or the military academy. If
he does that, he won't be back for decades."
People were long-lived in this world. That meant that the time they spent
pursuing education was lengthy too. Liam would likely be back periodically, but
when he did return, he was sure to be incredibly busy. And these human maids
didn't like that.
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Shirane judged that their conversation wasn't anything that might prove
defamatory or threatening to Liam.
It's no problem. Nothing that needs to be reported.
The maids were clearly upset about Liam leaving his territory, and Shirane
understood the real reason for that.
Some of the fault lies with Master Liam here...
The human maids who worked for Liam were talented women, specially
chosen from his domain. Each one had been selected for her lineage, skills, and
appearance. Each of them had accepted the work in the hopes that Liam would
choose them as his concubine. In fact, many young women applied for work at
the mansion every year with the dream of winning that position. Liam was a
figure of great power and respect, the supreme authority in this territory.
Therefore, the position of lord's concubine, while not as important as being his
wife, would surely rank highly in that territory. Thus, daughters of corporate
leaders and officials in Liam's domain—as well as women who had advanced in
society through their own merits—flocked to Liam's mansion in the hopes of
catching his eye.
Having reached a good stopping point in her work, Shirane's system ran a
search for the profiles of the women in the other room based on their vocal
identification. Also, since she was linked with her "sisters," the other maid
robots of the same model as herself, the information was shared between them.
Soon, a long list of comments scrolled through Shirane's vision. She heard these
comments narrated in voices that managed to express a lot of emotion.
"Another challenger for Master's heart appears!"
"Personally, I think that one would be smarter if she just gave up."
"Oh? You don't think this girl might have a chance?"
One of the profiles belonged to a young woman from a family that had
founded a large corporation. Her grandfather was the chairman of the company,
and her mother was the current president. Everything from her family to her
personal abilities to her appearance was top-notch. She was a blonde-haired,
blue-eyed beauty who was probably hounded by men every day outside of the
mansion.
The most recent comment came from "Shiomi."
"I think we've got a winner this time, folks. I'd put her chances of
catching the Master's eye at a solid one hundred percent. If I'm wrong, I'll give
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up my favorite ribbon."
Currency meant pretty much nothing to the maid robots, and they didn't
desire luxuries as humans did. Instead, what the maid robots placed value on was
the minor accessories that differentiated each of them from all the other identical
models. At least visually, this was the extent of their individuality, apart from
differing hairstyles.
Amagi, who supervised the maid robots, had a different appearance from
the rest of them, so there was no need for her to express her individuality in that
way. For the mass-produced units, however, their accessories might literally
prove who they were, in the eyes of others. For this reason, they tended not to
wear similar types or colors of accessories. Therefore, if Shiomi was willing to
wager her right to wear a certain type of ribbon, a sister of hers who had always
envied that style might be willing to match her bet. However...
"Shiomi, are you serious?"
"I like your guts for betting on that girl, but you're bound to lose, you
know? That's how you lost your braided cord to Arashima that time!"
"I don't understand... Why do you bet when it's so likely that you'll
lose?"
The other maids were all the more astonished when Shiomi responded
with undeterred confidence.
"The odds aren't zero. If there's a possibility, I'll bet on it. You guys
should just worry about what you'll do when you lose. When I win, I'll wear all
of your accessories at once and emphasize my individuality more than anyone
ever has!"
The other maid robots all became exasperated.
Shirane became distracted from her friends' conversation by another
excited exchange between the human maids in the next room. They were now
talking about what they might do to market themselves to Liam more effectively.
"Maybe we should just be more aggressive and try talking to him
directly?"
"You'll get in trouble with the head maid!"
"You want to just do nothing, then? If one of us doesn't nab him in the
next three months, all that we've done to win this job will have been completely
pointless. I for one don't want that! The only reason I'm working at this mansion
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is to become a concubine, and I'm not giving up."
The maid Shiomi had bet on appeared to be highly ambitious. If she were
to become Liam's concubine, she would wield considerable authority in his
domain, and so she was desperate to achieve that position.
Shirane's sisters heard this human maid's bold statement over their shared
network, and it prompted a flurry of excited comments to appear before
Shirane's eyes. The most excited of these comments was Shiomi's.
"That's the spirit, girl! Go on the offensive! Seriously, do it! At this rate,
the whole bloodline is in danger of dying out anyway!"
For years Liam had been saying that he wanted to create a harem, but he
had shown no initiative to actually make one. At this point, Brian and Liam's
other close aides doubted he was even serious about it. As it was, Liam seemed
to have no real interest in flesh-and-blood women. Everyone around him, maid
robots included, were left agitated with worry. They all wanted Liam to find a
human partner. Thus, Shiomi's bet was largely motivated by sincere feelings.
Just then, it so happened that Liam appeared in that area of the mansion
with Amagi in tow. An alert sounded over the human maids' tablets, and the trio
who'd been chatting rushed out into the hallway.
Shirane left her room as well, bowing her head to Liam as he passed by.
Liam's position was such that he should have passed by the servants
without saying anything to them, but he ignored the three human women and
stopped in front of Shirane.
"Well, if it isn't Shirane. I'm surprised to see you here. You're usually
stationed somewhere else, aren't you?"
As a mass-produced unit, Shirane's appearance was almost completely
identical to all her sisters. But for some reason, Liam could tell it was her at a
single glance. Plus, he was familiar with all the maid robots' work schedules.
How does Master know that much about our work?
Shirane honestly thought it was so amazing it was almost creepy.
"M-Master!"
The ambitious human maid Shirane had overheard a few minutes ago had
made up her mind to act, and it was she who had just called out to Liam.
Normally, this would have been considered disrespectful, but all Liam did
to express his annoyance was narrow his eyes slightly.
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"Do you need something?" The one who actually responded to her was
Amagi.
The human maid ignored Amagi and continued to address Liam. "It's
good to see you again, my lord. The last time we met was at your coming-of-age
party. I attended with my father."
The maid, having met Liam once before, was desperate to create some sort
of bond between them. However, Liam's gaze wandered from her, and both
Amagi and Shirane noted his disinterest.
As she was watching Shirane's visual information through their link,
Shiomi cried out, her voice blasting in Shirane's mind.
"Nooo! My ribbonnnn!"
Liam didn't even remember having met this maid. She was a beautiful
girl, the sort that you'd expect would remain in your memory if you talked to her
even once.
As Liam turned away to resume walking with Amagi, he simply muttered
an excuse alluding to how busy he was. "Long time no see. Sorry, no time to
chat now... I have to be going."
He left the maids with a dignified stiffness, but he glanced back at Shirane
and gave her a wave.
When Liam had turned a corner in the hallway, the maid who had failed to
make anything of her opportunity crumbled to the floor with an empty look on
her face.
As she gazed upon this sight, Shirane's eyes were flooded with Shiomi's
cries and the comments of their other sisters.
"There goes my individuality!"
"Well, look at it this way: an artificial intelligence who likes to gamble on
a one percent chance is pretty unique!"
"Are you sure she's not defective though?"
"Like it wasn't obvious she'd lose that bet."
Shiomi had lost her wager, and also her special ribbon.
A comment from Amagi, their supervisor, then appeared on their social
network.
"What are you lot doing, making wagers on the master?"
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The voice the comment was narrated in was very low and threatening.
The stream of comments abruptly ceased, and the maids all fled in every
direction.
***
A month later, Shirane was walking through the mansion's halls when she
heard a voice outside a window.
She peered out the second-story window into a courtyard and saw that
ambitious maid again, chatting happily with a male knight. They seemed to have
a favorable relationship.
Many promising young men gathered at Liam's mansion, and the hopeful
maids had opportunities to meet these men too. Having failed to become a
concubine to Liam, the maid seemed to have settled on a plain but kind knight
instead.
Well, Master didn't choose her, but it seems she's found happiness
anyway.
As Shirane turned from the window and continued on her way, she
encountered Liam at the end of the hallway. He appeared to have taken Shiomi
aside and was talking to her about something.
"Shiomi, what happened to that hair ribbon I used to see you in?"
"I transferred it to one of my sisters, Master."
Shiomi had of course lost it in a bet, but she spoke as if she had willingly
given it up.
Liam looked concerned. "Really? You're not being bullied, are you?"
"I am not, Master. There is no problem."
Liam seemed to accept her answer, but perhaps he detected a hint of regret
in Shiomi. He removed an accessory of his own from his wrist, a gold bracelet,
and clasped it around Shiomi's left one.
"You'll feel left out if you don't have anything distinctive on you, right?
Here, a present from me."
"Thank you very much, Master."
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Shiomi bowed deeply. Her face showed only the barest of smiles, but her
internal reaction was very clear to Shirane, who was presently linked with her.
"Master's bracelet is miiine! You see that, sisters? This is the supreme
technique of the brilliant tactician Shiomi—obtaining victory by losing!"
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The other sisters were all furious with Shiomi. She lost her trademark
ribbon but gained a gold bracelet instead.
"That's not fair!"
"I can't believe you would take advantage of Master's kindness!"
"Shiomi must be what humans call a vixen."
They weren't annoyed that she'd obtained a gold bracelet so much as
jealous that she'd received it from their master, Liam. Having witnessed this
herself, Shirane felt the same way her sisters did. In fact, she was so annoyed she
decided to notify their supervisor Amagi.
"Shiomi, you have some repenting to do."
Liam waved to Shiomi and walked away. Amagi promptly appeared on
the scene to take his place.
She walked up to Shiomi and said, without expression, "Shiomi, come
with me."
"Yes, ma'am..."
As Amagi emotionlessly led Shiomi away, the other maid robots clapped
and cheered in their social network.
"You sold me out to the supervisor, Shirane!" came Shiomi's despondent
comment.
Shirane commented happily, "Have fun getting chewed out. Be careful...
You know how scary she is when she's mad. She's very protective of Master, so I
hope you're ready for the nagging!"
When Shirane started laughing loudly in their network, Amagi stopped
and looked back with narrowed eyes. "You seem to be enjoying yourself an
awful lot, Shirane. How about you come with us?"
Shirane's gaze wavered for a second, but she gave up on the idea of
protesting and followed after Amagi and Shiomi.
Shiomi laughed at Shirane, now walking next to her. "That's what you
get."
"I only said she's a little scary..."
The maid robots went on to spend another day working without expressing
the sentiments in their hearts to any human being.
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