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Chapter 35 – Let them drown in their own filth!

A bit earlier, after Fayette and Olivia had finished dealing with their one [Guard], they were nearing their target. The factory lay silent around them, no more [Guards] walking the grounds. The silence grated on Fayette. She was getting more and more curious about the [Doctor] she was working with every moment, and after they stepped into a long corridor she could no longer hold it in.

“Should a [Doctor] be doing stuff like this anyways? You really got that guy good. Isn’t there li...

Chapter 34 – Mireille’s “Distraction”

A while earlier, after the group had separated into two, near the administrative building of the factory. A [Seamstress] was looking at the place from outside, debating how she should head in. The sloshing bottles she was carrying unnerved her a bit, but she trusted Fayette enough. They shouldn’t explode on her without warning. Hopefully.

She was feeling a bit nervous.

Sure, she had talked big game earlier and reassured Fayette that she could handle things on her own—but she w...

Chapter 33 – Sneaking in

Fayette slowly backed away from the [Doctor] and held up her broom between them.

“You—You’re not using that ability on me! I won’t get mixed up with any of that!”

Olivia didn’t look at her, instead continuing to search through the guard’s belongings for anything else of interest. “Relax, it will be a good while before I can use that one again.” She said.

Wait, does she mean she would use it if she could?

Only relaxing slightly, Fayette lowere...

Chapter 32 – Operation start

Later in the day, it was finally time to go. After succeeding at the level up, Fayette and Olivia had spent the rest of their remaining time concocting alchemical mixtures. Mixtures with oomph for themselves, and mixtures with flair for Mireille, who would be on distraction duty.

Mireille had been making her own preparations during the day, gathering up various things necessary for their plan. They met up at a street corner near their target factory. The sun had set long since, but the ...

Chapter 31 – How does a [Maid] sneak?

It was the morning of the big day, the operation was due to start in 16 hours, and Fayette was feeling grumpy.

There were many reasons for her grumpiness, the first of which was perhaps rather typical: the weather. Something had changed in the wind overnight, and the smoke from the factories had been blown downwards, enveloping the district in a thick smog.

Normally she may have overlooked it, but after last night’s events, Fayette could not help noticing that the wind from the ...

Chapter 30 – Fayette, you can’t just burn down the factory!

Fayette liked direct methods. A factory was doing nasty stuff? Simple—get rid of it. However, the reaction from the others was not quite what she had been expecting. Three silent stares were all she got for her proposal.

Eventually, Mireille sighed deeply. “Fay—we can’t just burn down the factory.”

“What? Why not?” Fayette shut her eyes, thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. “Oh, right, of course! Because it’s made of brick, right? I don’t think you c...

Chapter 29- Let’s burn down the factory!

Fayette had been curious about how a [Doctor] would cure such a thing, especially as she had made it sound so fatal. She was however not quite ready for the gloomy woman to cut up a new wound right next to the infected one, releasing a stream of blood.

Elise however didn’t even cry out, and seemed to treat the act as normal, so the [Maid] held back her impulse. Right, don’t hit the [Doctor] with a broom to the head. I guess this is normal? “D-do you really need to cut her...

Chapter 28 – The [Doctor]

Elise looked ragged. Her gown had been torn at the thigh, and the wound she bore there looked nasty. Mireille seemed to have managed to stop the bleeding, but the larger issue may have been the tar the woman had been dropped in. Fayette wasn’t too keen on finding out what it would do to a human after seeing the rats.

She accepted the healing potion from Mireille and saw that the level of the fluid had not dropped at all. She turned to Mireille, frowning. “You didn’t use the potion...

Chapter 27 – Rat of Unusual Size

Mireille acted fast. She threw out threads at Elise’s struggling figure and started wrangling her out of the water. “Fayette! Take care of that thing!”

Fayette already had her broom out and was ready to take on it, but... it had disappeared. She had only lost sight of it for a moment, and it had somehow managed to vanish. That thing, did it just appear out of the shadows? Troublesome.

She scanned the dim room, but couldn’t see it anywhere. She kept her broom at th...

Epub file

Here's an epub file for the story.

Chapter 26 – Pollution

It was a short walk to the next room, and soon another chamber was revealed through the bare passage.

This next room had skulls lining the walls, though they were so covered in grime a lot of the effect was lost. Nothing that dusty could look too fearsome. Fayette only had a moment to contemplate polishing them up before her [Dangersense] flared up again.

“Incoming! Only two!”

Her pile of spicy dust was a lot bigger this time, so when she activated [Sweep Dust] ...

Chapter 25 – Investigation

Fayette poked one of the rats over with her broom, and saw that while the top of the rat-thing was whole, its underside had begun to dissolve. “Hey, Mireille, are you done?”

“Soon! Is something wrong?”

“It’s these rat... creatures. There’s something wrong with them.”

Fayette waited for Mireille to finish, and when pointed out her finding when the woman joined her.

“Look, it’s like, half-dissolved or something. Is that a thing? Half-monster or whatev...

Chapter 24 – Whirlwind battle

Fayette peered into the doorway, looking for any sign of the creature she had just kicked away.

“That was a fast one, without my [Dangersense] I would have been completely caught out.” She eventually said.

“Did you get a good look at it?” Mireille asked, eyes searching through the room. “Was it one of our targets?”

“There was something strange about how it looked... It was kind of blurry. I couldn’t really make it out at all.”

Mireille thought for a m...

Chapter 23 – Down into the undercity!

“Wait, what cases?” Fayette asked, looking between the two.

“Class rarity stress.” Mireille replied, and Elise back winced from the words.

“What’s that?” Fayette asked, still not understanding.

Mireille sighed. “Remember when [Caretaker] Lavigne started being super nice and active with everyone?”

“Ooh, I remember that. She started making all sorts of new foods and taking us all out to play. Did it for a while, then suddenly stopped.”

Mireill...

Chapter 22 – Complications

Fayette shuffled off the bed and rushed to wake up Mireille. The [Seamstress] groggily opened her eyes as the [Maid] shook her.

“Alright alright, I’m waking up, what’s the-”

Mireille paused in the middle of her sentence, and Fayette smiled as she knew what Mireille had paused for. “You got them too, right? The notifications?”

Mireille took a few more seconds to parse things, then smiled back at Fayette. “Alright, it looks like our ploy worked out.” She hopped...

Chapter 21 – Traps for rats

After getting some more details, Fayette and Mireille decided they needed to go have a look at the places the rats had been found in, and Elise volunteered as a guide. Soon she was leading the two through the streets.

Fayette walked just a bit behind her with Mireille, and crept closer to talk quietly. “Hey, what’s the real reason you didn’t like the job at Ange’s workplace? Were the conditions really that bad?”

“Well, it didn’t look like a pleasant place to work, th...

Chapter 20 – Pest Control

Mireille and Fayette took a moment to explain themselves to their bewildered hosts, and soon the whole group were sitting by the table, sipping on tea. Somehow, the roles had reversed, and Fayette had become the one serving the tea, fetching more, and ensuring everyone got their refills. Their hosts were a bit bewildered by the turn, but something about Fayette’s professional bearing calmed them, and they began discussing things in earnest.

It was a cramped room, a shared kitchen in a...

Chapter 19 – Cleaning some sludge

A quick beratement later, Fayette was walking through the city towards the northern river shore. As she walked, she gazed at her brand-new hunter’s license with some measure of pride. Alright, it wasn’t a proper hunter's license, it was only the junior version. It rankled Fayette to be dismissed amongst the children, but this would do for now; she would think of something.

This mission took her to the worse parts of town, so Fayette made sure to stick to the more populated ...

Chapter 18 – Customer Service Nightmare

The [Receptionist] had already been turning back to her papers, but Fayette’s words managed to rouse her back. The woman blinked her eyes and took a proper look at Fayette for the first time. She took in the very proper [Maid] uniform, Fayette’s bearing, and at last fully registered her words. She instantly shifted to business mode, her next words curt and precise. “You wish to sign up as a hunter? May I see your class license?”

Fayette took the license from her pockets and quic...

Chapter 17 – To the Hunter’s guild!

The Etruscan republic showed no hints of decay even in scriptures from as late as the year 5 BS, which makes its downfall and the subsequent millenia of dark ages even more tragic. Truly, the system was not gentle in its coming.

-Downfall of the Etruscan republic part 1

Eventually Fayette and Mireille managed to find an inn for themselves. It was in the grimier part of town, a slightly dilapidated place that could really use a thorough cleaning. To som...

Chapter 16 – Keeping the streets clean

Fayette eyed the two dirty men blocking her path with a frown on her face. She didn’t feel cowed—the kobolds had been much more fearsome than these two. Still, she was irritated that such folk could run amok in the streets.

It’s not proper at all that the streets are infested like this! Why, if a [Maid] let rats run about like they owned the manor, she would be dismissed before the sun was out! Who is in charge of public order here?

She glanced to her side and saw t...

Chapter 15 – Welcome to Palogne

First demonstrated in 1698, the steam engine was initially dismissed as a curiosity due to concerns over fuel requirements. However, with the later introduction of the Magicoal refinement process, the potential for widespread commercial use was finally discovered. This would later lead to...

-Excerpt from "History of the modern era", by [Magus] Boigues

The city of Palogne was situated on a low ridge between two rivers, just a bit upstream of their in...

Chapter 14 – Interlude: Mireille’s three secrets

The days passed fast, and soon it was time to leave for Palogne on the blimp. Mireille however was feeling a bit nervous. She eyed the gangplank to the blimp with apprehension. The blimp was getting ready to leave—floating just a few feet off the ground. A few feet higher than Mireille had ever been.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, kept her hand on the railing, then walked. It was only ten steps, but it was still nerve-wracking. Finally, she felt her foot hit blimp’s wooden...

Chapter 13 – Skill planning session

After they had returned to the orphanage and taken their catch to the kitchen, the pair headed out to the field outside for some practice. A few kids came to loiter about and watch, but Mireille chased them away. She seemed to be a bit of an authority figure, as the kids didn’t approach again.

“So, how exactly does a [Maid] fight?" Mireille asked, arms crossed. "If you’re going to run off and be a hunter, you have to have plans for dealing with all sorts of monsters.” Fayette su...

Chapter 12 – What exactly counts as “Cleaning”?

Mireille eyed the hare as it struggled in the snare.

She licked her lips, then pushed Fayette towards the struggling animal. “Alright, let’s see how far you can take this ‘Cleaning’ thing of yours”

“This is pretty different from killing monsters...” Fayette responded, eyeing the hare with just a bit of apprehension.

Mireille shrugged. “Eh, they are pests for gardens are they not? It’s worth a try.”

Fayette still wasn’t completely convinced. She ha...

Chapter 11 – Dressed to kill

It was not much trouble to arrange for Fayette to stay at the orphanage for a bit—she still remembered all the personnel after all. The [Caretakers] were understanding about her predicament, and so she headed off to sleep after a light meal.

Fayette spent the night sleeping in the same bed as Mireille. The place was too cramped to have free beds for weary travellers, but Fayette could make do. It was nostalgic, she had forgotten how loud some of the younger children could get before b...

Chapter 10 – The sauna and the [Seamstress]

If sauna, spirits and tar don’t help,

the illness is deadly.

-Old Gallian saying.

The walk to the town was not a long one, and Fayette soon saw the familiar silhouettes. Today, the town was surrounded by a dimly glowing blue field. Fayette approved. Good, if they’ve put the wards up, they’ve probably been alert. Things should be fine.

The walk through the woods had been a bit unnerving—normally the woods felt familiar and safe, but th...

Chapter 9 – Interlude: A plot gone awry

An hour or so later, in a meadow some distance from the manor, a [Lord] was waiting. This [Lord] was rather different from [Lord] Castella. Lean, muscular, military, face rife with anticipation and ambition.

A plot long in the making was finally being unveiled, and he was ready to bring things to a clean finish. The horse under him was as restless as he was, tired from the long ride and wait. The [Lord] kept waiting for word to come, for an all-clear, so that the operation could begin.<...