500 Winter Training Camp

Wheeeee! It's winter training camp time!!

Training camp! Training camp! Training camp! Training camp!

Ahem…

Sorry, got a little bit excited there.

I looked at the maids and butlers gathered at the entrance hall.

All of them had arranged themselves into neat columns like a military formation. The maids occupied the left side while the butlers were on the right.

Just at a glance, I could see that the maids outnumber the butlers at least three to one.

I know that this was not all the staff we had since there would be people left behind to take care of the mansion. The people going on this training camp would be the servants that occupy a combat role primarily.

And this time, most of the servants attending this camp would be the newer ones including Aria, Eldoria and even Niaris and her father.

Mary and Sebastian were standing in front of each group at attention, both of them waiting patiently as Mother and I descended the stairs.

I could see Delmare, Katsuki, Odeta and even Lisa standing amongst the maid formation. The fact that the three girls aside from Katsuki were also wearing maid uniforms…

Ahhh! They're so cute!! I wanna pat them in those uniforms!!

Why didn't they tell me they have these uniforms before?! Ahhh!! It looks so good on them!! I wonder if they have one for me that I can wear during this training camp?

Eh? Wait a minute… Even Tiara is there?! Ahhhh!! She's so cute!! I wanna pat her!!

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, both Mary and Sebastian bowed in perfect synchronicity, prompting everyone behind them to follow suit.

"Madam, Young Mistress. Everyone is ready," Mary reported.

Mother clapped her hands together, "That's perfect~ What about our little Grey Walker?"

"Felicia is also ready, Madam. She is waiting downstairs."

Hmmm? Grey Walker? Felicia? I don't remember someone like that amongst the staff? Then again, I suppose it's not like I knew everyone's name here by heart yet.

"Ufufufu~ Very well, have everyone head to the Grey Hall~"

Ok… That's a room I've never heard of before…

Mary straightened herself and created a portal in front of her, expanding it until it could let five persons walk through side by side.

Sebastian moved towards it, prompting the rest of the butlers to follow him through the portal.

I was about to follow as well but Mother placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

About a minute passed before Sebastian stuck his head through the portal, "It's clear."

Only then did Mother release her grip on my shoulder to hold my hand, "Shall we, my little one?"

I nodded and followed my Mother through the portal, wondering if that was really necessary.

We emerged in a featureless hall devoid of any furniture and the walls were made completely of stone.

The stone hall was about double the size of our entrance hall, big enough to fit everyone with plenty of space to spare.

A single stone with pulsing blue lines running through its surface was the only object standing in the centre of the hall.

Beside said stone was…

"A… Fox?" I murmured.

No, I don't mean those four legged foxes, but a kitsune.

If I remember correctly, they're just called Foxes in this World.

But I also remember that they are supposedly a very isolationist race so I was quite surprised to see one here.

The fact that she was wearing a maid uniform told me that she was also a servant under us, which brought the question of how I never saw her before?

I'm sure I would remember someone as distinct as her?

"Ufufufu~ That is Felicia, our Head Assassin~" Mother explained cheerily.

Ok… Is that why I don't see her around?

The Fox bowed, "Madam, Young Mistress."

I thought she would say more but she remained silent after that initial greeting.

"Ufufufu~ She's quite shy~" Mother explained.

Right… Our Head Assassin is a shy Fox. There's a joke in there somewhere.

"Umm… So what are we doing here, Mother?"

"Ufufufu~ My little one knows about Grey Walkers, right?"

"Ah… The people who can travel through dimensions or something?"

"Ufufufu~ That's right~ Felicia here is a Grey Walker and we will be using her ability to travel to our training camp~"

I tilted my head, "Why can't Mary teleport us there?"

"Ufufufu~ The place we are going is quite far and even Mary's mana is not enough to transport this many people across such a distance. Felicia, on the other hand, wouldn't have this problem~"

I see… so Astromancy can't completely replace Grey Walkers… Good to know.

Mary gestured to the glowing stone, "Madam, everything is prepared for the transportation. We are ready to leave at any time."

Felicia nodded her head to confirm Mary's words.

Mother giggled, "Ufufufu~ Shall we, my little one?"

I nodded, letting Mother take my hand as she led me towards the Fox.

Felicia turned towards the stone, her hands reaching out towards it which caused the stone to glow brighter.

There was a soft rumble before the air in front of the stone seemed to fold into itself, creating a grey coloured portal that slowly expanded until it was the size of a small house.

Felicia led the way in and the butlers once again went in first, Sebastian popping out a moment later to inform us that it was safe before all of us walked into the portal together.

On the other side of the portal, I was greeted with a fantastical sight.

The sky around us was iridescent in colour and there were multiple floating islands all around us. In fact, it seems like we were standing on one such island too.

Felicia looked around and frowned, her tails noticeably still.

"This is… Bad…" She muttered.

Mary turned to her, "How bad is it?"

The Fox pointed a finger at one of the floating islands, "We need to go over there."

Mary started to chant but Felicia reached out a hand to stop her, "No magic… It will attract that."

The Fox pointed behind us and we turned to see what she was referring to.

A gigantic, shadowy figure stood there, blocking half the sky from view. Red eyes that glowed in the dark shone ominously on its head, though it seemed to be looking at something else for the moment.

Pretty sure that thing can wipe out several islands with a swipe of its hand if it wanted to.

So this is what you can find in the In-Between Planes… I don't even know if you could classify this ability as a boon or a bane if this is what you have to deal with…

Mary frowned slightly, "So no magic at all?"

Felicia shook her head, "No… Just teleportation… Space between must be undisturbed here…"

The Trasif then turned to Sebastian and raised an eyebrow, a silent indication for him to voice suggestions.

The Wrunch looked at the floating island we were supposed to go to and thought for a moment.

"Hmm… It looks like these islands can be moved around. I would say the most efficient method would be to pull that island towards us through physical strength."

He then turned towards me, "Apologies, Young Mistress. But is it possible for us to seek your aid in conjuring a chain made of shadow? One with a hook at the end and the size of each link to be the same size as myself?"

That's a really big chain you want there… But I'll try.

I concentrated on my [Shadow Forge] spell, feeling my mana ebb away as the chain in question materialised in front of me.

At the end of the chain was a giant hook that was several times bigger than the Wrunch, which I'm pretty sure was the same size as a cruise ship's anchor.

Sebastian thanked me before lifting up the chain easily with both hands.

He then took a few steps forward and I watched him swing the chain above his head to gather momentum before tossing it at the floating island, the hook shooting forward like a comet.

The impact of the hook on the island sent a shockwave that shook even the island we were standing on, the sound loud enough to make me wonder if it would draw the attention of that giant shadow behind us.

Thankfully, it did not.

Sebastian then turned to the butlers, "Alright! Grab on and pull!"

They came forward and obeyed, all of them taking up position behind the Head Butler and arranging themselves along the remaining length of the chain.

Sebastian barked out an order and all of them pulled back together, the chain going taut they leaned back.

There was the sound akin to a groan as that island shifted ever so slightly, inching just a little bit closer towards us.

Holy crap, they're actually doing it.

Just as the butlers started to pull on it a second time, a loud screech came from behind and I spun fully expecting the dark figure to be attacking us.

However, instead of the dark figure, I realised it was a horde of winged shadow monsters that were diving towards us from above.

There were so many of them that it blotted out a good chunk of the sky.

"All maids, prepare for battle! Protect the Madam and the Young Mistress! Keep them away from the chain!" Mary instructed almost immediately.

Well… Can't say I expected this to be easy in the first place…

I guess it's time for battle!!