522 Maids Get Breaks Too

Well… Truth be told, the bell challenge ended quite unexpectedly.

I was prepared for it to go on until the time limit was up and Sebastian let himself get caught, but either Mary thought that we had reached a sufficient enough level or for some other reason, she let the bell get taken from her.

Oh make no mistake, I'm pretty sure if she really wanted to protect the bell, we would definitely not be able to take it from her even with that tactic. I'd bet if I were to even try to reach for the bell while she was hugging me, she'd be able to stop me without even seeing my hand.

I expected us to go right back to training again but we were given a few days of free time as a reward for completing it ahead of the expected time.

In case you were wondering, that was not the prize granted from obtaining the bell and yes, Katsuki did end up giving the bell to me anyway so it was counted as my win.

I tried to get her to keep it but she insisted on it quite adamantly so I kept it.

As for the prize in question… I was told that it would be given to me at a later date, though what exactly the prize was was not told to me.

Figuring that it would probably be just some kind of sweets like usual, I decided that I would just find out later on.

Right now though, I decided that it was the best time to extend my exploration scope to beyond the village.

Accompanying me today were Katsuki, Odeta, Lisa and Delmare.

Tiara and the others had stayed behind not because they wanted to but I had mentioned that I didn't want a large group following me around. In return, they asked me to sleep in the same tent with them for the night, which I didn't really mind doing anyway.

Thus, the five of us made our way out of the village dressed in our maid uniforms.

Despite this being a rest day, we still decided that we'll wear the maid uniforms anyway, more because of the enchantments that the uniforms provided.

I looked out at the snow capped peaks of the mountains outside the village and a thought crossed my mind.

I wonder if there's the concept of snowboards or skis in this World?

Ugh… I wanna play in the snow…

With that thought in mind, I reached down and picked up a fistful of snow and started packing it into a ball shape, my companions watching me in silence.

Once I felt that the ball was compacted enough, I tossed it back and forth between my hands to test its weight before throwing it at Odeta without warning.

The ball of snow hit her in the chest and broke apart almost immediately, only succeeding in surprising the Amrap for a moment as she looked at the snow that was left on her uniform.

I giggled, "Ehehe~ Snowball fight!"

I quickly ran a short distance away, scooping up more snow to start making another snowball in my hands, expecting them to do the same.

When I turned around in preparation to throw my snowball, I found all of them still standing in the same position, looking at me with concern on their faces.

I paused in my action of throwing the snowball and tilted my head slightly at them, "What are you girls doing?"

Lisa eyed the snowball in my hand, "That's… What we want to ask, Aster… What are you doing?"

I blinked at them, "Have you all never played in a snowball fight before?"

They looked at each other before turning back to me.

"Sister Aster… What's a snowball fight?" Odeta asked.

Eh? What do you… Ah…

I guess even the concept of snowball fights is foreign here too? Really? Damnit…

Maybe I can just teach them about it? Hmm… I guess I might as well do that when we gather everyone else and we can have a big snowball fight instead?

Yeah! That sounds like an idea!

I dropped the snowball and dusted my hands, "Nevermind, I'll tell you girls about it later. Anyway… Let's go out and explore! What is interesting around here?"

Katsuki immediately pointed towards one of the mountains in the distance, "There's a Rejmar trading outpost in that direction, Mistress. They do trade with outsiders including other Magridar villages like ours. Perhaps it might be worth a visit?"

I clapped my hands together, "Ohhh! Great idea Katsuki! Let's go then! Do you know the way?"

"Of course, Mistress. It is roughly a two hour hike away. Shall we head out now?"

"Alright! Lead the way!"

Katsuki did as I told and assumed the lead position of our group, beginning the trek towards the mountain that she had pointed out to me earlier.

We trudged through the snow, not even that hindered by it since we've been training in these conditions for the past week or so. It was quite fortunate for us that it was not snowing at least.

We travelled for quite a while until the village was no longer in sight, leaving us with nothing but the vast expanse of the snowy wilderness around us.

Lisa was the first to approach my side and wrapped her arms around mine.

"Aster~ Do you think there's any chance of us having a quickie later?"

Delmare obviously overheard us since she quickly ran up and wrapped her arm around my other arm while scribbling quickly in her notebook.

'Me too, Aster!'

Katsuki spoke up from the front, "I would like to remind the both of you that this is not a safe zone and monsters could appear at any time. I suggest that everyone remain vigilant in case of an ambush."

Delmare quickly separated from me bashfully while Lisa pouted for a moment before following suit.

And as though on cue, something leapt out from behind the trees, causing us to immediately adopt combat positions.

However, instead of a monster appearing before us, we quickly realised that it was simply a group of three Mahuns. Judging by the fact that all of them were wearing armour and carrying weapons, they should be Mercenaries or Adventurers.

Or else they were bandits…

Katsuki was the first to speak, "State your intentions, strangers."

The male Mahun at the front, a relatively tall man with black hair wielding a longsword, narrowed his eyes at Katsuki warily.

"I should be asking you that question… What is a group of women doing all the way out here dressed in maid uniforms? Are you demons?"

Well… I don't really know how he would jump to that conclusion… Although I admit that if I were to find a group of maids this deep in the mountains, I would be wondering what they were doing there as well.

Katsuki frowned at him, "Do you not hail from the Lehcarouc Kingdom or are you unaware about the existence of the Nilm Family?"

One of the other Mahuns, another male who wielded twin swords and had rather messy brown hair, quickly went up to tap his leader's shoulders.

"Rik! Those are the super maids I told you about! I told you they exist!"

The Rik guy furrowed his brows, "What's a bunch of these maids doing all the way out here then?"

"I don't know man… That family's usually all secrets and stuff. They could be here to kill someone."

My Inugami maid pointed towards the distance, "We are headed to the Rejmar trading post to trade. Now what are your reasons for jumping out at us with your weapons drawn?"

The final member of their party, a blonde haired woman wielding a spell caster's staff, waved her hands placatingly at us.

"Ple… Please accept our apologies. We had seen your approach and assumed that the five of you might be bandits or even some kind of new monster that we have never seen before."

Err… I may be sceptical but even that wouldn't be my first thought when I see five maids walking in the snow… I'd just assume they're lost.

Are there bandit or monster maids in this World?

Lisa scoffed, "A very likely story. And what are the three of you all the way out here then? There's better places to have a threesome than out here in the snow."

The girl barely reacted to Lisa's assumption, "We are also headed to the outpost you mentioned for a quest we accepted. Ummm… If it's not too much of a bother… Could we travel with you? There's safety in numbers after all."

Katsuki turned back to look at me, showing that she would leave the decision to me.

I shrugged, "I don't mind, but what about your other team mates?"

Surprisingly, the guy with the longsword sheathed his blade without any prompting, "I agree with the idea as well. Please pardon my earlier rudeness, but please understand that this is the first time I have seen… Something like this."

I waved my hand, "It's fine. I am Aster, a trainee maid of the Nilm Family."

Technically not a lie since I was operating in that capacity right now.

The longsword guy nodded, "I am Riklan, the leader of this party. These are my companions, Eita the mage and Kaelin the rogue."

The two of them waved at us.

In turn, I also introduced my companions to them, calling all of us trainee maids of the Nilm Family.

Riklan raised an eyebrow, "Is it rude of me to ask why there would be trainee maids out he--"

Kaelin quickly slapped his hand over Riklan's mouth, "Yes, it is rude. Please forget he said anything, ladies. It is our pleasure to be able to walk with you all."

Not gonna lie… This is an odd bunch of Mahuns…