Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)
To Become A Master
A refreshi+ng spring breeze blew across the wide river's surface Beneath the war water shi+ht
The green grass that lined the banks gently swayed in the wind On the road above, a high-class convertible sparkled in the light as it drove past
Sitting in the back seat of the convertible, wearing the high school uniform of Harusha Private Acade silky hair fluttered in the spring breeze, the way she sat with her delicate hands placed gently upon her knees as if she were irl kept in isolation Her large eyes partially concealed by long lashes, her expression was daydrea her lips
The driver earing a black jacket with a hat pulled low over his eyes Next to Sierra, a irl sat with a tense facial expression
”IsIs it really alright forin Sierra-sama's car like this?”
”Of course Is your leg feeling better yet?”
Sierra s flower, her inner friendliness, undeniable elegance, and grace came forth
”Yeahor rather, it's just a scrape”
The school girl looked down at the adhesive bandage stuck to her knee, sounding rather apologetic
”Negligence is forbidden It would be a proble and it became serious”
”B-but, I' Sierra-sama take me, and I feel sorry for everyone in class”
”Everyone in class?”
”Because, Sierra-sama is admired by everyone”
”Okay, then please Take it as this upperclassman's selfishness and let me take you, okay?”
Sierra put both of her hands together, staring fixedly at her as if entreating the school girl to coirl started to blush fiercely
”Ah, Uhm, uhm, uhm, uhm”
While clearly flustered, the school girl shrugged her shoulders shyly, finally answering in a small voice,
”Y-Yesplease do”
”Good Then, please just relax Would you like a pastry?”
Sierra reached into a velvet box, pulling out a high-class chocolate truffle The girl, however, was clutching her racing heart as she instead became more nervous and her face flushed an even deeper red
Sierra's car continued along the road, while on the embank down arass His clearly deterave off a sort of hot and dry impression, like that of the desert wind
As Jin used his school bag as a pillow, he read an archaeology book held closely to his lips It contained pictures of a clay tablet edge-shaped characters engraved on it
Utada Yuuya, Jin's classmate, also sat nearby His skin and hair eak in color, while he had a thin, frail frame He wore headphones over his ears, with his slender eyes narrowed as he absentmindedly listened to the music
”Ahit's the Zadou's car”
Sierra's car continued driving on, while Yuuya blinked in an unfocusedin happiness
”Aaah, such a secluded young woman She lives on a coreat deal of people ant to confess to her, but she's like that flower on the top of a mountain, oh how bittersweet”
”Ehh Beautiful flowers can grow froh mountains”
Jin's gaze was directed at his book, so he only responded in a simple manner Yuuya lifted his eyebrows like the katakana character 'ハ', and took his headphones off of his ears, resting them around his neck
”Flower on a high cliff, you don't even get it! We're talking about Zadou Sierra here”
”The name of this flower sure sounds like a human”
”You're slow and you're onlya shallow point Zadou is a beauty and a celebrity who's very kind, she's a flawless Ojou-sauys at the academy talk about how they want to confess to her, but since they're too scared to confess, they can only admire her from afar Isn't it unbelievable that you don't know her?”
”My shoulder's been hurting since yesterday Wonder what I should do”
So, without caring, Jin rubbed his left shoulder He hadn't listened at all to the speech; Yuuya was stunned
”So here! Besides, it's because you read books all the ti You're like an old man”
”It's near the collarbone, and it feels like there is a chestnut in there grinding heavily”
”That's an infla students like us talking about such a depressing topic?”
”Yesterday, my shoulder finally reached an intolerable level It felt like parasites underneathmy flesh”
”How can you say that with such a calm expression? Surely it's because they come from inside the books stacked around our roo sounds at night as well Don't you think it would be better if you went to the hospital?”
”Hnn This cuneifor style”
”You're not listenin' to ain!”
”If you do that, then these symbols makeS-L-M-NSolomon?! Perhaps this clay tablet holds the key to 'Solomon's Treasure'?”
”What are you talking about Solomon's Treasure for?”
”I' back to my room, there's some stuff I want to check on”
Yuuya's words went unheeded as Jin stood up, grasped the book in his hands, and ran along the e behind
”Hey! Wait a !”
But Jin never heard those words Half wanting to give up, Yuuya nevertheless picked up both their school bags, clutching them to his chest as he chased after Jin
Jin traveled one kilometer from the academy in order to reach Harushi+ya Acadeave off an old, historic feel, as the roof was built ooden roof tiles Each room was set up so that two people froether Jin and Yuuya were roommates
Their room had a bunk bed, an old-fashi+oned desk, andcardboard boxes; so h roo into the
”Well then it must be buried somewhere around here”
”This is just like excavating”
Yuuya had just about given up after going through and classifying a bunch of books underneath the bunk bed
”Geezthis room should be a place to relax”
”Ah, found it The reference book to the Sumer characters”
Jin gave a big pull on one book in the center of a mountain of books Theon top of Yuuya
”Gaaaah! It's an avalanche of booooks!”
Underneath the bunk bed, books had piled up Jin ignored the ”Ah”, and without doing anything special, expressionlessly pulled a book out from under the bed
”Hey, are you alive?”
As he extracted the book, a cloud of dust was released Crawling out frohed
”Move it! By the here did all these boxes even come from! The only way they could have entered this dorm, is one by one”
Yuuya's body continued to struggle with the dust But as Yuuya grew angrier, Jin, at his own pace, looked around the inside of the room without any emotion on his face
”Even if you say thatall of these are important reference books”
”Then you should at least organize them!”
”I don't know about that You think after they're organized, they wouldn't fall around like this?”
”It wouldn't be this bad if you had organized them!”
In Yuuya's madness, he pushed Jin's face down into the pile of books
”I can't take it anymore! I can't live in a room like this!”
Yuuya picked up froetan MP3 Player, and afterhis headphones from around his neck, he stormed out into the corridor with heavy footsteps
This noruy was seriously upset
”I'anize this roos that are against the dormitory rules to the dorm supervisor and have a nice chat with him”
”How can you even make that kind of horrible joke?”
”You think I care! Forget about that, and hurry up with the sorting!”
Slaam! Yuuya had forcefully closed the door behind him A bit thickheaded, all Jin could do was tilt his head to the side
”What a weird guy Why's he so mad?”
Jin lifted his gaze to the mountain of books There was no way to clean all of this in an hour
”Wellfor now I'll just do what I can If I'o”
Slowly, Jin began opening the cardboard boxes Inside, there were things like Arabic newspapers, clay pots, and fragan to feel very tired
”Haah So Dad and the others didn't even try to organize any of itAnyway, I'll start by separating things I need and don't need, and then I'll throw out the junk”
Jin took out the newspapers fro the the newspapers into an increasing number of bundles, the cardboard boxes did not seem to diminish Even before he started with this tedious work, Jin had already been somewhat tired
”Geez, why do I have to keep doing this?”
Jin kicked a nearby box into the air After the cardboard box collapsed on landing, the contents spilled out into the rooments of broken earthenware and bricks, there lay a dully shi+ning golden object The strange metallic vessel looked like a water pitcher with an attached leg
”Hm……?”
Jin went ahead and picked it up
Around the saone to the woman's dormitory, called ”Sakura Dorirl, after which she returned to her home
Sierra's house was located in a very exclusive residential area, and was a quite noticeably large, stately mansion Ten-thousand square meters had been used as the site for the construction of the large hoe tennis court, pool, and even a rose garden where exquisite flowers bloomed
The autoate opened with the approach of the car Just then, fro out a red carpet in welcome
”A most welcome return, Ojou-sama!”
The employees in the thy, deep blue apron dresses with black tights, and wore loafers for footwear, while a headdress was affixed to the hairthe maid's unifor the car as Sierra exited, they took her school bag
”Now then, I will put the car into the garage Until next time”
The driver bowed his head deeply Giving an elegant smile, Sierra also bowed her head
”Okay, Nikolai Thank you for your hard work every day”
”Not at all It is for Ojou-sama's sake”
The driver then took the car and brought it into the spacious garage by the side of the rade automobiles were parked As Sierra walked atop the red carpet, theup the carpet as they went TheSierra in unison
”You must be quite tired Would you like an afternoon snack?”
”Thank you I aht for now”
”Is there any homework that you may have?”
”For home economics, my homework is to hand in an embroidered handkerchief”
”Understood Then we shall call the world class designer from Paris shortly”
”Paristhat reminds me, how is Mother?”
Just then Sierra passed through the entry way to theup to the large stairwell Along either side of the red carpet, another twenty maids and employees were lined up
”A most welcome return, Ojou-sama!”
Said within the interval of a second, there had been no one off mark, as the twenty people spoke and bowed their heads in unison After ascertaining that her ain
”Mary Is Mother still shopping in Paris?”
”She isn't Today she went to watch an opera she took the private jet when she left”
The headher head Older than the otherin her twenties, and her lishwoman, with no flaws in their perfection
”What about Father?”
”He is in his room”
”I see He's probably busy earning ”ain”
Huffing, Sierra took a deep breath Within as, but pretending not to have noticed, she maintained a poker face with her response
”Ojou-sama, would you like to have some afternoon tea?”
”Eh?no, why do you ask me?”
Not sure why Mary would want her to take tea, Sierra could only tilt her head to the side in puzzlereat staircase At the top of the large staircase, the driver fro taken off the black coat and hat, noore a tailcoat
”A most welcome return, Ojou-sama”
He, Nikolai Pavlov, was the Zadou House's butler Even though he was a butler, he was only in his twenties, and had an appearance that was tall and thin, with fir blue eyes and platinum blond hair
Standing atop the stairwell, Nikolai had not hts and had seen her hasty smile
”Ojou-sama Are you at all tired?”
”No, but I should be saying that to youI apologize for having youafter Father's health ”
”Not at all Being a driver is a job that I enjoy very much after all”
As Sierra headed towards her roo at her pace Sierra's e
”Why are you following, Nikolai?”
”I had assumed it was Ojou-sama's intention that I should follow”
”I didn't really mean that”
”Ahthen I deeply apologize It's a course of upbringing”
Nikolai, in a small movement, quickly bowed his head
”By the way, Ojou-samawould you like some Russian Tea?”
”Mary also tried to give me some tea Do you really want me to drink tea that much?”
”April's winds are still known to be quite cold”
Nikolai had tried to modestly hide from view his facial expression However, Sierra had noticed his worry for her
”That's true Well thenI will gladly have some”
Sierra's expression changed After confir that, Nikolai bowed his head very deeply
”Well then, I shall put the charcoal in the Samovar Teakettle”
With that, Sierra turned back to her room
The rooh-class Hotel Suite in all its splendor It had a bedroo room, where in the bedroo room there were three one-hundred inch plasames, and a third for videos
Sierra tossed herself down on the sofa in front of the TV, staring absent- to do She thought about how she hadn't seen her parent's faces all week
”Father, Mother”
Facing up, she realized she was crying Sierra quickly sat upright on the couch, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand
Suddenly, so at her hand, Sierra noticed an unfalove
”Huh? Whendid I, put on a glove?”
At that instant, Sierra's entire body ed by a golden light
Nikolai, with a silver Samovar Teakettle from the Ro them down the corridor on top of a cart
”Ojou-sama, excuse my impoliteness”
Nikolai knocked on Sierra's door But, no reply came
”Ojou-sama Sierra Ojou-sama?”
He called again, but there still was no reply Pushi+ng gently, he opened the door Inside the room, strewn about atop the sofa, was a school uniform and a pair of shoes It looked as if a body had simply vanished from within the clothes, while in the middle of sleep
”It seems the uniform was removed Well, that must mean”
Nikolai turned his gaze to face the inner shower rooht red
”M-My ies!”
Nikolai hurriedly flew back into the corridor He had thought Sierra was taking a shower Rushi+ng out, he caught his foot on the cart, s his face on the cart as he collapsed
”Mister Pavlov, what are you doing?”
In thethe mansion to supervise the lancing down suspiciously at Nikolai, who looked like a car-squashed frog lying on the floor Sierra was nowhere to be found
Sierra was in an unfamiliar room
Dust was piled on a great deal of old books, and there were boxes of bowls and heaps of newspapers
”Wha, what is thissome kind of warehouse? How did I, come to this kind of place?”
”Yyou, who are you?”
Sierra turned her surprised eyes towards the bewildered voice She was ed to Jin In front of hiolden container in the shape of an water pitcher tumbled away
”Y-You're, Araki Jin! Why, are you here?”
”Why you ask, this is my room!”
”Ehyour room? W-Why?”
”By the way, how come you know my name?”
”What was that? We're in the saht?”
”Ehthe same class?”
”No way, you don't know me? Me?”
”I transferred here froh school, that's why”
”That's not the problem! April is over and yet you still don't know the nairls in your same class? I mean, how does someone in the academy not know me?”
Sierra angrily slapped her hand against her hip, then suddenly narrowed her eyes
”Ah, I see This e It's because you can't see reed”
”Nope Both my eyes are one/five”
”Hah? What's that, I don't believe it!”
”Why, whenso mad By the ho are you really?”
”They're plain clothes, but when you look at this uniform, you still don't understand?”
”Uniform? It's okay but, our school prohibits part-time work”
”Part-tis that I don't understand”
”But, isn't that an Akiba Maid uniform?”
”Maid you say!? Even suggesting that I would ever be a ize!”
Angrily facing Jin, Sierra glanced at her hands and beca so also felt different about her hair, Sierra lifted her hand to the top of her head A lace headdress was pinned in her hair
”Wwhat is this?”
Losing her cal aknee socks There was also aher white bottom Normally Sierra was a very conservatively dressed Ojou-sa the mini skirt caused her to blush a deep scarlet She tried to pull tighter with both hands and ed to conceal her bottom a bit more
”What'swith these clothes! Why a maid clothes!?”
”Idiot, you're too loud! After co here, do you want everybody around to see you?”
”Besides caring if soot here myself!”
”Stop yelling so loud! In this dorirls or pets are allowed If they find you, I'll get evicted”
”Idon't compare me to an anih of your impoliteness!”
”I said your voice is too loud!”
”Could I request of you a little manners?”
”I' you, please lower your voice”
”Will you do so for me?”
”If I can do it”
”Then die apologizing!”
”Sorry but, I think that exceeds the limits of what I'm capable of”
Jin said this in a harsh voice, devoid of emotion
”Anyway, before soet out of here”
”Until you die apologizing, I'”
Sierra seated herself in traditional japanese style, with her face looking straight forward
”Geez Seriously, just give me a break”
shi+fting impatiently, Jin finally accepted it and dropped his shoulders Quickly, Sierra jabbed her finger at Jin
”Guess there's no helping it, then I'll forgive you if you commit seppuku”
”That's not even different from earlier You're so selfish, what kind of '-sama' are you?”
”Zadou Sierra-sama!”
”That's a pretty straight replyWait, Zadou? Maybe it's, the one from the same class?”
Jin re about back at the e heard so about an Ojou-sama
”Isn't that what I said a while ago! Do you actually have a brain in that head of yours?”
”Well It's just that you, differ froht an Ojou-sama was”
”What was that?”
”It's just that, I didn't think an Ojou-sama would have such a bad mouth”
”None of your business! Acting like a friendly cat is too bothersome!”
”So they dress up in costu”
”Idiot, acting like a cat is a ?”
”It's just, you're wearing Akiba type clothes, it's cosplay right?”
Taken aback, Sierra dropped her gaze to her clothes, covering herself with both arms
”I forgotI earing maid clothes”
Standing up in sudden fury, Sierra began fervently scanning the inside of the room
”Where's the exit? So maid clothes, if someone I knew came into this common room of yours, it would be the embarrassment of a lifetime!”
”Sorry for it being so common”
”I'd be so shocked, I'd probably die!”
”Well, I think I'd be the first one to go I already feel like I'm about to die”
”Instead of gruet out!”
”So nobody will see you when you leave, you'll have to exit through the ”
Jin pointed towards theWith theopen wide, dust was blowing up from the books
”What floor is this?”
”The second floor”
”There's no helping it then”
Pressing her lips tightly together, Sierra put her leg on theTo Jin's astonishment, Sierra concentrated with her arms held at her back
”Oi, you serious? The second floor is actually quite high”
”It's better than being embarrassed!”
”Yeah but everyone has so they're embarrassed about”
”Speaking of which, what's with your hand?”
Jin had crossed his hands in front of Sierra, holding her tight He was dazedas her body was unbelievably soft for being so thin Taking that chance, Sierra moved to theand prepared to exit, when she felt so si back into the room with a loud crash
”Kyaaa!!”
Sierra tu with her bottoly, and the flustered Sierra hastily pressed it down, sitting in traditional japanese style Kneeling next to Sierra, Jin wondered what had happened
”Is it, fun to play by yourself?”
”W-Why couldn't I get outside?”
Sierra feverishly began scanning the roo a door, she ran towards it Confused, Jin could only stay still
”Oi, wait, people will see you if you go into the corridor!”
Sierra grabbed the doorknob with her hand But, again the sa, she looked at her hand Why couldn't she even open the door?
”Why”
At thatout fro upwards
”Kyaa, it's poison gas!”
Sierra grabbed onto Jin, terrified He gave a painful grimace
The violet san to take on the for a brandy glass in one hand, was spinning upwards Wearing a ring on one finger, a necklace, and an earring, Jin's eyes reflected all the sparkling jewelry
”Whwhat's with this flashy old guy?”
Still hanging onto Jin, Sierra's voice was filled with disbelief
”FaFather?”
”Eh, your father?”
Understanding less and less, Jin furiously rubbed his eyes
”So your fashi+on sense, it's hereditary?”
”I' the maid set because I like it! That and, what's so so overly familiar!”
Sierra was flushed deep red, as she thrust Jin forcibly aside Pushed aside, Jin just raised his eyebrows
”Obviously, I wasn't the one touching you right?”
Picking up the water pitcher, and with a friendly expression, Sierra's father extended his hand out to Jin
”So, you're the newon you”
”Wha? Is it because of , that I have no idea what you just said?”
With all his strength, Jin glared hard at Sierra's father Sierra was doing the same, as she snapped
”What the heck are you saying that for, father! Bowing your head to a commoner, I can't believe it!”
Sierra's father, wagging his index finger back and forth, showed Sierra the water pitcher
”Sierra, do you have any idea what this is?”
”It's a pot used to make curry sauce”
”Ah So that was the na you put curry into”
A hand slapped Jin fro around, with scornful eyes
”It's because a commoner doesn't have one in his house, that's why you don't know it's real name”
”Quit with the co! Even I know that the word for the ladle you use with shredded ice is called a 'kanrojyakushi+'
”Shredded ice you say? Ah, how distasteful The upper class term is a frappe”
”Regardless, how did a parent and child like you get into this dorm?”
”It's not a pot to make curry sauce This, is a laave a weak acknowledgment
”I see, like a lamp that has a flame”
”It doesn't have a flame”
”Then it's just junk”
”It doesn't have a flaenie”
Sierra's father had drawn very close to Jin's face, speaking in a serious tone For a word like that, it took Jin a while to have it register in his brain
”right now, listen to this strange story”
So, Jin used a finger to clear his ears Sierra had also anxiously turned her eyes towards her father
”Fatherill you do if there are losses in your share trading?”
”Sierra Until nohy is it that I never had to go to work to earnstocks”
”Eh? Father, you weren't buying and selling stocks on the internet?”
”The things in our house, the white personal jet, all of these I used ic to make them appear!”
Sierra's father beat his own chest For several seconds, both Jin and Sierra were completely silent
”But even so, the official name has to be 'curry pot'”
”'Kanrojyakushi+' I didn't know that one”
”Oi, Oi, Oi! Don't leave me out!”
Grabbing Sierra's back, her father turned her around
”The Genie of the Lahts' As a part of our fae, the Zadou House has the blood of that Genie of the Lamp!”
”Eeeh”
”I'ic, can s appear!”
”Yeah, I see It's just like Papa says”
”Don't stare at me with such a pitiable expression!”
”That's because, who could believe so like that?”
”But it's true! The abilities of a Genie of the Laeneration finds their ”master”, the parents lose their abilities”
”Master?”
Sierra's face stiffened as she turned her eyes towards Jin He was taken aback, as Sierra's father pointed at the lamp in his possession
”Then ic lamp?”
”What slow comprehension”
”Yeah but, I was just cleaning my room”
”But you rubbed the lamp at that time?”
”That's because it was dirty”
”Then that's why you are officially Sierra's Master”
”I don't believe it! Why do I have to be the servant of this commoner!”
Sierra's father turned her around with the flat of his palm,
”Sierra Put you hand in your apron's pocket”
He said, while pointing at her pocket Thrusting her hand into her pocket, Sierra pulled out a thin book, resting it on her palm She blinked in surprise
”This book, what is it?”
”It's a enerations It seeic maid”
The front cover of the book had the design of an arabesque of the Arabian Wind, while the inside was blank Turning the pages, Sierra knit her eyes in confusion