Vol 7. Chapter 11: The Drop-Dead Gorgeous All-Purpose Maid

At dawn, Rebecca slowly awoke.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, her vision gradually cleared over the tatami floor.

But when she took in the state of her bedroom, she froze in bed.

"This... is this really my house? Why is it so clean..."

As a seasoned homebody, Rebecca had no real hobbies besides assembling firearms, and since she rarely had guests over, her house was always a bit messy.

Clothes, shoes, and pants often sat right alongside bullets of various calibers.

But to be fair, while it was messy, it was never dirty.

When Martin came over for dinner, he’d usually help tidy up a bit.

Still, most of the time, Rebecca’s place looked like a warzone.

But waking up this morning, the entire bedroom looked like it had been renovated.

If it weren’t for the ceiling—yes, the familiar ceiling—Rebecca would’ve thought some lunatic had carried her off to someone else’s room in the middle of the night.

She lifted her blanket and got out of bed barefoot, walking out of the bedroom.

Damn, the living room, the kitchen, even the balcony were all neat and spotless—organized to perfection.

"I must be dreaming. I should go back to bed for a bit..."

Rebecca mumbled to herself in a daze and turned to head back to her room for a second nap.

But the moment she turned around, someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

Rebecca turned to look.

It was Hera.

She wore a mask, her long hair neatly tied up behind her head.

Left hand on her waist, right hand gripping a broom, an apron draped over her body.

The reason Rebecca’s house had become pristine overnight was obvious.

She stared blankly at the tall beauty in front of her. Above the mask, those gorgeous eyes curved into slits.

"Good morning, little lady. I did a tiny bit of cleaning in your room. Looks much more put-together now, don’t you think?"

Rebecca gulped as her throat trembled slightly.

"A tiny bit... I’d say it was like a billion bits..."

Then she inhaled and sighed. "Ugh..."

Hera raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Why the sigh? Did I not do something right?"

Hearing that, Rebecca quickly waved her hands.

"No no no, I was just sighing randomly. Don’t overthink it."

In truth, the house was now so clean, she had no excuse to invite Martin over for dinner anymore.

That big dumb imperial guy was just like their squad captain when he was younger—still totally clueless when it came to women.

"Alright, alright."

Hera untied her hair, removed the apron and mask, revealing—

a face so stunning it could halt traffic.

After a full night’s rest, her complexion was far better than it had been when she’d first awakened yesterday. She now radiated warmth and elegance.

She folded the apron and mask neatly and said,

"I made breakfast. Come eat."

A gorgeous, all-capable maid stepping out of a crystal pod saying she cooked breakfast?

Rebecca thought to herself.

But she was already sitting at the table.

Breakfast was fried eggs and bacon.

Rebecca took a bite, savored it for a second, then couldn’t help but give a thumbs up.

"Delicious!"

Hera smiled with her eyes.

"Glad you like it. Thanks for taking me in. Until Leon finds me a proper place, I’ll probably be imposing on you for a while. But don’t worry, I’ll handle all the housework and meals. I won’t freeload."

"Oh, that’s not a big deal. You can stay as long as you want, senpai."

Rebecca devoured a strip of bacon at lightning speed.

Watching her eat so voraciously, Hera hesitated, then cautiously asked,

"Um... what’s your relationship with Leon?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, it’s just... last night, Leon mentioned some things about your Lionheart Order. Not very specific, just that you and a group of people have been following him," Hera said. "But I wasn’t sure how close you two are. Could you tell me?"

Rebecca set down her fork, thought for a moment, then said:

"How close I am with the captain... let’s see... oh! I got it!"

"What is it? What is it?" Curious big sis Hera leaned in with wide, eager eyes.

"We’re the kind of war buddies who could stab each other right in the ribs on the battlefield without hesitation!"

Hera blinked, then corrected her with a serious face,

"You meant to say 'take a knife to the ribs for each other', right?"

"Same difference~"

"It’s very different, okay!"

But Hera didn’t press it. She continued asking:

"So you know him pretty well, huh?"

Rebecca nodded. "I’d say so. Why?"

"Thing is, I want to learn a bit more about Leon from you."

Hearing that, Rebecca paused.

She looked down at the breakfast on her plate... and suddenly, it all clicked.

She owed her... and she just ate her food...

This beautiful big sis wanted to extract intel about the captain from her!

"What? You want to ask about the captain?"

"Mmm..."

"Senpai, don’t you know Leon and I are friends bound by life and death, united in suffering and loyalty?"

Rebecca stared sternly at Hera.

Hera flinched slightly.

"Oh, sorry. If you don’t want to talk—"

"If you want info, you gotta pay up!"

"Huh? P-pay up?"

Hera clearly didn’t follow.

Rebecca nodded vigorously.

"That’s right! Pay up! For lunch I want boiled shrimp! If you can make that, I don’t mind spilling every single embarrassing thing the captain did between ages fifteen and twenty-five!"

Hera’s pupils trembled. In her heart, she thought: Kids these days...

"...I can buy you off with a plate of boiled shrimp?"

But she still nodded.

"Deal. As long as you’ll tell me more about Leon, forget shrimp—I’ll make you boiled crocodile if you want."

That made Rebecca go still.

Boiled crocodile...?

Why did that feel like something just as abstract as the stuff her captain usually said and did...

So maybe this gorgeous big sis was just {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} as unhinged as the captain?

No way... no way, right...

Still, since she’d agreed, Rebecca would go through with it.

After all... spreading the captain’s embarrassing stories was her favorite thing!

"Let me tell you, senpai—when the captain was in school—"

"Wait, wait!"

Before she could go on, Hera dashed to the storage room, and after a moment came jogging back to the table.

She returned with a pen and a little notebook.

She placed her feet on the crossbar of the chair, knees together, notebook in one hand and pen in the other, sitting with perfect posture like a straight-A student ready to take notes.

"Okay. Continue."

"Roger that!"

Turns out it wasn’t abstract nonsense Rebecca couldn’t stand—

She just couldn’t stand the captain playing abstract with her.

If it was a beautiful older woman being abstract with her? Oh, she was all for it!

And so, for the next two hours, Rebecca spoke with zero filter, recounting every scandal and shameful story from General Leon’s past.

The coverage was nearly on par with the dirt she once spilled to Rosvisser.

Around 9 a.m., a knock on the door interrupted the two.

Rebecca stood and went to answer.

"Yo, Captain. Mornin’."

She greeted sweetly.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so well-behaved today?"

Rebecca (laughing nervously): "Hehe. Oh right, you’re here to see the pretty big sis, right? I’ll go get her."

"...Yeah."

After she left, Leon mulled over her words, feeling more and more unsettled the longer he thought.

"You call her big sis... and I have to call her Mom..."

"..."

"Hmm~ Why does it feel like I suddenly dropped a whole generation..."

"..."