Let's Learn from Maid-senpai!

And so, having taken my bold first step as a maid apprentice, I am at present wiping down the mansion's hallway together with Maid-senpai, don't you know.

“............”

“Hih...... hiii......”

Maid-senpai is...... dripping with sweat and trembling all over as she scrapes away at the grime on the floor with single-minded devotion, I do declare.

That said, I don't believe this task is the kind of grueling labor that would make one tremble, you know?

<......Is it just me, or is she afraid of you, Emi?>

Ah, so Omake-sama thinks so too?

......It was the same yesterday when she served me dinner, but for some reason, whenever I get close to this person, she starts shaking and looks anxious.

Is she scared? Of me?

......I wonder if it's because I'm a cursed child......

<Hmm, the discrimination against black hair and black eyes really is deep-rooted. And yet, in all the Isekai Reincarnation Broadcasts of this world that I've watched so far, it's never been mentioned. No...... come to think of it, in the broadcasts from Ardyst, I don't think there were any characters with black hair and black eyes......? Which means, in other words......?>

Wait, Omake-sama! You can put those theories on the back burner!

Right now, I'll work my hardest, overcome my black hair and black eyes handicap, and get recognized by Maid-senpai!

That's what's important!

And so, I begin polishing.

In this world...... or at least in this region, it seems normal to walk around inside the house with outdoor shoes on, so mud stains and such are quite noticeable.

Thanks to the stamina I built up and built up in training with Master, I can breeze through polishing that would normally be pretty tiring.

Thank you, Master.

“U...... uhm......!”

Hm? What is it?

I look up and see Maid-senpai on the other side of the hallway.

The floor between me and Senpai is...... wait, it's already sparkling clean!?

It's reflecting the sunlight streaming in from the window so much that it's practically like indirect lighting!?

Eh? Eh? What? Did Maid-senpai finish cleaning this entire section of the floor in this short amount of time!?

“E, Emi, you, please polish the floor, around there. I'll go, finish cleaning the ground floor, too.”

Ah! Senpai, aren't you trying to distance yourself from me by making up an excuse!?

Wait, wait!

I move laterally with 【Grasshopper】 and kill my landing momentum with magic power conversion.

In an instant and without a sound, I close the distance to Senpai.

“Hih!? Hiii!!?”

“............”

“D, d-d-don't! Don't kill me!!”

I mean, why is this suddenly a conversation about killing or not killing?

Senpai is flustered, rag still in hand, and I gently take her hand in mine.

“......Teach me, please.”

“......Eh?”

“Senpai, your cleaning is amazing. Fast. Clean. How you do it, please teach me.”

Still holding her hand, I gaze at Senpai.

I remember hearing in my previous life that to convey sincerity, it's important to look the other person in the eye.

When I put that into practice, I got punched and told, “Don't glare at me!”

But generally speaking, it's supposed to be important.

Even if it's only for one month, I am a maid apprentice!

I want to be useful, even just a little!

Please let me learn!

I pour those feelings into my gaze.

“I, I-I-I get it! I said I get it! Let go of my haaand!”

Senpai finally accepts my request.

For some reason, she's on the verge of tears.

She must have been overwhelmed with emotion after feeling my burning passion!

<No, isn't she just terrified of you, Emi?>

I ignore Omake-sama's perfectly reasonable retort.

Senpai places her rag on the floor and begins wiping the parts I missed.

I was too absorbed in my own polishing to notice before, but Senpai's cleaning speed is abnormal.

There must be some kind of trick to it.

“Like, like this, you wipe while thinking, ‘Become clean’...... ugh...... uuu......”

For some reason, Senpai cleans the floor while sniffling.

The rag glides over the dirt, and just by doing that...... hey now, the floor is sparkling clean!?

Wait, could this be......!?

【Magic Perception】 activate!!

<Oh!? I see, this is......>

Through 【Magic Perception】, I can clearly confirm a flow of magic power at Senpai's fingertips.

It's a flow I recognize.

This is the opposite of 【Silverfish】.

Instead of sticking, it's peeling away.

An application of the technique I use during the jump phase of 【Grasshopper】!

<In other words, this maid is using magic power to peel away the dirt and then wiping it off. Shall we call it 【Peel】?>

I try it myself.

Since I've done similar things many times with my magic power manipulation, I'm able to master it relatively easily.

Just by gliding the rag over, stubborn stains come right off! It's super clean in no time!

Wow, what is this, it's fun.

<Ah! Stop, Emi! If you get carried away......>

Eh?

......Ah! Oh crap!

Instead of the dirt, I've thinly shaved off the floor!?

<You must be careful not to overdo it. You need practice.>

M, Maid-senpai is...... okay, she's not looking this way.

Why, I've merely shaved a teeny bit off the floor, that's all.

If I keep quiet, she probably won't notice! Ohoho!

The problem is dealing with the wood shavings I've scraped out of the floor.

These curly shavings, like what comes off a plane, look just like bonito flakes.

To think the day would come when I'd be using a rag on the floor to produce wood shavings.

What do I do.

How do I cover this up.

......Alright, I'll just eat them. Mogu mogu.

“Anyway, if you wipe like this...... Emi? Are you eating something?”

Oh crap!

N, no, I'm not eating anything~!

I quickly swallow the wood shavings and shake my head repeatedly.

“Senpai, you really are amazing. You can use cleaning magic.”

And, not that I'm covering anything up, but I praise Senpai like that.

Using magic power manipulation for cleaning is something I could mimic because I was trained to a certain extent by Master, but I don't think it's something an ordinary person can master so easily.

“M, magic? What are you talking about? I can't use anything like that.”

Senpai looks bewildered.

<Ah, it's one of those. She's using magic power manipulation without realizing it. It's a pattern you often see in craftsmen and the like.>

“......Senpai's cleaning is, magic.”

“U, um~, is that, like, a figure of speech? It gets clean like magic, you mean?”

Hmm~, my point just isn't getting across......

“Well...... if you're praising me, then thank you.”

......Well, whatever.

Senpai finally gave me a small, awkward smile!

Having somehow closed the distance between us, Senpai and I spent the rest of the time cleaning the ground floor of the mansion together.

Even though I've mastered 【Peel】, Senpai can still clean the rooms much faster.

Feeling that it was inefficient to clean the same area, I decided to use 【Silverfish】 to climb the walls and clean the ceiling and high spots on the walls.

Since these are places that usually can't be reached, they're quite dirty.

The more I polish, the cleaner it gets; it's fun.

Looking at me stuck to the ceiling, polishing while upside down, Senpai's face twitched.

And the distance between Senpai's heart and mine grew a little wider again.

Maid-senpai's cleaning ability performs well enough to be called a “special ability,” but it's so plain that no one but Emi and Omake-sama has even noticed it.