Chapter 73: Officially in Trouble

Ten guards… Even if they were newbies, the sheer number made it impossible for Lus to safely get to the stairs without being caught. There were several other stairways in a mansion this large, so at least he could go to one of the others, though that would make it so he was definitely not going to make it back to the kitchen on time.

As Lusac stepped away from the corner where he peeked into the landing area, he heard more voices coming from further down the hallway, towards him.

"Blast me," he murmured to himself as he looked for a place to hide from the incoming guards. Why were there so many of them? Vlqtrn was going to kill him if he found out about this mishap, especially when coupled with Fresa's [Invisible] security force who were keeping an eye on him. Why couldn't a mission go as planned for once?

A door that was already slightly ajar caught Lus's attention, and he ducked into it just as the incoming officers turned the corner, barely avoiding being seen. He stayed at the door frame, watching as the two uniformed Kremel passed by him.

A sigh of relief escaped him, but it didn't last long as a voice sounded from directly behind him.

"And what are you doing in here?" the woman asked.

Lus spun around to see that he was in a small cleaning closet with a Human who wore the clothes of the cleaning crew, not the security force.

"I-I," he stammered, unable to think of a good excuse as to why he was hiding in the closet. "I was just exploring the mansion a bit, looking at some of the pretty artwork, but I didn't realize how much time had passed. I don't want security to find me and think I'm some delinquent, you know?"

She eyed suspiciously, her blonde hair half falling out of the messy bun she wore on the top of her head. "Uh huh. Well the fact that you're hiding from the guards makes me think you are a delinquent. Why else would you be up here during work time?"

"No. It's not like that at all. I'm one of the cooking staff. We got a late start to our lunch break today, that's all," he said.

The woman continued to stare at him before exhaling and shaking her head. "I don't suppose they would hire a thief. The staffers put way too many security protocols in place for that. I'm going to let you go, but don't let me see you sniffing around up here again, you hear?" Her hands were on her hips as she glared at him.

Lus nodded vigorously. "Yes ma'am. No more art excursions for me. I'll stick to the kitchen. You have my word." That 8 [Charm] was paying off again. Who knew? Next time he leveled up, he might get another point or two there if he could pull this off.

"Now get out of here," she said, shooing him away.

"But the guards…" He looked at the still ajar door, hoping nobody heard him in here with the woman.

"Go give them your story. They're not going to throw you out for breaking a rule once. Unless you are a thief?"

"No. Definitely not," Lusac assured her.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem with this one little mistake," she said. "Now go. I have work to do."

Grumbling, Lus stepped out of the closet. He glanced around the hallway to see that there were no guards, but as he turned to walk in the opposite direction of the security personnel, the cleaner threw the door open completely to stand in the doorway, watching him.

"They're down there," she said, pointing in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go.

"Oh, right. Easy to get turned around in here," Lusac said with a timid smile. He forced his feet in the other direction and gave her a little wave as he walked towards the landing where yet another awkward conversation awaited him. Today was just not his day.

There was no chattering as Lus approached the area, a stark change from what had first alerted him to the guards' presences. As he got within view of it, his stomach twisted itself in a few knots.

All of the officers were starting in neat rows at attention, and a single voice was projecting out to them. Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, he was now going to be interrupting their superior during their rant.

He risked one last glance back to where the cleaner stood watching him, her hands still on her hips and her face firm. There was no getting out of this.

With a breath and a silent prayer to the Watcher, Lusac stepped out of the hallway and into full view of the guards.

All those closest to him immediately dashed towards him, one grabbing his hands and pulling them behind his back as the others all helped escort him to the front where everyone could see their culprit. These guys were surprisingly good at their job for it being day one.

The leader at the front wore a very souped up version of the others' uniform. She was a Kremel who looked a little too old to be in active security.

"Found another lost puppy, Sergeant," the Nemarian holding Lus said.

"Let him go. We're not here to arrest the staff," the Kremel growled. She glanced at Lus as the hands holding him released him, her orange eyes seeming to take in every detail. "Though I am curious as to what a kitchen boy is doing up here. Nobody's allowed on the second floor today except for us."

"Sorry. I wanted to see some more of the artwork around the house, so I thought I'd use the last of my break to check out the upper floors. I didn't mean to cause trouble," Lusas explained, doing his best to pull off a look of absolute innocence.

"Great. Another kid who thinks this job is a vacation," someone else said with a roll of their eyes. "I thought the training was supposed to prevent these kinds of incidents."

The sergeant shook her head. "Someone escort him back down to the kitchen and then make a stop at the chief staffer's office to get an official mark on his record. What'd you say your name was kid?"

"Lus Andrews," he answered. Hopefully an official mark wasn't going to hamper his future exploration efforts, or else this mission was going to rely entirely on Vlqtrn.

"Vert-Parn, you do it," the Kremel ordered.

The Nemarian from before stepped up and motioned for Lus to go downstairs.

"I'm really sorry about this," Lus said as they reached the first floor. "I forgot that the second floor was off-limits to anyone except security and cleaners. There was so much in the training that it was hard to remember it all."

"Security. And only security is allowed on the second floor," the Nemarian responded, his voice tense. "You really didn't pay any attention, did you?"

"R-right," Lusac replied. But then… who was the woman he ran into? Was she a thief? How many people were hiding in this staff? The more he thought about it, the more sure he became that this was not his problem at this moment, [Quest] or not. All he needed to worry about for the next while was surviving Chef Savannah and not drawing any more attention to himself.

Vert-Parn took the lead as they approached the kitchen, and based on the angry voices he heard coming from it, Lusac knew that he was in for even more trouble. Apparently he'd pushed his [Luck] too far this time. His [Sixth Sense] went off as they reached the doors, letting him know that Fresa's ever present bodyguards were still close to their ward, yet another thing he'd have to worry about during this mission.

When Lus and the security guard entered the room, he found the other workers standing in line with their hands behind their backs as Chef Savannah berated them. She turned with fire in eyes at the newcomers, and her anger only increased as she caught sight of Lus.

"Andrews, where have you been? And why is there a security officer with you?"

"He was–" the Nemarian started.

"I asked him." The Chef cut him off, her gaze drilling into Lusac.

"I wanted to see more of the artwork in the manor so I was exploring the second floor. I lost track of time," Lus answered simply.

"Artwork? You're a cook, not a painter, boy," the sous chef muttered.

"I'm assuming you'll take care of getting his record marked for this?" Chef Savannah asked the Nemarian.

Vert-Parn nodded and then exited as Lus grabbed his apron and fell in line next to Fresa-Ersht.

"There goes your status as golden boy," she whispered.

"No kidding," he replied in his own soft tone.

"Everyone tell Lus 'thank you,'" Chef Savannah commanded. "You all will be on cleaning duty for the rest of the week thanks to his stupidity."

"That's not fair," Majo argued. "He's the stupid one. Why should we all be punished?"

"You are a team, all of you. One of you screws up, it affects us all. My decision is final," Chef Savannah stated. "Now, as much as I would love to continue to discuss this crew's shortcomings, unfortunately we still have dinner to make and serve. I want to ensure everyone here knows how to properly wait on people. Crrn, take the lead."

The Sous Chef stepped forward. "Alright, first things first, let's go over serving expectations. It can be tricky, so we're going to do as much practice as it takes to get it right. Once the Senator moves in, there will be no room for mistakes."

"Who are we serving tonight, if not the Senator?" Fresa-Ersht questioned.

"The head staffers. They'll also be giving feedback on each of you, and I told them not to hold anything back. Listen well to Crrn," Chef Savannah advised.

Lus resisted his urge to groan. Cooking was one thing, and while he didn't love cleaning, he could do it when he had to. But being a waiter? That had never been an expectation of him on the Argo, and Savannah made it sound like it was going to be harder than the cooking which was saying something.

"Aprons off everyone, and follow me to the dining room," Crrn said. "We've got a lot to learn and not a lot of time."

They all trudged out of the kitchen after the Kremel, starting with Pltr and ending with Lus. Chef Savannah took their aprons in hand as they exited the doors and into the stunning dining room. It had the same fine, wooden floors and tasteful wallpaper on every wall. The room was large, fitting a banquet table that would hold at least fifty Kremel, and the lights were dimmer now, set to the usual level that Nemarians and Kremel liked.

Near the end of the table was a cart holding all types of plates, bowls, wine glasses, and utensils. Another cart held five pitchers of water.

"First we'll practice by setting the table and pouring drinks. Once you've mastered that, we'll move on to properly removing dishes and refilling drinks. Everyone behind a chair," Crrn said.

They all moved to their appropriate places, and what followed in the next hour was the most irksome training Lusac had ever been through. Crrn was a brutal boss, and he was serious about his expectations of perfection. Spilling even a drop meant practicing pouring five more times, and if their placement of a fork was more than an eighth of an inch off, they'd have to reset the entire set up.

And then afterwards came even worse torture as they learned the appropriate way to refill a glass and remove a finished plate. It turned out that there were far more wrong ways to do that kind of thing than right ways, and Lus managed to learn all of them. He was relieved when Crrn finally dismissed them, claiming their skills were just enough to be passable for tonight and promising to drill them harder the next day.

As horrible as cooking lunch as a line cook had been, it was a breeze compared to dealing with all the rules regarding visible servants for the upper class. Lusac was eager to get back into the kitchen and cook. Even if he wasn't that great of a [Chef], it was a whole lot better than being a waiter.

Only the Watcher knew what Lus would do when he actually had to put these skills to use. But that, like so many of the other problems that had cropped over the day, was a concern for another time. Right now, he just wanted to lose himself in the flow of cooking.