Side Story: Ruri 1 (Main Story Chapter 4)

Three months before the summoning ritual, in a small rural town a few kilometers from the capital city of Elris, a sixteen-year-old girl stood, trying her best to read a poster she had gotten after buying food in a nearby market.

Her father, a shoemaker, was busy working in the shop, while her mother, a retired maid, had taught her the basics of reading in case she ever decided to follow in her footsteps.

"Work… maid in castle. Hero summoning."

She tried reading out loud the words she knew well, while going over the ones she didn't to understand the paper's meaning a few times.

After a few tries, she got the gist of it: the castle needed workers for the upcoming hero summoning ritual, and those selected would be able to directly serve the hero.

Ruri, whose two older brothers had been sent to war, had as much hope as anyone else in the village for the hero's arrival.

She was not a fighter and had no special abilities.

Her mana core could not absorb much mana, which meant she could not use magic as many people in the world did.

Stuck with either finding a good man or a job that could help her family, she decided to bet on the second choice.

Even if her looks were alright, she could finally try doing a job that could provide for her two elderly parents.

Her dad was forty-four and her mother forty-two.

She looked at the numbers displaying the date of the interview and then counted on her fingers.

"Three, four… five, oh no, it's today!" Ruri yelled as she began rushing to the town center where the largest building stood.

It was probably where the person looking for maids would be and her only choice to get out of this small town to find a job.

After passing houses she knew well and using a few shortcuts, she lifted her worn-out dress to avoid dirtying it with the muddy floor caused by recent rains.

"Ruri! Where are you going in such a hurry?" she heard an elderly woman say as she passed by.

The woman was a sweet neighbor who would always bring back bread to give to Ruri.

"Mrs. Wilda, I will talk to you later," she yelled back while waving to the woman, not stopping until she reached the town's bailiff house.

The streets were narrow, so she had to watch out as farmers on creatures walked by and an occasional wagon passed.

The girl was well known in this small town, so she waved to many of the townsfolk.

After reaching the town's square, she finally arrived at the bailiff's house.

Sir Trestor, an elder who earned his place after working for a baron for many years, lived there.

Outside his home were three carriages and a group of ladies, some older, some younger than her.

Ruri rushed into the line where numerous ladies were speaking to each other.

She knew some, while others perplexed her.

Her confusion stemmed mainly from seeing various girls who had come for the interview, but they were from well-off families.

While she knew they were richer compared to most here, Ruri knew they were nothing much in big cities like the capital.

The daughter of the town's biggest store, for example, was being interviewed.

She seemed to be doing fine until they asked her if she could do house chores, which made her nervous.

Ruri saw the same reactions from a few more of these ladies during their interviews before she was called up.

"Hi, I am Ruri Holse, third child of Terris Holse, the shoemaker in this town. My mother was a castle servant, so I know the basics," Ruri introduced herself.

She was then given various tools to test her knowledge.

After demonstrating what her mother had taught her about washing and packing clothes, she was told to stand in another line.

The next part was simple.

She was questioned about everything in her life, from her abilities to her magic and health.

Ruri had a checkup with a sigil that most doctors use to diagnose illnesses and drugs and came clean.

Ruri was then given the good news and was told to collect her things.

Ruri was given a royal emblem, meaning she was going to work for the castle.

She forgot how she got home after that, as she was also given a few coins as an upfront payment and gave them to her parents right away.

Her father and mother were mad about the news, but her mother knew the emblem quite well and did not try to stop her.

"Ruri, please be careful. You know we love you as our youngest…" Her mother hugged her.

 As for her father, he did not want to stop his work.

That was until she was almost outside her house, where she felt someone gently pull her by the shoulder.

"Ruri… please, my little girl, be careful. If you don't feel safe in the city, come back home as soon as possible."

The girl stopped to hug her father tightly before exiting her house with a small bag that held most of her important things.

She had given all but ten silver coins to her parents.

Within a week, she found herself in the grand city of Midar, a place her mother had always talked to Ruri about.

It was even grander than the stories her mother had told her as a child.

Ruri was full of excitement about her stay here and the possibility of meeting the hero.

In the next few months, she trained hard to welcome the hero.

She was lucky to be chosen as one of the top twenty maids for this honor.

Before long, the small army of maids was sent to be ready to welcome the hero.

They would tend to his needs if it was a man, while butlers were also readied in case it was a woman.

As soon as news of the successful summoning spread, everyone stood at attention, awaiting the next steps.

All the maids and butlers were called in a hurry as something unexpected occurred.

Instead of one hero, multiple kids were summoned.

They were Ruri's age, which excited her, especially since she was assigned to take care of one of the boys.

The maids did not get to choose who they would help and were only instructed to guide them to a changing room.

The boy she had been tasked with was a teenager with long, dark chocolate hair.

It was not the best way to meet the hero, as his strange clothes were wet from sweat, his hair a mess.

His almost fully covered face by his hair seemed sunken, as if he were sick, and his inquisitive expression was filled with a hint of fear.

At that moment, Ruri felt an urge to help the boy.

She didn't know why, but she pulled him by the arm and took him to a room where he could bathe.

She offered him her help, hoping he would reject her offer, as she wasn't sure what she would do if he accepted.

Thankfully, he did not accept.

This hurt her pride a little, as the boy showed signs of disgust with the idea, but Ruri did not let it get to her.

She rushed to find the boy clean undergarments, which were not difficult to find as they were in the castle's guest room area.

Proper clothing was always given to guests, so they had many premade clothing ready in all shapes and sizes in the guest clothing storage room.

As soon as the hero finished his bath, Ruri, who had brought clothes, was stunned.

The clean guy before her, with long brown hair pulled back, was completely different from the boy she had seen earlier, who looked like he was homeless.

His face, without the hair covering, showed a handsome boy that made her heart flutter.

It was even more difficult as the undergarment showed his unblemished skin, unlike that of her brothers who would come home full of scars.

She tried not to show her nervousness as she needed to take the boy's measurements to find clothes that would fit him.

She even held her breath to stop herself from hyperventilating.

Again, she was sort of hurt when the boy flinched at her touch.

She tried to ignore this feeling again and hurried to find clothes.

Running to look for the perfect ones to raise the hero's impression of her, she looked through the large selection within the storage room.

Other maids were also looking at clothes for other heroes.

Ruri had to struggle a little but found a white and gold tunic set that would look perfect for the boy.

It was something even a prince of some nation could wear, feeling it was part of their normal attire, or so she imagined.

She even entertained the idea of bringing a dress, as the hero could probably pass off as a girl with his long hair, thin build, and a face that still contained childish traits.

Ruri quickly shook the thought from her head as she needed to go back and give the clothes to the hero who was waiting in undergarment.

After making a few rounds to get shoes, Ruri was finally able to see the hero shine with the clothes she had chosen.

She tried to hold back a grin while looking at the eye candy before her and calm her rapidly beating heart.

"I…I will need your hat…" Ruri tried to take the only piece of clothing that was ruining the hero's image.

Ruri then ran outside to take the worn-out fabric she was given, while looking for another hat to replace it with.

It was hard, as many guests did not care for headwear, but soon she found three hats she tried to offer the hero.

"Hero, if you don't mind, I asked around for some hats to be brought since you were wearing one when you were summoned," Ruri said, hoping the hero wouldn't get mad.

"Please decide if you want to wear one of the three I could bring on short notice. If not, I can try looking for others."

Ruri continued, taking out the three candidates she found after an exhausting search through the large storage area.

The hero looked through each one before deciding on the one she intended for him to wear.

She had only brought the two ugly hats to keep him from using them.

Stopping to stare at the boy who looked like a hero of some old tale that involved giving the riches of the wealthy to the poor, Ruri was overjoyed with her choice.

"You look perfect, hero. I hope you are fine with what I brought you!" Ruri said, hoping the boy's answer would be one of satisfaction.

"Yes… well, it's very comfortable, thanks." The hero replied before taking his leave.

Ruri was satisfied with this.

From what she could gather, the boy did not grow to hate her, which was a good thing.

The maid was finally able to sit down to rest.

She had sweated a lot after running back and forth during the short meeting with the hero, but she felt satisfied.

Ruri could only imagine their future relationship as master and servant, and she even entertained the idea of being his lover.

She knew it was probably not going to happen, but her imagination was hard to control, especially when she loved the tales about heroes and princes who would take a servant and make her a princess.

These were tales Roland had introduced to this world, and her mother, who had the chance to hear them as the princess's maid, was able to retell them to Ruri as a child.

After resting a little, Ruri hurried to clean the bathing area before she would have to meet the hero later during the day.