It was grand opening day. Ristia sat in the cafeteria’s waiting room, shoulders flopped in disappointment. There were a number of patrons who came out of curiosity, but they still hadn’t pulled in many—that wasn’t what had Ristia down, though. What had her in a rut was that none of the children were calling her “Big Sis.“ She went from the casual “Sis” to the more formal “Director,” and from “Director,” she moved to the business-like “Manager.” This trend was making her end goal of “Big Sis” slip further away from her grasp—something she could have never dreamed would happen. Needless to say, it was an unimaginable flop and disappointment. Of course, she only told them to refer to the customers as “Big Bro” and “Big Sis” and never intended for them to start referring her to that as well, as a result. Ristia had thought that she would have them call her “Big Sis,” and she would be able to build upon that, but they ended up throwing a wet blanket over her plans in a grand fashion.
Sigh... I wonder if Maria even thinks of me like an older sister. I think of everyone else as my little sister and brothers, though... I miss the days when they called me “Sis” and “Sister,” even if it was just a casual nickname... Ristia griped to herself. Of course, it would be easy to just force them to call her “Big Sis,” but Ristia didn’t want them to just call her “Big Sis” out of duty and obligation; she wanted them to call her “Big Sis” out of love and adoration. That goal would never be realized if she coerced them into doing it.
“Manager Ristia, I have a little something to discuss, but... Are you too tired, by any chance?” Maria asked her as she popped into the waiting room. Upon hearing her question, Ristia quickly straightened herself up and put a smile on her face.
“I’m fine. I’m happy to discuss anything you’d like.”
“O-Oh, thank you.” Maria’s cheeks went a little flush. While she was clearly attracted to Ristia’s kind words and beaming smile, this was something common among most people who talked to Ristia—something that Ristia herself was oblivious to.
“So what did you want to discuss?”
“Well, we had a customer ask if it were possible to request a specific maid.”
“‘Specific’? What do you mean?”
“You know, usually it’s one person per table, and they take the customer’s orders, right?”
“Aah... Right.”
Currently, they had their staff wait on tables in order, so the child the customer was served by would be random, including their gender. There were probably requests about getting to choose who waited their table, especially in regards to that.
“Tell them that they can specify their server if it’s within our capabilities. However, feel free to kick out any customers that cause any problems.”
“...Thank you, Manager Ristia.”
If Maria is happy, then I’m happy, Ristia thought to herself before Maria continued on.
“Then, you’re the first one up, Manager Ristia.” Ristia didn’t understand what she meant by that.
“Um... I’m what?”
“The carpenters from the construction team are here, and they want you to wait on their tables.”
“...They want me?”
“Yes, Ma’am. If you have no intention of doing so, I’ll go tell them no, though.”
“Hmm...”
Since Ristia had older sisters herself, behaving like someone’s little sister wasn’t necessarily out of the question, but Ristia’s ultimate goal was to be loved and adored by the children as their older sister. She pondered on what her best course of action to achieve that dream would be.
The result? She decided to work as a maid herself.
Ristia’s logic was that she was currently their manager, but if she were to be a maid like everyone else, then she would become their senior coworker, meaning that it would put her closer to being a Big Sis than a Big Boss.
“That’s fine. I’ll go get changed right away, then~”
“Okay. I’ll go tell them that you’ll be down shortly.” Maria turned around and exited the waiting room. Ristia waited until Maria was completely out of the room before she grabbed the shoulder portions of her dress and threw it off of herself. Now down to a pair of cute blue underwear, Ristia stored the dress in her Item Box and pulled out a maid uniform of her own in its stead. She then wrapped her vivacious body in the outfit. Lastly, she untied the tie that bundled her hair casually at her back, letting her lustrous black hair flow down freely without a single mark from the tie.
“Ehehe, I was right in making this just in case,” said Ristia, turning around and checking how she looked in the full-length mirror as a tender smile formed on her lips. Her appearance made her worthy of being called an “angel.” Ristia, however, murmured to herself, “Yup, no matter how you look at me, I look like a normal girl, alright.” She then went down to the floor with a sweet smile on her face, catching the attention of the children and the customers alike. They were positively glued to her lovely figure, but Ristia remained unfazed and walked to the tables where Wood and the other carpenters were seated, not with a regal and aristocratic stride, but with a light and casual pep to her step. She reached Wood and his men and greeted them.
“Ehehe, welcome back, Big Bro~” Ristia’s angelic smile, beaming while she was clad in her maid uniform, instantly captivated anybody who saw it. Perhaps it was too much of a shock to their systems, because Wood and his men all froze up.
“Big Bro Wood, are you ready to order?”
“Uh, oh, um... Little Lady, the age gap is making this ‘Big Bro’ thing kinda awkward for me. Do you mind calling me something else, if you could?”
“Um... then, Big Brother? Big Brother Wood?” she asked, cocking her head, prompting Wood to get the shivers.
“I-I can’t put this feeling into words! What is it?! I’ve always wanted a girl like this!”
“Hey, no fair, Boss! Hey, Ristia, call me ‘Big Bro,’ too!”
“Okie dokie, Big Bro~”
“Oh maaan, this is freaking great!” After Wood, the second carpenter started to writhe.
“Starting today, I’m gonna come here every day!”
“Thank you, Big Bro~”
“Holy crap, I’m so happy I could drop dead and I wouldn’t care!” The third man then fell. One after another, the carpenters started to drop like flies to Ristia’s charms. They’d turned into Ristia’s fans, eventually founding the Self-Proclaimed Normal Girl Watcher Association, and they would come to spread their influence over the entire continent, but... well, that was another story for a more normal time.
“Is there something—anything that I can do for you?! You name it, I’ll do it!”
“Gosh, well, I sure would like it if you’d order~”
“You got it!!”
They all replied in unison as Ristia proceeded to take Wood and his men’s orders and relay them to Maria in the kitchen.
“Manager Ristia... Did you ever run a business like this in the past, by any chance?”
“Huh? Nope, this is my first time. Why?”
“Really? For your first time, you seem oddly right at home...” Maria was perplexed, but Ristia was being mostly honest in her reply. Naturally, calling the men “Big Bro” and whatnot was just her fulfilling part of their request, but Ristia had only ever been around older aristocratic types her entire life. It meant that while Ristia had an older sister persona when she talked to Maria and the other younger children, the more cutesy and immature way she spoke to the carpenters back there was positively normal for Ristia.
“In any case, how are you holding up, Maria? Is there anything that you’re not quite getting?”
“Thank you for asking, Manager Ristia. My skills don’t hold a candle to yours, but I’m fairing just fine so far. No issues to speak of.”
“I figured. You’ve always adapted quick, after all.”