In the end, she and I had become close companions anyway. Like Frieze had been, Tigaro was prejudiced toward humans after the incident that had led to her firing, but I still believed that we would eventually come to good terms. She would clean the place and make it easier to move around, and I’d ensure she was able to live a comfortable, pleasant life here. Surely she would come to trust me over time.
“Hey, a minute ago you called her ‘Tiga’ so casually... Are you two siblings?” Oltea asked, looking a bit uneasy for some reason.
Frieze shook her head. “Remember what I told you a while back? I owe my life to the people of Hybrid Town.”
“Of course I remember,” Oltea said.
I remembered too. Frieze had shared the story of her upbringing with Oltea and me the first day that we had gone to Hybrid Town together. Her parents, both baggage carriers for adventuring parties by trade, had died before she was even old enough to understand what was happening around her. The people of Hybrid Town had become Frieze’s new guardians and raised her in their stead.
“Everyone pitched in to take care of me, but it was Tiga’s parents who actually took me in. I’m two years younger than Tiga, and she always treated me like a little sister. She did all kinds of things for me—kept me fed even if it meant going hungry herself.”
“I see. That’s so kind of you, Tigaro,” Oltea said.
“It... It was nothing. Younger kids just won’t leave you alone when they’re hungry is all,” Tigaro muttered, turning her face away in embarrassment.
“It got real lonely after you went away to become a maid, but in the end, that choice led to you coming back to live with me again! Thank you so much for finding her, Kaito!”
“Of course,” I said. And then, after a pause: “Well, it seems like you two have a lot of catching up to do, so I’ll get out of your hair and leave you to clean up in here.”
“Mm-hmm! Show me all the expert techniques you’ve been perfecting these past two years!” Frieze said. She looked at Tigaro with eyes full of expectation, embarrassing her again.
“Uh,” Tigaro started, her eyes flitting over toward me as she spoke timidly, “I’m...actually not that good at cleaning.”
“You aren’t? But you were a maid, right?”
“At my last job, the work was divided into very specific roles. I was tasked with serving food. I don’t think I ever once held a broom.”
“Hmm. Well then, I’ll teach you the basics!” Frieze said.
“I appreciate that, but since he wanted someone to be in charge of the cleaning, I’ll probably just get fired anyways...”
“I won’t fire you. True, I hired you to clean, but I hadn’t planned on saddling you with all of the cleaning. Just having an extra pair of hands is a huge help,” I said.
“He’s right; with another person helping out, it’ll go much faster!” Frieze said, clearly overjoyed to be reunited with her old friend. She had much more energy than usual.
Oltea, on the other hand, didn’t look so upbeat. She’d welcomed our new maid in through a sparkling clean entryway that she’d worked herself to the bone on. She was probably exhausted after all the effort. Knowing that she’d want to keep working even if I recommended a break, I resolved to keep a close eye on her and make sure she didn’t push herself too hard.
“Shall we head back to the entrance?” I said to Oltea. We left the room and, picking up some rags on the way, went to wipe down the entryway.
“If there’s something wrong, you can tell me, you know,” I said.
Oltea was quiet for a moment. “If I do, you promise you won’t tell Frieze?”
“I promise. Be honest if something has you worried and I’ll be happy to help in any way I can. Besides, talking about whatever’s got you anxious usually makes things feel a little better.”
“Thanks, Kaito...” Oltea said, smiling slightly. She began to confide in me. “I’m worried that Frieze might neglect me and just talk to Tigaro now.”
So that’s what it was, I thought. Now I understood why she had looked anxious when asking if they were sisters. She was afraid that her friend would become close to someone else and begin to exclude her. The fact that she was scared of such a thing proved that she’d grown quite fond of Frieze. Surely Frieze herself would be delighted to know it, but asking someone face-to-face to be your close friend too was probably a little humiliating.
“Don’t worry, things won’t change between you two,” I said.
After a slight pause, she asked, “Really?”
“Really. Frieze adores you. Imagine yourself in Frieze’s position. What would you do?”
“Obviously I’d stay just as close to her as I had been. She’s a really important friend to me... You think she’ll do the same?”
“She will,” I said, nodding, and a smile spread over her face.
Her worries dispelled, Oltea seemed so unburdened that it was as if her body itself became lighter. A zeal returned to her movements, and the cleaning was done in no time at all. Our task complete, we returned to the room on the second floor. Inside, Frieze was beaming.
“Oh, it’s Oltea! You’ve come at just the right time,” she said. “Help me scare away this spider! For Tiga’s sake!”
“Help you with a spider?!”
“Tiga has always been terrible with them. I told her that one had run under the bed when I swept away its web and she just ran off to hide in the corner over there. ’Cause of that, our cleaning progress has slowed way down.”
“That’s ’cause y-you said, ‘Wow, that thing is massive!’ and scared the heck out of me!” Tigaro said while pressed up against the far wall in protest.
Oltea let out an amused chuckle. “It’s kinda cute that you’re so spooked by a spider.”
“Hey! It-It isn’t ‘cute’!” a red-faced Tigaro shot back, making Oltea laugh even harder. Oltea’s anxieties had been cleared away, and now she was teasing Tigaro. They’d warmed up to each other so quickly.
I decided to leave the rest of the cleaning there to the three girls and focus instead on tidying up my own room. I could still hear the commotion after I left.
“I-It came over here, it came over to me!”
“Aww, the spider must have missed you!”
“You’ve always been popular, haven’t you, Tiga!”
“It’s not like I ever wanted to be!”
I began diligently sweeping away the dust that had gathered in my own room, the sound of their lively conversation backgrounding my work.