This topic had come up pretty quickly. I stole a glance at Kirara; it was subtle, but her imperious expression was almost a demand to give her the job of teaching Sara what was what. The Kokonoe sisters would undoubtedly have noticed it as well. I wondered what they and their mistress had in mind.
Lady Kagura herself probably was intending to assign the task to one or more of her Seraphs, but the twins spoke before she could.
“Kirara, you should teach Sara everything. You more or less understand it all by now, right?”
“And you’re both first years, so you’ll be more comfortable talking to each other. It’ll be much better than us lecturing her. If there’s anything Sara doesn’t know, she won’t feel too shy to ask.”
Something about Kirara’s attitude must have told them this would be an entertaining direction to take. That was their whole approach to life.
“Very well,” Kirara replied. “I’m happy to take on this responsibility.” She looked over at Sara, her face lighting up. “I’ll be an extremely thorough teacher, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”
That gaze made Sara’s smile twitch ever so slightly. “Thank you, Kirara. I look forward to receiving your wisdom. I’m a fast learner and tend to remember all the fine details after only hearing them once, so please don’t hold back. Tell me absolutely everything.”
She replied with all the meek politeness expected of a new arrival, but she also made it clear that whatever Kirara had to say, she only wanted to hear it once. Sara’s strong spirit was still on display.
“Oh, there’s no need to rush ahead. If there’s anything you don’t know, I’m happy to tell you as many times as you like. After all, I am the experienced one here. Oh ho ho ho!”
Sara’s face twitched again. “That’s quite all right. Once will be plenty.”
Despite all the pleasantry on the surface, invisible yet furious sparks were flying between them.
Observing this, Lady Sakura laughed gently. “Please be gentle with her. And Sara, be sure to listen attentively.”
Maybe she sees them as the kind of friends who are so close that they argue all the time.
“Yes, milady. I’ll refrain from conducting myself in any manner that might sully your name.”
Given how perfectly she did every single thing in class, I had the sense this might be her first real challenge at Amanotsuka Academy.
Lady Kagura appeared to be fully on board with the twins’ suggestion. “Yes, I’ll gladly leave it in your hands. You and Sara look to have a relationship that lets you be open with each other. Why don’t we start by having you make tea together? After all, today is all about coming together and forming stronger connections.”
“You can leave it to me, milady. Come on, Sara!” she declared eagerly. “This way!”
“Certainly.”
It probably won’t be too bad, right? Kirara doesn’t deny that Sara’s a skilled maid.
This was no time for me to just stand and watch, though. “I’ll help too!”
“That would be great,” Himeko replied. With her permission, I chased after my friends.
“Listen,” Kirara instructed in the kitchen. “The mistresses here all have their own favorite teacup and saucer that they picked out themselves. You must be careful never to serve them tea in someone else’s cup by mistake. We sometimes have days like today where we have to serve everyone, so don’t assume you can get away with just remembering your own mistress’s.”
“Understood,” Sara replied.
“Don’t think you can just use any tea leaves you want either. Every lady has her own individual taste, and there are also cases where they heard about an exciting new flavor and ordered some in, or brought something here that they got from a friend. Some of those are free to use and some of them aren’t, so you have to really pay attention.”
“Do all of the Seraphs have to memorize each of those details? If I miss a day for some reason and the number of tea varieties increases in the meantime, will someone be kind enough to tell me?”
“Fear not!” Kirara replied, striking a pose. She’d clearly been waiting for this question. “We don’t just commit them to memory, of course. There’s a check sheet where all the supplies are listed, and if anything gets added, the Seraphs always write it down. One glance at that is enough to know what we have in stock, and if there’s anything that isn’t on the sheet, we know to look into it.”
“I see. It sounds very well thought out. It will give you experience of managing inventory that will prove very valuable in your future maid careers.”
The little nod she gave had an air of giving a good student a pat on the head. For her, it sounded like this whole concept was the most basic thing in the world.
This instantly put a look of frustration on Kirara’s face, but she carried on regardless. “As for the sweets to serve, I can’t tell you what everyone will like. I mean, I do have a general idea of everyone’s tastes, of course, but you always need to make adjustments on the fly when it comes down to it. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution.”
“I understand. The mistresses’ mental and physical states can vary, which in turn will affect what they want to eat. Determining what they’re looking for and what to serve them will always be a case-by-case decision.”
“Exactly.”
Sara was quick to catch on as always—or, more accurately, she already knew all this.
“I’ll need to tell you all about cleaning up too, but maybe we can leave that for later. For now, the top priority is serving delicious tea and cakes to the ladies. The big question is what to offer.”