novelraw Chapter 162: Maid
Chapter 162: Maid
Finally, Loren chased all those princesses away. They really weren't suited to be maids, and Loren didn't want people from other factions around him either.
"Why did you chase them all away? Having a princess as a maid is just too cool!"
Anna voiced her objection, but in the end, her head got a knock from Loren, rendering her objection invalid.
"Probably before long, everyone who wants to apply to be a maid will be back. You can pick them out then, but I'll still have to vet them."
Loren wanted maids to help take care of the children, so it was normal to let the kids choose. He had Mirrorheart, and that was enough for him.
Earlier, Naclis had thought about finding more maids to divert Loren's attention away from Mirrorheart. But now that the moment had truly arrived, Naclis hesitated instead. Bringing these maids in would just be creating trouble for herself.
Compared to Mirrorheart, Naclis had a natural disadvantage from the start—her identity was the biggest obstacle.
Now, there might be a whole bunch of new competitors. In the end, Naclis decided to give up and just pick a few who could never become rivals in the first place.
"Luna, things aren't peaceful outside lately. It's best not to leave this place casually."
"Understood, Master Mentor."Regarding the Rainbow Plague, although Luna didn't understand much, she had some knowledge and knew of its danger.
Moreover, she had absolutely no doubts about Loren's decisions.
With not much going on recently, after dealing with the King's matter, Loren returned to his room to begin researching magic.
The wind magic and necromancy he had obtained earlier, Loren had already learned. Now, what he needed to do was decipher them and write simpler casting methods. This would not only make it easier for others to learn but also speed up his own casting.
Chanting speed was very important. Due to its slow chant, Sin-Burning Flames wasn't easy to release during combat. In contrast, Crimson Blade's chant was very fast;
Loren could even fire it consecutively.
Loren chose to prioritize deciphering wind magic. Necromancy wasn't very suitable for the children to learn;
their moral standards were generally a bit too high.
Unlike studying, while researching magic, Loren could feel himself growing stronger and clearly see the research progress, providing strong positive feedback. So, even though it was similar to studying, Loren found himself utterly addicted to it.
If he had shown this much drive back when he was studying, he wouldn't have ended up at a second-tier university, although the final outcome probably wouldn't have been any different.
The era Loren came from was already sick. Even if Loren had fulfilled his wish and become a teacher, he might have died even earlier than by doing wildlife conservation.
This was a problem of the times. When people are sick, they take medicine;
when the world is sick, it devours people.
Perhaps not long after Loren transmigrated, that world would be destroyed—maybe by war, maybe by natural disasters caused by environmental destruction, maybe by divine punishment. Loren didn't know, and none of it concerned him anymore.
While other transmigrators were racking their brains trying to return, Loren had already completely let go. In fact, if Loren found out someone had a way to send him back, he would immediately go and thoroughly destroy that method.
Here, there were people who loved him, and people he loved. Even though the world was just as crazy, this world could still be cured. The world of his previous life was already beyond saving.
(Loren's previous life was a cyberpunk setting, unrelated to reality.)
Under similarly harsh conditions, having a future versus having no future leads to completely different attitudes when facing difficulties.
Another peaceful day passed. At noon the next day, the Guild Master came to find Loren, bringing along everyone who wanted to be his maid.
Loren's routine wasn't a secret. Even though they had arrived early, they still chose to wait until noon to approach Loren.
A large group of maids had gathered at Loren's doorstep, all dressed in uniform, waiting for Loren's selection.
"..."
Loren suddenly felt like an emperor selecting concubines, which made him somewhat awkward.
There were easily two to three hundred people gathered here, quite a spectacle. However, no one thought Loren was being too extravagant;
instead, they felt a sense of relief.
After all, in people's eyes, Loren had always lived a very austere life—not greedy for wealth, not lustful, devoid of any negative desires.
At the same time, he took care of many disadvantaged groups. Even so, he only had one maid. One could imagine how tired he must be.
In people's eyes, Loren was more saintly than a saint. Now that he wanted to find a maid to share the burden, people understood.
The Guild Master knew Loren wouldn't care about others' backgrounds or appearances, so he didn't screen anyone at all and brought everyone who was willing.
At this point, Loren was a bit troubled. He truly didn't have many negative desires, so he simply handed the task of selecting maids over to the others.
"Well then..."
Naclis immediately stepped forward. She spotted a few middle-aged women in the corner. Inviting them definitely wouldn't threaten her position.
But Mirrorheart beat her to it.
"You, you, you... stay. The rest may leave."
Mirrorheart directly expanded her domain, exuding an overwhelming aura. Even though there were no other maids yet, she already considered herself the head maid.
Before Naclis could speak, Mirrorheart eliminated a large portion of the candidates in one go, leaving less than a fifth.
Loren could tell at a glance what Mirrorheart's screening criteria were: she kept the pretty ones.
Although Loren didn't care much about looks either, having maids who were pleasing to the eye was a good thing.
Loren couldn't do this kind of screening himself, but Mirrorheart could. So, Loren silently gave Mirrorheart a thumbs up.
Although these people were leaving, Loren didn't let them come for nothing, giving each one a silver coin.
This amount wasn't much—Anna could eat it in two bites—but it was still more than an ordinary worker's daily wage. So, ordinary people were quite excited to receive Loren's money.
"You few, you may leave."
After the first round of screening, only a little over twenty people remained on the field.
"Why were those people screened out just now?"
Loren asked, not quite understanding Mirrorheart's motivation.
"They weren't pure enough."
"Alright."
Loren had forgotten about Mirrorheart's talent. It actually came in handy in such a strange place.
When those people left after receiving the money, they didn't seem particularly happy. From this, Loren could tell most of them were likely sent by other factions. Loren still preferred ordinary people without backgrounds.
"You few, leave."
Mirrorheart sent away more than half again, leaving only five people on the field. Naclis hadn't even spoken yet, and her plan was already in ruins.
"Those who just left came for profit—some for the factions behind them, some coveting your fame and fortune.
"The few remaining are fine;
they all completely meet your requirements."
Naclis glanced over these few people. They were all quite good-looking, but still couldn't compare to the Witches.
However, one of them made Naclis feel threatened.