In all honesty, Yuri was somewhat displeased with her present circumstances.
Too much free — no, too much standby time is a little… I want to have more work.
Of all the tasks assigned to the Battle Maids, the ones which took the longest to carry out and which felt the most fulfilling were duties in the log cabin on the surface. However, due to the rotation of their shifts — it was Entoma’s turn today — they would not come around that frequently. Yuri had just completed her shift two days ago, so she would have to wait for two more people to go — two people had not been assigned this duty — before it would be her turn again.
Therefore, in order to make use of all this time, Yuri had been looking for extra things to do, but regretfully she had not found anything like that on the 9th Floor.
For instance, whether or not she could stand guard along the hallways. The problem was that hallway security was now handled by Cocytus’ personal vassals. If she did so, it might be taken as mistrusting Cocytus’ subordinates. That would be indirectly insulting Cocytus.
She knew this was just a selfish impulse of hers, but her body told her that it wanted to work hard and throw off a spray of sweat — even though the undead did not sweat.
Is there really nothing to do… I’m envious of the regular maids…
Since she did not have anything to do in terms of her primary vocation of “battle”, then she would just have to perform her secondary tasks as a “maid”.
However, if she did that, it would lead to a fatal problem.
In Nazarick, there were beings known as the regular maids, in addition to the Battle Maids.
To them, the work of a maid was their primary vocation. Such tasks were their "primary" vocation. Therefore, it would be strange to arrange for such work if it did not revolve around them. If anyone asked why, the simple and natural answer would be because the Supreme Beings had arranged it in that way.
In other words, even if Yuri found work which could be done, it was very likely that it had already been assigned to someone else. In contrast, if it had not been assigned to someone else, then there was probably some special reason behind that.
With those reasons in mind, if Yuri performed those tasks, she would be taking their jobs. Of course they would not show their displeasure if Yuri had actually done that. But when Yuri put herself in their shoes and thought about how it would feel to have someone take her work away, she no longer wished to do so.
Yuri once more thought about the two people in confinement.
If laboring to one’s last breath for Nazarick was the greatest joy imaginable, then betraying them was the most horrific torture. It was deeply ironic that she, as a free person, could understand the sentiments of those two people so well.
“Haa…”
From deep within herself, Yuri exhaled the dissatisfaction which filled her.
— Crunch crunch.
“Oh, what’s wrong, Yuri-nee? Stomachache?”
The person addressing her in such a casual tone was one of her sisters, Lupusregina Beta.
She had the same smile she always had, but the fact that she had asked that question while knowing full well she was undead was clearly to tease her.
Yuri narrowed her eyes and glared back.
And in the face of that innocent, pure-hearted smile, she sighed again.
“Uwah~ sighing when you see your little sister’s cute face is so mean~”
“I do envy you…”
One could almost see the question mark appear on top of Lupusregina’s head.
The reason why Yuri envied her was not for her happy-go-lucky personality, but for her area of responsibility.
Lupusregina was one of the busier Battle Maids. Her job was to defend Carne Village — although she felt that the word “village” could no longer be used to describe something of that scale — and maintain its security. More precisely, her purpose was to observe and remain alert while preventing the leakage of the technologies developed within the village, among other colorful tasks.
I’m sure she finds her job very meaningful.
Yuri’s gaze then turned to another one of her sisters, who had been entrusted with an equally meaningful task.
Her little sister had her mouth half-open — Narberal Gamma.
She had been sitting motionlessly on the sofa since just now, her mouth half-open as she looked into the air. Her typically energetic ponytail drooped lifelessly.
— Crunch crunch.
“Nar-chan, what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing, just spacing out, I think.”
The two of them were talking, but Narberal’s eyes were still fixed in space, making people think that something was there.
Yuri’s eyelashes twitched.
As a Battle Maid, one ought to behave accordingly, even in the privacy of their own room. However, before Yuri could say anything, Lupusregina spoke up first.
“Well, it can’t be helped. She’s resting, after all.”
“Was she like this in the past?”
“Nar-chan’s security for Ainz-sama, after all. When she’s outside, she can’t let Ainz-sama see anyone being rude, she has to decide whether or not to immediately kill anyone who’s rude to Ainz-sama, and then she has to focus herself to stay on alert for the enemy, so wouldn’t that put her nerves on edge? It’s only when she’s in a safe space that she can unwind, so it can’t be helped. Also, a face like that might be pretty normal for her species.”
She thought about the face of the Treasury’s Area Guardian. Indeed, her face seemed to resemble his.
Yuri cast out the mental image of the their two faces overlapping.
Speaking of which, if I say that Narberal’s attitude isn’t fitting of a Battle Maid, then isn’t the way I keep sighing even less fitting? I can’t do that.
Sebas had said before that “One who stands above others must be an example for their lessers”. As their big sister, and as their assistant leader, she had to project an image that could serve as a role model for her little sisters.
Since the Supreme Beings had made Yuri as the eldest of the sisters, then Yuri had an obligation to play the role of the eldest sister to the hilt. That would be a combination of her loyalty to and repaying the kindness of her creator, Yamaiko.
However — how should she do it?
— Crunch crunch.
“Yuri-nee, you’ve been looking pretty suspicious since just now. What’re you doing?”
After pondering whether or not to give an honest answer, she decided to use Lupusregina’s question to speak her mind. She would have Lupusregina lend her a hand… or a paw, as it were.
“…I have no tasks to perform.”
“Ahh~”
Lupusregina looked at Yuri like she was gazing upon a starving refugee from afar.
Her eyebrows twitched, but she powered through the impulse. She was a person who worked at the behest of the Supreme Beings. Her currently unoccupied self could not hope to compare. She had to know her place.
“Yuri-nee, didn’t you go to the Treasury with Ainz-sama?”
“…Just once.”
“After that?”
“…Not at all.:
“Ah~”
Lupusregina cast her eyes to the air. Strangely enough, it seemed to be the same place where Narberal was looking..
Hm hm… Is it something which people who aren’t working can’t see…?
— Crunch crunch.
“…So what have you been eating since just now?”
“Oh, these? You slice potatoes thinly, then fry them, and then you sprinkle salt on them. I had the head chef make them — they’re delicious.”
Lupusregina pulled out several thin potato slices, delivered them to her mouth, and then ate them.