Bonus Story:
Arashima's Counterattack
EACH MAID ROBOT who worked in Liam's mansion had a name.
These names were given to them by Liam, and they were the first touches
of individuality the maids had ever known.
All the maids other than Amagi were mass-produced units with
identical builds. If not specified otherwise when ordered, they all came
with a standard face, hairstyle, and body measurements. Despite their
uncanny realism, to the human eye these robots all looked exactly the
same. If they did possess any individuality, the human servants of the
mansion didn't notice it.
"Thank you...for buying."
In a hallway not many people had occasion to pass through, a stand
had been set up to sell various types of merchandise related to Liam, such
as plush dolls. Selling Liam merchandise was forbidden in the domain, and
yet here it was, being sold officially inside his own mansion. A maid robot
named Tateyama was the one who created and peddled these items, and
she was the sole person Liam allowed to do so.
Marie had just made a purchase. She held up her new doll with tears
of joy in her eyes and drool threatening to escape her lips.
"I finally got one! So this is the rumored Liam doll, eh? The real
thing is finally in my hands!"
Marie was actually crying over a plush toy, as these dolls were
surprisingly difficult to obtain. One reason was that Tateyama only opened
her stand at irregular intervals, but another was that the popular dolls were
sometimes resold through shady auctions at several thousand times their
original prices, and even up to the millions for a single doll.
Fakes sometimes circulated as well, but Liam cracked down hard on
unofficial goods. People were frequently arrested in his domain for
circulating such counterfeits. Liam also frowned on the underground
auctions, so his knights like Marie couldn't very well make use of those. If
they wanted to get ahold of one of these dolls, they had no choice but to
buy one at the stand Tateyama only opened at unpredictable times and
locations within the mansion. As a result, Tateyama's high-quality
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products were highly coveted.
Pleased that she had sold a doll, Tateyama turned to her other
products.
"Guess I'll keep...working at this..."
Tateyama waited for more customers, hoping to sell the rest of her
goods. She was a rather timid and quiet maid robot, especially compared to
the others. She grew anxious when no one showed up, but an abundance of
customers made her equally uneasy. The reason she still ran the stand
despite this was simply because she enjoyed seeing people happy when
purchasing the products she spent her downtime crafting so diligently.
This stand was an expression of Tateyama's individuality.
Another maid robot named Arashima approached Tateyama's booth.
Arashima was the only maid robot unique enough for the servants of the
mansion to recognize, and she owed this uniqueness solely to her
accessories.
Each maid robot owned one accessory that set them apart from the
rest. Sometimes, they used these accessories as stakes in gambling games
with each other. The accessories were valuable to them because of how
they represented the maid robots' individuality. Arashima gambled more
aggressively than her fellow maid robots in order to win more of this
individuality for herself. As a result, she now possessed more accessories
—and hence, more individuality—than the other maids. She had hair clips,
rings, chokers, all sorts of accessories to her name.
Arashima's visit put Tateyama on her guard. "Arashima? Do you...
need something?"
"You don't have any accessories, do you, Tateyama?"
"Accessories? I don't..."
Tateyama was an unusual maid robot in that she didn't express her
individuality with trinkets. Instead, she simply watched the dramatic
squabbling of her sisters from afar. Arashima just couldn't understand it.
"People have been talking about you around the mansion lately.
Among us sisters, your name is the one that's most well-known now...
though I myself struggle to understand why."
"I'm not sure...what to say to that..."
While she wore no emblems of individuality herself, Tateyama's
name had become the most widely known of all her sisters in the mansion.
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She was more famous than Arashima, even with all her accessories, and
Arashima couldn't accept that.
"I've been thinking about it. This stand itself is your individuality,
isn't it? So...would you gamble with me for this stand?"
"Huh? N-no... I don't want to."
Though Tateyama refused, Arashima didn't back down.
"Why not? All of us sisters gamble with our accessories. Do you
have a reason to refuse?"
"M-my store isn't...an accessory..."
"I want more individuality. Gamble against me, Tateyama."
Arashima had a stronger attachment to individuality than her sisters,
so she had become good at winning their games. Even among identical
units, their enthusiasm affected their chances of winning.
Tateyama wasn't sure what to do since Arashima wouldn't take no
for an answer. While she fretted about how to handle this, the lord of the
mansion approached.
"What are you up to, Arashima?" Liam asked.
Tateyama and Arashima bowed their heads, having noticed Liam's
sterner-than-usual tone of voice. Behind Liam came another maid robot,
named Shiomi. She wore a gold bracelet on her left wrist, and she had
noticed Tateyama's plight. She even brought Liam with her to ensure that
Arashima had no choice but to back down.
Her head still bowed, Arashima replied, "I challenged Tateyama to a
bet with our accessories on the line. It is a game we sisters play."
"Well, it looks like Tateyama doesn't want to play. Don't force her
into it."
With Liam defending Tateyama, Arashima took on a boldly defiant
attitude. "Why do you defend Tateyama?"
"What are you asking?"
"Do you defend Tateyama because of her individuality, Master? Do
you take her side because I do not have enough individuality?"
She seemed to think that Liam was particularly fond of Tateyama
because of her level of uniqueness. Both Tateyama and Shiomi were
exasperated by Arashima's fixation on accessories.
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The maid robots used their own network in order to communicate
with each other. Liam couldn't see it, but comments began scrolling into
the sisters' minds as they weighed in on what was happening.
"Arashima is questioning Master! I can just imagine the
Supervisor's angry face now."
"I'm scared of the Supervisor!"
Liam reached out and stroked Arashima's cheek, a wry smile on his
face as he gently chided the accessory-crazed robot. "I'm defending her
because you're trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do.
Besides, you're more than individualistic enough and plenty attractive to
me, Arashima."
"...Do you mean it?"
"Of course I do. Your pushiness, your skill in gambling, and all
those accessories you wear are all part of your individuality. It's just like
you to work so hard to win."
Arashima was surprised to hear Liam's appraisal of her. "You've
been noticing me...?"
"Of course I have."
Since her desire was always to become more individualistic,
Arashima spent her breaks practicing all sorts of ways in which to improve
her skills at card games, dice games, and other types of games she could
challenge her sisters to. No one else might have bothered to wonder what
she was up to, but Liam had correctly identified Arashima's practicing as
hard work.
"You're a hard worker, and you're flashy. That's plenty of
individuality. Your gambling is fine with me, since trading accessories is a
game you all play...but I'll be sad if it leads to you sisters fighting. So try
to get along with them, will you?"
Arashima cocked her head. "I don't want you to be sad, Master. I
wouldn't like fighting with my sisters either, so I'll be careful in the
future."
"Good girl. Now apologize to Tateyama and make up."
Arashima turned to Tateyama and bowed her head. "I apologize,
Tateyama."
"I forgive you."
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Liam smiled, considering the matter settled, but Amagi had been
watching over the scene from a short distance away. Her gaze was fixed on
Shiomi.
Amagi's red eyes gave off a subtle glow in the dimly lit hallway.
She was mad—madder than she'd been in a long time.
Noticing Amagi's eyes on her, Shiomi felt fearful, though she
showed no emotion outwardly. "S-Supervisor? Why are you glaring at me
after I did such a good job? I got my two sisters to make up, so why be
angry at me?"
Amagi explained the reason for her anger. "I cannot believe you
bothered Master with this in order to settle things between Tateyama and
Arashima. Arashima's attitude is admittedly a problem, but your actions
go against our very principles as maids, Shiomi. To use our master for
your own ends... Have you no pride as a maid? Shiomi...report to my
room later."
"Even though I got the two of them to make up?"
"You would go so far as to boast about your results after making
use of Master to achieve them?"
Tateyama and Arashima agreed with Amagi in their comments on
the network.
"It's not good to exploit Master."
"Of course the Supervisor would be mad about that. You really are
unique, Shiomi."
Shiomi's comment scrolled by next.
"Why am I always the punchline in these situations?!"
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