Alif, Icam, and Iyas woke up on a spread of cloth in a warehouse where they slept. Even though the villa was quite large, that holy, "divine" descendant of a hero hadn't seen fit to give them a comfortable place to stay.
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor. A somewhat sadistic smile crossed his face as he played with his slightly long, blonde hair.
Iyas woke up early. It seemed he had slept very soundly. He started his new day with a carefree smile.
"Good morning, everyone! Alif, and... the other one! Come on, wake up!" Iyas said, shaking his friends' bodies.
Icam looked annoyed, brushing off Iyas's light nudge.
"What's with all the racket! Only wake me up if there's an earthquake!"
Icam slumped back into his slumber.
Meanwhile, Alif woke up normally, not forgetting to stretch his body. Then he smiled.
"Good night. Let's go to sleep."
Alif promptly went back to sleep.
"Night? It's morning, man!" Iyas countered peacefully.
Icam got annoyed again, rolling over from his sleeping position.
"Raaahh! Whatever! I couldn't get a good night's sleep yesterday, you know!"
"Not good? Why? Was the warehouse missing two more room?" Iyas answered casually, touching his chin as if that were a logical solution.
Suddenly, the door was kicked open. The sound was so loud the trio snapped to attention.
"Wake up, you lazy bums! Be grateful!" Kirios said arrogantly.
"Huh? Who's he?" Icam asked in bewilderment, sitting up from his lying position.
Kirios narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows twitching in irritation.
"Haaah!? Did you forget? I'm the one who gave you a place to stay! You ungrateful lot!"
Icam turned to Alif, asking, "Which one is he? There are a lot of people who give us a place to stay." Icam turned back to face Kirios.
"There's the government, social aid, property experts, construction workers, our salary, the landowner..." Icam explained, his argument being entirely bizarre.
Kirios began to lose his patience; he was livid.
"You...! It's useless—"
Icam suddenly cut in...
"Oh, I remember."
"Aren't you the one who irons our clothes?" Icam smiled, taking a wild guess.
"Ha-ha. Hilarious..." Kirios muttered.
"No, that's the descendant of the hero—" Iyas tried to say something.
"I AM KIRIOS ALASTAIR! THE TRUE DESCENDANT OF THE HERO ALASTAIR! HOW DARE YOU NOT REMEMBER ME! EVEN THOUGH I'M THE ONE PROVIDING YOU SHELTER, YOU IDIOTS!!" Kirios screamed, finally letting it all out.
"Oh, it's you. You should've said so earlier," Icam replied nonchalantly.
"My bad."
"You think it's that easy to just apologize? You sho—" Kirios was cut off.
Alif interrupted the conversation, sounding enthusiastic.
"Sir Kirios is the best! A hero's descendant! So cool, man! Pure power!"
"Oh honorable hero, what is our first task in serving you?" Alif continued innocently.
Kirios went silent for a moment. His annoyed expression faded, replaced by surging pride.
"Hahahaha! Now that's more like it, you commoners! You've got spirit, good!"
Iyas was about to reply.
"Yeah, b—"
"In that case! I shall give you your first task!" Kirios said, getting carried away by the mood.
This guy is so easy to fool. Praise him a little and he immediately forgives you. What a generous heart, Icam thought to himself, observing his opponent.
"But I'm la—" Iyas was interrupted again.
"Your first task is...!! WASH THE DISHES!!!" Kirios exclaimed, his smile burning with
intensity.
Kirios walked behind the trio, pushing Alif out of the warehouse while repeating "Get to work, get to work!" over and over. You could even hear the sound of Iyas's feet dragging.
In Kirios's villa kitchen, stacks of dishes were everywhere. The sheer amount of plates looked expensive, but what can you do—the man has privilege.
Iyas stared at the piles of dishes scattered in various spots. He saw a kitchen that was filthy, neglected, and frankly, disgusting. It looked like it hadn't been properly cared for in weeks, maybe even a month.
"Oh boy," Alif muttered.
Kirios took a firm step in front of the trio, preparing to give instructions.
"As you can see, there are plenty of dirty dishes here. Your first task is to wash them. Take the dishes to the nearest river or pond."
"Wash them until they're spotless, and the kitchen too! And don't you dare break a single one!" he added clearly.
Iyas looked slightly impressed.
"Wow, you're so hardworking. Why are you doing all this for us?"
"Haa.... eh... Haaah!? Hahahah! For you? Are you stupid? You're the ones doing it for me!" Kirios shot back, laughing before raising his voice at the end.
"What do you mean?" Iyas was confused.
"Hah!? Don't make me look stupid! That's an insult to a hero's descendant! You're the ones washing the dishes! Now get to it!"
Kirios snapped, reinforcing his point.
Iyas stared blankly for a moment, realizing Master Kirios had misunderstood.
"I meant, you're so 'hardworking' that you went through all the trouble of ordering us around."
Kirios fell silent, not expecting Iyas's comment. He thought for a second.
"Ahh... Hahahah! Hahahah!" Kirios touched his forehead. "You guys are better than my previous servants. All they did was complain with zero initiative!" Kirios said, still holding back his laughter.
[Servants could be maid btw]
"Where did your servants go, anyway?" Icam asked, preparing to carry the dishes.
Kirios replied, "Heh! I fired them! All they did was moan..."
No wonder this place feels so empty... the trio thought in unison.
"So, what are you going to do if you're not washing dishes with us?" Alif asked curiously.
Kirios tilted his chin up, incredulous at the question.
"Hah? With you? Washing dishes? Trash... that's a job for commoners."
Kirios lowered his chin and pointed his hand forward, palm open.
"I'm a hero, you know. I have to go meet with my comrades."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Trio (Alif, Icam, and Iyas) cheered.
"Hooray! That's a real hero for you!" "So cool!" "Master Kirios doesn't mess around!"
Kirios, still basking in the praise, headed for the kitchen exit while throwing out a warning.
"Remember! Not a single one broken! Period!"
SLAM! The door shut.
The trio stood in silence for a moment.
"What were we supposed to do again?" Icam asked, having forgotten.
Alif replied with a guess, "Don't break anything, maybe?"
Iyas watched Icam picking up the dishes.
"Where are you taking those? Master Kirios said we aren't allowed."
"Aren't allowed to what? Carry dishes?" Icam snapped back sarcastically.
"To be washed! To the river!" Icam added.
"Oh, so you do remember," Alif noted.
Step by step, while Kirios went off to attend to his business, the trio was busy hauling the dishes out. Apparently, the kitchen was connected to a back door. Without a second thought, the trio decided to pile the dishes there first.
Iyas stood still, watching Alif and Icam continuing to haul things.
"I don't think it's enough yet," Iyas muttered, rubbing his chin, thinking.
"Just bring everything out..." replied Icam, who had overheard him.
Finally, the last step was done. Dishes and even kitchen appliances were sitting out on the grass. The trio stood in a line, staring at the kitchenware.
"So, what are we using to wash these?" Alif asked.
"What a question!" Icam snapped back.
Icam then did a short hop to face his two friends.
"Haaa!"
Iyas looked bored and asked, "What?"
Icam looked up, looking confused. "Eeee... I forgot..."
Time passed. It was still morning, but the sun was getting intense. Alif and Iyas sat down, while Icam stood thinking, even pacing back and forth from the kitchen to the backyard.
Iyas started counting the dishes. Before long, he gasped.
"Holy crap!"
Alif opened his eyes wide with excitement. "What? What is it?"
"There are so many plates!" Iyas answered quickly, his incredible calculation complete.
Icam, who had been pacing, stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at Iyas and rushed over.
"Well, obviously there are many, you clown!"
"Especially if you count the other kitchen stuff. It's a lot!" Iyas added.
"Wow, incredible. You should be a state accountant if you're that good at math," Alif praised him warmly.
Alif then stood up and started picking up the dishes.
"So what if there are a lot of plates?" Icam asked, squinting one eye.
"It means Master Kirios is a hardworking eater!" Iyas said, leaning his head forward with a grin. "Not only is he hardworking at.... whatever, he's hardworking at eating too. Truly a hero!"
"Blah blah blah," Icam dismissed him.
Icam looked at Alif, curious why he was carrying the plates.
"Where are you taking those?"
Alif looked back, though the stack of plates blocked his view.
"To the river to be washed, obviously. What else?" Alif answered bluntly.
Icam and Iyas looked up, saying in unison, "Ohhh!" as if they only just understood.
Finally, following Alif's lead, Iyas and Icam started carrying the dishes... somewhere.
After walking quite a distance from the villa into an unfamiliar area full of wild plants, Alif asked, "So, where's the river?"
From behind the stacks in front of their faces, Alif and Icam tilted their bodies to see past the plates.
"..." They fell silent, faces full of disbelief.
Alif just waited for an answer innocently, wearing a warm, guiltless smile.
It was dead quiet, you could even hear the sound of insects. Icam, Alif, and Iyas just stared at each other. This was clearly Alif's fault for walking off to nowhere. But it was also Icam and Iyas's fault for following him without asking questions.
"Oh yeah, Master Kirios's villa has a pool. Why didn't we use that?" Icam suggested a solution instead of thinking of it at the start.
"No, we're asking about the river right now. Why are you bringing up the pool?" Alif replied, not wanting to change the subject.
Icam and Iyas glared at Alif, trying to make him feel guilty.
Icam lowered his eyelids, his gaze turning cynical.
"Hey, are you serious?"
They kept walking. Iyas realized that he and his friends were likely lost. Fortunately, they found a river. No wonder Kirios said "the river," apparently, there was one not far from the villa.
"Finally... we found it..." Alif said gratefully with a satisfied smile, even closing his eyes for a moment.
Iyas suddenly nodded in agreement, even though his face was hidden behind a stack of plates.
Meanwhile, Icam looked bored, his mouth slightly open in irritation.
"Hey, are you serious?"
After finding the river, the trio cleaned the dishes. Surprisingly, they did the job properly without any issues or fooling around. The cleaning was divided into three processes: Iyas wetted the plates, flipping them in the water at high speed before letting them float toward Alif.
Alif cleaned off the grime with a scrubber from the kitchen. Once clean, he handed them to Icam to be wiped dry and stored by the riverside.
Before long, no dirty dishes were left. There were still some in the backyard, of course. Icam brought those over, followed by the other two.
They repeated their teamwork. However, during the storage process, a few plates drifted away past Icam's watch.
Alif and Iyas stared at Icam in disbelief. Icam, realizing his friends were watching, just gave them a smile.
Time marched on, and the sun was no longer overhead. The trio managed to finish their task correctly, not forgetting the other kitchen items they had somehow managed to lug out to the backyard.
END
> Note: Total dirty dishes: 143. Some with beautiful wood carvings, some silver.
> 3 lost because they drifted away.