Our Unlikely Hero is a Maid! (Chapter 2)

The Kingdom of Reveria was regarded by many people in many different ways. Many romanticized it as the birthplace of heroes and other such legendary figures, while many more thought of it as an exciting city with a wealth of places to see and things to do. Others were skeptical about the city, as many a tale of dangerous thugs and heinous burglars lurking in the shadows had come to light in recent years. And then there were the occasional complaints from the towns near Reveria, claiming that the entire kingdom really ought to be more quiet whenever they celebrate a holiday in a loud and festive fashion.

But while it was one thing to gain an impression of something just from hearsay, it was quite another thing entirely to experience that something for oneself. And the simple fact of the matter was that Emalee Winchester was not at all prepared to see the Kingdom of Reveria in person for the first time.

Not to say that she was overwhelmed by the experience; far from it, actually. Emalee could not help but stare in wonder at the magnificent and illustrious city before her. She had only heard of the many things the city had to offer from friends and passersby, having never had the chance to visit for herself. But now that she was here, she was practically spoiled for options!

“Incredible... I never dreamed I’d actually be in Reveria someday. Why, I could stay in this place for hours!” she exclaimed with glee.

The messenger merely rolled his eyes.

“You’ll get tired of it right quick, I’m sure,” he grumbled under his breath.

The messenger took care in ensuring Emalee didn’t overhear him; after all, his job was to make sure she got here without a hitch, a task that included looking after her mental well-being. It wasn’t an easy task for him, and he always wished someone would give him more credit for what he did.

In any case, the messenger’s job wasn’t done just yet. He was quick to point Emalee in the direction of the castle. 

“The castle is just due north of where we’re standing,” he explained. “King Randolph awaits you inside.”

As soon as Emalee laid her eyes on the castle, her eyes sparkled with wonder.

“Castle Reveria...!” she gasped softly. “It’s even more beautiful in person!”

“Aye, that she is,” the messenger agreed, even though he got sick of looking at the opulent building a long time ago. “Now, don’t forget why we’re here, Miss Winchester. The world is in danger, and King Randolph needs to be assured that the task of saving the world is in capable hands. I’m not sure how much your ‘Super Maid’ act will win him over, so I highly advise you to just be on your best behavior. Don’t do anything that would make him turn you away. Understood?”

By the time he had finished his lecturing, he turned his head just in time to see Emalee shrinking into the distance to the east, where the bazaar was. He briefly considered going after her, but then took a moment to realize that his simple task of fetching someone to help had one hitch after another happen along the way, and he decided it was better to cut his losses here than put himself through any more stress.

“Well, she knows where to go,” he ultimately decided. “She’ll get there when she’s good and ready, I reckon.”

---

It might seem mundane to the average spender that one would get so excited over a store’s wares, but Emalee couldn’t help but be amazed by what she saw. On each side of the bazaar, people were selling all manner of goods; there were pastries, produce, cleaning supplies, weapons, armor, pottery, souvenirs, and even T-shirts branded with owls, known as the symbol of Reveria. There were just too many stores selling too many things to count, but, whether she realized it or not, Emalee had her sights set on the cleaning supplies. The T-shirts were nice, but they could wait another day.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing!” she said in amazement. “Are you telling me this mop can clean almost anything?!”

In her hands was a well-made mop, with the head made out of a bundle of red cloth. The seller was billing this particular mop as one with the unusual power to clean up nearly any mess it touched, but whether or not that was true was up to the consumer to decide. Most people thought of it as a marketing ploy meant to sell it for more than it was worth, but Emalee could relate to that feeling, which allowed her to believe the marketing tactics more easily.

“You better believe it! Our patented Big Brain Mop will clean up any spills you want, even the ones that’ll ruin your social standing!” claimed the seller. “With multiple functions and multiple heads built in, it simply can't be beat! And it’s all for the low price of 999 gold pieces! Quite a steal, isn’t it?!”

“Oh.”

This price gave Emalee pause. She could definitely afford it at that price, but she had brought along money with the intent of affording food and housing from any place in the world. And the thought of spending 10 percent of her budget on a household appliance was a little hard to swallow, never mind the fact that she had a perfectly good mop on hand already. Still, she didn’t want to abandon such a helpful item outright.

“Hmm... It’s a little steep for my wallet,” she admitted.

“Sorry, but I ain’t gonna sell it for cheaper! It’s the last one in stock, so it’s gotta go!” the seller stated plainly.

Emalee could tell by the seller’s face, and the general state of his stock, that he wasn’t kidding. An offer this good likely wouldn’t appear again for a while, but was it really worth blowing some of her food and inn expenses on it?

“Well, when you put it that way-”

Emalee’s attention was soon grabbed by a sudden outburst. She whipped her head around just in time to see an unsavory character draped in black charging through the crowd, with a bag of goodies in his hand. A desperate shopkeeper was chasing after them, calling out for anyone to provide assistance.

The reason why the surrounding citizens instinctively moved out of the way was because, although nobody liked to admit it themselves, the average person doesn’t want to get involved with outbursts of crime. It wasn’t because they didn’t care that a crime was happening before their eyes, but it was the fear of causing harm to themselves that prevented them from stopping the thief. People don’t want to do anything that would cause them misfortune, so it was only natural that the citizens backed away and let the thief pass through unhindered.

But Emalee wasn’t going to stand for it. One of the most important things she was taught in her line of work was lending a hand to others if they needed it, and it was true for any situation even outside of house cleaning. Someone needed help, and there was nothing that could stop her from providing that help.

Well, except for the fact that she didn’t have a weapon. She quickly reached into her pocket and slammed some money on the mop seller’s countertop.

“1000 gold pieces! Keep the change!” she blurted out.

 Without giving the seller a chance to speak, Emalee grabbed the Big Brain Mop and headed off after the thief, leaving her old mop behind. The seller was frazzled slightly, but he wasn’t complaining about the extra cash. Plus, he could probably make the spare mop work somehow...

When it came to chasing after things, Emalee had a fair bit of experience with it. Many a day in her life had been spent pursuing a rat that had stolen some food, or a crow that had stolen a shiny object, or a townsperson that hadn’t paid her for her services. This resulted in greatly increasing Emalee’s stamina and endurance, as well as improving her overall speed, so it was a trifling matter for her to catch up with the thief.

“Drop that bag right now!” she called out, gripping the mop in her hands tightly.

“Huh? Who the hell’s tryin’ to stop me now-”

The thief looked behind him and reacted with surprise.

“What the-?! How is a maid that fast?!” he asked in exasperation.

“Don’t make light of me!” Emalee responded while angrily waving around the mop in her hands. “Now give those goods back or you’re gonna get it!”

Unfortunately, the thief wasn’t at all phased by the ordinary looking housemaid shaking a cleaning tool at him.

“Sorry, toots, but it’s gonna take more than that to slow me down!” he taunted.

He increased the pace of his run, leaving Emalee to eat his dust. At this rate, he would get away in no time!

Just then, his momentum was halted. Without warning, a brilliant bolt of light sailed towards him, crashing into his chest and sending him careening to the ground. The bag flew out of his hands, and Emalee caught it just in the nick of time.

“Wh-who the-?!”

The thief attempted to get back up, but a boot stomped on his chest, keeping him pinned to the ground. He would get a good look at his assailant before long, and unfortunately, the young woman above him was all too recognizable.

“Sorry, but that’s as far as you’ll go. Maybe next time, you’ll think twice before causing trouble in my town!” the lady spoke firmly.

The nearby citizens could recognize that striking, magenta-colored hair and that ostentatious gold breastplate anywhere, and a grand majority of them couldn’t have been happier to see that familiar person right now.

“Did you see that?! She took him down like he was nothing!” exclaimed one man.

“Amazing! As expected of Jasmine Peregrine!” shouted another man.

“Ain’t nothin’ that can stop her!” praised a passing woman.

Jasmine Peregrine revelled in the attention she was getting. Most knights aren’t concerned with the fame they get from protecting the citizens and royalty, as most if not all of their attention is focused on performing their duty and upholding their righteous cause. While Jasmine did see the merit in maintaining peace and prosperity, the thrill she got from simply being a knight was enough for her. All she had to do was take down a crook in a stylish and flashy manner, and the people would eat it right up. As far as Jasmine was concerned, this would never get old.

“You’re too kind, really!” she spoke with a smile that radiated kindness. “I’d just like to do my best for the fine folk of Reveria!”

“Wow, she’s so modest too!” swooned a younger lady.

Soon enough, things went back to normal. Emalee returned the stolen belongings to the shopkeeper, and Jasmine handed over the thief to the other knights. The knights would go on to drag the thief back to his mother’s house, whereupon she would beat him senseless for even attempting such a vile crime. The thief was so ashamed that he got caught, and even more ashamed that he received such a harsh punishment for his actions, that he vowed to begin a new life as a street dancer as a means to support his mother, which was an altogether better fate than committing to a fast and loose life of crime.

Back at the bazaar, Jasmine was preparing to head elsewhere until she was stopped by Emalee. In her excitement to explore what Reveria had to offer, Emalee had gotten sidetracked, and was more than a little lost. Her best option at this point was to ask one of the Reverian knights to lead the way, and who better than the one that seemed to take pride in her city?

“That was seriously impressive work!” Emalee said excitedly. “I had no idea someone as talented as you lived here!”

Jasmine cocked an eyebrow at Emalee. She’d never say it out loud, but she was kind of annoyed that a passerby happened to interrupt her in the middle of business. But, she was already committed to playing the role of a courageous and friendly knight, so just this once, she decided to indulge Emalee, and by proxy herself. She stopped a criminal in public; she deserved to be at least a little vain.

“Oh please, that ol’ crook was nothin’!” Jasmine said with a confident swagger. “You can count on me to take care of small fry like that! I’m guessing you want my autograph, miss...?”

“Emalee Winchester. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Emalee said with a pleasant curtsy. “Actually, I had a question for you-”

“Winchester, got it,” said Jasmine, who was barely even paying attention to Emalee. “You got anything for me to sign? I mean, I could sign your mop, but only if you want that.”

“Huh? Oh, n-no, this is different!” Emalee stated. “You wouldn’t happen to know the quickest way to Castle Reveria, would you? I’m a little lost, you see...”

“Castle Reveria?” Jasmine asked with skepticism in her voice. “Why do you wanna go there? As far as I’m aware, King Randolph has his own personal cleaning staff.”

“W-well, yes, but, I have a letter of summons from the king himself!” Emalee proclaimed.

Jasmine was truly bewildered now.

“...What?! C’mon, it’s too early to pull my leg like that!” she said in a harsh tone.

“It’s true!” Emalee insisted. “I even have proof! Have a look at this!”

Emalee pulled out the scroll from one of the spacious pockets of her dress, which Jasmine immediately snatched and looked at. The parchment was of high quality, and it was tied together with a ribbon bearing the royal insignia. Perhaps it was real after all?

...Nah, couldn’t have been. Jasmine scoffed, tossing the bundled summons behind her, whereupon it landed next to a puddle and got slightly wet.

“Pfft, that’s gotta be a forgery,” she concluded. “No way that’s real.”

“But it is real!” Emalee insisted as she went to pick up the scroll. “A messenger came by from here and everything! You gotta believe me!”

Jasmine was getting tired of this roundabout discussion, so she turned around and gave Emalee her ultimatum.

“Look, you can believe whatever you wanna believe, but we do things a little differently in the real world,” she said impatiently. “And speaking of reality, I have places to go and things to do, so if you don’t mind-”

“Wait! Hold on! I have an idea!”

Jasmine had turned her back towards Emalee and was about to leave right before Emalee ran in front of her and cut off her escape route. Naturally, this did not sit well with Jasmine.

“You’re really starting to push my buttons here...” Jasmine mumbled.

“Why not just take me to King Randolph yourself?” Emalee suggested. “If he reads the summons I have, he’ll know it’s the real deal, and I’ll be able to do what I came here to do! I won’t ask you to do anything else today, so just this once, could you take me to where I need to be?”

“Listen, I don’t have time for-”

Jasmine had truly found herself in an aggravating situation this time. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that King Randolph of all people had summoned a housemaid to his court, and was suspicious of Emalee’s intentions every step of the way. Well, it was less that Jasmine was suspicious of Emalee and more that she found her annoying. The point was, she didn’t want to make herself a laughingstock by bringing Emalee into the castle, but she was being awfully persistent…

Eventually, Jasmine sighed and gave up.

“Y’know what, fine. I’ll humor you just this once,” she said. “But you better not ask me for any more favors today, got it?”

The elated Emalee graciously bowed to Jasmine.

“Oh, thank you so much!” she exclaimed. “I knew I could count on you!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t mention it,” Jasmine said half-heartedly. “A word of advice, though; don’t go swinging that mop around in his majesty’s face, alright?”

“Don’t worry, this isn’t an ordinary mop!” Emalee said as she boldly presented her new mop to Jasmine. “The Big Brain Mop is capable of cleaning up any messes, even the ones that ruin someone’s social standings! It’s the perfect thing to bring with me!”

“...You actually believe that garbage?” Jasmine asked incredulously.

This left a considerable chink in Emalee’s armor, and she responded to Jasmine’s query with a sudden burst of timidity.

“I-I mean, I haven’t actually tried it yet, s-s-so I dunno if that’s true or not, eheheh...”

Jasmine sighed. Whether or not Emalee truly knew what she was doing felt like anyone’s guess to her.

“Let’s just get going,” Jasmine decided, as she proceeded to leave the bazaar and head towards the castle with Emalee in tow. “You can explain yourself once we get there.”

“Alright! Lead the way!” Emalee replied with beaming confidence.