"Ah... good afternoon, Seniors!"
The girl lightly pushed the door open, her silvery-white short hair, radiating a soft luster, swayed gently as she gave the two a sweet smile.
The silver skirt-armor made a graceful curve as she bowed.
Two budding roses adorned the edges of her hairband.
"S-Senior? There's no need to..." Paimon stopped mid-sentence, looked at Jibril and Lumine beside her as she lowered her head nervously.
"I am Noelle, a maid of the Knights of Favonius." Noelle said excitedly. "I've never expected to meet the Honorary Knight here!"
"Hello, I am Lumine, and they are Paimon and Jibril." Lumine replied gently.
Jibril realized that without noticing, Lumine seemed to have become her spokesperson. For example, she didn't need to introduce herself to Noelle.
'Hey, Dog System. How did I even run into Noelle? I didn't steal Lumine's Hangout Event, did I?'
[What the fuck did you just call me?]
'....'
For the time being, just endure and ignore...
'Tsk... Do hangout events no longer exist?'
[It's more like you've become Lumine's biggest hangout! You know, the kind that's more important than the main story. ]
'Is this the reason as to why those perverted quests have such rich rewards but normal quests give junk..?'
"Miss Noelle, is this uniform... for a mission?"
Although it was just a simple greeting, Noelle lowered her head shyly after hearing Lumine's words.
"Honorary Knight... there's no need to address me as miss, just call me Noelle... I'm just here to pick up uniforms for everyone in the Knights of Favonius."
Lumine and Paimon exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in the other's eyes.
Is this girl... seems a little too nervous?
"Then, I'll leave so that you all can chat first." the Shop Assistant said as she turned and left.
After she disappeared, Lumine finally couldn't hold back her confusion and asked Noelle. "Noelle, are you feeling unwell? Or... hmm, did Jibril scare you?"
"Hey... Lumine!"
Her own appearance and demeanor... if not majestic and solemn, should at least be beautiful! How could she scare anyone?
This girl is just purely shy.
However, perhaps due to feeling emotional, the Flügel's gaze toward Noelle involuntarily grew heavy and the golden crossed eyes slightly brightened.
Noelle unconsciously swallowed as her calves went soft and she instinctively wanted to leave.
Fortunately, under Jibril's expectant gaze, she still gripped the edge of her skirt as she stood firm while blushingly. "I-It's not Senior's fault! I just get really nervous. Although I haven't become an official knight yet, I'm working hard to become one!"
"If... it doesn't trouble you all, Is it possible for you to please help guide me in my training?"
After a brief silence, seeing the somewhat flustered Noelle, Lumine and Jibril exchanged smiles.
The Flügel stepped half a pace forward and gently held the other's shoulder, "But we've only been Knights for a few hours ourselves... there's no need for seniors or anything like that."
"B-But..."
"Rather than Senior, I'd prefer for you to just call me by my name."
At this moment, the Shop Assistant walked over, carrying several ribbon-tied packages. "The orders are all ready!"
"We'll help too." Lumine said as she took the box closest to her.
Jibril lightly tapped her fingertips and several smaller packages were tied tightly with black silk threads and lifted up together.
"Ah, how can I let senior..."
"Not Seniors but friends." Lumine tilted her head as she interrupted Noelle. "Besides, aren't we going to start the Knight training? This will speed things up."
"Understood, Senior!"
"..."
-- --
In the end, Jibril was the only one who transported them using Spatial Shift.
Although Noelle strongly insisted on making herself useful, she was stopped and could only follow Lumine and Paimon to wait by the fountain plaza.
"So, Noelle, in what areas do you normally train in?"
Noelle nervously clasped her hands as her eyes were filled with anticipation. "...I want to hear your opinion, seniors!"
"...I've never neglected my maid duties nor my practice for becoming a knight. But my progress when it comes to training seems to be a bit slow... "
"Maid duties?"
Jibril's face surfaced in Lumine's mind.
Over-the-knee white stockings outlined the balanced curves of her legs, black patent leather heels lightly tapped the ground and the skirt hem stopped at a dangerously short distance barely covering her thighs.
[T/L: Ok yeah, not surprised at this point.]
The most lethal thing was those golden crossed eyes, always brimming with arrogance, which were now forced to drop their gaze, speaking in a low, soft tone.
"Welcome home, Master~ Would you like to eat first? Take a bath first? Or... enjoy this pair of wings reserved exclusively for you?"
Lumine shook her head abruptly as she dispelled her unholy thoughts.
"Mhm... they are all very ordinary cleaning and repair tasks..." The maid counted on her fingers. "I guess I do a large clean-up for the Knights of Favonius every other day!"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Noelle placed his finger on her lips, speaking in a tone as casual. "I clean from under the desks to the windows, I can't allow myself to miss anything! The corners also easily accumulate dust. I also do other various tasks such as preparing an eye mask for Kaeya, helping Miss Lisa organize her bookshelf, and other tasks! But I've always felt as if I'm missing something despite being so busy..."
Noelle looked at the two with expectant eyes.
Lumine's gaze repeatedly swept over the girl's smaller body, which was wrapped in armor and finally shook her head helplessly.
"I think what you lack is rest."
"Paimon also thinks so too!" Paimon also chimed in. "That sounds like more than a Knight's!"
"Eh! Rest?"
Noelle covered her mouth in surprise, the rose hair accessory swaying gently as she shook her head. "But there's still a lot of work waiting to be done! Besides... my ability is still lacking, even if I have free time, I should put it towards training."
"To become a true Knight sooner, I must put in as much effort as possible!"
"But even the knights need their rest..."
Hearing Lumine's words, the maid showed a confused expression. Her eyelashes were lowered, casting small shadows on her cheeks as she seemed trapped in a difficult choice.
"But... If I don't do anything, then I feel really guilty...."
Seeing the maid's conflicted look, Lumine also felt a headache coming on.
This kind of thing... is really completely different from fighting monsters. If Jibril were here, she definitely wouldn't be troubled, right?
After all, she always seems to be at ease.
"If you are always too busy, won't you lose time for yourself~" Lumine said gently.
Noelle was stunned, unconsciously twirling a strand of hair with her fingertip. "Hmm... I never really considered that before..."
"Rest is also important for training as well."
After a brief period of thought, Noelle then showed an expression of realization.
"Ah... is this why Miss Lisa is always having afternoon tea in the library?"
"She probably just likes to rest..."
"Eh... I-Is that so..."
Seeing that the girl was about to get stuck in her thoughts again, Lumine smiled and linked arms with her. "Alright, stop worrying! Let's go have something to eat."
"O-Okay!"