ILSCA 06

Chapter 6

The clothes they wore were the same as mine, but each one was stretched taut over bulging muscles.

‘Are they blocking my path?’

I tried to step aside, but they quickly scuttled sideways like crabs, blocking my way again.
The same happened when I tried the other side.

‘What’s this about?’

Just as I was feeling puzzled, someone called out to me.

“Hey, you. Newbie.”

I turned my head and saw a woman squatting on a large rock.

She was at least twice the size of the burly figures blocking my path. From a distance, she might have looked like a giant stone monument.

Ptooey!

She spat something out with a delinquent air, having been chewing on it noisily.

Looking closer, it was a dried anchovy. Huh?

She rose from her spot and approached me, shaking her shoulders with exaggerated gestures, a look of deep displeasure on her face.

“Newbies these days think they’re royalty or something! How heavy are your asses! In my day, it was proper to meet and greet every single senior. Unbelievable, a whole day passes and you haven’t even come to pay your respects?”

“……?”

“Do I have to teach you this stuff myself? Might as well open an imperial palace kindergarten. Start from the basic manners and sweep~ through everything before sending you out.”

The maids flanking her laughed awkwardly in agreement.

“Ha, haha, ha!”

“So funny, Lady Bianca. Where do you learn such comedic timing?”

“Hey.”

The woman named Bianca glared sideways at the maid who had burst out laughing.

“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

“Huh?”

“You think I’m a joke? Huh?”

“…N-no, sorry.”

“Watch it next time. No excuses.”

“Yes…….”

Tch. She clicked her tongue, looked back at me, and pointed behind her with her thumb.

There, several baskets piled high with dirty laundry were stacked like towers.

She gave me a crooked smile.

“Newbie, since you’ve entered the imperial palace, you know what an initiation ritual is, right?”

“No. What is an initiation ritual?”

“Ah, an initiation ritual is……”

She started to explain kindly but suddenly froze her expression.

“No, wait. Why am I explaining this? Kids these days, I swear. No basic concepts or common sense? When you join a workplace, you always do an initiation ritual!”

“Ah, I see.”

So when you join a workplace, you always do an initiation ritual. I’ll remember that.

Tch. She clicked her tongue again and thrust her face forward threateningly.

“Anyway, finish all that laundry by today. If you can’t……”

“If I can’t?”

“Your life in the imperial palace is going to get pretty tough from now on. You know what I mean, right?”

I don’t, actually.

I tilted my head in confusion. The maids beside her hurriedly pressed me.

“Just say you understand! Do you know how strong Lady Bianca is?”

“Someone like you would be turned to dust in the blink of an eye!”

Amid the maids’ fuss, Bianca nodded with a proud face.

Finally, I understood the meaning of Bianca’s words.

“Aha.”

I clapped my hands together with a smack!

“So, in a word, you’re so strong that you can’t do laundry, so you’re using the initiation ritual as an excuse to ask for help, is that it?”

“…What?”

“I understand. You must struggle with holding apples or walnuts without crushing them, right?”

“What on earth is she talking about? Crush what she holds?”

“But don’t worry. I’m good at laundry.”

I walked towards the laundry baskets and began stacking them one on top of the other.
Soon, the stack reached a dizzying height, seemingly scraping the sky.

“What is she doing?”

Just as Bianca’s sharp voice reached me, I effortlessly lifted the tower of baskets with one hand and asked.

“Is this all of it?”

“…Huh?”

Her eyes bulged as if they would pop out.

Holding the basket tower, I looked back at them and asked.

“Where should I do the laundry?”

Bianca, flustered, pointed towards the stream bank where the laundry supplies were kept.

“O-over there!”

“Yes, thank you.”

I went to the stream bank and set down the mountain of laundry baskets.

‘It’s been a while.’

The Lumiel Orphanage was a secret research lab, so it didn’t have separate cleaning staff.

So, the children took turns being on duty, responsible for cleaning, laundry, and dishes.

And among them, I was… actually, the laundry ace.

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

To quickly process the mountain of laundry, sorting comes first.

First, linens.
Underwear, bed sheets, tablecloths—fabrics with high washing frequency that require water washing.

Next, woolens.
Coats, cloaks, etc. They are sensitive to water, so adopt a method of brushing and airing.

Finally, silk.
It gets damaged if it touches water, so handle it very carefully. Don’t even dry it in direct sunlight.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

In the blink of an eye, the mountain of laundry before me was sorted into neat piles.

Meanwhile, Bianca and the other maids just stood there, mouths agape, staring at me.

‘Why are they staring? Do they have nothing to do?’

Ah, is observing part of the initiation ritual too?

Then I guess it makes sense they’re standing there bored, mouths open.

I filled a large tub full of stream water, mixed in lye, put in the sorted linen laundry, and tread on it with my feet to remove dust and stains, then wrung it out firmly.

For the woolens, I used a soft brush to dust them off, then dissolved soap in water to gently spot-clean the stains.

Finally, for the silk, I gently wiped the surface to remove dust, and used a cloth dampened with rice water to clean the soiled areas……

‘Now ready to hang on the clothesline.’

The laundry tubs were emptied in the blink of an eye.

Just as I was preparing to hang the laundry, Bianca’s angry voice rang out.

“Hey, what are you all doing?”

“Y-yes?”

“You’re just going to stand there? We need to put this newbie in her place properly! Should we make you redo your initiation rituals? How about I make you run 100 laps around the field on duck walk while holding your ears, for old times’ sake? Huh?”

“Ah! S-sorry!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the maids moved in perfect unison.

Wondering what they were up to, I saw them climb trees and deliberately tie the clotheslines at a very high height.

So high that even I, taller than the average woman, couldn’t reach it even stretching my arms.

‘What are they doing? Is this also part of the initiation ritual?’

As I tilted my head in confusion, they climbed down from the trees, panting, and ran over to Bianca.

“Huff, huff. Lady Bianca. We tied the lines very high. We did well, right?”

“Now the newbie will never be able to hang the laundry… Huh?”

Before their words even finished, I lightly jumped up and landed on the line.

Balancing on both feet, I began taking laundry from the basket and hanging it up.

The eyes of Bianca and the maids widened to the size of large marbles as they watched me.

“Wh-what in the world is that?”

“Is she standing on the line hanging laundry right now?”

Bianca shouted with an incredulous expression.

“Is she actually insane?”

Regardless of what they said, I expressed my gratitude to them.

“Thank you for tying the line so high. The bedsheets won’t touch the ground now. I appreciate it.”

“…Ha?”

“Next time, you could tie it even higher if you like.”

“Wha… This is for real! Look at her being sarcastic! Ugh, my blood pressure’s rising!”

“Gasp!Bianca, are you okay?!”

I was being sincere though……

It seemed Bianca had misinterpreted my sincerity. A regrettable matter.

I hopped down from the line, wiping my hands on my apron, and said.

“The laundry is all done. What should I do for the next initiation ritual?”

“WHAT? N-NEXT INITIATION RITUAL?”

“Ah, just a moment.”

I glanced at the clock tower in the garden and continued.

“Would the next initiation ritual be possible before 2 PM? I need to go see the Head Maid.”

“HAH, have you ever seen such an unbelievably brazen newbie? Do you think an initiation ritual is like a restaurant reservation? Something you schedule?!”

Finally, Bianca exploded.

She grabbed one of the laundry baskets with one hand and started spinning it around.

“Ah, I can’t take it anymore! Hey! You think you’re so great? Getting cocky for a newbie! Come here! Let’s settle this one-on-one!”

“Lady Bianca, calm down!”

“They said it’s best to avoid crazy newbies!”

“Let go of me! Even if I get bitten by a rabid dog today, I’m going to finish this! …Huh?”

Just then, Bianca’s hand slipped, and she lost her grip on the basket.

The basket, freed from her hand, came flying towards me at high speed.

“Watch out! Newbie, dodge!”

“No! If the newbie gets hit by that basket, it’s Head Maid Vesti’s storm of scolding and reflection essays……!”

As Bianca and the maids screamed in despair—

CRACK!

With a crisp sound, the wooden basket shattered into pieces.

Right in front of my fist.