Chapter Three - [Maid]
Rosario wouldn't exactly say that she liked working, but it wasn't that bad. It was novel, at least. Emma the [Innkeeper] wasn't lying when she mentioned socks.
It was at least a good test of her finer motor skills and of the instincts that came with her Job. Mostly because she had never darned a sock, or any other article of clothing, before. If she discovered something had a hole in it, she'd just wear it until the hole was too big, then buy something new. Fixing things wasn't something she was experienced in, and it wasn't something that came up too often in the game either.
So, she darned socks, fixed some holes in a knit sweater, then patched up a few bedsheets, all with the kind of ease and rapidity that made it look as though she'd been doing this kind of thing for decades.
In the meantime, she chatted a little with the [Waitress] Olivia Brown. She was unsurprisingly Emma's youngest daughter, and had the convenient trait of being a blabbermouth.
"So, have you lived in Riverbend long?" Rosario asked. And that was enough.
The young woman seemed eager to avoid actually doing any work, so she leaned up against the doorway of the room and yapped on about her entire family history. The Browns had lived here for four generations now, starting with Emma's father, the first [Innkeeper] who sold a smaller inn within Alpta and moved here. The fourth generation was Olivia's brother's firstborn son, who was two, and apparently a handful.
The topics changed about as often as Olivia took in a breath between rants.
Rosario elected to sit back and listen while working her magic on some sheets. She sacrificed one that was extremely threadbare to create patches which were sewn into others. Somehow they came out looking fresh and new and extra fluffy.
The prattle was nice. It distracted her from the impending sense of... weirdness that came with being in this world. First of all, how had she come to be here? For that matter, why? Was it even possible for her to get an answer to that?
Rosario continued to listen as Olivia detailed her dreams of one day moving to the big city, marrying an [Adventurer], having two and a half babies, and then opening her own restaurant in the city.
It was a lot, but it also provided Rosario with a lot of small context clues about things that would have been awkward to ask about. "Say, Olivia," she said when the girl paused to chug air.
"Yes, Miss Thorn?"
"What do you know about Hellisdalr castle? To the... I guess north east of here."
Olivia blinked. "Oh! It's the reason there's an Adventuring Guild branch in Riverbend at all. And that's why the inn exists. Half of our best clients are [Adventurers] of one sort or another. There are a lot of monsters that show up around the castle that are really uncommon elsewhere."
"Interesting," Rosario said.
Fortunately, Olivia was good at talking, but not asking questions. She went on to talk about some of the people she'd seen from the guild, then veered off to talk about food, then fish, then dyes of all things.
By the time the sun was near setting, Rosario was done with all of the clothes in the inn. She'd patched every sheet and bedspread and had fixed several shirts, patched pants, and even tailored a dress to fit Olivia better, all without ever taking a measurement. Somehow she knew that the adjustments were accurate.
Nevermind massive [Firebolts], that was the real magic.
In thanks for her efforts, Rosario was allowed to take one of the smaller rooms, and when she came out to the main inn area Emma served her a large bowlful of warm stew with some fresh bread and a platter of vegetables.
It was a massive step above the usual microwavable slop she was used to eating.
"I'm afraid we don't have too much more work for a [Seamstress]," Emma said. "Here, it's not a lot, but it should tide you over if you need to buy some supplies."
She set down a small handful of coppery coins which Rosario took graciously. She had no idea what they were worth, but that was a concern for later. For now, she was quite pleased. "I can do other work as well. I'm no stranger to a broom and mop."
The woman chuckled. "Sure. Could use some cleaning in the kitchens if you're up for it. Head on back in an hour or so?"
She nodded and returned to her meal.
The inn slowly filled with patrons, and she not so subtly spied on a few of them. Notably, the trio of more muscular, armoured men that came in a little later.
Elijah Smithson
[Scout] - Level 24
Henry Kingcomer
[Spearman] - Level 17
William Billson
[Combat Mage] - Level 9
The latter two were in their second tier, judging by their levels and Job names. So they had a first Job at level 25, at least. They could have had more as well, but as she observed them, she noticed that they didn't move all that quickly.
Rosario could flick her arm through the air so rapidly that it created a gust, and that was with no real effort on her part. She felt like she could lift an elephant on the end of a broom with no leverage.
It might have been some of her [Sword Saint] instincts coming into play, but those three didn't strike her as strong.
Still, people respected them, or at least the bronze and silver badges they wore.
The men were a little bawdy, and loud, but not so much so that it was bothersome. One of them gave Olivia a pinch on the rear, but her giggles afterwards seemed genuine more than false, and she did linger close for a while and unless Rosario was mistaking, she was flirting right back. Probably for the best, because Rosario wasn't sure she'd mind stabbing a fool.
She was given a large mug of beer, which she only took a sip of before abandoning. That stuff was rank. So she stuck to tea, which was probably more maid-like in any case. It fit the image better.
Once she was no longer fighting off hunger pangs, Rosario retreated to the kitchen and sighed. It was a mess. Not a terrible one, but the place was a little disorganized, dusty in some spots, and there were grease stains and the large stone over at the back was filled with char.
She opened a door into the rear lot, then started to simply empty the kitchen. This was going to take a while, but honestly? She felt good. Her movements were fast and fluid and graceful. Bending down didn't hurt, and she could lift heavy things with ease.
So, she emptied the entire kitchen, setting things out on the ground behind the lot. When it grew too dark to see, Rosario frowned, then looked over her spell list and cast [Light], one of the most basic utility spells she had. She made sure to only feed it a smidge of mana. The spell created a glowing ball that she gently placed above the door. She created a few more, setting them here and there to give her light from every angle.
The hardest part was when she discovered a fat spider clinging to the corner of the room, revealed by her light. She summoned her broom and gingerly picked it up with the bristle end, then, while holding it aimed at the door, she cast a quick [Gust] and blasted it out the back before suffering through a full-body shiver.
Disgusting little thing.
Soon, the kitchen was empty. Then came the fun part.
[Water Blast] was a stronger spell, but with some modulation of the amount of mana used, she was able to turn it into something like a hose. Then it was a simple matter of using one of the brooms in her inventory to push the dirty water along.
An application of [Heat Wave], again with very little mana in it, created a strong gust of very hot air to dry things behind her.
Rosario was grinning to herself as she brushed the floor, a dozen spells active all at once. She had a 'cleaning game' phase, once, and this was similar, but more realistic. Though she did miss that satisfying Power Wash ding when something was fully cleaned.
She was halfway done, with a large part of the kitchen literally spotless, when something came up in the corner of her vision. A system message.
Rosario paused, then gestured at it. The message opened.
Her broom clattered to the floor.
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the [Scullery Maid] Job!
She stared for a long, long moment. Then she grinned. Of course [Maid] was an actual Job, so why couldn't she unlock it?
"[Job List]," she said, and a new menu appeared, this one containing all of the Jobs she had unlocked over time but which she had never picked.
Available Jobs
Combat Jobs
[Archer]
[Brawler]
[Scout]
[Hunter]
[Guard]
Crafting Jobs
[Actor]
[Apprentice Alchemist]
[Apprentice Cleric]
[Apprentice Smith]
[Dancer]
[Fisher]
[Herbalist]
[Scullery Maid]
[Merchant Apprentice]
[Miner]
[Scholar]
There it was, [Scullery Maid]. She reached towards it, then paused. Picking a new Job could be detrimental. Non-combat Jobs didn't have as many tiers, all of them ending at the third tier. She would be better off taking one of the available Combat Jobs and passively level it over time. [Hunter] would only require a few excursions out of the city. [Scout] or [Guard] would both be easy to level, and she knew most of the Job progression tree for [Guard].
But...
New Job Added: [Scullery Maid]
[Scullery Maid] - Level 0.
Rosario was grinning so hard, her cheeks hurt. She checked her name and status, just in case anything had changed.
Rosario Thorn
Current Job: [Scullery Maid]
Stats
Strength 235
Dexterity 353
Constitution 397
Intelligence 385
Wisdom 335
Charisma 78
Mana 128,975
Stamina 163,366
Combat Jobs
[Apprentice Mage] - Level 25
[Generalist Mage] - Level 50
[Green Mage] - Level 75
[Archmage] - Level 100
[Soldier] - Level 25
[Swordsman] - Level 50
[Swordmaster] - Level 75
[Sword Saint] - Level 100
[Thief] - Level 25
[Rogue] - Level 21
Crafting Jobs
[Gardener] - Level 12
[Tailor] - Level 25
[Seamstress] - Level 47
[Apprentice Enchanter] - Level 25
[Scullery Maid] - Level 0
It was perfect! Now... she should probably finish cleaning up here. It would give her a few levels, and besides, she didn't want to upset the innkeeper.
***