Things have gone downhill ever since I was admitted into the mansion, Remilia is hellbent on humiliating me in the most mundane ways possible. Three days in, After finishing with the glass wall, I've gotten ridiculous requests on the times I was occupied with the menial tasks of the mansion: Tea and treats delivered in 30 seconds, polishing the glass of the big tower clock, picking up every orchid in the garden withing a certain criteria (They all look the fucking same to me) and all of this in the most spontaneous of times possible, that the fairy maids already set on a name for my torture: Wile. E Coyote (Apparently Remilia hosts certain events for the maids to give them rest, and one of those events was a Looney Toons marathon of VHS' she managed to get her hands on, along with some tech from the outside.)

The only thing keeping me from going crazy is the rare moments I lay eyes on Sakuya, whether I'm passing by the halls and happen to see her, or when I am helping with general chores in which Sakuya is also assigned, that and my rough start in my guerrilla days as well.

Initially I was not the top brass and best raider of the guerrilla, the first assignments I had over there was mechanic duty, repairing the old trucks and vehicles that we managed to salvage from Voroshilov's army and mercenaries. We got so many wrecked vehicles that it was impossible to even repair some due to the conditions they were in, so I was asked to salvage whatever was usable to implement it in the working vehicles. One day, we managed to salvage 11 barely operational tanks that survived an artillery strike, a whole week was spent in the shop repairing those things to functional state, I spent too much time in the motor pool repairing the tanks, that one of the leaders happened to pass by for inspection, happened to see me surrounded by 3 tanks and called me a tanker by mistake, ever since, that name stuck on me.

I think the chores weren't the problem here as I was already battle hardened for hard work, the only thing pissing me off is the thought of Remilia doing this entirely out of spite and amusement. Bitch probably has her blood served in teacups, and prolly not even doing the simplest work of a vampire and catching her own prey. As for Sakuya… her abilities are handmade for this kind of "work".

"You shall take this to the librarian instead of me." Sakuya said as she handed me a tray with a hot teapot, a teacup and various assortments of treats.

"Oh, Isn't that your regular task?" I asked her as I grabbed the tray by the side handles.

"Lady Remilia requests part of my time for a specialized task, so I will be unavailable for a significant amount of time." She explained.

"Remember, after you're done with that, you have gardening duty at 1 AM, Kitchen duty at 2, and sweeping at 5." She continued.

"Noted" I said in a tired tone, to which I turned and went my way to the Library.

"Oh, and Plyush… Good luck finding what you're looking for there, better use that time right!" Sakuya said as she gave me a faint smile.

"Thanks…"

I'm still unfamiliar with the layout the mansion takes, and I didn't want to deliver the Librarian cold tea, so on my way there, I stumbled upon a fairy maid that was on her way there as well, so I tagged along. My theory that this place is constantly changing is basically confirmed as I remember having passed these halls multiple times, I'm baffled even the maids can get around here.

"This is it! Voile." The fairy maid said to me as we arrived at the big wooden entrance

"Much obliged." I responded to the fairy.

Despite us entering the same place, we both went our separate ways as I took steps down a set of long stairs that led to the main floor of the library. The layout was untouched to my knowledge, but if I'm not careful enough, I could get lost in these big dusty corridors, walled bookshelves tall as monuments and the dim lighting here. Fortunately, all these corridors lead to the center place if you walk right, with the big contraption in the middle visible for meters.

I walked at a fast pace as I followed a corridor to the center, and as I got closer, a blue light got brighter and stronger, with multiple ones orbiting the stronger light. standing in front of this contraption, i can see the sheer size of it, something out of a planetarium, and counting it i can see there are 8 lights orbiting the bigger one, the same amount as our solar system.

"Over here." I heard a female voice to my left.

I turned my head and there she was. The librarian of the mansion, sitting on a wooden chair next to a desk filled to the brim with books towering themselves. She was wearing an attire I would closely relate to pajamas: A mob cap decorated with a golden crescent moon, long robes that barely touched the ground, on top of the robes a elbow reaching shawl and underneath all that a vertically striped nightgown, all that attire in purple. She had long purple hair, 2 long bangs condecorated with red and blue ribbons, and purple eyes. Her skin was quite pale to say the least.

"Any time now…" She said as she read a big tome, without taking her eyes off it.

"Oh, apologies!" I said as I approached her tray in hand.

I lay the tray on the very edge as I see little space to lay the items into the desk, and once I identify a small patch of desk, I put the items one by one.

"Apologies for the delay Ms…" I said but lingered my words as I didn't know her name.

"Patchouli Knowledge '' she said, still not breaking contact off her tome.

After I delivered my items I turned around and walked towards where I came, but then I stop at my tracks and stand just a few meters away from Ms. Knowledge. I take a look around my surroundings, looking at the tall bookshelves around me, the corridors filled with info and possibly decades old Knowledge. Now that I think about it, where the hell do I start here?!

"May I help you?" She said in a tired tone, but this time I managed to take her eyes off that tome.

…

"Yes… yes you may." I said as I turned towards her

"I need your help, researching that is."

"Don't you have chores to do?" She said in a serene but monotone voice.

"You call that chores? Polishing the clock tower glass entirely with no ropes or anything to aid me? serving remilia tea in under a minute while she is on the opposite side of the mansion? picking orchids with specific criteria?" I explained to her my struggle

"you were asked to pick the ones with a certain amount of tint because of their special properties in-"

"THEY ALL LOOK THE FUCKING SAME!" I exclaimed, interrupting her.

"How dare you raise your voice to your employers!" She said in a more raised voice but still soft enough, whilst standing up from her seat.

"Look, I have nothing with you, or anyone here, is just wanted to make amends after my partner crashed in, I wanted to start over but so far Remilia's only plan here is to break me with impossible and pointless task, I need you to help to make Remilia at least tone it down." I pleaded with her.

"Look, I may be Remilia's friend, but I cannot interfere with her business and motives, that is only her business and hers alone." she objected.

"At least help me gain access to the library, the main reason I came to make amends with her is to have the chance to investigate something of true importance." I continued.

"Your "true" Importance right now should be attending Remi, something you are not doing right now, and you are not going to peek at these books, Only I can authorize who can. Now if you excuse me… you may continue your duty, I have things to do." She said as she took seat again.

My mind sank as I heard those last words, I needed to find info or else this week would've proved useless…

and what I'm about to do is probably the lowest I've gotten, for now I guess…

"Fine… But perhaps this could change your mind."

I said as I began unbuttoning my waist coat and lifting my shirt.

"Have you gone insane?! Do you have a death wish or are you mentally wrong?!"

I said nothing as I lifted my shirt halfway and stopped until it reached my upper chest, revealing my smoky body. Then I commanded myself to make the smoke on my chest move out the way to reveal my core.

"...no… it… it cannot be…" Patchouli stuttered in surprise and shock.

"It… I thought it was a theoretical object… but…" she said as she took off her seat and approached me.

"It's a Philosopher's stone!"

she got close to me, and began to reach her right hand to inspect it.

"Atatatata! no~" I exclaimed as I backed up.

"I knew this would get your attention but I'm not gonna stand around for long here." I said.

"You have no idea of the kind of object you have embedded within! This is something I thought was only possible with a set of impossible criteria, how in the world do you have one of the most coveted objects in the world?!" She exclaimed but in a more surprised tone, surpassing the serenity her voice has.

"That's the issue, I don't know. That's why I came here in the first place." I responded.

"You help me with my Investigation and tell Remilia to tone down the way she is treating me, I'll let you take a look into me, both parties win!" I negotiated.

But Patchouli initially seemed to not trust my plan. as she appeared to appear very skeptical of it.

"Now why should I trust you?" She said, "Come to think of it, you came here and caused this all by yourself."

"I came here for answers, and whatever I must do, I won't leave 'till I get them." I said.

As we both go quiet, with only the sound of the contraption's mechanism in the center, Patchouli takes a moment, as she looks into the air as in inquiry, maybe considering my plan.

"Fine, when can you come by?" she asked me.

"Well, today later in the morning, Since Remilia sleeps during the day, I can have a break and head over. But you have to guarantee me you'll talk to Remilia about toning it down, and under NO circumstances, should you tell the reason why." I explained

"Then what am I supposed to tell her?" she once more asks.

"Figure that out yourself, I gotta go now on kitchen duty." I said as I went back the way I came.

Fast forward a few hours, I am now working with Meiling on the garden very early in the morning (Apparently she is the resident gardener too). I'm moving various bags of soil to a certain area of the garden as they plan to remodel the style and expand it, using an old wheelbarrow to move many bags at the same time. Meiling on the other hand was carrying multiple bags on her shoulder like it was nothing!

but after moving quite a lot of bags and other assorted botanics stuff, both of us took a little break and we sat down on a marble bench in one of the nicest parts of the garden.

"whew! That was very tiring, wasn't it Plyush?" Meiling said as she took her hat of a swiped sweat off her forehead.

"Mhm, wonder what they're actually going for…" I said as I rested my back on the marble backrest.

we stayed resting for a while, with meiling panting quite hard.

"You really didn't have to flex that carrying, Ven probably could lift us both and multiple bags at once." I said to Meiling.

"Oh, that your robot friend you told me about that crashed the windows?" she asked.

"I wouldn't say friend as we just met a week ago, I call him more of a… companion" I answered.

"So… how are things with Sakuya?" She asked me as she gave me a playful look.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked her in subtle surprise

"Nope, I overheard your conversation with the crow tengu, but just that tad bit honestly!" She said in a charismatic tone

"Oh, seems very convenient for you to know that, weren't you asleep that day? I said as I her a squinted look

"N-no! I was just… resting! BUT, I have mastered the skill of detecting and using Qi for combat use and I found something: Back when I first met you, your Qi fluctuated in a certain strength within you, right now I can barely detect your Qi, maybe cause of the whole smoke thing, but whenever you where besides Sakuya or looked at her, your Qi fluxed in a certain way enough for me for recognize. I saw that type of flux before, the flux of love! One at first sight to be specific"

"How in the?" I just stood perplexed on how she detected that, and as far as I know, there could be mind readers in this land too!

"I beg your pardon?" A female voice is heard to our left.

We both tense up in shock as we both recognize that voice, it was Sakuya's.

"Oh! Sakuya, umm… what brings you here?" Meiling asked.

"What was that about me now?" She asked as she looked at me directly.

"Um, ahh, ummm, uuugh… M-Meiling, that's not funny!" I said as I stood up and looked towards her.

"Huh?!" She exclaimed to me.

"Follow my lead…" I said under my breath.

"I don't think you should be joking like that, what could Sakuya think about that? And personally I think even insinuating a thing like that is unprofessional for this work environment, r-right Sakuya?" I said in hopes to convince Sakuya.

"Elementary, my dear. Maybe Meiling's been reading too much fiction from the library, too much of that can damage your brain and perspective of reality." Sakuya said as she looked to Meiling with a death glare

"b-but…but." Meiling stuttered.

"No buts, Get back to work to the gate, No slacking off! As for you Mr. Canmoore, Lady Remilia requests your presence."

"May I ask the reason if I'm allowed?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, I was asked at the last minute before she went to sleep, so it is urgent you follow me this instant!" She said as she took off.

"Wait up! follow behind but don't go off like that!" I said as we took

"Good luck!" I heard Meiling yell as her voice faints over distance.

We took the bricked trail towards the side doors of the mansion, and we entered the mansion.

I wonder why the late call…