Just when they were all putting their everything into cleaning the kitchen, at least Marie was, her aching back evidence of that, an extremely loud thumping sound echoed through the building.
Marie jumped at the unexpected noise and looked up in shock before glancing around the kitchen to see if anybody knew where that sound came from.
But the other women seemed just as startled and clueless.
The only thing they were all certain of that the sound came from somewhere in the mainhall.
Marie hesitantly put the rag in her hand aside and dried her hands on her pants.
She gave Sarah a short look, silently asking if the other would go with her and her niece simply put her rag aside as well in response.
Relieved that her niece would accompany her, Marie motioned the other women to rest assured and continue cleaning while they would go check where that noise came from.
They stepped out of the kitchen and closed the door behind them, just at that moment, the thumping returned, even louder.
Thump, thump, thump!
Marie looked around and only now, after turning her head towards the wooden door at the end of the main hall did the thought occur to her that this extremely loud thumping could be knocking.
She nervously walked over and grabbed the handle, slowly opening door.
Two huge figures towered behind it.
And judging from their attire, they were city guards.
Instantly, the anxious guilty feeling you get when facing policemen rose inside Marie, just that she had actually commited a crime.
Still Marie began to smile politely, forcing herself to speak.
"Good morning, what can I do for you...?"
They glared down at her with grim expressions that made Marie involuntarily swallow, but Marie kept as calm as she could.
Telling herself that even if a bit of her nervosity shone through it would actually be beneficial to her disguise as teenage boy.
Finally, one of the guards opened his mouth.
"We have received reports of a potential fire."
Marie's heart almost stopped at the word fire until she realized that they probably meant the fire in the backyard and not the one from last night.
"Oh! We were burning some trash in the backyard...", Marie explained.
The guards immediately stared at Marie as if she was an idiot their gazes dripping with doubt.
They exchanged a quick glance.
"We will take a look at that fire."
With these words, the guards pushed the door further open, not leaving Marie any chance to protest. She also only barely avoided potentially getting her shoulder dislocated or broken by letting go of the door knob just on time.
The guards didn't concern themselves with any gripes Marie might have had, simply bumping into her and forcing her to stumble aside.
They looked around, but as soon as they set sight on Sarah, their actions froze.
The more level-headed of two, however, soon awoke from his beauty-induced daze, clearing his throat he deliberatedly looked away and spoke with an even more gruff tone.
"Show us the fire."
This instruction was clearly aimed at Marie despite the guard not looking at her, leaving her no choice but to lead the way to the kitchen, as she had the strong hunch that refusing to cooperate would have dire consequences.
For her and her niece.
The way the guards had looked Sarah couldn't have been further away from the adjective 'pure'.
Immediately, Marie regretted taking her niece with her and in turn, unwittingly putting her in harm's way.
Still there was nothing she could do at the moment.
But this didn't prevent her from endlessly creating plans and abandon them right after.
If only the System was here, then she would have had one more person to brainstorm with. Although the other's ideas were more on the silly side most of the time, 999 still knew more about this world than Marie, even if that information was a bit outdated.
But the System remained silent, not responding to Marie no matter how often she called him. The last time they spoke was yesterday before 999 announced that he would try contacting Kore Foundation again.
A sudden worry rose in Marie.
999 didn't abandon her, did he?
A chill ran down Marie's spine but she continued walking.
Although the thought was very much alarming and caused fear to creep into her heart, there was no point in worrying about this future problem right now. Not with two very real threats right behind her.
In the time Marie had spent worrying, their group reached the kitchen door and Marie was just about to open it when a voice suddenly sounded above them.
"What do you think you are doing?"
Marie quickly turned to face Raegn who was standing on the second floor, looking down at their group with a grumpy face.
Everyone halted their actions, even the guards didn't say anything only staring up at Raegn whose face darkened with every second that passed where he didn't receive a response.
The first to snap out of it was Marie.
"The guards wanted to check on something in the backyard," Marie happily handed any responsibility over to Raegn, letting him handle the guards.
He was the owner of Dropping Blossom after all, she was only a powerless employee.
Raegn's gaze turned sharp looking at the guards after hearing Marie's (lacking) explanation, his expression was even more displeased now.
"I told my brother, I'll handle the matters of my brothel myself," Raegn said with clear annoyance in his voice.
"But-", the more level-headed guard wanted to protest, before he was mercilessly interrupted by Raegn.
"Leave, or I'll make you."
The light in Raegn's eyes was especially cruel as he spoke.
This clearly wasn't an empty threat and the guards realized this immediately.
They no longer insisted on entering the kitchen, instead turning around and hurrying to the door with their tails between their legs.
Marie let out a sigh of relief at their departure, but the storm had yet to pass.
"So, what did they want to check in the backyard?"
Seems like there was really no way to get out of this.
But at least it was much better to face your employer than the beastworld equivalent of policemen.
"We were cleaning the kitchen so I burnt some of the garbage that had piled up over time, they must have seen the smoke from the fire," Marie explained with the honesty of an intimidated teenager.
But Raegn had obviously already lost interest the moment she mentioned the kitchen, so he just nodded with a bored expression.
"Alright then, do what you want, I'll go sleep some more."
With that Raegn yawned and disappeared from the second floor balcony.
Well, that was much easier than Marie had expected, she wasn't complaining though.
Now she could continue cleaning!
...now she could contiune cleaning.
Marie's back hurt even worse just thinking about it but there was no way around it.
Sighing, she opened the door and stepped inside the kitchen again, Sarah right behind her.
Hopefully they would be done soon.
Small theater:
Marie: All these trouble just to eat something that won't give you food poisoning!
Marie: ...
Marie with a conflicted expression: Saying it out loud, it act