"Excuse me. Mary-sama's servant..."
Just before opening the servants' room, Rei, the mansion master's servant, called out.
While the kitchen was behind the dining room, she called out from a different direction. She hadn't come out of the servants' room.
"Ichi... the first servant. Did you need something? Shouldn't you be preparing the meal?"
"I was using the restroom, so I stepped away from the kitchen. Then, as luck would have it, I found you... could you help me with meal preparation? The other servants helped earlier, so it's difficult to ask them again... Of course, I think master's orders should take priority."
"There is indeed a restroom in the direction Rei came from, but..."
It almost seemed as if Rei had called out to prevent him from entering the servants' room. Yet she was the one who had given permission to enter it.
Perhaps she was hesitant to ask for more cooperation in front of the magicians.
"...That won't be a problem. Mary-sama would tell me to help. However, I apologize that I can't stay for too long."
"You chose to cooperate. Can't risk making a bad impression on the master. Still... she really is different from the other servants."*
Would other servants be able to call out to Kaito and ask for help? No, probably not.
Because they hadn't been ordered by their masters to cooperate.
Yet Rei had asked for Kaito's help without permission. The very fact that she could act on her own will set her apart from other servants.
"Of course. If you could spare twenty or thirty minutes. Just helping with vegetable prep would be plenty. Besides the meals for Mary-sama and the others, we need food for ourselves, too. We have one more portion than planned, after all."
While Rei apparently intended to prepare meals not only for Mary and the others but also for Kaito and the servants, she said something concerning.
"Are you... referring to me? Or is someone else coming here?"
Kaito noticed her words too. His forced participation was only possible because of Death's power and this pseudo-world, so why would Rei be aware of it?
Or had someone else arrived? Diana and the others wouldn't know. They had said everyone was present when Mary arrived, but only Rei would know.
"No one is coming. It's just all of you. Mary-sama's invitation response said 'no servant,' after all. She was probably worried about your condition. Such a caring master is rare."
The reason was that Mary had already responded that Kaito wouldn't participate. His forced participation had created a contradiction with this response.
"The kitchen is this way. You can cook, right? Do you understand how to use magical tools?"
"I'll be fine. As for magical tools, it depends on the item, so I'll ask if I don't understand."
Rei started walking toward the dining room.
As Mary's only servant, Kaito was naturally expected to be capable of cooking and cleaning.
Magical tools included items like the bell that Mary and Kaito possessed. There were also ones that could be used in daily life.
"If it's a short time, you could investigate the servants' room. Since you're helping, you might as well try to get information from her. Even if details about the mansion's master are impossible, information about her might become important."