Chapter 24: Scarlet Devil Mansion Mistress Falls in Love with Takeout, Izayoi Sakuya Heads to the Restaurant!
Here lies the Scarlet Devil Mansion of Gensokyo.
Before the first ray of morning sun soaked through the canopy of the Forest of Magic, the maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Izayoi Sakuya, began her work.
She currently stood in a corridor laid with red carpet, using silver tweezers to pick up the seventh cobweb from the rose window.
"Is she waking up?"
Looking up, Izayoi Sakuya noticed the bats hanging upside down from the crystal chandelier suddenly flapping their wings collectively; this was a sign the young mistress was about to awaken.
That young lady was the master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion—Remilia Scarlet.
"The dust over there... seems a bit more than before."
Sakuya, as the head maid, spoke softly to the air.
A silver dinner knife unsheathed in response.
A cold glint flashed through the crevices of the corridor pillar reliefs.
A cloud of dust accumulated over fifty years, before it could even escape, was pierced by the sharp blade and dissipated.
Repeating the above work, Sakuya quickly completed the full inspection of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
And while passing the courtyard fountain, she suddenly stopped, lowered her head, and looked into the pool.
Floating in the reflection in the pool were oil stains that shouldn't exist, reminding her of the suspicious sauce reflection on the corner of gatekeeper Hong Meiling's mouth two days ago.
"Sakuya—!"
Remilia's call, wrapped in blood-red magic power, penetrated three layers of marble slabs.
Hearing the young mistress's voice, Sakuya immediately headed to Remilia's bedroom.
When the head maid appeared in the bedroom, the vampire was tapping an empty lacquered wooden meal box with her fingernail.
On the box lid were the characters 'Luke's Takeout'.
That was the set meal delivered two days ago, jokingly called the 'Otaku Happy Meal' by the restaurant owner.
Inside were hamburgers and cola, and it had heat and freshness preservation properties, allowing it to be enjoyed over two days.
"That human owner, Luke... the set meal delivered two days ago..."
The young mistress emphasized with full dignity,
"I had three yesterday, three today. The second portion was given to Flandre, and she actually ate quietly through the entire afternoon tea time while coordinating with the hamburger..."
Hearing this, Sakuya's gaze shifted sideways.
There were several other takeout boxes there.
All were the same set meal.
Either hamburgers or chicken wraps, the only variation being the accompanying drink.
Truthfully, Sakuya hadn't expected her vampire master to be able to eat these takeout dishes...
And not just Remilia; once the extra chicken pieces were distributed to the fairy maids, it would cause them to fight over them.
Sakuya had only one thought about this—
The stability of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was being destroyed by Luke's takeout.
"Sakuya."
"Present."
"After noon, go to the restaurant on the east side of the forest."
Remilia's wings unfurled into a blood-red curtain in the morning light.
Displaying her dignity once more, she added,
"Tell that human chef named Luke, tonight's Scarlet Devil Mansion requires a banquet worthy of the eternal night moon. Have him prepare it."
"Understood, I will do so immediately."
"Very good."
As the head maid retreated to the door, she suddenly heard the rustling sound of fabric rubbing.
Through the barely closed door slit, Sakuya glimpsed the eternally elegant vampire lord scavenging for hamburger crumbs inside the box...
Isn't this liking it a bit too much?
Izayoi Sakuya averted her gaze and quickly left the corridor.
Coming outside, the moment Sakuya passed through the main gate of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the demon relief on the gilded door knocker suddenly blinked.
To the left of the entrance, the gatekeeper who should have been standing solemnly was now leaning against the wall, her emerald green qipao hem stained with morning dew and suspicious weeds.
Hong Meiling's breathing was rhythmic, very steady, until a silver dinner knife grazed past the hairpin by her ear and embedded itself into the wall.
"Yah!!"
Hong Meiling was startled awake.
"Fifty-seventh time."
Sakuya pulled out the silver dinner knife embedded in the wall.
The blade reflected the un-wiped grease on the corner of the gatekeeper's mouth.
"Record of sleeping during duty this month, fifty-seven times..."
"No, not sleeping!"
Hong Meiling, who had been secretly eating earlier, retorted.
"This is the secret Shaolin meditation practice!"
Not only that, Hong Meiling righteously pointed to the shadows of the portico.
"Head Maid, look at this angle, it just happens to allow my true qi to envelop the entire courtyard!"
"Cut the nonsense."
"Ahaha..."
"The young mistress is holding a banquet tonight at that restaurant in the woods. If you don't want to be made into the main course of the banquet, you'd better not let any suspicious individuals enter the Scarlet Devil Mansion."
Hearing this threat, Hong Meiling shrank back.
She knew the maid before her wasn't joking.
"Understood!"
Hong Meiling replied with a serious face.
"I guarantee not even a mosquito will fly in!"
Hong Meiling finished speaking and waved her fists.
However, after this, as the gatekeeper, she asked,
"The banquet, can I participate too?"
"Of course not. The duty of the gatekeeper is to guard the Scarlet Devil Mansion, not to go eat."
"Eh..."
"However, all this depends on the young mistress's decision."
Seeing Hong Meiling's disappointed expression, Sakuya added a sentence tentatively.
After finishing this chat, Izayoi Sakuya gave a few more instructions, then left the Scarlet Devil Mansion and headed towards Luke's restaurant.
...
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