My introduction to the rest of Sona's Peerage went off without a hitch after Sona arranged for the delivery of an official Butler uniform in my size. Apparently, Sona and Tsubaki really were going to keep my current uselessness to themselves and no one else would know that I wasn't really a butler.
I wasn't sure if keeping an open secret was something a devil would normally do or it was something that Sona and Tsubaki enjoyed, because they had knowledge that no one else knew. In any case, I was greeted by her peerage with the same lackluster responses that a hired servant would receive in Japan and it played perfectly into the ruse.
Sona looked quite pleased as well when we went to school, because no one at Kuoh Academy batted an eye when I arrived with her and Tsubaki. I had positioned myself at their backs like a good minion should and I was essentially ignored by everyone and no one questioning why I was there.
On the plus side, Sona hadn't recruited the only male in her peerage yet, Genshiro Saji. My knowledge of him was limited, except that I knew he had some kind of Sacred Gear that let him absorb people's energy in some fashion. He was also obsessed with Sona after she saved him and his sisters from financial ruin after his parents were killed in an accident when he was barely a teenager.
Since I didn't want any male competition, I would have to deal with him as soon as possible. No, I wasn't going to kill him. That's not how to properly handle things. I had a hasty plan and I was going to fulfill it as soon as possible, assuming I could find the information I needed.
After Sona and Tsubaki settled into the Student Council office to get ready for the meet and greet of the students that would be arriving for classes, I discreetly asked to borrow Tsubaki's cell phone. She gave me a very odd look and then whispered that they didn't use them and they weren't allowed on school grounds anyway.
That knocked me off my game for a while as I processed that and I stood by the wall behind Sona's desk. It did give me a better view of why the devils here were so out of touch with the culture and practises of the Japanese people if they didn't allow or use cell phones to stay in touch with each other.
It was quite shortsighted of them, especially for such a long-lived race, to ignore humanity's achievements. It also cut them off from easy access to free information and I couldn't help but think if they had only looked at the laws of the country they resided in, they would have had a much easier time controlling their assigned territory.
Well, that just gave me another avenue to pursue in my plan and I would take full advantage of it as soon as I could. First thing's first, I needed to gather important information on Sona's daily operations, so I could streamline them for her and remove some of her burdens. The phone on Sona's desk rang and I gained my first opportunity to prove to her I wasn't going to be the burden she thought I was going to be.
I stepped forward and grabbed the receiver from the cradle before Sona's reaching hand could. “This is the Student Council's Office. How may we help you?” I asked and ignored Sona's glare. “Good morning, Principal!” I said and paused as I listened to his question. “Yes, sir. Shitori-san has safely arrived and will be greeting the students as they arrive at the front gate.”
Both Sona and Tsubaki looked at me with surprise on their faces.
“It's not a problem, sir. I will pass on your compliments. Thank you for calling! Have a great day.” I said and hung up. I stepped back to the wall and resumed my previous position as I ignored the searching looks sent my way. I didn't have to repeat myself, since Sona was right there and heard my responses.
Sona's glare lessened some and Tsubaki looked amused, so mission accomplished.
“It's nearly time.” Tsubaki said and both she and Sona stood.
I took a step forward and Sona raised a hand to stop me from going any farther.
“Stay here, Murphy-san. Your presence won't be needed for the next hour.” Sona told me.
I nodded my head and stepped back. “Is there a break room or cafeteria access for the student council? I need to know where I can prepare snacks and drinks for you.”
Both Sona and Tsubaki had surprised looks on their faces again.
“Even just keeping up the pretense means I need to perform some of the duties openly, Shitori-san.” I added.
Sona sighed. “There is a room next door we use to relax in. There are some supplies...”
“I will take an inventory while you are busy and will inform you of what's lacking. Do you prefer tea, juice, or soda while you do paperwork?” I asked and her eyebrows rose. “I'll hunt up something nutritious for you to snack on, too.”
Sona took a breath and let it out. “Green tea, hot, and I prefer ginger cookies to pastries.”
I gave her my best professional smile and bowed. “I'll do my best to serve you as you deserve, Shitori-san.”
Sona blushed slightly before she nodded and grabbed her Queen's arm as she left the office. I thought I saw Tsubaki give me a quick thumbs-up, too. It made me chuckle under my breath and I left the office as well, keeping an ear out for the telephone in case it rang, and went next door.
It was a small break room with only a single couch and a small counter with a coffee maker, a tea set, and a single cupboard with almost nothing inside. The box of green tea bags made me smile, because I wouldn't have to learn how to make tea the Japanese way immediately. I was going to cheat with the tea bags, though. Using two of them per cup would cut down on the chance of producing a weak tea.
While I worked, I mentally checked the progress of my devil conversion and saw it was still progressing at an accelerated rate. It was burning through my fat stores like a fire through a dry forest and I would soon have the start of a proper devilish physique. I would have to start exercising to rebuild my muscles to peak performance and get my old cross-country runner body back.
The telephone didn't ring again, so I prepared a large pot of tea with double the bags it normally used and grabbed the three packs of cookies that were there, as well as napkins, cups, saucers, sugar packs, and milk from the small refrigerator. I put everything on a tray and carried it into the student council's office and set it off to the side on Tsubaki's desk.
I sighed at there not being anywhere for me to leave it safely, so I went back into the break room and picked up the coffee table and carried it into the student council office and set it beside the wall where I stood before. I set the tray onto it and arranged things to look more organized and then had a great idea.
I went back into the break room and found a nice little ceramic dish and went back into the office. I opened the sugar packs and dumped them into the dish and added a small spoon, making it look like it was real sugar and not from cheap packets. It would have to do until I could get some proper supplies.
That reminded me to make a list of things the break room needed and I borrowed a blank sheet of paper from Tsubaki's desk and one of her pens as I filled out an order form. I also noted to have it come out of the student council's budget, since it was a club and should have one. If it didn't, I would give Sona the idea that it should. They did a lot of work for the school and their supplies and things should be covered.
A touch of magic on the tea pot kept the thing hot, just below the boiling point, and I didn't feel any strain inside. I would have to ask about exercises or something to test exactly how much devil magic I really had and if I would have more when the conversion was completed.
Then again, I wasn't sure if I wanted anyone checking to see what my potential was. I had plans to enact and whatever number that appeared would change drastically as soon as I could manage it. I just had to find specific paperwork for two of the students and then I'd be all set.
The door to the student council office opened and Sona and the rest of her peerage entered. They had first class off every day to handle the paperwork they needed for the school's operation and to run the clubs, so they were going to be both busy and distracted.
Not surprisingly, I was completely ignored until Sona took her seat behind her desk and I stepped forward with both a cup of tea and a small plate of ginger snaps. I had only touched the first and last in the small stack and deftly removed them in front of her to show that I hadn't mauled them all to arrange them.
Sona nodded at my action, silently acknowledging my effort, and she added a dollop of milk and a teaspoon of sugar before she took a sip of the tea. Her eyes widened at the taste and she gave me a pointed look.
“I've put real sugar on the order list.” I whispered to her and she nodded again. I stepped back to the wall and looked at Tsubaki. She tilted her head slightly and then nodded, so I prepared a cup and different cookies for her. She looked quite pleased at the difference and tasted the tea, smiled at me, and began working.
With both the king and the Queen served properly, I went to each of the other members and found out their preferences, then provided them as they worked. By the time the first period was over and the majority of the paperwork was done, all of the young women were quite happy and left the office in good spirits.
Sona paused at the threshold of the doorway and looked back at me. “Well done, Murphy-san.”
I bowed to her. “Thank you, Shiroti-san. Have a good morning in classes.”
Sona gave me a brief smile in return and closed the door.
I let out a sigh of relief and cleaned up the mess, piled all the dirty cups and dishes onto the tray, and went to the next door break room to the sink there and washed everything. I quickly prepared what I thought was a good light lunch, except it was missing a few key things. I noted them and went to the cafeteria and it was only slightly busy.
After a few seconds, I saw what I thought was the woman that ran the place and carefully made my way over to her. “Good morning, madam.” I said with a slight bow to gain her attention and she turned to me with a calculating look. “I'm President Shitori's new butler and only started today. Could I borrow a few things to finish preparing a light lunch? I'll return them tomorrow.”
The woman's calculating look changed to a genuine smile. “That stuck-up pretentious girl finally broke down and hired a real servant to take care of her after all this time? Good for her.”
I had to smile at that. “She is quite stubborn, isn't she? I need to buy real sugar for her tea, too.”
The woman laughed. “Of course, I suspected as much.” She said and waved at the walk-in refrigerator. “Mark down what you take and don't take the last of anything. If some of the stock's low, let me or one of the other girls know.”
I thought about that qualifier and nodded. “If you have an inventory list with a minimum amount recorded, I would be happy to check everything for you as I gather the supplies I need.”
The woman's face almost lit up at my offer. “You're actually volunteering to do inventory? That's amazing!” She exclaimed and turned to the other workers. “You hear that! He wants to do your grunt work for you!”
The other girls cheered and clapped their hands, making me laugh.
The woman beamed a smile at me. “Let me just pop into the office and I'll get you that list.”
“I eagerly await your return, madam.” I said and gave her another bow.
She gave me a nod and walked away from me, her hips swaying like a ship in a soft breeze. I watched her of course, because when a woman pretty much demands your attention like that, you better give it to her or you're going to regret it. The giggling of the other workers let her know that she had succeeded.
When she returned, she looked inordinately pleased with herself and handed me a clipboard and a pen. She led me over to the huge walk-in refrigerator and opened the door. “Have at it.”
I couldn't resist teasing her about using such leading words. “You mean the stock ingredients, don't you?”
A few gasps and several titters and giggles came from the other workers.
“HA!” The woman barked and motioned for me to go inside. “You're lucky I'm married.”
“No, you are.” I said with a grin and she laughed. I entered the refrigerator and started working right away. It went surprisingly quickly, thanks to both the itemized list and the workers keeping everything organized. Keeping things like that really helped speed up the meal preparation, too.
“Done already?” The woman asked when I left the refrigerator and closed the door.
I nodded and handed her the list. “I've already marked off what I want to take, so that's the current contents, from the apple slices right down to the last zucchini.”
That beaming smile came back to her face. “That was faster than anyone else has ever done it.” She said and glanced over the list. She saw my deductions and nodded. “All right, that's not going to impact us, so go ahead and take it and you don't have to worry about replacing it.”
“Thank you.” I said gratefully and bowed, then picked up one of the plastic trays. I filled it with just enough for the quick lunches for the girls and the woman nodded, appreciating that I hadn't taken more than I showed her. “Have a great day, madam.”
“You too, Murphy-san.” She responded with a smile.
I left the cafeteria's prep area and went back to the break room. It had a small kitchen counter, so I set everything up there and used the saucers from the tea set for the sandwiches and rice balls with jelly inside for the dessert with two thin apple slices on the side.
I finished just as the bell rang and set everything out on the tray, carefully balanced to carry it safely. I stepped out of the break room and into the student council office, just far enough in to be out of sight of the hallway, and stood by the open door to wait.
Sona and her peerage gathered near the end of the hallway and walked towards the office, chatting about the things they needed to tackle during their lunch break. None of them saw me peeking out to watch them coming and I didn't say anything until they were close to the door.
“Welcome back, President Shitori and her Student Council.” I greeted them with as regal a tone as I could muster.
They all looked shocked and I barely held in my laugh at surprising them.
“Please avail yourselves of the light lunch I have prepared for each of you. Tea and juice will be served momentarily.” I added and that seemed to bring them out of their shock.
“Thank you, Murphy-san.” Sona said and paused in front of me and took one of the plates. She looked impressed for only a second before she schooled her face and nodded.
After her was her Queen and Tsubaki thanked me as well as she took a plate. The other five girls took their plates as well and thanked me for saving them the trouble of rushing to the cafeteria at the last minute of the lunch period to eat and make it to their afternoon classes without being late.
I set the empty tray on my tiny table by my section of wall and left to get the tea and juice from the break room. I heard a few more comments about how good the sandwiches were and then someone tried one of the meatball-sized rice balls. My improvised dessert was a huge hit and I was glad to have given each of them three of the easily made things.
A girl named Momo Hanakai with long white hair spoke after everyone was done eating. “Murphy-san, if you are the president's butler, why are you catering to our needs, too?”
“Until Shitori-san orders me not to, it will be my job to take care of you all.” I answered and they all looked surprised, even Sona. “She hired me to make her life easier, which in my eyes includes all of her Peerage. Becoming her Pawn in exchange was just a bonus for me.”
That really surprised everyone, especially Sona.
“Here are the forms for new supplies and the estimated costs.” I said and handed the sheets I wrote up to Sona. Handling the cafeteria's inventory list had helped me get the details sorted out properly.
Sona accepted it and her eyes widened at the first line saying it was a club expense and should be taken from their budget that technically should already exist. Her eyes went to mine and I winked at her. She let out a cute little huff and was clearly amused at me trying to manipulate her and she was trying to hide it.
“Thank you for your diligence in your chosen duties.” Sona said, quite pointedly.
She was letting everyone in the room know that it was my choice to do all of this and it wasn't her ordering me to. Since she didn't claim the credit, all of the appreciative looks I was getting from the girls was all for me.
“I'll have the supplies purchased and delivered this evening.” Sona told me and added the forms to her incoming stack. They would be the first things to be handled and I nodded as I resumed my place by the wall near the tea set and the container of juice.