Corrupted Reincarnation: The Eldritch Maid

[Kira POV] Year 5, Day 207

Kira stood before Aldric's door, the broadcast crew behind her with their crystal recording devices and Pony 42 in position next to them — everyone ready.

And the two minotaurs guarding the entrance — the same ones who'd paraded her around with that chain earlier. Their faces shifted as they registered who was now standing in front of them.

The leader minotaur's eyes went big with surprise. "You—"

Kira just said, "Hey."

She tried to open the door, found it locked, and used a bit of force. The lock was never meant to keep out a true dragon — wouldn't have stopped her even before the seed. More decorative than functional, pure security theater.

She opened it easily, and probably the people next to her didn't even notice a pathetic lock had been trying to stop her. From the outside, it just looked like she'd turned a handle effortlessly.

Kira stepped inside and looked back once at the minotaurs. "Bye."

The last thing she saw from those two was the stupid expressions on their faces — clearly her casual speed wasn't what they'd been expecting, and their brains were still trying to catch up.

Inside the room, Aldric was lying on a table — clearly unconscious, but back in one piece again. Externally healed at least, fully reassembled.

Several mages and healers surrounded him, including the male with red hair — the bribable one. She felt a small wave of relief that he was actually there; otherwise this would have been a much more complicated situation.

The room also contained four tigerkin family members, including her sister Raja. They all looked at her with mouths open — definitely the last person they'd expected or wanted to see right now.

[No plan to talk with them. Not why I'm here, not worth the time. Just business — quick and efficient.]

Kira walked directly to Aldric's table. Approached the mage with red hair.

"Can you wake him up?" She handed over a heavy bag of gold — the 10,000 as promised.

The mage took the bag, checked inside quickly, then looked at Aldric while thinking it over.

Then some shaman-looking woman next to him tried to grab the bag from his hand. "I can do it."

The mage pushed her away. "Shush. I do it."

He put his hand on Aldric and started casting. She'd seen this kind of spell before in her adventurer days — healers using it when someone needed to be woken up fast.

Kira felt really lost — what was wrong with these people, all of them ogling the bag of gold like that?

Pony 42 approached and whispered in her ear. "His family wanted him fixed as soon as possible, so they hired the best healers they could find. But many declined due to recent events — bad publicity from being associated with him. So they ended up with a group of weirdos who only work for gold. Desperate mercenaries who only care about getting paid."

Kira almost wanted to laugh at it. [Comedy gold. Until all this heat fades from his reputation — which could take quite a while — the family will be stuck dealing with all kinds of gold-chasing weirdos.]

While Kira was still enjoying the stupidity of the situation, Aldric finally woke up and started cursing instantly. "Damn it! I said don't wake me before my tail is fixed! It hurts like hell!"

Kira glanced at the tail — it looked fine externally, fully reattached and healed with no visible damage left.

[Oh. Phantom pain. Poor bastard — actually a poor bastard for once. That kind of suffering can't be cured, only endured.]

She decided to help her brother out with some unwanted education. "Dear brother, beastkin tails don't work like that. They're easy to heal externally — but the phantom pain comes and goes for years afterward, sometimes decades. Nothing fixes it. You just have to suffer through it until it eventually fades."

Aldric noticed her now. Instantly full rage. "YOU—"

But then noticed the others. The broadcast crew. The recording crystals. The audience.

So he stopped, choked down the fury, and forced his professional mask back into place — pure damage control.

Kira took over. She called out to the mages while showing more coins — pre-packaged bags she'd had ready, a work habit from years of never knowing when you'd need bribe money on hand. "Who of you can do name verification?"

Four hands rose, eager and greedy for the gold.

Kira threw all four smaller bags of coins, one to each — equal payment distributed fairly.

Then asked, "Please verify my name."

All four spoke almost simultaneously after casting and checking. "Kira."

Confused looks followed. Even the mages had expected something more — surely it couldn't just be "Kira." The name removal had been officially announced as canceled, so this verification made no sense to them.

Her brother and the rest of the family stared too — even more confused, brains visibly struggling to compute what was happening here and why.

In the end, it was Aldric who finally broke the strange silence. "How?"

Kira answered with cruel honesty. "You ruined it. The nice name our ancestors made. I'm just Kira now. Happy?"

Her brother's face was pure shock, but a small smile started forming through it. Some kind of victory at least — he'd finally gotten her to drop the family name, finally won something out of this disaster of a day.

[Let him have his small victory. Let him think he won. He'll find out soon enough what "just Kira" actually means.]

Before leaving, Kira gave Raja one last look. Half-crazy dragon worshiper. Too good a chance to waste.

Nobody else was watching that direction. Not really. Cameras focused elsewhere. Family too busy processing everything.

So Kira reached out with dragon telepathy — quiet and direct, one-way only.

«Failed worshiper. You don't want to stay throwaway? Prove your worth.»

Raja's eyes widened, then something changed inside them — light and purpose surfacing, like a lost person suddenly given direction.

«You'll stay close to Aldric and report everything he does. Every mistake. Every weakness. Every move. I want to know all of it.»

Kira watched her carefully. Raja couldn't answer properly through this strange one-way dragon link, but the reaction was obvious — pure hunger and need, complete readiness to prove herself.

So Kira sent one more message.

«Good girl. Don't get caught. Don't do anything stupid. Just stay near him and act like yourself. He'll need every ally he still has now. That makes you useful. I'll take contact when needed.»

And then she walked toward the exit. Or tried to.

The minotaurs were blocking the door — standing there hesitantly, clearly uncertain what to do about her.

"You know I want to leave?" Kira said in her patient, reasonable voice. "Blocking me gets you nothing except problems."

Then one of the family members spoke up. Some branch family member. No idea of the name. Didn't matter. "Let her go."

The minotaurs stepped aside. Smart choice.

Kira left, with Pony 42 and the broadcast crew following her out — a professional escort still documenting every move.

Pony 42 asked with clear professional curiosity. "Lady Kira, when did you remove your family name?"

"Few days ago. Friend helped me arrange it. I have a Merchant Guild voucher for name restoration. Rules say you can't leave the arena with a name after losing the bet — but no rules say it has to be removed here specifically. Pure legal loophole. That was my original plan."

She let the reality check land. "But my brother escalated more than I expected, so it ended up unused. The voucher became an emergency backup I didn't need."

Pony 42 thought about it visibly, working through the strategy.

"You would've needed to give a good enough fight so spectators wouldn't whistle you out. And in the name removal ceremony, you'd first get Aldric to say something like 'I'm satisfied with the proceedings.' Get his acceptance on record."

Kira nodded. The merfolk had figured out the original plan perfectly. She made herself a mental note — when the goblins came to Borderwatch, she should review their servants. Perhaps Mistress Null would find some useful one to seed. Nice servants worked well as tribute.

"Then I guess soon after, you'd get the name reinstalled using this Merchant Guild voucher."

Kira nodded once more. Still accurate. Still following the plan correctly.

Pony 42 thought more, then continued. "But it wouldn't have helped long-term. Your brother would escalate to guild courts. And you'd lose for sure eventually — legal precedent, contract law, family authority all stacked his way. He'd win the long game."

[Smart one. Got all the details right except the most important one — the actual plan I was running.]

Kira added the missing piece. "Merchant Guild commission that discusses name topics meets once a year. Last session was 2 months ago. You can skip three commission meetings with valid reasons — health issues, scheduling conflicts, documented emergencies — before a decision can be made in absentia."

She continued, revealing the strategy. "Perhaps I could've managed to delay a few extra years using more bureaucratic reasons — expert witnesses, technical appeals, procedural challenges stacking up. Basically, I'd never actually fight the case in court, just try to delay as much as possible. All that time having the name and getting chances to mess with Aldric every opportunity I had."

More explanation, the real benefit. "And there's a possible bonus. Not sure if achievable, but worth trying. Any case in this commission automatically closes after 10 years maximum. The commission's main role is giving out names — people want it done quickly. This delaying rule exists to end bad cases automatically, with a hard time limit forcing dismissal."

Pony 42 stared, processing the depth of it. "Lady Kira, that's quite an evil plan. Brilliant and ruthless in equal measure."

Then the reality check landed. "And currently you still have the name. You can actually take it back any moment if you wish — restore it, make it official, reverse everything that just happened in there."

"Yes," Kira confirmed, satisfaction showing through. "Aldric will have a nice surprise when he checks guild records and finally understands what actually happened today — and what he actually 'won'."

Then a darker addition. "Well. Maybe he'll be too busy. Cutting tails can easily result in criminal charges. And many lobby groups for beastkin protection would be happy to use this as example prosecution — a show trial for public punishment against someone famous, exactly what they need. He might not have time to worry about my name at all."

Pony 42 smiled at that, then moved off in a different direction now that her business was concluded.

The broadcast crew followed her, still recording and documenting, still squeezing entertainment out of the family drama.

Kira had one more reason she couldn't say out loud — one she kept private, the one that mattered more to her than any family name.

[If Mistress takes a family name one day — creates one for herself, builds one — then I'd like to share it too. If Mistress permits and decides I've earned that honor.]

[My old family name would only be a complication then. Baggage in the way of the choice that actually mattered. Better to have it removable now, keep my options flexible.]

[Plus, I feel it more and more — even before all this dragon awakening. I like names like "Head Maid Kira" or "Kira, Maid of Void" or just "Kira" better than "Kira Razorclaw." The old name feels less mine every day, the last shred of an identity I've already left behind.]

[New family already. The new name will come eventually, and with it everything else worth keeping.]

As soon as Void saw her, he stood immediately. "Let's go. Now. Please."

[Desperate tone. He clearly wants to leave after everything this day has put us through. Too long, too much, too everything. But notably — zero reaction about the maids incident, perfect mask in place. Impressive control. Exactly the right play: any visible reaction could become evidence of manipulation later. Master really knows how to keep his hands clean.]

They all walked out at speed, everyone clearly wanting to be done with Central as fast as possible.

From there, a flying platform taxi took them to the closest empty greenery — safe space for teleportation without any witnesses.

Bearkin mage Reis pulled out the teleportation key. "Everyone please touch it. Physical contact required. Circle formation."

It took a bit of effort to fit 14 people around it — crowded and compressed, everyone touching someone who was touching the key. Connected enough to travel together.

As soon as everyone was positioned, Reis activated the teleportation.

Reality folded around them — space compressing until distance simply stopped mattering.

The group arrived in the desert.

Before anyone could move, Lulu doubled over and emptied her stomach onto the sand — teleportation sickness hitting hard.

Kira recognized the reaction. [Seen this twice before. Rare but it happens — first teleportation sometimes makes people purge as their body rejects the experience. Nothing prevents it, nothing helps. She'll adapt after a few more trips.]

People started walking toward the small airship waiting nearby — transport home, the final leg of the day.

But Kira watched Lulu and Azra instead. Void was giving them constant looks too — clearly unhappy, conflicted, not sure how to handle it.

Kira didn't like this either — like Void. [Nothing against Azra taking care of Lulu or teaching her. Wouldn't even mind if Azra wanted her as daughter or lover — relationships form, connections happen, that's life.]

[But this kind of petification? Never in our household. If Master Void is kind inside the household, then I can be the hard one when needed. Someone has to maintain the standards we set, and that someone is going to be me.]

Kira walked next to Azra and Lulu — decision made, time to act on it.

"Lulu, do you want to become a maid?"

Lulu nodded so eagerly her whole body moved with it.

Kira continued. "Good. Then next week you'll join Alpha in the training wing. To start your training. Learn properly. Become real maid. Earn your place."

Then looked at Azra, who seemed a bit surprised. "And Azra, you want to be Lulu's role model? Her teacher? Her guide? Then you'll join the training also. And since you two will live together and train together, I'll ask Alpha to rate you together. One fails, both fail. So you can support each other better. Motivate each other. Succeed or suffer together."

The reactions were very different.

Lulu: pure joy. She'd get to do something together with her idol, with the elf she worshiped — together always, exactly what she'd been hoping for.

Azra: visible alarm as she realized what she'd just walked into — and that she couldn't refuse without breaking her own taming game.

Kira was pleased with this solution. [Should equalize them properly. Lulu will fail a lot — she's untrained, uneducated, young. So Alpha will punish both each time, and for Lulu it becomes a motivator to improve faster and protect Azra from suffering on her account.]

[For Azra, it will be catastrophic. A 600-plus-year elf getting whipped together with the young catkin she wants to tame. No saving face, no maintaining superiority, no escape from shared punishment. And Azra can't complain about any of it — that would destroy her relationship with Lulu. She has to play supportive even while being broken — locked into a trap she helped build by wanting Lulu in the first place.]

Alpha would get a private briefing from Kira later — go easier on Lulu, as much mercy as training allowed, but as hard as needed on Azra. Alpha was from servant caste herself and probably hated pet-taming. She'd welcome the excuse to break down arrogant elven superiority.

Azra helped Lulu recover from the vomiting. Then they started walking toward the airship together — already supporting each other, already adapting to what came next.

But Kira still wasn't fully trusting the plan. She'd recruited Lulu, felt somewhat responsible, and wanted a real control mechanism in place — not just hope.

So she added the final piece. "Azra, once you're done with your maid training, you'll join as my assistant. Proper position for an elven house, professional representation."

Azra nodded and smiled with full understanding of what this meant.

Azra was smart enough to read the move. The assistant position worked as both a bonus — power and responsibilities for performing well — and a control mechanism if she ever went overboard with Lulu. And honestly, Kira wouldn't mind having competent help. She'd been overloaded for years and could finally use an actual assistant.

Kira watched everyone boarding the airship and made herself last — checking everyone was safe, accounted for, and ready to go home.

Then Void opened seed connection directly to her. Private channel. Just between them. «Thank you. For protecting Lulu. For handling it. For doing what I couldn't.»

Kira responded immediately. «No problem, Master. In the future, please talk to me about things like this. I'm here to help and serve — to handle the hard decisions when you can't.»

Warmth came back through the connection — gratitude and trust mixing together.

She felt the airship rise as the engines engaged and the magic carried them up.

[Not long now until home. Until Borderwatch and familiar territory, until everything settles and starts making sense again.]

[Long day. Very long day. But successful — brother humiliated, name kept, dragon awakened, pet goblin acquired, Lulu situation handled. Victories stacked on victories.]

[Home soon. Finally. Thank the gods.]