The Former Demon Queen Starts Her New Job

Waking up the next morning, Mary tried not to let the previous night's events cloud her enjoyment of today. She was starting her new job at the Adventurer's Guild with Leafy, after all. She needed to be in the best mood to make a good first impression.

Ugh. How she wished she hadn't run into her half-sister, though. So Emilia was a general now, leading an entire platoon of her own. What was her uncle playing at?

She remembered way back when they were younger. Emilia used to constantly follow Mary around, seeking her big sister's approval, trying to prove herself in the process.

If Mary lifted up an entire boulder, Emilia would want to do the same. If Mary could run around the entire demon empire in less than a day, Emilia would also want to do the same. However, it wasn't competitive in a malicious pattern—she just wanted to be exactly like Mary.

It even got to a point where the girl stopped sleeping at her own house and instead came to live with Mary and her mother in their own section of the Castle's royal quarters. They did everything together—sleeping, eating, even training.

She really was like a little sister back then, huh? Mary thought. So when did things change? When did Emilia begin taking all of the competitions between them seriously?

Anyway, that was enough reminiscing for now. She needed to get to work.

Groaning, she dragged her tired human body out of bed and went through her usual morning routine. Outside on the front porch, she screamed and cried her eyes out, grabbing the horns on her head and twisting violently until they snapped free, just as she'd done every sunrise since arriving in the human world.

Once that was done, she cooked some fried dragon eggs in the kitchen, noting that she would soon need to gather more since she was running low.

Gustav was still stuck in his sealed house cat form, so he couldn't hunt for himself. Mary quickly darted into the forest, caught a few rabbits for him, and brought them back to roast with a quick fire spell from her grimoire.

Despite all the impressive feats she'd performed, even with her previous status as a demon Queen candidate and eventual ruler, Mary had never bothered to memorize any spells for quick casting. They were just too long and hard to memorize sometimes. Besides, she never saw herself as the magic-wielding type. She barely relied on it, as her natural abilities were already serving her just fine.

She showered and dressed in a simple white linen blouse and trousers, then headed out with Gustav at her heels. They began making their way downhill toward town, and when she was sure no one was watching, she used her super speed to cover the rest of the way faster.

She came to a stop behind their usual spot—the large tree at the edge of the village—then slowed to a normal walk. She took a moment to catch her breath and adjusted her hair to cover the small stubs where her horns had been. Together, they walked the rest of the way into town.

***

"Oh hey there, Mary! Welcome! And you brought the little cutie too! Hey, Gustav!"

As soon as they arrived at the Adventurer's Guild, Leafy, bright-eyed and grinning, immediately dropped to the ground to gush all over Gustav, scooping him up and cuddling him against her chest.

"My lady, please return me to my original form so I can devour this human," Gustav said, his voice echoing in Mary's head.

Mary, ignoring the silly complaints of her familiar, cleared her throat to get Leafy's attention.

"Hi, um... hope I'm not too early. Or late. Or, hope I haven't already failed some kind of secret test to show my dedication to this job."

"Relax, Mary," Leafy said, setting Gustav back down on the ground before standing up and placing both hands on her hips. "You're just in time."

She extended her hand forward. Mary instantly recognized the gesture.

She reached out and gently met Leafy's hand with hers, again making sure she didn't apply any sort of pressure as the both of them shook palms.

"Oh, looks like you remembered what I taught you yesterday?" Leafy smiled, surprised.

"Yes," Mary replied with a small nod.

"Very well, then. Assistant, we've got a bit of work to do today. Follow me."

Mary abandoned Gustav on the front counter where the human girl had put him and followed Leafy toward the back. The two grabbed a few cleaning supplies before coming back out. Most of the hall remained empty—in fact, they were the only two there.

"Minimo," Leafy said, "hasn't showed up yet, so it's just us for now. We'll quickly get the place ready before the rest come."

"Minimo?" Mary asked, confused.

"Sorry, sorry, I haven't told you yet. That's the waitress from yesterday. The one you ran into."

Mary briefly had a flashback of last night, when she had saved Minimo from those bandits. She hoped the poor girl was okay.

"Anyway," Leafy continued, "let's start getting things in order. But first, I want to see how you do. Consider this a test."

Mary blinked. "A test?"

"Yeah. I want to watch you work and see how you handle things."

Mary's heart fell into her stomach at the sound of that. She couldn't let the girl watch her. What if she accidentally broke the supplies with her overwhelming demon strength? No, that couldn't happen. The girl must not see her clean—at least not until she had better control over her powers.

But what could she do?

How could she keep the girl distracted?

Mary glanced at Gustav, still sitting where Leafy had left him. An idea formed in her mind at the sight of the former beast of the underworld licking his front paw.

"Actually, Miss Leafy, could you do me a favor?" Mary asked, starting to sweat a little from sheer nervousness. She didn't know how the girl would respond to her request. "Could you take Gustav outside and play with him while I work? He gets lonely, and I perform better when I'm alone."

"Really?" the girl asked.

"Yes!" Mary confidently lied through her teeth. "T-that's why I failed all my job interviews yesterday. The employers just kept following me around and I became nervous seeing them watch me like that."

Leafy looked at Gustav, as if considering her words for a moment, then she turned back to Mary. "Sure, I guess. But I was going to, you know, supervise in case you need anything."

"Oh, you can watch me another time," Mary said quickly. "Just this once, let me do it alone. I promise I'll show you my best."

Leafy shrugged, walking over to pick up Gustav. "Alright, fine. But I'll be right outside if you need anything."

She carried the cat out, nuzzling their noses together, giggling the entire way.

Mary watched them go for a moment, then turned back to the hall.

"Alright," she whispered to herself, looking at the empty space before her. "Just some simple chores. No big deal at all."

First, Mary used the broom to begin sweeping. It wasn't complicated—she had seen how the maids did it in the castle, and she had sometimes watched her mother do it when they were living alone in the human settlement. The real challenge was making sure she didn't squeeze too hard and accidentally break the handle, or sweep so fast that she finished everything in under a minute. She didn't want to freak Leafy out like she had done with the package delivery man yesterday.

Crack!

Mary's heart sank.

The broom had broken in half.

"Oh no no no no no no no no no!" She walked around clutching the sides of her head in disbelief. "Why did this happen? I must have squeezed too hard! I cannot let Miss Leafy see this! I just got the job! I'll never get another one again! What do I do? What do I do?"

Mary carefully and sneakily moved toward the door, pushing it open slightly. She could see Leafy sitting outside, playing with Gustav.

Quietly, she activated twenty percent of her speed and shot out of the Adventurer's Guild. She went over to a nearby shop that sold brooms and, without paying, she moved in the blink of an eye and grabbed as many as she could carry.

Which was all of them.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I promise I will pay you back!" she whispered, but before the owner of the shop could turn around, Mary had already sped right out of there.

She returned to the Adventurer's Guild with the new brooms and proceeded to continue her tasks. But each time, there was a snap, followed by another snap, followed by another snap, as her overwhelming strength took over.

"Oh no! Why won't you just stop breaking?!" she yelled at the broken broom pieces scattered all around her.

"Everything alright in there?" Leafy called from outside.

"Umm, yes! Everything is fine! Miss Leafy! No need to come inside!"

"Okay, Vesperia, just breathe. You can do this. Just breathe. Calm yourself."

Taking in a deep breath, Mary relaxed, reaching for one of the remaining three brooms left.

Carefully, gently, and cautiously, she got to work—sweeping as softly and slowly as she could manage. She swept underneath the tables, behind the counters, on top of the tables, and underneath the chairs. She used the feather duster to remove cobwebs, the mop to scrub the entire floor, and a rag to wipe down all the surfaces and nooks and crannies.

To her surprise, nothing broke. She felt a small wave of relief wash over her. She was doing it. She was actually managing without destroying anything.

A smile formed on her face as she moved through the hall, her motions becoming less frantic and more assured as she continued. And when the whole ordeal was finally done, she began making her way toward the front door.

"Miss Leafy, I'm don..."

Wait a second. She stopped herself.

How much time had passed since she began cleaning? She didn't want to freak the girl out in case not enough human time had elapsed. So, to address this, Mary walked back to stand in the middle of the room, counting from one to six thousand.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve..."

"...and six thousand," Mary sighed in exhaustion. "Okay, that should be enough time, right? Oh, Miss Leafy?! I'm done!"

Mary pushed open the doors of the guild and stepped outside. Leafy was busy playing with Gustav, seated on top of a barrel in the open air.

"Oh, you finished already? That was fast."

Mary's heart fell into her stomach at the revelation.

That was still quick? But how was that even possible? So the time I wasted counting was pointless. Or maybe I should readjust it to 20,000 next time.

"Oh, wow, everything's so spotless! You've really outdone yourself here, Mary. I don't think I've ever seen this place this tidy before."

Inside, the guild hall was sparkling with mint freshness. Almost every surface was so polished, one could see themselves in the reflection.

"I still can't believe you did all of this in under six minutes," Leafy said, glancing at the stone compass on her wrist.

Six minutes. So that's how much time had passed, Mary thought to herself. At least she was getting better at managing her superhuman speed.

The former Demon Queen blushed. "Well, you know... I just scrubbed really hard."

"Yeah, I can see that. And super fast too, I bet."

Mary nodded.

Just then, the front doors swung open as the rest of the guild staff walked in—receptionists, waitresses, cooks, all reporting for duty.

"Oh, hello everybody!" Leafy waved. "Welcome, welcome!"

"Hey, Leafy!"

"Hi, Leafy!"

"Good morning, Leafy!"

"Sup, Leaves."

"Oh my god, this place is freaking spotless!" one of them shouted. "Leafy, did you do this?"

"No, it's all thanks to my new friend here," Leafy said, gesturing toward Mary.

"Good morning, everyone," Mary said, bowing her head respectfully. "It's nice to meet you all."

"My gosh, she's so cute!"

"And pretty!"

"Yeah, Leafy! Who is this? Where did you find her?!"

Before Mary could respond, the group of women swarmed around her, bombarding her with questions.

"How old are you?"

"Do you have a husband?"

"Yeah, are you currently being courted?"

"Where are you from?"

"Are you a widow?"

Mary's face flushed red. She didn't even know where to begin.

"I, uh, well, I'm not—"

Leafy stepped in. "Alright, alright, give the girl some space! She's just starting today."

"Wait, she works here?" one of the girls asked.

"Yeah, she's my personal assistant," Leafy said proudly. "I hired her yesterday."

"And that is fine and good," an older woman said as she stepped forward. Unlike the other girls, Mary noticed she possessed normal ears and no tail. She was a human just like Leafy. "But Leafy, you do know you have to check with Gregor first, right?"

"Yes, I know," Leafy replied. "I'll speak to him as soon as I see him."

"All right, all right, ladies, let's get to work," the older woman said, clapping her hands together. "And welcome, Mary. Please, feel at home here with us. We're happy to have you."

Mary smiled, her heart practically jumping and leaping in her chest in excitement. She was finally being accepted amongst humans. She couldn't believe the day was finally here.

However, one of the girls who had walked over to the back suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, why are there a bunch of broken brooms here?"

Mary's heart stopped. She had forgotten to get rid of the damning evidence that might expose her.

"And whoa, some of these look really new," the girl continued. "Did we by any chance purchase any...?"

Before the girl could finish her statement, Mary quickly thought of a distraction.

"Look! Over there! I think I saw something! A chicken hawk!"

Everyone turned to look toward the front door.

"Wait, seriously?!"

Even the girl that had almost exposed her was also distracted.

Mary saw her opportunity.

She activated her speed in an instant, shot outside to the bin, grabbed all the broken broom pieces, and threw them away. She sped back to her spot before anyone turned around.

When they all looked back, Mary shrugged innocently.

"Oh, it must have flown away," she said, flashing a nervous smile.

When the group finally walked outside to the back of the guild, over to the bin, they found none of what the girl was talking about.

"Whoa, false alarm," the girl said, chuckling. "I guess all that expired ale I had last night is starting to get to me."

"Silly girl," the older woman sighed. "Now, let's get busy everyone."

Mary let out a relieved breath as the girls walked back into the guild.

That was a close call.