びくびくと痙攣するそのメイドの後ろでは数人のメイドが腰を抜かしてへたり込んでおり、倒れたメイドの額と反対側の廊下の壁には小さな穴が開いていた。ドアを挟んでいたというのに見事なまでのヘッドショットである。
　目の前で平然と行われた殺人劇に気絶しそうになるランだったが、頭を撃ち抜かれたメイドが思いのほか出血が少なく、しかもそのメイドがゾンビだという事に気付き、脱力する。
「だから侍従長の耳は誤魔化せないって言ったのに！」
「だ、だってぇ～…」
「あんただって止めなかったでしょ！？」
「あなた達」
　ひそひそと囁き合っていたメイド達は、コルの一言で揃って震えあがった。警告も予備動作も無しで、お仕置きに発砲する上司が相手である、ひとたび機嫌を損ねればどんな危険が待っているか、骨身に沁みて理解しているのだろう。それでもこんな事をしてしまう辺り、どうにも後先考えないメイド達であるようだが。
「全く…仕事サボって立ち聞きなんて、誰が許可しました？お陰でお嬢様を驚かせてしまったでしょう」
「それは、じ、侍従長が銃を撃ったからでは…」
　呆れたように言うコルに対し、震える声で勇敢にも反論を試みたメイドは、カチリ、と撃鉄を起こす音で口を噤んだ。つまらない『言い訳』をするなら次はお前だ。表情とは裏腹に剣呑な光を放つコルの目は雄弁にそう語っている。彼女達の所為でエルザを『叩き起こして』しまったのが、余程腹に据えかねているらしい。いきなり銃ブッパなす方も悪いだろうに。
「ほらほら、仕事に戻りなさいな。ああ、その前にこの子の飛び散ったお味噌を拾うのを忘れずに。その後は医務室に放り込んで、お味噌を詰め込んでもらってちょうだい。良いですね？」
「「「「「yes,mam！」」」」」
　言いながらゾンビメイドの脳天をつま先で容赦なくガツッと蹴ると、メイド達は敬礼した。ゾンビメイドの方はというと、蹴られた瞬間に小さく「う゛っ」と声を上げていたので、コルの言っていた事と合わせて考えるなら、これくらいでは死なないようだ。元々死んでいるけれども。
　ひとまず殺人には発展しなかった事に安堵の息を漏らすランだったが、その直後に頭を振って思い直す。いやいやいや、これに感化されたら危険だ。何が起ころうとも自分の感性だけは死守せねば。流血沙汰を当たり前に受け入れるようになってしまったら、いろいろと終っちゃう気がするし。
　何とも言えない表情で絨毯に這いつくばり探し物を始めたメイド達を見てようやく溜飲が下がったのか、晴れやかな顔で振り返ったコルに、今度はエルザが苦笑する。
「おぬしは相変わらず過激じゃのう」
「ええぇ…昔から、こうなの…？」
　このはっちゃけた一連の出来事が、昔から当たり前に繰り返されていた事実にゲンナリとしたランに、コルは何度目かの苦笑で答えた。

「で、何が原因で発砲する羽目になったのか？」
「そうでした、そうでした。小お嬢様のお世話をさせて頂くメイドを紹介しようとしていたのでした」
「…話が繋がらんのだが」
「まあまあまあまあ、細かい事は良いではありませんか」
　コルはそう言いながら、慣れた手つきで銃からシリンダーを抜き撃鉄を落とすと、素早くシリンダーを戻す。すると手品よろしく忽然と拳銃が姿を消した。ランが驚きの声を上げるよりも早く、何事も無かったかのようにコルが探し物をするメイド達の一人を呼んだ。
「キュイ、お味噌探しは他のメイドに任せて、こっちに来なさい」
「は、はい…ッ？」
　気弱そうな声で答えたキュイと呼ばれたメイドは、丁度拾い上げていた意外にピンクな物体を隣にいたメイドに渡すと、あたふたと立ち上がったようだった。壁とドアでランからは見えない位置にいるらしい彼女が立ち上がったのは影でしか確認できなかったが、ランはその影に先程の消えた拳銃の行方を上回る勢いで違和感を覚えた。
　ゆらりと動くその壁に落ちる影は、立っている他のメイドと同じ高さだったのだ。
（光の加減…にしては…ちょっと、高すぎない…？）
　どうなっているのかと気になったランが、自分の目で確かめようとソファから立ち上がると、ドアを窮屈そうにくぐってその『何か』が部屋の中に入ってきた。
「キュイ、あなたに小お嬢様の身の回りのお世話を任せます。小お嬢様は見習いメイドを自ら指導して下さるおつもりのようなので、多少の失敗はお許し頂けるでしょうけど、できる限り粗相のないように。その心遣いに見事応えて御覧に入れなさい」
「ぁぅ…はい…」
　まず見えたのは、純白のエプロンの、腰の部分だった。おかしい、自分は下ではなく、しっかりと前を見ているのに。
「？」
　不思議に思い、少し視線を上げると、そこにはようやく胸の辺りが。
「？？」
　もう少し視線を上げるが、やっと首の辺りが見える程度。赤み掛かった肌が印象的だ。
「？？？」
　更に視線を上に、殆ど見上げるような形になって、ようやく目の前のメイドの顔が見えた。
「流石に、完全に未熟な者にお世話係を任せるのは難がございますので、見習いの中でそれなりに経験を積んでいるこのキュイを小お嬢様付きのメイドとさせて頂きます。ご指導ご鞭撻のほど、お願い致します」
「は、初めまして、ランお嬢様…本日より身の回りのお世話をさせて頂きます、き、キュイ・Ｃ・ロプスと申します…」

目元を髪の毛で覆い隠した気弱そうなそのメイドは、しかし今にも天井に頭を擦らんばかりにそびえるような巨躯を縮こませて、オドオドとした様子で自己紹介をした。
　威圧されている訳でもないのに、伸し掛かってくるような、言いようのないプレッシャーを感じて言葉に詰まるランを横目に、エルザとコルが呑気に会話を交わす。
「これはまた…デカいな。身長はいくつじゃ？」
「先月行った身体検査では…確か９フィート８インチ（約２９７cm）でしたか。この子は人間変身を覚えたてで、まだ上手くサイズ調整ができないようでして。これでも今現在で出来る限り最大限に小さくなっているのですよ」
「ふむ。元の身長は？」
「正確には測れませんでしたが、１３ヤード（おおよそ１２ｍ）ほどはあったかと」
「巨人の娘か？キュイとやら、前髪を上げて、その顔を儂に見せてはくれまいか」
「え、いえ、その…お、お言葉ですが、私の顔は、お見せしてもあまり気分の良いものでは…」
「キュイ。お嬢様なら、大概の事では驚かれないわ。お見せして差し上げなさい」
「ぇぅ…は、はい…」
　エルザの要望に対し躊躇っていたキュイだったが、コルの言葉で渋々前髪を掻き分けると、その風貌にエルザは感嘆の息を漏らした。
「ほおお、これはこれは…なんと美しい瞳か」
「そうでございましょう？ですが、まるで宝石のようだと、他のメイド達が入れ代わり立ち代わり覗き込むものですから、恥ずかしがり屋のこの子は、こうやって前髪で瞳を隠すようになってしまって」
　お嬢様はきっと気分を害す、そう思って見せたキュイは、予想外にもエルザに賞賛され、赤い肌を一層赤く染める。そう、確かに淡く透き通るエメラルドにも似た、そんな宝石で作られた贅沢なビー玉のような美しい瞳なのだ。ただし…
「ふぅむ、ただの瞳では成し得ぬ美麗な色彩じゃ。単眼であればこそ、この魅力が引き立っておるのだろうな」
　顔の大部分を占める大きな瞳。キュイは単眼種であったのだ。日本にも一つ目小僧や唐傘お化けや一本ダタラ等、一つ目の妖怪はごまんといるものの、ランは実際にそれらの妖怪に会った事が無い。初めて見る「一つ目」のインパクトはランが思っていたよりも強烈だったが、不思議とそこに恐ろしさや嫌悪感は無かった。キュイには悪いが彼女の大きな目は極端にデフォルメされた印象で、それで全体のバランスが整っているのか可愛げすら感じるほどである。これが普通の二つ目と同じサイズの目であれば、どう感じたかは…想像に難くないが。
「恥ずかしがる事はないぞキュイとやら、これは誇って良いものじゃぞ。…しかし一眼の巨人、となれば」
「お察しの通り、この子はキュクロプスの末裔でございます。私めが初めて出会った時など、それはもう立派な体躯でございましたわ」
　立派な体躯、の言葉に反応して身を縮こませるキュイに、ランは少しだけ体の力が抜けたような気がした。この人は、中身は普通なんだ。そう思うと、途端に妖怪学校でクラスメートと接する時のような、そんな親近感さえ湧いてくる。
「成程な、”Ｃｙｃｌｏｐｓ”を”Ｃｙ””ｃ””ｌｏｐｓ”と区切ってキュイという訳か！ちと強引じゃが巧いこと可愛らしい名前を付けたものじゃのう。しかし、この命名方法から察するに、元々名を持ってはおらんかったな？」
「いいえ、この子の本来の名は、我々には発音できない音が多分に含まれておりまして…ちなみに今の名を命名なされたのはセレン様ですわ」
「え？」
「雪恋とな！？」
　日本から遠く離れた地で耳にする聞き慣れた人物名に、ランだけでなくエルザまでも驚嘆の声を上げる。

「これは、意外なところで意外な名を聞いたな。あやつと何処に接点があったというのか？」
「最近発見された異次元遺跡（エウレカ）…ご存じでございますね？」
「雪恋が発掘調査に携わったとかいう、あれか？」
「正確には出土品鑑定のために同行して頂いた、でございますね。あの調査には私も依頼を受けて参加していたのですよ。それで、この子はあの遺跡が元の世界で異次元に落ちる際に巻き込まれ、そのまま遺跡と共にこちらの世界に流されてきたらしく、我々を警戒して隠れていたところをセレン様が発見し、保護したのです」
「別世界線の住人なのか！それにしてはこちらの世界の言語が堪能なようじゃが…」
「幸い言語体系が英語に似ていたので、コミュニケーションにそれほど苦はありませんでした。一部単語と氏族の名前に特殊な音を含む事を除けば、ほとんど我々の言語と変わりがありませんでしたし。この子の物覚えの良さも救いでした、知能指数は相当高く、早い段階でこちらの言葉を覚えてくれましたし、自分の置かれた状況をすぐに理解してくれましたからね」
「それで今はこちらの世界に馴染む為にメイドの資格を取得しようとしてる訳か。人間変身まで覚えようとして…良い子じゃないか」
　そんな会話をしながらエルザとコルが見つめるものだから、キュイはすっかり茹で上がったように真っ赤になってしまって、前髪を元に戻してしまう。それを見たランは、目を出していた方が可愛いのに勿体無いな、等と考えていた。
「この通り度を越した恥ずかしがり屋なので、別の意味でコミュニケーションを取るのは大変でしたけれど。まぁ、まさかメイド養成実習の為に、ここに派遣されているとは夢にも思っていないでしょうけどね、セレン様は」
「ははは、きっと知ったら驚くだろうて。世間は狭い、とな」
　弟子の驚いた顔を想像したのか嫌らしい笑みを浮かべていたエルザだったが、ある事にはたと気付く。
「だが待てよ、そうなるとキュイはキュクロプスに類するとはいえ、妖怪やモンスターとは違う存在という事になるが…」
「いえ、それが同じ存在のようなのです。事実、こちらの世界に来てから神話に影響されて徐々に変化が表れていまして、読みが違うだけで同じ存在であるキュクロプス、サイクロプス双方の特性がキュイに現れ始めています」
「そうなのか？」
　エルザが見上げると、キュイは躊躇いを見せながらもこくんと頷いた。
「はい…何故か鍛冶に興味が出てきて…」
「成程影響されているな。他には？」
　すると今度はコルが指折り数えながら説明を始める。
「目からビームが出せるようになったそうですよ。オプ○ィックブラスト」
「え、そっちのサイクロップス！？」
「それから得意武器が棍棒でロンダルギアに出没」
「ドラ○エかよ！！」　
「実は炎の七日間を起こしたりとか」
「早過ぎて腐るんかい！！」
「あと人間をモリモリ喰らうとか」
「進撃すんの！？」
「しませんよ！人間さんを食べるなんて事しません！嘘ばかり吐かないで下さい侍従長、それが本当になったら私、困ります！！」
　両手を上下させて叫ぶキュイは、目は隠れているが必死なのが良く解る。確かに、いつものエルザがする会話のノリでしたそんな話が噂になって広まり、本当に『そういうもの』になってしまっては、本人としては堪ったものではない。しかもコルや他のメイド達の反応を見るに、きっとキュイはいつもこんな風に弄られているのだろう。このノリの会話で弄られるのがどれだけ大変かを知っているランは、なんだかキュイが不憫に思えてきてしまい、彼女となら分かり合えそうな気すらしてくる。
「で、結局どこまでが本当なの？」
「ビームまでですわ、小お嬢様」
「あ…それは本当なんだ…っていうか後半全部嘘じゃない！？」
　思わず裏手ツッコミを入れてしまうランである。一方でツッコまれたコルはとても嬉しそうな満面の笑みを浮かべていたが。
「流石小お嬢様、ありがとうございます」
「ははは」
「ふふふ」
　笑い合うエルザとコルに、呆れたランとちょっぴり拗ねた様子のキュイはどう反応すれば良いのか判らず、思わず顔を見合わせて困った顔をしたのだった。

Behind the twitching maid were numerous maids cowering in fear or hiting the deck, and on the opposite side of the fallen maid's forehead, there was a small hole in the wall. Even though there was a door between them, it was a magnificent headshot.
Ran looked about ready to faint from having a calm murder happen before her eyes, but there was surprisingly little blood coming out of the shot maid's wound. And she realized that the maid was a zombie, and felt exhausted.
"I told you, you can't fool the head chamberlain's ears!"
"B, But~..."
"But you didn't stop her!?"
"All of you."
The maids who were whispering amongst themselves, at Col's words, all trembled. They were faced with their supervisor who fires without a warning or preparation, and they understood the danger they were in if they got on her bad side just once and what would be done to their body. However, since this happened, it seems that some of the maids don't think about the consequences.
"Really... Slacking on work to eavesdrop, who gave you permission to do that? Because of you, the mistress was surprised."
"That's, b-because you fired a..."
Col said it as though she was disgusted. One brave maid, with a shaky voice, tried to protest, but was stopped as she heard the click of hammer of the gun. If you give a boring "excuse", you'll be next. It seemed like Col's eyes, which were giving off a scary light, were saying this. Elza's rest being "disturbed" was their fault, and she seemed quite angry. Even though the one who brought out the gun was also to blame.
"Look, get back to work. Ah, and before that, don't forget to pick up this girl's splattered miso. After that, bring her to the doctor's office and stuff more miso into her. Got it?"
"""""Yes, mam!"""""
Saying this, she mercilessly kicked the top of the zombie maid's head with her toes, and the maids bowed. The zombie maid, when she was kicked, gave a small "Uuh", so when also considering what Col said, it seems like she wouldn't die from just this. Even though she's already dead.
Ran gave a sigh of relief at the fact that this wasn't a murder, but right afterwards, she shook her head and changed her mind. Nonono, it's dangerous if she gets influenced by this. No matter what happens, she has to protect her own values until the bitter end. She had a feeling that if she accepted bloodshed as something normal, it would be the end, in many ways.
With an expression of not being able to say anything, the maids got on their hands and knees and started searching for things on the floor. Seeing this, Col was satisfied, and her expression returned to being cheerful. This time, Elza gave a dry laugh.
"Like always, you go too far."
"Eh... I've always been like this...?"
The fact that this sort of playful incident was an everyday thing made Ran exhausted, and Col dryly laughed for the umpeenth time.

"So, what was the cause of you firing your gun?"
"That's right, that's right. I was going to introduce the maid who was going to be taking care of the little mistress."
"...I'm not following your story."
"Well, well, don't worry about the details."
As Col said this, she expertly removed the cylinder from the gun, uncocked the gun and quickly replaced the cylinder. After she did that, the gun disappeared, like magic. Before Ran could give a cry of surprise, Col called out to one of the maids searching, as though nothing happened.
"Cuey, let the other maids search the for miso, and come over here."
"Y, yes...?"
A timid-sounding maid called Cuey responded, and handed something strangely pink that she had picked up to the miad next to her and quickly stood up. Due to the wall and the door, Ran couldn't see her stand up from her position, and could only tell from her shadow, but that shadow made Ran feel more uneasy than the gun that disappeared just a little while ago.
The swaying shadow cast on the wall was the same height as the other standing maids.
(Even considering the light... Isn't it... A little too tall...?)
Ran was anxious about what was about to happen, but in order to get a good look with her own eyes, she got up from the sofa, and saw "something" pass through the doors and enter the room like it was a tight squeeze.
"Cuey, you will be the little mistress' bodyguard. The little mistress is planning on guiding a maid in training herself, so some mistakes will probably be tolerated. However, try as hard as you can to make no mistakes. Be sure to respond to her kindness."
"Ah... Yes..."
The first this she saw was the waist part of a pure white apron. That's strange, she wasn't looking down, she was looking straight in front of her.
"?"
With a strange feeling, she looked up a little, and finally saw a chest.
"??"
Looking up a little further, she could see a neck. She got the feeling that her skin was red.
"???"
Looking up even more, like she was almost looking straight up, she saw the face of the maid in front of her.
"Of course, relying on a completely inexperienced maid would be difficult, so I have chosen Cuey, who has the most experience out of the ones in training, to be the little mistress' maid. Please train and raise her as best you can."
"I, I'm pleased to meet you, Mistress Ran... I will be taking care of you starting today. M, My name is Cuey C Lops..."

The timid looking maid with hair covering her eyes had her head just barely not touching the ceiling. She scrunched her giant looming body, and hesitatingly introduced herself.
Although she wasn't menacing in any way, the way she was leaning forward made Ran feel a silent pressure, and she was at a loss of words. Elza and Col, glancing at Ran, had a lighthearted conversation.
"She's still... big. How tall is she?"
"During last month's physical examination... she was 9 ft, 8 in. (About 297 cm) She's learned how to transform into a human, but she still can't control the size very well. This is the smallest that she can become right now."
"Hmm. What's her original height?"
"We haven't taken a full measurement, but she's about 13 yards (Roughly 12 m)."
"A titan's daughter? Cuey, lift up your bangs. Won't you show me your face?"
"U, Uh, That's... I, I'd like to, but showing my face isn't really a good..."
"Cuey. The mistress won't be shocked by most things. Show it to her."
"Uh... Y, yes..."
Cuey was hesitating when faced with Elza's request, but at Col's word, she reluctantly parted her bangs, and Elza gasped at her appearance.
"Hoo, that's quite something... It's a beautiful eye."
"Isn't it? But it's just like a jewel, so the other maids gazed at it one after another, so this bashful girl started hiding it like with her bangs like this."
Cuey showed it to her mistress, thinking that she would be disgusted, but was unexpectedly praised by Elza, and her red skin turned even redder. Yes, it was a beautiful eye, that looked like a luxuriously crafted ruby and a translucent emerald. However...
"Mmm, though it's just not just the color of the eye that's beautiful. There's also the wonder of just a single eye."
It was a large eye that took up most of her face. Cuey had only 1 eye. In Japan, there were many one eyed youkai, like hitotsume kozou, karakasa obake, and ippon datara, but Ran had never actually met one. The impact of seeing "one eye" for the first time was stronger than Ran expected, but strangely, she wasn't scared of disgusted. For Cuey, her giant eye felt like a big deformity, but it was still in proportion with the rest of her body, and it even seemed kind of cute. If she had 2 normal eyes of that same size... It wouldn't be hard to imagine what that would be like.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about Cuey. You should be proud of it. ..However, as a single eyed giant,"
"It's just as you guessed, this girl is descended from cyclops. When I first met her, she already had this magnificent body."
At the words magnificent body, Cuey scrunched her body, and Ran felt that just a little of her strength left her body. This person had a normal personality. As she thought this, just like when she met her classmates at the youkai school, she felt a certain comradery.
"I see, you're called Cuey because "Cyclops" is broken into "Cy" "c" "lops"! It's kind of straight forward, but it's a cute name. But, did you not have a name before you were give this name?"
"No, this girl's original name had sounds in it that we couldn't pronounce... By the way, her current name was given to her by Seren-sama."
"Eh?"
"Seren!?"
In a land far away from Japan, not only Ran, but Elza as well said something in surprise at hearing such a familiar name.

"That's an unexpected name to hear in an unexpected situation. Where did you see her?"
"In the recently discovered alternate dimension ruins, Eureka... Have you heard of them?"
"And Seren was involved in the excavation of them?"
"In particular, she was accompanying them to evaluate the objects that were uncovered. I also went to help in the discovery. This girl was trapped in those ruins, which had gone from her original world to an alternate dimension, and then along with the ruins, had been transported to this world. Seren-sama found her secretly watching us, and we took her under our protection."
"Someone from another dimension! And speaks this world's languages so well..."
"Fortunately, her language was similar to English, so it wasn't that difficult to communicate with her. Except for certain words and her family name had unique sounds in them, it wasn't much different from our languages. Her good memory was also a great help, and her intelligence is rather high, so she learned our words, and she was able to understand the situation she was in."
"And now, in order to become familiar with this world, she's becoming a maid. And to even learn how to turn herself human... She's quite a good girl, huh."
While they were talking, Elza and Col were staring at her, so Cuey blushed, like she was being boiled, and returned her bangs to their original position. Seeing this, Ran thought that she looked cuter with her eye showing, and it was such a waste.
"As you can see, she's overly bashful, so in a difference sense, communication was quite a problem. Well, even Seren-sama wouldn't have dreamed that she'd be sent here for her practical maid training."
"Hahaha, I'm sure if she knew, she'd be surprised. It's a small world."
Maybe she was imagining her apprentice's surprised look, but Elza gave a devious smile, and then realized something.
"Hold on, in that case, as a cyclops, Cuey isn't a youkai or a monster, but something different..."
"No, she seems to be the same. In reality, when she came to this world, she was influenced by our legends and she was slowly transformed. It's not quite the same as in books, but she's the same type of existence. She has begun to show signs of the traits of both kyklops and cyclops."
"Really?"
Elza looked up, and Cuey hesitatingly bowed and showed her.
"Yes... For some reason, she's shown an interest in blacksmithing..."
"I see, it's affecting her. Is there anything else?"
This time, Col began counting on her fingers and explaining.
"It seems that she can let out a beam from her eye. An op*ical blast."
"Eh, that Cyclops!?"
"Also, she's learned to use weapons, appearing around Rhone with a club.
"Dragon *uest!?!"
"And she caused the 7 days of flame."
"It's too soon, it's polluted!?!"
"And she devours humans."
"An attack!?"
"No I don't! I don't eat humans! Please stop telling lies, head chamberlain. I'd be really worried if it really happened!!"
Cuey shouted, waving both arms up and down. She now understood why she tried so hard to hide her eye. Certainly, she was talking to Elza like normal and got into and started springing rumors, and it turned into "that sort of thing". But to the person herself, it was horrible. Also, Col and the other maids were probably always teasing Cuey like this to see her reactions. Ran knew how much of a problem this kind of teasing conversation could be, and felt pity for Cuey, and felt like they could understand one another.
"So, how much of that was true?"
"Up to the beam, little mistress."
"Ah... So that was true... I mean, all of the latter part was a lie!?"
Without thinking, Ran gave a backhand tsukkomi. Meanwhile, Col, who was on the receiving end of the tsukkomi, had a look of pure delight on her face.
"As expected of the little mistress, thank you very much."
"Hahaha"
"Fufufu"
Elza and Col were laughing together. Ran, who was surprised, and Cuey, who was pouting a little, didn't know how to react. Without thinking, they looked at each other with confused expressions.