The duo helps a new hire

“Oh no, I’m going to be late!” Jira muttered under her breath. There she was, the first day on the job and already late. The small forest acorn lost in the big mountain resort. She hurried her step, fluttered her butterfly-like wings, and straightened her fine leaf dress. She could do it, everything was going to be fine … she hoped.

The woman passed hallway after hallway. She stopped walking and started flying for speed. On the way, she passed a family of centaurs, a giant yellow snake, and whatever that floating triangle was. Jira had never seen so many different creatures! “Oh, there they are!”

Jira spotted Kim and Harako talking in front of the baths. The apparition was wearing a rather torn towel that barely covered the essentials and had so many holes that Jira could see her belly button and a bit of her breast. Kim was dressed in a rough cloth sack with holes cut on it so that she could stick her arms and legs. It covered more than the towel, but it looked very out of place.

Huh, the woman had no pointy ears, wings, slanted eyes, or anything to that effect. Was she a …human?! They had all kinds in the resort.

“…all I’m saying is that just because she is giant doesn’t give her the right to grab me and use me as a brush!”

“Excuse me?”

“… You did fit quite nicely on her hands.”

“Not the point!”

“Excuse me!” Jira yelled, managing to grab the attention of the two women. Jira recoiled a bit, she felt small under their gazes, even though she was almost as tall as Kim. “Sorry… I-I’m Jira, I’m new here. Are you Kim and Harako? I was told you would show me the ropes.”

“…The new girl …yes.” Harako’s hair reached behind Kim to grab a notepad. “…Let’s see …for your first task, we’ll teach you how to clean the bathtubs in-”

“Clean Sarno, the giant mud monster, of course!”

“Huh?”

“It’s a river spirit covered in mud and anger that comes every week to take a bath, you’ll love it. It’s the perfect way to get used to working here.”

“W-what?! That seems a bit scary. Are you sure I’m supposed to do that on my first day?”

Harako silently glided next to Kim and whispered in her ear. “…What are you doing? …She is not ready for Sarno.”

“Nonsense, look at her, all eager to work! Besides, we are her bosses for the day. She will do everything we tell her to do. This is our chance to off-load some of our more unpleasant tasks,” Kim whispered back.

“…No, it’s our job to-”

“Sorry, do you want to clean the mud monster? Remember what happened last time?”