Introductory art to Chapter 14 showing four maids assigned to his care.
Chapter 14 of the Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There! manga. "At Formal Mansion"
Plot[]
Rory Mercury, Lelei La Lalena and Tuka Luna Marceau entered Italic through the East Gate which was in ruin. Even though a couple of the local militias saw them, they didn't suspect the three of foul play and was more than happy to actually meet their saviors once more. Rory noticed that a large number of of the soldiers stationed around the gate itself was already deep in slumber as a result of the fatigue build up from the continuous raid by the bandits and the realization that there would be no more immediate threat to the place.
As with their plan, Tuka silently went up to the walls above the East Gate and put any Imperial sentries whom Pina Co Lada had stationed there to sleep with the use of her Spirit Magic and thus allowing the infiltration unit of the Third Recon Team to enter through the gate without any interference in the cover of the night. Later, guided by the three girls, the members of JSDF Third Recon slowly made their ways through the streets and buildings of Italica towards their destination, the mansion of Clan Formal with the one mission they had set out to do, to rescue Itami Youji from the confinement of Rose-Order of Knights.
Meanwhile, in one of the rooms of the mansion of Clan Formal, Itami Youji began to come to his senses. The pain from the beating was starting to make him uncomfortable but he did realize that he was in bed before a hand gently held him down. With the light from lit candles, Itami noticed that he was not exactly alone. The existence of the maid beside them bed literally had him in an emotional uproar as he thought that he had somehow ended up in a maid hotel found in Akiba back in Japan. However, he was given the explanation that he was actually back in the mansion of Count Formal and the memories of his unfortunate encounter with Bozes Co Palesti and Panache Fure Kalgi together with the the Rose-Order of Knights under their command came flooding back into his mind. Not knowing what was to become of him, Itami decided to just wait and see what Pina may have in store for him and requested that some water be brought to him. Just as the maid who calmed him exit the room, his eyes caught sight of another maid; one that had animal features. Right outside of the mansion, the members of Third Recon made their ways through the courtyard without attracting the attention of the patrolling soldiers who guarded the perimeter.
The head maid of the Formal Clan, Kaine, began to slowly recount what had actually happened and sincerely asked that he would forgive the mistake which Bozes had unknowingly inflicted upon Itami himself and not bring any calamity upon Italica. This made Itami realize that the people of Italica didn't really feel much obligations towards the Empire because they bore more respect towards the head of the clan, Myui herself. After been given some water to wet his throat, Kain began to introduce the four maids which were in the room with her. They were, Mohmu, Aurea, Mamina and Persia and they would serve as Itami's personal maid as he stayed in the mansion and would do anything that he wanted. The declaration that the maid would do literally anything excited Itami but he also tried to hide it.
Suddenly, Mamina's rabbit ears shot up when they caught faint sounds coming from below, sounds of the Third Recon carefully opening a window to gain access into the building itself. Kaine ordered Persia and Mamina to go take a look at who might actually be trying to break into the mansion that late in the night and to bring the intruders to that very room should they be related to Itami. Else, the intruders were to be dealt with the usual way. Just as the two exited the room, Itami asked about the two and Kaine continued with her explanation. Mamina herself was one of the Warrior Bunnies and Persia was a Cat People whereas the Aurea was a Medusa and Mohmu a mere human. Just as Itami brought up issue about a female the JSDF brought back to Alnus who had feathers, Kaine told Itami that the entity was actually a Siren.
Then Itami began to voice his interest in seeing that Formal Clan would actually employ some many members from other species. Kaine explained that this was actually something that was not normal among the humans but the late Head of Formal Clan, Colt, was a revolutionist who thought that he should take all steps to help bridge the communications between the humans and non-humans to lessen the probability of violence happening. Itami exclaimed that it must be due to his interest in the other species, something Kaine did not deny. Just as the conversation continued, Aurea tried to take a small sip of Itami but was promptly stopped by Mohmu. Kaine then told Itami to be mindful when in the presence Aurea or any other Medusa as they are a race that would suck their targets dry.
It was at that very moment, the door of the room opened and in came the Third Recon members led by Mamina. Tomita Akira instantly greeted the injured Itami whereas Kuribayashi Shino was surprised that her hated Otaku leader was still alive. Kaine herself was ecstatic when she saw Rory came in through the doors and instantly went down on her knees and offered her sincerest prayers to the representative of Emroy. Kurata Takeo took the situation to approach Itami who was lying in bed and said that it's just unfair of him to enjoy the company of the maids. Itami simply told him that he'll introduce them afterwards.
Pina was fuming in her office when she went over the incidents that had happened. Looking through all then options she had she once again fell into despair as she thought that the JSDF might even try to use Itami's situation to muscle in on the negotiations she had just agreed to but if she had denied any sort of further involvement from them, they just might go with the forced subjugation option which would be bad for the Empire as the destruction that would follow would be devastating. Given the sort of mentality the Empire had been maintaining through the years, it wouldn't be surprising that any sort of negotiator they sent would try to act all mighty in front of the JSDF. Should the invaders be annoyed with such treatment, there would be no telling what would happen. As the one who had actually witnessed the power the JSDF had at their disposal, Pina could do nothing to bridge an amiable connection between the two parties as the ignorant idiots back at the Empire would just call her reports as nothing more than hallucinations. She finally relented to Grey Co Aldo's idea and called for a maid to bring her two subordinates, Bozes and Panache, to her.
Back at Itami's room, Kurata was ecstatic because he had finally found what he had hoped to find in the Special Region just as Itami introduced him to Persia. Springing into a full salute, Kurata then continued with his own self-introduction at the top of his voice. This literally silenced everybody else in the room as they were either shocked by his sudden outburst of emotion or simply dumbstruck by his utter idiocy. When Persia responded to him, Kurata went jumping in joy around the room as Kuribayashi stared at his idiot antics. Persia herself was perplexed by his reactions as normal men would either eye her with fear or lust but never something like what Kurata had displayed. The little gathering in Itami's room turned almost immediately into a small party as food was prepared and people from the two worlds began to get to know each other.
Mamina praised Kuribayashi for her combat prowess which she displayed during the Siege of Italica. Lelei began observation of Aurea and wanted to learn more about the Medusae species. Furuta Hitoshi took his time sampling the food served and taking notes of the taste and texture as it was his first time having enjoyed any of the domestically prepared food. Kaine engaged in a long conversation with Rory, something Rory didn't quite enjoy as she was more interested in taking a bite of the food which was just within her grabs but couldn't do so simply out of courtesy of not breaking the conversation abruptly. Mohmu showed extreme interest in the form fitting clothes Tuka was wearing, thinking that it might be the byproducts of elf technology but Tuka explained that the clothes were actually brought by the JSDF from the other side of the Gate. After taking into what had happened and accepting the idea that it would be better to just return to Alnus Base in broad daylight, Itami asked Nishina Tetsuya to convey their situation to the rest of the Third Recon members waiting outside of Italica and that they were to regroup in the morning. Kurata even excitedly asked for a group photograph to be taken in commemoration of this particular "Cultural Exchange".
Bozes approached the door of Itami's room in her night gown, in preparation to give herself to the enemy's mercy for the sake for her leader, Pina, and the country she served in order to make up for the mistake she had inadvertently caused. However, what she had expected to find when she opened the door was not what her eyes perceive. They were a large number of people in the room, visibly enjoying themselves and none of them took any notice of her entry. The mental burden which she had actually carried with her when she had decided to sacrifice her body for the greater good of her country and the visible neglect she received from the people when she was actually a daughter of the Palesti family drove her over the edge of rationality and she approached Itami with a raised hand.
When Itami was presented to the sleep-deprived Pina in the morning, she was once again dragged into the valley of despair when she realized that her plan was once again ruined by Bozes as not only had she not lift Itami's spirit, she had literally added more injuries to the man in question. Not knowing what else she could do to make amends to the pile of mess Bozes had dropped right in her laps, all she could do was sigh in her own arms. Lelei then conveyed that the Third Recon wished for nothing than to have Itami back and Pina instantly tried to at least have them stay for breakfast and that she would prepare for a formal apology for her subordinates' mistakes. However, Itami was needed at Alnus Base because he had been summoned back to Japan to appear before the Japanese National Diet, something akin to the Empire's Senate to answer for the Attack on the Coda Convoy. Mistaking Itami as an elite carrier and how his words alone would determine the Empire future, Pina declared that she would accompany them back to Japan.