The Binding Vow of Lazarus

Chapter 3

Of all the things Satoru was good at, stealth wasn't exactly his strongest skill. Sure he could do it, especially if he really put his mind to it, but so often he didn't really need to. Why bother? It's not like he needed to get the jump on anyone or anything. Besides, most creatures could pick up on his massive cursed energy even if he wasn't doing anything yet, so it's not like being stealthy even worked usually. No, there really wasn't a point to try to be stealthy.

These are the things he considered as the bucket of hot mop water crashed into limitless' barrier and he watched the girl he'd been tailing sprint away with her mop still in hand.

Even since he spotted her that day in class, Satoru had been trying to get some kind of idea of who she was and what she was about. He'd followed her every chance he got, any time he was free he would tail her at a distance and see what she did every day.

She wasn't a student yet, that much was clear. Apparently she was a year younger than him and Yaga had mentioned that she was staying at the school early for her safety. The curses were more drawn to her was the excuse he'd given, but Satoru already knew that was a lie.

Her cursed energy was practically non-existent. She might as well have been a non-sorcerer.

Every day she worked as what amounted to a maid. He'd see her in the morning collecting all the sheets that needed to be washed and by the afternoon she'd be hanging them on the lines. She had a large set of keys strapped to the belt loop of her oversized jeans and was freely able to go into the rooms to change the beds. If not doing laundry, she was scrubbing floors and cleaning the windows, dumping the garbage and sorting the trash correctly or sometimes weeding the garden.

On top of that she just looked so small to him. He had to be at least a foot taller than her. She carried around a little step stool sometimes and he watched her still have to reach up with an extended rod to clean the windows on the top row. It's not that she was really all that short really, but she still seemed too small to be doing this kind of job in particular.

Why was such a young girl made to work the school grounds like this?

The question gnawed at him, and finally he couldn't take it anymore and he'd finally approached her. That's how he'd become acquainted with the mop bucket. He'd be more upset if the water had actually been able to be dumped on him, but he was still irritated that she'd actually tried that! It's not like he did anything weird.

"Hey!" He called after her, catching up nearly instantly, "Relax! I just want to-"

"Back off, pervert!" She grunted, turning on her heels with the mop held out like a sword, "I swear I'll--"

"I'm not a pervert!" He huffed, swatting the mop handle away, "I just wanted to talk!"

"Yeah right, buddy," she narrowed her eyes, taking a few steps back, "I've seen your creepy ass following me all week. I don't believe that for a second."

"Creepy?!" He put his hand to his chest, actually surprised she'd say that to him, "How- what?!"

"Yeah that's right, I saw you," she sneered, "You didn't even try to hide it either. Fucking pervert!"

"Woah, now hold on," he waved his hand, taking a step back himself, "Relax. Let's just chill out for a second. I'm not trying to do anything weird."

"Then what the hell are you doing?" She asked, her eyes still narrowed.

"I'm just curious who you are." He said, holding his hands up in front of him. He felt like he was trying to tame a wild dog or something. Actually... She did look like the kind of girl who might actually bite him if she was provoked enough.