Raiko Horikawa, the tsukumogami, made a few modifications to her Scarlet Devil Mansion maid uniform. She added some leather straps to make moving around and working in the frilly dress easier. Fortunately, work at the mansion wasn't as difficult as she had expected, largely thanks to the electrical appliances there. She even had time to sit down, relax, and listen to the compact music player she recreated with her tsukumogami powers.

The crow tengu have begun publishing their own comic magazine in an attempt to branch out into new markets. The comics therein cover a wide variety of genres, from satire to romance. Meiling's favorite is the one about a hero of justice on a quest to defeat the big bad. There's even talk that Meiling is in the process of developing new martial arts techniques based on the hero's attacks.

"Then the hero says, 'I can't lose. Not while my family's in danger!' And then she unleashes a brand new attack! It's so cool!" Raiko couldn't help but laugh as Meiling started recreating the scene with shadowboxing. Seeing how passionate Meiling was about it all, she paused her music and took out her earphones. "That does sound pretty fun. What kind of attack was it?" "I knew you'd be interested, Miss Raiko! Let me tell you all about it!" Raiko listened intently as Meiling recounted the story from the very first chapter.

"It's only after they defeat the four henchmen that the true big bad is finally revealed. Turns out they used to be friends with the hero, having trained together under the same mentor!" "Right, and that's how she came up with that new attack, huh?" "Exactly! It's so cool how she combined the secret techniques she learned from her mentor with more traditional martial arts to create the ultimate attack! She goes "ka-blam," striking her foe while also protecting herself from any counterattack. Look, it's this page here." Meiling smiled ear to ear as she showed the page to Raiko. Raiko read it quietly for a bit and then nodded to herself. "Hmm, I see. Do you think the sound effects... sound something like this?" She materialized a pair of drumsticks out of nowhere and started hitting her music player with them. The sharp, rhythmic taps sounded like two fighters duking it out. Meiling then started shadowboxing in time with the music, turning the laundry room into their own little make-believe arena.

Unfortunately, the fun didn't last. They were interrupted by the wailing of alarms. "Wh-What was that?!" "Looks like the clothes are dry." Raiko turned around and gently patted the closest appliance, thanking it for its hard work. She then peeked inside to see the still-warm clothes, freshly cleaned and dried. "Let's start folding them before they develop any wrinkles." "OK, I'll start from this end." Showing her experience as a maid, Meiling was already back into work mode and had begun folding the clothes quickly and efficiently. "Let's get this done so we can get back to the comic." "Sure thing!" Meiling happily agreed to Raiko's suggestion. She wasn't opposed to working hard if she had to, but she also knew the importance of taking and enjoying breaks.