Chapter 42: She’s Popular
While Ross was making sure that Elias got everything he needed to know into his head, Nadia was having trouble with what she was seeing.
She sat behind Hilda, cross-legged, and observed the woman absorb herself into a pleasant conversation with a group of six girls sitting around them in a half-circle.
As for what that pleasant conversation was...
"Oh. My. God!"
It was about hair.
"Your hair is absolutely stunning," one of the girls commented, unable to take her eyes off how glossy Hilda’s hair looked, especially in the conditions they were in. She then earnestly asked with slight envy, "How do you get your hair like that?"
Hilda giggled.
"Aww~ danke schön1!" Hilda thanked, tipping her hat, "You’re too kind~ it’s really nothing special."
"No, seriously! You gotta tell me your secret," the girl leaned forward, "It’s not like some secret thing people from the LRM only know about, right?"
"Pfft!"
Nadia continued to eye Hilda, her eyebrow rising ever so slightly. She was never someone who enjoyed these kinds of topics, having always found them rather boorish and...
Predictable.
"I just shampoo und condition regularly, though I only use the more high-end brand."
"Whaaat? I guess that would explain it..." The girl sighed in disappointment.
Watching as Hilda answered their eager questions, she couldn’t help but sigh.
’It’s always the same. They either compliment your hair to be nice or to be genuine, then they ask for your routine, then you have to answer, otherwise you’ll come off as aloof and give a bad impression...’
Nadia huffed.
She also felt this way towards other kinds of feminine topics, like nails, clothes, or skincare; they were all tiresome and repetitive.
’Okay, maybe not skincare...’ Nadia thought, caressing the side of her cheek. She actually did enjoy skincare, but her point still stands.
So colour her surprised when she saw Hilda, who she thought to be similar to her in this regard, happily chatting so enthusiastically about hair of all things.
And because of that, Nadia had even doubted that Hilda was anything but an ordinary teenage girl for a split second — not the woman who had ruthlessly beaten her into the ground just yesterday.
’And it doesn’t help that she acts so friendly...’
Thus far on their rounds, anyone who had come into contact with Hilda had completely let down their guard, seemingly forgetting about her identity and background, and treating her like a close friend.
It was a sight to behold, watching as people fell for Hilda’s charm, but a chilling one as well. So far, Nadia had yet to figure out what Hilda would gain by talking with these random people, and it didn’t seem like she was doing more than just networking.
And yet...
Nadia knew Hilda was brewing up something.
She eventually broke out of her thoughts when she noticed Hilda gesturing towards her. She quirked an eyebrow, then watched as the group of girls suddenly leaned towards her, their eyes sparkling as they laid their gaze on her blonde hair.
"Wow, your hair really is pretty..."
"It’s almost like it was strung from gold, don’t you guys think?"
"How do you get your hair like this?!"
Nadia stared at their faces with discomfort, not having prepared herself for this. She glanced at Hilda with an appealing look on her face and found the woman smirking in a manner that made it seem she was taking a break.
Nadia’s eye twitched.
’She passed them off to me because she got tired?!’
She sighed and began answering their questions. And just like she had thought, all of their questions were within her expectations; predictable. Although the compliments were nice to hear, it wasn’t like she hadn’t heard such compliments before.
’It’s just so repetitive...’ Nadia sighed again before side-eyeing Hilda, who was leaning quite close to her — her eyes lingering on her hair, like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Nadia’s eyes flashed with confusion for a split second.
She quirked an eyebrow questioningly, then asked in a flat tone:
"What are you doing?"
"Hm?"
After being caught, Hilda leaned away leisurely, then answered:
"Just imagining what it would be like to bury my face in your hair is all."
"W-wha—cough, cough...!" Nadia coughed repeatedly; the sheer shock of what she heard caused her to choke on her own spit. "Why the hell would you just suddenly say that?!"
"Oh~? That got a reaction out of you." Hilda snickered, "Maybe I should be more outlandish~..."
Nadia frowned when she heard that. Did she already figure out my plan?
"I’d rather you didn’t. Otherwise, it’ll be even more unbearable to stay near you—"
"Hoho~? Does that mean you want to stay near me?" Hilda interrupted with a smug look on her face, which immediately pissed Nadia off.
After Hilda finished teasing... or perhaps finished flirting with Nadia, she turned to the group of ladies, who found themselves enjoying the drama that unfolded in front of them.
Then, she asked a simple, but important question:
"So! What kind of fun things do you guys do in this warehouse? Does Mister Kestrel put you up to anything?"
"Mister Kestrel...?" One of them repeated before eventually realising who that was, "Oh, Ross? He doesn’t get us girls to do much. I know he gets the boys to do stuff, but they, erm... don’t really want to."
"Haha, I mean like, what’s the point, right? We’re leaving in a day and passing too."
"Exactly! And why would we even need to fortify? EVERYONE knows that Predicaments don’t come near the sea, it’s plain, common knowledge — isn’t that right, Hilda?"
"..."
Nadia’s face darkened when she listened to their words, her eyes immediately darting to Hilda, who was calmly staring at them, with a smile still on her face.
She frowned uneasily, hoping Hilda wouldn’t do anything rash.
And fortunately...
"Yes, it is plain, common knowledge."
She didn’t do anything rash.
But Nadia could tell that Hilda wasn’t exactly content nor pleased with what she heard.
"Dummköpfe..."1
...
After that, Hilda continued to make rounds, improving the reputation she had amongst people. And in the process of this, it was safe to say that she definitely dispelled some of the bad impressions they had of the LRM.
"Hey, did she speak with you yet?"
"Yeah, man, she was really nice!"
"Dude, whoever said people in the LRM are cold-hearted should be put on a stake, for real..."
"Ah~ to have a girl that pretty pay so much attention to me... I could happily die right now..."
While there were a few that didn’t take kindly to Hilda’s presence, finding her too "smily", Hilda didn’t really care all too much. After all, more than 90% of the camp now saw her in a favourable light.
"Achu!" A girl sneezed with her head tilted up, watching as Hilda levitated in the air and wiped away the infestation of black mould. "Thank you very much! Those have been causing my allergies to act up ever since I got here."
"Not an issue!" Hilda shouted, using a heavy-duty cloth she found lying around, "Whatever can help you all have an easier time here."
"You’re such a blessing, Miss Hilda!"
Nadia, who was patiently waiting off to the side, stared intently at the levitating woman. She still had yet to figure out what the German was up to.
For the past few hours, Hilda had been going around and helping with everybody’s ordeal/needs, being a total servant. While in most cases, this could be considered an act of kindness, with the secrets she came to know, she doubted any of what Hilda was doing was truly out of kindness.
’Just what are you planning this time...?’ Nadia thought before glancing to the side, her ears twitching at the whispers that began to gather.
"Bro, who’s that hottie following Miss Hilda?"
"Well, since Hilda is in the LRM, maybe a bodyguard...?"
"No, wait! I remember her! Ain’t she that blondie that was proposed to on registration day?!"
"Holy shit, it is!"
Nadia quirked an eyebrow at these whispers.
’They’re talking about me?’
She narrowed her eyes, continuing to listen in on the whispers happening around her. And when she did, her mood quickly soured.
"Hilda was obviously joking at the time, I can’t believe she thought it was serious..."
"I know, right? She probably thought it was alright to cling to Hilda, because of what happened that day."
"Tch, typical bootlicker. Doesn’t she know that same-sex relationships is illegal?"
Nadia pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. What were these guys on about? Clinging? Bootlicking? Same-sex relationship!? She wanted and was doing none of those things!!!
She was just following her around to keep a close eye on her!
’What nonsense...’ Nadia sighed in disbelief, deciding it would be a use of her focus to ignore them.
And by the time she decided that, Hilda had already finished helping those around her.
"Meine Dame, what’s the matter?"