In addition to attending his own classes, doing his own home and participating in his own club activities at NRC, Jamil’s tasks at the school as a personal servant seem to include waking Kalim up in the morning, getting him dressed, doing his hair and makeup, walking him to his classroom, cooking Kalim’s food, poison testing Kalim’s food, keeping Kalim on schedule, protecting him from danger, tutoring him, doing his homework (even missing out on his own club commitments to do so), reading to Kalim, helping him in class (even leaving his own class to do so), keeping Kalim out of general trouble, hosting and cooking for Kalim’s parties, cleaning up after Kalim, fetching food and drinks, remembering things for Kalim, keeping Scarabia running, packing for Kalim’s trips outside the school, preparing for Kalim’s arrival at off-campus events, apologizing on Kalim’s behalf, and keeping Kalim from overspending.
We see what might be a condensed version of some of Jamil’s regular duties during Tsumsted, when Jamil’s tsum arrives and immediately fetches tea leaves for Kalim, saves him from getting hurt, agrees to play a game (despite looking not “terribly enthused” about doing so), intentionally loses a game while pretending to try so that Kalim will win, and staying behind to clean after Kalim leaves, after which the tsum and Jamil agree to play a real game of cards where they will not have to hold back.
Jamil says things like staying up while Kalim sleeps to check luggage, review their schedule, and make calls is his job, and, “Following instructions carefully is just another part of a retainer’s job description,” and it seems he is not allowed to refuse direct orders from Kalim (“As a servant, I am not allowed to disobey my master’s orders…!”).
Jamil calls Kalim out for this in Book 7.5 when Kalim is shocked by Jamil standing up to him, saying, “You don’t want to give me orders as my superior, but you don’t want to take no for an answer as my friend? You can’t have it both ways.”
Jamil says that he and Kalim have been together since they were born, and the earliest instance we hear of what might have been an example of Jamil’s duties as a child-servant are from a time he was “fetching Kalim for some event or other” before he was old enough to enroll in elementary school.
Jamil would go into Kalim’s family’s private park on his breaks as a child servant where it is “a real pain to find a single person” due to how large it is, possibly on purpose in an attempt to get some time away from Kalim, but Kalim reveals he would use the park’s security feeds to find him (Jamil: “Don’t abuse your privileges like that!” – Trey: “Jamil can’t catch a break even on his breaks…”)
Jamil says, “Middle school was the first point in my life where I had some time and space to myself,” which he possibly means literally, if enrolling in middle school was his first opportunity to be out of Kalim’s reach, though he also says, “Some days I just didn’t want to go straight home after school,” and he is jealous of Cater for having no long-term friends or found family, saying, “There’s nothing better than being completely free of obligations back home.”
Jamil’s first two months at NRC were possibly the first time in his life he was completely separated from his role as a servant for 24 hours a day, compromised when Kalim then transferred belatedly into the same school (Jamil: “And just like that, my nice, free campus life went up in smoke”). Jamil is skeptical of the circumstances around Kalim’s enrollment, suspecting that Crowley “arranged for a backdoor admission so he could get some generous Asim family donations,” but that has yet to be confirmed or denied in-game.
In a flashback we see Jamil get struck by his parents for not allowing Kalim to win the games they would play as children, and Jamil says, “My very first memory as a child was seeing my family boy before Kalim and his parents. I couldn’t stand the sight of it. Kalim’s parents were far more important than mine. Therefore, Kalim was more important than me.”
We see a montage of Jamil yielding to Kalim by allowing him to win at competitions and games they play together, culminating in him going to Crowley to intervene with Kalim’s promotion to Housewarden, only for Crowley, too, to yield (“Our young friend’s family has been quite generous in their support. It places me in a position where I must make certain…compromises”).
Jamil’s status as servant seems to be well known at the school, with various characters referring to his obligation to look after Kalim.
Jamil will openly refer to himself as Kalim’s servant in dialogue, saying, “Where in the world is there a servant who makes their master wait on them?,” but Kalim tells Jamil that he is “too serious about servitude.”
When Scarabia students point out that even before Jamil started hypnotizing Kalim into acting like a tyrant it was Jamil who was doing most of Kalim’s duties Jamil replies, “It’s my family’s honor-actually no, it’s MY honor to serve the Asims,” and when asked why he obeys him Jamil says, “It’s because… He’s Kalim Al-Asim.”
When Grim recommends a duel for the position of Housewarden Jamil responds, “How could a vassal ever be permitted to turn on their master? If I did something like that and Kalim’s father found out, the Viper family would suffer for it. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to put my whole family on the street because of my selfishness,” connecting to his pre-overblot declaration of, “Myself, my family… I don’t care about ANY of it anymore!”
Following his recovery Jami says that his plot “was a once-in-a-lifetime gambit. I thought that if it failed, my life would effectively be over,” but he will continue to serve Kalim and continue to prove himself to those around him: “That includes Kalim, my dormmates, my parents, the Asim family…and all of you.”
Jamil continue performing duties as Kalim’s servant post-overblot, looking out for his safety and preparing his food.
After lecture from Leona during their descent into Tartarus Jamil reflects, “For the longest time, I couldn’t stand that Kalim was placed above me. Not just Kalim. Everyone. I’d side-eye people who were lauded for showing off their talents. I griped about how l’d get nowhere, even if I tried. I’ve grown up believing that working harder than necessary is pointless. That my day in the sun would never come anyway. Is he right about me…?”
Towards the end of their journey Leona teases Jamil by ordering him to perform tasks like a servant until he stands up for himself, saying, “I’m not about to accept a life spent attending to someone else. I never have, and I never will!”
In Jamil’s dream his family has gone from working for the Asims (as they do in reality) to owning the Asim mansion and employing the entire Asim family, with Kalim working as Jamil’s servant, instead. After he awakens, however, Jamil declares, “Giving commands or receiving them…simply swapping those positions is missing the whole point. I’m the one who decides things,” and tells Malleus that his dream “was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced by far.”
After the events of Book 7 Jamil’s role as Kalim’s servant does not seem to have changed but he tells Kalim he is “drawing a line,” forcing Kalim to choose between treating him like a friend or servant instead of allowing Kalim’s friend-who-cannot-say-no treatment to continue, but it is unclear what repercussions this may have from his and/or Kalim’s family.
When approached by Azul, Jamil refers to his dream and says, “Having everyone in town kneel before me, getting to put a foolish ruler in his place from atop an elephant…that felt incredible!,” and, “Once someone has a taste of nectar, they can’t help but want to taste it again. That’s just human nature.”
