Translator: Adel
Editor: Evelet
QC: AdCaelum
~Two days later~
Vio decided to introduce the newly-hired Dawn and his family when submitting the reports for the Lesserhain family to Gary.
“Gary, these are the two newly hired research advisors for the town of Leca. This is Mr. Zora Confield, a spirit magician.”
“I’m Zora Confield. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
After confirming that Zora had bowed, Vio then gestured at Dawn.
“And this is Mr. Zora’s son-in-law, the botanist Dawn Samarelli… He privately conducted his research while working as a doctor locally. Oh, and by the way, he was the most highly recommended person in the letter of recommendation from His Royal Highness.”
“I am very grateful for your kind words. I will do my best for the development of Leca, so please accept my sincerest efforts.”
Vio smiled in his response. Dawn greeted him briskly with a meek and auspicious attitude. It was a vast difference from the bitter old man who had browbeaten Vio in the royal capital.
“His Highness the Crown Prince?” Gary, who was staring at the two of them, seemed surprised. “Is this the man he recommended?”
Vio gave a firm nod to Gary, who was seeking confirmation, and answered, “Yes. And that little guy over there is Dawn’s only son, Yuan.”
“He–Hello, Mister Seneschal,” Yuan responded and bowed his head.
Yuan’s cute appearance caused cracks in the tension that hung in the air, and those in the room eased up.
“While the two of them are servants of the mansion, they are special guests here. Yuan coming here was a condition of hire. I expect that you will treat them properly and take care of them, Gary.”
“Ah, understood,” Gary said and bowed reverently.
However, his eyes were looking at the three of them as if he were making an appraisal.
“Since you’ve only just moved here, we’re going to ask you to stay in town for a while. Besides, winter will be here soon after the harvest festival. Dawn, I’d like you to hurry up and spread the word about medicinal herbs that can be grown indoors during the winter. I’ve asked Rourke to make arrangements for this, so Dawn, when you finish unpacking, please brief the supervisor of tax administration. “
“Understood.”
As Dawn nodded, Vio handed Gary a rough outline of Dawn and Zora’s work.
“For now, Gary, it’s still rough, but this is a conceptual outline of their work. So please report this to Father as well.”
“Ha… huh, wheat cultivation research in cold regions and other research on highland plants. Mr. Confield is a reviewer of the town defenses and instructor to the young master. Three days of the week will focus on these tasks, while he will be managing a store on his days off. Running a magic general store in this town… I see, so you’re aiming to spread the use of magic equipment? Ha ha ha, aren’t they just a splendid bunch.”
Gary used words of praise but his tone indicated that he thought the whole thing boorish.
With a glance at his resume, you could say that Zora might have had a history as a recluse, but he had a high standing as a literary scholar. On the other hand, Dawn worked as a doctor, but his career was less remarkable. Nevertheless, Gary was not stingy, probably because Vio had just emphasized that it was a “recommendation letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.” It would have been disgraceful to question the leadership of the royal family.
“So, are you going to make the child an apprentice servant?”
As expected, Gary turned his attention to Yuan.
Vio shook his head.
“No, I’ve decided to treat him as the family member of a special guest, a lodger. Yuan’s living expenses will be paid out of Dawn’s salary.”
“A lodger?”
Since the owner of the mansion kindly had let them live here, they were in a higher position than the servants. It was not good to leave Yuan’s position undecided, so Vio decided to talk with Jill, the butler.
Vio continued to worry about how Gary’s inquiry still hung in the air. Vio felt he had to remind him of his position.
“He is my guest. The guest of a second son of the duke. Of course you would show them the utmost courtesy, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course, I understand.” Gary nodded.
“Good. Then thank you for having come all this way, all three of you. You can go home today,” Vio intoned in a way that hinted at a sense of urgency. After having gotten the hint, the three of them bowed and thanked him before quickly leaving the reception room.
Legion closed the door again and stood diagonally behind Vio.
Vio looked at Gary, who was looking over the documents, with a feeling of relief. Gary suddenly looked up.
“Speaking of which, Lord Violant, there seems to be a lot of visitors coming and going for the harvest festival this year. I know the festival is still three days away, but I saw some tourists in the town this morning. Is there something special about this year?”
“Huh? The festival should be the same as usual…”
Vio glanced at Legion. He quickly replied.
“I, too, have heard that from officials.”
“Are you not planning a hunt, like the generation before you that ruled this land?” Gary asked.
Vio quickly replied, “No way, I’ve never gone hunting. I don’t even know what would make that interesting. Why?”
“I saw someone who looked like a noble, so I thought you invited him for a hunt.”
“Where in this mansion do you think we can make accommodations to throw some sort of hunting event? You know it well, don’t you?”
“…You’re right. I must have been mistaken.”
Gary fell silent and proceeded to check the paperwork.
When he was finished, Vio asked Gary to come to the office. Vio and Legion left the reception room.
“The past few times, the only guests that came to the festival were from neighboring towns. With more people coming and going, we should consider possible issues with public safety…I’m going down to the town tomorrow to investigate further.”
“I see.”
As time passed, Vio felt an ulcer starting to form in his stomach when Gary came to the office and pointed to the documents.
＊＊＊
The previous night, after Legion had escorted Vio to his bedroom, he spent so much time correcting paperwork that he did not go to bed himself until well past midnight.
He could understand if he needed to check formatting, typos, or unclear points, but it took him a lot of time just to correct things to meet Gary’s standards, such as rewriting phrases that the duke didn’t like. He spent time expounding on things that seemed too simplistic and simplifying things that seemed too elaborate.
Vio had advised him to make a note of what he had been warned about previously and prepared the documents accordingly, but this time, the criticisms he received were the opposite of the previous audits.
It seemed that Gary couldn’t help but be anything except overwhelmingly finicky.
Even though he went to bed late, Legion got up a little before sunrise. As usual after waking up, he trained outside and then went to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Butler, Rille.”
Rille and Jill returned their greeting likewise.
Jill had just finished breakfast, apparently. He took the dishes he had been using to the sink and quickly put them away.
“It was delicious as usual today, Rille.”
“Thank you, Master Jill.”
Rille smiled with glee but soon returned to a blank expression. It seemed that Rille was not in a good mood today.
If Legion had a top ten list of things that were unpleasant to encounter in the morning, the first place would be Rille in a bad mood. Although it never felt good to deal with someone who was disgruntled early in the morning, even if it wasn’t Rille.
Feeling nervous and uncomfortable, Legion began to eat the breakfast that had been prepared. The only thing he could do now was to eat quickly and get out of the coal mine before the canary keeled over.
Rille looked grumpy but worked quickly. After the scones, soup, and tea utensils on a tray were arranged, they were placed on the manual dumbwaiter in the back of the kitchen.
“Master Jill, I will send Lord Vio’s meal to the dining room on the second floor.”
“Yes, I’ll be right there. —Oh, Mr. Legion. The young master would like to have breakfast in his room today, so please go there after breakfast.”
“Understood.”
When Legion returned with his food, Jill immediately left the kitchen.
Legion let out a yawn as he ate scones smeared with raspberry jam. He had not had nearly enough sleep compared to the ideal amount.
“Thank you for staying up so late last night, Sir Knight. Here you go. It’s nutritious milk. And some eggs from the backyard!”
Rille added a glass of milk and a boiled egg to the table. Legion was elated; breakfast had just gotten a whole lot better. Both eggs and milk were like edible gold.
What’s going on? This is unusually kind of her, Legion thought.
He looked up at Rille with confusion swirling through his head, thinking that her kindness was unsettling. He looked up at her. Her red eyes were burning with a fiery spirit.
“Let’s put up a good fight, Sir Knight! Today I will leave him speechless.”
It had only been three days, but Rille, who had been constantly needled by Gary’s sarcasm, now seemed to have hit the stage of complete rage.
Legion thought it would have been better than being depressed, but when he looked closely at Rille, he was worried. There were dark circles around her eyes. He was not exactly best friends with Rille, but he cherished her as an important companion on the mansion’s staff.
“What’s wrong? Have you not slept?” he asked.
“Yeah… I can’t sleep. The sarcasm I’ve heard over the last three days just echoes around in my head, leaving me filled to the brim with fury. How have you been dealing with it, Sir Knight?”
Rille asked the question in earnest.
“Rille, sweating it out in a workout will clear your mind in times like that. Once you are tired, you can sleep soundly without thinking about anything else.”
“I see… but wouldn’t it be noisy if I did that at night?”
“How about reading or reciting poetry? It can be enjoyable after overcoming unpleasant things.”
“Enjoyable?”
Rille’s questioning response was rather surprising. When she sat in the seat opposite him, she leaned forward with curiosity.
“The seneschal will return on the day of the harvest festival, won’t he? Besides, I heard that servants also get free time on the day of the festival. Are there any places you would like to go or things you would like to do?”
“Places I would like to visit or things I would like to do? Ah, hmm, I would like to walk around the town with Master Vio as his escort.”
Rille smiled happily as she imagined it.
Legion wondered if that was always the case, but when he thought about it, Legion could only feel the same way.
“…I also want to accompany Lord Violant.”
“Well, it’s unavoidable since you’re an escort anyways. Lord Vio gives me pocket money every year, so I’m thinking I’m going to buy candy this year. The Leca flower candy tastes amazing. Would you like some to get some for your family?”
“Yes, actually, they might appreciate it. Thanks for the good idea.”
“This is it! When I think about fun things, I don’t care about that guy anymore,” Rille said with a beaming smile.
Rille shook her head when Legion glanced in worry towards the entrance in case Gary heard them.
“If you are looking for the seneschal, he has already eaten his meal and left for the village. He scolded me for being late preparing breakfast before he left.”
“So that’s why you were angry. That man has a lot of energy for his age, considering he’s already gotten up and left for the day…”
“It’s impossible to serve as a seneschal of such a large region if you are physically weak. He is such a spiteful man! I wish it would just rain, so it pours down on him.”
As Rille jinxed the seneschal, she stood up from her seat.
“I’d like you to clean up your own dishes. I have cleaning and laundry to do. Thank you for your advice.”
“Sure…”
Seeing Rille leave the kitchen, Legion shook his head, thinking of Cheval.
“I still think she’s terrifying, Cheval. What’s so good about her?”
Hauser came down to eat breakfast and saw Legion with a puzzled look on his face.
Translator: Adel
Editor: Evelet
QC: AdCaelum
~Two days later~
Vio decided to introduce the newly-hired Dawn and his family when submitting the reports for the Lesserhain family to Gary.
“Gary, these are the two newly hired research advisors for the town of Leca. This is Mr. Zora Confield, a spirit magician.”
“I’m Zora Confield. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
After confirming that Zora had bowed, Vio then gestured at Dawn.
“And this is Mr. Zora’s son-in-law, the botanist Dawn Samarelli… He privately conducted his research while working as a doctor locally. Oh, and by the way, he was the most highly recommended person in the letter of recommendation from His Royal Highness.”
“I am very grateful for your kind words. I will do my best for the development of Leca, so please accept my sincerest efforts.”
Vio smiled in his response. Dawn greeted him briskly with a meek and auspicious attitude. It was a vast difference from the bitter old man who had browbeaten Vio in the royal capital.
“His Highness the Crown Prince?” Gary, who was staring at the two of them, seemed surprised. “Is this the man he recommended?”
Vio gave a firm nod to Gary, who was seeking confirmation, and answered, “Yes. And that little guy over there is Dawn’s only son, Yuan.”
“He–Hello, Mister Seneschal,” Yuan responded and bowed his head.
Yuan’s cute appearance caused cracks in the tension that hung in the air, and those in the room eased up.
“While the two of them are servants of the mansion, they are special guests here. Yuan coming here was a condition of hire. I expect that you will treat them properly and take care of them, Gary.”
“Ah, understood,” Gary said and bowed reverently.
However, his eyes were looking at the three of them as if he were making an appraisal.
“Since you’ve only just moved here, we’re going to ask you to stay in town for a while. Besides, winter will be here soon after the harvest festival. Dawn, I’d like you to hurry up and spread the word about medicinal herbs that can be grown indoors during the winter. I’ve asked Rourke to make arrangements for this, so Dawn, when you finish unpacking, please brief the supervisor of tax administration. “
“Understood.”
As Dawn nodded, Vio handed Gary a rough outline of Dawn and Zora’s work.
“For now, Gary, it’s still rough, but this is a conceptual outline of their work. So please report this to Father as well.”
“Ha… huh, wheat cultivation research in cold regions and other research on highland plants. Mr. Confield is a reviewer of the town defenses and instructor to the young master. Three days of the week will focus on these tasks, while he will be managing a store on his days off. Running a magic general store in this town… I see, so you’re aiming to spread the use of magic equipment? Ha ha ha, aren’t they just a splendid bunch.”
Gary used words of praise but his tone indicated that he thought the whole thing boorish.
With a glance at his resume, you could say that Zora might have had a history as a recluse, but he had a high standing as a literary scholar. On the other hand, Dawn worked as a doctor, but his career was less remarkable. Nevertheless, Gary was not stingy, probably because Vio had just emphasized that it was a “recommendation letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.” It would have been disgraceful to question the leadership of the royal family.
“So, are you going to make the child an apprentice servant?”
As expected, Gary turned his attention to Yuan.
Vio shook his head.
“No, I’ve decided to treat him as the family member of a special guest, a lodger. Yuan’s living expenses will be paid out of Dawn’s salary.”
“A lodger?”
Since the owner of the mansion kindly had let them live here, they were in a higher position than the servants. It was not good to leave Yuan’s position undecided, so Vio decided to talk with Jill, the butler.
Vio continued to worry about how Gary’s inquiry still hung in the air. Vio felt he had to remind him of his position.
“He is my guest. The guest of a second son of the duke. Of course you would show them the utmost courtesy, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course, I understand.” Gary nodded.
“Good. Then thank you for having come all this way, all three of you. You can go home today,” Vio intoned in a way that hinted at a sense of urgency. After having gotten the hint, the three of them bowed and thanked him before quickly leaving the reception room.
Legion closed the door again and stood diagonally behind Vio.
Vio looked at Gary, who was looking over the documents, with a feeling of relief. Gary suddenly looked up.
“Speaking of which, Lord Violant, there seems to be a lot of visitors coming and going for the harvest festival this year. I know the festival is still three days away, but I saw some tourists in the town this morning. Is there something special about this year?”
“Huh? The festival should be the same as usual…”
Vio glanced at Legion. He quickly replied.
“I, too, have heard that from officials.”
“Are you not planning a hunt, like the generation before you that ruled this land?” Gary asked.
Vio quickly replied, “No way, I’ve never gone hunting. I don’t even know what would make that interesting. Why?”
“I saw someone who looked like a noble, so I thought you invited him for a hunt.”
“Where in this mansion do you think we can make accommodations to throw some sort of hunting event? You know it well, don’t you?”
“…You’re right. I must have been mistaken.”
Gary fell silent and proceeded to check the paperwork.
When he was finished, Vio asked Gary to come to the office. Vio and Legion left the reception room.
“The past few times, the only guests that came to the festival were from neighboring towns. With more people coming and going, we should consider possible issues with public safety…I’m going down to the town tomorrow to investigate further.”
“I see.”
As time passed, Vio felt an ulcer starting to form in his stomach when Gary came to the office and pointed to the documents.
＊＊＊
The previous night, after Legion had escorted Vio to his bedroom, he spent so much time correcting paperwork that he did not go to bed himself until well past midnight.
He could understand if he needed to check formatting, typos, or unclear points, but it took him a lot of time just to correct things to meet Gary’s standards, such as rewriting phrases that the duke didn’t like. He spent time expounding on things that seemed too simplistic and simplifying things that seemed too elaborate.
Vio had advised him to make a note of what he had been warned about previously and prepared the documents accordingly, but this time, the criticisms he received were the opposite of the previous audits.
It seemed that Gary couldn’t help but be anything except overwhelmingly finicky.
Even though he went to bed late, Legion got up a little before sunrise. As usual after waking up, he trained outside and then went to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Butler, Rille.”
Rille and Jill returned their greeting likewise.
Jill had just finished breakfast, apparently. He took the dishes he had been using to the sink and quickly put them away.
“It was delicious as usual today, Rille.”
“Thank you, Master Jill.”
Rille smiled with glee but soon returned to a blank expression. It seemed that Rille was not in a good mood today.
If Legion had a top ten list of things that were unpleasant to encounter in the morning, the first place would be Rille in a bad mood. Although it never felt good to deal with someone who was disgruntled early in the morning, even if it wasn’t Rille.
Feeling nervous and uncomfortable, Legion began to eat the breakfast that had been prepared. The only thing he could do now was to eat quickly and get out of the coal mine before the canary keeled over.
Rille looked grumpy but worked quickly. After the scones, soup, and tea utensils on a tray were arranged, they were placed on the manual dumbwaiter in the back of the kitchen.
“Master Jill, I will send Lord Vio’s meal to the dining room on the second floor.”
“Yes, I’ll be right there. —Oh, Mr. Legion. The young master would like to have breakfast in his room today, so please go there after breakfast.”
“Understood.”
When Legion returned with his food, Jill immediately left the kitchen.
Legion let out a yawn as he ate scones smeared with raspberry jam. He had not had nearly enough sleep compared to the ideal amount.
“Thank you for staying up so late last night, Sir Knight. Here you go. It’s nutritious milk. And some eggs from the backyard!”
Rille added a glass of milk and a boiled egg to the table. Legion was elated; breakfast had just gotten a whole lot better. Both eggs and milk were like edible gold.
What’s going on? This is unusually kind of her, Legion thought.
He looked up at Rille with confusion swirling through his head, thinking that her kindness was unsettling. He looked up at her. Her red eyes were burning with a fiery spirit.
“Let’s put up a good fight, Sir Knight! Today I will leave him speechless.”
It had only been three days, but Rille, who had been constantly needled by Gary’s sarcasm, now seemed to have hit the stage of complete rage.
Legion thought it would have been better than being depressed, but when he looked closely at Rille, he was worried. There were dark circles around her eyes. He was not exactly best friends with Rille, but he cherished her as an important companion on the mansion’s staff.
“What’s wrong? Have you not slept?” he asked.
“Yeah… I can’t sleep. The sarcasm I’ve heard over the last three days just echoes around in my head, leaving me filled to the brim with fury. How have you been dealing with it, Sir Knight?”
Rille asked the question in earnest.
“Rille, sweating it out in a workout will clear your mind in times like that. Once you are tired, you can sleep soundly without thinking about anything else.”
“I see… but wouldn’t it be noisy if I did that at night?”
“How about reading or reciting poetry? It can be enjoyable after overcoming unpleasant things.”
“Enjoyable?”
Rille’s questioning response was rather surprising. When she sat in the seat opposite him, she leaned forward with curiosity.
“The seneschal will return on the day of the harvest festival, won’t he? Besides, I heard that servants also get free time on the day of the festival. Are there any places you would like to go or things you would like to do?”
“Places I would like to visit or things I would like to do? Ah, hmm, I would like to walk around the town with Master Vio as his escort.”
Rille smiled happily as she imagined it.
Legion wondered if that was always the case, but when he thought about it, Legion could only feel the same way.
“…I also want to accompany Lord Violant.”
“Well, it’s unavoidable since you’re an escort anyways. Lord Vio gives me pocket money every year, so I’m thinking I’m going to buy candy this year. The Leca flower candy tastes amazing. Would you like some to get some for your family?”
“Yes, actually, they might appreciate it. Thanks for the good idea.”
“This is it! When I think about fun things, I don’t care about that guy anymore,” Rille said with a beaming smile.
Rille shook her head when Legion glanced in worry towards the entrance in case Gary heard them.
“If you are looking for the seneschal, he has already eaten his meal and left for the village. He scolded me for being late preparing breakfast before he left.”
“So that’s why you were angry. That man has a lot of energy for his age, considering he’s already gotten up and left for the day…”
“It’s impossible to serve as a seneschal of such a large region if you are physically weak. He is such a spiteful man! I wish it would just rain, so it pours down on him.”
As Rille jinxed the seneschal, she stood up from her seat.
“I’d like you to clean up your own dishes. I have cleaning and laundry to do. Thank you for your advice.”
“Sure…”
Seeing Rille leave the kitchen, Legion shook his head, thinking of Cheval.
“I still think she’s terrifying, Cheval. What’s so good about her?”
Hauser came down to eat breakfast and saw Legion with a puzzled look on his face.
