HOT NOVEL UPDATES

Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 2




Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

Chapter 2:

My Teacher, Miss Roxy

ONCE I FINISHED GETTING DRESSED, I ate breakfast with Sahara. Instead of eating with Aaron, she had decided to wait for me.

The dining hall had been completely remodeled. It was a beautiful space with wooden walls and flooring that lent a feeling of natural warmth. We’d had the option to remake it all with marble, but unfortunately, the Barbatos family wasn’t quite that wealthy. We’d used the better part of our savings to restore the Barbatos estate.

On the bright side, we were starting to make a profit thanks to high-quality rock salt, which was plentiful in the mountain near our estate and could be sold to neighboring domains. In order to secure other sources of revenue, we were also putting effort into growing and cultivating spices. Set was helping us out, having learned the ins and outs of growing spices from his travels. I would never forget the day Set laid out all the facts and presented his plans. I’d never seen him so passionate. According to him, the soil around the estate was well-suited to the task, so he got us started on cultivating spices that were in high demand. This included black pepper, red pepper, and turmeric. No other estates produced a steady supply of these spices, so if we were successful, we would corner the market and could expect a handsome profit. 

When I was last at the estate, I’d had a chance to tour the spice farms for myself. Everything was going smoothly. It looked like it would be a good harvest. Set said that he would come to the kingdom to report when they were harvested, and he’d bring samples with him. I had high hopes. It was important to ensure that the farming could yield steady returns, because that would mean we could focus on improving the estate’s other industries.

Thanks to Roxy, we were also getting help growing grapes. It was a time-consuming endeavor, but hypothetically, we’d be able to make wine on the lands of the Barbatos estate. We weren’t going to produce anything nearly as excellent as the Hart estate’s wine anytime soon, but it still seemed like a job worth doing. 

I found myself thinking about all of this as I gobbled down my breakfast, and Sahara started laughing at me.

“I’m glad to see you looking so happy,” she said. “I bet it’s because you’re meeting with Lady Roxy today, isn’t it?”

Her comment caught me as I was swallowing a mouthful of bread. It lodged itself firmly in my throat, sending me into a coughing fit.

“Finished!” said Sahara, who began clearing her plates and cleaning up. 

“What are you up to today, Sahara?” I asked as I hurriedly devoured my own bread and soup. “The usual?”

“Yup. I’m going to help out at the orphanage.”

Though Sahara had become a maid at Barbatos Manor, she still frequented the orphanage where she had been raised. The boys and girls there weren’t her blood relatives, but Sahara looked after them as if they were her own family. I would have liked to give them all a home at the Barbatos estate, but we didn’t yet have the means to host large numbers of young children.

“I’ll take you there,” I said. “The kingdom is getting safer by the day, but the slums are still pretty dangerous at times.”

“Thank you!”

I took my plates in hand and went with Sahara to the kitchen. We put our plates in the sink and washed them side by side. The kitchen was incredibly spacious—easily larger than the entirety of the little run-down hut I had once called my home. Even the sink was wide enough for five people to use at the same time. I worried that the place was too big for Aaron, Sahara, Memil, and myself, but when I’d mentioned it to Aaron, he only laughed. 

“It might feel that way to begin with,” he’d said, “but it will feel smaller as our family grows and we employ more staff.” 

I’d never experienced anything like that before, but I gathered that, with time, I’d see what Aaron meant.

After breakfast, I went back to my room and took Greed in hand. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” I said.

“I’m dying here. I’m so bored.”

“Don’t be like that. We’re going to the Hobgoblin Forest today. Can’t fight monsters on an empty stomach.”

“Always the Glutton.”

“You know it. Anyway, let’s go. Sahara is waiting.”

After the battle with Rafale, my armor had been left in tatters, but Jade Stratos had repaired it for me. He was an armorer and craftsman based in the frontier city of Babylon at the Galian border. We had an exclusive contract: No matter how damaged my armor got, he always fixed it for me. 

Jade’s fame had grown by leaps and bounds, and he was now regarded as one of the finest craftsmen in Babylon. The reason for that was dead simple: I’d worn his gear when I slew the Divine Dragon. As soon as the adventurers of Babylon heard that Jade was my personal armorer, they rushed to his shop in droves. Even with all his new-found fame, Jade wasn’t the slightest bit arrogant, and he remained focused purely on his craft.

Jade’s passion for craftsmanship knew no bounds. Though my repaired gear looked no different, he’d strengthened it in a number of subtle ways. My jacket and pants in particular were dramatically improved thanks to the mythril he’d woven into them. Mythril was an expensive metallic fiber capable of carrying and conducting arcane energies. I hadn’t yet tried it out in the heat of battle, so I didn’t know just how useful it was, but based on Jade’s description—and the obsessive enthusiasm he had poured into his letter—I had high hopes.

I found Sahara waiting by the front door with a large rucksack. The entrance to our manor was now decorated with a carpet dyed with calming, welcoming colors.

“Well, shall we go?” I asked.

“Let’s!”

As we left the manor, I couldn’t help but notice the weight of Sahara’s rucksack. I asked her if she’d like me to hold it, but she shook her head.

“I’m your maid, remember? I can’t have my master carrying my things for me.”

“Well, if you insist, but if you get tired, tell me, okay?”

“I’ll be fine!”

Sahara rarely relied on Aaron or me for anything, perhaps because she’d lived her life having to solve her problems on her own. Then again, we’d only started living together fairly recently. Perhaps she’d loosen up in due time.

Sahara kept up her energetic pace all the way to the gate that separated the Holy Knight District from the others. We would have to travel through the Merchant District to reach the Residential District. We greeted the soldiers standing guard at the gate and passed through. As the head of the Barbatos family, everyone knew my face, so I could pass through freely, and because Sahara came and went so frequently, the guards were used to seeing her too.

“Good morning, Miss Sahara!”

“Good morning!” Sahara replied, her head bobbing as she bowed.

I was quite surprised. The smiling guards who rushed to greet Sahara were nothing like the stern guards who had never once greeted me with anything less formal than “We’re indebted to your service, sir!” I felt a twinge of envy. I imagined the guards rushing up and smiling at me in the same way…and I realized I was fine without the attention. Sahara flashed the guards another wide smile and passed through the gate.

“Come on, my lord,” she said. “Let’s go!”

“Uh…yeah,” I said, still mulling over what I’d just seen. “On my way.”

As we walked through the Merchant District, I felt the need to ask Sahara about it. “Are they always like that? The guards?”

“Yes, and sometimes they even give me sweets. I like it when they do that—the sweets make for nice treats for the kids at the orphanage.”


She spoke like it was just something that happened occasionally, but her words reminded me of something Aaron had said. He’d leaned over to me and murmured, “In the future, that girl’s going to grow up to be somebody incredible.” 

Seeing Sahara like this now, I had a feeling I truly understood his meaning.

Sahara walked on without even glancing at the shops and stalls lining the streets of the Merchant District. I thought she’d go on like that all the way to the Residential District, but she did stop in front of one particular stall. When I took a peek at what she was looking at, I found that the stall sold cookies, all of them baked with generous amounts of sugar and butter. Even though I wasn’t usually into cookies, the sweet scent wafting through the air was overwhelmingly enticing. Sahara continued to gaze longingly at the cookies in their various shapes.

“Let me guess…you want a cookie?”

Sahara jumped a little, startled by my question, but she quickly moved on. “No. I don’t.”

I walked over to the cookie stall and bought a basketful. I also bought two additional cookies, which the merchant bagged separately. Sahara was always doing chores around Barbatos Manor, and she was helping out at the orphanage. Perhaps I was sticking my nose where it didn’t belong, but I thought it was nice to do this kind of thing once in a while. 

“Sahara,” I said, catching up. “I bought this to thank you for all your hard work. You can give them to the kids at the orphanage.”

“Wow, are you sure? Thank you, my lord!”

Sahara’s eyes were like saucers as she looked at the basket, and it brought a smile to my face. She was young, but she’d had to grow up quickly, and sometimes I worried that she was pushing herself too hard. It made me happy to see that sometimes she could just go back to being a kid again. 

We picked at the basket of cookies as we headed into the Residential District. They were even better than I expected. I’d thought they were made with sugar, but they were actually sweetened with honey. The natural sweetness spread through my mouth and healed my bones, weary from my daily training ordeals. I was certain the butter they’d used was freshly churned too. The cookies were solid when you put them in your mouth, but they soon melted into a smooth and pleasant aftertaste.

“Wow, these are really good, my lord!”

“Yeah, we should totally buy them again, don’t you think?”

“Yes!”

We were happily munching away (while also making sure to leave enough for the kids at the orphanage) when a familiar, dignified voice stopped us in our tracks.

“My, don’t those cookies look scrumptious?”

“Roxy!”

“Uh…hello, Lady Roxy.”

Roxy walked toward us, her eyes darting between Sahara and myself. We hadn’t done anything bad or mean or criminal, yet I couldn’t help but feel somehow guilty under her gaze.

“Fay, you know we have to investigate the Hobgoblin Forest today. What are you doing, snacking on cookies and taking a leisurely stroll?”

“Uh…well, you see, I’m just taking Sahara here to the orphanage. And then I thought, well, why don’t I bring a gift along for everybody there, you know? Oh, uh, by the way…this is for you, Roxy.”

I took one of the separately bagged cookies and passed it to Roxy. The instant I did, her demeanor changed completely. Her face bloomed into a bright smile as she looked at the bag in her hands.

“Oh my, for me? I’m so happy. Well, then, I suppose I had best accompany the two of you to the orphanage!”

“Oh, um…thank you very much for being so considerate, Lady Roxy,” said Sahara.

Sahara’s new escort was one of the most well-known people in the kingdom, and now that she had holy knights on either side of her, beads of sweat appeared on Sahara’s forehead as the eyes of passersby trained upon her.

“This makes me nervous,” she said.

“Oh, this is practically nothing at all,” said Roxy.

“Th-that’s because you’re Lady Roxy… My lord, help?”

“Give it up, Sahara. Once Roxy decides to do something, she won’t listen to anyone else.”

“What are you doing back there?” said Roxy. “Let’s get going!”

“Coming!” Sahara and I cried in unison.

The high-spirited Roxy led the way, and we soon arrived at the orphanage. It had been built in the slums, so it was nothing special by any stretch of the imagination. The roof was damaged in several places, and rain likely got inside when the weather was bad. I’d offered to help the nuns who ran the orphanage, but they declined. “You’ve already done so much,” they assured me. The nuns had come this far by the strength of their own will and volition, and they weren’t quick to accept further support.

Basket of cookies in hand, Sahara scampered off toward the children as soon as we arrived. Judging from the clamor of excited voices, I gathered that my present was something of a success.

Roxy and I conversed with the older nuns. We discussed the current state of the slums and their safety, how the kids were doing, and how the orphanage was going in general. As we talked, one of the nuns mentioned that they were having trouble with the kids’ education now that they had lost their only teacher. Recently, the young person who had been tutoring the kids had left to return to their village. Of course, the nuns could teach basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, but they weren’t experienced in much more beyond that.

When Roxy heard this, she volunteered to act as a substitute until the nuns could secure someone more permanent. I was a little worried, not because Roxy couldn’t teach or didn’t know how, but because she was a high-ranking holy knight with a busy schedule.

“Are you sure you can handle that even with your daily responsibilities at the castle?”

“It won’t be a problem,” Roxy said. “Recently, Eris took a closer look at how the kingdom is run to ensure that holy knight duties are divvied up evenly between all of us. I’m not swamped with work and drowning in responsibilities like I was before she arrived.”

“I see. Well, do your best! What should we call you? Miss Roxy?”

“That’s fine, but please be sure to attend our first lesson.”

Our first lesson? I suddenly realized that I was going to be a teacher too. But that could never work. I only knew the basics of reading and writing. My math skills weren’t any better. I’d be of no help to the nuns. 

Roxy must have registered the confusion on my face. “I think you might be getting the wrong idea, Fay. I want you there strictly as a student. Now that you’re the head of the Barbatos family, I’m going to make sure you have the learning to go with the rank!”

“Please, you know I’m no good when it comes to studying, Roxy.”

“That’s Miss Roxy to you!”

“What?! Class has already started?!”

What exactly did Roxy intend to teach me? I was petrified, because I didn’t really know much of anything. 

Then Roxy whispered in my ear. “If you can’t keep up, you’ll get private lessons back at the manor.”

From the tone of her voice, I got the distinct feeling that if I didn’t do well enough, she wasn’t going to let me sleep.



Share This :


COMMENTS

No Comments Yet

Post a new comment

Register or Login