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By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 15




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Chapter 5 Episode 15: Info Leak

“I’m so sorry about what happened after our discussion yesterday,” Reinhart told me first thing in the morning.

The four of us from last night got together to eat. Also present were five exhausted girls in maid uniforms. They looked to be about middle school-aged and stood against the wall, seeming like they might cry at any moment. To each side of them were the head maids, Araune and Lilian. They looked stern, like jailers taking inmates to the gallows. The mood in the room was somber.

“I’m sorry, can you tell me what’s going on again?”

“They stole the secret medicine you developed, or maybe the recipe for it, and used it without permission.”

They twitched, and their pale faces grew paler. The rightmost girl was on the verge of tears.

“Was it the sugar scrub they used?”

“Right.”

This all happened because of the sugar scrubs I talked about yesterday. I guess it was partially my fault for mentioning them. These girls had overheard the recipe for sugar scrubs from their coworkers while they were on break, acquired all the materials, and tried to make them on their own. The problem was that details on sugar scrubs were distorted before reaching them, like a game of telephone, so they just thought that mixing mumiteau and plant oil together and rubbing it on their skin would do the trick.

These maids had been doing the laundry for all the servants for a long time. Despite their young appearance, the skin on their hands looked dry and cracked. With their hands like that and the information they obtained, they must have thought it was worth a try. But the elder servants found out about it, and now we were talking about stolen recipes. The servants of nobles were contractually forbidden from leaking or using information they learned from their employers or their guests. The sugar scrubs were a product introduced by a guest, and while these girls didn’t know that, they still broke this rule. The servants who told them about sugar scrubs were being investigated as well.

“They have sullied the good name of the family they serve, and must be punished accordingly.”

If a family had servants that would leak information, nobody would trust them with secrets. Their actions were inappropriate for a servant and did harm to the relationship between the family and their guests. It didn’t matter what I said. That seemed to be what Araune was implying.

She didn’t say what the punishment would entail, but judging by how the girls were acting, I could imagine it was pretty hefty. I didn’t know if they were about to get fired, or something even worse, but I didn’t feel good about it.

“Reinhart, I understand. I’m the one who talked about sugar scrubs in front of the servants, but it seems like that isn’t important. Since I’m one of the victims, do you mind if I ask some questions?”

“Not at all.”

“Then is it possible for me to make some demands with regards to this?”

“As their employer, I can’t just let you ask anything of them, but feel free to tell me what you want.”

“Well, first I’d like to mention that punishing them doesn’t do anything for me.”

“We could pay you compensation, though.”

“I don’t need compensation from you. It was the maids who wronged me, so they’re the ones who should pay. And as far as the sugar scrubs are concerned, I don’t think they’re currently worth selling anyway. They could lead to a product I can sell down the line, but not right now.”

Even the sugar brushes on the shelves on Earth would use different sorts of sugar and oil, add spices, and more to improve the product through research. What I made yesterday only used what was readily available, producing a simple mix of sugar and oil. To be honest, it was a low-quality product. It would be one thing to make it for my own use, but I couldn’t accept money from others for it.

“Taking all of that into account, I want them to make up for their crime with their own work.”

“Hm, in what way?”

“Testing my medicine. Human experimentation, so to speak.”

The five girls looked to be in despair, but when Reinhart looked away, they relaxed.

“Could you tell me more?”

“Like I said before, I couldn’t call the current sugar scrubs a salable product. But I could turn them into something worth selling by using these girls to test the effects. I’ll ask for their impressions and improve the product accordingly. For the experiments, they’ll only have to use it on their limbs and face. This will only last for as long as I’m staying in town, if that’s fine with you.”

“If that’s how you want them to recompense you, then that’s what we’ll do. I’d also like to give them some harsh education to teach them how to behave as servants, if you wouldn’t mind.”


“Do whatever you like.”

“Good, then I accept your demands. Araune, you heard him. Take these girls away. Make sure they understand what they’re in for by the time we’re done with breakfast.”

“As you wish. Master Ryoma, thank you for your generosity.”

The maids left the room.

“I’m sorry I made you do all that,” Reinhart said once they were gone. He sounded far less firm than a moment ago.

“I’d like to say it was nothing much, but it was actually a little stressful.”

“My apologies. Alas, when you’re in a position like mine, sometimes you have to be strict.”

“I’m sure you do. Personally, I don’t like having to play the bad guy like that. Not like I’m any good at it anyway.” Thinking about what was said, I wondered if any of it sounded strange.

“Hahaha, no need to be so humble,” said Serge.

“It’s not like those girls did nothing wrong. You had to say something, or who knows what they would’ve done next? You at least gave them a chance to pay you back, so I say that’s enough,” said Pioro.

The merchants swiftly jumped in to offer their support, but I wasn’t sure how I’d helped the girls, or what the worst-case scenario would have been for them. I didn’t know much about employing servants, so I asked for details. I was given a rundown on the types of maids.

•    House maids: in charge of cleaning and overseeing the estate.

•    Parlor maids: serve and tend to guests.

•    Kitchen maids: do chores in the kitchen.

•    Laundry maids: only do laundry.

And depending on the house, there were also:

•    Stillroom maids: in charge of tea and teacakes.

•    Scullery maids: in charge of washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

•    Chambermaids: in charge of bedrooms and bathrooms.

There seemed to be even more specific types of maids as well; the newest maids were typically given the roles which involved the least contact with the heads of the household.

“Servants are only human, and things can happen, so the jobs that bring them close to us and the guests are only taken by those from families who have served us for generations, or by servants who have served us for long enough to earn our trust, like Araune and Lulunese.”

The five maids from before, on the other hand, were laundry maids; they only handled the servants’ clothes because they were recently-hired commoners. They were hired from the merchant’s guild when some extra help was needed.

“They would normally have been fired on the spot for breaking their contracts, in which case they would be unlikely to be hired as servants by another family ever again,” said Elise. “We would have to report it to the guild, so I think it’d give them a hard time finding any work. Depending on the situation and the type of information that gets leaked, they could also be charged with other crimes.” It sounded like that would ruin their lives.

“At any rate, I’ll have them help with your product development until it’s time for you to go home. When they aren’t busy with that, we’ll make sure they understand what they’ve done. Araune is sincerely angry with them, so she can handle that. If it still doesn’t seem like they’re taking their job seriously after that, they’ll be fired. If they are penitent enough, we’ll continue to employ them until their contracts are up. If they complete their contracts, they shouldn’t have any particular problems going forward. We’ll decide whether to renew their contracts if they perform well, once the situation has been sorted out.”

“Well, I’m just glad I’m not ruining a bunch of young girls’ lives.”

“That’s a weird thing for you to say.”

“Young? I think they’re all older than you are.”

“Fair enough!” I said and laughed uncomfortably. “Speaking of, you all tried my bath bombs and sugar scrubs last night, didn’t you? What did you think?”

“Oh, right!” said Serge. “Those bath bombs were great! They warmed me to the core like no ordinary bath could. I wouldn’t say the sugar scrub was bad either, but I do feel like it could use some work.”

“Let’s talk about that while we eat,” said Reinhart.

It was a more exhausting morning than usual, but eventually we finally got around to eating.



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