By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 9

Chapter 5 Episode 9: Parental Love

Lulunese came to get me around midnight. “Master Takebayashi, it’s time for the meeting,” she said.

“Thank you,” I replied, and proceeded to get myself prepared. “Sorry for the wait, I’m ready to go now.”

“You don’t mind staying up this late?”

“I’ll be fine. I used to go hunting at night, and sometimes I find myself staying up all night doing research for fun. Thanks for the concern, though.”

The room I was staying in had slimes crawling all about. My limour birds were staying in a stable exclusively for messenger bird monsters. While I’d waited for the meeting, I read magic tomes from the estate’s library that had been suggested to me. Lulunese had provided everything I needed without any mistakes.

“It is nothing. Feel free to ask anytime you wish. Now, shall we go?” she said.

There were glowing magic items on the walls. It was dim, but at least bright enough to walk through comfortably.

“Lulunese, may I ask a question?”

“Yes, anything you wish.”

“Thank you. I just felt something strange, so I was wondering if there are a lot of barriers around here.”

“Barriers? There are barrier mages who put up several barriers for security purposes, but there aren’t any in this area.”

Despite that, I’d felt a strange discomfort several times since leaving the room, especially around corners and doorways. It felt like something was watching me. When I described the vague feeling I had, Lulunese seemed to recall something. She stopped and turned around to face me.

“That may be the house fairies,” she said.

“House fairies?” I’d heard that fairies were considered monsters, and it was possible to employ them. “There are fairies in this estate?”

“Fairies typically live in nature, but on rare occasions they do dwell in old buildings. Repairs are done on this estate as necessary, but it’s actually quite old, and I hear that fairies are spotted here sometimes,” she said matter-of-factly, then resumed walking.

“Does that happen often?”

“Well, the young mistress lived here until some months ago. I believe those with more magical energy will have an easier time spotting them. She and her servants spoke about sightings of them fairly often, and I have seen them a few times myself. I also hear that when foreign visitors or rare goods arrive at the estate, they gather around out of curiosity.”

It sounded like house fairies posed no threat to the inhabitants of the house, and they were actually more like guardian spirits. If one were to draw a comparison to Japanese mythology, they were probably closest to a zashiki-warashi.

“And these fairies are in this estate?” I asked. My discomfort disappeared.

“Fairies of any sort seldom show themselves around humans, and they hide if you try to find them. The young mistress and her maids searched for them many times, but never found them.”

“I see.”

“I would try not to worry too much about the fairies. If you come across as fun to tease, I’m told that they may start to play tricks on you.”

I would have loved to see some real fairies, but it sounded like it would be better to forget the matter for now. The conversation continued until we reached the meeting place.

“Excuse me?” I said at the door, but got no response. I thought maybe nobody else was there yet, but then I saw Hughes. He was sitting still at the round table in the middle of the room, resting his head in his arm. It looked like he’d been the first to arrive, but maybe he was feeling sick. He seemed kind of fatigued. Actually, he may have been sleeping. When I took a few steps toward him, I could hear him snore.

“More of the usual, I see,” Lulunese said.

“This isn’t a new occurrence, I gather?”

“He has been like this practically every night in recent days.”

His promotion training that I’d heard about in the afternoon must have been exhausting. He didn’t seem to have a problem earning the trust and respect of the other guards, but the massive increase in work seemed to have gotten to him. He reminded me of a student cramming for exams.

“I’m glad he’s taking his future with me seriously, but I worry for his well-being,” Lulunese said. She looked around the room for a blanket to put on him. Her concern warmed my heart, but then I heard the door open behind me.

“Oh?”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” I said, turning around to see a middle-aged man about to enter the room with a basket that gave off a delicious aroma. “Who are you?”

“Bartz, this is Master Takebayashi. He saved Hughes’s life, and he’s making statues of the gods for us,” said Lulunese.

“Oh, right, he was going to join the meeting. My name is Bartz, and I’m the chef here.”

“I’m Ryoma Takebayashi. It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for dinner, by the way; it was delicious.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.”

There was something about him that made me feel a bit nostalgic. He had a mild-mannered attitude and didn’t seem to take himself too seriously. While he didn’t seem especially tall, he was hunched over in a way that made him appear especially short and timid. Time had put wrinkles on his face and thinned out his hair. He looked like a father who didn’t seem to belong with his family or with his company.

“Thank you for coming again today,” Lulunese said.

“Oh, no. Anything to make my daughter’s big day the best it could be.”

“Daughter?” I asked. Lulunese didn’t seem to be the same race as Bartz.

“Bartz has taken care of me since I was young. In my mind, he’s always been like a real father.”

Bartz seemed to notice I had questions, so he explained himself. “Her parents were a maid and a guard who lived here. Back when I was an apprentice, they helped me out a lot. I wanted to return the favor, so I started to look after her, and at some point I began to think of her as my own daughter.”

“My parents both died from work-related accidents when I was young. Master Reinbach didn’t want to leave me on my own, so he allowed me to live at the estate as an apprentice maid. My coworkers are also like family to me.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize,” I said.

I did think it was a bit peculiar how the estate was being used for a maid’s wedding, but now it made a little more sense. Lulunese also said that she used to be playmates with Reinhart, and she’d previously served Elise after her own marriage. She was raised in this estate, and her experiences, talents, and loyalty were held in such high regard that she was tasked with important duties.

“She was too young to do any work at first, and now she’s old enough to marry,” said Bartz.

“You always say that I have everyone to thank for assisting me back then.”

“I think every servant who’s been here for a while feels the same way about you.” Lulunese turned a bit red. “Master Takebayashi—”

“Oh, just call me Ryoma.”

Guest or not, I wanted to have a normal conversation with them. As long as I was helping with the wedding, I wanted them to relax around me. They had to act a certain way for their job, but they could at least drop it for these meetings.

Bartz nodded and said, “Ryoma, I hear that you know Hughes.”

“Yes, I wouldn’t say I’ve known him for very long, but he’s done a lot for me.”

“Yeah? In that case, I want you to be his ally. It’s not that we dislike him, or oppose his wedding, or anything of the sort, but it seems like we’ll have to be hard on him,” he said with a bitter yet warm expression, setting the basket on the table. Hughes groaned. “Oh, did I wake you up?”

“Dang, did I fall asleep? Bartz, has the meeting started?”

“Of course not. We can’t very well hold the meeting while the groom is asleep.”

“Fair enough. Wait, Ryoma and Lulunese are here too?”

“We’ve been here for a while.”

“Good evening.”

“Finally noticed them, have you?” Bartz said. “This is no way for the groom to act. If you do anything to make Lulunese cry, I’m going to lose even more of my hair to stress. I’ve got enough of a hang-up about that already. Maybe I’ll put some hair growth formula in your food while I’m cooking.”

“Oh, you better not! Y’know, you don’t have to try and act nasty with me. You’ve been doing this for a while and it’s getting annoying. Like I’d even want to make her cry.”

“Let’s hope that never happens.”

He didn’t seem like the sort of person who would say this, but his feelings seemed to be complicated. I’d never been a parent, so I couldn’t understand how he felt. Everyone had their own feelings. I watched them and Lulunese from a short distance to see how it played out. More people started to gather, and the meeting finally began.