Chapter 51: Steward and Maid and Assassin
“Alright, next is grocery shopping for Gio-san’s dinner!”
“ “Yes, Mora ojou-sama!” ”
“Today we will make a salad with fresh vegetables! Gio-san won’t eat vegetables if there’s no sauce, so we’ll also visit lots of herb stores today!”
“ “Yes, Mora ojou-sama!” ”
(T/N: Ojou is like ‘my Lady,’ but has the connotation of being a young, unmarried lady, such as the daughter of the master.)
I still have quite a few things left to do, such as coordinating the personnel procurement for Jiiteias Castle and discussing the finer details of the transfer of guardianship status for the former Magician’s Guild magic solder trainees. As such, I am still staying in Irudo’s mansion at the moment.
Right now, I am watching the heartwarming scene of a very excited Mora strictly overseeing four of the dark elf girls.
I have yet to speak with them one on one, so I don’t know their particulars, but here is a list of their respective appearances and relative ages, in descending order.
Aruga is the eldest, with semi-long hair and a gentle disposition. Next is Rashil, the serious one with braids. The taciturn third daughter with very short hair is Gilma. And the energetic girl with short hair is the youngest one, Sasara.
Of course, they’re not actually blood-related. However, they were all raised together in the same clan, so they look like real sisters from the side.
Incidentally, all of them have transformed out of their tanned skin and pointed ears. It is because dark elves are generally viewed as an evil race…… not. In actual fact, the main reason is because they’ve become super famous from the trial, and a huge crowd gathers whenever they go outside.
The acquittal from the trial had set them completely free. But as expected, they insisted on serving me the rest of my life and refused to leave.
From now on, I am aiming to gather together every single country and force in the continent in an alliance against the Shadow Demons. With that in mind, honestly speaking, I would seriously appreciate having such excellent spies, so I officially accepted them as my subordinates. But at this moment in time, I don’t really have anything for them to do.
As I myself am still just a freeloader, I can’t very well burden my host with 5 more idle mouths.
Which is why all of them are currently serving as maids in Irudo’s mansion.
Basic training in the Heikreuz clan apparently also included domestic chores, but they couldn’t hold a candle to Mora, who had been running the mansion as the de facto lady of the house for many years.
On top of which, it seems that it’s really obvious that I’m really soft on Mora, so they’ve been calling her ‘ojou-sama’ from the offset.
As for their superior, Leiha, she has assigned herself the role of being my bodyguard. She’s constantly sticking close to me, but maintaining herself behind me or in other positions out of my sight.
♥♦♣♠
“Everything considered, you were truly a massive help this time.”
“Come now, what are you saying.”
“No, I’m serious. Without the help of you all, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”
Irudo had resumed his trading work, which had been put on hold during the disturbance.
Despite being so busy, he’s still putting in lots of time into the matter of finding people for me to hire.
Indeed, the incident this time and the various work afterwards had strongly impressed upon me the importance of collaborators. No matter how great a wizard I am, there is a limit to what a single person can do.
As the dark elves and former magic soldier trainees will also be going to stay at Jiiteias Castle, we will definitely need people to run the place. Thinking like that, I realized that we are eventually going to need to gather several tens to hundreds of helpers.
“So, Irudo.”
“What may it be?”
“This is my first time telling you this. From now on, I am thinking of gathering nakama at Jiiteias Castle for the cause of protecting the world from Shadow Demons.”
“That’s….. I see, that’s indeed a grand enterprise that only Margils-sama would be capable of undertaking.”
“So, because of this, aside from those servants that I had asked you to help me find from before, please also inform me if you can think of anyone who might be likely to join me in my cause.”
“...... A pretty difficult request, but I will do everything in my power.”
At that time, the discussion had ended like that.
But a few days later, Irudo and Mora came to me with resolve in their eyes.
“Firstly, me as the steward of Jiiteias Castle. Then Mora as the person to serve you at your side. Then please also take in the three servants of my house as your retainers.”
“Sorry, what?”
“I beg of you! Gio-san, please take us along with you!”
The steward is someone who manages all of a house’s running and finances in place of the master.
If maids and menservants are the hands and legs of a house, then the steward is the brain. Without a steward, no matter the number of servants, the master would have to personally give out detailed instructions and calculate expenditure every day. As I am now trying to found a large organization, the presence of such a person is absolutely crucial.
Having someone as reliable and trustworthy as Irudo take the position would be an absolute godsend. Of course, having Mora at my side — she whose skill at housework I have already confirmed firsthand, she who is already familiar with my temperament, she who knows that my true self is just a normal person — I would be lying if I say that I haven’t entertained some hope for such an arrangement.
But still, with that said.
“Wait a moment. You have your current trading business, do you not? And what are you going to do with this house?”
“I am going to hand down both the business and the mansion to my cousin. I have already received permission from the Trader’s Guild guildmaster — oh right, you know him better as the Council Chairman.”
“But, even Mora? The possibility of being targeted again by people like those Demonists is quite high.”
“Please pardon my discourtesy, but I wish to point out that with how deeply we have already become involved, there would be danger regardless of where we are.”
“Ugh.”
“Furthermore, it was actually Mora who first voiced this idea to me. In all likelihood, even if I don’t come along, I suspect that Mora would still go with you by herself.”
“...... Muu……”
Irudo has a point in regards to the danger. Rather, it might be even more dangerous for us to be split up between Jiiteias and Lelis.
It’s just that…… This father/daughter pair had been living proper lives until I came, but now……
“Margils-sama, I have been thinking it over for the past few days already.”
Seeing me looking torn and indecisive, Irudo leans forward towards me.
“I am but a humble merchant. But Margils-sama, what you are about to do is very likely going to go down in history. When I see this as a chance to support, to be a part of something so huge, my heart jumps in delight. This is no longer just me trying to repay my debt to you; this is now my own ambition.”
His own ambition, huh. I wonder if what I am about to do would truly be worthy of such words.
“Lastly, when you increase the number of your subordinates to a hundred, a thousand, or even more, how are you going to look after the livelihood and wages of them all? Just managing the maintenance and stocking of the castle and the repairs of your subordinates’ equipment would eat up all of your time. Do you have in mind someone else with the ability that you also know you can trust?”
(T/N: Ooo, that’s a low blow. He was the one tasked with the personnel searching. But oh well, Gio needs his butt kicked every once in a while lol.)
“When Gio-san is feeling down, the only one who can give you encouragement is…… well, there’s Claura-san and Leiha-san, but I can do it too!”
In the face of the combined attack of Irudo’s logic and Mora's tears, I stood no chance at all.
“Very well. More like, I’m the one who wants to ask it of you two. Irudo. Mora. Please lend me your strength.”
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