133. Spring Outing (3)
Two days had been given to them.
Although the sub-episode of teaching Flora had delayed time, they still had one more day left.
It was still unclear why Claire had given them this time without saying a word, but since there were no warnings, there was no reason not to use it.
After teaching Flora, Mina had kept an eye out for any other windows that might pop up, but there were none.
It seems like a very natural and free time has arrived.
For two whole days.
“Even so, there might be some variables, so let’s just use one day instead of two.”
I sense something.
If I think that Ludwig Mayer has become my territory and I’m only preparing for the Eastern Noble Meeting, that would be a huge mistake.
It’s better to prepare for Ludwig Mayer as well, just in case.
To do that… it’s best to send someone.
“Did you call, young master?”
Camilla bowed her head as usual and responded to my call.
“Yes.”
I handed her the temporary lord deputy certificate I had prepared in advance.
“What, young master? A lord deputy… what is this…?”
“It’s exactly what it says. I’ll be attending the Eastern Noble Meeting, so I want you to take care of Ludwig Mayer in the meantime.”
Yes, Camilla.
There’s no one more suitable than her to send to Ludwig Mayer.
As a former noble, she has sufficient knowledge to govern the territory.
The people of Ludwig Mayer will welcome her, my exclusive maid, so there’s no issue with intimacy.
Moreover, she has experience directly managing Ludwig Mayer’s territory, making her the most suitable person.
However, Camilla didn’t even take the deputy certificate, instead taking a step back and bowing her head again.
“I’m sorry, young master… but that’s not possible. No, it can’t be done.”
Huh? It can’t be done? Why not?
“Did the people of Ludwig Mayer scold you or something?”
“No, they treated me with hospitality, young master.”
“Then why?”
“A personal maid must serve their lord at the Eastern Noble Meeting, so they cannot be separated. That’s the rule.”
“What?”
Wait, there was such a rule? It should have come up in the game too…
‘…Wait. I sent Camilla away from the dukedom during Chapter 1, so she doesn’t exist in the dukedom anymore.’
I was mistaken.
The Camilla standing next to me now was no longer a person existing in the dukedom during the game.
Anyway, Camilla can’t do it because she’s my personal maid.
I need to hear the reason.
“Why can’t you separate from your personal maid?”
“It’s because it could compromise fairness through maid interactions.”
“Fairness?”
“Yes. During the Eastern Noble Meeting, when there’s an agreement between families, the scoring points may decrease or the difficulty of bonus points may increase. If there’s an unfair advantage through interactions between servants, the achievement conditions become easier, and errors occur in the ranking changes.”
It sounds reasonable.
It’s to prevent secret deals between two families.
“So, according to that rule, you can’t be separated from me?”
Please let me know if you’d like me to revise anything.
“That’s right.”
“Hmm, if it’s like this, we need to choose a proxy from the ducal family’s retainers to manage Rusmaye…”
It’s better to just give up at this point.
The retainers will probably think of Karcein in a certain way.
As I was pondering, stroking my chin, Camilla called out to me in a small voice.
“Yes, young master?”
“What?”
“If it were someone else, not me… it might be possible.”
“No way. There’s no other servant I can trust besides you. And considering Rusmaye’s people have a grudge against the nobles, it’s questionable whether they’d accept someone from that side.”
Rusmaye has had a bad experience with the nobles in the past.
Even if a proxy were to be appointed, there’s a high chance Rusmaye wouldn’t accept them.
Even if another servant were to become the proxy, it’s uncertain whether they could do the job properly, and since they’re not fully committed to the Bagrande ducal family, there’s a possibility the townspeople would be uneasy.
That’s why Camilla was the suitable person from the start.
But Camilla still didn’t yield.
“There’s someone who knows more about Rusmaye than I do.”
“…Is there such a person in this ducal family?”
“Yes. You know them, don’t you, young master?”
The name that came out of Camilla’s mouth was none other than the head maid, Tasha.
‘Tasha… now that I think about it…’
Why didn’t I think of that?
Tasha and Rusmaye.
I turned it over in my mind.
It made sense. Head Maid Tasha was also a noble from the Deol family and didn’t particularly dislike Rusmaye’s territory. Moreover, her abilities were proven, as seen in the game.
At first glance, it seemed like she had all the necessary conditions.
But even so, there was one problem with Tasha.
“Tasha is the head maid. She needs to stay behind and manage the estate while the ducal family is away.”
The position of head maid was exactly that.
As someone who oversaw the movements of the servants and managed the overall situation, Tasha was a person who couldn’t be absent from the ducal family.
Then Camilla’s expression brightened.
“That’s okay. The ducal family doesn’t have the head maid manage the servants alone anymore.”
“What?”
“Miss Claire discovered the previous head maid’s corruption and has since divided the tasks to monitor their behavior more closely.”
It seemed like there was a servant of a lower rank who was hired to act as a substitute for the head maid when the master was away.
According to Camilla, Tasha could spare time to follow my orders.
“Good. Then take this to Tasha, and send this letter to the Iphelos marquis’s family. And I’ll take a day off today.”
“Understood. If the ladies or madam come, I’ll tell them you went to meet your fiancée.”
“Alright.”
I hope to achieve something during this time.
Definitely.
“Ahjussi! Barak ahjussi!”
“Yes? Diana?”
She had run over in such a hurry.
Diana was dripping with sweat.
Even though she was gasping for breath, the girl swallowed hard and opened her mouth.
“It’s happened again. Again…!”
As soon as she mentioned “it’s happened again,” Barak seemed to understand, letting out a heavy sigh.
Barak, who let out a heavy sigh.
It had been a while since Rusmayier became the central hub of transportation and the gateway to the empire’s roads.
But the incidents didn’t stop.
As many people came and went, various incidents occurred, but with the help of the Yarike people from the Aifelos Marquisate, who came to stay, most of the issues were resolved quickly or settled amicably.
However, one incident couldn’t be resolved.
“…Is the location the same as before?”
“Yes! It happened again on the carriage that passed through the same territory!”
The village chief closed his eyes tightly.
Just by looking at Diana, it was clear that this wasn’t an isolated incident.
It wasn’t just a one-time report, and they were already suspecting who was behind it.
‘As people who were once poor and knew how to steal goods heading to other territories…’
Until the lord who would protect Rusmayier appeared, they themselves had done similar things, not much different from those people.
So, it was difficult to include this in the report.
Diana seemed to understand Barak’s mindset and asked cautiously.
“What are you going to do, ahjussi? If the lord finds out…”
“…He’ll take immediate action. Lord Karsein is decisive in these matters.”
“Then…”
“He’ll be severely punished. He might not be allowed to set foot in that territory or trade with them.”
Those few words made Diana’s heart heavy as well.
“But, it’s just something the kids did, right? Honestly, can’t you just understand?”
“…I don’t know. Let’s just keep quiet for now. When the time comes, I’ll take responsibility.”
“Ahjussi!”
“Diana, those people were once our allies. Abandoning humanity in a place like this is not an option. I’ll take the punishment alone.”
Just then.
“…I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but Barak, you’re going to take the punishment for the lord?”
“T-Tasha lady…!”
“Answer me. What’s going on?”
Tasha, who had just arrived in Rusmayier, appeared.
“That’s…”
“Barak, if you’re thinking of running away, it’s better to give up. I’m currently in a position to receive this from Lord Karsein.”
“…This is!”
When Tasha showed Barak the proof of her temporary lordship, his eyes widened.
And then, he closed his eyes tightly and let out a sigh.
“‘This is as far as I can hide it.’
From noble mtl dot com
It was clearly a mistake, but he had to take responsibility for it himself.
‘I’ll speak honestly without hiding anything. I’m the one who led this incident, so please send Dienna back.’
‘Ah, sir!’
‘Please, for the sake of past favors.’
Barak bowed his head, begging earnestly.
‘Alright, fine. Dienna, you can go back.’
‘…!’
‘You’re being ordered to return by the Young Master’s representative.’
Dienna got up, her lips pursed, and left. Barak then opened his mouth without hesitation.
‘Where do you want to start listening from?’
‘From the point where Dienna rushed in and started speaking.’
‘Almost from the beginning, then.’
He couldn’t hide it anymore.
Barak chose to reveal everything, resigned and honest.
‘After the tunnel was dug, Rusmayel continued to engage in active trade. With abundant food and supplies, it was easy to obtain them, and of course, there were people who came to commission sculptures like before. As a result, the movement of carriages was frequent. However…’
‘However?’
‘…there were losses of goods in specific regions. In other words, they were stolen.’
‘Did you mean that potential losses were occurring? You didn’t report this to the Young Master?’
‘Yes.’
‘Tsk…’
Tasha let out a sigh of disbelief, looking at Barak, who was nodding repeatedly.
‘You know the Young Master won’t just let this go, but… that place has been helping us since a long time ago. The situation has reversed now, though.’
‘Could it be that the place where it happened…?’
‘Yes, it’s Shatren. How can we retaliate against them?’
‘…’
The silence that followed was long.
As Tasha, who knew Rusmayel well, received the news, the silence grew even longer.
‘I understand. But Barak, you’re making a big mistake.’
‘What?’
‘The Young Master isn’t as ruthless as you think.’
He showed mercy to a maid.
Thanks to that mercy, Tasha, who had her life saved, could confidently say that.
Her master would turn this incident into an opportunity instead.
***
‘Hey, what are you guys doing there?’
‘Yeah, get out of the way!’
These kids, who had quickly grabbed their things and escaped from the carriage, scattered and regrouped at the promised meeting spot when the time was right.
“Wow, we hit the jackpot today! I saw bread inside!”
“Wow-!”
The kids’ eyes sparkled at the mention of bread.
The raggedly dressed kids drooled at the sight of a single slice of bread.
“Alright, I’ll divide it up so everyone can eat. Don’t worry, okay?”
“Yes!”
The oldest boy distributed the bread among his siblings.
After finishing the distribution, the boy handed the last two slices to the most distant girl.
“Trisha, here. This is the bread we got.”
“I’m not eating it.”
“Aren’t you going to faint from hunger?”
Trisha suddenly stood up and shouted.
“This isn’t ours, it’s stolen! And it’s from Lord Carsein’s carriage in Rusmayeur, where he’s the lord!”
“You…!”
It turned out the boy was holding stolen bread.
But the boy’s anger couldn’t be contained, and his tone rose.
“What’s the big deal about stealing this much? That guy ruined our territory. Isn’t it a small price to pay? If we can atone for it like this, it’s a blessing.”
“Perdi!”
“We should steal more and sell it. That way, we won’t feel so bitter!”
The angry boy turned around, muttering to himself.
“I’m sorry, Trisha, but we have to do this now.”
Shatren had taken a wrong turn somewhere.
That’s why Perdi had to do this.
To figure out who was wrong.