episode_0010

“Why are you like this? Aren’t you my personal servant? I think it’s perfectly reasonable to ask for that much, don’t you?”

Seeing Cristia smiling, I calmed my mind for the moment.

“Am I really your personal servant? I don’t even receive any compensation.”

“Compensation? What a ridiculous thing to say.”

Cristia grabbed my chin and directed my gaze towards her face.

I’ve experienced similar actions several times before, but this time, it seemed more like a gesture for me to look at her face rather than for her to see mine.

How could I distinguish that just from a gesture?

Let’s just say it’s thanks to our long-standing relationship.

“You pick up an orphan with nowhere to go, raise them, clothe them in warm and cute clothes, provide them with food and shelter, and yet you want compensation. Isn’t that laughable, even to you?”

“I’m not doing this because I want compensation.”

“So…”

Cristia’s face suddenly came close to mine.

At a distance where our breaths brushed against each other, there was Cristia’s face.

“Do you dislike it?”

As she spoke, a chill covered my face, but it didn’t feel so bad.

I was keeping myself composed, so it was just as refreshing as an air conditioner.

“No, I like it!”

“Good, then for now, go rest. I don’t plan on giving you any harsh tasks right away anyway.”

You clearly said that, didn’t you?

“What… is this about?”

“I have a personal servant, but how long can they keep working with just that old, thin piece of leather?”

Northerners generally wear thick clothing. Given the extreme environment, if one doesn’t wear thick clothing, survival becomes nearly impossible.

Cristia and her subordinates have mastered special mana techniques, so they hardly suffer from the cold. Unless it’s magically treated like the nightwear I wear when sleeping, normally, people wear fur-lined clothing.

Since I couldn’t wear nightwear during work, yesterday, I covered myself with the old leather I usually wear, but it seemed Cristia wasn’t pleased with that.

“No… no matter what.”

In the northern region, the formal attire seems a bit strange.

If it were just formal attire, I wouldn’t say anything.

‘There’s a subtle nuance that can’t be expressed in words…’

I can’t quite pinpoint exactly what’s odd about it, but… that wasn’t the typical appearance of formal attire that I’m familiar with.

While maintaining the framework of formal attire… it seemed to emphasize something cute, almost as if it were something a real young child would wear, even though I know I’m still a child?

“Why? Don’t want to wear it? Surely you don’t intend to keep wearing that filthy leather for work in the future?”

‘Well, it’s still better than pajamas.’

First, I took the formal attire into the room, changed my clothes, and came out.

‘I wonder when they measured me.’

Since I hadn’t lived such an affluent life on Earth, I had never worn custom-made clothes, but trying them on now definitely felt different.

“I suppose we should go eat now.”

Even though I came out wearing the clothes I wanted, Christia didn’t look directly at me.

“Why are you avoiding eye contact?”

Seeing her like that, I approached her playfully and asked.

“I’m not avoiding eye contact; I’m just in a hurry because I have a lot to do today.”

Sure, keep telling yourself that.

I inwardly smirked and followed her.

As we ate breakfast like yesterday, I somehow felt a lot of attention being directed towards me.

‘Well, there was that incident yesterday…’

In the mansion, the tasks of the lowest-ranking servants might not attract much attention from great knights or mages, but due to the incident showing how much favor I receive from Christia, the way people looked at me was definitely different from yesterday.

“Keep eating.”

When I put down my utensils because I was full, Christia said.

“I’m sorry. I’m full…”

As soon as I spoke, I could sense everyone inwardly expressing shock.

It’s as if they’re looking at a new recruit who refuses to eat despite the commander telling them to eat heartily, isn’t it?

“Have some more to eat. You’re great, but you’re too skinny. You need to put on some weight. At least you should be at a normal weight.”

“I’ll try to increase my intake slowly.”

She then ate one or two more sausages and set down her utensils.

“Are there any personnel operating outside the mansion today?”

Several women raised their hands at Kristia’s question.

Some raised their hands for simple inspection missions, while others were there to exterminate monsters.

“Hmm, I’m a bit worried about Lua.”

“I can do it!”

The woman called Lua had red hair and was someone I didn’t know.

Perhaps she was a new talent Kristia had found while living here.

“Just in case, support Artia. Artia, go with Lua to catch a Harugal for a day, but don’t intervene unless Lua is truly in danger.”

“I will comply. However, if I do so, won’t that leave you without protection, Kristia?”

“I can protect myself, so don’t worry.”

“Understood.”

That’s how the conversation ended.

I didn’t know how strong this Harugal was, nor did I know how strong Lua was.

I only knew that it was very unlikely for Kristia to let Astia suffer alone, or to give Astia time to suffer.

That was usually the case.

Very occasionally, there might be a benefit to deploying Astia elsewhere, but this probably wasn’t one of those times.

Because Kristia was so powerful that she didn’t need to consider such petty gains.

“Sigh… Looks like I have work to do today as well.”

Kristia’s gaze as she looked at me was unsettling.

“Even without my attendants, I’m alone.”

‘Did she just send me away to handle things on my own?’

It was a very reasonable suspicion.

*****

Lua’s heart raced.

“I’m going to hunt monsters with Astia.”

If the character’s self-esteem is a bit low, it might be hard to shake off the thought that Christia attached Astia because she didn’t believe in herself. In reality, Lua hasn’t completely let go of that thought either!

Nevertheless, despite that, she was so happy to go with Astia, the second in command of the Christia faction, to repel the demons that she didn’t dwell deeply on such thoughts.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

Astia showed no signs of tension.

It was still early, but Lua herself was a mid-level member of the Christia faction, having achieved the power of a 9th rank.

She didn’t think someone like her would fail to capture a demon worth a day’s work.

“Maybe you just wanted to be alone with Saka.”

Astia moved her long strides toward a shop.

Is she going to buy weapons before capturing the demons? Or is she going to buy snacks to appease a bored mouth?

“Sigh…”

After arriving at her intended destination, she let out a light sigh.

She couldn’t kill the tension.

She had never felt this tense even when helping Christia to defeat the Ice Dragon.

It wasn’t just a one-time tension, but every time, she couldn’t hide this tension.

Where on earth did she go to the shop?

“Welcome!”

After about a minute of tension relief, a lively-looking man inside the shop greeted her brightly as she stepped inside.

“Oh! Long time no see!”

How many people in the world can talk so familiarly to the second in command of the Kingdom of Christia?

A man who has never learned martial arts, and is even running a flower shop in the north, spoke so familiarly to Astia, as if he were his friend.

Of course, it wasn’t like this from the beginning.

At first, he was trembling, hoping desperately not to make a mistake.

Of course, now it was Astia who was hoping not to make a mistake, but still.

“Taking some time off, I see. Are you buying a flower?”

“Shall I give you the usual flower?”

Astia was extremely tense as she struggled to move her body into the store. The man in front of her casually asked, causing Astia’s stomach to twist slightly. Of course, there was nothing she could do about her twisted stomach.

“Yes, I would appreciate it if you could give me the usual flowers.”

In an instant, the man prepared a white flower and handed it to her.

The flower he gave her didn’t hold any significant meaning. It was just a flower that provided a slight boost of energy when chewed before engaging in combat.

Due to Astia’s image, she couldn’t simply buy a flower that was only beautiful.

“Oh! Did you buy that to chew on?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

After Astia narrowed her eyes, she neatly arranged the flowers and put them in her space bag.

“Ah… Yes, but aside from that, now that the lord also has a personal attendant, wouldn’t it be better for us to have one too without feeling self-conscious?”

At Lua’s words, the image of a man flashed through Astia’s mind.