episode_0115

The job of a butler is a professional job.

This is especially true if the butler is managing a bourgeois or aristocratic family with a long history who is involved in all sorts of businesses.

There may not be as much work as that of a financial officer in the royal family, but the amount of money that moves around is not something that can be done by simply keeping a household ledger in a notebook like you would in a normal household.

It was a world where there were calculators, mechanical calculators, and things like computers, but of course, the work done by machines was slower and more complicated than in my world that used semiconductors, and so the quality of the people between those machines and the people who handled those people was extremely important.

The most important thing, of course, was human trust.

Someone who is trustworthy enough to not think of pocketing a lot of money when they see it coming and going. Someone who can calculate taxes correctly so that the royal family doesn’t get caught. It’s not easy to bring in someone who has all of those qualities from outside. In the first place, there’s a high chance that someone like that is already working somewhere.

So nobles who have reached a certain level try to raise such people within their own families. It is best if they are from the family from the beginning. Even if they do something sneaky, the target of the sneaky is their own family, so no matter how much they sneaky, it would be a loss, and they calculate taxes like a knife. They try to pay less, but they never think that they are smarter than the palace’s interpretation agency.

What a great worker.

However, not all members of noble families are so judgmental and intelligent.

So, the goal is to raise people from the beginning. If possible, by instilling in them loyalty.

The same was true for the butler in the house of Lee Nam-jak.

“It’s the glory of a lifetime.”

Even though he said something a little exaggerated, his way of saying it felt like he was ‘sincere, not exaggerated’. He seemed so sincere that it made me wonder if he was really sincere.

The butler divided the short hair into 2:8 parts and applied pomade to hold it firmly to the head. Judging from the age of the face, it seemed like the hair should have been gray, but it was black, as if it had been dyed.

His mustache was neatly trimmed, with no visible protrusions. A thin gold chain was hanging out of the front pocket of the vest of the three-piece black suit he was wearing, and it looked like he had kept a pocket watch inside.

“We are also glad to be able to visit such a wonderful place. It must be thanks to your efforts that this estate is so beautifully decorated.”

“Thank you for your compliments.”

The butler responded to Alice’s compliment as if it was nothing, but he couldn’t completely hide the pride that was seeping out of his face. Of course, the amount of pride wasn’t enough to go against etiquette. In terms of drinks, it was probably just a little bit of added flavor.

“I was showing the princesses around the mansion. They are planning to stay there for a few days, and maybe they will visit again.”

The butler’s gaze shifted slightly to Claire, who was standing near us. And in that brief moment, he seemed to realize what had happened.

Or maybe he was someone who had frequent conversations with Claire in the first place. Considering the guards we met at the entrance to the territory, this might be a more plausible guess.

“Then I can help you instead.”

The butler told the Baroness that, but the woman shook her head gently. If you look at her every action, she looks like a noblewoman who has been living in hell since childhood and has never known anything, but the tips of her fingers, which I had glimpsed earlier, were covered in calluses.

It’s not just that he swung his sword, but it’s evidence that he still swung his sword whenever he got the chance. His wife probably noticed that his gaze was directed at her finger for a moment. Of course, she didn’t show it.

“I guess I should guide the princesses. I am the mistress of this house.”

“Okay.”

The butler bowed deeply to the woman who looked younger than him without expressing any question.

“The reason I came to see you, butler, is to meet a child who is being trained to work in this mansion.”

The butler’s gaze rose again. There seemed to be a brief moment of curiosity in his eyes, but by the time I looked into his eyes properly, the image had faded.

“That child is currently resting after finishing work.”

“Would it be rude to come now?”

“No. He is a person who has received the Baron’s favor. He will definitely come out willingly if he hears this story.”

Actually, it was rude to go there after work hours. It was literally like finishing work and resting when the boss brought the chairman over and asked to see his face.

But this was an aristocratic society, and most of the children who worked in this house were children who had been taken in at a young age and were able to survive. Moreover, they were not only able to survive, but they were able to eat and grow up much better than in a normal commoner’s home. The loyalty that came from their hearts must be sincere. Or at least the feeling of wanting to stay here must be sincere.

Come to think of it, the child I’m about to meet is actually a character that never appeared in the original work.

The butler was in my memory. He wasn’t a very important character, but he was a character that was there every time I visited Grace in the game, and later he was an NPC who gave me subquests.

But the orphan I had forcibly left behind at that time was not like that.

When I first met Damanrena, or when I met a strange person in a dungeon… … I felt less uncomfortable than when I met someone who made me think, ‘Who is this?’

At least those who were here could imagine why they met like this.

Besides, if I had stayed here forever, those kids would probably have called me “sister” or “noona.”

Thinking about it that way, I felt a little strange.

“… … .”

ah.

I noticed Alice staring at my face, so I looked away slightly.

What happened has already happened. Time… … Well, it’s true that we can’t turn back time anymore.

If you try to find a way to get away from Lucas, you might be able to. If you keep wandering around looking for that one in a thousand or ten thousand way, you never know.

But I didn’t do that. Even if I could turn back time, I probably wouldn’t do that.

Well… … yeah.

Lucas was a little scary, Jaden was annoying, Bella was a little annoying, but Alice was still nice.

Dealing with Alice, who whined like a child—no, like a child—was not as bad as I thought. In the original, she was always a serious character, unless she was acting out of the blue, and I never saw her whining like that.

So, that memory was too precious to be considered as ‘non-existent’.

I think I would have felt the same way if I were on the other side.

If I had to choose between the two, I would definitely be conflicted until I die, so it would be much better to just not experience one. Then I could give up more easily.

“Come this way.”

The butler guided us without hesitation to the room where he lived in the mansion, and his wife followed him without any hesitation.

That means they usually keep their rooms clean enough that they wouldn’t be embarrassed even if their master barged in at any time.

“… … .”

Before they got here, Alice and Claire had warm smiles on their faces, but after seeing my expression, their faces became a little stiff. Alice was the first to change her expression, and Claire looked back and forth between Alice and me before her expression gradually hardened.

What kind of expression am I making right now?

… … Probably expressionless.

Even when I look in the mirror, I have no expression on my face, and I can’t tell what I’m feeling.

Because that was the character I captured.

*

Older people on Earth who are much older than me have a habit of talking about their elementary school days as childhood memories, but I actually don’t really agree with that.

I don’t know exactly if it’s because my memory is worse than other people’s or what, but I don’t have many memories from when I was in elementary school and they’re vague.

There were a few that came to mind, but usually I couldn’t remember either their faces or their names.

So, I don’t really have any memories or anything. The only thing I have in common with my elementary school days is that the tteokbokki restaurant in front of my school was delicious.

So, in fact, I had a hard time remembering the face of a boy who looked a few years younger than me in front of me.

But it seems that the boy who had not yet completely escaped childhood was a little different.