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Chapter 49: The Manservant
It was the end of October. Allen was in the garden which surrounded the Lord’s mansion. The garden was neatly arranged by the gardener. There was a tree growing in front of him. Over his head, there was a large red fruit.
It reminded Allen of the day he became a servant of the Granvelle family.
He and his Lord, Baron Granvelle, had spent five days traveling to the city of Granver, the territorial capital, to reach the Lord’s mansion.
He also stayed in the village where Rodan and Theresia were born and raised, two days away from the Kurena village, but he never met his grandparents.
When he arrived at the Lord’s mansion, Baron Granvelle was greeted by his servants. There were about thirty of them.
The Butler instructed me to learn the work from the head manservant, Rickel. Rickel was a young man of about 18 with freckles and brown hair. However, I was reminded that I should not imitate his attitude towards work. Apparently, Rickel is a very lazy person.
Rickel, the head manservant, doesn’t do much work, but he seems to be very good at taking care of people. He taught me everything I needed to know. He even taught me something I hadn’t asked about.
Since he taught me everything, I asked him about servants. I asked him what the difference was between a messenger and a manservant.
According to Rickel, they are completely different.
There is a hierarchy among employees depending on their position. Naturally, Butlers are the most important ones. I recorded the hierarchy down in my Grimoire, starting from the top of the 30 or so employees of the Granvelle household.
-Butler, Housekeeper
-Valet, Head Chef, Lady’s Maid
-Coachmen, Chefs, Gardeners
-Manservant, Maid
(TN Note: This was so confusing. Housekeeper and Maids are female versions of Butler and Manservants respectively and vice versa. Valet means a male secretary of a male and Lady’s Maid means female secretary of a female.)
Senior employees include Butlers, Housekeepers, Valets, Lady’s Maid, and Head Chef. I was told that I should listen to them very carefully because they were important.
The Butler was in charge of the male servants. The Housekeeper was in charge of the female servants.
The lower level servants ranged from the coachmen to the chefs, gardeners, manservants, and maids.
I was told that a messenger is not an employee. I am a manservant.
After the hierarchy of servants, he taught me about the families of the Nobles. Family? I wondered, because I was reincarnated from another world to this world but I didn’t understand the scope of family in this world, especially for Nobles. It was totally different from my common sense.
A Nobleman’s family is said to include even his servants.
When I heard that, I understood why Rodan was so happy that he shed tears. Because I am now able to call myself a member of the Granvelle family.
It is not easy for a commoner to even become a messenger. And it’s even more difficult to become a manservant. But I went from being a serf to a manservant in one leap. It was Baron Granvelle’s greatest reward to Rodan for saving the village and contributing to its development.
(Yes, I have to be grateful for this.)
“Hey, Allen! Stand up! You’re my manservant! “
Cecile, the daughter of Baron Granvelle, scratches my head. For some reason, I was made to carry Cecile on my shoulders by a tree in the garden. It’s called a shoulder cart. Her thighs are on my shoulders.
Cecil brought me to the garden. She told me to come to the garden, while glaring at me with her hanged eyes and cheerful crimson eyes. I thought I would be beaten up. She told me to carry her on my shoulders because she wanted to get this fruit.
It was a fruit from a tree that had ripened at the end of autumn. I’ve never eaten them, but they look delicious. Even adults can’t seem to reach them. I’m carrying Cecile on my shoulders like this, but she still can’t reach it.
“I don’t think you can reach it, Miss Cecil. I think it would be better if you rode on my shoulders with your feet.”
“Yes, you’re right. But if you drop me on the ground, you won’t get away with it! I’ll tell my father about it!”
(I want to forget about everything and drop you.)
When Cecile found out that she and I were the same age, she started to get involved with me. I checked with the Butler to find out why she was getting involved so often.
I found out that I was made her manservant at her request from the Butler. The Butler told me to do my best. The look in his eyes was one of pity.
In a slow motion, she moved from the shoulder position and placed the soles of her feet on my shoulders. She stood up slowly, keeping her balance. I supported Cecile by her ankles to keep her from falling.
“What do you think, Miss Cecil?”
“I still can’t reach it.”
(Give it up.)
“Then I’ll hold your ankles and lift you up. How about that?”
“Hmm? Yes, but slowly.”
I hold her ankles and lift her slowly. I can see some kind of loose-fitting or pumpkin pants, but I don’t feel anything for an eight-year-old girl, I was 35 in my previous life after all.
”Did you get some?”
I hear a branch or something being torn off.
“I got one! Now bring me down slowly.”
I slowly lowered her with my hand. She was holding a bright red fruit in her hand.
Cecile was proudly holding the fruit and smiling delightfully. Maybe she had always wanted to have one someday.
She wipes the fruit with her sleeve. Then, she started to eat it. I stared at her as she ate the nus, thinking that the young lady was quite a tomboy. She chewed with a crunching sound.
Her smiling face suddenly changed.
“Boo! It’s not good! It’s so sour!”
Apparently, it was quite sour. She threw the fruit I had worked so hard to get onto the ground. If I looked closely, I could see countless rotten fruits on the ground. The gardener didn’t seem to be collecting them. They must be inedible fruits.
“Well, there is a saying that the fruit of an unreachable tree is sour.”
”I don’t know anything about that! Maybe you knew they were inedible before! Allen.”
“No, I didn’t know anything about it.”
“Yeah, well, that’s okay. I’d like something good. I want some Popo nuts. Please go to the kitchen and get them for me. If there isn’t any, go to the market and buy some.”
I immediately went to the kitchen. As expected, the Head Chef told me there were no Popo nuts in the kitchen. I decided to go out and buy some. I told the Butler what had happened, and he gave me some silver coins. I would never buy Popo nuts with my own money.
I head for the market through the back gate used by the servants of the Lord’s mansion. The front gate is basically forbidden to use.
(It’s a good thing for me. I can easily get to the city after all.)
A manservant is a helper. They do whatever is asked of them and take care of other’s personal needs and chores. Rickel told me that he was often asked to buy groceries.
The Lord’s mansion is located in the center of Grandver. As soon as you step out of the mansion, you’ll find yourself in the Noble quarters, where the knights and other Barons live, as well as the city’s influential people. The market is just past the Noble quarter. If you walk, it takes about two hours one way.
Unlike the Kurena Village, the market was lined with a wide variety of fruits.
“I’d like one Popo nut, please.”
“Sure, one silver coin.”
I thought she would want more, but the Young Lady is surprisingly selfish.
(One Silver for one nut is quite expensive. Anyway, are the prices the same in Kurena Village and Grandver?)
I returned home with only one Popo nut.
(There were a lot of fruits, weren’t there? I wonder if there is an orchard near this territory. But it’s going to be cold from now on. Do fruits grow in winter too in this world?)
It’s been eight years since I came to this world and I’m suddenly having doubts. I realized that I was still caught up in the common sense of my previous world. Thinking back, in this world, the same fruits were lined up in the stores in both summer and winter.
It was already November and I could get the same fruits as the ones in summer. Come to think of it, I was able to find Popo nuts and Mormo nuts in the Kurena Village in December. I wonder if there was an orchard nearby that would produce fruits in winter.
”Zugogogogogogog!”
I heard a roar from the sky. In an instant, it became dark as if I had entered the shade. Something big was flying in the sky. I thought it was a Dragon because of its size and presence, which I could tell even without looking. I looked up at the sky.
“Oh, it’s an airship!”
I shout out loud. In the sky, there was an oval-shaped ship that looked like a rugby ball or a ham that was tens of meters or even a hundred meters high. I wondered if its landing site was on the side of the city, and it slowly descended as it went.
For some reason, the real size of the ship excited me.
(Oh, so this is a world with airships. Could it be that these fruits are also brought in from the south?)
He remembered how his father had pointed out Albaheron to him when he was one year old to explain the reason behind his name.
Allen’s life as a servant in the city of Grandver, which was much larger than his village, had just begun.