The double life of a count’s bastard

Chapter  23

“……Who??”

“I’m Merlin, a priest of the Order of Nevatera, in case you’ve misunderstood.”

A moment of silence.

“You’re the same Merlin who’s supposed to be the next Priest of Radiance?”

It was a fact that had not yet been made public, but Count Slater was privy to the top-secret knowledge that of the several candidates for the position, Merlin was the most likely.

“Yes.”

Earl Slater furrowed his brow and looked at the middle-aged man standing before him.

The man was impeccably dressed, a paragon of neatness, not a wrinkle in his clothes, his hair straightened without a single strand falling to the side, his posture unwavering as he stood with only his right hand clasped behind his back.

This is Sandler, the head butler of the Slater family, the one man the Earl of Slater trusts most, the only man who knows his every move.

He’s been with him longer than he’s been with his wife or his family, and he’s become like another version of himself.

“Why was Rousseau meeting with Merlin? No, why did he meet Rousseau?”

Rousseau may be a Slater, but Merlin is something else entirely.

He is the man the Three Orders have officially chosen to be the next Priest of Radiance.

What is a Priest of Radiance?

It is the key person most likely to ascend to the position of Pope of the Three Orders in the future, a position not to be messed with, even by the Emperor of the Empire.

Merlin is the most likely to become one.

Though he is rumored to be a bastard and the bane of the Nevatera Order, he is undoubtedly the Goddess Nevatera’s favorite and most beloved human being.

Then Merlin met Rousseau.

The Earl of Slater could not help but wonder why.

“The whys and wherefores have never been discovered, but…… it is said that the two of them drank all night and struck up quite a friendship.”

“…….”

You have to love it.

Rousseau’s friendship with a man of Merlin’s stature, the next Priest of Radiance, if no one else, is a boon to the Slater family.

But.

‘He’s an asshole and an asshole…….’

The Earl of Slater has a bad feeling about this.

Everything Rousseau did these days seemed to be a bit shady and suspicious, and the Earl of Slater didn’t feel comfortable with his friendship with Merlin.

“Has Bishop Ritchahill contacted you?”

Bishop Ritchahill, the supreme head of the Temple of Nevaterra on the Slater estate, would not have been amused by Merlin’s visit.

“He hasn’t made any contact, and he hasn’t made any moves.”

Count Slater nodded at Sandler’s uninhibited answer, then raised an eyebrow again.

Why on earth was Rousseau meeting with Merlin?

He wished he could put this question out of his mind, but even if he summoned Rousseau right now and demanded to know why, he knew he’d be stumped.

The Marquis of Keita had once given me an uncomfortable glance when his knight, Colin, had had his arm chopped off, saying that he was a great lover of his children and wondering how he had managed to stash away such great armor.

Even as Earl Slater, he was completely clueless, but he was grateful that the Marquis of Keita was stepping aside.

Later, I summoned Russo to ask him about the armor.

“Ah~ Armor? I didn’t feel the need to tell you because it’s not even close to the quality of the one my father has. I was bored, so I went to the Inkeran Mountains and got lucky and picked it up. You know, I’m the lucky one, so I live differently than everyone else, right?

I picked up the armor.

It didn’t make sense to anyone, but Rousseau would never reveal the source of the armor.

It wasn’t just the gauntlets.

The spellbook debt was paid off in one fell swoop, as well as the money from the contract with the genius knight named Hans.

In a very short time, Russo had done an incredible amount of things that were unlike anything he had ever done before.

“A dungeon.

The answer was obvious.

When the expedition left and Rousseau ventured alone into the Inkeran Mountains, and the list of spellbooks he’d purchased from the Zeta Merchant, there was only one answer: a dungeon.

Rousseau’s words were true, for more than a thousand years, the Inkeran Mountains had been a region of mysteries.

“You might have found it.

If you were really lucky.

But the fact that he’d brought the spellbook with him.

“It’s more likely that they knew where they were going.

There were a lot of questions about whose dungeon this was, how he knew, and what he had gotten, but Count Slater was willing to let Russo do his thing for a while.

It was a good thing that he was doing something about it, at least a little bit, rather than just being a mindless wreck.

No, I wanted to.

‘As long as you don’t do anything to harm the family name…….

The Earl of Slater was willing to do everything in his power to stop Rousseau from doing what his sore finger was doing.

* * *

“Turn it off!!!”

Rousseau forced down the liquor that was trying to regurgitate from his throat, his face contorted in every possible expression.

“You’re killing me…….”

Rousseau pressed a hand to his temple, his head throbbing.

“What the hell did you think you were doing drinking…….”

Rousseau prided himself on being able to hold his own against anybody, so he figured he’d give Merlin a chance, even if Merlin was known for being a hard drinker.

He was wrong.

Merlin had an incredible detoxification ability that kept him sober no matter how much he drank.

Or, more precisely.

“What a waste of a talent, a blessing, to drink.”

Thanks to his self-healing abilities, Merlin’s body would naturally detoxify itself after a certain level of intoxication.

In other words, there was no human being in the world who could fight Merlin and win.

Rousseau realized his limits, and he was cleanly defeated in a drinking contest with Merlin.

‘So much for the power of early education. You’ve been drinking since you were 10 years old, and now you’re able to write such a great work. Will you continue to do so?

No matter how much Rousseau liked to drink, he was tempted to declare sobriety at this point.

“If I keep this up, I’ll get so drunk that I’ll die of disease before I can save the family name.”

Of course, Rousseau knows better than that.

With his mana training, he could detoxify any amount of alcohol.

However, it only took him a day to realize that hanging out with Merlin wasn’t going to go as well as he’d hoped.

“By the way, do you think you’ve taken the bait to some extent?”

He’d been relentless with his ridiculous suggestion of a lifelong priest, but he’d succeeded in instilling a deep curiosity about himself.

The suggestion that he drink often in the future was enough for him.

“But I can’t just drink myself into a stupor, I’ll need a solid punch in the gut as soon as possible.”

There was still no guarantee that Merlin or Hans would stay by his side, so Rousseau needed to make sure they did, and quickly.

He already had a plan.

Rousseau had a plan, as he knew all the major events of the next decade from his precognitive dreams.

But there was one thing that had to happen before he could execute his plan.

“It seems to me that the upper Rosita entered the estate about this time.”

Rousseau didn’t know the exact date, but it was clear that the Marquis of Keita had come to renew his pass not long after he left.

“Ugh~ I’ll wait a few days and he’ll come, but for now I need to get some sleep.”

His aching stomach and throbbing head prevented him from thinking much longer, and he flopped down on the wide bed.

* * *

Rousseau had been informed that Rosita Top had entered the Slater estate, as he had suspected.

“The Rosita Top is quite a trustworthy place. They have a wide variety of items for trade, and they’re less subject to market fluctuations than other tops, so you can be sure to get a good deal.”

Jason answers that Rosita tops are pretty well known in the northern region.

Having entered the trade at the age of 15, Rosita came from a fallen aristocracy and worked her way up to her current position in 30 years from nothing.

I then asked Jason for the top of Rosita’s head and all the personal information about her, just in case I was missing something.

“You’re not……, are you?”

Jason’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Russo.

“What?”

“Well, even though Rosita Topju is quite the beauty, I still think the age difference between you and Master…….”

“Shut up!”

Rousseau raises his fist at Jason for his nonsense.

“You, who normally doesn’t pay attention, suddenly asked me with a twinkle in your eye…….”

At Jason’s glare, Rousseau realized she’d been a little too relaxed with him, and she knew she’d have to catch him some time and give him a mental education.

“He’s going to come in right away to renew his pass, right?”

“Unless there’s something else going on, yes.”

“Let me know as soon as you come in.”

“But what’s going on with you?”

“Something.”

Jason stood there with an uncharacteristically disgruntled look on his face at Russo’s attitude that you don’t know any better.

“What’s with the look on your face? Are you complaining that I’ve been too nice to you lately?”

Russo’s tone was stern, but Jason didn’t flinch or even wave it off as if it were nothing.

Rather.

“I’ve dedicated my life to you, Master Russo.”

He’s not just saying that.

That’s what it means to be the head butler of the Slater family, the one with the last name Slater.

Sandler alone, the current head butler, has been proving his worth as a butler since Count Slater’s childhood.

When Earl Slater passes the torch to his eldest son, Karon, it is only natural that Sandler would join the Slater family senate, where he wields considerable influence.

As such, Sandler has been an integral part of the Slater family.

The same goes for Shane and Holden, who are assisting Karon and Aaron.

Even Russo and Lily’s butlers, who are only half Slater’s blood, will remain part of the Slater family for the rest of their lives unless something happens to them.

Jason, on the other hand, feels that his future is uncertain because he has become the butler of the family’s worst offspring, and his sense of responsibility and mission has plummeted.

Every day, he thought about changing jobs, or at least making it through the day and walking away with a big paycheck.

But just a year earlier, Jason hadn’t thought about it.

A year ago, he hadn’t thought about it, because even though he’d become the butler in charge of the wretch, he was still a Slater by blood, and he trusted that he’d come to his senses.

Those hopes were gone now, but it was clear that Russo’s behavior of late had made Jason unhappy.

He’d cared for Russo like his life depended on it for years, and he’d consistently ignored him, and treated him like he didn’t exist.

“So?”

Rousseau relaxed his scowl.

He leaned back in his chair and stared at Jason with a look that said, “Look at this.

“What? That’s not right.

Unable to contain his emotions for the moment, Jason snapped out of it as Russo’s eyes changed.

“Why did I do that?!

Regret is never too soon.

With the defiance in Russo’s eyes, Jason knew that no amount of excuses would get him out of this situation.

Straight ahead, then!

Jason ran through his emotions once more.

Most recently!

Ever since the fever, to be precise, Rousseau had been openly distancing herself from him.

When he’d left the Inkeran Mountains, alone, he’d been convinced she hadn’t been the same.

Rousseau’s behavior since then, including his contract with Hans as a free knight and his increasing tendency to keep to himself, has left Jason with doubts and skepticism about whether he is his butler.

It wasn’t a shallow feeling.

He had to take a lot of the blame for Rousseau’s behavior.

“This can’t be right! I’ve been through so much shit!

Even as the Slater family’s butler, he didn’t want to be the one to clean up the mess anymore.

“Why don’t you just stop being such a dick? Why don’t you just say what you mean and get on with your life? That’s what all the other butlers do!

Jason remembered the past and decided that he had to say what he had to say now that he had been slammed.

“I honestly have no idea what I’ve done, or what I can do, as a butler who’s supposed to be Master Russo’s hands and feet, and I honestly have no idea what I can do in the future. “Am I…… the right butler?”

Jason barely held back the urge to blurt out, “Do you even treat me as your butler?

If you want to part ways with a smile on your face, you have to avoid snide remarks.

No matter how he spun it, Rousseau wasn’t the kind of person who would miss the meaning of what Jason was trying to say.

Rather.

Jason was honestly not part of Rousseau’s plan.

He was his butler, but after five years he couldn’t take it anymore and walked out on him and the family.

He’d left because he couldn’t take it anymore, and he’d left himself and the family after five years.

He’d done enough.

The last I heard of him was that he had opened a small inn and was living a normal life.

“Well, he was quick on his feet.

In retrospect, he’s pretty good. No, I wouldn’t have dared to take the job as butler to the Slaters if I didn’t have the ability in the first place.

“What do you think?

Rousseau stared at Jason, pondering.

A second felt like an hour as the idiot stared at him wordlessly, and Jason regretted it all over again.

“……Damn it! Why did I do that? Why didn’t I just act like a normal person?

Jason’s heart began to pound rapidly, as he wondered if he’d unintentionally pissed off the man.