Chapter 21
The Head Maid
While Liam was training, there was movement in the Banfield house .
“Brian, you’ve grown old since I last saw you . ”
“You’re one to talk . ”
Brian had invited over a woman who was familiar with manners and conduct .
Previously employed in the imperial palace, she was a woman he met during the Banfield house’s golden years .
She had the elite position of head maid, the leader of all the girls .
Now that she had retired, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were holding that position .
She was a person who had grown up watching over the empire until she had finally become an old woman .
Brian had invited her over because he wanted her to bring the etiquette of the Empire’s higher-class into Liam’s residence .
They were skills that could be applied anywhere, which was necessary for the future .
After all, they were going to let the children of nobility study here as a pretense to build connections with other houses .
Behavior and manners needed to be taught strictly .
“Except for Lord Alistair, your masters were fools . ”
“I admit this . ”
Alistair was Liam’s great-grandfather .
It was thanks to him that the Banfield house had once risen to power .
“But when I saw the mansion I understood . The little boy you call Liam doesn’t seem to be one . ”
“You’re as harsh as ever, but Lord Liam is no fool . ”
“That’s for me to decide . No matter how much you boast about your ability to fight pirates, that alone won’t be enough . ”
Brian asked the woman,
“So what’s your decision? Will you accept?”
The woman laughed,
“I didn’t have high expectations, and only came here to see your face- but I’ve changed my mind . Bring all the ladies to me, I’ll train them myself . ”
The woman’s countenance had changed, and looking at their new head maid, Brian started to smile .
“I’ll leave them to you . When the girls arrive, it’s reassuring to know you’ll be here . ”
“Within the next decade I’ll turn your house into one suitable for accepting the children of other families . You can leave the house’s internal affairs to me, but I’m not helping with anything else . ”
It was Liam’s job to prepare the facilities and other preparations necessary to accommodate the noble children .
-or it was supposed to be, but Amagi was taking care of everything .
“I’m fine with that . ”
In response to Brian’s reply, the head maid made an interested expression,
“For you to make such a face, that Liam must be quite talented . It’s a pity I can’t meet him while he’s studying abroad . ”
“It’s already been a year, just two more and he’ll return . ”
“Where did you send him?”
“We sent him to Viscount Razel’s house . ”
Upon hearing that, the head maid showed noticeable discomfort,
“W-what’s wrong?”
“You chose the Razel house, a place whose acceptance of children is more akin to that of a business to them . I heard they were quite popular, but they aren’t a house I’d recommend . Weren’t there any other options?”
“Unfortunately, there was no such thing . The house’s current state doesn’t have any decent connections we can rely on . ”
The head maid replied,
“Well, the Razel house changes their reception depending on the individual . If they consider a child profitable, then they’ll be put into a relaxed course that barely does any training . In those cases, another house would’ve been better to enroll into before elementary school . ”
By focusing on entertaining the child instead of disciplining them, there were rare cases of children actually leaving the training worse than how they were beforehand .
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Because she had worked in the imperial capital, she had access to lots of information about such cases .
“Are they really that horrible? They didn’t seem to have that bad of a reputation…”
“The side that actually got trained probably spread that image, but the imperial capital doesn’t see them in a very good light . If I had known earlier, I would’ve introduced you to-”
The head maid’s expression was full of regret .
Brian’s face was already pale as he hurriedly went to call Liam .
“Lord Liam, how is living over there like?”
“How’s it like? Uh… normal? Since there isn’t any paperwork, I guess it’s easy enough?”
“E-easy?! —N-no, other than that, did they do anything else to you?”
“Did they do anything to me? Sorry, I actually need to go, it’s almost time for work . ”
“Oh, please wait for one moment! What is ‘work’, exactly?!”
“Well, we moved a bunch of heavy machinery to the planet’s natural satellites, and now we’re actually doing some mining jobs using them . ”
Brian’s face was pale .
Was it so strange?
Kurt, who was currently wearing a spacesuit called out to me,
“Liam, it’s about time we got going!”
“I’m coming! Brian, don’t worry- I’m practically a master in manipulating heavy machinery now . ”
Although Brian was trying to say something, I ended the call because it was time for us to clock in .
“Lord Liam! Wait! No! This is wrong! Mining jobs on moons and other satellites aren’t tasks to be done by the head of a house!”
The head maid moved to support Brian, whose call was suddenly cut off and was about to fall over in regret .
“Get a hold of yourself!”
“B-but, for all the resources and funds we supplied, this treatment is far too harsh . P-protest . If I protest this quickly enough, then we can improve the viscount house’s treatment of him . ”
But the head maid refuted him,
“I wouldn’t recommend doing that . ”
“Why?! There’s no way I can allow this sort of treatment!”
“No, this might actually be a blessing in disguise . We’ll hear more details from him later, but it’s good for him to learn about that kind of life . Besides, I was quite impressed with how he was able to put up with such a treatment without complaining . From that alone, I’ve risen my evaluation of him to someone who’s better than the average man . ”
Brian was wiping his tears .
“To treat my precious Lord Liam like that, I’ll never forgive them . ”
“I agree, but learning something while they’re studying abroad also depends on the individual themselves . This might actually be a good environment for that child . ”
Seeing how much fun Liam was having was Brian’s only silver lining in this situation .
But that was a different matter .
This didn’t mean that he would forget this grudge against the viscount house .
The head maid started laughing,
“What an interesting boy . I like him- so I’ll help you out with taking care of this issue . ”
Space work .
While piloting the heavy mining equipment, I couldn’t help but be frustrated with the large, immobile spacesuits they made us use .
“It’s hot in here, and the suit is totally outdated . ”
As I complained, Kurt, who was there working with me, replied,
“Yeah, this sure is a poor working environment . ”
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I didn’t really think it was that bad though .
The work environments in my previous life were worse .
So I wasn’t that sympathetic .
“It also smells . ”
“Agreed . ”
We cut the rock with heavy machinery that was far from humanoid .
Then, we transported and dumped the cuts into a machine created for recovering the resources .
Such a life has been going on for three months now .
“Damn, are the people on the surface partying right now?”
There were only a few ‘parties’ we were allowed to participate in .
They were carried out once a month to teach us etiquette, but all the foods and drinks were removed .
Conversely, the people that had been given preferential treatment could stay on the surface and enjoy real parties whenever they wanted .
“I think this is better, I’m not very good with parties . ”
Unlike myself, Kurt seemed to be an introverted-type evil lord .
I also liked my time alone, but parties were fun .
The luxurious meals and drinks that I could consume with my people’s tax money were delicious .
“Isn’t it fine since you’re a noble now? Just enjoy them . If you keep acting like this, then you’ll be troubled once you finally get to go to a bucket party . ”
“I don’t think a house of my status can participate in a bucket party in the first place . ”
Bucket parties had a certain formula to them .
They were really complex .
Both the sponsor who organised it, and the participants invited needed a certain skill set to participate .
I also wanted to try hosting a bucket party one day .
While we were talking, the day’s work had just about come to a close .
As I got up, the head knight who was supervising us called out to me,
“Liam, you’re exceptionally skilled at handling heavy machinery . If you ever run into money problems, I’ll happily give you a job . ”
After telling me such a joke, I decided to play along with him,
“If that time comes, I’ll be counting on you . I was originally supposed to be a count, so please promise me good working conditions . Three meals a day and ample time for naps is required . ”
“All right, I’ll think about it, but be prepared for low-wages . ”
“That’s off-putting . ”
After saying such a joke, I returned to the ship .
–something’s wrong .
On the roof of the viscount’s mansion .
The guide who was confirming Liam’s current situation was perplexed .
“Why is he having fun?! He should be dissatisfied with this treatment!”
The money and supplies Liam had piled up had become the seeds of success for others .
And yet Liam looked like he was enjoying himself despite the fact that he was being treated worse than how he was originally supposed to be .
This was not the ideal situation for the guide .
Liam’s happiness wasn’t his happiness .
In fact, his heart was actually in pain because of it .
His limbs had grown numb as well .
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“At my current strength, I can’t do anything, but I still need to somehow push Liam into despair . ”
The situation wasn’t improving at all .
The guide continued to ponder about his next move- he had lost the majority of his power, so his options were limited .
“Are there any cards I can play? Anything will-”
That’s when Peter entered into his field of view .
Even though this was the viscount’s residence, he was behaving as if he owned the place .
“Okay, let’s use him against Liam… nevermind . There’s no way he could win . ”
The guide immediately gave up after seeing Peter .
“How do I do it?! How do I make you unhappy, Liam?!”
The guide wallowed in his regret and started shedding tears .
—while I was doing more mining work the next day .
It was at such a time .
“What’s that? A flickering white light?”
I saw a white light on the monitor .
The instruments weren’t giving off any response, so were they just malfunctioning?
That’s what I thought-but then I hit something .
I was a bit worried, but when I went to check it out, there was a pendant there .
“What’s this?”
At first I thought it was just garbage .
But after having picked it up, I took quite a liking to it .
“I guess mining jobs aren’t so bad . ”
Being the profession that excavated gold gave it high points in my eyes .
After putting the pendant into my pocket, I resumed my work .
The university of the imperial capital .
Gathered inside of Tia’s room was a group of her friends who were also participating in the university life .
University students studying abroad from the Banfield house’s territory had gathered together for a party .
Tia picked up her terminal, and after reading the message, she exhaled a sigh .
“What’s wrong, Tia?”
One of her friends called out to her .
She was a comrade who had survived that living hell as well .
“The Banfield house’s fleets seem to be growing more active in their pirate hunting . ”
To Liam’s private army, pirates were nothing more than living wallets for them to hunt down .
Sometimes, they’d even receive dispatch requests from the neighboring lords’ territories .
The message contained another story of their successes .
“Which fleet was it?”
“The first fleet . They recently received a super-class battleship from Lord Liam, so they’re full of energy and motivation at the moment . ”
The admiral who acquired a new high-spec battleship was overjoyed .
Because Tia understood those feelings herself, she wasn’t complaining .
The reason why she sighed was-
“I hope I can become a knight soon, I want to go out and decimate some pirates too…”
All those who were participating in the party were those who experienced that hellish lifestyle .
There were a few that had been imprisoned by other pirates, but everyone felt the same .
Her friend spoke with a smile,
“I understand, I totally understand Tia! But for now, let’s do our best to earn our knight qualifications . We still have a lot of preparations we need to finish before Lord Liam arrives . ”
“Yes, I know . It’s just… I want to experience the feeling of killing pirates with my own hands . ”
He had given them their new bodies- their new lives .
Everything they were now was because of Liam .
That was everyone’s common understanding .
The insides of the room were decorated wall-to-wall with floating images of Liam .
The house party continued on while being surrounded by innumerable holographic images of him .
The Razel house’s mansion .
“Fanatics?”
“Yeah, my father built his career through military exploits while piloting a mobile knight . So among the mobile knight pilots, he’s a bit of a celebrity . ”
While talking with Kurt inside our room, the conversation eventually turned towards fanatics .
Since he built up popularity as a knight, it seems like many officials had come and offered to work under him .
Conversely, I was troubled by the fact that I always seemed to be understaffed .
I didn’t have enough people yet considering the scale of my house .
“What’s the problem with that?”
“It’s a big problem!”
Kurt yelled at me with an intense fervor,
“While my father isn’t exactly ugly, he’s not that handsome . ”
Bringing up an image, what was shown was that of a bitter-looking man in his thirties .
Certainly not celebrity material .
“Even though it’s like that, there’s a photobook that’s been released for some time now . ”
“Huh?”
“Because my dad had already put in his signature on the document, I made a mistake . At the time I was annoyed with all the paperwork I had to do, and just gave my signature without reading the contents of it, and now my images are in there too . ”
It looks like he signed documents without looking at the contents if he deemed them to be unimportant .
It wasn’t like I’d be spending any money, so I gave my subordinates the okay, and signed the documents for my own photobook to be released as well .
My everyday life was recorded, and there were even edited videos in there too- it was most likely my subordinates who bought them .
Apparently, it sold quite well in my territory .
A profit that I couldn’t laugh at was made, and it looks like the baron was selling the same goods at an equally fast rate .
Kurt was talking about the sales while crying,
“–and that’s why your confiding in me now?”
Kurt’s shoulders suddenly dropped .
“Y-yeah…”
In his case, wasn’t it selling because he was quite a beautiful for a guy? That’s what I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud because I knew he’d get angry .
With that said, I couldn’t really understand the thought process of a person who’d buy the catalogue of an old man .
—fanatics are scary .