Paper, Thou Who Art with Us

Before the beginning of winter, my shared room had turned into a single room. As someone who grew up in a poor village, having a private room was a dreamlike luxury, but I just could not bring myself to rejoice.

A bitter smile reflexively came over my face. When it was the two of us, the presence of a second person had never really bothered me, but now that presence was fading day by day, getting replaced by a cold bleakness. It was strange considering that the harsh cold of the winter had not yet set in.

Letting out a sigh on my own, I heard a knock on the door before seeing Lady Maika’s face peek in. “Ash, do you have a moment?”

“Yes, sure. What is it?”

“I just wanted to talk a bit.”

Sitting down on my bed, she smiled like a large flower. That smile felt a little out of season to me, but it was probably just because I was feeling down.

“It feels weird after all.” As I sat down in the chair in front of her, Lady Maika looked around the room as she murmured. “I’m still not used to you being alone when coming to your room.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You were always sitting at your desk leaning forward with Arthur peeking from behind. Or you were sitting on this bed.” She tapped a spot close to where she was sitting with the palm of her hand. “You both looked serious, yet you were having fun talking to each other. That was the scenery of this room.”

Indeed, that was how we had spent most of our time. I did not remember ever running out of topics to talk about. It was only silent if one of us was deeply lost in thought, and that thought process eventually turned into our next conversation anyway.

“I was extremely jealous of Arthur.” Lady Maika puffed her cheeks. “I wanted to talk with you like that for however long I wanted... And when tired, I could have just gone to sleep and talked with you again when I woke up...” Her puffed cheeks deflated with a sigh. “Arthur must have had so much fun. I hope he’s not feeling lonely now.”

It seemed that Lady Maika herself felt sad that one of her friends had left. Her unseasonable, large flower-like smile was just her pretending to be fine.

“I am sure Arthur misses us already,” I said.

In the end, Lord Arthur had tried to contain her tears on the day of her departure, but failed to do so.

“Besides, I miss him too. Do you not feel lonely?” I asked Lady Maika.

After hearing my question, her lips started trembling. She must have been trying hard to conceal her emotions out of consideration for me, who she assumed felt much lonelier. She really was a kind girl. However, taking into account my past-life memories, I had more mental leeway, so I wanted her to let it all out.

When I nodded with a smile to signal that it was okay, Lady Maika averted her eyes and admitted that she felt lonely.

“That is natural. It shows how much time we spent together talking and doing various things. If a good friend like that goes somewhere far away, there is no way you would not feel sad.”

Needless to say, there were going to be regrets too. However, you could also rejoice at having made a friend who meant so much to you that their absence made you lonely. This was yet another illusion that helped you get through the harsh reality.

As I rubbed Lady Maika’s back and told her there was no need to hold back, she gave a slight nod before pressing her face against my arm. “I miss Arthur, Ash...”

“Me too.”

Looking down upon Lady Maika’s shivering head, it felt like my inner thoughts were about to get drowned by a big wave. A crying girl was leaning against me on my bed in my private room. This situation had great destructive power. Even the greatest gentleman would have revealed the werewolf underneath his sheep’s clothing when confronted with such a situation. Stay strong, Ash. If I had coerced her now, all the trust that I had built up would have turned to nothing.

I sat there for a long, long time, showing only kindness towards the warmth in my right arm. I wondered what would have happened if we both were a bit older. If we were both around fifteen years old, my inner pathos and her charm might have produced an adult-rated situation.

After her sobbing had calmed down, Lady Maika looked up at me with her blurry eyes. Even though she was still young, she was extremely cute. If she had been twenty years old, I would have had no choice but to ask her to marry me.

“Ash...” she spoke in a hoarse voice, with her lips still trembling, “You’re not going anywhere, right? You will stay here in the city, right?”

Seeing her ask these questions with upturned eyes while tightly gripping my sleeve, I felt the urge to reassure her at once. However, my reasoning—famous for its intellect and calmness—suppressed my rash emotional drive.

“I am... not sure what will happen.”

I felt bad saying this to a girl who was feeling lonely, but I spoke the truth.

The majority of exchange students, including Lady Maika, were going to work in the city for several years after spending two years at the military academy. It was considered field training to brush up on what they had learned and put it into actual practice. However, I had only been accepted at the academy as an exception thanks to the kindness of Mrs. Yuika. Unlike Lady Maika and the other exchange students, I was in a position where I was supposed to go back to the village. I was only going to cause trouble for Mrs. Yuika if I shamelessly stayed here.

Moreover, I had to think about my parents. My father was still in the prime of his working life, and the villagers all helped each other out, but the fact that his first-born son was playing around outside at the age where he was supposed to properly start working must have been a considerable burden for him. Somehow, I had been able to do whatever pleased me for the past two years, so now I should have returned home at least once.

I let out a sigh at those two thoughts. My concerns for Mrs. Yuika especially wrenched my heart. “Considering my social standing, I should probably return to the village.”

On the opposite side of that sensible reasoning, I still wanted to stay here. I still fully intended to stay here. All my unfinished projects were gradually getting more interesting, and I still had not read all the books at the temple. I also did not want to give up all the personal connections I had made here. In fact, one of the reasons why I had assisted Sir George as an adjutant and helped with the administrative work of the count was to raise the likelihood of me staying here. I was hoping for someone to tell me, “You may have entered the academy under special circumstances, but you’re good at this work, so please keep working with us even after you graduate!” In that case, I could have used their request as an excuse with Mrs. Yuika, my parents, and any outsiders. And above anything else, if I had managed to secure a job, I could have lived my life without an allowance.

While I did have an income from Mr. Quid’s dealings, most of it was used for research fees, so there was not much left to pay for the expenses of living by myself. Until now, I had lived off the allowance that Mrs. Yuika had been sending to both Lady Maika and me. In other words, I used the village’s tax money for my studies. And I had a lot of fun. The taxpayers must have been furious that their hard-earned money was used this way, but as the person on the receiving end, it was an immensely pleasant feeling. It tasted like the forbidden fruit.

In any case, as the military academy was about to come to an end, I had been eagerly awaiting an invite, but to no avail. I was quite disheartened. But there was nothing I could have done. Lord Itsuki and Sir George must have been busy dealing with Lord Arthur’s incident. I’m sure that’s the reason. I did not want to think about any other possible explanation. I realized that I was an oddball, but I did not want to consider the possibility that it would have been politically safer to have me work somewhere further away to avoid trouble.

Well, things had calmed down again and there was still one month left until graduation. It was still possible that someone was going to invite me from here on out. Surely. Probably. Maybe.

If that failed, I would need to make use of my limit break and have some discussions. As such, I assumed it was almost certain that I was going to stay behind in the city, but it was not yet settled.

As I pointed a smile towards Lady Maika in an attempt to reassure her, I was met by the gaze of a carnivorous animal chasing its prey. There were no longer any traces of her earlier tears and shivers of loneliness. She looked like an animal ready to use its entire life force to bring down its prey.

“Ash, I need to go. I’ve got some urgent business to attend to.”

“...Ah... Sure.”

Her quiet voice sent chills down my spine. She really was Mrs. Yuika’s daughter. Being threatened with that type of voice almost made me fall in love with her. I think I really prefer strong women who lead me around by the nose to women who cry and rely upon me.

Imagining that Lady Maika may not have cried at all earlier made me happy.

But I wondered what her urgent business could have been.

From that day onward, I started getting treated to dinner on an almost daily basis. First, I was invited by the guards serving under Sir George’s command. As his adjutant, they were in fact also my subordinates, but since I was not officially appointed, I was not sure how to treat them. Generally, they were older than me and had overwhelmingly more experience too. Nevertheless, if they were going to pay for my meal, I was more than happy to tag along with these friendly bunch of older brothers and middle-aged men.

“Sir Adjutant Ash!”

At the guard’s regular drinking tavern, Roland, who was the leader of the soldiers under Sir George’s direct control, called out to me with a red face. Contrary to what his burly, muscular physique suggested, he had a well-organized brain stored away inside his bald head, which he put to use to help Sir George manage the equipment. While many soldiers subscribed to the supremacy of the body and brute force, he was a valuable exception making use of his brains.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Sir Adjutant, I’ve heard you’re about to graduate from the academy!”

“Yes, it has been two years already.”

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you.”

When I replied, Roland turned his beer mug upside down and pressed it against his lips before readily coming closer to my face.

“So what do you say, Sir Adjutant! After graduating, would you like to join the regional troops officially? We’d all be more than happy!”

All the others drew closer, agreeing with his statement.

“That would indeed not be a bad choice, but I cannot just decide that on my own. I would have to pass the enlistment exam first.”

“You don’t need that! And if anyone has a problem with that, we’ll put the screws on them!”

The others vigorously agreed with his extreme statement.

The muscular density in the room was something else. Sir George’s subordinates were all more or less good at non-manual labor, with Roland at the top, but their muscles were not just mere decorations either. The ones most likely to voice any complaints would have been everyone at the human resources department, but those were all influential people with whom it was preferable not to mess. And the big boss in charge of everyone was still the count himself.

“Well, please calm down for now. I do not want to waste your careers.”

“Our success is not really worth all that much! It’s thanks to you that the equipment management—that painful task—has become so much easier...!”

For some reason, the bald middle-aged man burst into tears. The others were also shedding tears while waving their tightly grasped fists.

“Sir Adjutant, please keep working with us!”

“We need you!”

“Without your processing power, work is going to get harder again...!”

“Don’t abandon us! Please, we’ll do anything!”

I would have loved to hear those lines coming from young beautiful women.

As if the three gods had heard my wishes, my next invitation was from a group of girls, consisting of Mrs. Rihn’s maid colleagues working at the administrative halls.

They were wearing simple, embroidered, dark blue dress robes. The design was similar to that of the uniforms worn by the priests. These common points demonstrated how the maid profession had its origin with the priests of the Church. I had heard that it was still the same design today because personnel from the Church had acted as civil officials when the kingdom was built from the rubble of the collapsed late period ancient civilization.

Even omitting that trivia, the Church was considered the starting point of the intellectual class. Regardless of gender, the common route to entering the stage of politics was through receiving education as a priest apprentice at the temple. As such, it was no surprise that the civil officials were attached to the uniforms they had worn since their training days. Of course, they were not exactly the same. Since maids also had to interact with guests of honor, their outfit was a more sophisticated and florid design.

For example, the collar was open with buttons up to the chest. It had a similar feeling to an evening dress. Depending on the cape, its impression changed, thus making it possible to match it to various occasions. For solemn ceremonies and important meetings, they wore a tight, long, and thick cape that gave them a composed look. Meanwhile, when showing up at busier places like tea parties or dinners, they loosened the cape, or alternatively they did not fix it at the front, wearing it open. Displaying the open collar, they invited people to have a closer look at them. It was also possible to casually wear it or not wear it at all, with all the chest buttons open. The latter came in handy when they needed to entice a womanizer.

But there was an even more frequent use for it. Namely, during winter hell, when their fangs came out and they were ready to pounce at the endless amount of work. As it was almost literally a fight for their lives, they naturally wanted to be as comfortable as possible. They looked like a secondary subordinate or even an outsider, but all of the maids working at the administrative halls during winter were glued to their desks in that outfit. As someone who had helped out in those hellish halls, I had grown accustomed to these exciting outfits. I had paid close attention to the maids’ aura, which screamed, “If any pervert’s going to interrupt me now, I’ll punch them in the face.”

Incidentally, all the maids who had invited me out to dinner were wearing those exciting outfits. However, there was no trace of their usual frightening aura.

“Do you like the meat, Ash? Do you want to eat more?” Mrs. Kikyo, the maid sitting in front of me with her chin resting in her hands, asked me with a sweet smile.

“Ash, I brought some more alcohol. Let’s drink!” My neighbor to the left was Azami, who snuggled into her seat with a jar of wine in her hands.

“U-Uhm... I-I...” On the right of me sat Renge, faltering with a bright red face.

The three of them were among the youngest maids. Mrs. Kikyo was already married, but the other two were single. That probably explained our seating arrangement. Sitting next to a married woman at dinner would have only created misunderstandings. Still, all of them were well endowed, so it was a sight to behold. I learned the true power of the maid outfits.

“The meal is extremely delicious, but do you not think you are all a bit too close?”

Especially from the left and right, a warm feeling enveloped my arms. While there was no such feeling at the front, I had a very good view thanks to Mrs. Kikyo’s slouching position at the table. While looking at her, I felt guilty towards her husband, but she just kept inviting me tilting her head and smiling.

“What else are we supposed to do? You know how bad our eyesight is. If we get any further away, it will look like we are glaring at you.”

Those maids who participated as fighters in the winter Hell all had bad eyesight as an occupational disease. As a result, their expressions often looked like they were glaring even though it was not the case. In fact, the aura screaming, “If any pervert’s going to interrupt me now, I’ll punch them in the face,” was a result of fatigue and eye strain for many. Of course, there were also maids who meant it and there had been cases of impudent fellows having their front teeth broken after manifesting themselves as perverts.

“I am aware of that. That is why I do not mind if you are all squinting.”

Since I was used to it, I would not have minded if they interacted with me at a normal distance.

After telling them this, the person on my left got even closer to me. “Hehe, do you not like this?”

Azami had drunk more wine herself than she had poured out for me, so her body temperature was hot. Unfortunately, I love this!

However, it would have been problematic to yell this out loud, so I tried acting like a gentleman.

“I am embarrassed because of how much I am enjoying it. You are all such lovely women, so I feel like I really need to restrain myself.”

It was tough. On the same level as taking on a bear in a one-on-one fight.

“Hehe, did you hear that, Renge? You should get closer too and make him even happier.”

“Y-Yes! A-Ash... p-please don’t mind me...!” Announcing her hug, Renge clung onto me with a bright red face.

Strange. I don’t remember coming to this type of bar? There won’t be any scary middle-aged man asking me for a sum that I definitely can’t pay after this, right?

As uneasiness mixed itself in with my happiness, Mrs. Kikyo started giggling. “Don’t worry, Ash. Consider this a token of gratitude from all the maids.”

“Gratitude?”

“Yes, for helping us out last winter as well as this winter.”

In order to research the distribution of goods and resources within the territory, as well as increase the production output again a bit to accommodate my needs, I was indeed helping them.

“Thanks to you, there is less of a burden on us.” Mrs. Kikyo’s voice sounded bittersweet.

I see. There’s still this much left even after reducing the workload.

Azami strongly agreed after emptying her glass of wine. “She’s right. We were at our limits, and every year there were people writhing in strange voices.”

“Teehee. There were at least three each year.” That really did sound like hell. “But last year it didn’t happen at all and this year we can already see how much easier it is. We can even have some time off like this in the middle of winter!” Mrs. Kikyo’s wink pierced straight through my heart.

Damn. This reminded me of Mrs. Yuika. Had she by any chance learned that technique here at the administrative halls?

“I-I-I’m... r-really glad th-that you helped... m-me directly with work. I-If I can do anything to repay you...” Renge expressed her gratitude with a bright red face.

Having her this close to me was already repaying me more than enough.

“It feels like this is excessive as a token of gratitude, so I will come help you again later.”

“Really?!”

After raising her face in delight for a moment, she once again faced down in embarrassment. Seeing that, Azami started petting the head of her junior over my shoulder.

“I’m happy for you, Renge. Ash said he’s enjoying himself.”

“Y-Yes...!”

Stuck between the lovely senior and junior maid, I turned into a happiness sandwich. Hopefully my upper lip had not extended and made me look like an idiot. I was too scared to check.

Worrying about Mrs. Kikyo’s gaze, I changed the subject. “I gladly accept your feelings of gratitude, but I am not the only one who helped you, so you should not give me any special treatment...”

Particularly this year, I was proud of what a big help the people from the study group had been. Mother Yae had even called us the strongest class in the history of the academy.

It appeared that Mrs. Kikyo was also aware of their competency. “Yes, if it were just you alone it probably wouldn’t have affected the workload that much. Starting with Lady Maika and Reina, I was surprised by all the students.”

“In that case...”

“However, all the students said the same. It is you who gave them their strength.”

“What?”

As I tilted my head to the side, I bumped into Renge’s head, who was still hugging me.

“Oh, I am sorry. Are you okay?”

“Eek! I-I-I’m fine, thank you for the bump!”

“You sound a bit off...”

Was she really okay? It was a light bump after all, so it could not have been too bad.

More importantly, I had to reply to Mrs. Kikyo. “It is true that I am teaching them at the study group, but their brilliance is a result of their own will and efforts.”

It did not matter how much effort I put into my teaching if someone did not work hard and did not have any motivation—they were never going to improve. And moreover, Lady Maika did a lot more teaching than me, so I felt bad receiving all the prestige.

“Th-That’s not true at all!”

There was a strong objection coming from my right in regards to my determination directed towards Mrs. Kikyo.

“Y-Yes, your own feelings and motivation are important, b-but there are some things that you just can’t do on your own. Y-Y-You gave them the push necessary to move forward!”

Azami was cheering Renge on as she stated her opinion. I almost felt like joining her cheering efforts. Renge’s breath was extremely heavy since earlier. I was worried that she was going to fall over from oxygen deficiency.

“And your help is extremely important and very welcomed...! S-So... You’re so cool!”

Renge’s eyes were tearing up as she looked straight at me. I did not see her taking any breaths for a while now, so she must have been in pain.

I looked at her, imploring her to resume breathing, as Mrs. Kikyo murmured something strange. “Renge is the only one that thinks you’re cool, you know? That’s not a shared opinion of the maids, so do with that information as you will.”

“Okay...?”

“By the way, I think you’re cute.”

That made sense considering the difference in age.

As I nodded in agreement, Azami took the opportunity to voice her opinion too. “I think you’re a laid-back guy.”

“I am flattered.”

What high praise. Even though I realized they said it out of gratitude, it put me in a good mood.

Meanwhile, Renge, who had praised me first, chimed in again. “D-Did I say something weird...?”

Having failed to resume her breathing, she finally fainted. Since she was still leaning against me, when she crumbled down, her head landed on my lap.

“Well played, Renge.”

“She’s a natural airhead.”

“Wait, you two, this is not the time to be joking. Should we not worry about her?”

They had nerves of steel, being able to have such banter in front of their fainted colleague. They must have grown accustomed to people falling over during winter Hell at the administrative halls.

Unfortunately, I was not as used to this kind of situation, so I parted her bangs to check on her. For now, she did not seem to be in any pain, and her breathing was normal. Her breasts were moving up and down regularly, meaning she had safely resumed breathing at a normal speed. However, the excitement factor of her chest had suddenly increased to a point where I could no longer take my eyes off it. I would have said that it was purely for medical reasons, but I was probably too fixated for that.

Mrs. Kikyo whispered to me in a sweet voice. “If you work here, we will be able to thank you like this in the future too.”

“And a lot. Hehe.” Azami was also whispering close to my ears.

What a passionate and charming proposal! Were they saying that, since there is a Hell here, there is also a Heaven?

“That is a very appealing proposal, but unfortunately, it is not that easy to get employed here.”

It was the height of regret. Heaven lay right beside me, but I could not enter.

“Don’t worry about that, Ash. If you’re interested, just let us know. We will have a word with Lord Itsuki.”

“Yes! If it’s you, one word is enough to get you employed right away!”

Imbued with a lingering attachment to heaven, I smilingly told them to stop joking, but Mrs. Kikyo and Azami both replied with a gorgeous smile.

“It really only takes one word. If Lord Itsuki refuses your job application, we will quit.”

“And that is the shared opinion of all the maids!”

While their mouths were smiling, their eyes were not. It was the same expression they had when they were exchanging blows with their work in the middle of hell.

My next invite came from Mr. Quid. He treated me to dinner in a private room at Chef Yacoo’s home restaurant, Cinnamon’s Light. Lately I had been eating so much delicious food that it felt like I had gained weight.

“I can’t believe it’s already been two years since you arrived in the city.”

“Yes, it was a blink of time.”

That reminded me that, when I first arrived at the city, Mr. Quid was showing me around and this pork is delicious. Its taste interrupted my nostalgia trip. As expected from Chef Yacoo. He had painstakingly seasoned the fat with the utmost care, giving me an explosion of taste inside my mouth.

“Don’t you agree that the food here is extremely delicious? You can’t get that back at the village.”

“Yes. Unfortunately, such an affluent village does not exist yet.”

I sighed before taking a sip of vegetable soup. The flavor of the soft vegetables blew through my nasal cavity right to my brain. I wanted to bring food as good as this to my hometown as soon as possible.

“By the way, I visited Chief Klein’s house the other day.”

“Oh, did something happen?”

Mr. Quid had continued to trade with Noscula village even after opening up his shop, but it was rare for him to go there himself. The important negotiations where he needed to be present usually did not take place in small villages. He was only supposed to go to the village for big negotiations, but Mr. Quid played it off with a smile.

“No, no. I just went there for a seasonal greeting.”

“Is that so? That sounds tough, considering how busy you are.”

I felt a bit sorry for a rapidly growing, up-and-coming merchant like him having to make courtesy calls at villages where he already had good relationships.

“This is an important part of the job too. Anyway, when I talked to Chief Klein and Lady Yuika, they gave me a letter for you.”

“For me? Not for Maika?”

How unusual of them. Their messages for me were normally included in letters for Lady Maika. This was the first time in the past two years that they had sent one directly to me. It was village chief Klein’s seal, but the letters were Mrs. Yuika’s handwriting. I was slightly excited to open a letter from my first crush in this world.

After Mr. Quid cut it open, I proceeded to read its contents.

Naturally, it was not a love letter. They congratulated me on finishing my two years at the military academy, and they praised me for my efforts that they had heard talked about in rumors. However, if that was everything that they wanted to tell me, they could have easily included it in a letter addressed to Lady Maika. The reason why they had gone so far to even include the village chief’s seal was the following passage:

“In anticipation of your further growth and flourishing, we will not stop our support for your continued activities in the city if that is in accordance with your wishes. As the head of Noscula village, I have also received permission from your parents. We strongly hope that you will follow your heart’s desires.”

Mrs. Yuika was a goddess. Who said there were only three gods? Just look at these divine words. It was almost as if she had directly heard my concerns. And the letter was not only filled with kindness, but it also carried the strength to push along a helpless, lost soul. If this was not a prophecy from a goddess, then what else could it be? My goddess had commanded me to play around without any reservations. Hooray!

As I was frolicking at the words of the divine goddess Yuika, Mr. Quid showed a gentle smile. Maybe he had also felt the divine power.

“Is it good news?”

“Yes! Very much so!”

“I’m glad to hear that it makes you happy—I owe you so much, after all. It was worth the trouble of rushing to the village.”

“Thank you!” I bowed with a bright smile brimming with hope for the future.

Although the way he had just put it almost made it sound as if he had gone to the village for my sake. Must be my imagination.

More than anything, I felt extremely blessed right now. I had received job offers from various places, and both my parents and my benefactor had given me their approval. This meant that I could stay in the city even after graduating from the academy. I had to give my best to live up to the expectations of the divine goddess Yuika. I’ll grow fast and flourish as much as I can!

The final invitation came from Lord Itsuki. Going by way of Lady Maika, the acting count had called us around for a private dinner. I saw it as a good opportunity to ask him his opinion on me getting a job with the military or at the administrative halls. Considering the guards’ enthusiasm and the maids’ smiles, this was bound to end in bloodshed if I did not talk things through with Lord Itsuki. It may have sounded like a joke, but the thought sent real chills down my spine.

Still, that kind of talk could wait until after the splendid dinner at the count’s mansion. Chef Yacoo had prepared some masterpieces that focused more on quality than quantity. It would have been rude to eat this while feeling nervous. The Hamburg steak was accompanied by a sauce made from grated apples this time. It had an exquisite bittersweet taste. Did he adjust the ratio of beef and pork to match the sauce? It tasted so refreshing that I could have eaten any amount of this.

“This is great. So delicious. Chef Yacoo really has created his own version of the Hamburg steak. What great skill and effort!”

While I nodded and tried eating as elegantly as possible, Lady Maika was awfully quiet next to me. Normally, she would have admired Chef Yacoo’s amazing Hamburg steak together with me, but today she was just silently eating. It was almost as if she did not taste its splendid flavor. Something was wrong.

“Maika?”

“Yes, Ash?”

Her voice was stiff, just like when she was nervous. Having been childhood friends for thirteen years, I could tell immediately.

Since it did not seem like she was unwell, I whispered to her with a sigh of relief. “I do not know what happened, but please ask for help before it gets too bad. I assume you do not want to let this delicious meal go to waste.”

“Y-You know something’s wrong?”

“Of course. Although you have become quite good at hiding your emotions.”

If not for her unnatural lack of excitement for her favorite food, I may not have noticed it either. According to anti-Maika intelligence, the Hamburg steak was extremely effective against her. That being said, it appeared that she was getting better at subtle communication. I decided to report her progress when writing my letter of gratitude to the divine goddess Yuika.

“But I’m no match for you, Ash.” With a composed expression, she dropped her shoulders and pouted. It seemed that her tension was gone, and she smilingly took a bite of Hamburg steak. “It’s so good.”

“Yes, we should encourage Chef Yacoo’s assistance to keep developing the cultural cuisine at this rate. That will surely also stoke enthusiasm for the agricultural development plan.”

Once people had enough to eat, they started fussing over quality. Someone who was not sure whether they were going to have food on their table tonight did not worry about selective breeding for the next harvest. It was easy to eat for the sake of living, but it was difficult to live for the sake of eating. That was exactly why we had to promote the agricultural development plan, which supported the foundation of food. After all, I wanted to eat delicious food until my belly was full. Yet another reason to peacefully stay in the city.

Catching a fleeting glance of Lord Itsuki, our eyes met. It appeared that he had also tried starting a conversation.

“That reminds me, Ash!”

“Yes, what is it, Lord Itsuki?”

I put down my cutlery and invited him to continue. Lord Itsuki dampened his lips with wine in order to get ready to talk.

“Don’t you think it would be better for you to stay in the city to progress that plan?”

“Yes, I agree.”

Or rather, it would definitely be impossible in the village.

“As a territory, we have invested a lot into that plan, so I would prefer to keep it going now. So, what do you think? Would you like to stay in the city and keep working on your plans?” Lord Itsuki took a deep breath and bent forward. “To be more specific, would you like to officially enter government service here?”

This was what they called a godsend.

After finally receiving the offer, I involuntarily smiled, but I immediately suppressed it. We were in the middle of a serious conversation, so I should not appear too sloppy. However, it backfired, and seemed to make Lord Itsuki anxious.

He started arguing vehemently with a stiff expression, saying, “I understand that you may be worried about your family in the village, but I will support you however I can.”

“What support do you mean?”

I would not have minded immediately agreeing to the offer, but I was curious about the conditions. It was not like I thought about getting him to increase the support. Not at all.

“We will provide you with accommodation, and I can promise you a good wage too. Considering your achievements, that is not a strange offer at all. I will also respect your wishes in regard to where you want to work.”

That was more than satisfactory for a farmer’s brat. I did not have any complaints. Except maybe that it sounded so good it was a bit scary.

“Those are some incredible conditions. Are you sure you want to show such lavish hospitality to someone like me?”

“I always considered soliciting you. Or rather, I had never thought about you leaving the city.” Lord Itsuki momentarily shifted his gaze towards Lady Maika. “At any rate, you seem to enjoy living here, and there are several ongoing projects that you started, so the possibility that you were going back to the village in the middle of all this never even occurred to me.”

As a matter of fact, I had never really considered it an option myself, so he was not wrong. Looking at my lifestyle, it was clear that I intended to live in the city.

Although he had done nothing wrong, Lord Itsuki apologetically looked right past me. “Thinking about it now, I was careless. My apologies. Would you mind staying in the city and lending me and the region your strength a little longer?”

Seeing him keep such a low profile brought something to my mind. And that something was sitting right next to me. All the happenings that had unfolded over the past few days... Looking back at it, they had started after my conversation with that certain someone sitting next to me.

“I understand that you already have offers from the armed forces and the administration... Both of them want your talent. If I offer you favorable working conditions, surely they will be happy for you and not complain.”

If he knew about their passionate recruitment techniques, he must have also come into contact with their enthusiasm.

“Did you by any chance also talk to them?” I asked.

“Yes, we directly negotiated. They had a quite threatening attitude.”

Lord Itsuki, who did not get agitated on the battlefield, had a distant look about him. It must have been scarier than any battle he had fought. I imagined that both instances were more like raids than negotiations. He was quite outspoken about getting thoroughly threatened.

“Therefore, as a result of listening to the opinions of my subordinates from both the military and the literary arts, as well as my own consideration, I would love for you to stay in the city even after you graduate. I invited you out here tonight to ask for your opinion. So, what do you think?”

“I am greatly honored.”

I was glad we had quickly reached a conclusion without me having to do any troublesome convincing. As such, I accepted with a broad grin.

“Oh! So you accept my offer!”

“Yes, with great pleasure. Just the other day, Mr. Quid delivered me a letter saying that Mrs. Yuika had received my parents’ approval, dispelling my only remaining worry.”

Although, to be honest, in regard to my parents, it was not really a big concern.

“I see! That’s great. I’m happy you accepted!” After nodding in delight, he raised both his clenched fists in Lady Maika’s direction. “Your uncle pulled it off, Maika!”

“Haha, you don’t have to celebrate this much. Ash will think of you as strange.”

I knew what was going on. This was the voice she used when she was trying to hide her impatience. Judging from the series of events, this must have been her doing. She probably devised various strategies after learning that I wanted to remain in the city. As expected from the beloved daughter of my divine goddess Yuika, she was growing stronger. How promising.