Chapter 38: To the Capital

Chapter 38: To the Capital

“Take care of the house in my absence, then.”

“Yes, of course. Please return safely, my lady.”

Mariel was now the head of the house rather than just the daughter of the viscount, but it seemed the servants still addressed her as they always had.

Well, I guess she was too young to be called madam or mistress. And the servants had likely worked under her for many years, so their relationship likely wouldn’t change until she got married. They might even see her as the same young lady even after she got married. It would probably take some time until that habit died out...

Mariel was under the protection of Count Maslias, the head of her parent house...which meant that House Raphael as a whole was part of his faction, as well. In any case, a marquis and faction leader had sent what was basically an order to appear in the form of an invitation, so we decided to head to the capital.

Count Maslias had departed ahead of us to make some arrangements beforehand.

And why was I here now, you might ask...

“Time to go, Kaoru.”

“Yes, my lady!”

That’s the deal. After Mariel had contacted me, we had exchanged several messages via letters handed off between the low-ranking and unremarkable servants, such as the laundry maids and scullery maids, and during that exchange we came up with this plan.

Yes, I was a lady’s maid. Mariel would be my mistress, of course. That was the plan.

A lady’s maid was in the upper ranks of the servantry and had quite a lot of privileges even at a young age. They received comparatively special treatment, and had authority over personal matters beyond that of an average housekeeper. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for one to be around her mistress at all times, and it was easy to maneuver in such a position.

And beyond that...

Francette, Roland, and Emile were cavalry guards. Belle was a nursemaid. Layette was a...nursed maid?

...Wait, what the heck is that?!

No, her role was to be nursed by Belle. I just made that up right now. And what’s more...

Ed and the four others were our riding horses and substitutes. We had riding horses for House Raphael’s guards, as well as horses for the carriage that Mariel and her servants would be using. There were many volunteer dogs and horses, so I picked out a team of elites.

All right, our preparations for the assault on the capital are complete!

...No, not really. I...absolutely cannot attack the capital with this team.

Since Mariel had been summoned by her faction leader, it was a given that he would use her as the star attraction to indicate to the aristocrats, royalty, and members of the Temple of the Goddess that the favor of the Goddess was with his faction.

So, just how much could they say? He was obviously planning on making Mariel spit out everything she knew, so she was likely worried about what she would do if he laid on the pressure.

She couldn’t put her own house or Count Maslias in a difficult position after all he had done for her, and she couldn’t afford to be at odds with the leader of her faction, the royal family, or the Temple of the Goddess. That would be quite troubling...

I decided to join Mariel on her visit to the royal capital undercover out of a desire to help her, because I didn’t want her blabbing about me, and because I wanted to squish the insects that plotted to harm Layette.

...Along with the hand-picked army of dogs and birds that were dying to join me.

Of course, we were all in disguise as Mariel’s guards and servants to avoid suspicion. It was pointless to try to keep the House Raphael Expedition Corps from standing out, so I had given up on that at the start.

...A carriage surrounded by dozens of dogs with various species of birds flying over it, with each of the animals patrolling and sweeping its perimeter, couldn’t hope to be the slightest bit inconspicuous.

Ahaha...

I had the others ride a separate carriage. Mariel, Belle, Layette, and I were in my carriage, and I desperately tried to dodge Mariel’s barrage of questions, complaining to Belle that it took away my opportunity to spend time with Layette. Ed went ballistic on me during breaks for not riding him, so that was great...

And so, the day before we arrive at the capital...

There they are. They finally showed up. A group of bandits had been waiting for us, even though it was extremely rare for anyone to be dumb enough to attack a guarded carriage that obviously belonged to the nobility.

Attacking aristocrats so close to the capital all but guaranteed they would be met with brutal retaliation from the noble house that had been attacked, along with the royal family and capital army, both of whose reputations would be slighted.

If they let such brigands do as they pleased, even more aristocratic carriages would be attacked, they would be looked down upon by the other noble houses, and the number of vehicles going to the capital would decrease drastically, including those from merchants.

In addition...

“There are a bunch of people lined up in front of them!” One of the birds flew in from ahead and stopped on the carriage to deliver the message.

Oho...

“Call for the others. Prepare for bombardment!”

“Got it!”

“Scenario 1-C, is it?”

“Yeah, probably. Let’s respond with number two in case it isn’t C.”

“Understood!”

After I informed Mariel of our intended response, she blew a whistle.

Our carriage slowed down, and our guards on horseback drew in closer. The dogs also gathered around the carriage, and the birds flew into the carriage one by one when the door opened.

“Okay, don’t go overboard, now. Just carry whatever you can.”

I brought out spheres with a thin film and glass balls, with handles on them to make them easier to hold for birds, and they each grasped one by the handle and flew off.

We’d practiced many times, so they took off without any issues.

All right, let’s do this!

“Stop! Stop, or we’ll kill all...”

Slash!

Ah... Francette rushed in with incredible speed, then cut down the bandits at the front, who had seemed to be issuing a threat.

Well, he did say he was going to kill us, so they were definitely bandits and this was absolutely just self-defense.

“Y-You...”

Wsh!

“What the! L-Listen...”

Fwsh!

“Listen to...”

Stab! Slash! Slash!

Oh, there go Roland, Emile, and Mariel’s guards too. They were like fish biting at every cast of the line... Well, maybe not exactly. In any case, the bandits got cut down rather one-sidedly, one by one. They were just completely outclassed...

“Th-This isn’t what I signed up for! Wait, stop, pleeease!!!”

Slash! Swsh! Fsh!

There had been over twenty bandits to start with, but now only about half remained. Then...

“Run! Retreat! Retreeeat!!!” the man who seemed to be the leader of the bandits shouted.

...But their escape had been cut off.

“You’re not going anywhere! Hmhm. Heheheheh...”

Francette, you sound like a villain...

“They’re moving!” a messenger from the bird troops alerted me. It was a plain-colored and unassuming little bird.

“All right, begin the attack!”

“Got it!” the messenger answered and flew off energetically.

Now it was time to finish this.

“Hey everyone, don’t forget to capture about half of them, okay? To all you bandits, we decided to kill anyone who resists and take those who surrender captive, so it’s your choice!”

Clang, clang, clang!

Huh, all the remaining bandits dropped their weapons. How pathetic...

Meanwhile...

Boom, bang, boooooom!

“Aaahhhhhh!!!”

The platoon of infantry and about ten mounted soldiers who had been on standby rushed out, now that they had been called to action, but explosions suddenly erupted on the ground before them. Their horses abruptly changed directions or stopped in their tracks, causing complete chaos.

...Indeed, the glass balls, filled with something like nitroglycerin, had been dropped from the sky.

In addition...

Splish. Plsh, splash, splash...

Something soft landed on the soldiers.

“Blaaaaaargh!!!”

An unholy stench emanated from among them. The soldiers vomited violently. The horses went half-mad, trying to buck the soldiers from their backs, as they were the source of the horrid smell.

One after another, the birds landed the terrible-smelling fluids, each enclosed in a container of thin film, on the soldiers, then regained altitude to soar back into the sky. Afterward, they confirmed the results of their bombardment, and then flew away.

The soldiers couldn’t calm the horses down, and they couldn’t even get near their targets with such a god-awful smell on them. If they tried to force their way closer, the horses on the other side would start going crazy, too. Not to mention, they could be mistaken for attackers themselves, and no one would let them get anywhere close smelling like this. Anyone who approached you smelling like that had to have ill intentions.

And once the target approached them, they stood blocking the road, looking extremely suspicious...

It went without saying that they were assumed to be enemies. There was no way anyone would listen to their explanations or agree to travel with them otherwise.

It would have been one thing if they were emissaries of the king himself, but some noble house’s personal guards had no authority to order a bunch of aristocrats around. Anyone who did such a thing couldn’t really complain if they were immediately recognized as hostiles and consequently attacked.

“Damn it, what’s going on?! The orders, these explosions, the birds, and this horrible-smelling bird crap... None of it makes sense! We were supposed to fend off the bandits attacking some nobles without killing or injuring them, then escort them to the capital... It was all a charade... Maybe all this scheming has upset the Goddess and... Wait, don’t tell me...!”

The commander’s face immediately paled. He had heard many stories of what happened to those who upset the Goddess Celestine. If those were true stories rather than myths...

This commander had also heard of the Goddess’s miracles that recently happened in a certain city. He hadn’t considered that this had anything to do with that incident, since he hadn’t been given any additional details along with his orders. However, when he mentioned the Goddess’s displeasure in his frustration, another situation beyond comprehension, involving aristocrats and birds, flashed in his mind.

“Bird aristocrat... N-No, abort mission! Get away from the road, quickly! Hide somewhere out of view!!!” the commander shouted, raising his voice in a panic, then moved away from the road and into the woods, pulling at his resisting horse...

“The humans up ahead have retreated.”

“Thanks. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t try anything funny with us, okay?”

“As you wish.”

The messenger this time was a bigger bird. Maybe they had sent a bird with a bigger brain capacity; that is, a smart one, in case I had specific instructions. This one should be able to understand more complex orders... Wait, why was it so smart? I thought they called them “birdbrains” for a reason! This is all because Celes had forced knowledge into my head, in order to make the ability to comprehend all languages possible... No, I shouldn’t think about it!

“My lady, it appears the soldiers ahead of us have moved aside. Chances of them letting us pass without harassment: 70%. Chances of them appearing to make contact with us: 20%. Chances of them attacking us...should be below 10%, I believe.”

“I see... Then let’s proceed.” Mariel said, nodding in response to my made-up calculations as she made her decision. Then Belle relayed Mariel’s message to the driver, which the driver passed on to the other carriages and guards via whistle signals.

The eight bandits who had been captured had been stowed tied up in the carriage. We had already gone through a lot of food, fodder and other consumables, and it wasn’t like we were a merchant caravan. Aristocratic passenger carriages weren’t going to be filled to the brim with supplies. The carriages for the attendants and guards had a good amount of room, and could fit about eight people. ...And there was no need to consider comfort for these captives.

In any case, there were currently five people riding in my carriage.

Me, Mariel, Belle, Layette...and one bandit. Yes, one of them was riding in the same carriage as us.

“It’s time for your questioning! Let’s have some fun, shall we?!”

Oh, maybe I should get rid of that smell.

They had just followed their superiors’ orders, so I felt bad about that stench soaking into their expensive equipment...

I decided to spray a smell-neutralizing agent when we passed by them. Making it appear in the form of mist, without a container and directly above them, should do the trick.

Yup, you can’t forget the spirit of benevolence.

“Hm... So the plan was to stop us, then when the soldiers came riding in while you were threatening us, you were supposed to run away without harming anyone...”

Nod, nod, nod.

“So you were in cahoots with those soldiers, then?”

“I-I don’t know about that... Our boss was killed, and we were just doing what he told us to...” The bandit in our carriage told us everything he knew.

For some reason, he became extremely cooperative when I said, “If you don’t talk, I can just kill you and talk to someone else.”

Now that their leader had died and all their surviving comrades had been captured, there was no reason for them to try to act noble or keep secrets. There was no denying that they were bandits, and it was no surprise that they chose to cooperate in hopes of finding better work as judicial slaves, ideally somewhere other than in the mines.

And if they knew what was going on, they could get off easier just by saying, “We were just told to act like we were going to attack a group of people, and we aren’t real bandits. We’re just some thugs who got hired for money.” They might get off with a lighter punishment this way, so there was no reason for them to keep any secrets at this point. ...That meant that only their dead boss actually knew anything of value.

...I messed up. I should have captured their leader alive...

But I didn’t even know who their leader was at that point, and we didn’t have much of a choice other than cutting them down without hesitation. Francette would’ve been fine, but the other guards could have been injured or killed otherwise. ...That went for Roland and Emile, too.

Besides, it was highly likely that, even if we had gotten the leader’s testimony, it would likely have been dismissed as a self-serving lie, and he’d end up getting silenced via assassination.

Well, it wasn’t like they had plotted to hurt Mariel, and they really just wanted to make her owe them as a way in, so it wasn’t too much of an offense.

And to find the real culprit behind all this, I didn’t have to ask the bandits, who might have not even told the truth. ...There wasn’t even any guarantee that their client gave the bandits their real name.

It was pretty standard practice to use the name of an aristocrat from an opposing faction when hiring criminals. I had to go with something more foolproof.

Yes, I had about three birds tracking them. I wanted to find out where and who those soldiers were reporting to.

Crows are very intelligent creatures. They can recognize individual humans and remember them for quite a long time. So, I wasn’t expecting too much, but if things went right, I had a chance of finding out who put these bandits up to this...

“We’ve arrived,” Mariel said, as she finished watching the road ahead with her head out of the window, and withdrew back inside.

The rest of us took turns poking our heads out of the window, finding long stretches of stone walls to either side, a townscape of stone buildings, and a building that looked like some sort of castle or temple.

...It was the nation’s capital, which is why it was defended by its castle walls that surrounded its entire perimeter.

“Whoaaa, so big...” Layette was right. It was far bigger than the only other major city in this country, the one where Layette’s Atelier was located — the capital city of Litenia in the Kingdom of Jusral.

Commerce was thriving because merchants were powerful here, which meant they had a strong economy, which likely was the reason they had grown so big. ...It seemed it was pretty different from the countries that focused on powerful militaries.

But you couldn’t have a lot of military power without economic power.

Actually, there were some places that used most of their national budget on their military despite being poor. So maybe the size of the capital and the impressiveness of its castle walls weren’t an indicator of a country’s overall power.

Hmm... So complicated...

...Okay, I’m done thinking about this.

It was just a waste of time.

Now, what to do once we get to the capital...

Mariel’s group, which included us, would be guests at the capital residence of House Raphael’s parent house, House Maslias.

A poor viscount couldn’t afford a capital residence. We would normally stay at a fancy inn for aristocrats, but we couldn’t do that this time.

If we got a room at an inn as soon as we arrived in the capital, it would be asking for everyone from nobles, merchants, religious folks, and people looking to get rich quick to come storming the building to talk to Mariel, who was known as the Bird Aristocrat and the Goddess’s beloved child. We couldn’t count on the aristocrats from her faction either. In fact, they would probably be even worse.

So Count Maslias insisted that we stay at his capital residence instead, for her safety rather than for financial reasons. No one disagreed with his reasoning.

That meant Mariel and the others should be safe for now. Though, that didn’t cover any time she would spend meeting with other nobles from her faction, or when they took her to the royal palace, temple, or some big-time merchant’s place...

Of course, we would be with her as her attendants and guards if that did happen. We were using up the limited slots for the number of people she could bring with her, so we had to fulfill our duty. Besides, I had requested to come with her in the first place so I could give her support if she ever needed it.

Even though I did what I did to help Mariel, per Carlos’s request, this had all happened because of me, so I had to deal with the aftermath...

Well, that was actually fine. I just had to deal with whatever came at her. The problem was the main reason I decided to come to the capital as Mariel’s support.

Yes, I still needed to find out who hurt Layette and have a “conversation” with them.

It would have been fine if they had gone for me.

If they had targeted me directly, I would have just wiped them out and dealt the finishing blow. I would have been satisfied with inflicting a fatal wound.

But the people that went after my friends that I hold dear...

The people who injured and nearly killed those orphans...

They’re done for.

They had made moves against us in that city. Now that Mariel was here, a person who was thought to have been in contact with the Angel they were after, there was no way they wouldn’t try something.

And no one would suspect that the so-called Angel herself would be with her the whole time.

There would be folks who’d try to take Mariel in and use her.

If there was anyone among them who seemed more interested in the Angel rather than Mariel herself and tried to get information out of her...

I will crush them. ... Squish them like grapes.

And I would do it in such a way that no one would ever fathom trying anything with the Angel or anyone around her. It would need to be a truly fear-inducing method, with plenty of publicity around it...

There was no need to send a message to the general public.

Most people had absolutely no intention of slighting Celes or anyone related to her.

But there were fools who thought they could take advantage of friends of the Goddess just because they had a little bit of money and authority.

When they catch a whiff of what I had planned in their information networks that they had built with all their money and power...

Haha.

Hahahahaha!

“We’re about to cross through the city gates.”

Okay, I was tripping out a little there... Belle had to pull me back to reality.

In any case, we were finally arriving at the capital.

Of course, the line of aristocratic carriages didn’t have to go through an examination upon entering the gates.

A retainer had gone ahead to take care of the procedures so that the carriages could pass through without halting. A guide from Count Maslias’s household who had been waiting for us guided us in.

The Raphael household knew where Count Maslias’s house was located, but this move not only served as a sort of welcoming ceremony for important guests, but also prevented anyone from intercepting Mariel on her way to Count Maslias’s place.

Stopping a line of carriages that were being led by the host would not only be outrageously discourteous, but one could be assumed to be hostile and attacked immediately for doing so. Not only that, but the leader and those involved would be executed.

That was the obvious punishment for attacking aristocrats in the capital. It would dishonor the king, the leading aristocrats, and every influential merchant and reserve soldier in the capital, so even a high-ranking aristocrat wouldn’t escape unscathed.

...And so, this bug repellant was working like a charm.

As expected, there were several people who looked like “the type” staring with resentment at the lead horse and two mounted guards, each featuring Count Maslias’s crest, as well as the line of House Raphael’s carriages.

Count Maslias was very lenient when it came to Mariel, but he took the proper measures against other influential aristocrats.

It seemed that I would be able to focus all of my resources on luring out my enemy without having to divert any of my forces to protect Mariel while she was under Count Maslias’s care.

...As such thoughts crossed my mind, Belle spoke up.

“I don’t think there are very many people who are brave enough to try something with all those dogs around us and birds overhead.”

Huh, so, those expressions on their faces weren’t resentful, but dumbfounded and astonished.

Well, whatever. It didn’t make much difference.

And so, we arrived at the capital residence of Count Maslias.

Count Maslias had arranged things with various departments for us beforehand, and now welcomed us upon arrival.

Someone had gone ahead to give them advance notice of our arrival, and Mariel was led straight to the bath that had been readied for her.

A servant from the count’s household tried to attend to her while she was bathing, but Mariel vehemently refused. Mariel’s own attendants ended up going with her instead.

...Yes, that was me, along with Belle and Layette.

Mariel had done this out of courtesy, figuring we wouldn’t have the chance to take a bath if she let the count’s attendants take care of her.

I mean, no aristocrat would let a servant bathe in a bath intended for their important guests...

Apparently, Mariel couldn’t stand the thought of getting to take a bath while we would only get to wipe ourselves down with a towel using sink water.

...Though, that was understandable.

Even though I was pretending to be her servant and Mariel was playing along pretty well, there was no way she could stomach that when she thought I was a goddess. She was only going through this act and taking it so seriously in the first place because I told her that this was necessary and the will of the Goddess.

And so, she used this opportunity to say she wanted me to attend to her bath so we could go in there with her. Belle and Layette were thus able to enjoy the benefits, as well.

To be honest, I was thankful, so, I decided to accept Mariel’s generosity.

...And I pretended not to hear the creepy voice saying, “Bathing together with the Goddess... Kehe... Kehehe...”

Francette was our knightly guard, so it would have been a bit of a stretch to get her in too. I felt bad for her, but she was gonna have to sit this one out. There were no hard feelings, really. It couldn’t be helped.

...I don’t want to talk about bathing anymore.

I’m never taking a bath with Mariel again.

Once we were done bathing, it was time to meet up with Count Maslias to work out a plan of attack. The meeting’s participants were the count, his two subordinates, Mariel, me, Belle, and Layette. Belle was with me as my guard, and I only brought Layette because I couldn’t just leave her alone. Those two didn’t actually have anything to do with the meeting.

Seeing the three of us in attendance, the count gave us a dubious expression, and I honestly couldn’t blame him. As the lady’s maid, maybe me being there wouldn’t have been completely ridiculous, but he must have been confused by the presence of Belle the nursemaid and Layette the nursed maid. We had Francette, Roland, and Emile stay out of it because it would have been unnatural for mere guards to be in the meeting, but this pretty much defeated the purpose of doing so.

Well, we had too many people from our side, so I had no choice but to exclude those three, anyway.

“...Hm? You there...”

Huh, did the count recognize me?

“Ah, yes, I’ve met you at Ma... Viscountess Raphael’s house.”

Crap, I almost said “at Mariel’s place”!

The servants at House Raphael called her different things, whether “my lady,” “Lady Mariel,” or “Miss Mariel,” so it should be fine. He would probably just assume I was about to say “my lady” and corrected myself when I realized we weren’t at home.

“After that incident, I took note of her wisdom and hired her as a lady’s maid. I’m sure she will be a great help for us,” Mariel said, and the count seemed to accept that.

“Hm, what was it you called yourself? A di...det...”

“I am the one who seeks and investigates truth. A detective, sir.”

One truth prevails!

And so, the meeting began.

Thanks to Mariel supporting me when the count realized who I was, I was acknowledged as Mariel’s advisor rather than as an ordinary lady’s maid, so I was granted the right to give my input in this meeting...I think. That’s what it felt like, anyway. That was some unexpected luck!

And so, the discussion really began...

According to the viscount, the so-called leader of the faction that called Mariel to the capital was on top of the world right now. This country had various political and business circles, from the royal court faction with the king at its top, the merchants’ faction with the Commerce Guild at their back, the religious faction that had integrated itself with the Temple of the Goddess. Then there was a mid-level noble faction that didn’t really stand out too much. That was the faction that Count Maslias and House Raphael belonged to.

A “beloved child of the Goddess” had appeared from a noble house within his faction, which was quite a big deal. Apparently, he was pretty excited about the thought of using this opportunity to increase his influence and eventually expanding his faction to the greatest heights possible.

Ah...

And so, he had been scheming...I mean, planning all sorts of ways to use Mariel as a publicity tool to increase his influence.

I mean, the beloved child of the Goddess sounded a lot more appealing than the royal family, which were ordinary people who were just descendants of people who happened to be kings a long time ago. These people have never performed miracles or had connections with the Goddess or received her visions. She would be very enticing to the nobles, the temple, the merchants, and even the common people...

It was no wonder they were making such a big deal out of her.

“The faction leader, Marquis Cedric, is planning to take Mariel around to the Temple of the Goddess and the merchants in order to lure them into his own faction, regardless of their occupations. Of course, this includes the lower and mid-class nobles directly related to them, as well...”

That was a pretty standard strategy for someone who had obtained a ridiculously powerful weapon...

“And of course, the other factions would do anything to claim Mariel as one of their own. If it came down to it, they’d try to take me along with her. Hahaha...” the count said, laughing dryly.

The other factions seemed to assume that the relationship between Count Maslias and House Raphael was just that of a parent house and the house under it, and that Mariel didn’t have any particular loyalty toward Count Maslias, due to having just taken her seat as the head of the household. They likely didn’t even imagine that he had taken care of her since childhood, and that she had remarkable devotion to and trust in him.

And regarding the idea of taking in the entire count’s household with her, I couldn’t comment without knowing his current standing within his faction and how he had gotten there. But judging from the weak smile the count was putting on, it seemed he didn’t have the power to influence the faction in any meaningful way.

“And it’s not just the various factions of aristocrats vying for Mariel, but the royal palace and Temple of the Goddess also want her as their own, and the merchants are desperate to get in contact with her to secure their financial gain. When Mariel meets with Marquis Cedric, I will be in attendance, as the head of her parent house and her guardian, but I can’t be there when he takes her around the city. If he tries to have her commit to any unfavorable promises...”

“You want us to support her, I presume?”

“Yes, I’m counting on you. And do be wary of any talks involving marriage, sponsoring domains, becoming a shrine maiden, attending parties at the royal palace, or marriage,” the count said, pressing the point further.

...But why did he mention marriage twice? Was it really that important?

Our meeting with the count continued for some time before breaking up. We had what seemed to be the epitome of an aristocrat’s dinner, then each of us retired to our rooms. Mariel later told me nobles didn’t actually have dinners like one this every night. Only for special occasions and when guests were over.

...I guess that should’ve been obvious. Forget about the expenses; if anyone ate like this every night, they’d get sick and die early! Since I was a servant, I didn’t get my own room, of course, but shared one with Layette and Belle.

...The guys? Who knows.

Belle strongly insisted that she have the privilege of sleeping with Layette, so I let her. I could sleep with Layette whenever I wanted, after all. As a knight, Francette wasn’t one to let her guard down in foreign territory. Apparently, she was going to move the desk to the door, put a vase on it, then sit under the window and sleep with one knee up and her sword in her arms.

...Yeah, I figured.

When I awoke the next day, the table in front of the door had already been returned to its original place, and Francette stared into my eyes with her sheathed sword in her left hand.

...Our faces were about ten centimeters apart.

That’s kinda freaky! I actually screamed out loud!

I ended up lecturing her not to do it ever again, but she seemed unhappy about that.

Damn it, I’ll do the same thing to her next time! Let’s see how you like the feeling of your heart stopping!

Breakfast time.

It was quite a lot of food. People woke up early in this world, and farmers, hunters, woodcutters, and people who went on journeys or had to prepare their lunch out in the field couldn’t spend too much time preparing their meals, much less ingredients or water. Of course, that included soldiers who were operating outdoors. So eating a big breakfast and a simple lunch, then taking the time to enjoy an early dinner with their friends was the standard practice.

...Yeah, as someone who’s used to the Japanese style, I still couldn’t get used to huge breakfasts even after being here for five years. Well, I had usually made my own breakfast during that time, so I still ate light in the morning like most people in Japan did. As such, I never did get used to how they did morning meals here.

But when aristocrats ate with guests over, it was normal to serve a boatload of food and leave whatever they couldn’t finish, so it was no problem if I didn’t finish it all.

“That only applies to Lady Mariel and the other aristocrats! It’s customary for us servants to finish whatever we are served!” Francette pointed out.

We had been invited to the feast last night as a token of appreciation and to put Mariel at ease, but of course, the servants and mistress didn’t dine together after that.

...Yeah, I had expected that. So, I had no choice but to swap it with Francette’s pretty-much-empty plate of food.

...Don’t give me that exasperated look! You’re not fuel-efficient, so I know you need more food. This is a win-win for us!

And so, we all went to the faction leader’s place together.

...All of us except Belle and Layette, that is.

Unlike me, the lady’s maid, and Francette, Mariel’s guard (and able to stay near Mariel even while she was changing or out picking flowers), it would be quite a stretch to ask for the nursed maid to come along...

Roland and Emile joined as guards for the carriage, and would wait in the next room during meetings in case something happened. When the faction leader took Mariel around in a few days, Francette and I would be the only ones who could accompany her, at best. If we tried to bring some other man as a guard, it would be like saying we didn’t trust the faction leader or his own guards’ abilities. That would have been too much of a slight for him to ignore.