BXBX NOVEL Vol. 2 - Chapter 50 - Work
He still hasn't gotten used to the smell of the mansion. It smells like an old wooden building he has smelled somewhere before. He can't remember if it was a library or a museum.
I use the Grimoire to check the recovery of my mana. I did my daily routine of consuming mana. It's already November, so the sun rises late, but it's time to get up.
This is my room. I was given a room for one person. The Baron's mansion has three floors, but this room is on the fourth floor i.e. attic. It's a three tatami-mat sized room with a low ceiling and it was filled with seasonal furniture and tableware that are not normally used.
There is no bed in this little room, and I sleep on a futon. I was told that this room was chosen for me because the beds in the male servant's room were already occupied.
I had heard that the male servant's room was for four people, so I was delighted to find a room for one. There was privacy here which allowed me to perform summons.
(It's twice as big as the seat room at the Internet cafe. That's more than enough.)
When I was Kenichi, I would sometimes play games at an Internet cafe. So he was used to it. It's more than enough, isn't it? I have no complaints at all about this small fourth floor room.
I changed my clothes and went down to the first floor. These are the servants' black clothes. I was told not to get them dirty as they were my uniform. I was also given my regular clothes, which I had just changed into, and they were also better than the ones I had worn as a serf.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
I was greeted by Rickel, the head servant. He told me to come over here, so I sat down in front of him. He is a senior who takes good care of me. How are you doing? He asks me every day how I'm doing and if I've learned my job.
"How are things going with Miss Cecile?"
He seemed a little worried. "She usually seems to follow you exclusively right after you become a servant. I'm sure you'll be able to understand why." Rickel is not an exclusive servant, but is a caretaker for the servants.
We ate a meal while talking. It was bread and vegetable soup. There was a small piece of meat in the soup.
"Yes, that was yesterday."
I told him about the airship I saw while I was sent to buy some Popo nuts.
"So, you've never seen a magic ship before?"
"A magic ship?"
He told me that they were ships made of magic tools. There are about three trips a month to and from the Royal Capital. You can go there with only one gold coin each way, so if you have enough money, you can easily take a ride on the magical ship.
On the first floor, there is a large clock, and there are also several magical lights. I heard from Peromus that they are powered by magic stones.
He tells me a lot of things, but now it's time for the owners of the mansion to start waking up. I leave Rickel and say, "I'll be going now."
I go to Cecile's room with a junior servant, a maid. Cecile's room is on the third floor, right below mine.
The maid will make Cecile change her clothes, so I wait for her to change and then I enter her room. I organize the bed, collect the nightgown, and clean the room. It was a complete mess.
There were two jobs that Allen was told to do by the butler, Sebas.
Cecil's personal care and
Serving.
Sebas told him to serve Cecile because of his good looks. Allen is not aware of it, but he is quite good-looking. At the age of eight, his good looks began to stand out more and more. He has rare jet-black eyes and hair. Sebas asked Allen to serve her when she had visitors as well.
He was told that the serving would be done by a good-looking maid or manservant. Rickel said he had never done this before.
In order to learn how to serve, he usually serves the Baron's household.
I take care of Cecile in the mornings, but she takes lessons during the day. So, I'm never called upon to do anything during the day.
There are about thirty servants taking care of the Lord. The house is certainly large, but there is not that much housework. Some of them have many important roles, such as butlers, but still, they have a lot of free time as well.
For now, I am washing dishes with the maids until Cecile calls me.
(Wasn't it two half days out of six days off?)
The servants also have days off; out of the six days in a week, there are two half days off in the afternoon.
On other days, some servants finish their work by 5:00 p.m. Allen serves dinner for the Baron's family, so he finishes his day's work between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.
If there are guests or very important people at the dinner party, he has to work until much later.
In the evening, I serve the Barons as they eat in the dining room on the second floor.
The food in this world seems to be a coarse meal, and it takes a long time to bring one dish at a time. There are people outside the room carrying the next dish to be served, so I have to carry the meal in and out of the room. There are three waiters, including Allen. It's not that busy.
"Allen seems to have gotten used to the job."
He got praised by the Baroness for his job as well.
"Thank you. It's all because of my senior's teachings."
I bowed my head and thanked her. The Baroness's eyes widened and she said.
"My goodness! Were you really a serf?"
When Allen was Kenichi, he had been a company employee for more than ten years and had also worked in customer service, but not in the food and beverage industry. He had only a few years of experience in the hospitality industry. He did the serving job by imitating waiters.
He was imitating a waiter in a luxury hotel that you see on TV, in a comic book, or in a movie. He does it with his senses and atmosphere.
"But, you're not talented, are you?"
Cecile enters the conversation between Allen and the Baron and Baroness.
"Yes, that's what the priests told me at the appraisal ceremony." Allen replied.
He never says in his own words that he had no Talent. It was the priest who told him that he had no Talent.
"Is that so? I am a Mage?"
She said as if she was proud of something.
"Yes, Miss Cecile. It's a wonderful Talent, isn't it? It's not every day you get to see a Mage."
She seems to want to be praised, so I praise her with all my might. Cecile was smiling. It's because of this habit of Allen that Cecile gets involved with him, but he doesn't notice.
(Mage? Was there such a thing? I thought the Magician had one star and a Great Mage had three stars. A Mage would then be a two stars, right? That's quite a Talent.)
When Allen was Kenichi, he recalled researching each Talent when choosing a Talent before going to another world.
"Cecil! I've told you many times! Don't talk too much about talents." The Lord spoke.
"I'm sorry, Father..."
Baron Granvelle got angry at Cecil's attitude.
"And you, Thomas. Don't cry about it."
"I'm sorry, father. I'm the only one who didn't have any Talent. My brother and sisters have it too ..."
Thomas, Cecil's older brother, who was sitting next to her, was crying.
"It doesn't matter what Talent you have. How many times have I told you that? You will be admitted to the House of Lords in the Royal Capital, haven't I?"
"But I want to go to Academy City."
"I can't do that. The House of Lords is a great place. That's where my father went. He didn't have any Talent either. That's also where I met your mother."
"Well" said the Baroness, putting her hands to her cheeks. She seemed to remember her days in the House of Lords.
(So, even if you're from a noble family, you can't go to the Academy City without Talent? The nobleman's academy is for nobles with Talent. Well, it's a world where Talent is hard to come by for nobles.)
It's a world where talents are more likely to appear in lowly commoners and serfs. And because Cecile, his sister and his older brother had a Talent, Thomas was very depressed at his own lack of Talent.
Squeak!
(Why is Cecile staring at me so hard?)
When I was thinking about the relationship between nobility and Talent, I felt a strong stare. She's glaring at me as if to say, "My father was angry at me because of you." I continued to serve her, avoiding eye contact.
This was how Allen finished his work for the day.