The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family Chapter 34 : Chapter 34

Chapter 034

Rosetta, the Second Dining Hall of House Adeline, had an atmosphere completely unlike usual.

As I stepped inside and looked around, I could not help being fairly surprised.

The people working there—especially those cooking in the kitchen—wore serious expressions.

That much would have been true on ordinary days as well, but today sothing felt a little different.

“They are in high spirits.”

Everyone was enjoying the cooking.

At the sa ti, there was a sense of pride in the dishes they were making.

I soon learned the reason why.

“The newly contracted rchant company is delivering excellent ingredients this ti. Thanks to that, the taste will be twice as good as before. Hahaha!”

Chef Ramsay looked genuinely delighted.

He was the Head Chef, yes, but the matter of supply contracts with the rchant companies was not sothing he could control himself, so he had always carried that worry in his chest.

“Chef. The dish is finished.”

At that mont, soone ca out from the kitchen carrying a neatly plated dish. It was a simple stir-fry of vegetables and at, but the sll alone seed enough to make my stomach convulse.

Ramsay stared at the food for a mont, then gave a crooked grin.

After that, he looked at .

“You have not eaten yet, have you?”

“How did you know?”

“Because your face clearly says you ca here hungry.”

Smiling, I nodded.

Taking the dish, Ramsay set it on the table beside him. Then he gave an order to one of the cooks.

“Bring a fork and knife here. I intend to ask our young apprentice lord for a tasting.”

“Yes, Chef.”

The cook bowed lightly, then returned with an elegant knife and fork, along with a napkin. Ramsay, who had been watching all this, gestured to the seat.

“Sit.”

“Is this really a dish I am allowed to eat? A bit of leftover bread would have been enough for .”

This was not the sort of food an apprentice could normally touch. One would have to be at least a minor noble to be served sothing like this.

at was precious, after all.

But Chef Ramsay gave a peculiar smile.

“I hear you accomplished sothing rather grand this ti. The rumor is all over the place.”

“It has spread even this far?”

“Of course it has. This place may fall a little short of Prira, but nobles still co here to dine. How could rumors not spread?”

“I see.”

I gave an awkward smile and rely held the fork and knife. Only then did Ramsay belatedly smile in embarrassnt and urge to eat.

As though I had been waiting for permission, I speared the at and put it into my mouth.

It lted.

To be honest, the first ti I ever heard soone say that at lted in the mouth, I thought, How could at possibly lt in your mouth?

But now I could feel it happening.

They had clearly used at of the finest quality.

How long had it been since I last tasted sothing truly delicious?

“It is really excellent. Of course, compared to what you cook yourself, Chef, it falls just a little short.”

“Hahaha! That much is true, but that fellow is quite skilled himself. He has more than enough talent to lead Rosetta in the future.”

This was nearly the first ti I had ever heard Chef Ramsay praise another person. That cook from earlier really must have been capable.

“But how in the world did you end up saving the Young Lady? There are so many rumors now that one of them even says you used to belong to the Royal Knight Order.”

The Royal Knight Order? That had gone far too far.

I had read a little about them while working in the library. They were said to be a group made up of only the finest elite knights, a dedicated order that moved solely under royal command. I had heard that only those with the greatest skill on the continent could enter it.

I may be rather impressive now, but I was still nowhere near their level.

“I was simply fortunate. I happened to be enjoying the festival, and there were suspicious n near the place where the Young Lady was staying, so I subdued them.”

“So you have learned Swordsmanship as well.”

Ramsay muttered that while looking at the sword hanging at my waist. I nodded.

“I was recently granted permission to go ard. Now I can even wear it inside the mansion.”

“Remarkable. There has never been an apprentice like this before. Are you really an apprentice, or are you already a butler?”

“Hahaha.”

The line sounded oddly familiar, and I burst out laughing.

I did not attach too much significance to what he said. Rumors were always like that. They boiled up fiercely for a while, then died down soon enough. And in a house like the Adeline Marquis House, one could be certain that more incidents would keep coming sooner or later.

“But how much reward money did you receive? I heard you were rewarded.”

“Oh, just an appropriate amount. It was not given directly by the Master. Head Butler Yanrof gave it to himself.”

“Is that so? Hm.”

“When I get the chance to go out again later, I will treat you to a drink.”

“Good! That is exactly the sentence I have been waiting to hear. Hahahahaha!”

I continued eating while exchanging bits of idle conversation with Chef Ramsay. Then, before long, the right mont ca. I set down the fork and knife for a mont and changed the subject.

“In truth, a friend of mine from my hotown works here. She serves as a maid under Young Lady Sapiela.”

“Really?”

“Her na is Arwen, and she has a reputation for being very competent.”

“Well, naturally. Serving under Young Lady Sapiela ans that she must have ability.”

Young Lady Sapiela was famous for being exacting and frightening. Because of that, I had heard that the maids under her suffered a great deal.

And yet Arwen had continued attending her for about a year. That alone was enough to show that she was highly capable.

“The truth is, that friend has talent for cooking. So I thought it might be good if she could co work at Rosetta from ti to ti and learn so cooking as well.”

“Really? That is unexpected. I did not think you would co asking for such a favor. Ah, then was this the thing you ant before, when you said you would ask a favor if the matter with those Arkain bastards was resolved well?”

“That is correct.”

Chef Ramsay gave a hearty laugh and nodded.

“Under those conditions, I ought to accept without question. In the end, things worked out because of you, after all. The morale of the people working here has risen greatly as well. Ingredients, you see, are like weapons in a kitchen. Just as soldiers ard with fine weapons fight harder, we too fight harder when properly equipped. In any case, good! Bring that friend by soti when she has the ti.”

“Thank you, Chef.”

Bowing politely, I resud eating.

Lately, I had been realizing one thing after another that I had never noticed before.

Even the people who worked in a dining hall like Rosetta could be of great help to .

That was why I resolved to pay more attention to managing my connections from now on.

No one ever knew how human affairs might turn.

**

As ti passed, the affairs of the Adeline Marquis House settled down to a degree.

I beca the most talked-about apprentice. The evaluations placed on were that I was humble yet discerning, cultivated and learned, talented in martial arts, and soone who placed the honor of the House above all else. Back where I used to live, I would probably have been called sothing like Graduate Student B.

I still could not afford to be satisfied, but at this point I truly felt that I was in the middle of turning my life around.

In other words, things were proceeding very well according to my plan.

And in the end, Sir Roland was removed from office.

He kept his life, but he could no longer call himself a knight. Neither his family nor his wealth had been of any use to him.

“It would be troubleso if the Knight Order started taking too much interest in .”

It was fortunate that I had not displayed the full extent of my Martial Prowess then. If I had truly wielded the sword properly and shown my Unard Combat as well, they would probably have told on the spot to sit the admission exam for the Knight Order.

Becoming a knight was not in my plans yet. One turn through military life had been enough for .

“Perhaps it is about ti I moved on to the next plan.”

As I ntioned briefly before, I was forced to spend most of my ti inside the mansion. Because of that, it was difficult for to obtain information from outside.

Even though the Reincarnation Truck had allowed to settle into this new world, my current stage of activity was still nothing more than this mansion. I had not even managed to look properly around the lower village yet.

That was why I planned to build a loyal organization of my own.

The candidate I had in mind for that purpose was the Scorpion Gang. They had been active for a long ti in the back alleys of this territory. Now, because of their involvent in the Young Lady’s kidnapping, they had been smashed to pieces, but precisely because of that, now was the best ti to absorb them.

I intended to select the usable ones, make them my subordinates, and change the organization’s na. That would make for a clean arrangent.

“For that, I need a second identity.”

I needed what one might call a face mask. At the very least, my face had to be hidden.

But with the limited information I had, it would be difficult to find an artisan capable of making a face mask that resembled real skin. At best, I would only be able to use a simple mask.

In the end, I chose to wear a thin iron mask.

For the trivial reason that Iron Man had once been my idol.

It was thin, but finely made, and clung neatly to the face, which made it feel quite good. There was no worry of it slipping off, either.

If I pulled the hood down properly over that, my identity would be hidden well enough.

I waited until night fell, then put on my sword and mana pistol and left the mansion.

Leaving through the front hall of the mansion posed no special problem. I was already on familiar terms with the guards there, so a simple nod of greeting was enough to pass.

But leaving the mansion grounds was a slightly different matter. The main gate was guarded with iron discipline, with two knights and four soldiers standing watch.

“Who goes there?”

“I am Dilen, who serves Young Lady Sapiela.”

I knew how to make use of a person’s na at the proper ti. The mont I said the Young Lady’s na, the knight’s caution loosened.

“Ah, so you are the famous Dilen.”

“Thank you for recognizing .”

“But where are you going at this hour of the night?”

“I have a mission.”

I deliberately did not give him a long explanation. I knew very well that when words grew too long, the tail was bound to show.

It was the sa when writing a thesis. If the argunt or explanation dragged on too long, it opened room for people to seize on flaws and attack. One might call it a secret I had purchased with my youth.

“It seems you do a good many important things for soone who is still an apprentice.”

“I only do what ought to be done.”

“Have you ever considered taking the Knight Order admission exam? I hear you have no small aptitude for martial arts.”

“It is this humble one’s dream to beco a butler.”

“Is that so.”

The knight smacked his lips in disappointnt. I gave him a proper bow and passed through the gate.

Once I had reached a suitably dark place and checked my surroundings, I took the iron mask from my clothes and placed it over my face.

Now there was nothing left that could hinder .

**

BANG!

“Goddamn it! How in the hell did we end up like this?”

A man slamd his fist down hard on the table. His clenched hand was full of rage. The n standing around him could not say a word and rely kept their heads lowered.

It was inside a warehouse that might as well have been a ruin. This place, tucked away in a dark corner of the back alleys, was a secret base.

Once it had been one of the secret strongholds of the mighty Scorpion Gang, but now it was filled with nothing but despair and lantation.

“The boss is finished, and most of the mbers are either dead or captured. What the hell are we supposed to do now? What are we supposed to do?”

“Lord Kalmond......”

“What, none of you has a good idea? Instead of spending all your ti thinking about beating won, try using your brains for once! You useless bastards!”

Kalmond sprang to his feet and shouted.

But n who only knew how to use force were never going to produce so brilliant plan.

“How about relocating the base? Even if we can avoid those Adeline bastards, we will not be able to avoid becoming prey for another organization......”

“Does that even sound like an answer to you? Huh? We spilled blood for decades to establish ourselves here! Do you think running sowhere else is suddenly going to solve everything?”

“But......”

“Shut up!”

What exactly are you asking them to do?

It seed about ti I stepped in and organized the situation for them.

Watching from outside, I opened the door and stepped in.

Creak.

“Hm?”

“Who the hell are you!”

The mont the wood groaned, the startled n reacted on instinct and drew their weapons.

These bastards were certainly giving quite the grand welco.