The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family Chapter 56 : Chapter 56

Chapter 056

After coming out of the tavern-inn, I took a mont to look around the place.

Because it stood a little apart from the comrcial district, the atmosphere was quiet. Unless the Black Pig bastards were preparing for a fight to the death, it did not seem likely that anything would happen.

Suddenly, I rembered the expression on Eluna’s face as she watched before I left the tavern.

“As I thought, she looked curious.”

She was definitely interested. In . More precisely, rather than my looks or personality, it was the fact that I knew she carried elven blood that mattered.

Even while speaking about work, her eyes had kept asking how I knew about her identity.

Naturally, I could not exactly say that I had seen it in the Status Window and made a guess, so soday I would have to co up with a suitable explanation.

At this rate, Eluna’s loyalty would keep rising, and there was a high chance that she would beco one of my people. When that ti ca, I would have to tell her the truth.

“Though it will be nothing more than a fabricated truth.”

As for what sort of story I would fabricate, I could think about that slowly. It would still be a long while before Eluna ca to feel true loyalty toward .

I turned back toward the mansion.

When I entered my quarters, I found one friend acting as though he owned the place. It was Rohan. He was lying on the bed with his hands laced behind his head.

“Where have you been wandering around so comfortably? Have you got yourself a woman or sothing?”

“What woman? What sort of nonsense are you spouting? And what about you, lounging in another man’s room so comfortably?”

“Well, unlike soone, I worked my heart out again today. Where did you go?”

I took off my robe and folded it in half. Then I wrapped it carefully so that the iron mask would not show and placed it in the wardrobe. I also removed the sword and the mana pistol from my waist.

My body felt lighter. Only now did it feel as though I had co ho.

“Where else would I have gone? The village.”

“Ha! Would you look at the class of our Butler Apprentice. Now you are coming and going from the village whenever you please. At this rate, you could set up housekeeping there.”

“If you feel wronged, then you ought to go earn a rit of your own.”

“Is that such an easy thing? Anyway, I hear you are still investigating the Young Lady’s kidnapping. That is why you went out, is it not?”

That startled slightly.

On the surface, the investigation had already ended and I had received a reward. The only people who knew I was still investigating were Young Lady Sapiela, Arwen, and Head Butler Yanrof.

“That is not the sort of information one hears easily. Where did you hear it?”

“Arwen ntioned it.”

“Damn.”

I let out a sigh. The next ti I saw Arwen, I would have to warn her to be more careful.

It would be best if the fact that I was still investigating did not spread. Otherwise, I could end up in danger before I even realized it.

At the mont, I did not even know whether there was soone behind all this, and even if there was, I did not know who it was. Since I could not read the other side’s moves, I at least could not allow them to read mine.

Seeing the troubled look on my face, Rohan quickly added,

“I am not going around spreading rumors, so do not worry too much. You never tell anything, so I kept pestering her.”

“That is true enough. Arwen is not loose-lipped like a certain soone. In any case, if you do not want to reach the Afterlife before your ti, you had better be careful.”

“Then why do you keep doing sothing that dangerous? It makes people worry.”

Rohan had often warned before that what I was doing was dangerous. I had thought of it as nagging, but personally, I was grateful for it.

I had been an orphan. There had almost never been anyone who worried over like this.

So I smiled.

“You did not co all the way here just to say sothing so trivial. What is it?”

“It has just gotten too hard to see your face these days, that is all.”

“It is not that there is more baggage to carry sowhere again, is it?”

“Co on, of course not!”

Since sitting shoulder to shoulder with another man on a bed felt a little awkward, I took a seat at the table instead. At once, Rohan quickly dragged his chair over to sit in front of .

“What is Young Master Hal like these days? Ever since he made you spar with that Apprentice Knight, people say he has been strangely quiet. What does he usually do? You are his Attending Butler, so you would know well enough.”

I did not answer at once. Instead, I simply looked at him.

It struck as an odd question. Usually he would gossip about Young Master Hal or curse him together with , but this ti, it felt as though he were trying to fish for information.

Had he perhaps received so secret order from the First or Second Young Master?

I looked at Rohan with suspicion.

“Are you really asking because you are curious, or did soone tell you to ask?”

“What is this, all of a sudden?”

“Answer . It is an important question.”

When I stared at him a little more sharply, Rohan avoided my gaze. As expected, there was a reason behind it. Resting a hand on his shoulder, I gave him sincere advice.

“Listen carefully. We are Butler Apprentices. Not nobles, but commoners. Do not forget your station. If you get caught up in a struggle for power for no reason, you could disappear without a trace. You know perfectly well that those above us do not see us as anything more than expendable goods.”

Rohan looked sowhat aggrieved.

“And why, then, are you trying so hard to get on Young Lady Sapiela’s good side?”

“If it is truly for the sake of House Adeline, then we ought to take good care of the Young Lady. She is soone who has nothing to do with inheriting the House. That ans we can show true loyalty, does it not? Then it would not matter who ends up inheriting the House.”

“Ha!”

Rohan let out a sigh, as though frustrated. I understood how he felt. It was only natural for an ordinary person to try sohow to grab hold of a line and rub up against power.

It was sothing I myself had done often enough back in graduate school. I had no desire to criticize him for that.

But things were a little different now.

I had strength and knowledge. I was already being noticed as an outstanding Butler Apprentice, and if I truly wanted to, rising in the world would be no difficult thing at all.

In other words, rather than waiting to be chosen as I had before, I could now choose for myself.

At the very least, I intended to look after Rohan and Arwen to the end. They were the two people who had helped most when I first opened my eyes in this world.

So I tried to reason with him gently.

“I say this because I am worried as well, so do not take it badly. Let us make sure we do not end up crushed while the great powers clash above us. Even if we an to step in, we should first make certain that we have proper backing. It will not be too late after we have beco Full Butlers.”

“All right, all right. Hah, I ca here for nothing but a lecture.”

“Then who told you to look into it?”

“......The Attending Butler of the Second Young Master.”

I had thought he might refuse to say, but he spilled it easily enough.

The Second Young Master—I had heard of him before. Was his na Prah? It had stayed in my mory because it resembled the na of the capital of the Czech Republic.

“The Second Young Master. Tell about him.”

At my words, Rohan puckered his lips.

“You are not telling anything, so why should I tell you?”

“You need to think about the rarity of information. This is the sort of thing anyone can ask around and learn.”

Clicking his tongue, Rohan switched into encyclopedia mode.

“He is very calm and gentle. If he were just a little taller, he would be handso enough to capture the hearts of countless won. On top of that, he is kind and upright. Most of all, he gets along well with the people of the territory, so he is popular. How should I put it? He is a bright, open-hearted sort.”

“So in short, the complete opposite of Young Master Hal?”

“You could say that.”

“And what is his support like?”

“If you exclude the First Young Master, then it is about exactly fifty-fifty.”

So it was an evenly matched fight. Resting my chin on one hand, I sank into thought.

Of course, Young Master Prah might genuinely be a good person. But, true to my nature as a scientist, I suspected otherwise.

Just as Hal pretended to be a wastrel while hiding a dagger inside his robe, Prah too might be pretending to be kind while concealing a blade of his own.

When a man with power does good deeds, hypocrisy is often involved. A performance for show, in other words.

“When were you summoned by his Attending Butler?”

“He called for out of nowhere last night and asked all sorts of things about you.”

“Tell everything he asked.”

With his arms folded, Rohan scratched his head as he recalled the scene.

“Well, what else would it be? Where you were born, how you grew up, whether you had always handled a sword that well, I heard your head was sharp too, and so on. The usual questions.”

“Then there is a good chance Arwen was summoned too.”

“I do not know about that. I did not ask. But as you say, the chances are high. After all, most people already know that we ca from the sa village.”

“Hm.”

What I had expected was coming faster than I had thought. Young Master Hal had set the board, and it had only been a matter of ti before the other young masters noticed .

Should I really not have finished the match with Arthas?

I shook my head.

If I had not, then my head might already be hanging in the marketplace. The danger of Young Master Hal lay precisely in the fact that no one could predict where he would turn next.

“In any case, let us both be careful for a while. Once I am done attending Young Master Hal, I will be returning to Young Lady Sapiela. I intend to live quietly.”

“All right. But what am I supposed to report to the Second Young Master?”

“Report that he still drinks heavily and lives dissolutely. Make up the rest yourself if you must.”

Rohan nodded.

Just then, there ca a knock from outside. Both of us sprang to our feet at once.

“Co in.”

The one who entered was Sir Parala. More surprising than his appearance itself was the fact that he had knocked and then opened the door. Given his position, he could simply have walked in.

“So you have returned.”

“Welco, Sir Parala. But what brings you here? It is late in the night.”

It was already nearing midnight. Before going out earlier, I had sought out Sir Parala, and he had told it would be best to rest today.

And yet here he was in person. Had sothing happened with the Third Young Master?

That uneasy feeling proved correct.

“Young Master Hal intends to go out, and he has ordered that you accompany him. Prepare yourself at once and co to the Young Master’s residence.”

All duties had already ended for the day. If I worked late into the night, ought I not to be given compensatory leave tomorrow? But this was not the sort of atmosphere in which one could bring up sothing so trivial.

In short, Sir Parala was giving an order.

I bowed my head.

“I understand. I will prepare myself at once. Should I arm myself?”

“If possible.”

Sir Parala left, and I took out the robe I had just put away and draped it over myself once more.

Watching from beside , Rohan tilted his head.

“Where in the dead of night is he going?”

“He is probably just going out to drink at leisure. It seed as though he ca back dead drunk yesterday too.”

“Tch, I am jealous. Sothing ought to fall to you too, should it not?”

“Things like that can go bad if you swallow them carelessly. If you are so jealous, shall I recomnd you as my replacent?”

“I will shut up now, sir.”

With a faint laugh, I imdiately left the quarters and headed for Young Master Hal’s room.

When I arrived, Young Master Hal was pacing inside the room in a simple set of outing clothes. I hurried in and bowed to him.

“I greet the noble Young Master.”

“Where have you been wandering off to like so stray dog? If you are a Butler Apprentice, you ought to be standing by for duty!”

“My apologies.”

What a foul temper.

I had much I wanted to say, but I held it back. You damned wastrel. Still, where was he planning to go? I glanced around discreetly, but there was not the slightest hint.

“In any case, we are going out now. We will be going to Baron Gaston’s villa, so you will co with .”

“I will attend you with all loyalty.”

“Hmph. Loyalty, my foot. Sir Parala, see that everything is prepared without a single flaw. You know this must not reach Father’s ears.”

“As you command, Young Master.”

Sir Parala gave a military salute and signaled to follow. As I followed him, a thought occurred to . Sothing Marquis Chronos must not hear of?

There was a sll to this.

A rotten sll.