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What's Needed is Report-Communicate-Consult
After changing my clothes into clothes that would be fine if they get dirty, I rush all over the place. I have to serve the seniors who eat before us. At this time of the day, the members of the Viscount house were probably having a leisurely breakfast together. But, the meal time for us servants changed depending on the situation.
For example, the butler, Ifroz, wakes up long before the master and has a light meal. And from then on, it’s nonstop work until the Viscount has gone, and it’s lunchtime for his wife and two children. Other servants, except the staff who do not have morning work, wake up earlier than the master, but are made to wait for a while. The kitchen was used first for the master’s breakfast before anything else, so the servants only got to use it afterwards. Also, the dining hall for the servants was not large enough, so we had to wait for our turn.
And for that reason, the last one to have a meal was young servants like the chefs and me. They woke up earlier than the butler and prepared breakfast properly. And yet, their own meals are put off until later.
The status of a chef in this world was actually quite low. There was an exception, which was Emperor Arden’s (アルデン) favorite Chalmera(チャル・メーラ), but it was generally considered an occupation that borders on the verge of slavery and a woman’s job. In reality, there are not a few places where women serve as the head chef. Skilled male chefs were few in number, and the salary they commanded was higher. But, in the Enbaio house here, the head chef was a man, perhaps for appearance's sake.
No matter the case, aside from the bed, I have complaints about the food served. To begin with, the nutritional balance was not good, and even the timing they served it was too late. Furthermore, you could not relax since the next job was waiting. Eating early was not good for your stomach.
This was the dining hall for the servants. The construction alone was exaggerated. As it was the Pyris governor-general’s residence, everything was made of cream colored marble. But, I did not know whether it had not been cleaned well enough or if it was just a bit old, the place looked a bit shabby and dirty. The ceiling was almost bare, with old, blackened wood spanning across it. The wooden table where my plate was currently set was well-made, but it was quite an antique. Even though it was originally a good item, it now gave off an indescribable air, a sense of neglect, and a worn-down feeling that seeped through.
I raised my bowl to try to drink the rest of the soup. I know this was bad manners, but it did not matter. Since I am now a slave.
And, at that moment, a girl’s voice stabs me from behind.
「What a messy way of eating」
Oops. Was I being watched?
Oh well, I know what this was about.
「Hurry up. You have to clean the guest room」
She.....Nagia (ナギア) was the eldest daughter of the wet nurse. She would be 7 years old this year.
Among the servants in this mansion, the most important person is, of course, Ifroz. However, the wet nurse and the head maid are also no less important than him. The wet nurse - one year older than the head of the family - knew him well from early childhood and had taken good care of him. Incidentally, since her relative works for the madam’s house, their information network was also perfectly in place. That was why, if there were people within this house that the Viscount could not really stand up to, it was those veteran servants.
And since she was the daughter of that wet nurse. Naturally, she boasts a top-class influence among the servants’ children. Since an early age, she has been entrusted with important tasks.
「Understood, right away」
「Aah, don’t look at me, please」
There was a strange accent when she said ‘please’. It was filled with as much sarcasm and disgust as possible while grimacing.
She had always been an elite, so it seemed that she found me uninteresting. Right, I ended up becoming one of her colleagues despite being a slave.
Even so, she has such a harsh attitude despite still being a 7-year-old kid. It’s like she was disgusted just by seeing my face. From an outsider’s point of view, she was a lovely girl. With silver short hair, pure white skin, and pale blue eyes like an aquamarine, all the adults who see her at first glance could not help but praise her looks. But, that was because they did not know her public and hidden side. Even her mother - the wet nurse - seemed to be deceived by her outwardly praiseworthy attitude. And that was understandable. Both husband and wife were probably busy with their job and had hardly any opportunity to spend time with their child.
「I don’t want to see your soup-covered mouth」
「Yes」
「So, you understand? I called out to you. So hurry and get it done」
She left after saying just that.
Now, here was the problem. After quickly finishing my meal, I ran through the corridor. And then.....
「Is this Suzuran's room?」 1
「Probably, but we could not go in just yet」
……10 minutes later. I kept arguing with the young man in charge of the facility management.
I have 2 jobs. First, clean the guest rooms before guests arrive. Although it was simply called the ‘guest room’, this was the Pyris governor-general’s residence, so naturally, the guest rooms are not just one or two. Moreover, each room has its own status, so it was common to use a different room depending on the visitor.
So, of course, it was better to have all the rooms available at all times, but we do not have extra staff to spare for that. So, according to the visitor’s schedule, we tidied the room, wiped down, polished, and prepared it.
However, the problem was that 「Visitor's Schedule」, they are often kept top secret. This was also natural, as the people who would visit the governor-general and the madam would be people of the same noble status or, at worst, wealthy merchants that represents a region. This means that they would not tell their circumstances to servants who are not in a management position, to say nothing of slaves, in advance. The reason was that, they would never know whether the people of low status would sell their master for money.
The subordinate servants want to start preparing with plenty of time. And perhaps it was to ensure the higher-ups’ safety that the management side wants to avoid leaking information until the last moment. Inevitably, conflict would arise.
So, why am I trying so hard in front of this room? It was a trivial reason, I know who the visitor was today. The former school friend of the Viscountess, Baroness Hekity, married a minor noble who has a territory nearby. This meeting did not have any political influence, it was just an informal meeting, so it was not part of official business. She just repeatedly visits to play and destress. The last time she left, I heard her clearly say that she would visit again
When the hosts a banquet, it could be classified into business-oriented or just merely social. This time, it was a casual banquet for her close circle, so as always, we would probably welcome them in the Suzuran room. It could be predicted in advance.
However, even though the young man nearby knew this, he just did not want to concede.
「Permission has not been granted. You understand, right?」
「I have to get changed after cleaning. Can you get someone else to do the cleaning?」
「That is impossible」
「So」
「That is also impossible. Please understand」
He was not being mean either. Given that he was responsible for facility management, he was responsible for overseeing people coming and going, and also the storage of supplies. If he allowed other servants to come and go as they pleased and a problem arose.....for example, a naughty kid doing hide-and-seek under the guest room’s sofa or accidentally damaging the furniture inside......he would be the one receiving punishment for that. In fact, even if no trouble occurs, the person responsible would be questioned for allowing people to enter and exit without waiting for permission.
That was why I also know the reason. But still, there was nothing that could be done. If I don’t take any action, later they would ask me something like 「You know you will not make it, so why didn’t you do anything about it?」.
In the end, there was one constructive solution. That is, to get instruction and permission from someone in a higher position. No, originally, this guy in charge of the facility should have been notified long ago.
「I will ask for instruction from Ifroz-san」
「Wait, that’s」
The young man frowns. I know the reason. To him, the butler was not his direct superior. In between, there was a female middle management named Katug-san (カトゥグさん). If we skip her and directly bring back order from Ifroz.....but still, the fact that he has not received any instructions at this point in time was a clear negligence on her part.
「That is the fastest way」
「Yeah, but still」
「If the room is not ready, we will get scolded anyway, right?」
A messy and troublesome human relationship. Bypassing the middle management and going directly to the executive. If that were allowed, this young man would lose his position, huh?
「That’s not it, right now, Ifroz-san is not in the mansion, y’know?」
「Eh?」
「I only caught a glimpse of it, though. I hear that there is a meeting with the caravan today」
There are several of the so-called merchant caravans and merchant ships under the Viscount's command. The husband of the wet nurse was actually the leader of a merchant ship.
Tviety Viscounty was located in a poor, mountainous area. Naturally, it was unreliable as a source of income. There was the salary as the governor-general of Pyris, and it was enough to carry out his official duties, but it was not enough to the point he could amass wealth. In that case, they have no other choice but to have a side business. However, the Viscount himself did not have experience running a business, nor did he have the time to get involved in the business. So, the butler was being entrusted with the business matters. At this point, he was already the house’s steward rather than a butler.
But, there are other reasons why the Viscount did not directly conduct the business. It was Forestia’s noble sense of values that has been passed down since ancient times. For them, their property was the farmland under their control. They believe that relying on other sources of income, especially from greedily gathering money from business transactions, was thought of as unbecoming of a noble. But, as long as it was not the nobles themselves, but their servants acting voluntarily for the sake of the house, such actions are 「Overlooked」.
「Then we won’t get caught」
「Yeah……」
The Baroness’ visit was just before noon. There are 2 hours left. But, we could not use all that time just for cleaning. We had to clean within the next hour, after that, the head maid would check everything, and then we had to get changed to welcome the guests.
「Very well. Then, I will try to get to Katug-san somehow」
「I’ll rely on you. I can not leave this place on my own」
And so, quickly left the place. Of course, running in the corridor was strictly prohibited.
I wonder where Katug-san is? Logically, she's in the office. I hope she had not gone out of her own.....but when I peeked into the room while thinking like that, sure enough, she was there, dressed in a darkish one-piece and completely absorbed at her desk.
「Ina-san, excuse me」
She was not the only one in the room doing paperwork. Making a big fuss would probably leave a bad impression. I quietly called out to her.
I am sure my voice reached her, but there was no indication of her stop moving her hand. Perhaps she was so busy that she wrote in a hurried manner and refused to stop until she had finished the thing she had to write. After roughly slamming her pen on the desk, she finally turned to face me.
「So? What do you want?」
She was a Foresian woman in her late 30s with a somewhat tough impression. Small wrinkles and skin blemishes were starting to show on her face.
「I’m sorry, the permission for today’s dining.....」
When I nervously said that, she knitted her eyebrows in annoyance, and then turned back to her desk and started rummaging through the bundle of papers.
「Umm……not this, not this too.....this? Right, this」
「Ah, yes! Probably」
「I don’t have all the papers」
Again?
Inside the thin binder was just one written application form. Now, here was the procedure. First, the madam said 「I will meet her next time」. And then, the madam's lady’s maid would prepare the application and bring it here. Then, Katug-san receives it and asks permission from the relevant department.
Asking permission despite the madam’s order? That was right. To begin with, it might be possible that the lady’s maid who brought the application form could have given a false report with bad intentions. That’s why, instructions would fly all over the place for just one event. Security personnel would ensure safety on the appointed day. The person in charge of supplies would have to prepare the items necessary for dining. The secretaries would check - considering the political relationship - whether there was going to be any problem with having the meeting at all. Once all the documents are ready, the butler and high-ranking servants would confirm it once more.
「So it’s just the secretary left?」
「This is troubling, certainly Ifroz-san is also unavailable, and most of the other secretaries are over there, so I don’t think we will be able to make a decision」
「That’s. That will cause disruption in the schedule」
「Telling me won’t change anything. I have followed the proper procedure」
Such a vertical division of procedure. Right. It was not her fault. In a sense, she was correct.
She had already contacted the relevant department. And there was no response to that. It was not her responsibility. It was not, but I wish she could do something about it somehow.
「Good grief」
She began to complain while sighing, haa.
「Why would we have such meaningless dinners so many times in a year in the first place? I wish they would consider the effort on our side as well」
She should have served the Viscount’s house since she was a kid, but her remarks show no respect for her master at all. Well, I doubt there are servants who genuinely respect their master.
Incidentally, this was for the madam’s convenience. From the perspective of those serving the Enbio house, it was just the selfishness of another person’s woman. Oh well, that’s a fact but.....perhaps, this is also a part 「wife bullying」 orchestrated by the servants? If you think about it from the madam’s perspective, there was room for sympathy. If you have a certain status, simply wanting to meet a friend could end up becoming something exaggerated.
As Katug-san made a troubled face while looking down at the papers, there was a sound of footsteps coming from the other end of the corridor.
「Excuse me!」
The one who arrived was a dark-skinned elderly man, unusual for a Foresian. Broad in build but not fat. He was short and stocky. His fingers are thick and round. He was wearing a pure-white top and a slightly dirty apron hanging down on his body.....right, he was the head chef.
「Today’s lunch! We are to bring it to Suzuran’s room, is that correct!?」
He yells loudly. But, he was not venting his anger. This was the way he was.
Katug-san replies while having a fed-up look on her face.
「Yes, about that.....」
「I heard that the guest-sama is Baroness Hekity! If so, then there is no mistake」
「That should be the case, but」
「It is certain! We have less than 2 hours, y’know!」
Please tell us whether it was fine for us to start cooking right now. This was urgent.
But, Katug-san probably has her own reason. She sighed repeatedly and shook her head. The secretaries' group is, so to speak, Ifroz’s close associates. Meaning, they are the most important people among the servants. It might be impossible to force an answer out of them.
At any rate, it has come to this. There was nothing to be done. It couldn't be helped.
「...understood」
She spat out, half-sulking.
「I will formally announce. Those in charge of the facility, security, cooking, and hospitality are to receive Baroness Hekity - who will be arriving today at the Jade hour - at Suzuran’s room. As the liaison staff’s response has exceeded the deadline, we, the internal staff, will handle the follow-up」
Upon hearing this official statement, the head chef turned on his heel without saying anything and left the room. Miss Katug just sighed without even bothering to check. She got the short end of the stick. I also bowed to her and quickly left the room.
It was chaos from then. After swiftly contacting all the relevant departments, I’ll move on to tidying the guest room. If the cleaning was not done by the time I informed the head maid in advance, I would be scolded. Of course, even if I finished on time, I would still be severely reprimanded if the work was sloppy.
Once the time for the event was near, the head maid strode into the room and checked several details. Like, pulling up the curtain and checking if there was dust accumulating there or if there was any trash under the sofa. Once she saw there was no problem, she quickly left the room.
That completes the first task. Now then, I had to hurry. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
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