NOVEL WEB v1c3
The servants summoned were the cooks who were in charge of the kitchens, the butlers who assisted in the management of the mansion and the territory, the maids who helped with personal needs, and the gardeners and the guardians.
Kurt-sama, what are you going to do with all these servants?"
The man in the butler's uniform, who is the oldest among them, asks,
He was Sebas, the chief butler who had been in full charge of the mansion's management since his father's time.
Kurt doesn't know his real name, so he calls him that in his mind for the sake of simplicity.
Although he had worked there for such a long time, he was not emotionally willing to believe that he was connected to the mastermind, he was a good enough candidate, considering the circumstances.
He was also the one who had left the books in the hands of the mastermind.
"I've finally settled down to take over from my late father, I want to let everyone know about the situation".
Kurt takes a breath to check the reactions.
The servants showed a variety of expressions of concern, some nodded their heads as if they had expected this to some extent, while others were dumbfounded and had no idea what was going on.
This territory is suffering from a constant deficit. I need your help to solve it."
Kurt bowed his head and asked for help.
Seeing him, everyone imagined that their wages would be lowered.
According to the maid, those who are being squeezed are only getting pocket money.
It is not surprising, then, to imagine that if it is reduced further from there, it could be reduced to zero.
Of course, Kurt himself never talked about reducing the salary.
He just had an attitude that could be mistaken for that.
"Oh, um, Kurt-sama ......? I can't make a living if my salary is reduced any further. ......"
What are you saying? It is only natural that we should cooperate with you."
The number of people who are in favor and those who are opposed are roughly half and half.
The ones who are in favor are those who want to look good to Kurt. In other words, they are likely to be on the exploitation side.
They probably think that there is no real burden on them because they can just let those below them bear their own burden.
Although it is only a circumstantial evidence and not definite, it is not a mistake because the only people who are in favor are those who are in a good position as servants.
"I see, I understand. But this problem cannot be left alone. I will start the reform immediately . However, I will bow down to each of the servants again and hand over the wages directly to them."
The servants, who had been in favor earlier, began to panic when they heard this.
"I'm sorry to ask you to do that much. We all feel your disappointment, Kurt-sama."
The one who voiced his approval was Sebastian.
He seemed a little panicked.
"No, I can't just give you nothing when I'm going to put a burden on you. If I can't pay you, I'll just have to be gracious, won't I?"
"But, but ......"
"Anyway, this is a settled matter. The next payment is in one week, right? I will call each of you sometime after that date, so please be prepared for that."
After telling them that, the meeting was ended.
◇ ◇◇◇
Kurt returns to his room and the maid follows him into the room.
Why did you say those things?"
The maid said nervously,
"I didn't say anything about reducing your salary, but they trusted me."
"You were turning everyone against you, weren't you?"
"That's true. But just bear with it for a week."
"You mean to hand over the salary? But what the hell are you doing?
I'm going to hand it directly to them, you know?"
The maid tilted her head, not really getting it.
From her reaction, it was clear that this maid was blank.
If I give it to ...... directly, there's no way to skip out on the middleman, you know?"
Oh ......!
She finally seemed to realize and huffed.
"But won't that stop the people who were cutting out the middleman from trying to stop it?"
'They will, I'm afraid. So I'm leaving you in charge of escorting me!"
"EhEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
The maid's exclamation echoed through the room--.
"I can't do it. It's impossible. I've never held anything that could be used as a weapon except a knife!?"
Unfortunately, Kurt's only ally seemed not to be a fighter.
--This means I'll have to find a companion with the ability to fight, and I'll need to do so as soon as possible.
But there was a problem with that.
Would there be reliable and skilled soldiers in the Antoner territory now?
Most of the original characters were trustworthy right off the bat.
However, as expected, there would be no one who would come to Kurt's territory.
Basically, the original characters meet at the academy where the story takes place.
There they learn sword and magic, but there is no information about their whereabouts before they go to the school.
There is no way to go to see them, and with the possibility of being betrayed at any moment by anyone, it is unlikely that any of the original characters would have the good luck to come to the school.
"There is one saint that definitely doesn't want me to come. ...... "
Kurt smiled wryly.
In the end, the only way is to do something about it himself.
◇ ◇◇◇
A hut located on the outskirts of the Antonor territory.
There were men of bad character and the chief butler.
'Do you really want me to attack the lord?"
Yes. But don't kill him. Just make him so close to death that he has to rely on us. I hope he is left unconscious."
"Ha-ha-ha, I hope he doesn't expect to be betrayed by his own servants."
"......, the one who came here is a commoner who has a grudge against the lord".
"I know that's the way it's set up. I understand.
Receiving a small bag of gold coins, the man with the bad character grins and laughs.
I won't kill the lord. But killing the others is allowed?"
"Do what you want with ......, -- But--"
I know. You want me to do it within the week, right?
That's the most crucial thing."
The butler was smiling fearlessly.
Just at that moment, a girl's voice with a panicked look can be heard.
Instead of Robe ......, a petite girl in white was yelling frantically from a distance.
"Move, move, please! get out of my way!"
There was no way the hut would move away, and there was no indication of what was so dangerous about it.
The chief butler wondered why, but the next moment, the hut was caught in the blast and blown away.
Hmmm...a failure, huh? It's dangerous if it isn't a little less powerful."
A girl was pulling out a number of test tubes from behind her white coat.
The fusion of wind magic, fire and holy magic was supposed to be groundbreaking. I didn't expect the bombs to fly in the wind. ...... and I almost forgot."
The girl hurriedly ran to the hut.
The butler and the bad guy had been caught in the explosion and were dying.
"Help ......."
Yes, it's all right. Leave it to me! After all, I am an apprentice saint."
When she says this, one would expect her to use holy magic, but for some reason she pulls out a test tube from her pocket that is purple in color and smells suspicious.
If you take this, you'll be dead in an instant!"
That's death. ......
Don't worry, I'm confident in my work. Yes!
"Aaaaah!"
The screams come from the place where the hut used to be.
The only thing that seemed to have an impact was that the wounds of the chief butler and his men were healed properly.