Chapter 176 – Arrest

With the house growing in size, we needed to hire someone to manage the household. Since the Party Members would be busy with Labyrinth Exploration and wouldn’t have time to handle it.

That said, there were complications like the need to interact with Monsters daily, various matters related to the Labyrinth, countermeasures against Demons, and an increasing number of secrets that needed to be kept. So even if we hired someone, they had to be trustworthy.

“Perhaps it’s safer to go through connections after all.”

I considered recruiting from the Orphanage, but… King Melvin was supporting it and pushing for enhanced education in reading, writing, and arithmetic.

While discussing this with everyone, Fortok of the Carbuncle spoke up.

“What about entrusting the household chores to the people of the Monster Village?”

“You mean… having them handle their own affairs?”

Fortok nodded. “Indeed. We originally lived self-sufficiently, after all. Even if we say we’re staying at your place, it’s not just for leisure. Since it’s under the pretext of preparing to go out into the world, we can’t just be entertained all the time.”

So, they’d handle cleaning, cooking, laundry, and such themselves? We already shared chores among ourselves, but if they did it at the mansion, it would be almost like having live-in servants.

“In that case… it would be better to pay them wages.”

A reversal of thinking, you could say… It would be better to train those who understand the situation as servants from the start. Their identities could be verified, and it would clearly show that I’m protecting them—perfect.

It seemed good to set up a Shift system so they could have free time.

Performing at the theater would likely be psychologically challenging for some, so I expected some would be willing while others wouldn’t.

By having them stay over, they could get used to the town and broaden their horizons—and in the process, each could find the kind of work they wanted to do, and we’d support them. That seemed like a good direction.

“It would also make it easier for them to settle into spending the money they earn in town, so that might be just right.”

“But there’s one problem.”

“What problem?”

“Having them as servants at the mansion is fine, but they’ll need to follow certain protocols to some extent.”

“As servants… if they don’t know the rules for when guests come, it could cause issues,” Ashley said. As expected of the head of a Baron’s family.

Right. For better or worse, the residents of the Labyrinth Village aren’t worldly. Up until now, my place has been an ordinary house, so there haven’t been any large-scale events, but who knows about the future.

“Yeah. So, I think we need to find someone who can guide them.”

Since they were originally self-sufficient, they should be capable of managing on their own. If they have the basics down, we just need someone to advise and instruct them on the finer points.

“It seems I can’t… do it myself,” Grace said regretfully. Grace could certainly guide them, but the whole point of this discussion was to reduce the burden so we wouldn’t neglect our main work.

Servant guidance… guidance, huh.

“Ah, what about Mihaela-san?”

“That person would indeed be trustworthy.”

Mihaela was Grace’s mentor. For a short while after Grace went to Gartner’s mansion, Mihaela guided her in working as a servant there.

My memories from that time are vague, but… I recall she was a dignified elderly woman.

She was originally a senior maid who worked for the Count Gartner family, but she had already retired by then.

The story goes that because the other servants were afraid of Grace and they were short-handed at the time, Father called her from her hometown to provide temporary guidance.

“Hmm. I’ll try sounding her out, then. She’s living in seclusion in her hometown, right?”

“That should be the case. It’s not too far from Termwills. If we take a Wyvern, we could make it a day trip.”

“Then, I’ll go see her in person once.”

When I said that, Grace smiled happily. Probably because she could see her mentor again after so long.

It would be like a day trip for all of us in the Dragon Palanquin. Well, she retired due to her age, so there’s a good chance she might refuse.

“I’ll come along too. I want to see how I feel after receiving Circulating Ki and leaving Termwills. Plus, if I’m with you, I can use teleportation to return to the Labyrinth if anything happens here.”

Claudia said something like that. It might be necessary to test that, but…

“Are you sure you’re not overdoing it?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Claudia smiled.

“Okay. Then, we’ll proceed in that direction for household management.”

If we’re leaving Termwills, I should contact the Royal Castle. We can get in touch immediately with the Communication Device, and if she turns us down, King Melvin might be able to arrange for trustworthy personnel.

So, after returning from the Labyrinth Village, I headed to the Royal Castle.

“Let me go! Damn it! Who do you think I am!”

“You bastard! Malcolm, you unfilial brat!”

Up to that point, things were fine, but I happened upon a scene where two familiar figures were being dragged away, shouting, firmly held by soldiers on either side from the King’s Tower.

…Ah. So the judgment has finally been passed. I had hoped to just hear about it later from Alfred and Mercedes and the others.

“A-Ambassador! Ambassador! For the sake of the Marquis and Count families! I beg you, intercede with His Majesty! Ambassador—!”

“P-Please, have mercy! Please help us!”

As expected… the moment they saw me, they reached out toward me, shouting such things as they were dragged away. Both the Marquis and Norman were terribly unwilling to accept their fate.

…No, he’s not the Marquis anymore. What should I call him? Probably the former Marquis Broderick, I guess.

With the voices of the two fading into the distance behind me, I shook my head.

Ah—. I don’t know, I don’t know. I didn’t see anything, and I can’t hear anything. I’ll just hurry and complete the meeting procedures at the Royal Castle.

After being shown to a salon by a maid and drinking tea while waiting, King Melvin and Albert appeared.

Judging by their wry smiles, they seemed to have noticed that I passed by those guys in front of the King’s Tower.

“Well, that was bad timing.”

“Indeed. Regarding those two, it’s as you imagined. Malcolm brought back a mountain of evidence. As planned, Malcolm will take over.”

“And those two…”

“Will be imprisoned.”

Since it wasn’t exile or execution, it might be a lenient judgment.

The former Marquis completely ignored the king’s orders, indulged in debauchery, and failed to supervise his second son. There were letters instructing the concealment of evidence against Malcolm’s Investigation. As for Norman, besides embezzling taxes… it seems various other scandals came to light.

Even if they’re rotten, they’re high-ranking nobles. If the foundation were solid, they might still avoid punishment, but in the case of the Marquis Broderick family, they had already declined so much that there was no saving them.

“Theo-kun, are you tired?”

“No, I’m fine. Seeing those two just makes me feel a bit drained.”

“I see. Then let’s finish our business quickly.”

As King Melvin smiled wryly, I conveyed the reason for my visit to the Royal Castle today.

“—Hmm. So you’re trying an old connection.”

“I’m prepared for her to refuse due to her age. Since I’ll be leaving Termwills… if anything happens, please contact me via the Communication Device.”

“Very well. If she refuses, I’ll arrange someone from here. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Well, that should suffice regarding communication.

“Then, I’ll go ahead with Crafting the Magic Tool.”

I had already given the Spell Formula for the Humanization Spell to Albert. I needed to make more, and Albert seemed quite motivated.

“Don’t overdo it. It’s not urgent or anything.”

“Well, yeah. But the Humanization Spell and such seem interesting.”

Albert laughed in that way.