Chapter 13: I will investigate magic
At this time, my name Kiara has been renamed.
If you think about it my life has taken far too many changes.
From a quasi-n.o.ble, to daughter of an Earl, to rejecting the marriage of a viscount, and now a maid of the Margrave"s household.
By the way in order to become a maid, a background needed to be established so I am a daughter of another house, supposedly the daughter of a distant relative of the margrave.
It seems that Margrave Vain had wrote a letter requesting them to take me as a niece. I would like to go give them my greetings for lending me their name.
Well then, today begins my first week as a maid.
Notifying the King"s elder sister Madam Beatrice-sama that it"s time to wake up, giving her the requested water after awakening, and then off for morning training……just like that, while being made to run ten laps around the garden near Madam Beatrice-sama who is practicing swinging her sword, my morning work begins.
After having breakfest and watching over because Madam Beatrice goes around to patrol, breakfast is finally sent out to me.
I became accustomed to it after a week, though during the first and second days I couldn"t really eat due to all the fatigue from running…….
After that, cleaning the bedroom of Madam Beatrice is also a job of the servants so my work doesn"t end.
Or rather, Reggie requested me specifically, so that"s what ended up happening.
When visiting the room of Reggie, it seemed he had also brought his own escort knights from the kingdom, we head towards one of the castle towers of the Margrave"s castle located on the west side.
There was a library in both the Earl"s house and the Church school, but the one in the Margrave"s house was elegant and had a calm atmosphere. It was a hall supported by amber-colored walls and pillars, the entire wall is filled with bookshelves.
The only light is a candlestick placed on a large central table.
――I have something I wanted to investigate.
On the day I entered the castle of Magrave Everal, because I was limited in where I could go, I consulted with Reggie if there was a way I could go in and out of the Margrave"s library on a daily basis.
To tell the truth, I was really worried on how to explain it.
Frankly saying「I want to investigate matters regarding magic!」or something seemed scary as it made it looked like I had something planned.
However just saying「I want to know about the magicians in this province, with my life work I was thinking of writing a book that compiled all their records someday……」no matter what I say it will not be trustworthy. Because I don"t have much reasons to investigate magicians in the first place.
Then I remembered that there was the pendant the Thorn Princess gave me.
So I decided to use this.
When I explained to Reggie that I wanted to investigate whether it was a cursed item, he said he would also cooperate with a difficult face.
Thank to examining the stone, as isn"t it surely related to magic? Under this pretense I was able to search for doc.u.ments there.
……I didn"t think that Reggie would also join though.
And presently, I go to this library every day.
For me, I felt it was enough to drop by the library about once every two days, but Reggie said「Because Kiara has work, you won"t have time to read carefully right?」so with that in mind.
……This may be due to the curse of the Thorn Princess, as a result of pretending to be scared. I’m sorry I lied.
But in return I will try my best to prevent you and the Margrave from dying!
Once again renewing my conviction, in the dimly-lit library I grabbed a candlestick and go about finding a book.
As expected there there is no such textbook like「Beginner"s Magic Course」or the likes. So I just first start off with reading history books regarding when magicians first appeared.
…… Somehow「At that time the water in the river began flowing backwards」or「The forest began burning with a single stroke」and others, all were just abstract stories like my previous life"s bible-like scriptures.
That’s why I was hoping for something like a magician"s memorandum, but of course I couldn"t find such a convenient thing.
Rather, on the second floor of the library there was an interesting description in the records of the earlier Margrave.
○Month○Day
Magician Rowan 16 gold pieces.
Asked for the disposal of trees that have been of long concern.
○Month○Day
Magician Rowan 32 gold pieces.
Asked for countermeasures against flood damage; needed quickly.
It was a heavy storm rarely seen these days. I would like to confirm the damage of rural areas as soon as possible.
This Margrave seemed to have kept a money account book in exchange of a diary
It seemed during the era when he was ruling there was a magician nearby. He was often asked to help deal with issues like border conflicts, disasters, and hunting demon beasts.
From the description, it seemed that the magician needed mineral ores. Because one pound is the weight of 16 gold pieces, it seemed that Rowan-san was requesting a fraction of the service fee in ores.
Perhaps he felt like using it for magic.
But in the short supplementary explanation written here, the materials are too little to guess what for.
And the time to read was limited.
「Your Highness, it’s time for lunch」
Quietly opening the door and coming into the library, was Maybel the maid and nanny of Reginald.
But it also brought me a sense of calm and relaxation, combined with the plump figure she had a "motherly" type of appearance.
Maybel-san gently urges.
「Magrave Vain-sama will not be able to accompany you today, as there was a sudden inspection he had to go to for a person they arrested」
「The Magrave himself? Must be a big criminal……is it the head of a bandit group?」
Reggie asked while closing the book and returning it to the shelves, Mabel shook her head.
「Furthermore, it seems to be a fallen magician. It seems that the vigilance members in the captured village don"t know how to deal with it」
Magician!?
I immediately stood up.
I definitely want to see! I want to hear the story! Whether it be fallen or whatever. If they were cautious because he used magic it means he knows about magic. Then he should also know how to become a magician.
Reggie probably thought of the same thing.
「Is it possible for me to follow?」
He made a request to Maybel.
However, completely out of my expectations, after thinking for a minute Maybel gave a sigh and said.
「I will ask Magrave Vain-sama for the time being, so for now please move to the dining hall for lunch」
「I will leave it to you」
Eh, Maybel-san is not stopping him? I felt surprised as I also began walking.
Since I am a maid now, after having accompanied Reggie to the dining hall, I headed to the room next to the kitchen which is a dining hall for servants.
Because I didn"t want to miss the opportunity of being able to meet with a magician, I mixed the meal into a pot and poured it in a big bowl.
The apprentice cook who was watching rounded his eyes.
Is it strange? It"s only bread and small stuff like tomatoes and vegetables to form a stew though. Ah, because there was a plate for the bread so use it or so I thought.
But aside from having a surprised expression he also looked away.
It cannot be helped. I can"t become familiar and close with everyone in just a week after all and I am not very good with social interactions. Well, after about a month, I would like to be able to at least do greetings.
When I arrived at the table near me, I stuffed the bread into my mouth and drank the stew in one gulp and ate the remaining stew at once with a spoon.
As if they had never seen a person eat this quickly before, the three auntie servants who were eating in the corner looked over here with a startled expression.
By the way the taste is normal.
When I finish eating in about a minute or so, I stand up and put the bowl in the cleaning area.
「Thank you for the meal」
I said that to the boy apprentice cook who was still standing by the pot and left the dining room in a hurry.
Before opening the door,「Oi Harris, stop being so slow! What are you s.p.a.cing out for!」I heard someone shouting at him, will he be alright?
After Kiara left the dining hall.
「Harris! What the h.e.l.l are you doing!」
To the shouting chef, Harris the apprentice cook said with a stunned expression.
「The Madam"s maid……ate it so quickly. To directly pour……」
「Ha!? If it"s about the Madam"s maids they even devour meat down to the very bones」
「No, I meant the new one, the small one who doesn"t have much muscles. The Madam"s maids, are all of them like that?」
The chef thought「A like-minded comrade eh?」but didn"t say it out loud.
「……Get use to it soon, I have heard the other maids eat quickly like that too. The Madam saw through their wild side and thus made them her maids」
Meanwhile, in the corner of the dining hall the female servants were huddled together talking with each other.
「Oh my, did that child in just one minute?」
「I forgot to count because I was so surprised!」
「The child before her was if I recall 4 minutes right?」
「That method of pouring it just like water, that"s the secret of her victory, is it not?」
Was ranking the eating speed of the Madam"s maids like a game.
「However, I thought that the child was brought from another place and appointed as a maid.
「Because she was like a well-behaved doll, I a.s.sumed she was the daughter of a merchant’s family or a country n.o.ble whose family broke up, I a.s.sumed she was used as an exchange for the debt or something」
「As expected she meets the standards of the Madam. Upon their first meeting the Madam must have instantly detected that she would be a Fast-eating Champion」
「As expected ojo-samas are quite amazing」
Such a conversation was spreading.