Chapter 9: Older Brother
Remembering what happened yesterday, I muttered quietly to myself.
“…Impossible.
I can’t look her in the eyes anymore.”
After falling asleep in Uruk’s arms, I woke up to find myself sleeping in the same bed as her.
I was so embarrassed that I hid my face.
Not only was it my first time sleeping beside a woman, but the woman in question was the daughter of a great noble house.
If things went badly enough, I could’ve ended up executed…
“What’s wrong?
Alto, if something’s bothering you, tell me.
I’ll listen to anything.”
Uruk smiled at me.
She had been like this the whole time.
Impossible.
She’s way too cute.
“N-No…
I was just wondering what exactly I’m supposed to do with all this freedom…”
I already received money as payment, and I’d even been restricted to making only one bed per day.
Which meant…
I genuinely had nothing to do the rest of the time.
“You should simply do what you like.”
“R-Right…”
The problem was that I didn’t know what I liked.
But if I asked her that directly, it would stop being my own decision, so I held back.
She had already gone so far for me.
I didn’t want to trouble her any further.
“Well then, I’m heading to the Adventurer’s Guild to pick up some requests.
See you later.”
“Please stay safe.”
“Oh…
Yeah, thank you.”
Left alone, I stared out the window while wondering what to do.
“…Work, huh.
Alright!”
As expected, I apparently couldn’t relax unless I was working.
I approached the maids tending the garden.
“Excuse me!
Could I perhaps help with some work too?
Um…”
Since I didn’t know her name, she introduced herself.
She looked about the same age as the butler Tetto.
“Alto-san, my name is Anna, the head maid.
You’re being treated as a guest here, so it’s perfectly alright for you to relax, you know?”
“I thought so too…
But somehow I just can’t settle down unless I’m working.
Haha.”
The moment I said that, the maids started tearing up.
(Huh…?
Why are they looking at me with pity…?)
“Sniff…
To think he clawed his way up from slavery and became a noble’s butler, yet still couldn’t live peacefully…
After suffering through so much…
He’s too good-hearted…”
“Eh…?”
Where did this slave child story come from!?
This sounds completely different from what I heard before…
“No, no!
We absolutely won’t make you work!
You’re still young, so you should go out and have fun!”
“E-Even if you say have fun…”
“When I was younger, I had plenty of ‘fun’ myself…
That’s how I ended up marrying that husband of mine…”
“That husband?”
“Tetto is my husband.”
Ohh… I see.
So both husband and wife served the Isphile House together.
That’s amazing…
While we talked, several maids came running over.
“Head Maid!
There are way too many pests, and we don’t have enough hands!
At this rate, all the vegetables will be destroyed~”
Another maid spoke with tears in her eyes.
“That’s troubling…
But removing them one by one would take far too much time…”
“I have an idea, if that’s alright?”
“Eh…?”
Before anyone could object, I opened my mouth.
Situations like this had happened countless times before.
There was one magic spell that could probably help.
“It’s an application of Laundry Wash.
If we use enchantment to add an extract pests dislike into the water we use on the plants, they’ll all run away.
That way, pests won’t be a problem anymore.”
The moment I explained it, the head maid and the other maids surrounded me.
“Really!?”
“T-There’s magic like that!?”
“W-Well…
If insects breed in the garden, it ruins the appearance…
And I didn’t want to spend too much time on maintenance.”
That was exactly why I created the spell.
Since Laundry Wash had been the very first magic I developed, I used it as the foundation to create many other spells.
The maids stared at me with sparkling eyes, causing me to instinctively step backward.
“Head Maid!
Let’s definitely ask him!”
“Exactly!”
As I smiled back at them, Anna lowered her head apologetically.
“Hmm…
I’m sorry…
Alto-san, could we trouble you for this?”
“Of course, I don’t mind.”
If I could help these people, then I’d gladly do it.
I asked them to bring over a bucket of water, then placed my hand upon it.
────[Laundry Wash].
And add [Enchant Magic] for pest extermination too…
“Please use this water on the garden.
It won’t act as fertilizer, but the pests should disappear completely.”
“Sniff sniff…
It smells like lemon…?”
“Yes.
Pests dislike lemon scents, so this should drive them away.”
When I first experimented with it, I infused all kinds of scents into water.
Chili pepper, rotten smells…
After testing them all, lemon scent turned out to be the most effective.
“I-I see…!!”
Anna immediately began issuing instructions as the water was spread throughout the garden.
“Ohh!!
The pests really are fleeing from it!
Head Maid!
At this rate, the vegetables might survive after all!”
“Thank goodness…
Vegetable prices have become so high lately that we can’t afford to buy many…”
“Vegetables have gotten expensive?”
“Yes.
Recently, Dark Locusts have been swarming and devouring crops and farmland everywhere…
Even our estate suffered damage.”
I’d heard that the Dark Locust problem was affecting the entire Drad Kingdom.
Apparently, they were breeding in massive numbers upstream before descending upon the towns.
They were omnivorous and ate practically anything.
Even if people tried to stop them, there were simply too many.
And because they had so little edible meat, nobody could even make proper food from them.
They truly were a nuisance.
Some cities were even suffering famines because of them, making the situation a major crisis.
“I see.
Back where I used to live, not only pests but monsters often appeared in the garden too, so I can kind of understand how difficult that must’ve been.”
“M-Monsters appeared in the estate!?
Why!?”
“We cultivated Alcohol Flowers there.
Apparently, those flowers release pheromones that stimulate monsters…”
“T-That’s common knowledge!?
That’s why it’s mandatory to hire adventurers from the royal capital and cultivate them inside sealed rooms…!!”
“It was my master’s order…
Haha.”
Well, it was all in the past now, so I didn’t think much about it anymore.
Besides, it helped increase my knowledge about monsters.
“Haha…?
Just how horrible was your past…?
Hm?
The water Alto-san made earlier…
Even the Dark Locusts are fleeing…?”
Before Anna could fully cry out in surprise, a voice spoke from behind me.
“Heh…
So you can use original magic and even [Enchant Magic] too…
You’re impressive.”
The owner of the voice appeared to be around twenty years old.
A handsome silver-haired young man stood there.
With a sword at his waist and bright, lively eyes, his atmosphere resembled Uruk’s somewhat.
The maids immediately straightened their posture upon seeing him.
“Lord Frey!!
You came again without informing us!?”
“Yep, surprise visit.
Happy to see me?”
“That sort of surprise does not make us happy.
We shall prepare your meal immediately.”
“Sorry about that.
I’m counting on you.”
As the maids dispersed, Frey tasted the water I had created.
“Sour!”
He laughed as he said it.
He didn’t seem intimidating at all.
If anything, he felt easygoing and approachable.
“I’m Isphile Frey.
You could say I’m Uruk’s older brother.
You’re Alto, the guest Uruk brought in, right?”
A noble!?
I instantly switched modes and straightened my posture sharply.
“It is an honor to meet you.
My name is Alto, and I am deeply grateful for the hospitality shown to me here.
Lady Uruk saved me, and I merely wish to be of use in return by working where I can.”
“Ahh, it’s fine, it’s fine.
No need for all that stiffness.
I hate formalities just like Uruk does.”
“R-Right…
Then…
Is this better?”
I assumed he meant for me to speak more casually, so I relaxed my tone slightly.
“Yeah, much better.
I like it.
So then, Alto, how about having a match with me?”
“A-A match…?”
“Because you’re strong, aren’t you?”
Isphile Frey challenged Alto to a sparring match.