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Chapter 8.1: Ciel (2)
Nothing had happened.
“...”
Truly nothing had happened. Although Eugene had expected some form of punishment to be imposed on him for leaving Cyan, a scion of the main family, in such a state
. The annex was completely at peace, as if the duel with Cyan had never happened.
Frankly, while nothing that could be called an actual incident had happened, it wasn’t like there had been absolutely no changes. Following the duel, the looks from the annex’s servants had changed. They were now cautious of Eugene’s mood while also not being in any rush to approach him.
They probably didn’t want to get caught in the aftermath together with him.
“Are you okay with this?” Eugene asked as he looked at Nina.
His first night at the annex was over, and it was now the following morning. When Eugene and Nina arrived at the first-floor dining hall, they had found that they were the only ones there. Even so, a large variety of dishes had been laid out on the dining table.
“May I ask what you mean by that?” Nina inquired.
“With accompanying me,” Eugene said as he roughly sliced off a piece of meat for himself.
The chunks of meat were cut far too big for breakfast fare. The only thing that Eugene had actually requested among all these food items was the meat. If he didn’t make sure to eat substantially despite exerting his body vigorously, both his stamina and, of course, his physical fitness would decrease.
“...Um
” Nina wasn’t in a hurry to reply.
While she hesitated, Eugene shoved the meat he had just sliced into his mouth with a knife.
“...It’s not like I’m unaware of the situation
 but I can’t do anything to help it. Therefore, while Master Eugene stays at this estate, I will continue to serve as Master Eugene’s personal attendant.”
“You don’t need to show any loyalty to a person who will be leaving after a month at most. After all, don’t you have to keep working here once I’m gone?”
“...It’s not all because of loyalty. This estate’s head butler assigned me to be Master Eugene’s personal attendant, and the one who ordered him to do that was probably the Second Lady.”
Nina smiled bitterly and shook her head.
“If I were to neglect my duties while trying to stay out of trouble, that would mean I was indirectly disobeying the Second Lady’s orders. That’s why, even more so, I should act according to the situation and continue serving Master Eugene.”
“You’ve got a good head on you,” Eugene complimented with a grin, pushing his empty plate aside.
He proceeded to grab a lamb shank that was as thick as his forearms.
“When you said that it wasn’t all because of loyalty, doesn’t that mean that you’re at least slightly loyal to me?” Eugene remarked.
“....Even if it is temporary, you are still my master,” Nina said.
“Then I too have no choice but to act like a proper master. If something I do ends up causing you any grief, then don’t keep it to yourself and instead just tell me right away.”
“...Huh?”
“What’s with the huh? You were unlucky enough to become my personal servant, and I was also a bit unfortunate to be assigned a maid like you. As such, we should at least try to keep the air clean between us.”
“H-However
.”
“Enough. You shouldn’t question any of my orders from now on and just follow them. Understand?”
“...Yes.”
“Then go and get me some damp towels,” without another word, Eugene started tearing into the lamb shank with his teeth.
Nina was momentarily stunned by this sight but nodded her head and began backing away.
“...I believe that towels alone might prove insufficient, so I will return after preparing a full basin instead,” Nina said observantly.
“That’s just what I like to see, someone who can think for themself,” Eugene said with a smile, even as he chewed on a mouthful of meat. “Oh, and since you’re dropping by the kitchen, pass a message to the chef. Tell him to increase the proportion of meat to everything else during lunch and, instead of trying to pointlessly elevate the dishes with some fancy cooking, he should just make sure to serve more lean meat.”
“Yes.”
As she continued to politely withdraw from the room, Nina gave the table a glance. Did that mean he was really going to finish all that by himself?
Of course, Eugene finished eating everything. Ever since his previous life, he’d never been the picky sort and was able to enjoy eating all kinds of things.
‘I’ve even tried eating monsters and demons.’
After picking out a piece of meat stuck between his teeth, Eugene washed his hands in the basin. Then, while patting his stuffed stomach, he left the table. Nina followed behind Eugene at a brisk walk.
“Have you heard if anyone is arriving today?” Eugene asked her.
“My apologies, but no one has told me anything,” Nina answered.
“Then go and find out. I’ll be at the gymnasium if you need me.”
“Yes. However, please consider
 you’ve just finished eating. I’m afraid that if you start exercising right away, your stomach may start to hurt
.”
“Thanks for your concern, but it’s unnecessary. My stomach doesn’t hurt even if I start running right after a meal.”
Nina had a normal body and found it impossible to comprehend such a physique. Even so, she quietly withdrew without asking any more questions.
Eugene hadn’t lied to her. Since he was young, his body had never once suffered any lingering illnesses. Even his palms, which had been torn open while swinging the spear yesterday, were now completely healed without a single scratch.
‘This really is such an unfair body.’
Come to think of it, even in his previous life, Vermouth had hardly ever needed to use anything like healing magic or potions. Although it was rare for him to even be injured, his body would heal on its own on those very few occasions he was hurt.
Thanks to this, Anise and Sienna’s healing magic had been almost exclusively dedicated to healing Molon and Hamel.
—The reason why you keep getting hurt is that you always race ahead without thinking!
—Hey, that stupid bastard Molon was the one who charged ahead first!
—That guy does it because he’s a fool. So why do you keep copying that fool? Are you stupid too?
—Then fuck, should I just let that bastard get beaten up by the monsters? Why are you getting mad at me for!?
—Sigh, let’s just stop arguing. Take a look at Vermouth. Why can’t you fight as carefully as he does without getting yourself hurt?
—If you want us to stop arguing, why do you keep saying shit like that?
Every time he came back covered in wounds, Sienna had always torn into Hamel. Even though thirteen years had already passed since he was reincarnated
 the memories of his previous life hadn’t faded in the slightest, remaining as clear as ever.
‘...A funeral was held for Vermouth after he died, but I don’t know if the other three are still alive or not.’
The Wise Sienna, after serving the longest term as a Head Wizard of a Magic Tower in the entire history of the Magic Kingdom of Aroth, suddenly disappeared around two hundred years ago. Her whereabouts after this point were unknown.
Even the Faithful Anise, revered as a saint by the Holy Empire of Yuras, withdrew from her work in the Central Temple during her later years and departed on a one-woman pilgrimage. Not even the Pope of the Holy Empire had managed to get her to divulge the destination of her pilgrimage.
As for that foolish Molon, the first king of the Northern Ruhar Kingdom, that guy was fortunately still around, having been seen relatively recently. Though ‘relatively recently,’ in this case, meant a hundred years ago
. After abdicating from the throne, he lived a leisurely life. He had last made an appearance about a hundred years ago on the anniversary of his kingdom’s founding.
‘No matter how much I think about it, I can’t imagine that any of them would end up dying quietly, but
.’
But such a thought was meaningless.
Because Vermouth, the one who had seemed the most unlikely to die, had actually died more than two hundred years ago.
As Eugene felt a bitter taste rising in his mouth, he shook his head to clear it.