Maria like always came out through the walls in a fluffy way. Oh, I forgot to tell her to be quiet upstairs.
âOh, my God, youâre so cute!â
âThank you,~Death.â
Nina held Maria in her hands and the girl and the French doll looked quite good together. Everyone was smiling seeing this.
The small children were very excited to see the food.
âThen I would like to start this welcome party with Kiel and his family.â
Everyone wanted to eat, so I decided to start the party with a quick hello.
âYes!Letâs eat!!!!â
Kurena also suggested that we eat quickly.
Kiel and Nina took their seats, but the other six refused to take theirs.
âWhat?â
(Oh, why donât you take a seat?)
âOh, guys, Iâve been telling you this for a while. Thatâs enough. Letâs have dinner together.â
âYes, sir. Kiel.â
âDonât call me that.â
âIâm sorryâŠâ
A man about 15 years old, older than Kiel, apologized to Kiel. They never looked like siblings because of their looks and facial features. Kiel and Nina were the only two blondes among the eight of them.
(Still a family is a family, isnât it?)
I remembered hearing about families in this world from head manservant Rickel, a long time ago.
Cecile also seemed to have noticed something about the situation.
âCome on, thereâs plenty to eat, so letâs start already.â
I said and all of us began to pick up a large slice of bread or meat that was placed on the table. Some of the children seemed to be quite hungry and gobbled up the food. Kurena and Dogora started to eat as well, and the food we had bought from the store was dwindling fast.
I was glad that we bought more food than I predicted. We had bought more food than he could fit on this table. They were a little nervous about coming to this building, but the food seemed to have eased everyoneâs tension.
(They are ridiculously young. I can see why Kiel was skipping lunch.)
Nina, about nine years oldThree males between the ages of 8 and 15Three girls between the ages of 8 and 15
I calmed myself down and thought about the seven people that Kiel brought with him.
âNo, Allen. Honestly, this whole base thing has been a huge help, thank you.â
He was pretty much on the edge of his life.
âNo, no, youâre welcome. Kiel.â
âYou know, after all youâve done for me. Can you please stop saying â Kielâ? I want you to talk to me like the other three.â
{TLN: Most of you may have already understood but still let me explain. Allen has been calling Kiel âKiel-sanâ till now and that canât be interpreted in English. Now Kiel is asking to remove the ââsanâ.}
(Oh, nice! Looks like he wants to join the party permanently!)
While everyone was laughing and chattering, Kiel asked me to talk to him more casually.
âThen I will, Kiel.â
âOh.â
âBut, I didnât think Kiel was a Noble.â
Cecile seemed to have guessed from the conversation between Kiel and the servant-like person that Kiel was a Noble.
âOh⊠Iâm sorry I didnât tell you. Itâs just that I used to be a Noble.â
âUsed to? What do you mean?â
Keil told us that he was a Noble. He said that there had been a recent uproar and his house had been taken down. His house was gone, but he and his sister, and there are servants who have served him were still alive. He took them all in.
âWell, Iâm sorry to hear that.â
âDonât worry about it. I didnât get much of a Noble upbringing. Thatâs why my language is messy. That said, Cecile is more Noble-like.â
âOh? Iâm a Noble, though.â
Apparently, we hadnât introduced ourselves very well. For the past month or so, we hadnât had any formal introductions or conversations since I first introduced everyone briefly.
Kiel didnât have time to listen to me either.
ââHuh?ââ
Kielâs servants were all surprised at the conversation between Kiel and Cecile. Some of them tried to stand up, saying that they had been seated together.
âOh, itâs all right. Thereâs no Nobles or commoners or anything like that in the Academy.â
Cecile hurriedly told them that it was no problem. The people sitting here now were children who had been educated on how to treat Nobles. The servants sat down in response to Cecileâs words.
(Could the recently demolished Noble family beâŠ)
I knew one Noble family that had recently been demolished.
âAnd yet, Brother Kiel, are you sure we can live in such a nice house?
As I was thinking about Kielâs situation, Nina, who was holding Maria in her lap, called out to him. It sounds like sheâs trying to change the subject somehow.
âOh, yes. They said theyâll pay you if you do the house chores. So, work hard.â
ââYes.ââ
Everyone responded loudly, including the little ones.
(No, I didnât expect them to be this little. But then again, I have worked as a manservant since I was eight years old. Is that normal in this world?)
âYeah, well, just take it easy. Iâll be away sometimes, but take care.â
ââYes!ââ
Kielâs servants responded.
âAre you still going to the dungeon when youâre away from home, brother?â
Nina looked quite worried. Maybe she was more worried about Kiel than she was about the money he had been bringing in for the past month or so.
Cecileâs expression turned sad at the conversation. Ninaâs concern for her brotherâs well-being seemed to overlap with her worry she had for Mihaiâs.
âOh, Nina. Donât worry. Weâre all strong.â
âIs that so?â
I looked at Kurena as she crunched down on a large piece of bread.
âSo, what are we going to do now?â
Dogora asks me about our future plans with meat in hand.
Dogora has seen up close what I have done in the Kurena Village, so he doesnât say much about the policy. However, he often asked at base about what we were going to do.
He didnât say anything special when I made Kiel a party member. He didnât seem to have the personality to say that Kiel was good or bad. Dogora has become somewhat of a warrior, I thought.
âTomorrow, Iâd like to help you move your things and get any furniture we might be missing. We might need to collect a little money from everyone.â
âOh, okay.â
Since weâve been sharing our rewards for almost two months, everyone, including me, has more than ten Gold coins. I said that we should collect and buy what we need immediately, and other things little by little.
âYou all get along well, donât you?â
Nina asked after seeing how Dogora and I were doing.
âThatâs right. Me, Kurena there, and Dogora are from the same village.â
âYeah, they get along really well.â
Kiel also joined the conversation.
âWell, me and Kurena come from a serf background. Weâre commoners now, though, after all that.â
I took this opportunity to talk about myself as well.
âWhat? Is that so? Sorry if I sound rude, but you donât look like that at all.â
Kiel told us about his complicated situation, and I took the opportunity to talk about myself as well.
âAllen has always been like this. Even in the village, everyone said that he doesnât look like a serf.â
âYeah, Allenâs the same as always.â
Dogora and Kurena agreed.
(No, Iâm growing up, too.)
âHmm? You mean Cecile was a Noble of that territory? Lord of the territory or something like that?â
Kiel noticed that Cecile, who was with us all the time, was not present in our story.
âYeah, Allen became a manservant to the Lord when he was eight years old.â
âOh yeah, I didnât expect him to come to the Academy with me!â
âIâm kind of jealous. I didnât have any friends my age. Who did you work for?â
âWhat? Didnât I tell you? I worked for the Granvelle Family.â
âGranvelle? Didnât you just say âGranvelleâ? What? Well, what about Cecile?
Kielâs hands stopped holding his food. Then, his gaze went towards Cecile.
âCecile is the daughter of Viscount Granvelle.â
Thud
ââHuh?ââ
Both Kiel and his servants stood up at Kurenaâs answer. Kurena and Dogora were surprised by the situation. Is there a problem?
âMis- Miss Nina, please step back!â
Then the oldest servant told Nina to step back, to hide from us. Nina couldnât follow the conversation and was confused. The same went for the smaller servants.
âWell, I mean⊠Oh, no. Ugh, thatâs not true!â
Kielâs tone was one of disbelief as he looked at Cecile.
âWhat are you talking about? Iâm Cecile Granvelle of the Granvelle Family.â
Kielâs expression changed from surprise to hatred. His eyes were filled with hatred, as if he was looking at the murderer of his parents.
âOh, yeah⊠Oh, itâs you. Yo- how dare you destroy my house! You destroyed my Carnell Family!â
Kiel shouted at Cecile as if he was going to throw up.