Chapter 3

The butler's work begins before the sun rises.

The first thing I do when I wake up is to wake up the sleeping slaves. If they don't get up in time, a whipping is also possible. Jurelle and Mido, who are getting old, don't wake up easily, so I started carrying them to the dining room.

The slaves, regardless of gender, all sleep in the slave quarters. They sleep on the floor, wrapped in blankets. The blankets are made from the skins of rabbits and other animals caught by Tataruku and tanned. I got an old one from the slave head.

Meals are served twice a day, in the morning and at night. Even if you're sleepy, if you miss this, the next meal won't be until the evening, so you have to eat here to keep your body going.

The meal rotation is handled by the slaves who can cook, but usually, the female slaves do the cooking. The menu is soup made from scraps of vegetables and two pieces of bread. Occasionally, there's meat. I want to learn to hunt rabbits soon.

After quickly serving the food and sitting down, I dip the bread into the soup to soften it. The smell attracts Jurelle, who wakes up.

"......Ah, good morning."

"Good morning, Jurelle."

Jurelle starts the pre-meal prayer, so I join in.

The slaves who pray are mostly Jurelle, the slave head, and me. Tataruku just snickers.

After the prayer, I start eating the bread that has softened nicely. The slave head brings me some soup and sits down next to me, watching me pray casually while waiting for instructions.

"Pha... ah. Start with chopping wood today... no, start with unloading the food supplies. I remember you said the ingredients for breakfast were coming."

"Got it."

I'm a child, so I don't have a fixed job. Every morning, I follow the slave head's instructions.

Today, I'll transport the boxes of food to the back door of the mansion and then chop wood.

I finish the soup, wipe the container with the bread, and stand up. I need to hurry to be on time for the master's breakfast.

It's time to start.

Before I know it, it's lunchtime. Only those of the commoner class and above are allowed to eat.

During this time, the slaves take turns for their breaks while I patrol the garden and fields.

I don't know what other noble mansions are like, but this duke's mansion is apparently quite large.

I've never been outside the mansion, so I can't compare the size of other mansions.

Apparently, ordinary mansions don't have ponds, forests, or fields. The mansion itself doesn't have multiple connected residences, fountains, or courtyards, and there are no separate towers or turrets. I've only heard about the inside of the mansion; I've never seen it.

Well, I probably won't have much to do with other nobles anyway.

It's my free time now.

While the other slaves who take their break at the same time return to the slave quarters, I enter the forest and run to the corner of the garden.

I've entered the forest many times to collect dead branches, so I can run even with my eyes closed. When I told the other slaves this, they laughed. Why?

I reach the corner of the mansion surrounded by high brick walls. Here, no one comes, so I can concentrate and memorize things... or so I thought. As Jurelle would say, it was a "child's shallow wisdom."

What did he say? ...Ah, it was shallow. It was shallow.

As soon as I lean against the wall, the bushes rustle. The rustling gradually gets closer. She's early today.

...There's no need to push through the bushes every time, but this brat seems to like emerging from them.

"Jee-bok, hahaha!"

The young lady jumps out with a full smile, leaves and twigs stuck to her clothes and hair.

"Here, young lady."

I remove them without touching her skin or clothes.

"Um, um..."

Looking up at my face as I get closer, the young lady is doing some kind of calculation, bending her fingers and clenching her fists.

"I forgot."

It was just my imagination.

Until her assigned maid comes to fetch her, I tell her some made-up stories, and the break time ends.

In the afternoon, if the master has given any orders, I prioritize them. If not, I help the female slaves with cleaning and laundry in the slave quarters, then peel a large number of vegetables, collect the exhausted slaves, take over their assigned tasks, report to the slave head, maintain the tools, transport goods, return the horses, and by the time it's well past dark, the slave head takes attendance and we sit down for dinner.

Dinner is more luxurious than breakfast. Sometimes there's meat.

There was no meat today, but there were mushrooms in the soup, and the bread was freshly baked. There was no whipping, so today is lucky.

That alone is enough to make me happy, but depending on the master's mood, there might be alcohol, and since today was one of those days, the dinner was lively. However, I've never drunk alcohol, so it doesn't concern me.

Some of the slaves look enviously at those drinking.

They are the night shift slaves.

"We'll save some for you guys,"

The slave head pats the night shift slaves on the shoulder to comfort them, but the alcohol never lasts until the next day, and the night shift slaves look a bit resentful at the slave head.

With this, the day shift slaves' work is over. After this, they decide when to finish eating, get some hot water, wipe their bodies in their rooms, and go to sleep. Since it's just before midnight, the exhausted slaves go to sleep early, while those who enjoy alcohol use their time for that, depending on the slave.

I'm still a child, so I don't get any alcohol.

After quickly finishing my meal, I get some hot water and wipe my body in my room.

Jurelle, who had been dozing off since early, seems to perk up a bit after eating.

"Well, what should I teach you today?"

Not because of that, but he gives me knowledge in exchange for taking on his work.

"More letters would be good."

"Letters, huh... But you already know the common script, right?"

"Then, how about the old ones?"

"Ah, the ancient script. But I don't know all of it either?"

"That's fine."

"Is that so? Then—"

Jurelle traces the shapes of the letters on the floor with his finger, using the moonlight to help me learn.

The explanation continues for a while, but by the time it's midnight, it turns into snoring.

I don't want to spend too much time here, as it will make my work tomorrow harder, so I try to go to sleep after learning the basic shapes of the letters.

Amidst the snoring and teeth grinding, I repeat writing the letters on the floor, and my day ends.

I hear about other lives, but it seems I like my current life.

The slaves dream of future liberation, but it doesn't really resonate with me. Maybe it's the influence of the slave head, who continues to be a slave.

The other slaves often ask me if I have any dreams, like becoming a merchant and making a fortune or earning a knighthood by doing something great.

I don't have any, but when I say that, they look at me with pity, so I started saying I want to hunt and put meat on the table every day. It's the truth, though.

Even if I become a commoner, it will be a long time before I can earn money and save up. I might be a slave until I'm old.

Until then, that's what I thought.

It was a child's shallow wisdom.

It was shallow.