Episode 72

My job isn’t just choosing a shop.

It’s studying about the nobility.

I have no knowledge of that at all, so I wanted at least to be able to handle things at a minimum level.

Today I’m studying in the mansion’s library.

…Although called a library, it’s just a place where books are carelessly stored.

Apparently there are even famous books, but no one has any idea where anything is.

They say they’ve considered cleaning it someday, but with the enormous number of books they haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Alicia is beside me.

She was staring intently at me.

She was like an examiner.

All right, for now the test begins.

We were practicing in a hands-on format how to deal with guests when they arrive as nobility.

Just as I braced myself, there was a knock at the door.

When the knock finished, I called out to the person outside.

“Come in.”

I tried to adopt a more imposing tone than usual.

I was thinking of Lord Goral.

Hearing my voice, Refy, who had been waiting outside, entered.

Refy’s role was to be the noble visiting me.

Refy bowed politely.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Feiku. I’m honored to have this meeting today.”

“…Ah, yes, that’s right.”

…If I marry Alicia, I’ll become her husband and take on that position.

Because the position is quite high, when dealing with nobles I’m supposed to be above them and they below me.

From the nobles’ perspective it might be unpleasant, but it’s a rule that must be followed.

There is a risk of arousing their dislike, but if I act submissively it would damage the Barnast family’s standing.

I continued treating Refy as a noble, and the practice session ended.

Even though I suggested the training, it was still quite difficult.

Alicia, watching as the examiner, folded her arms.

“You’re still, somehow, uneasy.”

“…R-really?”

“I think you can be more confident. Refy, what do you think?”

“I agree with Lady Alicia. Especially the overall atmosphere. You should get closer to Lord Goral’s manner. When you speak, you come across as desperate.”

Is it still necessary?

It’s harder than I thought.

Actually, I used to be in a position where I bowed my head to those around me.

I’ve lived like that for years, so it’s become ingrained.

It looks like it’ll take a lot more time to fix.

“For now, let’s keep practicing the way you speak and your demeanor. With enough practice you can cover this up as much as needed.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

“Not at all. If Sir Faik is motivated, I’ll help as much as needed.”

Refy said that and relaxed her expression. It was reassuring.

“All right then, Faik. Let’s take a short break.”

“Huh? I’m still fine.”

“No. I gathered some of the information about that blacksmith’s workshop we talked about before. We’ll take a break while checking it out.”

“…Ah, I see.”

“Refy, could you bring the documents then?”

“Yes, understood.”

Refy bowed slightly and left the room.

I leaned back against the chair’s backrest and sat down.

As I sipped the tea Refy had left on the table, she returned quickly.

“Sorry to keep you. Here are the documents.”

She said that and laid several sheets of paper on the table.

The papers contained investigation results about the rumored stories.

“First, we had several soldiers stay at that house and observe for a few days. These are the results.”

Refy pointed to the first sheet.

I read the report from the top.

If I state the result,

“There weren’t any particular problems?”

Alicia said that happily on my behalf.

“Yes. There were virtually no problems. We hired a blacksmith along with the soldiers, stayed there several times, and had forging done inside… but there were absolutely no issues.”

Indeed, there were reports about those things.

Both the blacksmith and the soldiers reported no problems at all.

Refy turned the next page and looked at me.

“And we also investigated the rumor. Regarding seeing ghosts, based on the earlier results we can at least prove there were no sightings, but there’s another issue: reports that the blacksmiths went mad and could no longer forge.”

“Now that you mention it, that was mentioned before.”

“We looked into that in detail too. We investigated people who had bought that lot in the past… they tended to be stubborn or very particular. The claim that they couldn’t forge anymore has some suspicious aspects.”

I checked Refy’s investigation results one by one.

It had only been about a week of investigation, but from what I could see there didn’t seem to be any particular problems.

“So it’s safe to say it’s okay?”

“I… think it’s fine. We’ve also had Lord Goral confirm these results. I think we’ll have a more detailed discussion later.”

“…Understood.”

“That said, it’s still only a few days of investigation. There may be facts we haven’t discovered yet, so we shouldn’t be complacent.”

That’s true.

It’s possible the ghost just happened to be in a bad mood and didn’t show up.

What, ghosts have moods?

What bothered me most was the part about blacksmiths going mad, but it seemed the blacksmiths who lived there may have had problems to begin with.

That was what put me most at ease.

I turned to Alicia, who was looking seriously at the ghost-related report.

“From Refy’s report it seems buying it wouldn’t be a problem… What do you think, Alicia?”

If Alicia still didn’t like it, I was prepared to look for another property.

Alicia nodded.

“I think this is fine. I’ll consult my father, and if he’s okay with it, I’d like this place. If it’s here, Faik’s shop will surely do well.”

“Alicia… thank you.”

Even though she might be scared, Alicia considered it positively, and I couldn’t help but smile.

For now, I’ll discuss this direction with Lord Goral.

“Refy, thank you.”

“No, don’t mention it. This is my duty.”

After thanking Refy too, I spent a while looking over the reports.