Negotiation

It was the middle of November, and the weather had turned chilly enough that the first snow was due any day. Allen woke up in the attic on the fourth floor, as he did every morning.

He'd been getting up at six every morning for years as part of his routine, so he never overslept. In the dim light, he accidentally brushed against a flowerpot.

It was the flowerpot Allen had brought up to the attic on his third day at the mansion. There had been plenty of pots in the mansion's garden, so he'd borrowed one without asking. He'd filled it with soil and carried it inside.

A few of the servants had seen him, but with odd behavior like this, the best way to avoid suspicion was to act as though it were perfectly normal. He'd managed to carry the pots all the way up to the attic. There were two of them. If anyone asked why he was taking them, he planned to say that Lady Cecil had asked him to.

One pot held a Grass F Summon that had grown into a tree. Its Aroma special ability accelerated his Magic recovery. The other was filled with soil, ready for a Grass E Summon's special ability, Life Grass, to sprout.

He could earn Skill Experience by using up Magic. His Magic recovered completely six hours after he'd last spent any. Aroma, a Grass F special ability, shortened that recovery time.

When his Magic recovered, it was restored in an instant—so quickly that even his grimoire couldn't show the recovery in progress.

Aroma's Effect

• For 24 hours after smelling its fragrance, your Magic recovers in five hours

As a precaution, he'd grown three Life Grasses from a Grass E Summon and stored them in his grimoire, but he had no plans to use them yet. Given the name, he assumed Life Grass was a healing medicine, but he didn't know how effective it was. He planned to try it on someone the next time they got hurt.

He hadn't made much progress testing the Grass E Summon's Life Grass, or Summons in general. There was still a lot he didn't know about F-rank Summons, either. For the past two years, his days had been filled with housework, farm work, hunting, and playing knights. And with Mash following him everywhere, there were plenty of things he couldn't test.

(I need to negotiate properly if I want to run some tests. I've already finished my shopping on my days off, too.)

Today, he planned to negotiate with the butler.

After getting up, he spent his Magic to earn Skill Experience, then had breakfast on the first floor. It was the same as yesterday: bread and a soup with hardly anything in it. That was about what servants' meals were like.

Even in a noble household, a baron's family ate lightly at breakfast and lunch. Only dinner usually included meat. He'd noticed that while serving them.

As usual, after breakfast, he went to Cecil's room to attend to her. He collected her nightclothes and trash, then cleaned the room. As the daughter of a baron, she had a room larger than the entire house Allen had lived in as a serf.

The baron's family lived on the third floor. There were four of them. There was also a room for the eldest son, but it was unused since he was attending the academy city.

• The baron

• The baroness

• The baron's second son

• The baron's eldest daughter (Cecil)

The second floor had rooms for the butler, housekeeper, and head chef, along with the baron's dining room, a reception hall, and guest rooms.

The first floor had the kitchen, the servants' dining hall, servants' rooms, and guest rooms.

The basement had storage rooms, including a pantry, as well as servants' rooms. Weapons and armor were stored there, too.

Cecil had a light breakfast of bread, soup, and tea. She used plenty of jam.

It seemed she had lessons in the afternoon. From what Allen could tell, she had lessons five days out of the six-day week. Education must have been important for nobles.

"You must be new. I haven't seen you before."

"Yes. My name is Allen, and I've been working for House Granvelle since last month."

A tutor spoke to him near the entrance. The tutor seemed a little surprised by Allen's response, but said nothing. Allen showed him to the reception hall on the second floor, where lessons were often held.

(Today's tutor is wearing a robe. Is he a magic instructor?)

The man wore a robe like a magician's, and seemed quite old. Allen was interested in magic, though of course he couldn't take lessons himself. He told Cecil that her tutor had arrived.

(Well, even if I did take lessons, I don't know if a Summoner can learn magic.)

Now that he was seeing adventurers with swords and staves, as well as magic instructors, the world was beginning to feel like a proper sword-and-sorcery fantasy.

Once Cecil began her lesson, Allen was free.

He headed to the butler's room on the second floor.

Knock, knock.

"Come in."

"Excuse me."

It was the butler's room. When Allen had said he wanted to discuss something, the butler had agreed to hear him out. He was shown to a sofa and sat down opposite the butler. As you'd expect from the highest-ranking servant, the room was quite spacious. It was the size of two rooms, and even had a sofa, presumably for meeting with servants who needed advice.

"So, what did you want to discuss?"

"It's about my days off. I'd like to have one full day off."

He got straight to the point. At present, he had two half-days off each week, in the afternoons. He was asking for those to be combined into one full day off per week.

The butler murmured, "Hmm," and fell into thought.

"Allen."

"Yes?"

"How long have you been here?"

"Since the end of October, so about twenty days, I believe."

He'd been there for about twenty days, and now he was negotiating for time off. It was like a new employee asking for paid leave twenty days after starting work.

Allen's plan was simple: take one day off every six days, then go outside the city to level up. He also wanted to test his Summons. The E-rank Summons were about one to two meters tall, so he couldn't test them in the mansion.

"And what if I say no?"

"Then I think I'll ask to be released from my position."

!?

Allen had answered immediately that he'd quit being a footman. The butler was taken aback. He was nearly sixty, and these days it took a lot to surprise him, but his shock showed plainly on his face. Did Allen even understand how valuable a footman's position in a noble household was?

The butler had been receiving reports on Allen's work. He was polite and quick to learn his duties. Whenever he had free time, he helped with the laundry, a chore no one else wanted to do. He was strong, too, and a great help. The other servants often remarked that it was hard to believe he'd really been a serf.

It was still early, but the butler had been considering asking the baron to raise Allen's wages, which were currently half the usual amount. Now Allen was asking for a change to his days off. The butler's good opinion of him had begun to waver.

"The pioneer village was a success."

"Pardon?"

Allen looked confused by the butler's sudden remark.

"And the Domain Development Edict is still in effect."

The butler closed his eyes and began to explain. As long as the Domain Development Edict remained in effect, they had to establish villages in the domain and expand the farmland. The same applied to the Granvelle domain, even though it had already succeeded in establishing one pioneer village.

"Yes."

Allen replied and listened closely.

"We've already begun choosing a location for the next village."

"Yes."

(What is he getting at?)

"Naturally, the new village will need a village chief. This is still highly confidential, so you mustn't tell anyone, but Rodan is one of the candidates for the position."

"What?"

The butler continued. The baron held Rodan's work in very high regard. Although he was now a commoner, the baron didn't judge people by whether they'd been born serfs.

Rodan had founded a village, led the serfs, and earned everyone's respect. Surely many people would follow him when it came time to establish another village. The next village would likely be centered around boar hunting, since the kingdom needed boar meat. It would need a hero of boar hunting, the butler explained.

"Allen, that's why your work here won't be wasted."

He was working at the seat of the Granvelle domain, which governed Granvelle City. The butler didn't know how high Allen might rise in the household, but he wanted him to understand that his work there would never be wasted.

It would be useful if Allen succeeded Rodan as village chief someday, the butler explained.

"..."

Even after hearing all that, Allen waited for an answer about whether he could have a full day off.

When Allen had been reincarnated in this world, he'd decided to play it to the fullest. He had chosen how he wanted to live.

He would raise his level and grow stronger. If he couldn't even get one full day off, he saw no reason to stay there.

"It matters that much to you? Very well, then. One full day off."

"Thank you very much."

The butler gave in. The standard was two half-days off per week. Some servants did get a full day off, depending on the household's circumstances. The butler had only thought he shouldn't agree too easily, since Allen had asked for the change so soon after arriving.

And so Allen secured one full day off to level up.