Volume 2Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – The Deputy’s Residence

We finished lunch, sat a while to let it settle, and then swayed along in the carriage again until we reached a large town as the light was starting to go. Every town in the ducal domain except the main city is managed by a deputy, and in a small town the deputy’s residence is a modest place, while a large town gets a fairly grand building. The ducal house is the one that builds them, so showing the house’s authority must be part of it. This town’s a large one and the residence is roomy, so there’s apparently plenty of space even with all of us staying.

The carriages went through the town and turned in at the grounds of the residence, and stopped. The valet got down first, then me, then Lord Frederick, in the same order as before. In front of the residence stood a man in slightly grand clothes who looked like the deputy, with a long row of servants behind him.

I heard it in the carriage earlier: the deputy of a large town is generally a third or later son of a lower noble house. Rather than working as officials at the palace, a fair number of them take service with a noble and become deputies. This town’s deputy is one of those, a man who used to be a baron’s third son. A semi-noble, as they say.

The man who’d been bowing in front of the house raised his head. He looks to be in his forties. His belly is enormous. The man is vast.

“We have been waiting for you. To have the family of House Townsend under this roof is a very great honor. We shall entertain you with everything we have, so please pass your time here at your ease.”

He said it with a broad, pleasant smile. He looks tremendously friendly… and there’s something under the smile. I don’t know why I think so. Instinct is all I can call it. If I had to put it into words, it’s a smile that seems like a lie. The kind you fawn on power with. For now, I’ll keep out of his way.

“Morgan. It has been a while. Only the one day, but we are in your hands.”

“My lord. It has been too long, and it is a joy to see you looking so well. Please come in. I shall show you to your rooms.”

We followed Morgan into the house. The way the place is built isn’t much different from the ducal mansion; it’s simply plainer and smaller than that one. This may be the size I find restful, in fact. Not that this house would be anything less than an outright mansion if you dropped it into Japan. I may be getting steeped in this world’s scale of things.

Our guest rooms seem to be on the second floor, and we went up the stairs and Lord Richard and the others were shown into the rooms from the far end.

“My lord, please take this room. The mistress here, and Lord Frederick here.”

I assumed I was next, and my room wasn’t shown to me.

“Morgan, where is Leon’s room? I believe I sent word that Leon was to be treated exactly as we are.”

“I understood it so. However, I am terribly sorry to say that there are only these three guest rooms. Might Master Leon therefore use one of the vacant servants’ rooms?”

“A servant’s room? There are other rooms besides. Are they not guest rooms?”

When Lord Richard asked it, I thought for a moment I saw the barest flicker of panic go across Morgan’s face. I’m still short enough to see up into a face from below, which is the only reason I caught it; nobody else will have.

“Those rooms are used for storage. On no occasion when the family has come here have there been more than three of you, so I thought it better to make good use of the other rooms as storage… I am very sorry to have taken it on myself.”

Rooms that could be guest rooms being used as a storeroom is a strange business. Is that really what happened? I had my doubts, but putting my oar in here looked likely to complicate matters, so I kept quiet.

“Morgan, the rooms exist, so have them properly fitted out as guest rooms. Add another two or three while you are about it. It is chance that has kept us to three or fewer until now.”

“Certainly. I am very sorry.”

“And in the meantime, what to do about tonight…”

Having reproved Morgan, Lord Richard fell to worrying about the sleeping arrangements. I’m a commoner; a servant’s room is honestly fine by me.

“Lord Richard, a servant’s room would not trouble me in the least.”

“But to have you treated in that fashion, Leon, is really…”

“Even so. For me to take a guest room while somebody of rank uses a servant’s room is out of the question, and it is only for the one day.”

Lord Richard seemed to turn it over for some time, but in the end he accepted it.

“Then I am truly sorry, but would you use a servant’s room, Leon?”

“Certainly.”

That closed the matter, and I parted from the family and was shown down to the servants’ rooms with Roger.

“Please use this one.”

Morgan’s at least keeping his words polite, but the eyes he turns on me are contemptuous. That look told me everything. This man will be the sort of noble who looks down on commoners. Not noble; semi-noble. And the business with the guest rooms may simply have been that he didn’t want to put a commoner in a grand one.

“Thank you very much.”

I thanked him for form’s sake, and Morgan gave me a hard glare and left. …Is that man an idiot? Doesn’t he understand at all what it means that Lord Richard went out of his way to ask that I be treated as the family are? Lord Richard hesitated over letting me use a servant’s room a minute ago. Anybody who thought for a moment would guess that this commoner is an important guest.

Turn a look like that on the guest, and doesn’t it occur to him that one word from me to Lord Richard finishes him on the spot? A noble’s son, a semi-noble, may do as he pleases with a commoner. Perhaps that’s what has taken root in him.

Morgan may have hidden it well in front of Lord Richard and the others, but this amounts to his holding the same ideas as the camp that opposes House Townsend. That may be worth telling Lord Richard. One night only, and it’s already looking like a nuisance.

I’d got that far in my thinking when Roger came into the room.

“Master Leon, the servants’ room next door has been lent to me, so I shall sleep there. Please call for me at once if anything is needed.”

“Right. Thanks.”

“Though to put Master Leon, a guest of the ducal house, into a room of this kind.”

Roger was frowning where anybody could see it. Feeling on display is a rare event with him.

“And this room is very dusty. I doubt it has been cleaned.”

“It is, isn’t it. Would you give it a clean? Nothing thorough.”

“Certainly.”

If he makes his spite this obvious, doesn’t it occur to him that he’s backing himself into a corner? It’s so stupid that it becomes hard to get properly angry about. If I told Lord Richard what he said and did and what this room is actually like, Morgan might be dismissed on the spot, but if he’s any good as a deputy then perhaps that’s better not done. That’s the difficult part.

Putting up with one night is no trouble at all to me. Still, Morgan’s way of thinking must collide with the camp House Townsend stands in, and if Lord Richard and the others haven’t noticed it, then reporting it is probably the right thing. Hmm. I still don’t know much about how any of that works in practice. It’s possible that where a man stands and how he does his job are separate matters. For now, watch and see.

After that Roger cleaned the room properly and brought me a pail of hot water to wipe myself down with.

“Master Leon, this room has no bath, so might I ask you to make do with wiping yourself down today?”

“Wiping down is fine, thanks.”

I cleaned myself up with Roger’s help and changed into the clothes I wear indoors. At home it’s a cloth and water every time, so it’s no difficulty whatever. And if it starts to bother me I can make myself clean with Purification.

A while later it was time for dinner, and one of the house’s servants showed me to the dining room. The servants here only seem to be avoiding crossing Morgan; they aren’t actively out to do me any harm. Well, we’re commoners together, and nobody takes on that kind of risk.

When I went in Morgan was already in his seat and none of the family had arrived. Marvelous… Is he about to do something else to me? I braced for it, and was saved by Lord Frederick coming in almost at once. This is exhausting.

Dinner went along in an easy mood from beginning to end, presumably because the family were there. The food was a little below what we eat at the mansion in the capital, but decent and satisfying.

“Leon, how is your room? Is there anything you lack?”

“No. It is a small shame that there is no bath, but I lack nothing in particular.”

“A bath… In that case you had better use mine.”

Use the bath in Lord Richard’s room?! There’s no possible way I could be that brazen!

“No, Roger prepared hot water for me earlier and I have cleaned myself up, so I am quite all right. Thank you for the thought.”

“I see. As long as that is so…”

“Yes. It is only tonight, and there is no difficulty at all.”

“Good. But say so at any time if you find you want a bath.”

“Certainly.”

A bath is a little tempting, but I’m not thick-skinned enough to relax in the bath in Lord Richard’s own room. And doing it would only earn me more of Morgan’s resentment.

“That reminds me, Morgan. On the matter of order in this town…”

Lord Richard moved on from there to talking with Morgan about keeping the peace in the town. Once I’d stopped being the subject I finally settled down and got back to eating. This house is an uncomfortable place. Simply knowing that somebody here means me ill is enough to keep me on edge.

After a while Lady Catherine and Lord Frederick went back to their rooms, so I decided to follow them up. Out of this room at last.

“Then, since I have the road behind me as well, I shall go up ahead of you.”

“Yes. Until tomorrow, Leon.”

“Yes. Please rest well, Lord Richard.”

Successfully out of the dining room at last. That took a good deal out of me. Other people’s ill will really is frightening. It brought home to me all over again how decent every single person I’ve dealt with until now has been.

Back in the room I changed into nightclothes and sat on the edge of the bed. I’m tired; I may as well sleep. I’m not in the mood to enjoy tea in this room either.

“Master Leon, shall I pour you some tea?”

“No, I’m tired today, so I’ll leave it. I’m going to sleep.”

“Certainly. Then I shall withdraw as well.”

“Yeah. Roger, thanks. For everything, always.”

It struck me how much it’s worth that Roger serves a commoner like me in earnest, and the thanks came out of me before I’d decided to say it. Roger’s face eased a very little.

“Serving Master Leon is my work.”

The words are curt, and what comes through them is something like pride in serving me. …That’s a good feeling to have. All the more so now, with somebody’s ill will in the house. I’m glad Roger is my valet.

Then Roger withdrew to his own room and I was alone. There was nothing to do, so I lay down on the bed, and I couldn’t really sleep; I was too surprised that a person could look down on me that far for nothing but being a commoner. Meeting one in the flesh is quite a shock.

I was rolling around on the bed when I heard somebody talking outside. Servants? Young women’s voices, so new maids perhaps. I found myself curious about what they were saying, so I gathered mana in my ears and strengthened my hearing. Using body strengthening magic on the ears does raise your hearing a little. Only a little, so it isn’t much use as a rule, but at a time like this it earns its keep.

“I was on edge thinking the family were going to find out.”

“Me too. Though we can’t relax until they’ve gone.”

“I know. But I don’t know what Morgan thinks he’s doing, selling the furniture out of the guest rooms.”

“About that… Don’t tell anybody, but they say he’s spending the money on himself.”

“What?!”

“Keep your voice down!”

“S-sorry. But is that really true?”

“Yes. There’s a servant who heard Morgan and the butler talking about it.”

“So the butler’s in on it?”

“Apparently not. The way I heard it, the butler tried to stop him. We’re commoners; we can’t go against Morgan, can we.”

“No. I suppose not.”

I managed to hear that much, and then they got too far off and I lost them. …That’s quite a thing to have overheard. I’d assumed he couldn’t lend me a room out of spite, and instead there was this behind it. Morgan is embezzling this town’s money. And if he’s going as far as selling the furniture, is he skimming the taxes too? Whichever it is, this is a straightforward crime.

So Morgan probably isn’t even good at being a deputy. Not merely no good; harmful, more likely. This has to be reported to Lord Richard.

I decided to call Roger so he could find out whether Lord Richard would see me. Normally I’d ring the bell, but from this room there’s a chance it wouldn’t be heard, so the arrangement is that I knock on the wall Roger’s room is on. I knocked lightly, and a few seconds later Roger came in. Which is much too fast, surely?

“Master Leon, what may I do for you?”

“Isn’t that too quick after a knock?”

“I am your valet.”

Is a valet supposed to be superhuman? Well, it’s Roger. Roger is extremely capable.

“The thing is, there’s something I want to tell Lord Richard. Could I see him now, do you think?”

“I would think now discourteous. Would tomorrow present a difficulty?”

“Yeah, I think it’s better told as soon as possible.”

“Certainly. Then I shall go and ask whether he will see you. Please wait here, Master Leon.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

Roger went out at speed and came back a few minutes later.

“Master Leon, he will see you now.”

“Good. Then let’s go straight away and not keep him waiting.”

“Certainly. Let us change your clothes first, however. Going in nightclothes is better avoided.”

At which I looked down at what I was wearing. …Extremely casual nightclothes. I hadn’t noticed at all. Without Roger I’d have walked into Lord Richard’s room in my pajamas.

“Thanks, Roger. My clothes hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

So Roger got me properly dressed, and I went to Lord Richard’s room a little tense. Roger knocked at the door and spoke through it.

“Master Leon is here.”

Lord Richard’s valet opened the door at once. Lord Richard was sitting on the sofa; he seems to have been waiting for me.

“I am sorry to come at such an hour. Thank you for making time for me.”

“Think nothing of it. And coming to see me at this hour means something has happened?”

“Yes. Though I cannot judge whether it is a matter others should hear.”

I said it with my eyes on the valet and the guards in the room.

“Let me see… All of you, withdraw a while.”

At Lord Richard’s word they went out at once and the two of us were alone.

“Now then. What is it?”

“Yes. It concerns Morgan…”

From there I told him the talk I’d overheard. About his looking down on commoners I decided to keep quiet for the moment. For a noble that much may well be nothing worth remarking on.

Lord Richard heard me out, and then his face went difficult and he sat thinking. After a while, in his own time, he spoke.

“Leon, would you keep this from the others for now? I shall work out how to handle it properly. It will have to wait until the actual evidence is in hand, but Morgan will be resigning as deputy. And he will most likely answer for the crime in the royal capital.”

To charge him they apparently need evidence that he actually took the money, and it has to be done carefully so that nothing gets buried. First they’ll look into who bought the furniture, and after that into whatever else he’s been doing. Left with Lord Richard, it should be all right.

“Certainly. I shall keep it between us.”

“Thank you. …We truly have you to thank this time, Leon. I am the one who hired Morgan, so this is my responsibility.”

Lord Richard seems to be blaming himself for not having seen through Morgan. Seeing through people is hard, though. A man can start out honest and be carried off by greed as the work goes on.

“There may indeed be some responsibility of yours in it, but seeing through a person is difficult, so I think what matters is having a system in which a deputy cannot do as he likes.”

I said it without thinking much about it, and Lord Richard seemed to find it interesting.

“Oh? What sort of system would you suggest?”

…I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. Now he’s interested. Hmm. What sort of system would work. It isn’t as though I know anything about this…

“Let me think… What about dividing the power up? You could cut the agricultural districts into several parts, appoint a head within each, and have each district head submit the harvest figures. And if they were submitted in two places, the deputy’s residence and the ducal residence, it would be harder to falsify them. If the deputy were doing something dishonest, it would also be easier for a head to report it.”

In practice it wouldn’t go that smoothly, but as an idea it may just pass.

“There is certainly something in that worth a second look. I shall talk it over with Christophe.”

Well received, surprisingly. I let a quiet breath out in relief.

“Then leave Morgan to me.”

“Certainly. I have no right to put my oar in. It was only that the talk I happened to overhear was not the sort of thing one can ignore.”

I said it with a rueful smile, and Lord Richard answered with one of his own.

“Instead of resting from the road, I have tired you out. I am sorry for it. Go back to your room and rest properly.”

“Thank you. Excuse me, then.”

So I went back to my own room with Roger. Telling Lord Richard must have cleared something out of me, because after that I slept soundly.