Chapter 237: Earl Paul’s invitation

(I imagined a castle-like house but it isn’t that large.)

Well, it was three-stories high and the surrounding plot of land was large.

The moment we arrived at Earl Paul’s mansion, we were directly led to the bath.

However, it was not a bath with a bathtub but a hot spring bath, the kind where you wear bathing clothes to enter. (TLN: 湯浴み着)

I didn’t need to since I had 『Clean』 — speaking of which, I had a hot spring inside My World as well so I didn’t need to after all but Suzuki was recommending it saying that it was great so in the end, I decided to enter without refusing.

Was I currently on the path to the BL route with Suzuki? I was a little worried but well, Suzuki had three cute girls.

Furthermore, if I included Haru, I similarly have many girls which I can’t touch so we ended up having an excited talk on that matter instead.

Our clothes were taken to wash so they prepared sleeping wear for us and we were asked to spend a night there.

Naturally, in separate rooms.

The next day, a maid brought my clothes over.

Not only were they neatly folded, but all the stains on the clothes were also expertly removed.

I began with that topic the moment I went to Suzuki’s room.

“I guess they used the Clean spell.”

I see, Lifestyle Magic was rare but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t anybody capable of using it.

He mentioned that those who have Lifestyle Magic II are able to work in castles and it would not be strange to see those who have Lifestyle Magic I, which can be found in greater numbers, working in nobleman’s households.

We headed toward the audience room.

I imagined a room with at least three steps and a throne-like chair when I heard it was an audience room but it was just a regular reception room.

“Kusunoki-kun, are you perhaps nervous?”

“Conversely, why are you not nervous? An Earl-rank means his rank is above even that of Oregeru’s father.”

“Oregeru … who?”

“A noble who wanted to purchase Haru … well, he wasn’t exactly a bad guy.”

Although he was a reckless guy who did try stuff like bringing Carol, a temptress, into a labyrinth.

“Don’t worry, Earl Paul is a nice guy. Moreover, he is currently my employer.”

“I would see Suzuki as a noble existence as well if you put it that way so stop it.”

I said and stared at the tea.

This … would it be all right to drink it? Or should I drink it only after I obtain the Earl’s permission?

“Calm down, Kusunoki-kun. Don’t you find it fun if you think of it as a part-time job interview? You have been to those right?”

“I see, I’m used to interviews ― Ha!?”

I unconsciously stood up.

“The fundamentals of an interview. I have broken the given rule ― to not sit without obtaining the permission of the interviewer. This is bad this is bad.”

I said as I stood up and stood near the door.

It is common courtesy to wait beside the chair until the interviewer comes in.

This was where the examination starts.

“Suzuki, what is Earl Paul’s ideology? It would help if you knew about his favorite baseball team too.”

“Calm down, there are no baseball teams in this world.”

Oh, that’s right ― I talked about baseball when I was interviewing for the head office of a company in Osaka and thought that the interviewer was a fan of the Tigers but he was actually a fan of the Giants and it became my failure story for my 52nd interview. I’m glad there are no baseball teams in this world.

“Erm, his ideology would be that the nobles should work for his subjects and the subjects should work for the country? I recall him saying that nobles should work to help the citizens support the country and that was originally supposed to be done behind the scenes.”

“I see ― this is a wonderful company.”

“Calm down, this is not a company.”

Oh, right, this wasn’t a company.

But, I was still feeling nervous after all.

The nerves I was feeling made me recall my memories of my hundred consecutive failures.

Just as that thought came to mind,

“Sorry for the wait ― Oo, Suzuki-dono! You’re safe. In that case, you are Ichinojo-dono? Not only did you help to apprehend the smuggling crew, you even subjugated the Demon Elephant that was afflicting this island for many years. I am sincerely grateful. Thank you.”

The man that appeared said and bowed.

Eh? This person was Earl Paul?

He was a lot more modest than expected. Was he really a noble?

【Noble: Lv42】

He really was a noble ― and quite a high level one at that.

Eh? Do nobles lower their head so easily?

“Subjugating the Demon Elephant has been this island’s dearest wish. Ten years ago, three thousand soldiers gathered and embarked to subjugate the Demon Elephant but, not to mention subjugating it, they were not able to injure it in any way and paid for it with a large number of sacrifices. And this time, just the two of you accomplished that feat.”

“Earl Paul, he pretty much accomplished the Demon Elephant subjugation on his own. I was nothing more than a support.”

“Suzuki-dono is truly humble. Firstly, I hope that the two of you will accept this.”

I was handed a small pouch.

Inside it was ten silver coins ― a thousand sense huh?

Hn, it’s quite little …

No, I guess it was quite amazing to earn 100,000 yen in a day.

“Ten holy silver coins, is this really all right?”

“Yes, it is. The citizens will probably understand as well.”

Suzuki asked in surprised and Earl Paul nodded.

Such an exaggeration.

If this was the case, it would have been more profitable to disassemble the Demon Elephant and sell the ivory … hn?

“Holy silver coin? Not silver coin?”

“You’re mistaken. Holy silver coin is Holy Silver ― in other words, a coin made of mithril. They are coins that are normally not found in circulation but they are worth a hundred times the worth of a gold coin … do you understand if I put it that way?”

“A hundred times of a gold coin?”

A gold coin was worth 10,000 sense or 1 million yen.

In that case, a hundred times of that, 100 million … and ten of them … one billion yen!?

Eh? A billion!?

It was a sum of money that I never imagined getting unless I struck the lottery.

“Is-isn’t this too much?”

“It is fine. My country needs to spend three million sense worth of magic stones a year to maintain the barrier that seals the Demon Elephant. We no longer need to now. Thinking of it that way, we would recuperate this amount in seven years.”

That was a conversation on such grand scales.

Well, I guess a noble with a territory should be able to afford something like this?

“Also, Ichinojo-dono. I wish to bestow the rank of Baron to you. Would you accept it?”

” … What?”

Baron?

Does that mean I would become a noble?

In other words, I would job change from Jobless to Noble?