CH 204

Once we called out for driver candidates, many hands shot up among the servants of the duke family. Even maids were among them! And of course, the duke himself as well!

“The one also piquing my interest is that one over there,” Ann commented while pointing ahead.

“Ah, Bronko, huh? That one’s a replacement for a horse, I’d say. If you want to drive it, Sword…well, even if it’s not him, our butler and servants can teach you how. However, you need armor, so please get that sorted first.”

Bronko sure was popular.

＊

Damsel Scarlet declined, “As expected, a bike is out of my league, I think.”

But, around as many servants as Bronko raised their hands for ChaNon…the shortened name of Char Non-Violence – Special edition which Damsel Scarlet considered to be too long as a name, and thus abbreviated it to ChaNon as protegee of Char.

However, this caused Ann, who was the first to volunteer for Bronko, to shrink back instead, “If Her Ladyship isn’t going to ride it…”

She probably believes that it’s bad if she can’t always be diagonally behind her. And although that certainly seems to be an element of a maid’s pride…I sighed and persuaded Ann.

“Say, Ann, you finally came on a vacation, so take the opportunity and relax a bit, will you? It’s your time to rest. R-E-S-T! The servants in our mansion used to attend nobility, and some of the veteran servants have also been serving my mother and the late earl. In short, we’ve got a line-up of experienced servants!”

“But, just because of that…”

“I get where you’re coming from. It’s a matter of dignity for a maid, right? Your mistress allows it, but you can’t allow yourself to do it. However, if you discipline yourself so strictly, your mistress won’t be able to relax either.”

She pulled a face as if having been slapped.

A maid acting as a maid implicitly coerces her master into acting as a master.

Damsel Scarlet also came here on vacation. And she chose my place for that. In other words, she feels like easing a bit on the noble manners and cutting loose somewhat.”

I cast a fleeting glance at Damsel Scarlet.

“But, if you constantly follow her as a maid, Damsel Scarlet won’t be able to act without restraint, right? There’s also her unadorned personality she’s shown to me as her school friend, so there must be times when she wants to relax a bit. You have to perceive that and also rest a bit. ――You understand what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

Ann stared at me with widened eyes. And then, after a short while, she performed a respectful maid bow at me.

“…Thank you very much for your wise advice. Very well, please take care of Her Ladyship.”

“Yeah, count on me. …With that out of the way, Damsel Scarlet, you’re going to have some chill time with me for a bit. What, this is a mansion where commoners have assembled. On top of that, you should be much more accustomed to the various facilities over here than your maids. I’ll also treat you to food as it has been eaten by commoners in the other world. You surely aren’t going to tell me that you can’t use “chopsticks,” are you?”

“Eh? …Does that mean…?”

“”Udon,” “ramen,” and “yakisoba” ―― it kinda stings that our merchant, Benjamin, hasn’t come back with the “rice” yet, but “noodles” are my forte when it comes to cooking. My cooks are going to treat you to “pasta,” but I’ll make something more plebeian. There’s also “okonomiyaki” and “pizza,” I guess. If you have any requests for dishes other than “rice-based” ones, I’ll go along with them, you know? I mean, I was pretty good at cooking back in the other world.”

“Yahooooo!”

She danced around in happiness while waving her arms.

Okay, at this point she totally looks like she’s cutting loose, but her maids are ignoring it.

＊

…Suddenly, my shoulder was tightly grabbed from behind. When I looked back, I found Duke Chaudgal staring at me with sparkling eyes.

“Is it okay for me to cut loose as well? I’m extremely interested in that commoner food you spoke of.”

……Sure, I don’t particularly mind. But, I think it’s better for you to keep your meddling at bay, unless you want to be hated by your daughter, you know?

＊

In the end, it resulted in me building another Bronko and renting it out. However! Since it’d be nothing more than a simple toy at this rate, I requested them to use it for courier services.

“I’ll add a sidecar, so I want you to transport the black tea with two people in the Bronko. If the trip takes five days with a carriage, it should be possible to lower the travel time to three days with Bronko. However, since you need proper driving abilities, I’d like you to properly select the personnel for this task. Given that the sidecar will allow for a substitute driver to come along, the one riding in there has to use it for decently resting, okay?”

I guess I’ll build the sidecar without tires, making it float thanks to wind and gravity magic, while it’s going to use Char’s following function. Of course, it won’t be able to stop suddenly to prevent accidents, and I think I’ll have it deploy a magic element barrier while running.

“Wireless communicators have been installed in all vehicles. So if something happens, use the wireless to contact Sword, me, and the guard Ryokus. We all are connected to the wireless communication network. I’ll promise on our name as S-Rank adventurers that we’ll immediately come running, even if we might be on the other side of this planet!”

“Oohh! That’s Sword’s partner for you! So you also match him in speed, huh!?”

Because the duke praised me, I answered in a good mood, “Yep! I might lose out a bit to Sword, but I’m no pushover either!”

Watching us, Damsel Scarlet asked Sword, who had been acting as if all of this was no concern of his, “…Say, don’t you feel like those two get along too well?”

“No kiddin’. I’ve been vaguely sensin’ it for a while now, too. But, I wanted to keep my eyes averted from reality,” answered Sword.

＊

Damsel Scarlet naturally passed the driving course for ChaNon in one go. Her curving, cranking, braking, and parking were all perfect.

According to the person herself, “It was quite easy with all the cameras.”

Meanwhile, our butler had the other applicants train driving. The servants and maids, who loved Bronko, took care of the short course for Bronko. Our maids taught the women while our servants handled the men.

The duke wanted to ride Bronko as well, but I stopped him.

“If you fall off a horse, you’ll suffer a serious injury, but if you crash with Bronko, you’ll be lucky if you only suffer heavy injuries. And, the death rate is much higher for Bronko than for ChaNon. I don’t mind you learning how to drive it, but I think it’d be better for the patriarch of a duke family to refrain from driving around. If you don’t keep up to date with training, it’ll be really dangerous. Damsel Scarlet is aware of that, and because of that, she isn’t going to ride Bronko.”

“Ugh! …If that’s the case, I’ll give up on it.”

Oh, unexpectedly he knows when to throw in the towel.

The duke readily pulled back.