CH 170

9-12 minutes

Faeries are also considered as one type of spirits that humans can see. It doesn’t mean they’re powerful, it’s just there are a few among them who are deeply interested in humans, so interested, in fact, that they’d even switch their own offspring with human babies.

The swap would start with stealing the appearance. There’s two ways to do that — either completely swap them, or blend the appearance of the two. Two outcomes can be expected from the latter too, either they’ll become gorgeous or they’ll end up hideous.

The swap can be completed in one night if not seen by people, and the human child will be taken away by the faery. It would then depend on the whims of the fae whether that child would grow up among them, or be abandoned.

For some reason, the process slows down when seen by a human. When that happens, it’ll be difficult to distinguish which part of the child had been swapped. The faeries don’t just slip their own child in; they often replace it with something else that would confuse people to think that it’s a human.

It may be voice, smile, or even tears, perhaps something that would easily draw sympathy. However, it’s also said that when it’s discovered that there are two of them, either both of them are killed, or they’re thrown to the『Fae’s Bough』.

If somebody manages to tell which one is the fae, then the transformation will stop. But if they make a mistake, the human child will be completely swapped and spirited away, apparently.

Since it’s a spirit, it’s pointless trying to figure them out according to human logic and reasoning, but still, that’s what I got from Gold and Silver’s story and the stuff I researched in the library.

The faery that had been swapped with the human usually get bored by the time they reach adulthood so they return back to the fae. However, it’s said that doing so would take a huge chunk of their power, almost reducing them to the small, fine spirits. Gold is quite the rare existence, considering all that.

「Hmm. I was going to dedicate a residence for the employees working in the castle, but will it be better to build a separate one in the field too? 」

「… Can I request that? 」

Soleil was probably thinking about the black-haired woman she wanted to hire.

It’s not my intention to separate the citizens from the servants, but I’m not comfortable having too many people entering and leaving the place.

The fortress castle is a relic of the past, so it’s not that huge, but it’s wide enough to accommodate all the citizens in case of emergency. No, I mean, it’s really huge for a single person to live in. A stone bridge interposes the major part of the field, so I think the inner citadel can stand on its own.

「Kitchen, servants’ quarters, barracks, smithy, stable, barn, outhouse, food storage — it seems the field has accommodated all of these, so further improvement is possible… Soleil-sama only ordered the stable and barn to be repaired. 」

Eh, it’s all for Ruta and the livestock, you know.

Those buildings that Gold enumerated were integrated into the walls surrounding the fortress, so there are places that needed to be repaired, but the inner citadel wasn’t affected. Wood had been extensively used when building the inner citadel though, so the roof and floor already collapsed.

「For manpower, we’ll have Ms. Maid, a stableboy, a cook, and a caretaker for the livestock, right? 」

「Please hire guards for security given the size of this place. If I may express my desire, please hire one or two unaffiliated knights. 」

「Anti-theft, huh. 」

「It’s also for the image of this place, if you don’t have those people will look down on us. 」

When I nodded to Gold’s comment, Silver immediately supported it.

「Even the large merchant families hire guards. For a feudal lord, knights and soldiers are also the symbol of your status, you know. 」

Come to think of it, isn’t having an excellent knight pledge their allegiance to you a status symbol too? Especially if that guy is a free knight.

「Why would you want horses but ignore the knights, huh? 」Silver.

「I already have a horse, I just want a place for her to stay. 」

Ruta is for me.

「We would also need to hire a few people to do menial jobs, a chamberlain, and ladies-in-waiting. 」

Ladies-in-waiting and chamberlains are staff that originally work in the great bedrooms of the castle. In short, they’re the ones who take care of the lord and lady’s daily necessities. If the household is huge, it’s also possible for them to have division in labor, like maids assigned to the walk-in closets and so on.

By the way, the reason they call it ‘great bedrooms’ dates back from when even the royalty and nobility were mercilessly thrown to huddle together in a single room, one per family.

「Auro and Kiel will be standing as the head of the household, but what about hiring a butler? 」

Heads manage the fief, the butler’s main job is to manage the assets within the household, starting from the wine collection and so on.

There are also instances when the butler manages the territory and the chamberlain is assigned to manage the household. It all depends on the household’s structure and kingdom they are in. Many of them even hold two posts concurrently.

「Oh, come to think of it, your contract is to supervise the contractors building the houses, and manage the deals and trade of goods, right 」

Once the buildings are finished, contract’s over so they’re good to go.

「Oh? Yes, I’ll monopolize the snacks~ 」

Marlou reacted. Ah, yep, you’re right about the monopoly, but I’ll be making less snacks then, so I don’t think the portion will change since it’s for a single person.

「Oh my, Auro and Kiel will not work for you anymore? 」

Soleil seemed to be taken aback.

「You’re gonna work, right? 」

「I don’t have anything else to do, and the conditions are superb, so yes. 」

Silver confirmed with Soleil.

「I see. — Call our name. 」

That last part was directed to me.

「Wait, how did we end up talking about your contract? 」

Isn’t this a bit too sudden?

「We’ll redo our contract and vow, and it’ll be troublesome if that person will be the one to set the conditions again. 」

Gold shrugged, as if it can’t be helped.

「The wage is still the same, and of course, you have to reveal who makes the snacks. 」

「Eh? 」

You still didn’t realize that I’m the one making them?

「Got any problem with that? I’m going to be tied to you, you know. 」

Silver glared at me.

「Contrary to his appearance, he’s a muscle-brained fool. 」

I turned to Gold, who then averted his eyes.

Muscle-brain, muscle-brain, huh. Then, it’s understandable why he just decided to do this out of nowhere. Maybe half of it is because of Soleil working for me.

「Eh? What? No way, are you going to do the Lord and Retainer Spirit Oath? Auro AND Kiel will? 」

「Shuddap. You too, hurry up and do your contract for work. 」

Silver was in a huff now, so prickly.

「Auro, Kiel, once again, I’m in your care. 」

「Yes, Soleil-sama. 」

「We’ll hang out with you until you kick the bucket. 」

I called them by their name, but I didn’t feel any changes in me, and it didn’t look as if something happened to Auro and Kiel too, unlike that time with Horse.

Maybe that’s because Horsey went wild struggling to resist me.

「Whoa, you really got bound! Unbelievable! 」

Wanting to be bound also depends on the changeling, apparently, since Marlou wasn’t all too keen about it.

「Please sign this, Soleil. 」

Totally ignoring Marlou, I wrote the terms of contract on the Commerce Guild’s contract book that Auro handed over, then we both signed it.

There’s a lot going on in the island, so it seems Auro was making all the workers involved sign the most expensive contract. It’ll be a problem if the blueprint for the castle got leaked, and even mortar and glass and… Seems like somewhere down the line, Auro decided to buy a bunch of contract books with a huge smile plastered on his face, so we got loads of them.

「The introduction and explanation can wait, let’s get your feet patched up first. Give me a list of the things you need, I’ll ask one of the women to buy them for you before the stores close. 」

Kiel escorted Soleil out of the shed.

「Is it love? 」

Marlou snickered weirdly.

「You too, please hurry up. 」

「Yes, yes~」

She was thoroughly checking the contract terms, so I don’t think she’s just a simple air-headed maid.

「Eh, wait! Why!? 」

Ahh.

「So you’re from Van’s pedigree, huh. 」

Van appeared after she signed. So, fire attribute — does that mean she’s great at combat?

「But it’s not even a written oath… 」

Auro picked the contract book — it had been scorched, and the first penalty for violation had been rewritten. Ah, no, the penalty is the same, but it’s Van who’ll be doing the punishment.

「Hiii!!! Van? VAN? It’ll be impossible for me to run away from that guy!! 」

「Maybe it’s the same with the two back then — perhaps he came here to suggest you do a proper contract with me? I’m in your care, Marlou. 」

Looks like this is going to be a pain in the neck, so I just made a contract with her right away.

「Ehhhhhhhh! W-Wait a sec, wait!! Ahhh!! Bracelet, the bracelet!!!!! 」

「Bracelet? 」

「Did you not see it? Once the contract is formed, a pattern will appear around a changeling’s wrist. 」

Auro pulled his sleeve and showed his left wrist to me.

Oh, guess I have to turn on ‘spirit-seeing’ mode to see it, huh. I activated my Sight then checked his wrist again. Auro has a green foliage-patterned ring around his, while Marlou has a fire pattern on hers.

「Khadar and Van. Just who are you? 」

「I’m Jean who recently became the fief lord. 」

Auro asked, so I answered him.

「So the name is different… 」

「Oh, by the way, I don’t remember my original one. 」

「… 」