“Are you Hans Byron?”
“Yes, I am.”
What a novel experience. The first thing I went through after defeating my superior in a duel was being assigned work.
The elderly man with deep wrinkles, who had been put in charge of me, looked me over from head to toe.
“I am Yegor Hume, the Head Attendant of House Speda.”
Head Attendant.
A senior position responsible for managing all the attendants.
“Hm? Is there something on my face?”
“Ah, no. It is an honor to meet you. I was just....”
His face was quite familiar to me. He had often appeared in the original story to supply the Protagonist’s party whenever they passed through the North.
‘In the game, he was dressed in armor, but now he’s wearing a neat suit.’
He had often appeared in the original story to supply the Protagonist’s party. Back then, he had been dressed in armor, whereas he was now wearing a neat suit.
I had expected to receive job training from a senior attendant who had merely joined before me.
But someone at the level of a command sergeant major had been assigned to oversee me right away. The pressure was no joke.
“Your manners pass for now. Rather than displaying excessive aristocratic etiquette, simply show the courtesy you have shown just now.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“The foremost consideration for an attendant, especially a personal attendant, is assisting the master they serve. You must assess your master’s circumstances and take whatever measures are needed.”
That much was easy enough. I readily nodded.
Being an attendant seemed easier and less time-consuming than I had expected.
How many orders could that blunt duke’s daughter possibly give?
But Yegor’s next words quickly shattered my misconception.
“You will be busier. Your future mistress is Lady Luciana, the duke’s daughter. She likes swordsmanship, so you will need to inspect her sword and other arms every day. Since she is a woman, you will also need to pay closer attention to her clothing and adornment for social activities. And....”
The list of duties went on and on without end.
The ‘measures needed according to the master’s circumstances’ he had mentioned far exceeded my imagination.
“...That is everything you will need to do each day. On special days, you will have even more to do. Given the duke’s daughter’s age, those days will come more often than you might think.”
And it did not end there. The workload he had just given me a long lecture about was only the baseline.
A chill ran down my spine.
It brought back the nightmare of extra work (with no pay) I had frequently been saddled with in my early working days, when I had bounced from one part-time job to another.
“M-may I ask one question?”
“Go ahead.”
“I was wondering what those special days are.”
“Hm. It would be better for you to learn through experience. As it happens, today is one of those special days.”
Unfortunately, it seemed that my first day on the job was already crunch time.
It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I wanted the information, but I had not wanted to be worked to the bone from the very start.
“Follow me. I will show you what you need to do.”
I followed him to a massive gate covered in layers of intricate sealing magic.
“This is a historic place that only members of the ducal house by blood, and those they acknowledge, may enter.”
“Oh...”
‘It’s the sort of relic storehouse every noble house has.’
In the original game, this place had been opened to the Protagonist after he saved the North, and he had been generously told to take whichever item he wanted.
My curiosity naturally stirred.
“Since you are from the West, I will give you one piece of advice.”
At that moment.
Yegor suddenly turned and fixed a sharp gaze on me.
“The moment even a single item goes missing from here, every eye in the North will turn to that thief. Do not even dream of stealing anything.”
“You needn’t worry. The Scorpion Before the Oasis is my motto.”
It must have been such a famous proverb in this world that he slowly nodded.
“A fine mindset. I pray that it does not change until the day you leave House Speda.”
Rumble—
It was like watching a trailer for a game.
When his hand touched it, the sealing magic lost its light, and the huge gate opened on its own. Brilliant relics could be glimpsed through the opening.
I was struck by awe all over again.
“Take that armor and follow me.”
But there was no time to look around.
Where Yegor’s finger pointed, I saw a familiar set of armor hanging on a display stand.
It was the little knight’s plate mail.
“It’s light.”
Armor made of solid steel ought to be heavy. Yet I could lift it as easily as an empty sack.
Yegor immediately locked the door after we came back out and replied.
“Weight-reduction magic has been woven throughout it so that it does not burden Lady Luciana’s body.”
So that was the secret!
Well, if she was the same age as Hans, she was probably only a high school student. There was no way she could bear the weight of plate armor.
It also made her swift swordsmanship seem more understandable.
‘It was all gear advantage.’
But I quietly kept my mouth shut, carrying the armor as I followed Yegor.
Step. Step.
The quiet sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor.
‘How did he know?’
Seriously, could he read my mind or something?
Hiding behind the armor, I stared fixedly at the back of Yegor’s head.
Whether it had been a sincere warning or a form of territorial harassment toward a greenhorn from the West, I did not know.
It was fine.
The thief who would one day break in would not be ‘Hans Byron.’
One relic as a performance bonus should be fine, right?
***
I looked around and marveled inwardly.
Even the room I had been shown earlier so I could unpack was incomparably larger than anything in the Byron baronial residence.
If that was the room given to an attendant, what would the rooms of House Speda’s direct bloodline be like?
My anticipation grew as I walked along the corridor.
“Lady Luciana. May I come in?”
“Yegor? Come in.”
However, Luciana’s room, revealed when the door opened with her permission, surprised me in a different way.
‘It’s nothing like I expected.’
It was unexpected.
There was not a single display case filled with the dangling jewels or cosmetics one would expect in a noblewoman’s room.
Swords, shields, spears, bows...
As though displaying her warlike disposition, the only ornaments that packed every corner of the spacious room were weapons.
I would have believed it if someone had told me it was a room for displaying weapons.
“I did not expect this man to be coming along as well. Hm. Has it only been a day? It is good to see you again.”
Yet in that bleak room, there was a jewel that stood out all the more: its owner.
A sapphire set in pure white platinum.
I stared blankly into her eyes.
No matter what jewel was placed beside its owner, it would have lost its luster before her.
-What are you doing? Your mistress has spoken to you. As her attendant, greet her.
I hurriedly came to my senses and bowed.
Thanks to Yegor’s voice ringing through my head, I was able to react before it was too late.
“Yes. I am Hans Byron, who will serve as Lady Luciana’s personal attendant.”
“I see. Are you going to accompany me to my coming-of-age ceremony as well?”
A coming-of-age ceremony?
My confusion came first.
This was a Korean-made game. Had this world’s standard for adulthood not been the same as Korea’s?
“What are you standing there blankly for? Give me the armor first.”
“Yes.”
The sudden news of the coming-of-age ceremony was confusing, but I handed her the armor as instructed.
My doubts only deepened.
‘Shouldn’t you dress up extravagantly to celebrate a coming-of-age ceremony? Why are you taking armor instead of an Eastern silk outfit?’
“...Yegor, may I ask another question?”
I waited until Luciana had left the room to change and I was alone with the Head Attendant.
I had already gotten on my mistress’s bad side, so I meant to demonstrate a proactive attitude to the Head Attendant, at least.
“Speak. Do not ask permission one by one. It is your first time, so ask whatever comes to mind.”
“I heard that Lady Luciana is my age. Is she not still too young for a coming-of-age ceremony?”
“In the North, coming-of-age ceremonies are held twice.”
Oh, that was news to me. It was a part of the setting the game had never explained.
The Head Attendant continued in an even tone.
“One is the coming-of-age ceremony you already know well. It is a festival held to commemorate reaching adulthood. That one is no different from other regions.”
“And the other?”
“It is a special custom found only in the North. Before a noble comes of age, they go monster hunting to prove their ability.”
Monster hunting? Was she not about the age of a high school student?
Before I had a chance to prepare myself, the final blow came.
“So prepare yourself as well. You must remain by the duke’s daughter’s side. You can ride a horse, I presume?”
***
They say that coming-of-age ceremonies in the North used to be desperate battles.
It began with a young noble roaming alone, without even guards, through the areas around the castle and villages, hunting the vicious monsters that threatened the lives and property of the people of the territory.
It was history neither the game nor the Head Attendant had told me about.
How did I know that?
“This is not a coming-of-age ceremony....”
Because the duke’s daughter beside me, lamenting her circumstances in real time, had told me.
She seemed deeply disappointed, chattering away in detail as though she had forgotten that she had once been hostile toward me.
“Yegor, withdraw the soldiers even now.”
“I cannot.”
“Why not?”
Luciana turned sharply toward the Head Attendant.
“Historically, a Northern coming-of-age ceremony had to be borne alone. Besides, these are valuable personnel who must watch for demonkind. We cannot let them waste their time in a place like this.”
She had a plausible justification, considering both historical fact and practical circumstances.
‘...If her voice had not been so full of excitement and anticipation, it might have been rather convincing.’
“I cannot.”
Of course.
As though he had seen the same thing I had, my superior flatly refused her order.
“Monsters do not rein in their ferocity simply because they can distinguish blue blood.”
I agreed with Yegor’s refusal.
As her attendant, it was an obvious protective measure to take.
If Luciana were harmed by a monster, the duke’s wrath would shake the North.
Yet despite the Head Attendant’s efforts to dissuade her, Luciana remained steadfast.
“You worry too much.”
As though responding to her colder words, transparent mana flared over her sword with a faint tremor. It was the aura she had shown in her duel with me.
“It does not matter how many come. Do you think I would be frightened by that?”
“Lady Luciana.......”
“Do not make me repeat myself. If you are the Head Attendant, then act like it. Follow your master’s wishes and withdraw the soldiers.”
Once she pressed her rank, even the unofficial second-in-command of the ducal house could only be at a loss.
Yet despite his troubled expression, he was resolute.
“...I apologize.”
“You dare defy me?”
“Your life does not belong to you alone. Please do not forget that you are engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Watching the exchange, I quietly admired him.
Now that was a proud tone and bearing.
And in Luciana, who fell silent the moment her house was invoked, I felt her conviction shine: she thought of her house more than anyone else.
Though she was hidden inside her armor and helm, the image of her from the game came alive in my mind.
It seemed that the thought of rushing ahead, only to be endangered by a monster and possibly affect her engagement, had caught hold of her ankle.
“...My thinking was short-sighted. Thank you for your forthright counsel.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
But.
Although the brief commotion ended with Luciana’s concession, I felt strangely displeased.
I did not like the current situation very much.
“...It is not even going to happen.”
“Hans, what did you just say? It was too quiet for me to hear.”
“Ha ha. It was nothing. I was only admiring the fact that this is what a Northern coming-of-age ceremony is like.”
‘Even now, she was always giving up her own desires for the sake of her house.’
Separate from my admiration for her steadfastness.
It bothered me. Very much.
Maybe it would have been different if she had been rewarded. But in the end, did Luciana not appear as a mid-boss and meet her ruin in every route?
I made up my mind.
Keeping an expression that said I knew nothing, I casually spoke up.
“Lady Luciana, I do not know much because I am from another region. Is it better if you catch a larger and stronger monster at a coming-of-age ceremony?”
I would give Luciana a coming-of-age ceremony she would never forget. With the finest prey worthy of her pride.