Chapter 34 - Regarding the offense and defense in Dram mountain (1/2)
…Well then, how should I deal with this?
Though, I’m not talking about the bandits here.
To reach the place we are aiming at, we need to take a circuitous path compared to Herscha, it’ll take some time to get there.
Until we reach that place, we only have to ignore the monsters and keep walking.
The problem is the small back in front of me…I’m talking about Walter, walking while his smooth shoulder-length hair was swinging around.
Tobi does think that Walter’s appearance is to his liking, so if after being on good terms he finds out he’s a guy…I can see that turning into quite the pitiful situation.
As his friend, I can’t bear to see that happen.
In order to prevent that, I’m acting like a spy here.
First off, I should think of what options I have.
First option, suddenly attacking him from the back and caress his body.
…Yup, no good.
If Walter turned out to be a girl, I’d be banned for harassing.
Even before that, even if he was a guy, there’s no way I would do that.
Second option, asking him directly 「Are you by any chance a guy?」.
Looking at our current state…option denied.
If Walter was a girl like her looks implied, she would be hurt.
However, I can’t bring myself to state that he’s definitely a girl…why is that?
Her appearance is flawless, aside from the butler costume, she looks like a girl no matter where you look.
Long eyelashes, glossy lips, lovely white skin…you wouldn’t think she’s a guy at all.
However, I don’t think Herscha comes off as the type of person that would enjoy dressing girls with male clothes as a hobby, and that bothers me…
This calls for my last resort.
Third option, reach a conclusion after asking questions repeatedly.
…
Well, it goes without saying that this is a good option.
If I can do it well enough, I’ll get my answer and Walter won’t notice.
Alright, let’s go with the third one.
I spoke to Walter who was looking around restlessly in case monsters attacked.
「Hey Walter, isn’t working for a wealthy family tough?」 (Hind)
「W-Why did you suddenly ask me that?」 (Walter)
「Well, I thought stress would pile up in that kind of environment. It’s partly because I’m curious though, if you don’t mind, could you tell me a bit about it? I’m used to my mom grumbling about her workplace so I don’t really mind listening to that kind of stuff…」 (Hind)
「U-Uuuhhh…*sob *sob*.」 (Walter)
「Tears!? M-My bad! I must have said something really insensitive! I’m sorry!」 (Hind)
Suddenly, the situation has turned bad…
I wanted to talk a bit to ease up the tension, but it seems that I might have stepped onto a major landmine.
「Y-You are wrong…*sob*, I was happy…
「Since I started working there, there has never been anyone that said something like that to me…」 (Walter)
「I-I see. If you are fine with me, you can tell me anything…otherwise, it’ll leave a mark in my conscience…」 (Hind)
「Eh? What did you say at the end right now?」 (Walter)
「Don’t mind it.」 (Hind)
I can’t really tell him at this point that it was a question to try to get information out of him.
With things having turned like this, I’ll hear him out until the end!
…Or so I thought.
Once it starts flowing it floods, being bullied by the other servants, being forced to wear maid clothes in his free time, upper class manners being too hard and that he can’t memorize them, not having time to study for school and so on…
Gradually, I was getting tired of listening to it…
「-With that being said, what do you think, Hind-san?」 (Walter)
「!! Oh, let’s see. That time you said you got scolded while cleaning because you used being short as an excuse, I believe it was because you didn’t prepare something like a stool for it. At the very least, I don’t think they were telling you to grow taller immediately.」 (Hind)
「I-I see…」 (Walter)
Walter seems to be a servant apprentice from the treatment he has told me about, seems like he does receive quite the harsh education.
Sounds like he’s going to school, but he’s telling me how everyday is quite hard when he comes back from school while in tears.
「And the maids that make fun of you telling you that it’s fine if you only clean the places you can reach, they are probably educating you.
「”Even then, this is my job. I’ll do everything!” They want you to reject their proposal like that.」 (Hind)
「Was I really being treated that badly!?」 (Walter)
Walter showed surprise.
However, from what I heard from Walter, it seems like the household that employs him takes pride in their unique traditions and even enforce the way their servants should speak.
「Didn’t Herscha say this? That it’s important to decide things by yourself…basically, it’s probably training to improve your own judgement. The places you couldn’t reach to clean up, did they tell you that someone else would clean it up later? Did you make sure of that yourself?」 (Hind)
「N-No…but, that’s difficult…」 (Walter)
「Walter, you come off as someone really docile after all…you have to learn to distrust others. However, personally I would recommend you to clean up as a way to reduce stress. Set a scope by yourself and clean up everything thoroughly, and it’s possible that you will have a feeling of accomplishment and feel good about yourself. How about you decide to do this by yourself this time?」 (Hind)
「I-I see…even if you say that, you know that the mansion is basically clean all the time right? The other servants clean it up every day-」 (Walter)
「You moron!!!!」 (Hind)
「!?」 (Walter)