Chapter 154 - Volume 8 (2/2)

About 150 people came to the village.

150 people added to a village that originally only had 300.

It was clearly overcrowded, the supplies of potatoes which weren’t sent to support the war were running low, and more than half of the refugees were injured or sick and there wasn’t enough medicine to support them.

There wasn’t enough space to live.

The headman and other villagers went to the nearest city for several days to beg for assistance at the office of the Allied Forces in charge of the refugee camps, but the clerk wouldn’t see them, and it seemed like the only way to get anything would be to provide a bribe.

Having carts what were only full of potatoes to offer for the war effort, the headsman was without money and came back to the village without assistance, to another problem.

It had taken a few weeks to travel back and forth to the city. During that time, some of the more seriously injured people had passed away, and some of the families were complaining about the work the villagers had been providing for free.

Of course, most of the refugees thanked the villagers and took the lead in helping with the work in the village.

Also, it seemed like the hooligans who wouldn’t work had gotten bored with eating the same meals every day and had begun to harass the villagers taking care of them to give them meat.

“If that’s the case, what is “Butler-sama” going to do about it.”

“If we refuse to get them, things will get even worse…”

One day, an old gentleman had appeared in the village.

The old man dressed in fine butler clothes with no traveling cloak or luggage and looked for all purposes to have simply come by during a stroll. When he appeared, he took away the dead bodies, removed the families and delinquents who constantly complained, and quickly returned the town to order.

The old gentleman, at the thanks of the village headsman, simply smiled calmly, without even giving his name.

When the villagers took to respectfully calling him “Butler-sama” and asked him why he came to such a village, he responded saying that he that he was searching for a noble ‘Ojou-sama’ and had just dropped by for a quick ‘Meal’.

“Excuse me, Headsman!”

“What happened, John.”

As the village head was discussing with the general store owner, Kawagishi Imohata’s third son John barged in through the back door.

“S-something black and golden, it looks like the “Princess” has come here.”

“…What?”

＊＊＊

“Heya, welcome to the village of Kanpei.”

Is this Villager A? He just repeated the same thing he said at the entrance of the village.

Eh… what a scene, it doesn’t look to be in a good situation here at all.

When I looked around me, all the surrounding villagers averted their eyes when I looked their way or ran out somewhere.

Why do they always run!?

“Ah, hello there, Oji-san.”

I greeted a middle-aged farmer that had passed across the street from us.

“What’s up, miss…”

As the man approached without a thought, he took off his straw hat and stiffened the moment he saw my face, his eyes darting back and forth as if terrified.

It’s been quite a while since this has happened.

“Oji-san, are you okay…?”

“Ah… yeah, sorry… miss, it’s just the first time I’ve seen a city beauty, so I was just surprised…”

“Ah, thank you then…?”

It doesn’t feel like a compliment.

“Umm… rather than that, is this boy I’m with okay?”

Does he know Villager A who keeps repeating the same line? He looks over to him.

“Ah, Taro-san. He came with the recent arrival of refugees, and couldn’t speak at all, until he had a conversationwith ‘Butler-sama.’ Now he’s become such a serious person.”

“… Is that so…”

I’m not sure it’s okay to leave that under the one-word description of ‘Serious’.

“Butler-sama?”

While he was speaking normally, he said a word that piqued my interest.

“Indeed, he has become the savior of this village.”

“Really…”

“Oh, he’s right over there.”

When I turned around at the man’s words, I saw a slim man of medium build, aged in about his sixties? Atop his head was a luscious full head of greyed hair.

Far from the landscape of potato fields, he wore a single monocle and fine butler garbs.

The old butler who you might automatically call Sebastian seemed to have seen me and walked over with an unearthly quiet smile and strange step, letting loose a ‘fofofo.’

What…? Have I seen that somewhere before?

“Yurushia-sama, it’s been a long time.”

“Eh…………?”

Author’s Notes:

Who is he?

Next time, the true identity of the old butler.