A Nightmare and a Half
It all started with a dark room. From the outside one would notice nothing out of the ordinary from this one room in a hallway with many identical doorways, in this overly large manor. But if you were to get closer to the door, you`d notice a puddle of clear liquid seeping through the gap under the door, and if you were to get even closer, you'd be able to hear the quite sobs of person with a child like voice. Inside that room was a 15 year old boy that looked like a cute 12 year old, my next door neighbor. He wasn't always so broken.................. In fact he arrived at the Butler training manor just minutes after I did, this morning.
Soon after Klaus dragged me away from the royal gardens, I arrived at the Laurenfrost estate. The manor with 3 floors, two sub floors and seemd as if it was so large half the population in the entire kingdom could stay here. It was surrounded by a forest on the southern entrance and the west coast of the forgotten sound kingdom. The actual plot of land that the estate owned was, by my rough guestimations several square kilometers.
As soon as I walked through these doors Klaus quickly showed me all the important places I would be working at, around the manse. Where all the servant passages were, the kitchen, the dining room, the washing room, the wine brewing room, ….. the armory of assassin type weapons?!?!? That evening I slept in the servant’s quarters, which, like the manor, was unnecessarily large. Even though only 5 maids and Klaus lived there were enough rooms for a hundred.
The next morning at the dining table, Rinslet and Klaus explained; “Sebastian, starting today you will be attending the Butler Training camp under the guidance of Klaus and the instructors there” “wait, putting aside that I never agreed to anything here, why is Klaus guiding me if there are instructors?” “that’s because Klaus is recognized as the best butler in the entire continent!” and then Klaus started tearing up “Ojou –sama, I am unworthy of such praise!”.
With that concluded Klaus gave me a swallow tailed butler suit, complete with a silk shirt and vest underneath the suit and gloves to go with them.
You Received a Job Offer!
If you accept, you will take the position of: Apprentice Butler. You will attend the butler training academy for 4 days. Normally it takes years to become a master class butler, however Rinslet has Ordered Klaus to turn you into a butler of the same rank as he is in that short span of time. During training you will receive one gold a day, after you start serving it will be increased to 10 gold. Will you accept this offer?
*you cannot refuse*
Yes/
no
That last bit didn’t stop me from trying. I was standing there selecting no for at least 20 minutes with countless system messages popping up all saying the same thing “you cannot select that option”.
Giving in to my fate I accept the job offer. You have gained the title Apprentice butler. Remembering that I had the cloud knight still equipped I immediately replace it with the Apprentice Butler.
And then I equiped the apprentice butler’s set:
Apprentice butler Coat: Durability 60/60 Defence:5
A swallowtail jacket designed to train apprentice butlers, this coat is Incredibly heavy, and yet doesn’t restrict your movements.
Restrictions: for apprentice butlers only
Options: -5 str, -5 Dex, stamina decreases twice as fast. Skill levels and stats increase twice as fast(requires full set to be equipped).
Apprentice butler pants : Durability 60/60 Defence: 5
Pants for the apprentice butler’s set.
Restrictions: for apprentice butlers only, incredibly heavy
Options: -stamina decreases 1.1times as fast, skill levels and stats increase 1.05 times as fast
Apprentice butler gloves: Durability 25/25 Defence:2
Gloves Designed for the Apprentice butler’s set
Restrictions: for apprentice butlers only
Options: increases Skill proficiency for Skills requiring using the hands by 1.2 times(requires full set to be worn)
Apprentice butler shoes: Durability 30/30 Defence: 2
Shoes to be worn with the Apprentice butler’s set
Restrictions: for apprentice butlers only
Options: increases Skill proficiency for Skills by 1.2 times(requires full set to be worn) stamina consumption increased by 1.2 times.
Apprentice butler’s Belt: Durability 2020 Defence: 2
A belt made for the apprentice butler’s set.
Restrictions: for apprentice butlers only
Options: increases Skill proficiency for Skills by 1.2 times(requires full set to be worn), stamina consumption increased b 1.2 times
After doing the math that increases my Skill level rate by 3.6 with skills involving my hands, 3x for skills without, my Stat gain rate by 2.1 and my stamina consumption by 3.1 times. Then I remembered I haven’t distributed my stats, after levelling up three times yesterday. I invested 5 points into STR and 10 into DEX.
Soon after I arrived at the butler training academy, which I will later christen Alcatraz. Why? Because your locked in there for most of the day, and if you try to escape a fate worse than hell awaits you. A fate so horrible that Hell looked like a paradise awaits those who fail. The kusa-baka escaped from the Academy using the false pretense that his master had summoned him, and Rinslet being the kind hearted spoiled girl she is, let him live……….. Then he failed miserably. And we all know what happened to that him~
And that’s how I ended up here. The Butler academy, a nightmarish place where my next door neighbor is a broken, sobbing child. While my neighbor on the right is an equally broken teenager, who’s currently letting out Blood-chilling screams from being punished for blowing up an oven. Now why haven’t I been broken yet? Luck I guess.
It all started like this. Klaus brought me into the main hallway and taught me the polishing skill.
*You have Learned polishing*- When used on metal and plate armor, has a buffing effect, as well as having a chance to confuse enemies.
“Your first task is to polish every statue, every window and every mirror in this mansion. In two hours.” At first I thought he was kidding the butler training academy was in fact an enormous manse , of which can compete with the royal palace on both size and complexity. It made the Laurenfrost manor look as small as a shack by the seaside. (The Laurenfrost Estate itself is huge but the manor is only average sized in Noble standards). Needless to say there were hundreds of thousands of windows both big and small, a few hundred statues, and several millennia of bad luck if I broke all the mirrors.
“Klaus you’re kidding right? It’s insane to have to polish all that alone” his only response was to hand me a polishing cloth, and start walking away. “ At first I was just going to ignore the job and just kill time somewhere else, but then I passed by the room Labeled “punishment room” Curios I looked inside and saw another apprentice butler sitting in Seiza(Traditional Japanese way of sitting on your knees) on top of a jagged wooden board, with tall stack Stone slabs on top of his calves *a Japanese form of torture*, while being mercilessly beaten with a large wooden paddle. And then one stone slab fell from the stack. The person beating the apprentice with the paddle stopped hitting him, and then brought over more stone slaps, and doubled the height of the stack.
Right then and there I Decided it might be in my best interests to complete the superhuman task assigned to me. Lucky for me I had an advantage that these poor sobs didn’t. In the royal gardens, while I was secretly tasting herbs, I discovered one that gave me stamina than an energy drink. *evil laughs*
I ran out in the first five minutes.
I’ll just say this right now. 3.1x stamina consumption is brutal. Once stamina runs out, to keep doing actions that require stamina your hp starts taking damage. By some miracle I finished polishing everything within the two hours. During the course of all this, my Dex increased by 6, and my polishing skill already reached intermediate level 2. At this point I’ve collapsed on the ground with 2 Life left, and with the extreme fatigue stats effect, that’s preventing me from moving, and is slowly draining my hp.
And finally Klaus comes in and says, “1 hour, 58 minutes and 32 seconds. Not bad “
With great difficulty I spit out the words “damn …you……….Klaus……………….. I’m.....Dying………”
With a slight smirk on his face Klaus heals me and gives me a cup of premium grade coffee. “Ultimate Heal!”
With my life and stamina completely recovered there was only one thing on my mind(besides revenge) “Klaus you could heal?”
“A skill that every butler should learn, It can be used in a variety of different ways as long as you have the innovation to realize that. In a pinch it can also save yours or your master’s life. With that said this is your next task…..”
Torture punishment assistance
Klaus brought me to the same punishment room that I walked past earlier and taught me the beginner heal skill. This time there was a younger apprentice butler, the one that would later become my next door neighbour. He was sitting in a seiza position while a butler instructor beat him with one of the paddles lying on a stack in the corner.
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*you have learned elementary heal* - Heals a target by 20 life plus your INT x 1.5 mp cost: 12
And so that’s what I had to do for another 2 hours.
During the course of those two hours my basic heal leveled up to 6 and I learned intermediate heal. My INT also increased by 4, my WIS by 1 and my mana by 3.
Elementary heal level 6- heals a target by 80 plus your int x 1.7 mp cost:17
Intermediate heal level 1 – Heals a target by 220 plus your int x 4 mp cost: 40
This time Klaus left me with MP recovery herbs, since unlike with stamina, magic skills wont consume hp, except with a few exceptions.
After those two hours I asked Klaus “what did he do to deserve being beaten for a full two hours? That instructor was hitting 60% of his life with each hit!”
“ He was punished for being unable to polish every floor in the academy.”
A chill ran down my spine*if I failed to polish everything would I have been in that punishment room being beaten and healed?*
My next task after that was:
“you are to reach intermediate level cooking in four hours”
“Four hours?!? This time you’re joking right? Everyone knows that production skills like Cooking take forever to train. The restaurants in leaf bud city only have beginner level 8 at best!”
“Hahaha, I see you’ve caught on. Yes it was a joke, You are to reach intermediate level 5 in four hours.”
I decided it would be best to just shut up.
“you’ll have full access to all the ingredients in the Kitchen. Here's a recipe book. With this task, failure results in an extra harsh punishment"
"you mean like being beaten and healed over and over again?"
"That is only a light penalty"
Realizing that my life was in danger, started preparing for this insane command. *It's been a while since I made anything, I'm going to need coffee, lots and lots of coffee*
The kitchen was in one word, Huge. there were 8 counters, in the middle of it, each with a sink, frying pan, stove and oven. Along the wall there was an extra large Stove, Oven and this Industrial sized Vat that I didn't know the purpose of.
Two hours later Klaus came to check up on how I was doing, I still had half my time left.
"Oh hi Klaus what's up?"
"What's all this?" He gestured at the mountain of cups on the counter.
"This?, its 255,426 cups of coffee, why?" Ha! coffee can easily be made in bulk, only for some reason for every unit of coffee I make it appears in an individual cup. *Thank god they had an industrial size vat *
Deciding to show off to Klaus what I've made so far I walk over to a another counter, with a platter so large it took up almost the entire space. "This here is about 850 pieces of assorted sushi, and over there on that counter in the corner, is about 600 croissants." After making the croissants I realized that French food seems to make The cooking skill increase the fastest. "And finally on the counter beside us is 4226 plates of Croque Monsieur" It may sound fancy, but in reality it's just French style Grilled cheese sandwiches with ham.
Taking a quick glance at the top plate in the pile of Croque Monsieur Klaus pointed out "You've reached intermediate level 9 haven't you? "
"How the hell did you guess that?"
"A master Butler should be able to do such things"
Klaus Left the room and then came back in holding a crate of escargots. "Make all these into Escargot à la Bourguignonne and you can go. Ojou-sama will be arriving in half an hour to pick you up." *what am I a child at day-care?.........is what I would've normally said, but she's liberating me from this hell. Huzzah~!*
29 minutes later.
-Your cooking skill has reached level 10, intermediate (no its not lvl 10 intermediate its lvl 10 beginner that became intermediate, this was how OSS wrote it). You can now cook a greater variety of entrées, and while satiated, various abilities are raised depending on the type of entrée and the ingredients used. (example: Drake's egg, various herbs)
All stats have increased by 5
Your fame has increased by 10
You have learned craft skill: wine brewing.
Your affinity with earth has increased by 30. Earth based magic resistance has increased by 20%. Fire and water based magic resistance has increased by 10%.
I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life, as Rinslet's platinum blonde hair moved past the kitchen doors. "Sebastian you are to accompany me for my afternoon tea!" *damn looks like I'm stuck with Sebastian*
***********************************************************************************
Arriving at the royal gardens, we discover something different with the usual scenery. At the table.................. my bread was still there.........................being eaten by the Rappy. At that moment Rinslet let out a cute sound and ordered me Capture it. "How adorable~! Sebastian you are to capture that this instant!"
Hearing Rinslet's voice the rappy turned around, saw us, and ran off through the bushes. I followed after it but couldn't even find a trace if it after that.
"I....... it got away................."
Hiding her disappointment she said " It can't be helped" I picked up the healf eaten bread on the table and put it away.
At that moment, another girl called out from behind us "RInslet!~"
Turning around, I'm fairly certain that was the princess of the Forgotten sound kingdom, with her butler.
Forgetting about the Rappy, Rinslet started chatting with the princess. Her butler focused his attention on me. "Greetings I am Rembrandt, you are Rinslet's new butler I take it?"
"Against my will? yes."
"Ah in that case, Klaus would be the one teaching you at the academy correct? Tell me what do you think of him?"
"He's a slave driving, torture master, who reads minds on the side, wearing a fancy swallow-tailed suit."
Laughing softly at my response, he explained. "Klaus is much more than he seems, he's the only master class butler this kingdom has seen in four hundred years. Master class butlers are on par with legendary adventurers, and are what all butlers aspire to. You are fortunate to be under his tutelage. "
"So he's kind of an amazing person."
"Between the countless assassins he's captured, and all the work he does for this kingdom behind the scenes, It'd be safe to assume that without him forgotten sound would have fallen long ago. Ah, my apologies you must be on break from the academy. You can leave your Ojou-sama and the princess in my care, while I can't compare to Klaus, I am an expert class butler."
Thanking Rembrandt I go to my spot under the tree, while Rembrandt was led away by Rinslet and the princess. I take a well deserved nap.
Only to be woken up to a mysterious sound. "chweeep?"
It was the Rappy, walking around the table as if looking for something. I pulled out the half eaten bread and offered it to the rappy. Scared, it took a few steps back. Determined, I took a few steps forward , put the bread down, and walked back to my spot by the tree. Only then did the Rappy come forward to eat the bread.
I pulled out another piece of rye bread from my inventory and murmured to it. "That bread was left out overnight, so it's probably stale, here's a fresh loaf" *who am I kidding, these loaves were baked to last for months, that piece could've probably been left out for another two weeks and still be as fresh as the one in my hand*
Tentatively It walked forward and took the bread out of my hand, but it didn't run away. I took the chance to pet it's head and a system message popped up.
-You have discovered a species of large flightless bird, around Leaf bud city. What will you name it?-
I was tempted to choose Chocobo, but in the end I selected Rappy.
-Your fame has increased by 20-
-This Rappy seems fond of you, will you try to tame it?-
instantaneously I selected yes.
-Taming successful- Please name your new pet.
After some internal debate, I decide to name the Rappy Charles.
However I wasn't able to fully savor the moment, because at that instant a large explosion occurred followed by the screams of two girls.
Fully convinced they were RInslet and the princess's screams, I rushed over, with Charles following from behind, to find a crater in the front gates of the castle, and Rembrant lying Bloodied on the ground. With haggard breaths, Rembrandt pleaded. "Her highness and......your ojou........were kidnapped.......please............save.......them......" And collapsed.
-You've been offered a quest-
Rinslet and the princess have been kidnapped by an unknown person. Rembrandt has been Incapacitated and will be unable to assist in the rescue. You are to Co-operate with the royal knights and Klaus to discover the identity of the kidnapper(s) and rescue Rinslet and the princess. You cannot refuse.
Quest Difficulty: Level D
*Warning: Failure results in enimity with the royal family, Expulsion from the Butler academy, and possibly being branded a fugitive.
Rewards: Varies based on the results.
A level D quest?!? For a Level 4 this would definitely be impossible, and the Kidnapper was able to easily defeat Rembrandt a level 176 Butler. And if I fail I might become a fugitive of the Forgotten sound? Today is really, not my day.