There was a group of maids in the kitchen. They weren’t cooking or anything. Instead, there were three cups of orange tea, still hot.
“Macomaco tea…,” One of them mumbled in awe.
“It even smells sweet…,” Another added.
They gulped at once. One of them, probably the most senior one, took a cup carefully and took a sip.
“It’s … sweet! It’s different from sugar. It has a very likable aroma to it!” She exclaimed in awe. She sipped a few more times before handing it over to another.
“Oh my word!” She uttered. As they took their sips, the three cups were soon drained in a short moment. They all let out sighs of longing.
“That was bliss…,” One of them said with a dreamy expression on her face. The others all agreed with firm nods and weird determination in their eyes.
“Look!” One of the maids slammed the table with both of her hands. “Lord Ewald is our deity now.”
They nodded all at once.
“We shall serve him with utmost respect!” Another declared with a clenched fist.
Thus began a secret pact among maids of the Fenchel manor.
Ewald now had something to look forward to. He couldn’t wait to get out and hang out with Raem. With something to look forward to, the start of his days had felt better.
“Milord!” Maids entered the quarter on que. There were five maids this time. Emily and Noelle were among them.
“There are five of you?”
“Yes, we’d like to get the job done quicker,” explained one of the maids. Emily didn’t look pleased but didn’t speak against the maid.
Do the maids have a hierarchy?
The extra two maids, they were exceptionally responsive to him and seemed to have paid extra attention to his calls and whatnot. Overall, they were more fierce? and loyal.
Once they were done, they were leaving at once, not giving him a chance to speak to them. He barely managed to get a hold of Emily however.
“What’s going on? You don’t look pleased.”
They were at the doorstep. Her eyes darted around as if she was looking for any threats. She wouldn’t say anything and bowed before she simply left.
“Something is definitely going on,” He said to himself as he scratched his head. But then it wasn’t his business, not yet anyway.
What should I do with Noelle anyway? If we aren’t going to get along, I might as well dismiss her and let her be. No point in wasting both of our time.
“Hmm.” He scratched his chin in thought. “Whatever, I am going to see Raem.”
When he arrived at the Macomaco field, he saw two maids this time who were vigilantly eliminating any weeds they spotted. Interestingly, they did not bow. They saluted at him like soldiers would.
The hell is going on here? Why salute?
Not wanting to waste any more time though, he nodded along as he entered the shed. Apparently, the tunnel to the decoy house was an open secret. Basically he didn’t need to worry about others’ eyes.
“Good day to you, Lady Karla,” was the first thing he said as soon as he reached the first floor of the decoy house. Karla was in the kitchen, cooking something with a large pot. It smelled like she was making stew with veggie scraps. He recognized the smell. It was something Fio used to make when she was really low on food.
Right, they need coins.
Reminding himself of their situation, he asked.
“Raem here?”
“He should be back soon, milord.”
Indeed, he returned soon with more veggie scraps on his back. Apparently, he was working on a farmer’s field and earned the scraps as a payment. He must have gotten up quite early and went there.
“Milord, please wait a moment.” He said with a light bow. He went to the kitchen and handed his earnings to his mother.
“Shall we go?” He said to Ewald while dusting his hands off.
“Right.”
Before departing, Ewald made sure that Raem got his alias right.
“Sir. Hunt did inform me,” He replied. “Kamil, yes?”
“Correct.”
The streets of Lux were very busy. People were making rounds, and kids were playing around. While there was a dedicated place for a market, some merchants chose to sell their goods randomly on streets.
“We are hitting the guild today, yeah?”
Raem nodded. “Yes, we won’t get any real jobs but we will get some. Adults won’t take the kind of jobs we are going to take anyway.”
Indeed, no self-respecting adventurer would pick jobs about finding lost pets and whatnot. They would form a group of at least two and venture out for monster hunting or act as escorts for the wealthy.
“Here we are.” Raem pointed at a large building. It was a three story building with impressive features. It was built like a fortress. It was shaped like one even. It had a tall main section that was indeed three stories tall. But the rest of the structure was two-story with three-story watchtower-like structures at each end of the building.
Those around the building were dressed up quite differently as well. They were all well equipped and armored. Adventuring was probably the only profession where a commoner would become rich. As a result, most commoners who didn’t have a family business to inherit chose to be an adventurer. As long as one was adequate enough and found a right group, they’d get by far better than, let’s say, being a farmer where he would be taxed to oblivion.
Of course, it wasn’t as if being an adventurer was the solution. Martin, the former adventurer from Laufeld and Fionara were good examples of what adventurers could become. Becoming crippled early in their lives and retiring as a result.
Upon entering the lobby, the first impression Ewald had was …
“Pretty girls,” He said to himself. Raem heard it and chuckled.
Female adventurers were all well dressed and somewhat provocative as well. The short skirts he had seen from a glimpse at a tavern was common here. In fact, he could swear that their skirts here were even shorter because he could see the lower end of their thighs. The only time he ever saw a woman’s bare thigh was in bed with Fionara.
Anyway, the guild lobby looked like it functioned as a tavern where adventurers were relaxing with a mug of beer or two.
“Drinks at noon?” He whispered to himself.
“Come, Kamil. Let’s get you registered first.”
The guild receptionist stood behind a wooden counter. She was also a good-looking woman. Pretty much all females found within the guild looked beautiful.
“Oh, Raem. It’s been a while," said the blonde receptionist.
“Hello, Miss. Sarah.”
Sarah, the guild receptionist, had long curly blond hair with autumn eyes. Her boobs were pretty big and noticeable. She was pretty tall for a woman also.
“What brings you here today? Is that your friend?”
“Yes, this is Kamil.”
“Hello, Miss.” Ewald threw a casual greeting.
“He’d like to register.”
“How old are you, Kamil?”
“Eight, ma’am.”
“I see.” She took out a brown paper and began to write stuff down. “The name is Kamil, yes? Your home address?”
Address?
Raem came up with an answer instead. “He rents a room at my home. He is a distant relative. So, it’s the same address as mine.”
“I see.” She looked into a file next to her and took out another paper which was presumably Raem’s. She copied something from the paper.
Once done, she took out what appeared to be a wooden coin. It had an artistic wooden carving of a lion’s head on both sides.
“Here you go, Kamil. This coin is your rank as well as proof that you belong here.”
Apparently, it was completely free to register at the guild for children. They would be stuck at the wood rank which was the lowest. They’d be automatically promoted to iron rank once they turned twelve at which point they were allowed to partake in more realistic missions for an adventurer.
The rank went like this.
Wood 🠮 Iron 🠮 Steel 🠮 Silver 🠮 Gold
“So, an iron rank adventurer would be given an iron guild coin. A steel rank would get a steel coin?” Kamil wondered aloud as he inspected the wood Lux guild coin.
“That is correct,” Sarah replied. “So, a gold rank adventurer would receive a gold Lux guild coin which itself is pretty valuable.”
You bet. It’d be a gold coin after all.
After the registration was over, Raem guided him to a message board which was a cork board with a bunch of papers pinned on it. On the top left corner of each paper, there was a letter written on it, Iron, Steel, and so on.
“That’s the minimum recommended rank,” Raem explained. “But the guild won’t stop you from taking missions that are higher ranked. After all, it’s their choice to die early.”
He explained further that the guild wouldn’t let wood rank adventurers take on anything other than wood ranks.
Kamil’s eyes dotted around the board, looking for anything wood ranked. As far as he could tell, there was none.
“I see nothing we can take on. They are all at least iron ranks.”
“Well, there are some. Flap the papers and see if there is something else underneath.”
Sadly, Kamil was too short to reach the board. Raem was just tall enough to reach the bottom area. He grabbed a chair nearby and stood on it and began to flap papers.
“Fuck,” Raem uttered.
“Is something wrong?”
He took a paper down and showed it to Kamil.
“Fuck,” Kamil uttered the same.
The paper was a wood rank one where the client was asking to locate his lost pet cat. It would have a brass choker on it, it said. The reward was 25 iron coins.
“Should we at least inform Sarah?” Kamil asked to which Raem pouted.
“Don’t bother. I will put it back.”
Raem managed to find a few more wooden ranked request papers underneath others, but none seemed worth their time.
“This is an errand request. Deliver something to another location. Pay is 1 iron coin. Forget it,” He put the paper back on the board as he read it. He grabbed another and read it to Kamil.
“A client is looking for a lost puppy. The pay is 10 iron coins. Okay, it sounds ok-ish except there are no details on the puppy. I bet it’s already dead or has left Lux already.”
These missions might have been okay as a hobbyist, but Raem was trying to make a living. It would make sense that he wanted to earn at least 25 iron coins per day.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Raem,” Kamil called him and signaled him to get out.
Once outside, he made a suggestion.
“Let’s hunt small games.”
“What?” Raem didn’t get it.
“I am more of an archer. I can kill small games, like hares and rabbits easily. Those won’t bring in many iron coins, but you do get to bring meat home.”
Raem’s eyes widened slowly at the word “meat”.
“Meat!” He yelled enthusiastically.
For him, hunting small games had been impossible or outright too hard because he was a swordsman. He would need to chase down, and those little buggers were fast. The situation was entirely different for Kamil however. He was an archer. Besides, he was a hunter in his past life. If there was one thing he excelled at, it was hunting small games.
“You sure you can do that?” Raem was already drooling. He couldn’t remember the last time he consumed meat.
Puffing chest, Kamil nodded proudly. “Leave it to me.”
Raem got on his one knee and jokingly declared, “Lord Kamil! I shall follow you!”
And, thus, where they ended up was the outskirts of Lux, outside of the city walls. Houses were much further apart with occasional farming fields here and there.
“Where are we gonna find those little buggers?” Raem wondered aloud.
“Rabbits love what we eat. What we consider weeds, they tend to consider them weeds as well. So, the quickest way to find them is veggie fields.”
And lo and behold, they spotted a lone rabbit munching on some veggie.
“Kamil, look!” Raem exclaimed, visibly excited already at the prospect of red meat.
“Shhh! Let me do my thing. Get down on the ground.”
Raem compiled at once, literally diving into the ground. As for Kamil, after summoning a wind arrow, he got down on one knee to firmly steady himself. Holding his breath to steady himself further, he fired the shot. There was a confident grin on his face as he made the shot. He knew it’d hit.
Easy peasy squeezy
The wind arrow went right through the head of the rabbit. Raem literally ran toward the rabbit on four because he was too excited to properly stand up. Grabbing the rabbit by its ears, he stood up at once and roared to the sky as if he had just conquered the world.
“YYYYEEEESSSS!!!”
For Raem, the prospect of being able to consume red meat was more than just earning his daily keep. Again, he could not recall the last time he ate meat. Karla couldn’t afford meat. She had some savings due to her previous years as a Fenchel maid, but it wasn’t much. After she was half-fired as a Fenchel maid and moved to the decoy house, her savings had slowly been draining. After Raem started to earn some money, the drainage slowed down but it was still nevertheless draining because he rarely earned enough coins for daily consumption of food. In fact, the ten coins he earned was the most he had earned so far.
Therefore, this single rabbit was worth much more than just coins.
Sweeping tears off his eyes, he thanked Kamil.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
With a broad smile, Kamil patted his back. “Come on, man. We are buddies. Let’s catch at least one more. Then we can skin it, sell the skin and keep the meat for tonight’s feast.”
Sadly, they could not find another roaming rabbit in time and had to return home since the sun was coming down.
“I don’t know how to skin a rabbit,” Raem said.
“Got a dagger? Let me show you how it is done.”
They were back at the decoy house. Karla was pleasantly surprised that the kids caught a rabbit. The night’s dinner was going to be just veggie soup. Obviously, that’d change.
Watching Kamil skillfully skinned the rabbit, Raem mused aloud.
“Where did you learn that? It looks like you’ve done this before. No, it looks like you are really good at it.”
Kamil came up with a lie.
“The Fenchel has a holiday villa in Laufeld. Do you know what we did at Laufeld? Hunting shit. I learned from a local hunter.”
Raem nodded along. He had no reason to doubt him because the excuse itself made sense.
“Okay, phew.” he was finally done. “Let the skin dry under the sun. Keep moisture out of it. Then sell it. I have no idea how much it will patch though. As for the meat, it’s all yours. I suggest just roasting the legs on fire and eating them with some salt. The other parts should be used for meat stew.”
“Thank you, milord. Truly, I thank you.”
He wished he could have joined them for dinner. Alas, that wasn’t an option. Waving them good-bye for the day, he made his way back to the tea field where he spotted four maids this time.
“Milord!” They all saluted at once like clockwork.
“Eh…, hello.”
It was just awkward. Then he noticed that the field looked slightly wider? Apparently, the maids created a new column. He rubbed his eyes, thinking that he was hallucinating initially.
He was not.
“What is going on here?” He demanded.
The four maids got down on one knee all at once, again like clockwork.
“Milord, please heed our plea.”
Folding his arms, he replied, “What is it? Why did you expand the field?”
“Please, we desire more tea.”
Figured as much. Didn’t think they’d go this far? Do they even have the authority?
He didn’t give them a firm answer. Instead, he went straight to Elias Hunt.
“Oh, boy,” was the initial reaction from him. He rubbed his temple shortly afterwards.
“What should I do, Sir. Hunt?”
“Nothing. You let them be.”
Seriously?
“I didn’t think maids would have that kind of power here?”
“You told me that they saluted at you, correct?”
Ewald nodded.
“The Fenchel manor employs about 50 maids, and they have factions.”
“Excuse me? Factions?”
“Yes, the ones who saluted you, it is my understanding that they belong to the loyalist faction.”
Apparently, those who belonged to the loyalist faction were permanent maids. Basically, they decided that they’d be maids for life. Because all of them had been at the manor for decades at least, they held some political powers within the Fenchel manor.
Elias explained further, “Even your father won’t normally go against them. They rarely make a request. But, when they do, it’s taken quite seriously.”
Ewald rubbed his temple just like Elias had done a moment ago.
“Oh, boy,” He repeated what he said a moment ago.
Fuck me. Women can be scary, I guess.
“So…, what do I do?” He asked carefully.
“Let them be. They did not go overboard. They expanded the field by just one column, yes?”
He nodded back.
“Then let them be. If they do take it further, let me know ASAP. I will take the matter to your father then.”
Nothing is ever so straightforward in this place.
Now that he knew the maids had factions, Emily’s reaction in the morning made sense. She was a young maid and, therefore, would not be in the loyalist faction or any faction at all.
“Oh, Sir. Hunt. There is another concern I have.”
He explained his situation with Noelle.
“We are not getting along at all. I may be wrong, but she thinks I am a spoiled brat.”
I am anything but spoiled!
Elias scratched his chin. “Well, it’s good that we have choices,” He said eventually.
“You sound like you are not going to do anything.”
“I want the selection to be as organic as possible. That is also your father’s wish. I will observe Idda closely from now on and deploy her as a maid as soon as able.”
“Understood.”
Then he went back to the field. The four maids were still there. In fact, they were still kneeling down. It was as if they didn’t move one bit after he left them be.
“Arise, I’ve talked about the matter with someone.”
The maids stood up at once.
“I will allow this to happen but only this once. Understand?”
“Yes, milord!”
He rubbed his temple again.
What have I gotten myself into? I just wanted to kill some time…
It was already too late. They tasted the tea; there was no going back.
The next morning when the maids invaded his room, it was six this time. And Noelle was nowhere to be seen.
He asked Emily about her. She hesitated to answer. Instead, one of the new maids told him.
“She was not good enough to serve you, milord. We demand a certain level of standards.”
He rubbed his temple again.
You know what? Fuck this. Whatever. Let them be.
The truth was that he couldn’t care less. He was having a blast with Raem that he didn’t want to care about anything else.
Once he was done at the manor, he made his way to the decoy house as soon as he could. Karla was much more welcoming this day probably because of the feast she had with her son last night. Raem was also waiting for him inside.
“Milord, I thank you for the meat.” He said with a light bow.
Both of them looked better. Their faces looked slightly redder. In fact, they were suffering from mild malnutrition before. Ewald couldn’t have known, but the rabbit meat was already gone. They consumed it all in one night. They couldn’t stop eating and ate it all.
“Why don’t we hit the fields? Why bother with the guild when the pay is shit?”
Raem was in full agreement. The prospect of further meat was too enticing. Coins didn’t matter to either of them at this point.
“Indeed, sir. Let us catch more than one rabbit today!”
Raem, to his credit, was better equipped this time. He had a spear and a wooden stick on his back. A spear was a certainly better weapon to be able to catch small games since it had a further reach. The wooden stick was to carry the catches.
In short, the dude was prepared well for his limited knowledge in hunting.
While on their way out, Raem inquired.
“Would we be able to catch more than just rabbits?”
“I don’t see why not? I’ve killed a goblin before with the wind arrow.”
“Oh, wow, really? That’s awesome. You could participate in a proper adventuring group if you are capable of killing goblins.”
“Have you killed a goblin before?”
Raem shrugged. “No, sir. I’ve been formally trained in swordsmanship, but real combat I am lacking.”
Kamil was in thought for a moment.
“Tell you what. Let’s practice some real combat tomorrow with a wild boar or something like that.”
His face brightened up. “You mean that?”
“Whatever we catch today should last several days, I think.”
As soon as they reached the fields, right outside of Lux walls, they spotted two rabbits running around already. A farmer was furious after finding out that the pair had consumed quite a bit.
“Hey, kids!”
The farmer noticed Kamil and Raem. Since they seemed to be carrying weapons, he figured why not.
“You saw the rabbits just now right?”
“Yeah,” Raem replied.
“If you can catch them or kill them or whatever, I will pay you five iron coins!”
The farmer didn’t actually expect them to catch the rabbits. If it were that easy, he would have done so himself already.
“You mean that?!” His ears twitched. “We can keep the rabbits, yeah?”
“Sure, sure, just get them. Those buggers ate three of my produce.”
Nodding at each other, they began to chase them. It looked like they were a family and went down to the same hole.
“Let’s wait for them to come out,” Kamil suggested, and they hid themselves behind a bush. Raem had his spear out, and Kamil had his bow ready with a wind arrow already.
……………………..
…………………
……………..
When they saw tips of ears popping up, Raem jolted.
“Steady,” Kamil warned.
“Y, yes.”
He drew his bow and locked his aim at the rabbit hole. He was very used to this as his body remained perfectly still and ready to fire at all. Raem was impressed how composed he was.
……………………..
………………..
……………
When a tip of a rabbit's head was in his view, he fired. He was confident and - bullseye. A rabbit was dead.
“Raem, pierce around the hole like a madman!”
“Right!”
Dashing, Raem ran toward the rabbit hole and started to just thrust his spear into the hole once and then around it. He wasn’t sure what he was doing but was doing what he was told nevertheless.
At one thrust, he felt something. He pierced something underground.
“I got something!”
It was the second rabbit, and Kamil gave his thumb up.
“You’ve got it, dude!”
A broad smile emerged on Raem’s face.
The farmer looked troubled as he scratched his head. He did not expect some random kids to actually catch the rabbits. Noticing that he wasn’t willing to pay, Kamil negotiated.
“Just give us some of your produce,” He suggested.
“What? But -” Raem interjected but trailed off.
“You sure you are okay with that?”
“Yeah, but do give us a bit more.”
In the end, they were given some cabbages, carrots, and potatoes. Kamil wasn’t sure they were worth five iron coins but knew one thing for sure: They were better than veggie scraps. These would make proper stew, meaty stew even.
“I know you wanted the coins, Raem,” He said to him who looked a bit down in disappointment of missing out the money.
“But these seem good. Aren’t you sick of veggie scrap soup?”
“You sound as if you’ve eaten them before.”
“I have.”
Raem’s eyes widened. “What? But you are -”
“The heir of the Fenchel, huh? You probably don’t know, but I, too, was an illegitimate child like yourself. I, too, had gone through what you are going through. Eating nothing more than a bowl of veggie soup a day. Perpetually growling stomach. I’ve experienced it all.”
It was truth mixed with lies. He figured that he probably didn’t know the level of hunger which Raem and Karla were going through.
Ewald looked up at the sky as they headed back to the decoy house to unload.
“The most important thing is getting your belly full properly. Money can wait, Raem. Have you noticed how well your mother looked this morning? That’s what a good meal does to a person.”
Tears welled up in Raem’s eyes as he nodded repeatedly.
“Roasted rabbit legs with a proper bowl of vegetable stew! Nothing beats that shit!” Ewald exclaimed confidently.
“Yes!” Raem replied with a bright smile.
“Oh, my -!” Karla sounded mighty impressed when the kids returned home with two rabbits and a bunch of vegetables. That was a whole meal for a day and then some.
Raem explained what happened quickly to his mother while Ewald went backyards to skin the rabbits.
“Milord, Karla asks you whether you want to stay for the dinner,” He asked carefully, fully knowing that the answer was likely negative.
“Yeah, sure why not,” He replied promptly. The truth was that he missed such a meal as well. Yes, the meal he had been eating at the manor was grandeur, but the truth was that he liked these simple meals better.
On a simple wooden table where the three sat around, there were three bowls and three dishes. The bowls contained proper vegetable stews, and the dishes had a single roasted rabbit leg on each with some salts on a side. Nobles would scoff at such a meal. Some might even refuse to eat it outright.
But, for Karla and Raem, this was a feast. Ewald played his part well also, excitedly consuming the food. He looked like he especially enjoyed the roasted rabbit leg. He certainly did not look like he was bothered by the food which made Raem believe his early story about going through the same period as he did. He felt that, if Ewald had a noble education from his birth, he would have shown some kind of disdain toward the common food. He wasn’t showing any of that.
“Thank you for the meal,” said Ewald as he relaxed on his wooden chair with a hand on his belly. His bowl was completely empty, not leaving even a bit of stuff. This impressed Karla who had frequently seen noble children leaving food unfinished.
Of course, their bowls were also completely empty. There was absolutely no way they would leave their hearty meal unfinished.
Ewald soon stood up. “My apologies, but I must go. I am already late as is.”
“I understand, Milord,” said Karla. Raem was dozing off at the table meanwhile.
She followed him to the basement where the trap door was. Before stepping into the tunnel, he told her.
“Lady Karla, if you wish, I believe I can do something to make you come back to the manor.”
She shook her head slowly with a smile.
“That will not be necessary. I feel fine where I am. But I do have a favor to ask.”
He nodded at her.
“Please do consider my son as your future retainer. As long as he rises in ranks, so will I.”
Nodding, he told her, “I will take that into my consideration.” Then he headed down into the tunnel.
As he emerged from the tunnel and left the shed, he was confronted with six maids this time saluting at him at once.
‘Women, eh?’