Chapter 31
I entered the town on foot.
As I walk for a while, I can see the sea ahead.
This is rather rare for a rural town to have streets for travelers.
However, why does everyone look at me, is it so rare to see a traveler?
Ah, is it because a loli in one piece dress appeared alone in this place?
Anyway, my stomach is empty. For now lets eat in a restaurant, or any shop available.
I will also need to collect information.
So, I will not eat at home (on earth) today.
I will order a full set meal properly.
At that time, when I heard the name of the town, I thought is was atown.
I see. Then it was just change name into Mitsuha?
But if its this small, isnt it just a villagethen?
Because this is a seaside village, thefull set mealhere is just mainly fish.
Yeah, its more like afish set meals
Theres no other impression.
It is a small restaurant in a rural place, and it isnt dinner time yet, so there are no other customers.
For now, I should talk to the owner and listen to the reputation of the former lord, but the mouth of this woman is too big. (T.N: talk too much)
[Well, the former lord is a disgrace, his family is crushed
And the no-one knew how the next lord would be
It was unlikely that a good lord would come to the rural territory like this] (Shop Owner)
Something like that.
But this is not something you should talk to an unknown person.
This owner seems like a casual person.
Well, I gave up listening to her blah-blah-blah and left the store after asking where the lords mansion is.
The mansion is at the outer edge of the town.
Because this village is quite small, the buildings is sparse. So, I reached the place quite fast.
Un, I wont call this the lords mansion anymore.
Well, I wonder if I should call it my lords house then.
Haaa, I felt bad with the lord things, the shop owner and the lord house.
First of all, I will put down my baggage on my shoulder and then I will knock with this door knocker.
And then
Who are you?(Maid)
A (wild) maid-san around 16 to 17 years old appeared and asked Mitsuha so.
Yes, the former lord was forfeited his noble title, but the servants werent. The next lord will also in need of servants, and he couldnt just bring employees from his former territory easily, even his vassal also.
Those servants normally wouldnt want to leave their families, their friends, their hometown to another land.
And the new lord isnt familiar with this land, he will not be able to recruit good servants in a strange land.
For that reason, except for the old servants who want to leave themselves, most of them would remain in the lord mansion to serve the next lord.
Of course, after seeing the next lord, they can quit if they dont like the new lord.
Also, on the contrary, the new lord may not want to hire the servants he doesnt like.
And of course, those who dare to saythe previous lord was betterare most likely to be kicked out.
Thats why, most of the servants will still remain, and they will welcome Mitsuha as the new lady.
Anyway, this is my servant.
At least for the moment.
Ah, Im Mitsuha(Mitsuha)
Mitsuha-san?(Maid)
Maid doesnt seem to know about Mitsuha.
I became the lord here, Mitsuha von Yamano(Mitsuha)
Eh, ah, yes. EEEEEeeeeh!(Maid)
Well, of course the maid will be surprised.
To think the new lady would walk alone and carry luggage by herself.
Not to mention, its a girl who looks like 12 years old.
Please call all employees soon.
I will do a greeting to all of you on my arrival(Mitsuha)
YeYES!!(Maid)
The maid ran like flying away.
Greeting, all servants.
I am the new lord of this land, Mitsuha von Yamano.
The size of this territory will not change, but from today it will be a Viscountess territory instead of a barons territory(Mitsuha)
The employees are surprised.
Baron and Viscountess family are literally different.
They can expect some improve with the treatment, payment, etc.
And even they have same rank servant, theservant of the Viscountessand theservant of the baronare still different.
Even when they change jobs and look for marriage partners,
the power of that name will be different just like a table knife and a shortsword.
Just the other day, the servants were informed that a new lord will be transferred from the capital soon, but they havent heard about the new lords informations.
Like the rank, sex, age, appearance etc.
The country did it on purpose. They didnt tell the servants about the new lord in advance, so that the servants would not hold prejudices or stereotypes base on that.
They could only know after directly seeing the new lord upon his arrival.
As a result, some servants were happy.
Their new lord is a Viscountess
A beautiful little lady.
They may drink the nectar if they do it right.
For now, they plan to get on her good side
That is why I would like to thank you for your understanding.
Because I dont know anything in my first territory management, so please tell me about various things.
As I mentioned earlier, I will interview everyone one by one in turn,
For now, please come back to work(Mitsuha)
Mitsuha finished her greeting.
With gentle, polite words and manner.
The servants were reassuring and rejoiced with a gentle new lady.
But among them, there are some peoples smirk as well.
And some people think about the future of the territory, frowning in thinking.
There are various speculation in the chests of 18 servants.
***Dinner***
For now, its impossible to eat with the servants, thats why Mitsuha sits on the table and eats meals by herself.
This is a seaside village, but only meat dishes line up.
Mitsuha told the chef its delicious and ate without leaving anything left.
After bathing, Mitsuha teleport to her bed on Earth and immediately returned to the bedroom of the manor house with a small box prepared.
And then, she left the bedroom, looked around the house, encouraged the employees work, and returned to the bedroom.
And of course, she doesnt let her guard down. She took out various security devices from the cardboard box which the size considerably small, installed on the door and the window side.
***Morning***
Piii (SFX)
Heard a small electronic sound, Mitsuha woke up.
Thats a warning sound when someone interrupted the laser wire of the security device installed in front of the door.
Mitsuha grabbed the Walther on her right thigh inside the blanket and looked at the door, and she saw the maid she met yesterday.
Good morning. Did you already wake up?(Maid)
Good morning I slept well last night, would you mind preparing breakfast?(Mitsuha)
Mitsuha took her hand off the gun and smiled at the Maid.
After breakfast, Mitsuha looked around the mansion again and then returned.
When she returned to the room, she locked and put the cloth on door handle, covered the keyhole and removed several electronic devices from her pocket.
Ultra compact recorder purchased at Akihabara.
Recording begins when sound is detected, and stops when a certain period of time has elapsed.
It was the record of what happened around the house last night. Of course, she already exchanged this with another one.
Well well, Lets see what was going on (Mitsuha)
Mitsuha smirked.
Yes, Mitsuha was playing a gently and friendly lord.
Only showing the servants her smiling face, without ordering servants nor checking around the fishing village, mountain village, rural village in the territory.
The servants didnt know whether Mitsuha was sick but they knew she often got to sleep in the daytime.
Some servants were relieved with Mitsuhas actions, they resumed black dealings with merchants, etc. to get extra expenses.
They restarted what they had temporarily stopped until they checked the state of the new lord.
The others resumed pressing work on their subordinates and juniors to get out of the workplace.
Or those who was chasing the girls on the villagers, took out the things in the house secretly, etc.
Even though the butler felt a sense of crisis and complained to Mitsuha about it, but Mitsuha was just smiling back.
He is a serious and sincere butler. Different with the dishonest peoples who disturb the territory. Somehow he thought he has to
One day, Mitsuhar muttered.
The time has come(Mitsuha)
And Mitsuha called all the servants again.
and then, these six people will be dismissed on this date(Mitsuha)
Those six people saw their name in Mitsuhas sudden dismissal, protested in angry.
Such a foolish! Why me?(servant 1)
What a joke! Even though you are the lady, you cant one-sided fire us without reason(servant 2)
Even though those 6 servants were shouting, Mitsuha looked at them coldly with a calm expression.
Idiot (Baka)? Who are the idiots here?(Mitsuha)
Huh(Chef)
Didnt you hear me, I asked who are the idiots here?(Mitsuha)
The male servant didnt think he would be scolded by Mitsuha, and lost his words.
Hans, Ive always praised the dish you serve everyday(Mitsuha)
Eh , yes(Hans)
The chef Hans answered somewhat reluctant.
I have praised that it was delicious everyday, but the taste gradually felt down.
Normally, if your foods got praised, wouldnt you be more motivated to make it more delicious?(Mitsuha)
The chef Hans was shivering.
Do you understand the reason?(Mitsuha)
Hans complexion gradually became worse.
That was because someone thought that I dont know the taste of cooking with my childs tongue,
that I didnt realize the ingredients quality dropped.
And ingredients have become cheaper day by day.
But for some reason, the price of the purchase has not changed.
I wonder why. Its strange, right, Hans?(Mitsuha)
Hans became pale and silent.
And then Mitsuha spoke to the man next to Hans.
Hey Gunter You are the one calculating wheat, arent you?(Mitsuha)
Eh(Gunter)
The previous Wheats tax payment, the amount delivered from the village and sales volume from the village to the merchant, the numbers have changed.
Someone rewrote it.
I wonder who is the one who could do such a thing.
Didnt anyone notice it at all?
The person in charge, who is it again?(Mitsuha)
Ah(Gunter)
So, Tilde, where have you been in several afternoons?
After pushing your work to a junior maid, where have you been going?
And dont you have a lot of condiments at home and at the tailors shop in the town?(Mitsuha)
The head Maid was facing down in silent.
Do you also want to ask the reason?(Mitsuha)
The remained 3 peoples who were stared by Mitsuha, no-one could reply.
They thought Mitsuha was a beautiful, gentle and weak mentality.
However, right now her attitude and wording completely changed.
Do you know why I become the lady (lord) of this land?
Its not because I inherited from my parent lineage.
I became one myself through my own achivements, I was the first generation.
The first generation of Yamano family.
Do not look down on me!(Mitsuha)
The whole room became silent as Mitsuha said that when glaring.
This is a punitive dismissal.
You will have trouble finding the next job.
I want you to leave within an hour.
After 1 hour passes, If you still stayed in the house, you will be caught and punished for illegal invasion at the Viscountess house.
Now, go!(Mitsuha)
Six men and women ran away as if they jumped out of the room.
Mitsuha talked to the old butler who stood by her side.
Im sorry to make you worry, Anton.
I will stop checking the document in the middle of the night.
I will sleep properly at night, so that I wont need to go to bed in the daytime anymore(Mitsuha)
And then she handed out several papers from her pocket.
This is the merchant who used bribes. Tell him, he is out of the deal.
And, those are malignant peoples who are disturbing people in town, monitor them and deal with them(Mitsuha)
MiMitsuha-sama(Anton)
Tears started falling from Antons eyes.
From now on, the maid head will be Kate, Im counting on you(Mitsuha)
And then Mitsuha yawned.
My bad, Anton. Even though I just said that I will not go to bed anymore in the daytime, but that was a lie!
I will go sleep for a while
Ah, from tomorrow I will begin full-scale development of my land. It will be busy.
Everyone, thanks for your hard work today, dismiss!(Mitsuha)
12 servants were left in place and stunned.
They were surprised to see Mitsuhas change so much but their hearts gradually moved
Beating fast? Funny? Excited? Interested? Anticipated?
[Ah, I see. Are we excited about this ourself now?
I felt something interesting would happen.
I felt something funny would likely happen.
At least, tomorrow is going to be a fun day] (Servants inner thought)
Kate, what are you laughing for?(Anton)
Arent you also laughing, too(Kate)
Eh? Haha, thats right. (Anton)