Chapter 22 - Heavenly Demon’s First Day as a Butler Apprentice (1)
Chapter 22 - Heavenly Demon’s First Day as a Butler Apprentice (1)
‘This is absurd! A mere commoner becoming a page boy for a ducal household?!’
Armin, the third son of Count Renon and a second-year page boy, was seething with indignation.
That morning, Head Butler Krabel had gathered all the servants for their daily briefing.
The usual morning routine - announcements about garden maintenance, cleaning schedules, Lady Parmela’s itinerary - followed by the head butler’s customary lecture on the proper mindset expected of Herthe ducal household servants.
“…Ahem. One more thing. There’s someone I must introduce today.”
The head butler disappeared momentarily before returning with a young man dressed in identical butler attire.
Brown hair, green eyes - decent-looking but otherwise unremarkable.
“Starting today, Theodor here will be joining us as a new page boy.”
Murmurs spread through the assembled servants.
For a ducal household, there was never a shortage of people trying to forge connections. One of the few ways minor nobility could establish ties with ducal families was by sending their children as page boys.
Moreover, being a butler for a ducal house wasn’t just prestigious employment - the mere fact of having served a ducal family functioned like a badge of honor in high society.
Naturally, competition for page boy positions was unimaginably fierce.
-Hey, did you notice? The head butler only introduced his given name.
Yet the head butler had only provided his first name, mentioning neither his family name nor background.
‘Don’t tell me… a commoner?!’
Some commoner had parachuted into this coveted page boy position.
“Ahem… To briefly explain the circumstances of Theodor’s employment…”
Sensing the unrest among the servants, the head butler quickly explained how Theodor came to be hired by the Herthe ducal house.
Lady Parmela had encountered “certain difficulties” due to “personal circumstances,” during which Theodor had “somehow” provided crucial assistance in resolving the crisis.
In gratitude, the young lady had personally offered him the page boy position. That was the gist of the head butler’s explanation.
After the tumultuous briefing, the servants dispersed to their duties.
-Even so, isn’t page boy too much for a commoner? A hall boy position would be generous enough, let alone gardener!
-That Theodor fellow has some nerve too. Even if the young lady made the offer, he should have known better than to accept…
As they walked, servants exchanged the thoughts they’d dared not voice during the briefing.
Armin Renon joined in the commiseration, occasionally chiming in to disparage the presumptuous commoner.
“Armin.”
Which was why his heart nearly stopped when the head butler’s voice suddenly called from behind.
“Come with me.”
Leaving his tight-lipped colleagues behind as he followed the head butler’s back, Armin worried what punishment the strict head butler might mete out.
Fortunately, that wasn’t why he’d been summoned. No disciplinary action awaited him.
Though in hindsight, punishment might have been preferable.
“Armin, I’m entrusting you with Theodor’s training.”
The situation unfolded exactly as I’d anticipated.
The servants made no effort to conceal their wariness and hostility toward me, a commoner intruding into their domain.
Not that it intimidated me.
Compared to the vicious schemes the Martial Alliance elders had concocted against me - both Heavenly Demon and Alliance Leader - this felt like a warm welcome.
Naturally, I had no intention of relinquishing this golden opportunity I’d barely grasped.
However I got it, this was a sweet gig. No way I’m letting go.
No matter what, I’ll stick it out for three full years and pocket every last bonus before starting anew.
“Speaking of which, when’s this trainer supposed to show up?”
Following the head butler’s instructions, I’d been waiting in the garden for quite some time with no sign of my instructor.
So I took the opportunity to leisurely survey the estate’s impressive grounds.
The garden alone was larger than most school playgrounds, and the mansion itself was a palatial structure rivaling an entire school building.
No wonder Parmela had made me such an extravagant offer.
If the vacation home was this grand, how magnificent must the main estate be?
“Hey.”
Lost in admiration, I heard a prickly voice call from behind.
“You’re Theodor?”
A handsome, aristocratic-looking youth around my age with blond hair and blue eyes.
But his slouched posture, hand on hip, and the undisguised glare he fixed on me…
‘Oho! So this is hazing…!’
My first job, and my first workplace bullying.
My heart raced with anticipation.
At last, I get to experience normal office life…!
“Not answering?”
“Yes. My apologies, senior.”
“Tch… Why do I have to… Follow me.”
He turned and strode off without another word, and I followed.
“Might I ask your name?”
“…Armin. Armin, third son of Count Renon.”
His deliberate emphasis on “Count” suggested he wasn’t pleased about my commoner status either.
“Senior Armin. Could you give me a tour of the mansion as we go?”
I might have imagined the sound of teeth grinding.
“This is the garden, and that’s the staff rear entrance we came through. Unless special circumstances dictate, never use the main entrance. And…”
To my surprise, he provided quite detailed explanations as we walked through the mansion’s corridors.
“Go in.”
I opened the door he indicated…
“Isn’t this the kitchen?”
“Exactly. The kitchen.”
He smirked.
“Time to test if you’re butler material. First up… dishwashing.”
The kitchen matched the mansion’s grand scale - easily as large as a restaurant. The sink he pointed to was bathtub-sized, piled impossibly high with dishes.
“One day’s worth of dishes. Your first task is cleaning all that by yourself.”
“…How is this related to being a butler?”
“Obviously it is. Dishwashing seems trivial, but let it pile up just one day and the entire household’s meals grind to halt. For a butler maintaining the estate, dishwashing skills are absolutely essential.”
…I’d expected some form of hazing, but wasn’t this too childish?
The kind of petty task a wicked head maid in some romance novel would assign a commoner maid…
…Huh? Actually fits my current situation surprisingly well.
“By the way, the head butler authorized me to train you. Meaning I’ll be evaluating your every move and reporting back to him.”
He bared his teeth in a sinister grin.
“Time limit: one hour. No broken dishes. Fail, and…”
Swish—
“Hey, wait. I wasn’t done tal—”
Swish— Swish— Clink!
“Huh?”
One second to wipe a dish spotless with a rag and place it on the drying rack.
I repeated the motion, clearing the mountain of dishes.
Different dish types, different stains - no matter.
The Heavenly Demon Fist technique’s myriad variations - Ten Thousand Transformations Fist - allowed hundreds of precise movements in an instant.
Using Heavenly Demon Arts for dishwashing was admittedly ridiculous but…
He said it’ll affect my performance review. Gotta give it my all.
“—All done.”
Ten minutes later, Armin gaped alternately at the empty sink and my sweatless face.
“Next is corridor cleaning. Use this mop to—”
“Done.”
“Fine. Chimney sweeping then. Use this rod to—”
“Finished.”
“Garden pruning—”
“Here. Went ahead and trimmed them into cute star shapes while I was at it.”
“Y-you little—!”
“Hm? I did everything you asked.”
“That’s exactly the problem!”
Even witnessing it firsthand, Armin couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
From dishwashing to chimney sweeping.
All menial tasks normally assigned to maids - humiliating enough just by being given to him.
And the impossible workloads should have left only finding faults to berate him with.
‘A commoner page boy? I suffered through hell to become one…’
He couldn’t openly harass someone personally hired by Lady Parmela, but he’d use every indirect means to drive him out.
Yet the guy completed each task in under ten minutes.
Even the last-minute garden pruning idea.
Theodor worked unrealistically fast, executing chores with flawless, elegant movements.
Armin caught himself admiring the performance - what more need be said?
“Anything else you’d like me to do?”
Theodor’s innocent prompting flustered Armin further.
‘Somehow… somehow I must crush this commoner’s arrogance…!’
Then he recalled the head butler’s words about Theodor.
-No mana, you say?
-Indeed. Commoners lacking magic isn’t unusual… but curiously, Theodor’s body showed absolutely no mana during examination. Keep that in mind during training.
‘That’s it! That’ll be…’
Having found his solution, Armin regained his confident smirk.
“Final test - spar with me.”
Thus he dug his own grave.
“Wow. Even the training hall is ducal-level impressive. You could build a house in here.”
‘Enjoy your awe while it lasts. These are your final moments of composure.’
Theodor looked around with dazed curiosity.
Armin eagerly anticipated seeing that face contort in terror.
By now, wounded pride, anxiety, prejudice against commoners, and Theodor’s overwhelming performance had robbed him of rational judgment.
Had he considered that if Theodor truly was Lady Parmela’s benefactor,
The repercussions when word reached the young lady’s ears that a mere butler apprentice had harassed her personal hire…
‘Damn it all…! I must put that bastard in his place!’
But momentary rage had overridden reason.
“Choose your weapon. Take anything from that rack.”
“Understood.”
Theodor unhesitatingly selected a practice sword.
This matched the head butler’s briefing about his swordsmanship.
Though the head butler had described his skill as average, which seemed inconsistent with his superhuman physical abilities…
No matter.
However skilled with swords, however monstrous his athleticism… all would prove meaningless against what Armin would unleash.
“Final test. Pass this, and I’ll acknowledge you as truly worthy of House Herthe.”
“I’ll do my best!”
“Simple rules. Fight until one is incapacitated or surrenders. Nothing else matters.”
“Understood!”
“Then… begin.”
Simultaneously, Armin began chanting.
“O magic, become my shield!”
A mana-formed cube instantly enveloped him.
A protective barrier while he completed preparations.
Eyes closed, he recited a longer incantation.
“My summoned one, guardian bound by Renon blood and contract, whose claws rend foes and gaze enchants, wolf cloaked in moonlight!”
“Wolfgang of the Moon, heed my call!”
Theodor watched the summoning ritual with apparent amusement as Armin smirked triumphantly.
‘That was your last chance to defeat me, fool!’
Whoosh—!
Thick white mist engulfed Armin.
When it cleared, before him stood—
“Long have you called, Armin.”
A majestic wolf with shimmering silver fur, towering and noble.
Few noble houses possessed bloodline-exclusive magic.
House Herthe was foremost among them, and Armin’s Renon family another.
Their hereditary magic: [Spirit Contracts].
Magic allowing communion and contracts with high-tier spirits even master summoners struggled to control.
Armin’s contracted spirit: Wolfgang of the Moon.
A great spirit taking wolf form, appearing only on moonlit nights in deepest forests.
“Wolfgang.”
“Speak your will, my master.”
The massive white wolf answered obediently, circling him.
‘Done. This ends now.’
As a great spirit, Wolfgang was powerful, but his true strength lay in illusion magic.
Wolfgang could deploy a unique barrier.
Its ability: hypnosis and illusions.
Those trapped within would hallucinate Wolfgang’s piercing silver eyes watching from everywhere, driving them mad as they wandered endlessly.
“Wolfgang! Cast illusions on him!”
A commoner with no mana couldn’t magically shield his mind.
Thus no matter how superior his physique, once Wolfgang ensnared him, the match was decided.
“…Understood. So be it.”
Wolfgang readily left his master’s side, approaching Theodor with piercing gaze.
Or tried to.
The massive spirit flinched.
“Gasp…”
‘Did he just… gasp? Must be hearing things.’
Wolfgang hesitating before prey was unprecedented.
“What’s wrong, Wolfgang! Deal with him now!”
“…Madness.”
“?”
“Absolute madness! Armin, what the hell have you picked a fight with?!”
“???”