Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Servant Cedric (10) - Image Improvement. Territory Edition.
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The people of the territory were gripped by fear upon hearing the rumor that Claudia had driven out the acting lord and taken up residence in the government office.
"Isn't Lady Claudia... that notorious wicked girl?"
"They say hardly anyone lasts a year under her—she beats her servants at the drop of a hat and hurls abuse at them."
"She's been holed up in her mansion all this time, so why on earth would she take on something like lordly duties?"
"Maybe she's planning to jack up taxes and squeeze us dry?"
"Or feed the disobedient folk to the beasts!"
"Hey! Keep your voices down! What if someone hears us?"
In the Eched Territory, Claudia's name was infamous for all the wrong reasons.
She hadn't personally rampaged through the territory tormenting people, but the servants who had fled her mansion in tears had spread all sorts of vicious tales.
As rumors often are, half of it was exaggerated or distorted, but the other half came from real experiences, so it wasn't entirely baseless slander.
The territory folk trembled in dread, wondering what horrors Claudia might unleash.
However, Claudia betrayed those expectations—in the best possible way.
-Woof! Woof woof!
-Grrr.
"...These are supposed to be terrifying beasts? They just look like dogs with red fur."
"These mutts are supposed to handle security? That make any sense?"
The people first balked at how unexpectedly cute the infamous blood beasts under Claudia's command were. They were shocked a second time when she announced the dogs would serve as guard hounds, and a third time when they realized it actually worked.
"I was about to get beaten by some thugs, but then I heard barking from somewhere, and soon after, guards came rushing in. I owe my life to them."
"I lost my coin pouch and was searching everywhere, but one of the woofers found it for me!"
"My son's in the guard, and he says work's gotten way easier lately. No more scattering all over the place like before—they just wait at base and head out wherever the dogs lead them."
"Even the criminals lurking in back alleys are steering clear now at the sight of a plain old dog."
The folk had figured Claudia sitting idle in the office would already be a blessing. When she unexpectedly handled lordly duties competently, public opinion flipped almost overnight.
There were two main reasons for this rapid surge in support.
One was how rock-bottom expectations for Claudia had been.
The other was how incredibly tangible her policies felt.
In truth, even when high officials announce policies for the people's benefit, it's rare for the masses to feel the joy directly.
Extreme policies ignoring social ripple effects often backfire with side effects and draw criticism. Finely tuned ones, meanwhile, have subtle impacts or take ages to show results, making them hard to appreciate.
By contrast, the blood beast guard system was visually striking right away, easy to understand, and required zero effort or sacrifice from the people themselves.
Introducing the new guard setup hadn't meant extra conscription or higher taxes.
Pure gain with no strings attached—naturally, the folk praised Claudia without a second thought.
Of course, not everyone approved of the shift in sentiment.
"Damn it all, we're screwed."
Hameln, a young bureaucrat in the Eched Territory, was one of the prime dissenters against Claudia's actions.
It wasn't that he took kickbacks from criminals or hated improved public safety—quite the opposite, he actually rated her highly on that front.
Precisely that aspect, anyway.
"If you're going to kick people out, at least bring a proper replacement! You can't just dump a bunch of greenhorns on us and say 'work together from now on' like that'll magically fix everything!"
Those who quit in protest after the acting lord's ousting were mostly his close allies—people with financial cushion and high positions among the bureaucrats.
In other words, the top brass.
Claudia had filled their vacancies by promoting a few lower-level ones like Hameln, but taking on duties without handover or guidance? Smooth sailing would be the real miracle.
And they couldn't even focus solely on that.
They had to train fresh recruits who knew zilch about admin work at the same time.
Anyone who's worked in an organization knows: newbies aren't assets until they've adapted—they're more like baggage.
Constant "How do I do this?" and "What about that?" drains time and sanity.
"She can dazzle them with flashy policies for now. But soon enough, things will start breaking down everywhere...."
And when they did, the blame would fall squarely on holdover bureaucrats like Hameln.
Lords don't shoulder responsibility—they assign it. Purging loyal newbies would hurt her power base less than ousting veterans.
It was on one such day, steeped in profound gloom over this bleak outlook, that...
"Take this."
Summoned to the lord's office, Hameln blinked at the stack of papers Claudia handed him.
Reading the confusion on his face, she explained.
"I spotted some inefficiencies in your current workflows and fixed them up. Follow the order listed there from now on. Spread it to your department too."
"I-is that so."
Hameln struggled to hide his sour expression.
It wasn't that unusual, really.
Superiors skimming underlings' work and barking "Don't do it that way—try this" was par for the course.
The problem? Such meddling was usually half-baked at best.
The former acting lord, for instance, had once decreed "paper quotas per bureaucrat to curb waste"—only to scrap it after floods of minuscule, illegible scrawls ensued.
And from a pampered young lady who'd likely never touched paperwork? Good luck.
Suppressing a sigh, Hameln flipped through the pages.
...The intro's solid. Even a table of contents.
Flip.
Standard forms? Predefining content order by task type? I already do that... but plenty ignore it and do their own thing. Codifying it as rules would help.
Flip.
Hm, splitting duties by field. Easier to teach, faster mastery. But if a specialist bails, others can't cover... Ah, that's where the deputy manager comes in.
Flip.
Guest reception manual? Wait—the protocols for noble visitors, ranked by title? All documented!?
Flip. Flip. Flip.
Hameln had started skimming skeptically, braced for nonsense. But with each page, his expression grew gravely serious.
Eventually, he forgot the lord was even there.
...Impossible.
Hameln's hands shook.
As the most admin-savvy bureaucrat left in Eched, he grasped it.
The immense value of these documents.
The individual items aren't revolutionary—no arcane tech or novel concepts beyond veteran bureaucrats' instincts.
But that didn't diminish their worth.
There's an uncrossable gulf between vague "good enough" and precise "if A, then B."
Exhaustive manualization.
A magic guidebook: as long as you're literate, any newbie could follow it verbatim and pull their weight.
And it's not just for rookies—veterans would skyrocket in efficiency too.
He couldn't quantify without testing, but Hameln's conservative estimate was double—at minimum.
Beyond plugging personnel gaps, it could handle the territory's admin with even fewer staff.
Hameln gazed at Claudia with eyes brimming reverence.
Any lingering resentment had long vanished.
No—he felt fulfilled to serve such a lord.
"Magnificent, truly magnificent, my lord! With this, we can manage the territory flawlessly—no, beyond perfection!"
For some reason, Claudia flinched briefly at his words.
But only for a moment. She waved it off casually.
"No need for dramatics. If no complaints, go spread it quick."
It seemed nonchalant, but to Hameln—now besotted—it felt like a sovereign's humility, shunning self-praise.
He bowed deeply, then practically skipped out, eager to implement it.
Only after he was gone did Claudia mutter.
"...Cedric. Is that really such a big deal? Honestly, I couldn't tell."
From his post diagonally behind her, Cedric replied softly.
"Impressive if impressive, trivial if trivial."
"For something 'trivial,' that guy's reaction was over the top."
"Hahaha, it reminds me of your first bite of omurice, miss."
"What."
Claudia inhaled sharply, then rapid-fired.
"D-don't lie! I wasn't that dramatic!"
"Wasn't it? You were so absorbed, you forgot anyone else was around—just like then."
"Shut that mouth right now!?"
"Ah, how can you dismiss a loyal servant's honest testimony?"
Claudia hurled the desk paperweight. As always, Cedric caught it nonchalantly and restored it.
Glared at him with annoyance, she clicked her tongue.
"Anyway, that aside—it's surprising."
"What do you mean?"
"I figured you wouldn't hand over some manual. You'd just step in and handle everything yourself."
Claudia knew Cedric was admin-proficient.
Daily private lessons made ignorance impossible.
She hadn't clung to quitting veterans for the same reason: with Cedric, no problem.
Yet contrary to her assumption, he'd opted for indirect aid via manual over hands-on work.
She couldn't fathom why.
Others might chalk it up to laziness, but Cedric bordered on workaholic—no way.
"Simple. Me handling it directly eases the short term but harms the organization long-term. A group that grinds to a halt without one person is worthless."
The final decision-maker is a different story, he added mentally.
Claudia caught the nuance and scowled.
"So, you disguised the manual as my creation, not yours?"
"That way's advantageous all around."
Cedric answered without hesitation.
"People prefer inertia over efficiency. Rare is the Hameln type who experiments eagerly—forcing it requires your authority, miss. A lord's manual? They'll at least pretend to follow out of propriety."
"If announced under your name, they wouldn't?"
"Precisely. Who'd take a lowly servant—green at that—seriously on admin reform?"
Not wrong.
Still, Claudia felt irked.
"...Same with mansion staff. They rejoice I've changed, but your name barely comes up."
Strictly, it wasn't absent.
Her change post-hiring Cedric was obvious—ignoring the link would be odd.
But mere speculation.
Few flatly declared Cedric changed her!
Cedric himself shunned credit.
"I merely advised. You accepted and acted. Don't undervalue your own merits."
"That's not what I—"
She bit back the retort.
A subtle anxiety gnawed at her.
Voicing it to him felt like tempting fate.
"Tch, whatever. Brew some tea. Sweet."
"As you wish."
After Cedric left.
She murmured softly.
"...Why does he always act like things'll be fine without him?"