The Chore Boys
He asked no further questions. It seemed her vague identity had been accepted at a reasonable level. The butler had defined her as a maid and was ready to assign her the appropriate duties.
Suddenly tasked with playing both doctor and maid, Tichite felt no resentment. On the contrary, she only wanted to do whatever it took to plant her roots firmly in Half Moon Castle. A failed doctor might be driven out, but a loyal maid could perhaps cling to this place for life. Thinking of it as an opportunity to ease her employment anxiety, she was more than willing.
The butler, who had been searching for something, finally seemed to have found it.
"Here it is."
He chuckled cheerfully and pulled out a large wicker basket. Its top was covered with a white cloth, and inside were similarly white and black fabrics.
"With your small frame, I wonder if it will fit."
The butler handed her a large garment, telling her to try it on. It was the typical maid's attire: a long skirt with a clean apron tied over it.
"From now on, you'll be attending to the young master."
But first, it seemed she would have to wash and iron the dusty clothes.
Tichite needed more than just clothes; she needed a room. The butler offered to show her where she would be staying. Clutching an armful of the clothes she would soon wear, the woman was led to her new quarters.
"The kitchen is on the first floor, the dining hall as well. Supplies come through the south gate once a week. Remember, it's important to keep the food from getting cold. The head chef is Rip Binzer, also called 'Ribs.' Just a nickname. Since the young master has returned, he'll probably be grilling fish for once today."
There were too many names, too much geography of Half Moon Castle, too much to remember and learn. She felt she should at least memorize the layout first, but Tichite had little talent for that. Even as sweat formed on her soles from walking, she couldn't tell if they were on the third floor, the fourth, or whether they were going up or down. Sometimes she only climbed half a flight of stairs, and the path she had taken tangled into a mess in her mind. Wandering the castle alone, she might easily get lost and become a stray.
The butler spoke as he walked ahead.
"I'd like to give you a private room if I could, but unfortunately, that's not possible. There's no unused space that's been kept clean."
He clicked his tongue regretfully.
"As I said, this castle is filled with men from floor to ceiling, so the very notion of separating servants by gender has long since disappeared."
In short, the servants' quarters were swarming with men, and she would have to live with that in mind.
When Tichite and the butler opened the door and stepped inside, dozens of wide eyes turned toward her. Just as promised, the room was filled entirely with teenage boys, the youngest of whom was ten years younger than Tichite.
They were called house chore boys, or simply chore boys for short. They handled all the odd jobs around Half Moon Castle and were mostly composed of young men between boyhood and early adulthood. Being young, they had little experience and, naturally, low status within the group.
"Greet her. This is Tichite, who will be staying at Half Moon Castle starting today."
"...It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Tichite Ranlam."
The butler introduced Tichite to the startled boys. She bowed her head in greeting on impulse.
"You all look surprised to see a woman here, but you're seeing correctly. Don't even think of doing anything rude and behave like gentlemen."
The boys, true to their age, bombarded her with questions in voices devoid of any decorum.
"Whoa, what?"
"Is she really a woman?"
"How on earth did she get in here?"
"Why? Why suddenly hire someone new? And a woman at that?"
Because it was such an unprecedented event, they raised a clamor regardless of whether they liked it or not. The butler frowned as if annoyed and waved his hand.
"She has her own circumstances, so don't pry."
The butler shut down the boys' curiosity at the source. Not that he himself knew what those circumstances were.
Pointing to a bed shoved into the corner of the room, the butler said,
"There's still a bed with curtains left here. Use that spot for now, Tichite. It used to be the maids' room, but a few years ago the boys who lived here tore them all down, saying it felt stuffy."
"You probably didn't know that either," the butler added with a laugh, looking at the boys.
It was less a curtain than a piece of sackcloth stuck to the ceiling, but it was certainly better than nothing. It was the last bastion protecting the privacy of lowly people who had no dignity to speak of. That cloth, which could be tied and untied from the beams, not only shielded her sleeping place but also guaranteed her personal space.
Beside the bed were a small side table, a flat wardrobe, and, surprisingly, furniture resembling a mirror and vanity.
Good heavens. I knew something was off from the moment there was a stove in the middle of the room.
The facilities in the servants' quarters were better than expected. The spacious bed had no drafts, the blankets were thick, and the uniform she had been given looked almost new.
The most troubling part was still having to share a room with the opposite sex. But even that seemed tolerable enough.
The boys who would be her roommates were all slender and skinny; to Tichite's eyes, they didn't even look like men.
They're nothing like the Iron Horse Knights.
The "characteristics of men from Loudhill" that Kanne had claimed were nowhere to be seen. If it came to a one-on-one fight, she thought she might even win. Perhaps Mr. Umberbell had deliberately placed her in a room with only these boys.
The butler took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and said,
"It's almost dinnertime. You've all heard that the young master has returned, right? Lucas, take responsibility and escort her to the dining hall."
Lucas, with his shaggy hair, was the oldest youth in this room. Even so, the difference was only that his age started with a one, but he was still the eldest among them.
"Yes. Understood, butler."
Lucas nodded with a dazed expression.
After saying he would come back for her at five in the morning, the butler left Tichite in Lucas's care.
The residents of Half Moon Castle ate the leftovers from their master's meals, just like any other servants. Even the scraps were a feast rarely seen outside the castle walls.
The chore boys were excited because they hadn't had the chance for such luxurious meals in a while. In that sense, Nyx Farrow's return was something to welcome.
When dinnertime arrived, they moved to the dining hall. The other chore boys ran wildly down the corridors where no butlers' eyes could see them. Lucas's soles itched to run the same way, but since he had a junior to guide, he restrained himself like an adult.
"The dining hall isn't a place where you sit around a table and eat with manners. It's just a plank hung beside the stove. No one will kindly bring you a bowl. You have to eat like it's a battle. Everyone's busy stuffing whatever they can into their mouths. If it's not enough, you can sneak into the kitchen for more, but that soup comes with Ribs' nagging, so be careful. Ah, Ribs is our head chef's nickname."
Lucas explained the ways of this place with a relaxed expression.
"By the way, how old are you? Can I speak casually?"
"I'm twenty-five."
"Oh, you're just going for it right away? Nice, very straightforward."
They passed through what seemed to be the kitchen. After walking down a corridor lined with earthenware and hung with dried ingredients, they entered a room.
A large table used as a countertop was pushed against one wall, and on the opposite side, a large window with shutters stood wide open. Though called the dining hall, it was closer to an auxiliary kitchen. At first, the table was piled high with food that looked untouched, but it was quickly devoured by the starving boys.
But when Tichite appeared before them, their ravenous feeding competition paused for a moment.
An unidentified Tilamin woman. Mouths fell open. Everyone stared at Tichite with shocked eyes, as if seeing a bug floating in their stew.
"...I probably should have just brought her food to the room."
Lucas muttered. He thought everyone staring at her must be making her uncomfortable.
Tichite herself remained calm. She had already experienced similar situations several times while living with the Iron Horse Knights at Nyx's side.
"Can I eat this?"
"Huh? Yeah, you can eat it."
When she pointed to a bowl with warm steam rising from it, Lucas personally stuck a spoon in and handed it to her. It was cheap onion soup the head chef had ladled out in several bowls for the servants.
Tichite calmly lifted the bowl under the barrage of stares. After a long time without stir-fried beans and hard bread, she wet her tongue with warm broth. She also picked out a few pieces of meat left in the bowl. The seasoning had soaked in deeply, and it tasted wonderful.
The people could not take their shocked gazes off her until she finished her meal with perfect composure.