Day 10 of the journey, Ironstals city
The carriage was passing through the biggest city I had ever been to in this life, even though it seemed small compared to the cities of my previous life.
When the crowd in the middle of the road saw the ostentatious carriage coming, they moved to the side of the road and bowed 90 degrees in salute. After the carriage passed by, everyone looked up and continued shopping or traveling.
Ever since we entered the city, I felt like I was in a completely different world. Because of the town I was born in, I thought this was an undeveloped world, but now I realized how wrong I was.
When I looked at the 20-meter-long white walls surrounding the huge city, the only emotion I felt was grandeur. As if it wasn't enough that they managed to build such a huge wall, since we entered the city, the ground was covered with shaped stones unlike the ordinary soil.
And even though I had been watching outside for a long time, I didn't see a single piece of garbage thrown randomly in the city. The streets were clean, the environment was quiet, the streets overflowed with the vibrancy of crowds of people and there were many small street-side shops.
What I disliked the most in my previous life was when the branded store chains built huge markets everywhere with the same name and content. As I looked at the roadside shops where each craftsman or merchant displayed their own creations, for the first time in a long time I felt the need to shop.
"What do you think. This is our city, Ironstals!"
"I'll be honest, this is the most organized and wonderful city I've ever seen."
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, you have good eyes, butler! I made no mistake in choosing you."
"23"
"23?"
"That's the twenty-third time you've said the same thing to me."
"H..haaa! Are you really counting that? It's just a habit of mouth or I'm not really praising you or anything...hmh"
Little bitch. This girl is getting on my nerves.
I stopped watching the city, closed the curtain in front of the window, and sat across from Shizune and waited, doing nothing. After about ten minutes, I continued to sit the same way until I felt the carriage start to slow down.
I was about to look outside when Shizune stepped forward, grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back into the seat.
"We're home, so from now on, remember to do as I tell you. And don't call me the wrong name in front of others."
"We're already here? I know what I have to do, you needn't worry."
I replayed the information I had memorized over and over again in my mind until the carriage completely stopped. The first impression is the main thing that will decide how much comfortably slave I will be in the future. Ahem. I mean butler
As the carriage stopped, we both kept still and waited for a knight to come and open the door. I expected the knight who was the leader of the protection team to open the carriage door, but it was a knight I had never seen before and he was holding a large spear.
I was surprised for a brief moment, but I was not to make a mistake over something so simple. As soon as I got off the horse carriage, I found myself in front of the large staircase at the front door of a huge mansion. Until the mansion's entrance, there was a line of similarly costumed female maids on the right side and similarly costumed male servants on the left side.
*Ahem ahem*
When I turned my head towards the sound of coughing, I saw the old butler's scary face and immediately remembered what I had to do.
I turned around and slowly knelt down in front of Shizune, who was about to get out of the carriage, and supported Shizune with my hand in the air.
I wondered if I had done something wrong until I heard a satisfying voice from the old butler. This was one of his first and most difficult tasks. I repeated the gesture at least a hundred times inside the horse carriage and barely managed to maintain an ideal position. Shizune got out of the horse carriage and disappeared through the gate of the mansion with a few maids.
After Shizune entered the mansion, I got back into the horse carriage and all the horses set off again. I was no longer worried about breaking any manners because we were already out of the danger zone. When the horse carriage was heading towards the outbuilding where the servants lived, I took my head out of the window and admired the huge mansion.
The entire mansion was painted white with huge golden shield emblems on some parts. The garden of the mansion, which I marveled at its extraordinary size just by looking at it from the outside, was even more incredible than the mansion itself. Some parts of the garden were decorated only with red roses, while other parts were covered with pools built around flamboyant statues.
The rest of the garden was all green grass of the same height. I don't even want to imagine how difficult it would have been to maintain such a large garden. It was also incredible that this mansion belonged to a count. As far as I know, the count level should be the lowest level among the upper nobility, but somehow this mansion and garden made me feel as if I was in some kind of palace.
When I turned my head a little more, I saw the knights on their horses taking off their helmets and talking to each other. Apparently it was a very difficult journey for them. Actually, when I think about it, I hardly saw these knights talking during the whole journey.
My curiosity satisfied, I tucked my head back into the wagon.
"Ahhhhhhhhh... I was dying of scared. When did you get here, Alphenzo-sama?"
"Hahaha, you don't have to be so respectful when you talk to me alone."
"Then... If you don't want me to accidentally rip your fucking head off, don't sneak up on me again."
------- ( after 5 minutes )
The knights walked on, carrying the helmets of armor under their armpits, and as they entered the four floor building where the single servants lived, they saluted the young boy who knelt with two large bumps on his head, and the old butler who stood at the boy's head holding an empty sword sheath.
"I have learned my lesson, Alphenzo-san. I will never speak so disrespectfully to anyone again and I will be gentle, as befits a butler."
"Okay, then you can stand up."
Alphenzo reminded himself that the boy in front of him was a peasant and decided that he had punished Yuto enough for now and said a few last words to Yuto before he left
"Be in the main hall of the mansion at 8 pm with your family. Don't forget to ask the servants for a decent outfit before you come "