22 Chapter 22 - The Butler and the Servants!
After exchanging some more small talk with Jerald and the Head Village, Theo bid them farewell as well as the other villagers. He then made his way back to his residence to rest for the night.
"Pant! Pant!"
"Dammit all! whose idea was it to place this empty lot up on the f*cking hill!" Theo was panting yet again as he climbed his way to reach his residence. He would one day wallop that person's a*s so hard should he know who that person is.
Finally reaching his residence, he breathed in a mouthful of air and massaged his legs a bit as he was experiencing a cramp here and there before pushing the big door of his house's entrance.
'Creaakkk!'
As the door was opened, he was surprised to see 5 people standing in two rows left and right in front of the door. They then bowed 90 degrees towards and and greeted:
"Welcome back Lord!" in unison.
Then, a man that seems to be in his late 50s came forward. He had white hairs in a seemingly shabby butler uniform as he introduced himself to Theo.
"Welcome home my Lord. I am Sebastian, your personal butler assigned by the Head Village to cater to any of your needs."
Theo scanned his butler's face and couldn't help but to chuckle a bit as he seemed to recall this butler's appearance of his is quite similar to the clan leader Gejutel in a webtoon 'Noblesse' he used to read in the past. The only difference is that this man has a thicker 'Handlebar' type of mustache. Quite fitting for an image of a butler.
"Oh? It seems that the Village Head is quite efficient. He is already able to assign 5 staffs to my residence in just a single day." Thought Theo in his head and nodded approvingly.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he made a dry cough as he walked forward into the main hall towards the throne. He gestured for them to follow suit behind his back. Like a bunch of trained loyal retinues, their heads bowed down a little bit as they walk. Most of them seems to be nervous.
While walking, he spoke to Sebastian without turning his back. After all, the Lord of the house had to have some degree of dignity and pride in them. It is not to be mistaken as a sign of disrespect though, but as a symbol of power and position he held in the house as their Lord. Thus, he needed to act his part as the Lord.
"Sebastian, good to have you here in my residence. For now, your task shouldn't be too complicated. You only had to make sure that this residence of mine functions properly and that every members do their tasks diligently." said Theo.
Hearing this, the butler put his right hand onto his chest and bowed a bit before replying:
"Thank you my Lord, I will use the utmost of my abilities to make sure that everything in this residence will function smoothly."
"Very good." replied Theo and nodding satisfactorily.
Reaching the throne, he gestured for them to stop. He then climbed up the throne slowly, his footsteps reverberating throughout the hall which in turn creating a sort of majestic ambience of a king ascending his throne.
He then sat upright and closed his eyes for a bit. His expression mimicking that of a sage gaining enlightenment.
While still closing his eyes, he then began to speak.
"Welcome to my abode."
"As my servants, all of your daily needs and necessities will be taken care of by me. For now, there isn't yet much to do, but I assume everyone here has already made a tour of my residence while I'm away correct?" asked Theo.
"That is correct my Lord. We have discovered several bedrooms on the first floor that is enough for 20 people to live, excluding my Lord's own of course, which is located at the third floor." replied the butler.
Hearing this, Theo was a bit surprised to know that he had his own bedroom. But of course, his facial expression doesn't even reflect one tiny bit of his lack of knowledge of his own house. He only nodded a bit to indicate as if that is the case.
"Oho? My room is in the third floor? Last night I slept in one of the many rooms. I forgot to think that a residence this big should have its own master's bedroom.." thought Theo to himself.
Truth be told, he had a trouble even finding a single bedroom last night. After spending a lot of time exploring, He went like 'F*ck this house!' and almost gave up as he decided to sleep in the kitchen before he noticed a small hallway. It was there that he too discovered the many bedrooms and just picked one randomly to sleep in it.
"Your residence is quite strange my Lord. Not only that the area inside does not seems to be proportionate to the overall size of the house from the outside, it even had a big hallway that was blocked by an invisible barrier that we couldn't pass through." explained the butler while wiping the sweat on his forehead.
He also recalled their experience of getting lost. One member after another would suddenly disappear if they went into a different corner. It was only thanks to his tracking skills when he was a hunter in his younger days, did he manage to gather them all back just before their Lord returns.
"Well, under the influence of my dimensional power, that is to be expected. As for that invisible barrier, there will eventually be a day where I will let you guys to enter and explore it." replied Theo in an aloof manner while still closing his eyes. Inwardly, he was focusing his attention to ask the system:
"System, why is my house like this? Couldn't you have made things much more simpler?" asked Theo while feeling wronged. He was always being played around by this system of his and that little deity up there despite his diligent in playing the role of a ruler.
[Ting!]
[Responding to host's inquiries.]
[The house was molded in such a way as a defense mechanism against intrusion and invaders. Rooms on each floor will constantly be relocated on the same floor.]
[For the invisible barrier, it is a hallway leading to another extension of the house with many more facilities. However, currently the host's ability [Ruler's Abode] are still at Level 1. With increasing level will unlock more extension buildings.]
When Theo heard this, at first his emotions soften a bit as he praised the system a little bit in his heart for its thoughtfullness. However, he suddenly remembered:
"System, if rooms were to be relocated all the time, wouldn't this place will eventually become one big maze?!" asked Theo worryingly.
[Ting!]
[The host need not to worry. Any person the host acknowledged to live in the house as your servants or guests will find themselves to be guided instinctively to each proper rooms that they wanted to navigate to.]
Theo then breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Otherwise, no one will come to live and serve in his house if people started to get lost everytime. He would then soon to fall under the suspicion of being a kidnapper instead a ruler. That would definitely be catastrophe.
"Then, tell me, how many rooms have you discovered so far?" asked Theo towards Sebastion. Because frankly speaking, he knew less than what they should know about his own house.
"Yes my Lord. There are one big kitchen and one big dining room. Several toilets located here and there as well as..."
Sebastian began to list out the things he and the rest of them discovered. It was quite a lot. Theo could feel that they must have gotten lost with all those rooms. He shaked his head feeling pity for them. Then he opened his eyes. A trace of intelligence could be depicted from that glowy silvery pupil eyes of his. He smiled to himself praising how cool and Lordy he is acting now.
"I see, that should be most of them. Not bad. Now, I want the rest of you to introduce yourself before me." with a tinge of a ruler's aura released from him that made it seem like his words could cause the sun to dim and the moon to brightened.
Sebastian bowed before looking towards his left side and began to introduce.
"This man here will be in charge of security in the house. He is 38 years old and had a background of being the guard in one of the noble's residence back then in Pearl Town. His name is Max."
"Greetings my Lord, my name is Max."
This person named as Max seems to be capable thought Theo. His body is big and quite robust as muscles are bulging here and there. He is bald though. In Theo's previous life, such a character would definitely be part of the disciplinary member or the PE teacher in a school.
"The person next is a woman which is the daughter of the local's bakery outlet. She could cook a few menus and have the talent to learn quickly. Thus, she will be the cook. Her name is Gilda. She is 25 years old."
"Greetings my Lord, I am Gilda."
She had a long bright green hair. Although her overall figure could not match of that of Ysolda's, she is a beauty nevertheless.
"On her left is Jennifer and Lawrence, both are 18 years old. They are twins who used to be taken care of by the Village Head before this. They became orphans when their parents enrolled in the army and lost their lives. They are responsible for service and house keeping."
These twins are quite peculiar looking as both of them had a long and bright red hairs. If it was just that, it wouldn't be that outstanding, but both of them are eerily similar to each other that one couldn't tell which is the sister and who is the brother. They have quite the gloomy aura to them but maintained an expresionless face that doesn't seemed to be threatening.
"Greetings our Lord, we are Jennifer and Lawrence. Pleased to serve you."
They both spoke at the same time with the same tune and tempo. One couldn't even differentiate any differences in their voice. Nevertheless, Theo nodded to them with a warm smile.
Lastly, Sebastian turned towards Theo himself and bowed before continuing to introduce himself once more time properly.
"And finally my Lord, I am Sebastian, 58 years old. In my youth, I enrolled into an academy for the swords and magic arts back in the neighbouring state of Vesilda. In my free time before, I am a freelance scholar and a teacher for the village. Now, I dedicate myself to work as your butler. At your service, my Lord."
Theo nodded repeatedly, impressed with this butler of his. In his curiousity, he focused his gaze to analyze Sebastian.
[Ting!]
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/// [IDENTITY] \\\
Name: Sebastian
Level: ??
Job: Ruler's Personal Butler
Age: 58
/// [BASIC INFO] \\\
Hp: ???? / ????
Magic: ??? / ???
Exp: ????????
/// [STATS] \\\
Strength - ???
Defence - ???
Physique - ???
Magic - ??
Intelligence - ???
Agility - ???
/// [SKILLS] \\\
Unknown.
/// [ABILITIES] \\\
Unknown.
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Looking at the result of the analyze, Theo was quite alarmed to see that most of the details regarding his butler has the symbol ???. In his experience when watching manga, anime and novels, this basically means that the character is either too overpowered or their level is too high that they have the abilities to hidden their prowess. This is not the kind of people who you would want to offend with.
Of all the people Theo had meet, this butler of his seems to be the one with the most mysterious air to it. Theo was sure that although this butler of his had told him his rough background, it seems that there is more to it than that.
Again of course, Theo is a master of acting tough. Thus, such bewildered expression only stayed in his heart but does not reflects on his face. He remained indifference throughout all the introduction except towards the twins.
"Very good. As you all know, I am willing to pay for your salary in working under me." Theo said, before continuing:
"However, I have yet to know how the currency of this world works. Sebastian, explain this to me." ordered Theo.
"My Lord, the currency in this world is divided into three. Hard currencies, Mana stones and Artifacts. Of all the three, Hard currencies are the most common method to exchange goods."
"Hard currencies have 5 tiers, copper, bronze, silver, gold and azure gold. The latter is the highest value of all that is limited and owned only by the top royals and aristocrats."
"10 copper equals to 1 bronze. 10 bronze equals to 1 silver. 10 silver equals to 1 gold and finally, 100 gold equals to 1 azure gold."
As Sebastian explained the currencies, Theo was making his own mental notes of the ratios. He was deeply interested in what sort of hard currencies is this 'azure gold', he was curious how gold can be azure at the same time? But he wouldn't have the opportunity to own one any time soon, thus he put the matter at the back of his head.
"What about the mana stone and artifacts that you mentioned?" continued Theo.
"Yes my Lord. Mana stones are unique ores that is imbued with the energy of this Regalia, which is the world. It is mostly exchanged between those who can use magic."
"Mana stones have three tiers, Low quality, Middle Quality and High Quality. However, there also exists a mutation of High Quality mana stones that is higher in its energy purity, called Super Quality."
"For artifacts... These are the most uncommon items of all. In fact, its very hard to find. Even if there is a person who have them, they wouldn't be willing to say it out loud and become their most guarded secrets. They are believed to be the currencies back in the legends. Owning one could boost one's own HP and MP as well as other miracles. A royal could trade hundreds of azure gold just to own one of these artifacts."
To Theo, hearing that it could boost one's own HP and MP is definitely a good news. He had suspected it before that other than levelling up, there exists other items that can boost his HP and MP. He would definitely find some next time.
"I see... Well, that is all. For now, I will be heading back to my room to rest for the day. I hereby bestow upon you five the power to navigate in my residence. Dismissed."
Then, as if sounds of numerous locks being opened inside their minds, they began to feel sudden inspiration that no matter how big this residence could become, that from now on, they won't be able to get lost even if they wanted to.
They bowed 90 degrees towards Theo and kneeled on one leg when he stepped down from the throne to head back to his room on the third floor to rest for the day. They watched his silhouette as his figure slowly grew dim before disappearing mysteriously in the dark.
"Get back to your rooms and rest well, tomorrow, all of us shall work hard" said Sebastian to the rest with warm smile.
"Thank you sir, we shall be on our way now"
They too slowly disappeared, leaving only Sebastian in the main hall with his hands clasped behind his back. His head tilted to the sky as if he is contemplating something.
"The sounds of locks being released in my head before.. It seems to be from that of a very high level seal that I couldn't fathom. How many hundreds of layers is that lock? Thousands? Millions?..."
He then sighed as he shook his head helplessly. It seems that their Lord is really someone whom he claimed to be. With a single step, he soon disappeared from the main hall.
..
