2.2.7

With the measurements done, they linked back up with Ram in the dressing room, and Rem went her separate way.

In spite of being pressed by work, Rem said, "I will re-stitch your jacket overnight and deliver it before morning once it is done."

She shot Ram a look rich in meaning as she left. Their eye-to-eye message system made Subaru give Ram's shoulder a soft poke.

"Hey, what did Rem say with that eye-contact thing just now?"

"She said, 'Subaru gave me perverted glances when we were alone'…You beast."

"So you got that much from just th— Hey, don't back away, that hurt my feelings!"

Though Ram's retreat from Subaru, clutching her own shoulder, pained his heart, his time as a servant at the manor finally began in earnest.

The west wing contained the servants' quarters, spare furniture, and normal books not meant for the archive. In contrast, the east wing had suites for welcoming visiting nobles, with rooms for entertaining guests and other facilities, with few functional differences from the main wing.

"You have now toured nearly all the manor. All that remains are the gardens outside the buildings and the front yard between the manor and the gate. You can see those later. Any questions so far?"

"Shouldn't the tour have been something Emilia-tan would've done?"

"Not at all, since we will be getting to work immediately."

During the guided tour, Ram's personal disposition and Subaru's penchant for stopping and going off on tangents made her easily fend off Subaru's latest line.

Subaru wasn't sure if that meant the last several hours had brought them closer or he'd simply dug himself into a deeper hole, but…

"My chores for today are maintaining the garden and front yard and checking the surroundings. I will be assisting in preparing lunch, and at Eight Solartime, I must wash the silverware… You shall assist me, Barusu."

"Sure thing, but what's that Solartime you mentioned?"

It was a term he'd heard when he'd awoken that morning. He'd guessed that Solartime referred to time during the day, but…

"So Eight Solartime indicates the time… Do you have a clock or something?"

"Clock…? If you mean a magic time crystal, they are all over the mansion, including right over there."

Subaru looked where Ram pointed and saw a crystal emitting a dim light. The crystal hung from the upper part of the mansion's wall—pretty much right where a big clock might be back in his world.

Subaru squinted as he stared at the flickering green light emitted by the crystal.

"It's a little weird, but I guess it's just another clock. How do I read it?"

"Solartime is Wind Time from zero to six, then Fire Time for the next six. Lunartime goes from Water Time to Earth Time— To not know this, are you some kind of barbarian, Barusu?"

"An actual barbarian wouldn't answer yes to that, you know?"

He hated hearing it, but Subaru's lack of common knowledge made that appraisal hard to shake.

Thinking back, there was a magic time crystal in the room Subaru awoke in, too. Subaru felt that the crystal had been a lot greener then.

"So, what, the color gets brighter as time passes?"

"…Wind Time is green, Fire is red, Water is blue, Earth is yellow. Anything else you want explained?"

"I'm okay with the time stuff now. Solartime and Lunartime are kind of like AM and PM from the sound of it."

No doubt he'd have to endure many other clashes with what passed for common sense in a fantasy world.

Subaru crossed his arms and nodded. Ram seemed tired as she put a hand to her forehead.

"It's hard enough to train you for the job from scratch, but having so little common sense… When did I go from domestic help to an animal trainer?"

"It's scary just to hear words like animal trainer, so maybe you could pick different ones, boss?"

Ram's eyebrows twitched at being called boss. Feeling that she either didn't care or wasn't too bothered, Subaru switched gears a bit.

"By the way, there were only you two taking care of the place earlier, but it wasn't gonna be like that forever, right? I mean, you had that maid who quit before?"

"…Master Roswaal has relatives living at various lesser manors, so most of our coworkers have come from there until now. Rem and I work here at the main residence so that we may attend to Master Roswaal personally."

"Main residence and lesser manors… So, um, this is the main residence?"

"Master Roswaal is head of the Mathers family, so of course he lives at the main residence. And I say relatives, but his relations with the other branches of the Mathers family are not particularly deep."

Perhaps Subaru should have expected that a nobleman like Roswaal would have a complex relationship with his family. Now that Subaru was working for the man, he couldn't consider himself a bystander in that; besides, he was closely related to Emilia, a royal candidate.

"Even if you're just looking after Rozchi, this mansion's too huge for two people to handle, right? Can't you hire more people?"

"—Circumstances make that impossible at the moment. Also, the time for idle talk is over."

Ram clapped, signaling the end of that line of discussion as she calmly walked forward.

Subaru wanted to ask her more about stuff, but he could do that and pick up more common knowledge as he worked. He needed to put his back into the work first, to keep her happy if nothing else.

"Haven't worked like this before, but I feel really positive for some reason. I guess it's the beautiful-girl thing?"

"Flattery will get you nothing. No kindness, no mercy."

"You should learn a little modesty from your little sister, geez!"

Subaru threw that out, still chewing over the conversation with Rem back in the dressing room.