Chapter 26

It was the height of noon. The sun was at its highest and the temperatures had soared compared to the cool breeze from a few hours ago. The only source of fresh air in the office was the opened windows.

Victoria wiped the sweat off her brows. Although she had been cleaning for a few hours now, the lord's mansion was still a mess.

She expected to take—at most—two days to clean the mansion with her subordinates, however, it seemed that it would take far longer than that. It had been years since anyone had cleaned so they had their hands full.

Even though she could order her juniors to clean the entire mansion, she chose to clean the office herself since it would be Arnold's office soon.

"If I can't even clean this mess then I don't deserve to be the maid of a city lord." She sighed.

After throwing down the broom, she headed towards the window. There was a torn curtain which had probably been there for years.

She ripped it off.

"This city needs a lot of work." She could see through the window the state the city was in.

Charred buildings, decaying structures, destroyed roads…Those were but few of the city's problems. Just last night they found a corpse outside the mansion's gate.

People committed homicide and many other crimes just to survive until the next day.

It was a gruesome place to live.

"Perhaps His Grace made Al the lord as part of his punishment."

It was unthinkable for someone to restore such a city. None who have taken up the challenge had succeeded. It remained a mystery whether it was even possible to change this city.

Arnold had so confidently stated that he'd be able to accomplish it.

Victoria laughed as she leaned on the window pane. Her silky brown hair fluttered in the gentle breeze of the wind. The sun's warm light touched her skin and gave her an ethereal glow.

"That's so like him. Well, it's fine even if he fails."

All she had to do was help him every step of the way. It wouldn't really deviate from what she had been doing all these years.

A knock came from the door as she looked over the small city.

"Lady Victoria, there is someone downstairs who requests to meet the lord." It was a regular maid who came to deliver the message.

"Who are they?"

"It is the noble who issued an emergency quest to the Adventurer's Guild in the castle city."

"Emergency quest? Does this have to do with the sighting of that dragon?"

"Yes."

"I see. Tell him I will be with him shortly."

'Since Al isn't here, I guess it's my duty to act in his place for now.'

"Understood."

The maid left afterwards.

Since Arnold wasn't in the city yet, she had to meet up with the few nobles who stayed behind in this city. She had discussed with them the plans that the duke had in store for the future and how it was to be implemented. Of course, she mentioned Arnold would become the lord as well.

Although they weren't happy, they could say nothing in the matter. They were but minor nobles who were always at the duke's calling. They managed to keep the city from collapsing somewhat, although they weren't capable of fully managing it. As many of them were third sons or lower in their family, they weren't very useful when it came to politics. Some would call them spares.

The duke had probably kept them around because of their loyalty to him. A loyal person was much more important than a capable one. Since the duke didn't need any more support of people of high status, it didn't matter to him of Whitage's fief lords stayed under his rule.

"Must I meet with him wearing this?" Victoria glanced at her uniform. She was wearing a regular old maid uniform she found in one of the servant quarters closets. She couldn't risk tearing or damaging the usual uniform she wore.

"I'll have to settle with casual clothes. I should have a dress somewhere in my suitcase."

Usually, it was extremely rude to make a guest wait. However, since the other party was a minor noble, it was of no importance to her how long he waited. He was the one who came uninvited, after all.

After heading to another room and freshening up, Victoria walked down the stairs. She didn't have many things with her so she only wore light makeup.

"Forgive the mess, lord Henry Fralk." Victoria saw a middle aged man in the living room.

He was wearing a rather old suit that looked to be stitched together in some places. As he was a low ranking noble, buying extravagant things were beyond his budget.

The only reason they were still alive was because the duke didn't abandon them. Therefore, they had no choice but to serve under Arnold.

"Hoh…" The man's eyes widened when he saw the goddess who walked down the stairs.

He regained his composure a moment later and stood up.

"It is fine. By the way, are you perhaps the mistress of that bas-of lord Arnold? I don't recall him having any official lovers."

He almost said something he shouldn't have. His gaze wandered to Victoria chest. He made sure to be subtle, however, she could see his eyes wander but chose to stay quiet about it.

She was always welcomed with these kinds of gazes by men. It was to a point where it didn't matter to her anymore. Even her own cousins and other family members would gaze at her with such eyes.

"Oh, no. I am master Arnold's personal maid. As he is not here today, I must meet with the guests in his place for the time being. That is because I have the highest authority at the moment."

"When will he be coming?"

"The original duration for his arrival was a week, however, since this mansion needs a lot of work, we cannot allow him to come live here just yet. It would be shameful if his own servants made him live in such a filthy place. I have never been scolded by my superior and I'm not letting that happen this time either."

Victoria had even called that same superior, Sebastian to ask him to send her more personnel. She had originally brought six workers before, but there was now a maximum of fifty workers busy with cleaning the mansion.

In addition, she had removed all furniture as well and bought new ones. It would take a while before the new furniture arrived, so they focused on cleaning.

The couch in the living room was the only piece of old furniture left.

Since the servants couldn't just leave the mansion's property, they had to set up tents outside. Victoria made sure to request knights to protect them at night as well.

"He's not here, huh…" The man frowned. He clicked his tongue.

"Is something the matter? If you have something to say, please allow me to deliver your message to him."

"No. I am only here to inform the lord of the adventurers from Lockinge who will come from the duchy to slay the dragon. As there is no guild in this city, approval to hunt must be obtained by the lord."

"Hmm…" Victoria fell into thought.

She had heard of a dragon that had been scaring away the critters in the forest. Most of the strong monsters had even decided to live near the entrance of the forest.

This had put many of the villages surrounding the city and the mountain in danger. Unless there was something done to get rid of the dragon, life wouldn't return to normal for them.

'We're wasting money on hiring adventurers. I doubt the duke will support us if our personal funds run out.'

Since this city didn't have a guild to give rewards to the adventurers, the money had to come from the city itself. Meaning, the lord's treasury.

To this city, 200 gold was a large amount. It could be used much more meaningfully.

'Seeing as how lord Marcus isn't getting involved, he must want us to fix all the problems on our own.'

That meant that they couldn't rely on him for money.

Although a dragon's body was a mountain of money after dismantling it, most of that money would go to the adventurers. Odds were that the city wouldn't benefit financially from this quest at all.

"Did you decide on your own to issue this quest and waste money just to kill a dragon?" Victoria wanted to slap the daylights out of him. There were better ways to go about getting rid of the dragon.

One was scaring it off by using the urine or smell of a dragon lord. It would've worked since regular dragons would never want to come into contact with a higher species of their race. It wasn't even necessary to kill it.

Victoria was certain that they did this out of greed.

"N-No. I have discussed this with the other fief lords as well. We have decided to also aide the adventurers by distributing weapons and armor. We also used our grain supply to make sure the adventures have enough to eat during their expedition. It should come in wagons in a few hours."

"…When will they arrive?"

The journey from Lockinge to this city usually took a four hours at horse-drawn carriage speed. In order to reach it, one would have to travel past the Empire's Imperial Capital.

Lockinge castle city was situated to the west of the empire while Whitage was situated to the south.

"I just got word from a messenger on horseback that he sighted the adventurers near the forest. They passed by a village just a few hours ago."

"Where do you intend to make them stay once they arrive here?"

"Uh, that's…W-We were hoping that the lord would give permission to allow them to stay here for the time being."

The baron heard Victoria sigh deeply.

"I understand. Please lead them here when they arrive."

"Wonderful!" The noble exclaimed in relief. "By the way, when do you usually stop working for the day?"

Victoria could see his eyes wander to her chest as he spoke.

"I know where you are going with this, but I decline. I am not interested."

"A-At least we can—"

"I. Decline." Victoria said with narrowed eyes and a cold voice.

"Tch." The noble stood up in a huff. "Tell lord Arnold that I was here when he comes."

"I will make sure I do." Victoria bowed.

With one last look at her chest, the noble left the mansion.

"What a disgusting man. To look at lady Victoria like that."

"I know, right? He has no shame. His thing was even standing erect while he was shamelessly asking her out."

The others who watched everything from the hallway came into the room.

Victoria sighed.

'I will never know why men are like that around me. My chest is only a bunch of fat and skin. What is the appeal?'

"You girls should've been working instead of eavesdropping. What does His Grace pay you for?"

"W-We're sorry."

"Never mind. Contact a merchant firm and have them bring blankets, food and candles."

"Are we really going to accept them in this mansion? Won't we be in danger being surrounded by them? The knights are already protecting the mansion. Which means we can only protect ourselves."

All of them knew what kind of a bunch adventurers were. They had zero humility, always caused trouble if nothing went their way and only moved for profit.

There were those who could be said to be righteous, but they were in the minority.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure none of them touch you girls." Victoria clapped her hands. "Now get moving! We're expecting them in a few hours."

"Yes ma'am!"

The maids left the living room and went to their assigned tasks. The living room was as empty as it were when they moved everything out.

"I guess I'll go clean the office for now."

◇

The group had finally left the forest after getting through the thick vegetation. For the first time in a few hours they breathed fresh air.

Some forty people moved as a group towards the city that was in the distance.

'It's small, as I've heard.'

Arnold was expected to, not only fix the city, but improve the people's way of life. Just looking from where he stood, he could see many collapsed buildings.

'Crimes must happen there daily.'

Being the loser that he was in the past, Liam would've avoided walking such regions where people committed crimes. However, he was now Arnold von Berkley, a 5 star knight.

One could say that few things could actually worry him.

"Almost there, everyone!" Clint shouted to the group. Many of them seemed to be tired of walking non-stop.

Not only was the path they took very hard to walk on, they only had three breaks so far.

"Where are we heading?" Arnold caught up with the leader and asked. Lucri followed close behind.

"The noble that requested this quest told us to meet him in front of the lord's mansion."

Arnold's face hardened.

"He has apparently gained permission from the lord to house us inside the mansion before we face the dragon."

'What's this? The lord gave approval? Am I not the lord?'

Arnold clenched his fist.

'When I found out who that bastard is…'

There was no way that Victoria would actually agree to that if he were to ask before he told Clint about going to the mansion.

'That bastard probably only asked afterwards.'

"The noble will give us provisions and equipment for our raid."

"I see. If we were to have faced the dragon now, we would've been in a tight spot."

"Exactly. Many of us are already tired from travelling on foot. A group like this can't use carriages either since we're too many. After we rest up, we're leaving by tomorrow morning at the earliest. Any objects, Nova?"

"None."

"It's settled then."

The group passed by a village which was near the city. Arnold noticed the state of every resident. Many were skinny and dirty. Some even looked sick. They wore rags and barely had any men.

'The men must've been taken to be cannon-fodder in the conflicts between nobles.'

Nobles would always force the villagers living in their land to fight for them. Of course, they won't actually fight. They'll only act as meatshields.

'I've already seen the bad side of this world even though it's only been a week.'

This. This was what the game didn't show them.

After walking down the highway, they managed to reach Whitage city.

'There's no gate. How do the citizens protect themselves?'

Arnold sighed, a bitter expression on his face.

It was no wonder this city was deemed unsuitable for people to live in. The people that do live here are only those that have no choice. In this world, if you didn't have the power to protect yourself then chances were high that you'll die in the first week of leaving your own city.

People who leave their villages and towns to become famous adventurers know about the dangers yet they continue to pursue their dreams.

Arnold glanced at Lucri who was walking next to him.

He had such a small frame, a delicate face with big eyes and a small mouth.

'How long has he been alone?'

Seeing as how Lucri knew so many people, it had been a while ever since he came to Lockinge city. Maybe he went to the city right after his mother passed away?

'Somehow this reminds me of my days at the Guild.'

He was always asked by Alecs to teach the newcomers how everything worked. He would try his best to be an admirable senior and a role model.

He watched them grow all those years.

Looking at Lucri, he wanted to do the same thing for him as he did for his guildmates.

"I-Is something wrong?"

"Ah…"

Arnold's gaze seemed to have been too intense that even Lucri could feel him staring.

"I-It's nothing. Anyway, it seems that we made it."

"Huh? Ah, we did."

When they noticed, they had arrived in front of the city gates. That said, there were no city gates to speak of. Perhaps the gates were stolen or knocked down because there were no obstacles that prevented the group from going in.

'It feels like a ghost town…'

Arnold looked around and noticed that there were few people walking on the streets. There wasn't even any patrols going back and forth in the streets.

'Is that the smell of a decaying corpse?'

"Everyone! Let us make haste and not linger around here for long!"

It seemed that even Clint was shaken by what he saw. He hurried the group by walking faster.

'I'm going to have a lot of work on my hands if I don't manage to employ people under me. This is the worst. Arnold, you're the worst.'

Arnold tried to calm himself by imagining the money he'd make from selling those red Crystals.

His mouth watered.

'Once I eliminate all my current death flags then I'm going to live in peace and quiet. Maybe I should marry Victoria and put a baby in her? Ah, but will she accept?'

He wanted to make Victoria fall for him and not force her to become his mistress. Knowing her, she might comply if he ordered her to, although she'd set some rules like: no bearing of children or announcing the affair to public.

Most servants had the right to enforce such rules if their lord wishes to marry them. They were giving up their life to the one they serve for financial gain after all.

The employer gets her body and he or she gets access to his wealth. That was the norm for servants who married their lords or Mistresses.

'Victoria isn't just any woman. I need to make sure I don't screw up.'

Even though he said that, he wasn't confident in making a woman fall for him. Unlike original Arnold who could make lots of women's panties drop with his skills alone, the current Arnold was just a scared virgin.

'But! I need to make sure I have sex with a woman in this life!'

He was a virgin before coming to this world. Of course, the current Arnold had slept with multiple women, however, to him it didn't count.

"We've arrived everyone! Let's go!"

They had finally arrived at the mansion. Looking around, he could see many tents sprawled on the ground and servants standing around and looking at them. It seemed that Victoria needed help with cleaning the mansion.

There were also knights coming in and out of the backyard and the mansion.

The door to the mansion suddenly opened at that moment while everyone was looking around.

It was a single woman who came out.

Many exclamations of awe came from the adventurers. They couldn't help it. The woman who came out of the mansion was just too beautiful. No, she was a goddess.

Her long brown hair looked silky soft and her skin unblemished. She had a soft smile on her beautiful face. The hourglass figure could even be seen above her white dress.

'Whoa…'

Victoria Lurgun came down the stairs and looked at everyone.

"Welcome to the lord's mansion. How do you do? My name is Victoria and I am the head servant."