33 - The Fortress Lord's Residence
"You must be tired from the long journey," Tabitha said, starting to lift me up, but I politely declined. Even if I was a small eight-year-old, being carried by a middle-aged woman was a bit worrying. I was probably a little heavy to carry. When I refused, saying I was heavy, she replied that she was strong enough, so it was fine. So as a last resort, I rephrased myself in a more childlike way, saying I wanted to walk because I was happy with my new shoes. Tabitha seemed to accept that.
...Well, I only managed to walk within the fortress though!
Whether she could not bear the walking speed of a little girl or not, once we left the building, Bart ended up carrying me. Thanks to that, we managed to arrive at what Leonardo called "the Fortress Lord's Residence" before sundown.
"So biiig..."
Passing through the gate where a guard stood, I could see a large building in the back. Even for adult legs, it looked like it would take several minutes just to reach the building. Maybe it was the right call for Bart to carry me, a little girl.
...It was practically next door, though!
To be precise, the fortress that kept watch over the northwestern border and the Fortress Lord's Residence built facing south were back-to-back as buildings, but their grounds were adjacent. However, the fortress grounds were so vast, and the residence grounds were also quite expansive. Even connecting the buildings in a straight line, it was hardly a distance you could call "next door." If you left through the residence gate and entered through the fortress gate, it would make for a nice little walk.
In Bart's arms as he walked the path toward the building, I looked around, observing the front garden. There were tall trees, shrubs, and flowers planted, but basically a lot of open space remained. Maybe the garden's purpose was not for a gardener to grow trees and flowers for enjoyment, but rather as an extension of the military facility. You could probably line up squads and conceal them there, or use it as a field hospital.
When we reached the front of the residence, it looked even bigger than when I had first seen it from the gate. I could not tell without going around to the back, but maybe the building was shaped like a U. The protruding rooms on the left and right seemed to be sunrooms, fitted with large glass panes.
"Leonyaldo, you said joushu no yakata. Is this the king's house?"
I knew that was not the case, but that is what came out when I chose childlike words. I would be entrusted to the fortress lord until Leonardo had time. I vaguely understood it that way, but it seemed to be a little different. Bart and Tabitha exchanged a glance for a moment, then started laughing merrily.
"The 'fortress lord' means the master of Grenore Fortress. He is not the king, of course."
"The current master of the fortress is Leonardo-sama. Your big brother, Tina-sama."
...Huh, where should I even start with that?
I was curious about being called -sama and big brother too, but maybe I should focus on the fortress lord part first.
"Leonyaldo... is joushu-sama?"
"Yes, Leonardo-sama is currently the master of Grenore Fortress. This residence is granted by the king as a dwelling for the highest-ranking person in the fortress."
If it was granted to the highest-ranking person, that meant when the top person of the fortress changed, the master of the residence would change too.
"So it is a rental house?"
At the utterly blunt word that slipped out, Bart and Tabitha's eyes went round. Then they gave a wry smile, saying that understanding was not wrong, but it was not correct either.
...I do not think I am wrong though? It means it is not Leonardo's own house. Ah, like company housing?
A rental house was one you paid money to borrow, but company housing was a dormitory or building provided by the company. That did feel like a better fit.
"Bart-san, Tabitha-san... are you Leonyaldo's family?"
They were addressing him with -sama, so I knew that could not be it. But I wanted to get a handle on the relationships early. While the atmosphere allowed for asking, I would fish for information in a childlike way.
"We are the caretakers of this residence."
"Since the master of this residence changes when the fortress lord changes, the caretakers are separate."
"To put it bluntly, we are like fixtures of the residence. So you do not need to call us '-san,' young lady."
"You would not call shoes or chairs with '-san,' would you, Tina-sama?"
I realized they were gently correcting my wording. As servants versus the master's sister, people and things were different.
...I kind of get what they are saying, but I am deliberately not reading the room here. I am Japanese from my past life, you know! Calling older people by just their names without honorifics is hard for me.
If it was necessary, I would do it only when necessary. Though I honestly was not confident I could switch between them properly.
"Sugar-shama and honey-sama get '-sama.' Because they are sweet and delicious."
When I gave a deliberately nonsensical answer, Bart and Tabitha laughed, saying, "If they are sweet and delicious, then it can not be helped." They probably understood that in a child's value system, sugar and honey were wonderful enough to warrant calling them with '-sama.' And they seemed to have convinced themselves that I still did not understand social status or employment relationships. They did not press me further about dropping the '-san.'
"Why is Leonyaldo the top of the fortress? Leonyaldo is still young."
Among knights... in this case, was it rank? I had heard the difference between Black Knights and White Knights was commoner versus noble, but what was the difference between high-ranking and low-ranking? Normally, age and achievements would be factored in, and the highest-ranking person would inevitably be an elder, but Leonardo had said he was only twenty-one. For someone entrusted with a fortress, that seemed too young. By Japanese common sense, he was barely an adult of just one year.
"Unlike the White Knights, the Black Knights are a complete meritocracy... ah, you would not understand that. Um..."
Trying to explain in a way a child could understand, Bart broke down the words, and Tabitha added supplementary explanations along the way. To put it simply, the Black Knights operated in a world of pure meritocracy. Once a year in summer, there was a tournament at each fortress, and the results determined the hierarchy. Leonardo had risen through that tournament and become the master of Grenore Fortress at a young age. It was a surprisingly rough selection method.
...No, what surprised me most was that Leonardo had been fortress lord for four years.
Simply calculating, that meant he was already fortress lord at eighteen. When I asked if such a young master was really okay, and whether being fortress lord meant paperwork and such, it turned out that knights studied academics as part of their education even before becoming knights, so whoever rose to become master would have the ability to run the fortress without too much trouble. Apparently, there were even cases where masters who had grown older and lost confidence in their calculation abilities would deliberately lose in the summer tournament to pass on the position.
...Were the Black Knights actually an elite group for commoners?
They had martial prowess, of course, but they also studied academics as part of their education, and their English, which should be a foreign language in this world, was at a practical level. They could perform simplified ceremonies like funerals, and they received education that allowed whoever became the leader to immediately preside as fortress lord. If that was the case, then they were definitely an elite group.
"...Do they really decide who is in charge by who is strong or weak?"
"Rather that, nobody would follow a weak commander."
With nobles, rank was determined by family standing. But flaunting your status on the battlefield would not do any good. That was precisely why the White Knights, composed of noble sons, almost never stood on the battlefield. They were nothing but a hindrance. In the Black Knights' view, the White Knights were nothing more than a play-pretend group that could only be trusted with gatekeeping in the royal capital.
...I got the sense that the Black Knights and White Knights did not get along.
"After all, Leonardo-sama even belonged to the Silver White Knights. He is a knight among knights. He is on a different level from not just the White Knights, but even the average Black Knights."
"Shirogane...? Knight among knights?"
My pronunciation got a bit shaky again, but I perked up my ears at the new information. It seemed there were other knights besides the Black Knights and White Knights.
"The Silver White Knights are a royal guard unit that allows only truly excellent knights, regardless of whether they are White Knights or Black Knights, to join."
The selection exam was extremely harsh, and the gates were narrow, only about one person every five years was allowed to join. If you made it through that selection and were honored to join the Silver White Knights, you would be treated as equal to nobles, even if your origins were commoner.
"...On paper, anyway."
...Ah, so it is just on paper after all.
"Unless you are someone on Leonardo-sama's level, you would still be looked down on as a mere commoner, and marrying a noble's daughter..."
"A bride?"
At the words that were unnaturally cut off, I looked up at Tabitha, urging her to continue. Meeting my gaze with an awkward expression, Tabitha lowered herself to meet my eyes.
"Please do not let Leonardo-sama hear about the story that a Silver White Knight can propose to a noble, Tina-sama."
"...Why?"
I could vaguely guess from the flow of the conversation, but I asked anyway. If there was a landmine I should not step on, I wanted accurate information to avoid accidentally wandering near a minefield. Receiving my question, Bart and Tabitha exchanged glances. After what seemed like a silent conversation between them, this time Bart lowered himself to meet my eyes.
"Leonardo-sama was such an excellent knight that he was allowed to join the Silver White Knights, and he worked in the royal capital for several years. At that time, it seems he caught the eye of a certain noble's daughter, and there were rumors that a marriage engagement was being discussed..."
"...Got it. I will not tell Leonyaldo."
A marriage engagement came up in the royal capital, and now he was stationed at a fortress near the border, far from the capital. That was what it meant. The engagement had fallen through.
...That was definitely a topic best left untouched.
The first place I was guided to in the residence was a guest room. It was incredibly spacious. Bigger than Aurelia's house. And yet they said this was just a guest room.
...If the guest room is like this, how big are the master's rooms?
For me, who had memories of living in a small house in this life and a Japanese home that was called a rabbit hutch in my past life, the size of the room I was led to as a guest room made me uneasy. The scale was too different.
...The bed is huge!
And it had a canopy, which I was seeing for the first time in real life. When Tabitha beckoned me over to the closet, it was already stuffed with several outfits.
"I hurriedly gathered these so you would have something to wear right away, so please make do with secondhand clothes for a while. I will have new ones made for you soon."
As she said this, Tabitha held the clothes up against my shoulders. Whether for alterations or new clothes, she needed to know my measurements.
"Leonardo-sama only mentioned your height and age... I will need to take the skirt up a bit, or it will drag."
Folding the hem and marking it, Tabitha returned the clothes to the closet. Fixing the clothes was important, but she still had other work to do.
"Meals will be prepared three times a day, morning, noon, and evening, in the dining hall, so please come down when it is time. The bath is on the first floor, but we can also prepare one for the guest room."
Just tell me when you want to bathe and I will prepare it, Tabitha said with a smile.
"Leonyaldo said the city has a bathhouse."
"A public bath? If you are interested, I can show you around sometime."
With that, she closed the guest room door, and I realized I was left alone in the spacious guest room.
"Ah, um! What should I do!?"
I hurriedly opened the door and caught Tabitha, who was still just outside. Leonardo had told me to spend my time at the Fortress Lord's Residence. Tabitha had told me about meal times and bath preparations. But that was it. I did not know what to do to pass the time, and the overly large guest room had left me dumbfounded.
"Tina-sama is still a guest, and once your room is ready you will be the young lady, so I think you should just spend your time as you like."
"Spend it as I like..."
...No, being suddenly handed free time and dumped in such a huge space is actually quite troubling.
At Aurelia's house, there was plenty to do, grinding small stones into powder with a mortar, cooking meals, and so on. Even when I lived with my parents, I helped around the house, so it was not like all my time was free time. But at Leonardo's residence, Tabitha seemed to handle meal preparation, and unlike Aurelia's house, there was nothing to help with. If there was nothing to do, there was nothing I could do.
...Leonyaldo! Taking in a child is not enough! You definitely think just giving me food and a bed is fine, do not you!!
With no way to deal with the sudden enemy called "free time," I decided to kill the time until dinner by exploring the residence.
...Because when I offered to help with dinner, I was turned down.
Tabitha had gently declined, saying it would be a problem if her work was taken away. If taking care of me was part of Tabitha's job, then I really could not take that work from her.
...So the east sunroom connects to the dining hall.
When I peeked into the east sunroom, there was a long table and twelve chairs. It was probably used when guests came. Passing through the entrance hall, there was a large living room with a big fireplace.
...The bath is big.
The first bath I had seen in this life was the Goemon bath at Aurelia's house, so maybe any bath would look big to me. But it was probably big enough for Leonardo to stretch his legs both lengthwise and widthwise. For a personal residence bath, it would have been on the large side even in my past life.
...Found the kitchen.
I could see Tabitha's back as she dropped cut vegetables into a small pot. I had read in a book or something that medieval mansions disliked cooking smells drifting through the rooms and built their kitchens underground to trap the odors, but it seemed different here. The kitchen was on the first floor, near the dining hall.
When I peeked into the west sunroom, it was a study with stairs leading to the second floor. The first floor was a sunroom where you could read books in a well-lit place, while the second floor had small windows to prevent the books from being damaged by sunlight.
When I went up to the second floor, there was Leonardo's private room, the only room I was forbidden to enter. It was not that I was absolutely not allowed to go in, but rather that since the master was not home today, I should not enter without permission. The second floor also had the guest rooms where I would be staying for a while. There were five guest rooms in the entire residence, and when I peeked into each one, I could see they had a certain hierarchy. The rank of the room I was using was probably somewhere in the middle.
...With this many guest rooms in the Fortress Lord's Residence, was it something like rooms for important people from the royal capital or elsewhere to stay?
Since the fortress where the knights were stationed was basically a military facility, it might be inconvenient for guests to stay there.
When I went up to the third floor, the door at the eastern end was open. I wondered what it was, and when I peeked inside, Bart was cleaning.
"Bart-san, cleaning. Can I help?"
"Cleaning your room is my job, young lady, so I do not need any help."
...Turned down again.
Since my offer to help was refused, I stood at the entrance so as not to be in the way and looked around the room.
...Is this not bigger than the guest room?
I had thought the guest room was too big for me to use, but the room they were preparing for me was even larger. It had big windows and a balcony. With mint green wallpaper and the wooden parts of the furniture in a chocolate-like shade, the whole room looked like chocolate mint.
...I do like the color scheme, though. Chocolate mint.
I wondered what the other rooms were like, so I peeked into them one by one. Apparently, the largest room on the third floor was going to be my room.
...There is a fourth floor too?
I found stairs at the end of the hallway and peeked up. It was somehow dim and eerie. But that, in turn, stirred my curiosity.
...Exploring, exploring.
Unlike the stairs up to the third floor, there was no real decoration. When I nervously went up the stairs, the somewhat low ceiling slanted at an angle following the roof's slope. At the top of the stairs was immediately a hallway, and unlike the floors below, there was no carpet laid down. There were six doors in the hallway, and when I peeked inside, the rooms were packed with wooden boxes and various other things.
...An attic room!
The unadorned, simple wallpaper, the low ceiling, the comfortably small room, I felt relieved. The floor was wooden, and the built-in bed was narrow too. The window was set into the slanted ceiling rather than a wall, making it feel like a little secret base.
...I like the attic room better than the guest room or the third-floor room.
Maybe it was because I was currently a little girl, but this felt like childlike innocence. I had completely fallen for the attic room with its secret base-like atmosphere.
...Should I try asking for it? "I want this room," I could say to Leonyaldo.
Though, come to think of it, in medieval times the attic room was supposed to be the servants' quarters. I would have to check, but Leonardo might not allow it if I said I wanted to use this as my room.
...Huh? There is a small house in the backyard.
It was getting hard to see outside as dusk settled in, but I could vaguely make out a white building in the backyard. It was too dark outside, so I would have to wait until tomorrow to check what building it was.