kscans

Chapter 40 - The Butler and the Maid Chief

The day after Diite’s visit, a little past noon, Relic came to Hayato’s room.

Hayato generally tasked Relic with shopping. Sometimes it was for chocolate parfait ingredients, other times for potion materials, but he always asked him to find the places selling them at the lowest prices and buy them.

Relic would travel the world to buy the cheapest materials, and though it took time, Hayato was very grateful. In the past, Hayato had been the one to do all this shopping.

He had asked Relic to put the purchased items in the clan storage, so there was nothing to hand over directly. Once they were stored, he would simply receive a voice chat notification.

When Relic returned, Hayato would go to the dining hall to greet him, but this time he had come directly to Hayato’s room for some reason, which was a little surprising.

"Relic-san, is something wrong?"

"Yes. I have come with a request for Hayato-sama."

Relic was so formal that Hayato feared he was about to make the worst possible request.

Relic didn’t have the strength of Esha or Ash. He likely didn’t have special skills like Ren’s Dragon Curse or Mist’s vampirism. His Stealing Skill was powerful, but his combat strength was low. However, he was by no means weak.

Relic’s Hand-to-Hand Combat skills had been a great help in the last battle. In the latter half, he had coordinated with the mercenaries, but in the end, not a single one of those numerous demons had entered their base.

Hayato believed that was due to his effective fighting style, such as using skills with precision. He compensated for his lack of attack power with technique. If such a person were to leave, the clan’s strength would drop considerably.

"Um, what kind of request is it? I’d be in trouble if you said you were quitting the clan."

"No, no, nothing of the sort. As long as Hayato-sama employs me, I would not dream of leaving."

Hayato breathed a sigh of relief, but that only made him more curious about the request.

"Then what is it you would like to ask?"

"Yes, I would like you to make a weapon for me."

"A weapon?"

According to Relic, he felt ashamed that he had not been useful as a combatant in the previous battle.

He had fulfilled his role of preventing the demons from entering at the base’s entrance, but it was Esha and the others who had defeated the baron and duke-class demons. He could hold his own against weak opponents, but he was completely useless against strong ones.

It might be fine for now, but for future battles, he wanted to strengthen himself. That was the conclusion he had reached.

Hayato wanted to deny the idea that Relic was weak, but he understood his feelings all too well.

Esha’s attacks were clearly on another level, and Ash and the others were also strong. Hayato couldn’t fight, but if he could, he thought he would probably be disheartened by the vast difference in strength.

"I am terribly sorry, but I cannot change my skill composition. I take pride in having mastered the thief-type skills. Besides, even if I changed now, I would not be ready in time for the remaining Clan Wars."

"Of course. I understand completely. There’s no need to change your skill composition."

Hayato also had his own reasons, but he had no intention of changing his production-focused skill composition.

Besides, a combat skill of 100 was the basic requirement for participating in Clan Wars. Raising a skill to 100 in a month was tough, even if there were established methods for skill leveling. It was especially difficult to level up after 90.

"I am glad you understand. Therefore, I believe the only way to increase my own strength is to reconsider my equipment."

"I see. You’re not wrong there. Opinions differ on the most important factor in determining strength, but equipment is likely the second—I understand. So, what should I make? Please, tell me anything."

Relic took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Hayato.

"This is information on gloves said to have been worn by a legendary butler. I did some research while I was out shopping."

"I wonder who this legendary butler is, but understood. Let’s see—"

On the paper Hayato looked at was written the equipment and its materials.

The name was Requiem. The materials were one Unicorn’s Horn, one Snow Dragon Hide, and one Moonlight Grass extract each. As Hayato confirmed this, the paper disappeared. He judged that he was now able to make the item.

It seems I’ll make it with my Sewing Skill. That’s not a problem, but gathering the materials will be tough. Only female characters can get a Unicorn’s Horn… I’ll have to ask Ney. I think Ash and his group have some Snow Dragon Hide. I could buy Moonlight Grass at the auction, but it’s faster to go gather it. I’ll go with Ash and the others.

"I’ve got the item and materials. I’ll have it ready by the next Clan War."

"That would be a great help. However, it does not need to be five stars, so please do not push yourself too hard."

"I can’t promise that. If I’m going to make it, I want to give you the highest quality."

From a craftsman’s perspective, anything less than five stars was unacceptable. To hand over anything else would be a defeat for Hayato. He vowed in his heart to prepare plenty of materials and make a large quantity.

"I thought you would say that, Hayato-sama, but please, do not overdo it. Even a one-star item would be an improvement in my strength."

"As long as time permits, I will aim for the highest quality. Please look forward to it."

Relic smiled slightly. Then he bowed his head.

"Understood. I shall look forward to it—well then, I shall be off to shop again."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work."

Relic bowed once more and left the room.

Hayato first contacted Ney and asked her to procure a large quantity of Unicorn’s Horns.

He could have bought them at the auction, but since he needed a lot, it would be too expensive. He had a lot of in-game currency from winning the Clan War. But he wanted to save it for a rainy day.

That wasn’t to say he was asking Ney and her friends to gather them for free. This was a trade.

Ney and her friends would gather the materials Hayato wanted, and in return, Hayato would perform weapon and armor maintenance and create necessary items for them. Since they were friends, the labor wasn't always an even exchange, but neither of them minded.

Ney energetically agreed, saying, "We’ll gather them right away!"

Next, Hayato contacted Ash to see if he had any Snow Dragon Hide.

Ash and his group made a living by hunting dragons. They generally sold the items they obtained from these hunts at auctions to earn money. However, Hayato had heard that they didn’t sell everything and kept some for themselves.

Ash immediately replied that he would bring some over and that he could hunt more if needed. They also made plans to go gather Moonlight Grass together.

Just when he thought the materials would be gathered soon, Relic returned for some reason.

"Relic-san? Is something wrong?"

"The Maid Chief of the Maid Guild has arrived. I ran into her at the entrance to the base, and she is waiting in the dining hall."

"Is that so. I’ll head over right away."

"Thank you. Well then, I shall be off to shop again."

With that, Relic left Hayato’s room.

And Hayato headed for the dining hall.

On the way, Hayato wondered why the Maid Chief had come.

Their opponent hadn’t been decided yet. There was no one to investigate, so he couldn’t understand why she would come here. Perhaps she had come to instruct Esha, but he questioned whether the head of the Maid Guild would come for something like that.

I’ll find out when I see her. With that thought, he hurried to the dining hall.

The Maid Chief was sitting in a chair in the dining hall. A glass of orange juice was on the table in front of her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Hayato called out to her, but for some reason, the Maid Chief seemed to be a million miles away. She was staring at the orange juice, not moving a muscle. He was certain she hadn’t noticed him.

"Um? Is something wrong?"

The Maid Chief, who had been so still he wondered if Esha had done something to her, slowly turned her head to look at Hayato. In the next instant, she appeared right in front of him.

Hayato didn’t know it, but this was Shukuchi, a Hand-to-Hand Combat skill that instantly closed the distance between two people.

"Hayato-sama! There is something I must ask you!"

"Um, you’re too close. And please let go of my collar. My HP is going down. Why do maids always cause damage like that?"

Hayato had had a similar experience with Esha in the past. He seriously wondered if this was some kind of maid technique.

The Maid Chief came to her senses with a start and stepped back. She straightened her clothes and let out a deliberate cough.

"My apologies. It seems I forgot myself. Please forget what just happened."

That’s impossible. Hayato thought, but nodded anyway. He drank a low-quality potion to recover his HP.

"So, what business brings you here today? Our opponent for the Clan War hasn’t been decided yet, so I don’t think there’s anything for you to investigate yet."

"No, I have come to apologize. The information for the last battle was far too scarce, and I believe it was almost meaningless. I am deeply sorry."

"Not at all. We knew they were planning something dangerous, so just knowing that allowed us to prepare ourselves mentally. If we had known nothing, I think we would have panicked more when the giant demon appeared."

At Hayato’s words, the Maid Chief’s face showed surprise, then she smiled slightly and bowed her head.

"As expected of the savior-sama. To forgive our mistake…"

"Could you stop with the savior-sama? I can’t forgive that."

"I have brought further information that I have investigated today. You may think it is too late, but I thought it would be necessary for Hayato-sama."

She ignored the part about the savior. But what information?

The information the Maid Chief brought was about the method for summoning the duke-class demon and the reason the summoners had become invisible. She had heard the details of the Clan War from Esha and had investigated it for him.

First, regarding the summoning.

To summon a baron-class demon, the lives of two summoners were required, and to summon a duke-class demon, the lives of five summoners were needed. Furthermore, a large amount of a plant called light-sucking grass was necessary.

Since the summoners who performed the summoning would be defeated, the duke-class demon would not obey any commands, but it allowed them to use a large-scale battle boss in a Clan War. The Maid Chief explained that they probably thought they could win as long as they summoned it.

So that’s why seven of the enemy clan’s summoners were defeated without us noticing. So disappearing was to prevent us from knowing they were defeated by the summoning—no, we could check that with the Clan War information. It’s more likely they didn’t want us to know the summoning method. And the three that remained were to defend the Clan Stone. And if they all died from summoning, they would lose the Clan War.

Hayato thought this and stated his opinion, but the Maid Chief added more.

Summoning a titled demon required a significant amount of time, unlike a normal summoning, and they likely didn’t want anyone to know they were in the process of summoning.

Furthermore, even if one knew they could summon a duke-class demon, it was unclear if it could be countered, so it was likely a measure against being featured in a video. If they were featured in a video, their strategy was likely to be exposed. This was likely a measure to avoid that.

This was the Maid Chief’s opinion, so it was unclear if it was true, but Hayato nodded, thinking that it was certainly possible.

"And I have also investigated this. Please accept it."

The Maid Chief handed Hayato a piece of paper. It was the manufacturing method for an item called Invisible.

"It is an item that makes one disappear. It is an item that can be made with the Alchemy Skill, a so-called magic powder. If you sprinkle it on your body, you will disappear, and as long as you do not move from that spot, you will remain invisible. However, it seems that you can still use summoning magic in that state, so actions on the spot are possible while remaining invisible."

This is another item that will cause quite a stir, Hayato thought, and re-examined the item’s materials. When he opened the alchemy menu, it listed that a large amount of Scattering Grass was required.

So that’s why they wanted Scattering Grass… More importantly, the problem is that that clan knew this manufacturing method. In other words, some NPC must have taught them. Maybe an NPC also taught them about that summoning…?

He had confirmed during the Clan War information check that there were no NPCs in the Demon Summoning Research Association. This meant that they had become friendly with some NPC without letting them join the clan and obtained the information. Perhaps it could be obtained from some quest.

As Hayato’s thoughts raced, the Maid Chief leaned over the table.

"Um… is something wrong?"

"That is all the information from my side, but do you have any questions?"

"Eh? No, not at the moment—"

He wanted to know how she had obtained this information, but he felt he might hear something scary, so he decided to let it go for now. The content was important, not the method.

"Then may I ask you a question? If you say no, this table may break."

"You’re just like Esha with those threats—um, please don’t be so shocked. If you have a question, please ask."

When Hayato said that, the Maid Chief, for some reason, blushed and began to trace the character ‘no’ on the tabletop. Her finger was so strong that the table was taking damage.

Furniture had HP, and when it reached zero, it would be destroyed. Please spare me, Hayato thought.

"It is about the gentlemanly man who guided me here earlier… should I say the wonderful gentleman with the scar on his face?"

There was no doubt she was talking about Relic. And the character ‘no’ she drew on the table. He didn’t want to, but he understood in an instant.

"Are you talking about Relic-san?"

"Kyun—his name is Relic-san. What a wonderful name…"

She said ‘kyun’ out loud…

Hayato wondered if NPCs could fall in love, but then he remembered that there were NPC families. In fact, Ash and Ren were siblings. Perhaps there was a marriage system between NPCs as well, he corrected his thinking.

"Hayato-sama. I have a proposal. How about this? I will give you Esha, so please give me Relic-sama. As an equivalent exchange."

"Please don’t say such naturally evil things. Just ask him out normally. Besides, are you sure? Relic belongs to the Butler Guild."

It was said that there was no feud between the Maid Guild and the Butler Guild, but he had heard that they were competing for supremacy. And the woman in front of him was the head of the maids. It had the potential to become a classic tragedy or comedy.

"…Fate is a cruel thing…"

"I don’t think it’s that big of a deal."

"However, I am a maid before I am a woman. I shall keep these feelings locked deep within my heart—may I come to see him every day? I will only look."

"The depths of your heart are too shallow. Please lock it away deeper and seal it. Well, once a month should be fine. I’ll make sure Relic is here when you visit."

The Maid Chief left the base, looking so happy she seemed to be skipping.

It’s fine if she comes every day, but when the Maid Chief is here, Esha starts acting strange.

As Hayato sat in a chair in the dining hall drinking coffee, Esha peeked out from the door leading to the shop. She scanned the dining hall and then approached him.

"Has the Maid Chief left?"

"She just left. Did you need her for something?"

"No, even if I did, I would not want to see her."

"You should see her if you have business with her. So, did you need me?"

"Not really. I felt the Maid Chief’s presence, but she left without scolding me, so I wondered what happened. Did you perhaps appeal to her that I am a capable maid?"

"I do think you’re capable, but only in combat. Well, the Maid Chief seems to be busy with various things. Now then, I’m heading back to my room. I need to make some things to sell in the shop."

"Is that so. Then I shall return to the shop as well. Also, please have a snack ready for me at three o’clock."

"Yes, yes."

After confirming that Esha had returned to the shop, Hayato also returned to his room.

From that day on, it seemed Esha was summoned by the Maid Chief every day to report on the clan members.