Chapter 165: Information Leak (2/2)

In my past life, all sorts of ways to improve the sugar scrub were thought of. That included fussing over the sugar or oil sold in stores or adding fragrance to it. Compared to that, what I made yesterday was really just something I slapped together using sugar and oil. In other words, a crude product.

While I may be able to pass it off if it were just for personal use, it’s not really something that I could demand money from others for.

“As such, I believe it would be more appropriate to have them make up for their mistake by working for it.” [Ryouma]

“Hmm. Exactly what do you have in mind?” [Reinhart]

“Test subjects for my medicine. That is to say, I wish to use them to help me perform my experiments.” [Ryouma]

A look of despair had appeared on the faces of the five girls, but when Reinhart-san turned his back on them, their expression loosened a little.

“Can you be more specific?” [Reinhart]

“…As I’ve mentioned earlier, the current version of the sugar scrub isn’t good enough to be sold at stores. As such, I wish to use their bodies to test the effects of my prototypes and improve the sugar scrub into a product worthy of being sold. I plan on relying on their input to improve the product. I don’t need their whole body, just the arms, the legs, and the face will do. As for how long I’ll be needing them… Well, until the end of my stay should be enough.” [Ryouma]

“If you wish for them to make amends with their own effort, then we’ll do just that. But I hope you don’t mind if we also have them go through some slightly stricter lessons at the same time in order to teach them fully what it means to be a servant.” [Reinhart]

“I’ll leave that to your discretion.” [Ryouma]

“Very well then. I will grant everything you demanded. Arone, you heard the boy. Take the girls away and make sure they understand everything by the time breakfast is done.” [Reinhart]

“Understood. Ryouma-sama. Thank you for handing out a lenient punishment.” [Arone]

And so, the maids left the room…

“…It seems I’ve pushed something troublesome onto you.” [Reinhart]

Reinhart-san said weakly. It was a stark contrast from his earlier tone when the maids were still present in the room.

“I’d like to say it was no trouble at all, but… This time actually was a little troublesome.” [Ryouma]

“Sorry. But given my position, I simply can’t afford to be soft.” [Reinhart]

“Perhaps, but I’m really not good at acting.” [Ryouma]

In fact, I don’t think that was good enough to be called an ‘act’. More like a farce.

Now that it’s been done and said, I sure hope none of the things I said were strange or anything.

“Ha ha ha, you don’t have to be that humble.” [Serge]

“Those girls really were at fault, and if not for what you said, who knows what could have happened to them? Considering that, just being given the chance to make things right is plenty.” [Pioro]

Serge-san and Pioro-san said that, but I wonder what the worst-case scenario is.

I’m not that particular about the employment of servants, so I asked them about that too.

As it turns out, although they were all called maids, they were actually divided into different roles.

•Maids in charge of cleaning and managing the residence, House Maids.

•Maids in charge of waiting on the guests and interacting with them, Parlor Maids.

•Maids in charge of the miscellaneous work at the kitchen, Kitchen Maids.

•Maids that are in charge purely over the laundry, Laundry Maids.

They even varied from house to house.

•Maids that specialize in tea and sweets, Still Room Maids.

•Maids in charge of doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen, Scullery Maids.

•Maids in charge of bedrooms, Chamber Maids.

They actually even had subcategories.

The servants generally work with the idea that the newer one is at the job, the further away one should work from the master.

“Servants are still people, after all. They too can make mistakes and cause incidents… That’s why only those who have been serving our family for generations can work beside us and our guests. That or someone who has worked with us for a long time. Only then will a servant have accumulated enough experience and trust. Of the maids you know, Arone and Rurunez are the ones who fit the bill.” [Reinhart]

Contrast to them, the girls earlier were just ‘Laundry Maids’, whose sole duty was the laundry.

Moreover, because they were dressed as servants, they really looked just like your everyday commoner.

Servants like those, which are basically at the bottom of the maid hierarchy, are apparently hired from the merchant guild.

“Normally, they would have been fired immediately, but by breaking their side of the contract and being fired from working at the duke’s residence, it’s likely that they will never again be hired as servants anywhere. The guild also has to report the circumstances surrounding their people, so it’s bound to have an effect on their future work. And depending on the situation, leaking information is a mistake that could be charged with other crimes.” [Elize]

The madam spoke about what their punishment would have been. From the sound of things, it seems like it really would have been the end of the world for them.

“For the meantime, we’ll have them work with the development of your products until you go home. When they’re not working with you, we’ll have them thoroughly educated on what they’ve done and what could have happened because of it. …Arone was really mad, so we’ll just leave that part to her.

If they still don’t understand after all that, then we’ll have to cancel their contract. If they do appear to turn over a new leaf, then we’ll keep their contract until it expires. So long as they’re able to complete their contract, this incident shouldn’t have any effect on their life. As for renewing their contract, that will depend on their work.” [Reinhart]

It’s a relief to know that the lives of such young children weren’t ruined with one mistake.

“What are you talking like an old man for?” [Pioro]

“Young children? But aren’t they all older than you?” [Elize]

“Ah, now that you mention it!　Ha ha ha… By the way, you all tried the bath bomb and sugar scrubs last night, right? Can you tell me what you thought of them?” [Ryouma]

“Ohh! Right. That bath bomb stuff was really good!　I could feel my body being warmed more thoroughly compared to normal bath water. As for the sugar scrub, while I won’t go as far as to say that it’s a poor product, I will say that I also think it needs more work.” [Serge]

“Let’s talk about it over meal.” [Reinhart]

Today’s morning was more exhausting than usual.

After Reinhart-san called out, breakfast finally started to be prepared…