Chapter Text
I'm Lorentz.
Through the introduction of my father-in-law, Lord Edwin, I am a civil servant at Alexandria Castle.
I originally came from a lower-ranking noble family serving a rural lord, so it was almost a miracle that I was able to marry Lord Edwin's daughter, Emilie, who is a middle-ranking noble.
As a result, I cannot look Lord Edwin in the eye.
One day, as I was doing my usual chores in the castle's civil servant office, I was greeted by Lord Justus, a civil servant to Lord Ferdinand, the Aub's fiance.
Justus is a very strange person who will just wander in, then watch everyone work, have a few words with them, and then leave.
As an aide from Ehrenfest, he may be monitoring the work of those from Ahrensbach.
However, Lord Justus was different today.
As soon as I entered my office, I was ordered, "Lorentz, the Aub is calling for you. Come to the office immediately."
I'm Lorentz...
Edwin glared at me with eyes that said, "What on earth have you done!?"
I shook my head frantically and claimed I had no idea what he was doing, but I couldn't refuse his summons.
I stood up and answered Justus in a trembling voice.
"I'm Lorentz. I'm here to answer the summons"
What did I do wrong?
It's impossible for a low-ranking civil servant like me to be called by name by the Aub...
I followed Justus into the Aub's office and knelt down to finish my greeting.
As I lowered my eyes and waited, the Aub called out to me directly.
"Well, you're Lorentz, right? I'm sure you're the one who compiled the research on parchment prices in the reference room."
You mean the parchment documents?! It's not really something I could call research.
I came from a financially disadvantaged background, so in order to buy parchment as cheaply as possible, I compared the wholesale price when I was with the Count, the price in the downtown area, the price in the noble district, and the purchase price at the castle, and recorded them on wooden tablets each year.
I remember that when Lady Rozemyne became Lord, she instructed me to use as much Ehrenfest paper as I wanted for the documents I placed in the archives, so I copied the wooden tablets onto Ehrenfest paper to reuse them and stored them in the archives.
I wonder if I'll be scolded for using too much Ehrenfest paper...
Even the wooden tablets are funded from a limited budget.
I regret my thoughtlessness in jumping at the expensive Ehrenfest paper.
Seeing me in my dejected state, the Aub made a surprising statement.
"Ferdinand, may I have this person? I would like him to compare the price of vegetable paper with that document and make a graph. It should be useful for setting the price of vegetable paper."
I was humbled and looked directly at the Aub with my eyes wide open.
The girl, who had her hair down and was clearly not yet of age, was looking at Ferdinand, who was sitting next to her, with shining eyes.
Is it true that the Aub liked my document and is planning to take it?!
"No, wait. The document I just looked through could be used as evidence of slush funds. Was it made for that purpose? You have a good point of view. I will use you as an aide."
Ferdinand also made a shocking statement.
I have not given the slightest thought to slush funds.
Now that you mention it, the price at the castle is higher than others, and it is clear that someone in the castle is in collusion with the Parchment Association.
They will find out soon.
However, becoming Ferdinand's aide would be too much of a big role.
In a desperate situation, I turned to Justus for help, and he looked at us both with an amused look.
"No, I want this man as my subordinate. It's rare to find mid-ranking nobles who have the ability to gather information in the downtown area. Surely espionage is the job that best suits this man?"
Espionage from me?!
It's true that I have no aversion to commoners.
That's because I come from the countryside, where commoners and nobles lived close to each other.
Since moving to the noble district, I've been correcting my behaviour under Edwin's guidance.
"Justus, that's unfair! If it's for the downtown area, give it to me."
"Justus, if you can gather intelligence, I'd rather take the reins myself."
"It is not the job of a lord's family to directly control your hands and feet. I would prefer that you leave this to your subordinates."
While the three were arguing, the civil servants and guards in the office were doing their jobs without any involvement.
...Aren't the guards doing their civil servant work?
I don't understand.
After a while, the guard knight standing behind Ferdinand slowly spoke and said.
"Why don't we let him do everything?"
I was so surprised that I cleared my throat.
"Well, I guess there's no other way. Roderick, please bring him a sample graph."
"That's better than leaving it to Justus. I'll allow you to have a desk in the Aub's office."
"Is it okay if I take you with me when I go out? I need to start educating you right away."
I can almost hear the sound of my peace being shattered...
And so I became a civil servant attached to the Aub's office.