Wendelin pov
??? "ser baumeister, choose me as your retainer"
??? "ser baumeister, I am the third son of a knight household, choose me"
??? "ser baumeister, allow me to show you my skills with the spear"
As I arrived outside the brandt mansion's gate by teleportation, after informing duke breithild about my engagement. I am met with a large crowd of people, who try to get me to pay attention towards them as soon as I arrive. I took a momentary glance at them and my eyes fell upon a medium height, young man with green hair, and grey eyes.
I recognized him the moment I spotted him, he was rodrik, wendelins cheif retainer from canon. He is an exceptional individual, who oversaw the development of the savage lands, due to his background being that of a merchant family, he is very capable when it comes to business and finance affairs.
The people infront of the gate, seeing that my attention was directed towards them, tried to introduce themselves, but I didn't pay them any heed, I just teleported next to rodrik and then teleported once again, but this time inside the mansion.
Rodrik "umm..., what happened?"
Wendelin "I teleported you inside the mansion, I want to hire you as my retainer"
I try to explain to him the reason I teleported him here.
Rodrik "truly, I would be most honored lord! "
Ah I remember, he also has a very eccentric personality.
Wendelin "what's your name by the way, also tell me about your family background"
I of course already knew who he was, but it doesn't hurt to confirm things. He then told me about his background, his mother came from a merchant family, while his father was baron ruckner, the younger brother of finance minister ruckner. He wasn't recognized by his father, who is now dead. Well that's different, he was alive in canon, and created trouble for wendelin, that's one obstacle out of my way, it seems rodrik still hates his father's side of the family though for neglecting him and his mother.
It took a few minutes for rodrik to explain all of this, by the time he finished, we had arrived at the room in which the girls and erich were in. I was able to use detection magic to know their position. I then walked in and behind me was rodrik.
Erich "hey wend, I heard you went to the church and it seems you came back with company"
Wendelin " yeah a messanger from the church came"
I then explained everything that happened to erich and the girls.
Luise "wait you got engaged!"
Ina "duke breithild gave his consent as well"
Lia "well wend is a rising noble, so having many wives should be fine"
Erich "I see, so you chose him to be your retainer, but why did you hire him? "
While the girls were trying to cope with the news of my engagement, erich asked me a question. I can also see that rodrik, who was standing behind me to the side was also interested in hearing why I hired him.
Wendelin "duke breithild is going to have me and the girls move into a different mansion, I am going to need someone who would be able to manage the property"
Erich "so you hired him as your house keeper"
Wendelin "well, I haven't hired him yet, but I plan to"
Lia "wait, we are going to move into a different mansion"
Wendelin "yes, also if you need anything from your homes just tell me, I can teleport back to breitburg along with you and we can retrieve anything at anytime"
Ina "we don't really need anything, since duke breithild had our belongings brought from our homes"
Wendelin "I see that's good, you can go and pack, we are going to start moving into the new mansion by tomorrow"
Wendelin "rodrik you will be responsible for overseeing the affairs of my household from now on"
Rodrik "I shall serve you with the best of my ability, lord baumeister"
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George "all your belongings have been moved into their rooms. The staff has also been hired as well"
It was the afternoon of the next day. Me and the girls had spent the morning moving into the new mansion. We had the help of duke breithild's retainer george who was in charge if the duke's property here in breitburg.
This mansion was different to the brandt mansion, it is much closer to the royal palace and is atleast 4 times larger. This district of the capital was for nobles of count and viscount status, the hoenheim as well as the armstrong household's mansions were situated here.
George "it seems, you have brought another person with you"
George says while eyeing rodrik, yes he is to be the housekeeper and is my retainer. I had already discussed his employment contract along with his payment and informed duke breithild as well, he seemed surprised at the news but approved nonetheless, but it seems that duke breithild had not informed george .
Wendelin " duke breithild has already been informed"
I say to reassure him, and it seems my words were able to calm him down judging from his next words.
George "hmm, in that case I will leave the management of this mansion to him"
His disappointed look told me, that he had already chosen a person for that position.
Climt "baron baumeister, it seems the rumors about you moving into the neighborhood, had truth to them"
Wendelin "yeah master left me this mansion, after his death"
Climt "that's right, this was alfred's former mansion wasn't it?"
Climt said with a tone of melancholy in his voice.
Wendelin "hey climt, is there any perticular reason behind your visit"
George "ah yes, the royal head magician will handle your training, during your stay here in the capital. Lady luise and lia are to accompany you in your training, while lady ariel and ina will go train in the headquarters of the knights of the chivalric order"
Climt "this has been decided by his majesty and duke breithild has also approved, this is also a great opportunity for you all to improve yourselves"
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Climt "alright all of you step forward one by one"
Me, luise and lia were then dragged by an excited climt to the court magicians training ground, while ina and ariel were guided by george to the headquarters of the chivalric order to begin their training.
This isn't such an unexpected development, since the same happened in canon.
Right now I am standing in front of the apprentice court magicians, climt asked me to perform capacity matching on them. Capacity matching will definitely put strain on their bodies, they would need a few days for rest and recovering. Climt had an easier time since he has strong physical body which aided him in recovering quickly. The reason why climt couldn't do this himself was that he wasn't good in magics which required precision like capacity matching, instead he was more of a combat type.
After performing capacity matching all the apprentice court magicians had gained mana of about intermediate to advanced rank, despite this, all of them had a sour face. It seems all of them had become quite exhausted.
Climt "what are you making those faces for, with this you can progress more quickly, become better mages for the kingdom"
Climt said while eyeing the apprentice magicians.
Lia "are they going to be alright?"
Lia asked worried about the state, they were in. Hearing this climt replies with a reassuring voice.
Climt "don't worry, they should be fine after some rest, but you also have to perform the capacity matching"
After that lia and luise both reluctantly performed capacity matching with me and their mana was raised to advanced level only a little less than berkhart, sensing this climt showed an astonished expression. Even among the apprentice magicians there was only one who had advanced rank mana the rest had around intermediate level.
Climt "hah, it seems both you have a great deal of potential, I will be personally overseeing your training during your stay in the capital"
Both luise and lia had tired expressions as climt said this, but their condition was better then the apprentice magician, probably due to having trained their bodies in the magic combat style since birth.
Wendelin "should I teleport them to the mansion to rest"
Climt "yes, after that, the two of us can start our training"
I teleported along with lia and luise to the mansion so they could recover and carried them to their rooms, one at a time since they were having troble walking.
After returning I found that the apprentices had left as well, someone probably came and removed them, since walking on their own would be difficult for them in their current condition.
Climt "finally your here now we can get started, ready yourself"
Training with climt was a lot different from training with master. We mainly focused on closed ranged combat training to build up my combat senses. We only stopped after five hours of training, I had learned a lot from this type training. Climt was extremely capable when it came to the fighting aspect of magic, and I was able to train my own combat abilities against him.
After finishing my training I returned to the mansion, checking up on lia and luise who were sleeping, I decided to explore the mansion.
Climt had dragged me to the training grounds before, so I didn't get the chance to properly explore the entirety of the mansion. It had a study, a large kitchen, a lounge, two dining rooms, a large one for holding guests and a smaller one for just the family, a lounge, a library, a master bedroom, and 16 regular rooms. There is also a bar as well as a underground celler, the mansion even has a beautiful garden and even a shaded area for tea. A servent quarter has also been built seprate from the main mansion.
The maids had done a good job of cleaning up this place as well, as I was thinking rodrik came from behind.
Rodrik "lord, the ladies are waiting for your arrival at the dining room"
It seems, its already time for the lunch and ina and ariel have returned as well. An hour had already passed since I started exploring the mansion. I then go to join
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Berkhart "I see so you moved into the master's mansion"
It was the evening of the same day, I am seated in the lounge along with the girls and Berkhart, who had asked me to pick him up from breitburg.
Wendelin "yeah, but shouldn't you be helping out with the monster extermination of the regen plains"
Berkhart " after the last week, only the weaker monsters are left, plus duke breithild is finally sending in the feudal troops, since the healers from the capital have finally arrived, so there really isn't a need for me anymore"
Wendelin "even if thats the case, shouldn't your pressance there still help speed up the extermination of the monsters"
Berkhart "well um...."
Wendelin "don't tell me the duke, sent you to keep an eye on me! , is this due to the engagement? "
Berkhart "hah, you're right the duke doesn't want the hoenheim family getting too much of an influence on you, thats why I was sent to keep an eye on you"
Berkhart speaks, while letting out a defeated sigh. He should know, I am not so easy to fool.
Luise "duke breithild is probably worried, about you getting engaged to more girls, wend"
Wendelin "luise, I don't think he's worried about something like that"
Rodrik "lord, your fiancé is here to meet you"
When I answered luise, rodrik walks in and informs me that elise is here.
Wendelin "yes, rodrik sent her in"
After getting my approval, rodrik brings in elise, who was wearing casual clothes instead of her priest attire, an elderly man most likely a hoenheim family butler is following her.
Elise "my gratitude, for allowing me to be a guest in your home, ser baumeister"
She really is the picture perfect lady isn't she, even the way she talks is classy.
Wendelin "elise we are engaged, there is no need for such formality, please call me wendelin"
Elise "thats not possible"
It seems she is quite insistent on this, but why isn't it weird to call your fiancée with such formality.
Sébastien "ser baumeister, cardinal hoenheim has sent elise so that the two of you may get to know one another"
The butler who came with elise spoke. He must be a butler of the hoenheim household.
Wendelin "how about we go on an tour of the city, I haven't had the chance to properly see it yet"
I asked, directing my question towards elise.
Elise "yes, that would be lovely"
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Wendelin "how does this look? "
Elise "it looks nice"
Me and elise went out for a tour of the city, our first stop was the clothes store. I was trying on some new clothes and getting her feedback. It was weird at first, its odd but this is my second time going clothes shopping until now, at least on my own when I was at my home with my family, I had to wear my brothers hand me downs, with duke breithild I had to just give my measurements and the clothes would be prepared for me. I did go that one time with master and erich, back when I had just arrived in breitburg but apart from that I never went shopping on my own.
After finishing clothes shopping me and elise sit back onto the carriage, one thing I had noticed was, that we were secretly being watched from the time we left the mansion.
It's probably a guard detail for us under the employ of the hoenheim household, despite that they haven't really shown themselves. It was the 'combat instinct' skill that told me that, they were present watching us from the shadows.
Both of us then head towards one of the most famous restaurants in the city.
Elise "ser baumeister, what's it like being the famous dragon slayer"
Wendelin "honestly its a lot of pressure"
Elise "really?"
Wendelin "yes everyone always have their own expectations from me, isn't it the same for, being the granddaughter of a cardinal"
Elise's face becomes contemplative as she thinks on my words. Soon we arrived at the restaurant and were led to our table. It seems they made a reservation for this place, knowing that we might come here.
After finishing the meal, I paid the bill before leaving the restaurant. As we walked out sabastian the butler, who was with us the entire time, spoke in a low voice so only I could hear.
Sébastien "ser baumeister, this is madam elise's first outing, it would be appropriate if you bought her a gift, to comemarate this occasion"
Wendelin "of course, If you know any good shops for engagement rings, could you take us there"
Sébastien "of course"
I nod in sébastiens direction and get in the carriage along with elise. It took us only a few minutes to arrive at a jewelry shop. Both of us then exit the carriage and elise looks around before speaking.
Elise "why are we here?"
Wendelin "well, I wanted to buy you a present to comemarate our engagement"
Elise "there's no need for that"
Wendelin "oh, but I insist"
I grabbed her hand, which caused a blush to appear on her face. Entering the shop we were greeted by a fat middle aged merchant.
Shop keeper "oh customers, please come in"
The shop keeper welcomed us while having a smile on his face, it seems he realized from our clothes that we were from a noble family. Seeing that he had rich customers, he showed a genuine smile.
Shop keeper "what can I help you with, this fine evening?"
Wendelin "we are looking for an engagement ring"
Shop keeper "in that case, look over here, everthing in this section is between 5 to 30 gold coins"
The shop keeper said, moving towards a display case made of glass. It was filled with rings made of gold and silver, decorated with intricate designs and encrusted with jewels.
Both of us then moved towards the case. Elise than started to try on the rings. After she tried on a few, my attention shifted towards a display case on top of the shop's counter.
Wendelin "what about that ring"
Shop keeper "oh that, its a ring which has been fitted with a magic gem. It can store mana, upto an intermediate level mage's capacity"
Wendelin "can anyone use the mana stored in it?"
Shopkeeper "yes, once mana has been stored in the ring, it will start to glow an emrald colour, after that anyone should be able to harness the magic stored in the ring, as long as they know how to control magic"
Hmm, that's actually pretty cool. It should only be possible if you programmed the magic gem with a magic transfer spell, to be able to adjust the quality and tune it to the person extracting mana from the ring.
Very few magicians can manage such a feat. Berkhart is able to do mana transfer magic, but he isnt good at programming magic onto a magic gem.
Even a magician of berkhart's level would have a difficult time with creating an item like this, not to mention that magic gem must have cost a lot.
Wendelin "how much is it worth?"
Shop keeper "well, I was originally going to sell it for 5 platinum coin but it didn't sell, so I have reduced the price to 3 platinum coin"
Wendelin "Elise, why dont you try it on?"
The shopkeeper then took the ring out of the case and presented it to elise. Seeing this elise put it on, while holding the ring gently. She's probably hesitant about holding something so expensive. The ring suited her perfectly, after she had put it on her finger, I tried charging it with my mana and an emerald light started to shine from it.
Wendelin "all right, we will take it"
Elise "but ser baumeister, isn't it too expensive"
Both sebastian and elise wore surprised expressions, 3 platinum coins is a lot of money. Though I think its worth it since it will be able help elise, if she ever runs out of mana.
I then take out the 3 platinum coins from my handy magic bag and pay the shop keeper. After paying, we exited the shop and got onto the carriage once again.
Elise "ser baumeister chose this ring, so I could be useful to you"
Hearing her words I chuckle, only to get a confused look from her.
Wendelin "elise the reason I chose that ring is because, out of all of those rings this one looked the best on you"
Elise gained a blush on her face after hearing my words. The shop was the last place we planned on visiting, so both of us concluded our first date and returned to our homes.