When I asked her if she would receive a salary from me, Illness-san
surprisingly agreed without hesitation. I was dumbfounded for a while
upon her unexpected reaction, but Lilia-san, who was brought back to
her senses first, lightly beckoned me.
[…Kaito-san, this way. Please wait there for a moment, Illness-san.]
As I slightly tilted my head, walking to the corner of the room,
wondering what it is that Lilia-san wants to talk about, Lilia-san
whispered to my ears.
To summarize what she's trying to say… Lilia-san always wanted to give
Illness-san a higher salary than she was currently earning. However,
she hasn't been able to do so because Illness-san was refusing it.
But now that Illness-san has agreed to receive a salary from me… She
thought that she shouldn't miss this chance.
In other words, on top of the salary I would be giving to Illness-san,
Lilia-san would like to indirectly raise her salary.
As for me, I know that Illness-san has done an overwhelming amount of
work, and I know that Lilia-san has often tried to raise Illness-san's
salary. Thus, if it's possible, I'd like to help her.
So, after a brief discussion as to how to lead the situation in that
direction, Lilia-san and I went back to Illness-san. Thereupon, I took out
two white gold coins from my magic box and placed them on the table.
[For the time being, your official salary will be calculated later, which
you will start receiving next month… but for this month, I will give you
two white gold coins. You may think that it's a lot, but Illness-san is
doing the work of about a hundred maids…]
[Understoooooood, well theeeen, I'll gratefully accept "one of them".]
[…Eh?]
Hearing my words, Illness-san softly smiled, before picking up only one
of the two coins placed on the table.
[…Errr, Illness-san?]
[I agreeeeeed with the idea of getting a salary from Kaito-samaaaaa.
But receiving it "from My Ladyyyyy" is a different matteeeeer.]
[…Ahh, yes.]
…It was no good. She was able to easily see through that half of the
money was Lilia-san's salary for her, which she would pay me back
later. No, we certainly were discussing about this, and considering Liliasan's behavior up to now, even if she didn't hear what we were talking
about earlier, it isn't strange if Illness-san had expected something like
this.
Well, even if I had given her Lilia-san's share of salary and just
discussed it with LIlia-san later, I think Illness-san would still have
somehow seen it through…
Glancing to the side, I saw Lilia-san with her shoulders slumped… Well,
it's that… She was someone Lilia-san couldn't face against, so it might
be safer to give up soon.
I mean, I'm already rather surprised that she accepted a salary of one
white gold coin…
After settling Illness-san's salary for the time being, I was reading in my
room at night. Incidentally, Kuro isn't here tonight… No, she was here
earlier, but there was a little incident, so I asked her to solve it.
This is because Mom, whose pride as a housewife was broken to pieces
by Illness-san, is now in a state of shock… and I even heard her mutter
"Maid-san is amazing~~"… Well, to put it simply, she was on a rampage.
Mom is also rather straightforward, or rather, she's someone that's
rather gullible… and before I knew it, a certain someone had
brainwashed her with the Omnipotent Maid Theory. After I heard her
start saying "If you think about it, there's no way a housewife can
compete with a maid. Maids are beings who are the best in every skill
after all!", I asked her guardian to urgently bring the cause of the
problem home.
No, she's usually really cool and dependable, but her passion for the
idea of a maid is something I can't understand, and don't want to
understand.
Well, after such an agonizing time, I guess I've finally caught my breath?
The sound of the book being flipped in this quiet somehow feels
soothing.
It's just, well… I'm feeling a little hungry, but I think my appetite is just
enough to eat something light. Was there something I could munch on
in my magic box?
Just as I was about to close the book I was reading and bring out my
magic box, I heard an orderly knock.
[Yes, it's open.]
[Excuse me.]
[Illness-san?]
When I responded, Illness-san came into the room, pushing a cart.
[I brought some wiiiiiine and a light snaaaaack, would you like to have
sooooome?]
Her timing was truly superb, or rather, it was quite brilliant. I think this
side of her, gently preparing what I wanted when I wanted it, was one of
Illness-san's great parts.
The wine was also a nice consideration. I was a little tired after
everything that had happened today, so I wanted to have a light drink.
[Thank you very much. I was just a little hungry, so I appreciate it.]
[I'm glaaad if you pleeeeeased.]
Saying that, Illness-san smoothly uncorked the bottle, slightly checked
the aroma and handing me a wine glass, she poured a little bit inside.
[Here you gooo.]
[Thank you very much.]
Pouring a little bit at the start is called wine tasting, isn't it? I
remembered Lilia-san teaching me a little bit about this at a party once.
If I remember correctly, for red wine, I need to tilt the glass lightly to
see if there are any suds or foreign substances in my drink, and then, I
should bring the glass a little close to my nose to check if there's any
strange smell.
After that, twirling the glass once to make the aroma stand out, smell
the wine as if I'm deeply breathing it in… Unnn, it's difficult to describe
it with my lack of vocabulary, but it has a deep and profound aroma, but
it isn't that unpleasant.
Errr, after that, I should take a little bit of wine in my mouth and lightly
roll it on my tongue—— Whoa, this is tasty!? Uwaaahhh, this wine's
amazing… I've drunk a lot of wine since I came to this world, and even
Lilia-san's mansion sometimes serves it alongside dinner, but this wine
is overwhelmingly delicious.
It wasn't as good as the Shallow Grande that I drank with Alice, but if
that was to be excluded, this was the best wine I've ever had. It had
such a deep taste that even an amateur like me can understand that this
is a top-quality wine.
Wait, I couldn't just sit back and enjoy the aftertaste. If I'm not
mistaken, as long as there's no problem with the taste… I should turn to
the person who served me and lightly nod.
After confirming that I nodded, Illness-san placed lined up snacks in
front of me… foods that seemed like it would be good to eat while
drinking, she poured more wine into my glass.
[…It's a very delicious wine. How should I say this… Even though it has
a very strong acidity and taste, it smoothly goes down my throat… This
is a pretty good wine, isn't it?]
[That's riiiiight, it's a precious wine that isn't eeeeeasily found in the
markeeeeet. They're maaaaade wth a special method and preserved
with magiiiic. The wine toniiiiiiight is preserved for "three thousand
yeaaaaars".]
[Three thousand years!?]
A- Amazing… I've heard of hundred year old wines back on Earth, but
for this wine to be three thousand year old…
[…C- Could this be a very expensive wine?]
[I guess soooo, it's just about "100,000R".]
[100,000R!?]
T- That's outrageous. That means this bottle is worth one white gold
coin… That's a 10 million yen bottle right there. No, no, I'd like it if you
don't serve that kind of fine wine for just a midnight snack—— Unnn?
One white… gold coin?
[…Ummm, Illness-san?]
[Yeeeees?]
Thinking about it again, something is strange. Unlike before, we aren't
in Lilia-san's mansion, but in my house. There is no such thing as a wine
cellar here. If that's the case, where did this wine come from?
There is a possibility that she brought it from Lilia-san's mansion… but
Lilia-san isn't a very strong drinker. The wine is just something lightly
served alongside dinner, and wasn't served just for the sake of drinking.
Furthermore, I'm sure that Lilia-san would really have a good selection
of fine wines in her wine cellar as she's a Duchess… but would she
really just have a 10 million yen bottle of wine on hand? No, even if she
did, they wouldn't just take it out for a midnight snack.
That means… the second… possibility is that…
[…Where did you get this wine from?]
[I bought it personallllllly. I just so happeeeeeened to have some extra
income after allllllll.]
…I knew it. That really is the case. This means, this really is that…
something she had bought with the white gold coin I had just given her
this morning.
Eh? What should I do about this… It kinda feels like the salary I gave her
came back to me in a different form. Even if that's so though, I can't
complain at all.
The salary I paid her, of course, belongs to Illness-san… How she wants
to use her money is up to her, and I have no right to complain.
Even if she continues to use her salary in this way, I have no way to
argue. Moreover, Illness-san was only offering me food out of her
kindness, so it would be rude to refuse her.
However, hmmm… This is a development that I personally can't agree
with… Is there anything I can do here? A good way that will also benefit
Illness-san…
[…Illness-san?]
[Yeeeeees?]
[Let's have a drink together!]
[...…?]
The words I couldn't help but utter in my confused mind… When
Illness-san heard this, she looked a little taken by surprise before she
slightly nodded her head.