I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace (WN)

Chapter 2566 - Housemate ④

Vanessa-san and I had already been having our home-drinking…… room-drinking? Well, since this is my house, calling it “home-drinking” isn’t exactly wrong. Anyhow, we had already been drinking for a while, and now there were about four empty beer bottles lined up beside her. She drinks fast…… at this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if she started chugging straight from the bottle before long.

That said, I’ve had drinks with Vanessa-san a few times before, but I still haven’t seen her get drunk at all…… for her, this amount isn’t even a warm-up. At this stage, she’s still in the “I wanna get drunk already~~” phase, and after a bit more, she’ll go “I guess I’m a little tipsy now~”…… and then she’ll stay like that all the way to the end.

[Now that I think about it, Vanessa-san, you’re pretty strong when it comes to alcohol, aren’t you? It’s not like you’re nullifying it with a Blessing like me or sobering up with magic, right?]

[Unn. Well, I guess it’s just my constitution. I’ve got about a quarter dwarven blood in me…… though it’s not like I can’t use magic to get rid of the effects of alcohol. If I drink too much the day before work, I’ll use magic to deal with it and get rid of the smell too. I can’t exactly show up to work reeking of alcohol.]

As usual, her tone sounded a bit low-energy, but there was a slight liveliness to her voice, she was clearly in a good mood. Right now, Vanessa-san gave off such a strong “middle-aged guy drinking in a tatami living room” vibe that it felt out of place in this Western-style room. But when she’s working, she’s perfectly sharp and composed, giving off the aura of a capable woman with no openings…… well, this is what she’s like in private.

[By the way, Vanessa-san, you weren’t originally from the knight order like the others, you’ve been a maid since your time in the royal castle, right?]

[Unn. When Lilia-chan received her title and started her household, she got permission from His Majesty and put out a call for volunteers…… you know, for maids and servants and the like. I volunteered and came over. Technically it’s a bit different, but in terms of how I’m treated, it’s pretty much the same as Illness-sensei.]

Apparently, in Illness-san’s case, Lilia-san personally asked her to come along, but outwardly, it’s presented as her having volunteered and been hired as a maid by a newly established Duchy.

[Do a lot of people usually volunteer for something like that?]

[Hmm, Lilia-chan’s case was pretty special. New noble houses do recruit servants and maids, but those are usually filled through introductions or organizations like the World Maid Association. It’s pretty rare for recruitment to happen at the royal castle itself. Lilia-chan is royalty, after all, and His Majesty was probably worried about her starting a new household, so he opened it up to volunteers.]

[Ahh, that does sound like something Ryze-san would do.]

If I had to guess, the timing was probably around when there was all that paranoia due to the knight order’s information tampering. From Ryze-san’s perspective, he likely wanted to select trustworthy personnel from within the royal castle, people whose backgrounds could be easily verified, to serve at Lilia-san’s residence.

Still, taking care of everything personally would come with its own complications due to his position, so considering all that, he probably settled on a volunteer-based system.

[Were there a lot of applicants?]

[Nope, hardly any. Even if it’s for a Duchy, it’s still newly established, and in terms of salary and stability, working at the royal castle is better. Well, since it’s new and short on staff, there’s a chance to be highly valued if you prove yourself capable, but in reality, the only ones who applied were a small group who were already quite close to Lilia-chan. That’s also why quite a few people switched from being knights to becoming servants or maids.]

I’ve heard that many of the servants in Lilia-san’s household are former members of the knight order. Apparently, Illness-san personally trained a considerable number of them, including the maids, so you could say that nearly all the servants and maids in the mansion are her students. That’s precisely why there are so many voices supporting her as the Head Maid, and Lilia-san herself would like that too.

The only issue is that Illness-san has absolutely no intention of taking the position.

[……I see. So, Vanessa-san, you were close with Lilia-san back when she was still a princess, and that’s why you volunteered?]

[Nope, not at all. We had some level of interaction because of our positions, but we hardly ever talked~~]

[Ehhhh…… T- Then why did you volunteer?]

[I thought I’d have it easier here, you know~~ Even if things were hectic since it’s a new household, Illness-sensei would be there, so I figured the work might be fairly relaxed…… plus, if Illness-sensei left, I had a feeling I’d get reassigned under Bea-senpai……]

[Bea-senpai?]

[Beatrice-senpai. She’s a good person, but she’s the strict type, both with herself and with others.]

[Ahh, I see.]

Yeah, considering Vanessa-san often says that work is a pain, her work style probably doesn’t mesh well with Beatrice-san, who’s practically called the ultimate super maid at heart.

Still, she calls her “Bea-senpai”, and refers to Illness-san in a similar way, so it doesn’t seem like they’re on bad terms.

[It was a miscalculation, though~~ Seriously. I never expected that most of the maids would be inexperienced….. well, more like they were just freshly trained under Illness-sensei, and that in terms of both experience and ability, I’d end up second only to her…… and then get placed in the Head Maid position that she turned down……]

[But you’re doing a solid job as Head Maid, aren’t you?]

[Well, you see, I might consider myself a bit of a scumbag, but I’m the kind who doesn’t cause trouble for others. Well, maybe except when I get drunk and mess with Kaito-kun……]

[Hey, doesn’t that count as causing trouble?]

[C’mon, look at our relationship~~ Let’s get all intimate~~]

After casually replying like that, Vanessa-san stood up, walked over to the sofa where I was sitting, and plopped down beside me, deliberately throwing an arm around my shoulders.

Wait, she’s only wearing a T-shirt! Or does she realize that and just not care……? Either way, with her doing something like this, I can’t help but feel how soft she is, and even though I try to stay composed, my heart is pounding like crazy.

[Vanessa-san, are you drunk already?]

[I wanna get drunk already~~ but not quite yet, I guess.]

It seemed like, for Vanessa-san, it was just a light joke, more like casual physical affection. She quickly pulled her arm away, gave a wry smile, and went back to drinking.

……Eh? Arehh? ……Is she just going to keep drinking right next to me like this?

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [Aren’t they already flirting!? These two are totally all over each other!!!]