hotmtlnovel Chapter 63
Chapter 63
63. There’s Such A Thing As Too Much Of A Surprise, Isn’t It?
I was summoned by Kyle that day and visited his mansion. Ryuuko, one of the maids, was also invited today.
Being called over wasn’t uncommon, but Kyle’s demeanor was clearly different that day.
Since recovering from his illness, Kyle had been smiling more, but on this day, he was radiating a brilliant smile.
It seemed something good had happened.
Was it because the third wheat harvest went well?
I was the only one summoned, but Leafan was already in the room.
This was normal, but Leafan seemed even happier than usual, which felt odd.
Anyway, we sat down for tea, and as usual, Myrna climbed onto my lap.
Myrna seemed unusually cheerful, swishing her head around.
A lady should be more modest, you know?
But it’s fine since she seems happy.
Behind Kyle stood Persia and Alphard.
Alphard doubled as head of the military and Kyle’s guard, but with Degard Bismack being competent, he seemed to handle most things. It’s good to delegate tasks if you can.
Both of them had their usual serious expressions, but there was something relaxed about their mouths.
What could it be?
We finished our tea and got down to business. After wrapping up recent reports, Kyle couldn’t contain his excitement and stood up.
“Craft-sama! I have something I want you to see!”
“Oh?”
It seemed we were finally getting to the point.
“Then please follow me!”
Kyle first led us out of the mansion.
I thought whatever he wanted to show us might be in the garden, but we walked straight through the garden and out of the main gate.
If we were going on a trip, there wasn’t even a carriage prepared.
Without hesitation, Kyle led us along the wall surrounding the garden and mansion. Then, right next to it, there was another wall with the same design as Kyle’s mansion.
It was just as big as Kyle’s mansion.
Of course, I knew construction had started months ago to build this wall.
The inside of the wall got covered with a huge cloth, so I didn’t know what was being built, but I assumed it was either an extension of Kyle’s mansion or a separate mansion for guests.
The fact that they had put up a cloth partition indicated they didn’t want the dust from the construction to fly onto Kyle’s property.
It seemed like today was the unveiling of this new mansion or separate residence.
But there was something that bothered me.
Everyone seemed to know about it except Ryuuko and me.
I couldn’t imagine Kyle keeping secrets from me. So it just felt strange.
At the entrance of the new mansion, there was indeed the same gate structure as Kyle’s mansion. However, Kyle’s crest hadn’t been engraved on it.
By the way, when I say crest, I mean a family crest or symbol, not the emblem floating on the left hand.
Would they engrave the crest after the unveiling?
For nobles, the crest represents their family is essential, so it’s unthinkable not to engrave it on flags or gateposts.
As I puzzled over this, I noticed there were many craftsmen behind the wall.
Each craftsman stood in front of a rope holding down the cloth covering the mansion, so there was no doubt that the unveiling was about to happen.
I waved to some craftsmen I knew, and they waved back with enthusiasm.
They were delighted to work for Kyle, so their good mood was understandable.
“Craft-sama, please stand there.”
“What?”
The place they indicated was right in the middle of the opened gate. Logically, it should be where Kyle stands.
“Is this...?”
“It’s fine. Please stand there.”
“Uh, okay.”
I stood there involuntarily because of Kyle’s unusually strong tone.
Kyle stood to my right, and Myrna stood to my left.
“Wait a minute! You can’t give me something like this for free! How much did it cost!?”
It’s not about money!
“I-I can’t do this!”
“Impossible!”
“I-I’m telling you, I can’t accept this!”
But they were drowned out by the craftsmen’s cheering.
The craftsmen, who had tidied up the cloth and ropes, also gathered around and offered their congratulations.
I was completely stiff, but as soon as the paralysis wore off, I raised my voice.
“I-I can’t accept something like this for free! How much does it cost!?”
It’s not just about the money!
“Don’t worry! Kyle-sama gave instructions to build this mansion secretly for Craft-sama, and we participated happily!”
“I did, I did! The craftsmen who couldn’t participate in another construction this time were regretting it!”
“We had three times as many craftsmen as planned during the planning stage!”
“Even though the craftsmen’s salaries are divided among the total construction budget and allocated to each workshop, none of the workshops are budging even though they’re saying they’ll receive less!”
“What!? It’s for Craft-san! It’s an honor to work on such a project!”
“Yeah! I got to do an honorable job!”
What!? What’s going on!?
Oh no. With this flow, I’ll have to accept it!
Anything will do! I need something to deny it!
“S-So! Even if you give me such a big mansion, I can’t manage it! It’s impossible even to clean it!”
“It’s possible.”
“Huh?”
I heard Ryuuko’s voice from behind me.
She’s a maid, the only one of her kind in the world, made with the technology of homunculi, golems, familiars, and dragon-tooth warriors.
Her beautiful green hair reflected the light.
What...?
“Don’t worry. Leave it to me.”
“Huh...? With this size? I won’t clean it. With just Ryuuko...”
“It’s no problem.”
“L-Look! The garden is huge too! There’s a magnificent garden and even a rose garden! It’s impossible to maintain something like this!”
“It’s possible. No problem.”
N-No way.
Kyle’s mansion, including the garden, was an estate suitable for the new Golden Dawn.
Due to the first city wall looming behind it, it looked small, but it was actually quite large.
Huh? Can Ryuuko maintain it alone?
As if she heard my thoughts, Ryuuko repeated herself.
“No problem. Master.”
“T-That’s... right.”
“Yeah.”
Is that so? Is it okay? My maid is amazing...
“I will move your belongings from the room in the production guild.”
“Uh... okay.”
Ryuuko walked away.
Kyle looked up at me with a beaming smile.
I could only respond with a somewhat strained smile.
“Thank you, Kyle.”
“Yes!!”
And that’s how I went from being a lodger at the production guild to owning a mansion and alchemy facilities of the same scale as a lord’s.
What am I going to do with this?