“Captain, an emergency request has come in from the manor.”
“I heard a new servant was hired. What are the details of the request?”
“They’re asking for the best restaurant menus in the capital and steak cooked medium-rare. They’ve added desserts, too.”
The man, who was scanning documents while listening to his adjutant’s report, knitted his brows.
“Excuse me?”
“In addition to that, it lists the best brunch cafe menu, the best seafood restaurant menu, and finally, a list of ‘must-eat’ restaurants within the capital.”
“…….”
“Captain?”
“Hand that over.”
He checked the contents written on the magic paper and asked back as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Is it certain this request came from that place? It’s not someone playing a prank?”
“Yes, it’s certain.”
Watching the Captain fall into a stunned silence, the adjutant spoke cautiously.
“That… new servant they just hired. Do you think they’ve already lost their mind?”
“I received a report that they only arrived this morning.”
He checked the clock; it wasn’t even noon yet.
“Surely… it hasn’t even been half a day and already…?”
“If they broke three or more working guidelines as soon as they entered, wouldn’t that be possible?”
“Is that even humanly possible?”
“Perhaps…?”
The Captain pressed his throbbing temples.
“Even if that were the case, we’ve never had an instance of someone losing their mind in this particular way.”
He pointed to the “Emergency Request” that so boldly demanded popular menus and a list of local eateries. Furthermore, the handwriting on the paper was so elegant that even a stranger would consider it the work of a calligrapher. Considering the new servant was supposed to be a former serf, the discrepancy was a bizarre phenomenon.
“I find that questioning as well. How should we handle this?”
“We have no right to refuse a request coming from there. We have no choice but to do as asked.”
“Exactly as written? Even the medium-rare steak?”
“Then what? Are you going to go there yourself and demand to know why they made such a request?”
“Life is precious, Captain.”
“If you know that, then follow it to the letter. Keep in mind: whatever request comes from that place, you may question it in your heart, but you have no right to refuse.”
He cited the internal regulations that the higher-ups always emphasized. As a middle manager, he had no power of veto.
“Understood, sir.”
The Captain watched his adjutant hurry out.
“…I’d better pray that meat only goes into the servant’s mouth.”
Otherwise, they’d be clearing out a corpse by tomorrow morning.
“Wow, Young Master, this is incredibly delicious!”
Thirty minutes after sending the <Emergency Request>, I was moved to tears as I stuffed the luxurious food into my mouth.
“My goodness, to have a steak delivered while still on a sizzling iron plate. This is even better than the delivery apps I used to use.”
“What’s a ‘delivery app’?”
“It’s similar to magic paper; it’s a service where you can place an order at a restaurant even at late hours and have the food delivered to your home.”
“I thought magic paper was the exclusive property of the fools in the capital. I suppose it has spread to the rural estates now.”
I thought about correcting the Young Master’s misunderstanding but decided to just keep my mouth shut.
‘He wouldn’t believe me even if I told him a delivery app is a program used on a smartphone in another world.’
Shortly after, realizing I had forgotten to order clothes, I sent a second <Emergency Request> with the Young Master’s help. While I was at it, I also wrote down some items the Young Master needed. I suggested ordering kitchen supplies as well, but the Young Master only left me with the cryptic words, “Let’s wait and see tomorrow.”
One bite, two bites—the mouth-watering steak disappeared into the Young Master’s mouth. A proud smile spread across my face.
‘He eats so heartily for a noble Young Master.’
What was with the people who said he shouldn’t be allowed to eat this? How twisted does someone’s heart have to be to act like that?
“Young Master, is it to your taste? Is the doneness alright?”
“It’s overcooked. It can only be called medium-rare if the blood is a bit more plentiful.”
“It must have overcooked while being delivered. Shall we try ordering it ‘rare’ next time?”
“Do you want to eat this again next time?”
“Yes, it’s so delicious. I’ve never eaten anything this tasty in my life.”
Aside from the steak, all the delivered food was as good as anything from a Michelin-starred restaurant. Since I had been barely scraping by for a month since falling into this world, a feast like this was truly a first.
“You’ve never eaten something like this before?”
“No. How can meat just melt in your mouth like this?”
I busily moved my arms through the gaps in my tightly wrapped duvet, inhaling the food.
“What exactly have you been eating to survive until now?”
“Potatoes.”
“And?”
“Potatoes.”
“…….”
“If I was lucky, I got rye bread. It was so hard I almost broke a tooth, but the other servants told me rye bread has to be soaked in water or goat’s milk before you eat it.”
“You’re saying all you ate were potatoes and rye bread?”
“Occasionally, when guests came to the castle for a banquet, the leftovers would go to the servants. But I was the youngest and the Head Maid hated me.”
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I laughed awkwardly and continued.
“One day, I wanted meat so badly, and I saw the guards had caught a rabbit and were roasting it. I got caught taking a bite and got beaten terribly by the Head Maid. For being ‘lazy’.”
“Do Head Maids still use switches these days?”
“A switch? Did they use those before? I guess things have changed.”
“How so?”
“It wasn’t a switch; it was a whip. A leather horsewhip.”
“That isn’t discipline, it’s ab—”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Eat more. Order more if it’s not enough.”
“This is more than enough. Thank you for letting me eat with you, Young Master.”
I was grateful enough just for a proper meal, but the Young Master had even given me a seat at the table. A servant and a noble eating face-to-face at the same table was something that absolutely never happened in this world. Most servants ate while sitting on the kitchen floor or on potato crates; the worst part was making eye contact with a rat that had crawled in after smelling the food.
And yet, he gave me the seat opposite him without a single harsh word. The Young Master was definitely an angel.
“Young Master, I think I made a really good choice coming here.”
“You’re quite excited for someone who just worked me like a dog.”
“It’s because I’m truly grateful. Thank you so much for writing the delivery list for me, too.”
“At least you recognize my effort.”
“Of course, definitely. Even if I’m an ignoramus, I still have a sense of shame.”
“The kind of shame that wears a bathrobe to a first meeting?”
“Cough, cough!”
I choked and quickly gulped down the juice in front of me.
“You’re going to tease me with that for the rest of my life, aren’t you…?”
“’The rest of your life,’ huh.”
“What would you have done if you were in my shoes, Young Master?”
The Young Master’s knife, which had been finely slicing the meat, paused.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t have woken me up.”
“You would have just ignored yourself?”
“Yes.”
The Young Master stared intently at the steak, which was oozing red juices, before lifting his gaze.
“You.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Do you really want to live here for a long time?”
“If you’re okay with it, Young Master, I’d like to. I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”
“So you’re choosing this because you have no other options?”
“That was the original reason. But now, I want to stay because of you, Young Master.”
“Save the flattery.”
“It’s not that. To be honest, I was scared before I met you. It seemed a bit strange to look for a servant for a capital manor all the way in a rural estate…”
“And?”
“I heard talk that the manor might be haunted by ghosts.”
“Are you afraid of ghosts?”
“Yes.”
I trembled with fear. Ghosts are scary. Physical force doesn’t work on them. You can at least hit a human or a monster, but you can’t do that to a ghost, so of course they’re terrifying.
