VIO Ch 5 – The Reason He Couldn’t Go Outside (II)

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Translator: mii

Editors: ASplashofMusic, sleepchaser

“Hey there, Locana girl…” called out Legion with a smile.

Rille looked back, anger crossing her face. “My name is Rille, Sir!”

The smile froze on his lips. Feeling awkward, Legion scratched his cheek with his finger. “You don’t have to glare at me, okay? You lacking in sleep or what?”

Rille was petite and cute, but her piercing gaze gave rise to a menacing aura. “You are my enemy. It’s only because you are a guest that I am begrudgingly treating you well. Now if you don’t have any business here, piss off!” Then, as if it were an afterthought, she added, “Sir!”

The fact that she had called him her enemy so bluntly birthed more weariness than anger in Legion’s heart. “You sure hate me, huh?”

“Of course. I hate anyone who scares Master! Regardless of their race! If you understand that, then scram… please! I still have work to do. Stop being such a bother… Sir!”

“You… If you think that adding ‘please’ or ‘Sir’ at the end of your rude sentences can make you sound polite, then you’re a hundred percent wrong.”

“You’re so annoying! Before you criticize me, look at yourself first. The way you spoke and behaved just now is entirely different from when you’re in front of Master! It’s disgusting!”

“This is how I usually talk. Sorry if it makes you angry, but I’m the type of guy who likes to lick my superiors’ boots,” Legion answered, voice earnest. But his words only sharpened her glare. From Rille’s perspective, Legion was simply shady. 

She turned away in a huff and left the hallway, a basket of laundry in her hands. Legion chased after her.

“Why are you following me? You’ve been such an eyesore every day. Go back to your room like a good boy, okay? Just stay there and twiddle your thumbs or something… Sir.”

“You got a surprisingly nasty mouth there. Guess you’ve finally shown your true colors. See, aren’t we alike?”

Not a moment later, Rille retorted, “I’m a rabbit, not a human!”

Legion had no idea how he should respond to that. But when Rille started walking away in quick strides, with no intention to wait for him, Legion revealed his purpose in seeking her in a flash. “Give me a job!”

“No way.”

“Then let me help you with that.”

Rille finally stopped in her tracks. She turned back around, her face twisted in disdain. “Oh? Are you planning to steal my job? How spiteful! Simply the worst!”

“…Do you have to go that far?”

Despite Rille’s utter abhorrence for him, Legion had no intention to yield. If he couldn’t be Vio’s knight now, then he should prove himself useful until he finally employed him.

“In the first place, you’re asking the wrong person. It’s the butler’s job to manage the servants,” said Rille. “This is a constant in every residence. Your previous workplace should be the same, right? Only, they’re called grand chamberlains there instead of butlers.”

“Ah, now that you’ve mentioned this…”

Rille was right.

“Thanks for the advice,” Legion continued. “Then I’ll try asking the butler.”

“I wasn’t giving you advice! Just scram already! Sir!” Rille said, resentful. But Legion had already left in the other direction.

⋆̩☂︎*̣̩ ✢ ⋆̩☂︎*̣̩

“You want to help in the residence?” Jill asked, the picture of surprise. He considered Legion’s request for a while before shaking his head. “We cannot allow our guest to do such a thing. Moreover, we already have enough workers. Young Master has never been unreasonable in his demands, after all.”

Legion then began to market himself, saying, “But this mansion is so large. It must be time-consuming to clean its entirety, right? Although I am a knight, I can do all sorts of daily chores. You can order me to do anything, be it cleaning rooms, sewing clothes, practicing carpentry, repairing fences, or smithing simple projects. Ah, but my specialty is taking care of horses.”

In his previous job as a knight of a noble, aside from protecting his master, his duties also entailed those of a maid. Thanks to that, Legion had also learned to become an excellent servant. Since he was an obliging person, he had never found such tasks to be beneath his status. Rather, he even enjoyed running around to help his master.

“No. Everything has already been taken care of. Rille is good at cleaning, cooking, and sewing. The gardener Ed is in charge of fixing the fence as well. And the stable worker is also good at smithing.”

Legion deflated. The servants in this residence were all so skilled. 

Jill then smiled at the sight of the knight’s slumped shoulders. “It must be rare for you to come to such a remote region, right? Why don’t you take a stroll around town?”

“Take a stroll?”

“Yes. And if it is alright with you, I would appreciate it if you can retrieve the goods from the tailor while you’re at it.”

“Mister butler!” Legion exclaimed, deeply moved. For Legion, Jill was his savior, always helping him in one way or another from the shadows.

“Remember, you retrieved it ‘while you were at it.’ You just happened to stop by the tailor’s shop, where she entrusted the goods to you by chance. Please do your best for the rest.”

“Yes!”

After Legion had returned to his room to fetch his cloak, he received the money for the goods from Jill and entered the town. He walked around proclaiming he was the reeve’s new knight, raising the townspeople’s impressions of him by lending a hand to anyone who needed it.

His strategy was simple. Slowly but steadily corner his prey.

Legion finished his errand without any problems. But once he returned to the mansion in the evening, Jill informed him of something unexpected. 

Vio had summoned him.

⋆̩☂︎*̣̩ ✢ ⋆̩☂︎*̣̩

After hearing of Legion’s deeds in town from the other two inspectors, Vio wanted to hit himself. He had underestimated Legion.

He has some pretty clever tricks, eh? He walked around town, telling everyone he’s my knight. I never thought he would corner me like this!

Vio saw through Legion’s plan. Thus, he summoned the knight right after he had returned. Yet Legion only sported an innocent look once he entered the room. He asked, “My Lord, do you require my assistance?”

“I heard that you spread a rumor around town that you are my new knight who just arrived. Lying about your status is the same as scamming people,” warned Vio, his tone incisive.

Pretending not to understand, Legion answered, “But I was not lying. I indeed came here to be your knight.”

“But I refused, didn’t I?”

“I also told you that I wouldn’t give up.”

Vio drew his mouth into a taut line, exasperated at Legion’s reply. He searched for a suitable rebuttal, but Legion wasn’t finished. He fished out a letter from his breast pocket and held it out toward Vio. “This is the letter of authorization from the Duchess. It is proof that Her Grace hired me to serve as your new knight, despite your refusal.  And after receiving her orders, I travelled to this town to fulfill my duties.”

Legion flashed him a sweet smile. His face seemed to say, “Look, I’m not lying, right?”

He’s so shameless…

Vio suddenly had the urge to grab Legion’s neck and shake him. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. It wasn’t until his face settled into a nonchalant expression that he put away the letter. “In any case, I don’t need a knight. If you keep trying something on me, I’ll chase you out at once.”

“Then, how about a servant?”

Vio was taken aback. “What?”

Military men usually had a lot of pride. As such, most of them would turn their noses up at servant work, arrogance thick in their voices as they proclaimed it labor unfit for a knight. The knights Vio had seen in Nada town were all like that. For this reason, he found Legion’s proposal strange. 

“I believe that I also excel as a versatile servant. I can do almost every chore. I can read and write, so I can also help you with paperwork. Or I can be an escort. I’m qualified for many positions. If there are any skills I lack, please let me know and I’ll learn them.”

“Paperwork…” That had never crossed Vio’s mind.

Inadvertently, Legion’s smooth sales pitch charmed him. Except for Jill’s occasional help, he sorted and went through all the paperwork by himself. At the thought of reducing his workload, Vio found himself attracted to Legion’s offer. However, irritation soon washed over him upon catching sight of Legion’s smiling, expectant face.

“No, I don’t need it,” he said flatly.

How dangerous. I was almost swept up in this guy’s pace.

Vio hated knights. He didn’t want anything or anyone around him who was even faintly reminiscent of Erik.

“Anyway, stop doing whatever you like.”

Feeling like he would be further dragged into Legion’s sales pitch if he were to continue this conversation, Vio decided to leave. He picked up the spellbook on the low table in front of him. Rose to his feet.

“Huh? Isn’t that Mr. Bram’s book about light magic structural formulas? You can understand such a difficult text?”

“What are you talking about? Mr. Bram’s book is for intermediate practitioners. It’s not that difficult.”

His older brother, Rupheus, would have made fun of him if he couldn’t understand a book of this level. Recalling the verbal abuse he had suffered under his hands, Vio’s face contorted in a frown.

Legion rapidly blinked his eyes as if he had heard something strange. “In the Knights’ Order, they use this book to teach the advanced practitioners.”

“Really? But Larkan’s introduction book for magic stated that Mr. Bram’s book is oriented towards intermediate practitioners.”

“Larkan? Your tutor recommended such a difficult book to you?”

“Not really. My tutor only taught me the basics of spirit magic back when I still lived in the lord’s residence. After I came here, I learned by myself by perusing many texts. I mean, let’s be honest. Do you think I can find a tutor in this remote place?”

Vio then headed towards the door. Legion’s words sure were odd. 

All of a sudden, the knight called out, “Lord Violant!”

“Now what? You’re so persistent…” Vio reluctantly turned around, only to see Legion’s sparkling eyes. His face stiffened.

Quite energetically, Legion said, “Just like I thought, I definitely won’t be giving up! To consider Bram to be of an intermediate level is a sign of your immense talent and abilities. I would love to serve you!”

“Oh, I see. But I refuse. Haven’t I already said this several times before? Just quietly enjoy your one-month stay here, then go home,” Vio replied, crushing Legion’s hopes. Though at this point, Vio was too tired to even care anymore.

Translator’s ramblings:

The ‘Sir’ and ‘please’ are actually ‘…desu’, kind of a way to make her sound formal (?)! I think she sounds like she’s mocking Legi even more, though ww (mii secretly enjoys their banter)

How Legi suddenly speaks casually surprised me a little bit! In case it’s not clear, he speaks super casually to Rille, unlike his usual humble speech. That’s why Rille was angered! Also, Legi basically gave me false hopes and used so many idioms in this chapter. He’s now officially the character I hate the most just because he keeps trolling this translator aaaaaaaa!!!