Upstart Pastry Chef ~Territory Management of a Genius Pâtisserie~

Chapter 1: Faruno’s Butler

After seeing off the mana-wielding chicken’s escape into the forest, I returned back to the house. Just before I arrive, I stop walking.

“Who’s that with Tina?”

In front of the door, Tina is talking to someone. Albeit slender, that man has a toned body. He’s wearing a butler’s uniform, but he looks more like a soldier than a servant.

“I am called Volg. Starting from today, I will be aiding this village. As the next feudal lord of the Arnold baronetcy, as well as the head of this village, I’ve come to pay my respects to Kurt Arnold-sama. This is an introduction letter from Marquis Fernandes.”

He has a courteous bearing. He looks well-mannered too. He’s an extraordinary man. However, he emits an unusual pressure that causes Tina to look frightened. She looks pitiful with her ears stuck flat to her head; even her tail’s fur curls up.

“That, Kurt-sama, is currently not available.”

“When will he return to this place, if I may ask?”

“That’s, I don’t know.”

“Very well, then. May I wait inside the house? I have something from my lady for Kurt-sama.”

“That is, uhm...”

“Could you please respond firmly?”

Surprised, Tina shrinks.

She’s probably afraid to be left alone with that man inside the house. Yet, considering the standpoint of the other party, there’s no way she could refuse. Being cornered to that extent, Tina’s eyes start welling up. I hurry over to their place.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

“Kurt-sama!”

The moment I show up, Tina smiles in relief at me before hiding behind my back. I wryly smile. From now on, there will be more circumstances where she has to meet a lot of strangers. I have to fix her shyness.

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Looking at my expression, the man in butler uniform starts to speak.

“May I confirm that you are indeed Kurt Arnold-sama?”

“Yes, I’m Kurt Arnold. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“I’m honored. My name is Volg. As a commoner, I do not have a surname.”

After introducing himself up to that point, Volg gives me a grin. “Then, Kurt-sama. It’s not necessary to use polite speech with me, as I am but a mere servant. Before long, you will become a baronet, the husband of my employer.” He then bows to me.

I don’t receive that kind of treatment very often. It feels slightly embarrassing.

“Understood. I’ll just use casual speech. To have you come here and greet me, it’s my bad.”

“No, it is mine. I am terribly sorry for intruding at this kind of hour. In the future, I will become Kurt-sama’s contact person. If you have a need that requires all of us, please give your instruction to me.”

“Understood, let’s do it that way. Having you here itself is something I’ve heard from Marquis Fernandes.”

“I appreciate it, Kurt-sama.” After saying that, Volg inspects me from head to toe with his eyes.

The look in his eyes reminds me of a blood-boiling beast.

“...Hou, when I was told by Faruno-sama, I thought it was fake, but this is indeed a fine warrior. My blood is seething.”

I am hit by a dreadful fighting spirit from Volg. Behind me, Tina isn’t someone who can endure this. She’s clinging onto me.

“Ah, my mistake. It is my bad habit. When seeing someone like you, my blood is excited like the old times.” Volg bows down with a gentle smile. The fighting spirit that he emitted just now has completely disappeared.

“Oh, no, that’s, I’m really sorry to feel frightened. It’s my mistake. Even though I’m Kurt-sama’s servant, I can’t respond properly.” Tina also bows her head in response. Her wariness towards the male in front of her has lessened. It must be because his true nature is that of kindness.

“Please accept my apology as well. My servant was impolite.”

Everyone in this spot is bowing now. When I look up, my eyes meet with Volg’s. This is a mutually awkward situation, so we laugh together.

“No, I’m already used to be feared by girls and children. I wasn’t considerate enough... Well, prolonging our apologies will waste our time. If this incident can be put behind us, I’ll be truly grateful.”

“You said it. I am the one who should be grateful. It will be dinner time soon, shall we eat dinner together in my place while having our discussion?”

“I am only a servant. I won’t be forgiven to eat at the same table as Kurt-sama who will soon become a noble.”

“That rule is applied to your territory. At least, in my village, there’s no such thing. If we gather at the same dining table, we can reach a mutual understanding in peace. From now on, we’ll be acquainted for a long time. I want us to take our time and speak without any reserve.”

Just as Volg, who wishes to speak with me, I also want to know Marquis Fernandes’ and Faruno’s expectations from Volg, even though it may not be much.

“I understand. That is indeed a good reason. Let us partake in it.”

Tina grabs the hem of my shirt tightly. When I see her making that kind of face, she nods with teary eyes. It seems that she has also found her resolution.

“Young lady, you don’t need to look so cautious.” At the opposite of Tina, Volg smiles.

“Ah, uhm, yes.” Tina vaguely replies without understanding his intention.

“I have no desire to attack you whatsoever, because I have no interest in women.”

Tina’s neck is tilting to the side, but anyway, for the time being, she looks relieved. On the other hand, it’s my turn to feel warier.....

In any case, let’s just get inside. The talk shall begin after that.

“Come inside. It’s small, but I hope it suits your taste.” With that, I invited another fief’s member to my house for the first time.

☘

“It’s modest, but it’s been maintained attentively. It’s a nice home.” When Volg gets across the living room, he speaks in admiration.

“That is thanks to our Tina here. She does her job carefully and accurately.”

Tina’s house cleaning skills are extraordinarily high. It’s the result of her doing everything continuously without even once slacking off in her duties. She’s not even doing it repetitively, since she doesn’t forget to use her creativity.

“It’s a job so well done that the servants in my place should see this too.” Volg laughs in crackles.

“Why are you in this village? If you are Faruno-sama’s butler, shouldn’t you come with her, usually?”

“I have a reason for that. I must observe the assembling of the lady’s residing place so there would be no negligence nor compromise. As long as I am here, we can build her the best residence. .....Moreover, I can use mana. Just one of me can cover more than a dozen people’s work.”

“I see. Even at a glance, you don’t look like a simple butler either. Are you also Faruno-sama’s guardian?”

“Indeed I am. However, I have entrusted that role to my subordinate. Moreover, my task here cannot be entrusted to anyone else. I was personally designated by Marquis Fernandes himself, because he expected things to go smoothly with me as your intermediary.”

The truth is, I’ve realized since I looked at him from a distance that this man has strong mana. I’ve never even seen anyone who has mana as strong as him. Most likely, we are at the same level.

In that case, he can do much heavier duties. My all-seeing eyes have also told me that this man has an advanced Ability. Not only an Ability, he also has a deep understanding in martial arts. Even just by standing casually, I can’t see any weak points on him.

“I understand. I’m going to cook our meals now, please wait in that room over there.”

“I have heard from my lady that making pastries is your strong point, but to think that you’re also dabbling in cooking... The truth is, I’m looking forward to the taste of the food that has made my master and young lady to groan in admiration.”

“Then I’ll put my effort to reach your expectations.” I smile and walk towards the kitchen.

☘

“Tina, I’m going to cook now, so could you please make some tea? After bringing the tea for him, I wish you’d entertain him with some small talk.”

“Ye-yes, Kurt-sama.” Tina nods, but her face is frozen. Even though she understands that Volg isn’t a bad person, she still instinctively cowers.

However, this is the part where I have to steel my heart. In order to fix her shyness of strangers, this will be good training for her.

“Now, it’s rude to make him wait. Let’s fix something up really quickly.”

I’m wondering about the recipe. There’s no bread ready. If I’m to bake bread right now, it will take too much time. There won’t be bread for our staple food tonight, but some simpler substitution. In that case, so that it won’t take too long, something easy to make like crepes. I still have wheat flour and yams, so I can make it, somehow. And last, the main dish... to fit them...

“Ah, I have that, right?”

From the racks, the ingredient that I take out is the bacon, made from the deluxe end-of-autumn wild boar ribs. It’s a thick meat densely packed with fat. Marinated in special deluxe tare sauce, it’s a rare beauty, smoked with maple wood chips. I saved it in hiding as a treat for special occasions.

It will be lonely to present it alone, so let’s use the eggs that I need to get rid of today. The garnish is the excessive cabbage in my stash.

Since I have these, I can make that. It’ll be good if it suits his taste.

I lit the fire in the stove while thinking so.

Translator’s Notes: Please read in isecai.wordpress.com. Thanks, looking forward to see you there!

By the way, when introducing himself, Volg says that he has no 性, which usually means gender. I wonder why he says that, it’ll be good if someone can enlighten me. I changed that part to having no surname, but I do wonder if that was used in such context.

Now I wonder what is Volg’s age. If he’s young on top of being slender and toned... heh heh heh. *is not chill*