TLAM CH 04

Episode 4: Mansion Rules for New Servants (Part 2)

“And that’s not all. If factories and housing are built here, our village will become rich.”

Rubia, the lady of the village, nodded to herself.
The cities were already full, so now even a remote village like hers was being considered.
She was thrilled—just one small factory had improved the nearby village. And now there would be multiple factories?

As the village lord, this was the best news possible.

“I never thought I’d get 2,000 gold for that useless mansion land.”

For comparison, a family of four in this village lived off less than 2 gold a month.
With that money, she could finally start the mining project she had been planning but couldn’t afford.

Not only that—
She could build public facilities, give out food like wheat and potatoes to poor families…
Because the village was so remote, the empire gave them very little support.

Until now, there wasn’t much she could do for her people. But with money…

“Just wait—I’ll throw money at this place like it’s water!”

Rubia wasn’t always a small-town lord. She had grown up as a noble lady in a wealthy family.
Though she married a man from the countryside out of love, she still had the spirit of a noblewoman who knew how to spend big.

So when she said she’d “throw money around,” she meant it.

Just as Rubia was happily imagining how to grow her village—

Knock knock.

An unwanted knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

She quickly sat upright, put on a serious face, and said:

“Come in.”

A neatly dressed man with glasses entered.

“My lady, there’s an issue at the resident office.”

That office handled all kinds of matters for the villagers.

“Did Hesne’s cow have trouble giving birth?!”

“No, actually she gave birth an hour earlier than expected. The cow, Bess, is doing fine—but since Bess is yellow and the calf is white, there might be some gossip. But health-wise, everything is fine.”

“Phew, that’s good. Then what’s the problem?”

The assistant adjusted his glasses and replied calmly:

“It’s about the old mansion on the hill.”

“Oh? I was just thinking about that place. The buyer is scheduled to visit next week, so we don’t need to worry—”

“It turns out the mansion has an owner.”

“Right, right. That place has no—what?!”

Rubia shouted in shock.

“Today, a maid hired by the mansion’s owner came and registered the mansion officially.”

“What are you even saying?!”

She turned red with anger.

“Grey, you know this! We checked records going back 200 years and found no owner. So it became mine by default as the village lord. Now suddenly someone shows up claiming to own it?!”

“We had to go back 300 years to find the correct documents.”

Grey pulled out a pile of old parchment and handed it to her.

Alfred Caplet.
The documents clearly listed that name as the owner.

“Wait… Caplet? Weren’t the Caplet family members all killed centuries ago?!”

Rubia shouted again. For the first time, Grey, who had been calm all along, looked a little flustered.

“Well… it seems a distant relative of the duke survived. The current owner is a descendant of that relative.”

Rubia’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“No way! That place is my money!”

“Please keep your voice down. Someone might hear.”

“The scariest person here is me right now!”

She looked like someone who had their fortune stolen right before their eyes.

“So someone is living in that dusty old mansion now? Fine. I’ll go see it for myself. Get ready.”

Meanwhile…

Sasha found a letter left at the mansion’s front door.

The elegant handwriting was addressed to “Sasha Gardnis.”

My name is Alfred. I was supposed to arrive yesterday, but things were delayed. I’ll be there tonight, but I need to ask a favor. Could you please register our mansion in my place?

Along with the letter were official documents proving the mansion belonged to the Caplet family, and the paperwork needed to register the property.

So Sasha went to the village office to handle it.

Thankfully, everything went smoothly.
The staff were friendly and even told her to send someone next time instead of coming herself.

Feeling grateful, Sasha decided to stop by the general store.
The mansion’s tools were too old and hard to use—she needed new supplies.

As she entered the store—

“Welco… HIEEEEK!”

The store owner jumped out of his seat the moment he saw her.

Sasha, thinking he was just unusually friendly, smiled sweetly.

“I’d like to buy some supplies…”

“Y-You want to buy… a heart?!”

“…A heart?”

“No, no! Just a joke!”

The man had definitely been at the tavern yesterday.
He recognized Sasha as an outsider and tried to ease the tension with a joke.

Sasha appreciated the effort and smiled again.

“W-What items do you need…?”

The man suddenly began stuttering and turned pale.

Was he sick? Sasha figured she should hurry to not waste his time.

She pulled out the list of supplies she had written down.

Knives, a sickle, an axe, a large sack… etc.

The shopkeeper went even paler as he read it.

CLANG.
The store door flew open.

“Hans!”

The shopkeeper happily called out.

“Hans?”

Sasha perked up. That was the name of the coachman who brought her to the mansion.

“I need to ask him if the tomato juice stained the carriage!”

Sasha turned toward the door—
But no one was there.

“H-Hans…”

The shopkeeper stared blankly at the closed wooden door.

Wait…

From his shocked face, Sasha guessed what happened.

He was probably just lonely. Maybe he imagined someone coming in because he missed them so much.

“So… that’s why he’s being so kind to me.”

She remembered what her mother had once told her:

“Outsiders are like seeds planted in a small field. No one knows if they’ll grow into weeds or fruit trees. People are cautious because they don’t know yet.”