“What? How does Rake know that?”
Surprised, Rake replied.
“Actually, I remember seeing this broken plate the other day.”
“Huh! Really?”
“Yep. The plate that held Miss Marsha’s meal wasn’t in very good shape.”
“What? I don’t remember seeing anything like that.”
“Well, Miss Marsha asked me not to tell you, so I didn’t.”
After a pause, Rake said.
“The fact is, it’s rumoured that this hotel treats its nobles very well, but not their employees…….”
“What! That’s so mean! I wouldn’t have booked here if I knew that!”
I shouted, jumping to my feet.
“What about Rake?! Did something bad happen to you?”
He shakes his head, puzzled by my question.
“Uh, nothing.”
“Really? Nothing?!”
“Yeah, there really wasn’t, more like a lady-.”
“Ugh. “Really! Everyone in our house is kind and lovable!”
This is why I can’t stop caring.
“‘Rake, if anything happens to you, tell me. I’ll take care of you!”
“Well, that’s very kind of you, young lady.”
“Okay! If you have something to say, say it!”
I said with a smirk, and Rake turned his head quickly.
When I turned my head after him-.
“…Ouch.”
“The master with a foolish expression and the bewildered mercenary soldiers were looking at me….”
With a ‘what the hell is she?” look on their faces.
‘Ugh, my plan to eavesdrop and casually interrupted….’
I panicked, but quickly managed my expression.
“Hmm, hmm! Good morning, no, it’s already afternoon. Master.”
I said.
At my laughter, he gives me an awkward smile.
“Ah, yes. Uh, um…. Aren’t you Deanna? What brings you here…….”
“Taking a lunch walk, you know?”
“I see, ……you took a lunchtime walk.”
“Yes, I do, I love my lunch walks before meals!”
I exclaimed cheerfully.
Rake stood up quickly.
“…Silently, he brushed a leaf out of my hair. ……
“…….”
“…….”
“Me, I like to go for walks with leaves in my hair!”
“Well, I see.”
Yeah! I like it, what more can I say. Hmm.
I wonder if it’s different.
The owner didn’t say anything else.
“Well, miss. This is not the place for a lady as precious as you, so please go inside and see if the-”
“Mistress.”
I smirked at him as he tried to let me in.
“Are you familiar with Article 6 of the Labour Code, among the laws of the Imperium?”
“What? Article 6 of the Labour Code?”
“Yes. Article 6 says that anyone hired on a temporary basis, that is, as a day labourer, must be given a labour contract.”
“Oh, there’s a law?”
The owner looks like he’s never heard of it.
“Yes. It was written by the third Emperor, Lucas del Stein, and it was created after a rogue employer got into diplomatic trouble back in the day when he tricked a group of land fairies into forced labour and got caught, so Article 6 of the Labour Code came about because of that incident.”
It’s times like this that the Code of Imperial Laws I’ve been memorising to get rid of Jay the Cheater comes in handy.
It turns out you can learn anything and use it.
“According to this law, it’s illegal to hire anyone without a written contract of employment. Hmm, the fine is up to nine thousand pennies, Dunga?”
“Nine, nine thousand pennies!”
The owner, shocked, and.
“Huh, nine thousand pennies!”
“Isn’t that about the cost of a year’s living for a nobleman?”
The mercenaries, dumbfounded.
“Wow, but we have labour laws in this country?”
“I just found out about it today…….”
“Well, as far as we know, it’s all in the guild’s own rules…….”
“Dude, there’s probably more than half of us who can’t even memorise that.”
“Is there really such a thing as a law?” owner asked,
“Are you telling me there’s really such a law?”
“Did this gentleman deceive us?” he asked.
“Of course there is. Would you like me to find the law book and show it to you now?”
“What? Oh, no. I don’t think so…….”
“Yeah. Anyway, that’s why I’m asking.”
I smirked and pointed to the dazed mercenaries.
“Did you sign a labour contract with them?”
“…Well, that is.”
The owner didn’t have an easy answer.
Of course I didn’t.
“Well, there are very few places that give contracts to temporary workers in the first place.
Most people don’t even know that Article 6 of the Labour Law exists.
Neither the employer nor the person who was wronged knows.
Me, I just finished reading the Imperial Code.
“I suppose you haven’t used it? Well, then, you can report this to the Guard at…….”
“That, miss!”
The owner, who had been at a loss for words, said with a stern face.
“Miss, you’re still young, so there’s no need for you to get involved in this headache, come on in!”
Huh? See this guy?
He can’t win me over with words, so he’s going to treat me like a child?
“Mistress.”
I smirked.
“Are you trying to tell me that because I’m a child, I don’t have a right to be involved in this?”
“……! Oh, no, that’s not what I meant.”
No matter how young I am, I am a noble.
‘There was even a discovery of an enchantment stone on our estate not long ago.’
In other words, I’m the youngest child of a marquise family that is about to become very rich……!
As if remembering that for the first time, sweat broke out on the master’s forehead.
“Rather than that, Lady Diana has no connection with these people….”
Yeah, I was expecting her to say that.
“Hold on a second, Mistress.”
I fumbled in the inner pocket of my dress and pulled out my pocket money purse.
Everyone was dumbfounded by the puppy-shaped wallet I suddenly pulled out.
“Mercenaries.”
I took the money out of the wallet-.
“I’m going to hire you from now on.”
I handed it to the bushy-haired mercenary.
“This is the advance payment.”
“……? What? Huh? Hire? Advance payment?”
For some reason, the bushy-haired mercenary, who had been dumbfounded, became angry and surprised.
I left him alone and turned to the owner.
“Okay, boss, now that I’m in their employ, we have a relationship?”
“That, that…….”
The owner’s mouth twitches in embarrassment.
“I want the mercenaries I hire to focus on my assignments, and for that to happen, the owner needs to pay them well so they can focus on my assignments, right?”
Oh well.
For once, I really have nothing to say-.
“But they broke the plates, and I didn’t even ask them to repay me!”
Oh, man. This is really not going to work.
“You.”
Frowning, I opened my mouth slowly.
“You don’t really have an answer.”
“……!”
“The plate you claim to have broken. Wasn’t it in bad shape to begin with?”
“What makes you say that-!”
“‘Rake.”
Rake, who had been standing still at my call, stepped forward.
“Yes, miss.”
“Tell me again what you said earlier.”
Quick as a flash, Rake repeated what he’d said earlier.
With a little more detail.
“Two days ago, on the first day of staying at this hotel. The plate of Miss’s personal maid, Miss Masha, had either a missing tooth or a bent fork.”
“What, you knew there was something wrong with the crockery to begin with!”
The black-haired man who was listening exclaimed.
“For some reason, when I was washing the dishes, I noticed that there were quite a few that were out of shape.”
“I thought maybe I was out of control.”
“No, why in the world would you leave something like that in this upscale hotel?”
The mercenaries add a word or two.
The owner’s face gradually turned blue.
I turned to him and said.
“You stole the hotel’s operating fee, didn’t you?”
“……!”
The owner was visibly upset.
My guess was right.
“If the real owner of this hotel isn’t inspecting the ledger but manipulating the operating expenses, it shouldn’t be that difficult for you. Don’t you think so?”
“….”
The manager said nothing.
But the stony look on his face was enough to answer.
“Well, let’s see. I believe the owner of this hotel was the Earl of Chenter, and if he finds out about this-”
“Now, you’re wrong, young lady!”
Before I could finish my threat, grinning evilly, wham!
The mistress fell to her knees and bowed her head.
“Oh, I was forced by a sick child to touch the money a little; forgive me for once, and please don’t tell Earl Chenter-.”
“You’re wrong.”
I coldly cut off the mistress’s apology.
“What?”
The master looked up at me, puzzled.
I turned to him and said again.
“You’re apologising to the wrong person.”
I pointed to the mercenaries who were giving me strange looks.
“You should be apologising to them, not me.”
“…….”
The Master’s face hardened beyond compare.
“I know it’s not easy for you to bow down and apologise to the humans you’ve looked down on so much.
But if you’ve done something wrong, of course you should apologise and repent.
“If you have no intention of making a proper apology, I will have the Earl of Chenter-”
“My, I’ve done wrong, I’ve put you all in trouble with my lies!”
Shuddering, the master stumbled away.
I turned to him and said.
“What about their money?”
“Nothing, of course I’ll give you all of it!”
“Give it to them right now, in front of me.”
I knew what he was going to do in my absence.
The owner shakily pulled his wallet from his arm.
The bushy-haired man accepted the money with a hesitant look on his face.
“Well, miss. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m not going to…….”
He shook out the money and looked me over.
I smirked.
“Yes, you may go.”
“Go, thank you, thank you so much!”
He bowed and walked away.
“You’re welcome.”
I muttered after him.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to reveal the embezzlement to the Earl of Chenter.”
