Under the Oak Tree

Chapter 88 – Concerns (1)

Before Max could finish her words, a powerful voice cut her off guard.

Max then turned her head at the source of the bustle, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw six knights in training standing up next to the meat-grilling stove, their faces were shiny with sweat, but their expressions were lively. Standing at the front of the group was Yurixion Lobar. When he saw her, he came running towards her, his face was full of relief and gladness. When Yurixion was finally near her, he hastily asked Max his questions.

“I heard you went through a lot yesterday. Are you hurt anywhere? Is it already okay for you to be out like this?  When we heard what those jerks have done to you…!” Yurixion began rambling, and with each second his voice rose an octave higher, and Max felt grateful for his apparent concern.

“I a-am fine…” Max told the young knight in training. Just as she said this, Yurixion’s best friend Garow, came to stare expectantly at her as well.

Garow’s eyes sparkled in astonishment at Yurixion’s incessant questions, and let out a small sigh at his best friend’s actions.

“Yuri, calm down, please. You are making the lady feel embarrassed.” Garow told Yurixion.

“But Garow… when I heard what happened I’ve never felt more sorry for not being knighted yet.” Yurixion whispered back.

The sulking expression Yurixion wore made Max smile. It reminded her of the image of a big puppy who was dropping its tail and sulking towards his master. He looked adorable.

“Th-thank you for yo-your concern… bu-but I was fi-fine. T-the soldiers were hurt, but… yo-your Lord a-arrived just in ti-time.” Max told the boys to reassure them.

“I have heard that story, too. I heard that those cowardly jerks were terrified by Lord Calypse’s spirit and surrendered right away? They are pathetic cowards! Well, those mice of Libadon will not be a match for Lord Calypse afterall!” Yurixion excitedly exclaimed. It was obvious that the lad had thought highly of Riftan.

Max casted her eyes on the ground as she felt her cheeks heating up with embarrassment. The boy could hardly stop once he had begun to sing praises to Riftan. It’s not that Riftan was unworthy of praise, which was why she felt like rolling her eyes when Yurixion started reciting about all of Riftan’s merits and good deeds but because Yurixion always idolized Riftan that even Garow, who standing next to him, was already shaking his head as if he was tired of his best friend’s daily habit of talking about their lord.

Max gave them a resigned smile and carefully cut off the excited boy’s words by throwing them a question.

“B-by the way, what b-brings you to the kitchen…?”

It was only after Max asked the question that the boys seemed to snap back to their senses. Yurixion looked back at other knights in training standing behind him.

“We can not stand the smell of grilling meat. We slipped out during training.” Yurixion replied and Max nodded.

That’s why everyone looked so troubled when they saw her. Max smiled meaningfully to reassure the boys who were afraid that the hostess might tell on their leader that they skipped on their training.

“W-we are boiling sa-sausages now. Chef, ca-can you give them a p-plate, please?” Max told the boys as she gestured for the young lads to come closer.

The chef, who was stuffing the cleanly washed pig intestines, raised his face and smiled broadly.

“We are grilling over there on the fire pot now. Hey! Fill up a plate of sausages and bring it here!” The chef screamed at a kitchen staff and the hungry boys hurriedly ran towards them like a swarm of bees.

Max then decided to slip away when the boys began eating so that they could enjoy the snack comfortably. When she came out of the kitchen, she saw servants were lighting up the candle holders all over the hall.

If they did not light the lanterns in advance, the entire castle would become dark in the instant the sun rested and so it was customary for them to do this. In the instance of emergencies, it was vital that the central hall and stairs had to be lit from early hours.

The castle was twice as bright now than earlier when she passed its hallways as the newly ordered lanterns were placed everywhere, but the servants were also twice as busy. She spoke with a determined face as she walked through the hall.

“I wi-will immediately get more wo-workers for to-tomorrow.” Max told Rudis.

“You don’t have to….” Rudis replied to her while shaking her head.

“N-no. It takes more se-servants to manage such a large ca-castle. T-there are a lot of people ne-need to be served. I t-think we need at le-least 30 more t-than we do now. Will there be e-enough residences for them?” Max asked.

“Yes. There are plenty of empty rooms left on the first floor for the servants.” Rudis answered.

“T-then I will talk to the L-lord sometime t-today.” Max was resolute, they had to hire more people if they wanted to be ready for winter.

For her last rounds, Max looked around the barn and when that was finished, she returned to her room to write a simple journal.

In order to manage a large castle like the Calypse Castle, it was necessary to grasp what was going on in every corner of the palace, in order for her not to miss what problems they had or will have and she had to fix those soon for there were a lot of people depending on them.

Suddenly a knock came from her door –  it was one of the castle maids.

“Madam, Lord Calypse is likely to be late, and he has sent me a message for you to have dinner first. Shall we set it up at the dinning hall?” The maid asked her.

Max told the maid that she will have dinner at the hall and followed the latter out. When she arrived at the place and was served the food, she decided to eat slowly, hoping that Riftan would come home soon and find her there.

How long she was sitting in front of the table, Max could not tell but she must have sat there for more than an hour because everything felt cold.