What is that thing?
Elisa stood on the bedroom balcony, leaning against the white cast-iron railing as she stared down at the courtyard below. On the neatly trimmed lawn, the newly hired male servant was pruning the shrubs.
The male servant worked swiftly and efficiently, proving that his annual salary of sixteen pounds hadn’t gone to waste, but that wasn’t the point.
The point was, why was there a translucent screen floating above his head?
There seemed to be words on the screen as well, but she was too far away to make them out clearly.
What kind of spell was this? A written message? Could it be a warning from the enemy?
Elisa was debating whether to use Eagle Eye to take a closer look when the screen seemed to sense her gaze. It suddenly detached itself from above the male servant’s head and flew toward her.
Instinctively, she retreated into the bedroom and shut the glass door with the tip of her foot. The screen passed straight through the glass and followed her inside.
It wasn’t physical? Elisa frowned.
She raised her right hand. Blood floated from her fingertips, forming a blood sword that stabbed toward the strange screen.
Her blood was imbued with magic and could dispel evil and banish spirits, but when the blood sword struck the screen, it still passed straight through and embedded itself in the wall, destroying the landscape painting hanging there.
With no time to mourn the oil painting, Elisa retreated several steps in quick succession. More blood seeped from her fingertips, transforming into droplets that shot toward the strange screen.
After a series of loud crashes, her bedside table had been riddled with holes, while the screen remained completely unscathed.
Even if it were an illusion of light and shadow, it should have distorted or flickered at least a little. Could it be some kind of mental spell? But that was impossible. Her mind was protected by a divine artifact.
Under her uneasy gaze, the screen floated up in front of her and stopped.
It wasn’t going to attack her?
Elisa breathed a sigh of relief.
“Young lady,” the bedroom door suddenly flew open, and the head maid walked in. Her gaze swept over the wrecked bedroom as she asked in confusion, “What happened?”
She didn’t mention the screen. Can she not see it? Elisa wondered.
“It’s nothing.” She kept quiet about it, deciding to wait and see what happened. “I’m going to have some tea. Clean up the room.”
“Yes, young lady.” The head maid left to fetch the cleaning supplies.
Elisa went to the sitting room and sipped the black tea served by a maid. After taking a moment to calm herself, she began examining the screen floating before her.
The screen was made of some strange substance. Despite being intangible, it looked perfectly solid, and several densely packed lines of text covered its surface.
Beside the text was a bust depicting a young man. It was remarkably lifelike, neither a painting nor a photograph. Photographs only came in black and white, while this portrait was in color.
The longer she looked at the portrait, the more it resembled the male servant she’d just seen in the courtyard.
What on earth was this thing?
Elisa took a sip of black tea to steady her nerves, then turned her attention to the text.
[Welcome to The Ultimate Male Servant Training Plan.]
The Ultimate Male Servant Training Plan? What did that mean?
Elisa understood every one of those words individually, but when they were put together like this, they left her completely baffled. It was like the mathematics problems she’d seen at university: she recognized every number and symbol, but once they were put together into an equation, she couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
She tried her best to decipher it. The key was probably the word [training]. She’d heard it used that way before.
Recently, it had become fashionable among the nobility to raise bedchamber maids from a young age. Spending more than a decade grooming a maid for the role was a way to flaunt the long-standing prosperity of one’s family…this was something those newly rich families could never hope to imitate.
Was this telling her to raise a male servant to share her bed?
No, that particular meaning of the word [training] had only emerged in the past few years. Originally, it had simply meant cultivating someone’s abilities.
Besides, that male servant was already a young man, so he didn’t fit the special meaning of [training] anyway.
And then there was the word [ultimate]. Was this telling her to train a powerful subordinate?
Elisa took a bite of her small cake and continued reading.
[Character: Simon]
Simon. That seemed to be the male servant’s name.
[Intimacy: 2]
Intimacy? I’ve heard of temperature, humidity, and angles, but Intimacy?
Taken literally, did it mean a numerical measure of closeness? Who wanted to be close to a male servant?!
No, wait. In the world of old aristocratic families, servants were also considered part of the household…almost like extended family. Perhaps this intimacy level represented how much he identified with and was loyal to the family and his master.
That male servant’s loyalty to me is only 2?!
I’m paying you a full annual salary of 16 pounds!
Elisa took a fierce gulp of black tea, then read through all the numerical values in one go.
[Mood: 26↓/100 (Melancholy)]
[Energy: 21↓/100 (Exhausted)]
[Health: 97/100 (Excellent)]
[Money: 5 shillings]
[Note: The task of trimming the shrubs is continuously lowering Simon’s Mood and Energy. Please intervene promptly, or the character’s Intimacy will decrease.] 6
This seemed to be a quantified representation of a person’s condition, somewhat like a health report for the mind. Elisa pondered this.
She stared at the [Mood] and [Energy] values, both barely above twenty, and her biscuit-chewing gradually slowed as guilt welled up inside her.
If the maximum was 100, then a score in the twenties was extremely low. Was a male servant’s work really this exhausting?
Thinking about it that way, an intimacy of only 2 wasn’t surprising. In an environment practically comparable to slavery, who could possibly feel close to their slave owner?
Elisa, oh Elisa. You hate those tyrannical slave owners more than anyone, so how did you end up becoming just like them?!
Elisa turned toward the maid beside her, intending to give Simon some paid time off.
But just as the words reached her lips, she stopped.
She hadn’t finished reading the text on the screen yet. She could give all her instructions once she’d read everything.
She continued on to the next section. This one contained no numerical values.
First, she looked at the heading: [Specialty].
A specialty should refer to the male servant’s abilities. Elisa was curious….just what professional skills did the male servant she was paying 16 pounds a year possess?
[Specialty: Best Employee]
That specialty sounded amazing!
Could it be that her 16 pounds were actually money well spent? Should she give him a raise or perhaps a bonus? Oh, right….and some time off.
The words [Best Employee] were shimmering with starlight. Elisa tried tapping them, and a smaller window popped up on the screen.
The smaller window contained an explanation.
[Specialty: Best Employee]
[Ability 1: Workplace Instinct (Can immediately sense a superior’s gaze and pick up on subtle shifts in the workplace atmosphere)]
Being able to notice when one’s master was watching and promptly attend to them was an essential skill for any servant, but why did this description sound a little strange?
Elisa continued reading, only for the hand holding her teacup to freeze.
[Ability 2: Corporate Slave Mode (Activates after Workplace Instinct is triggered. Automatically enters a flawless working state while displaying an appropriate degree of exhaustion. Energy and Mood decrease significantly, slightly increasing the superior’s sympathy, with a chance of triggering an additional bonus or extra time off)]
It wasn’t just a chance of triggering. It had almost worked!
I was already reflecting on whether I’d become some kind of slave owner, and it turns out you were faking the whole thing?!
[Ability 3: Full Recovery (After work, fully restores Energy and Mood)]
Use that Energy and Mood while you’re actually working!
[Ability 4: Master Slacker (Greatly reduces the chance of being caught slacking off, including but not limited to spacing out, sleeping, sneaking snacks, taking leisurely strolls, and wandering around)]
What? You’ve even been sneaking my snacks?!
[Ability 5: Frugal Living (Saves sleep for working hours and strives to squeeze every possible benefit out of the workplace, including meals and refreshments, skills training, artistic enrichment, and more)]
You’re certainly being frugal, but what about me?! All of that comes straight out of my pocket!
What kind of [Best Employee] is this supposed to be?!
Elisa could feel her cheek twitching, and the hand holding her cup of black tea trembled.
She seriously considered whether she should dismiss this male servant.
But on second thought, the [Best Employee] specialty was actually rather…powerful. At the very least, none of her other servants could do any of this. He really was quite a talent!
More importantly, this strange and mysterious screen seemed to be bound to that male servant.
Sixteen pounds a year wasn’t all that much anyway, so she might as well keep him around for now.
Elisa looked down again.
[Status: Slacking Off (Energy ↑, Mood ↑)]
The moment I leave, you start slacking off?!
Elisa turned to the maid and said, “Go to the courtyard and see if the shrubs have been trimmed yet.”
The maid acknowledged the order and headed toward the courtyard.
The sitting room was quite a distance from the courtyard, so Elisa continued reading the final section.
[Available Action: Gift]
A gift?
[Gift: Giving the character a suitable gift can increase Intimacy, has a chance of improving Mood or Energy, and has a very small chance of triggering an additional effect.]
[Tip: Simon is feeling overheated under the scorching sun. A glass of something cold would surely be refreshing.]
Dream on!
You expect me to give you a gift? Have you forgotten which one of us is the master here?!
Ignoring the [Gift] section, Elisa finished the last pastry and drained the black tea from her cup, only to notice that the male servant’s status had changed.
[Status: Trimming Shrubs (Energy ↓, Mood ↓)]
The maid must have reached the courtyard and was now supervising him as he worked.
A smile appeared on Elisa’s face, and she felt immensely satisfied.
If she had stats of her own, her Mood and Energy would surely have risen dramatically just now.
She stood up, intending to return to her bedroom and continue investigating the screen itself, when a small window suddenly popped up.
[Intimacy -3]
“……?”
All I did was make you work properly, and you actually dropped my Intimacy?!
Although the decrease had no effect on reality, for some reason, it felt as though something that belonged to her had been stolen away.
Wait. His Intimacy had only been 2 to begin with, right? If it dropped by 3…
Elisa looked back at the Intimacy section.
[Intimacy: -1]
[Note: Simon is considering resigning and finding a new employer. Perhaps the young lady of the neighboring earl’s household would be a good choice.]
You get back here!
Elisa clenched her fists. Who was this young lady from the neighboring earl’s family? Elisa didn’t even know her, yet Simon was somehow more familiar with her than she was? Had he been planning this all along?!
“Young lady, the courtyard can be finished in half an hour at the earliest.” The maid returned to the sitting room, indicating that she had already instructed Simon to work as quickly as possible.
Elisa pressed a hand to her forehead. “Never mind. I’m feeling a little tired, so I’ll go take a nap. Let him take his time with the trimming. Yes, taking it slowly will produce better results.”
The maid acknowledged her instructions.
Elisa added with feigned indifference, “It’s very hot today. Have a cold drink sent to all the servants working outside. You should have one too.”
“Thank you for your kindness.” The maid spoke gratefully.
Elisa gave a reserved nod and returned to her bedroom.
Along the way, she calculated how much the cold drinks would cost.
Ordinary chilled lemonade from a street vendor cost 1 penny, while a restaurant drink made with real ice, lemon, and syrup could cost as much as 4 pence. She wasn’t sure how the maid would interpret “cold drink.” If she added other fruits as well, the cost might exceed 4 pence. Probably not, though. These servants knew their limits.
There were 27 servants on the estate. If 10 of them received cold drinks, and each cost no more than 4 pence, the total expense would come to around 3 shillings.
There was no helping it. She couldn’t very well send a cold drink only to that male servant, or the other servants might think she had ulterior motives. One day, she might return to her room after a bath only to find the male servant lying in her bed.
Haah. Living like an aristocrat really did burn through money.
Elisa returned to her bedroom and took the furniture replacement list from the head maid. When she saw the expense of 12 pounds and 18 shillings, she nearly stopped breathing.
She carefully examined the bill.
A landscape oil painting with a gilded frame cost 8 pounds and 8 shillings, while the mahogany bedside table cost 4 pounds and 10 shillings. So expensive.
Her heart ached, and she bitterly regretted being so impulsive.
A new message popped up on the screen, offering a small measure of comfort to her wounded heart.
[Simon received your cold drink. Intimacy +2]
[Intimacy: 1]
It was still 1 point lower than the previous 2, but at least it was positive again.
[Status: Drinking Tea (Energy ↑, Mood ↑)]
[Note: Simon has rediscovered the joys of life.]
Hehe. Slacking off while enjoying a drink….of course life feels wonderful.
Elisa did some quick calculations. Four pence bought 2 Intimacy, which meant 1 Intimacy cost 2 pence. At that rate, getting Intimacy all the way to 100 would only take another 198 pence…..not even 1 pound. Compared to the furniture, that was practically nothing!
Wait. There was no “/100” next to Intimacy. Was its maximum really 100?
Elisa fell into thought.
Besides, why am I even trying to raise his Intimacy? What use is a male servant’s affection anyway?
***
A male servant’s Intimacy was obviously useless. But it was the same with numbers in a game or characters from a gacha pool. Knowing they were useless was one thing; getting hooked on them was another.
Simon finished his iced lemon tea, then leisurely finished trimming the shrubs in the courtyard.
In the distance, the setting sun was nearing the horizon, its orange-red glow spilling into the servants’ dining room tucked away in a corner of the ground floor. Simon clocked off right on time, finished his staff meal, chatted with a maid for a while, and then returned to his bedroom.
He opened his own character panel and looked it over, wondering how he should edit it tomorrow to tempt Lady Elisa into playing around with him.
That’s right. The screen floating in front of Lady Elisa was something he had created.
[Character Editor]. That was the name of the cheat ability he had brought with him. [Black Tide] was the name of this game world.
He had originally been one of the game designers for [Black Tide], but before the game was even released, he had worked himself to death from overtime and ended up in this world with the [Character Editor] he had designed.
The [Character Editor] was a simple development tool that could quickly modify a character’s abilities and attributes. It was essentially a stripped-down version of a game editor.
But the program had been designed to run as part of the game’s main program, and once separated from it, a major problem emerged.
He could no longer access the main program’s Transcendent data. He could only use data he himself possessed to make basic modifications, and [Best Employee] was already the limit of what he could achieve.
Fortunately, the [Character Editor] still retained its ability to break down data, allowing him to dismantle Transcendent items from this world and convert them into Transcendent data.
But Transcendent items were difficult to obtain. He was just an ordinary young man….what angel investor would ever be willing to invest in him?
After thinking it over, he decided to fall back on his old profession, and thus [The Ultimate Male Servant Training Plan] was born. Using the [Character Editor], he created this training system and gave it to Elisa, one of the game’s heroines.
He had spent years scheming just to get hired as Elisa’s male servant and get close to her.
On the surface, Elisa was merely a wealthy young lady who had recently arrived in the royal capital.
In reality, she was an experienced Transcendent.
As long as he got her addicted to the training game and addicted to winning him over….she would surely offer up Transcendent items of her own accord!
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