Kiraware Yūsha ni Tensei Shitanode Aisare Yūsha o Mezashimasu! - Chapter 7

[First of All, I Want to Win the Favor of the Masses]

The next morning.

Having woken up quite early—possibly nervousness playing a part—I went out to the courtyard.

The early morning mist hung in the air and chilly wind brushed against my skin, blowing away my morning grogginess and clearing up my mind.

In that place where not a single other soul was around, I held the Holy Sword.

To prevent my mind from getting swallowed by its power, it was imperative that I got myself used to it.

I was guessing that the original Barrett most likely neglected to do so, which was why he ended up having such a miserable ending.

—

After having breakfast, I immediately went about packing.

I planned to depart for the《Academy Homeville》where the Royal Astor Academy was located once I was done. Incidentally, Reina had left first, saying that she had student council work to do.

“And that’s last…”

Anyways, I’d finally finished stuffing my clothes and textbooks into five bags.

At first, a big crowd of more than 20 maids had followed me and tried to get everything ready for me, but I couldn’t help but feel shy about it, so after they had packed up some of my luggage and I’d learned the essentials I had to bring, I’d told them: “I will finish the rest.” Which had actually provoked unexpected cries from the maids: “Do you mean we’re fired?!” Apparently, our hated Hero normally relied heavily on his maids.

……This was something I had just belatedly realized, but Barrett had no manservant serving him, only maids. He was quite a licentious one in the original storyline, but to think he’d already displayed such inclinations from such a young age…

According to Barrett’s memory, the maids all had special circumstances.

I could read Barrett’s memory, but I couldn’t go as far as to read the motives behind his actions. In other words, I was only able to find out about things that had happened in his past.

……Therefore, Barrett’s reason for hiring the maids and getting involved with them was still a mystery to me.

I mean, why would he go out of his way to hire women with special circumstances only? Considering his personality and status, it should only be natural for him to choose women with clear identities.

But anyway, I then had told the maids that I had no intention of firing them and decided to have them prepare the carriage for me.

Also, I was informed that nobles normally brought a servant who would take care of their daily necessities to the academy, so I needed to select whom to bring.

No sooner as I thought that there was no way I could simply bring all my maids than I was told that Barrett had pressed the academy to allow him to bring as many maids as he liked, even all of them.

I’d had this same thought back at the Divine Gift Ceremony, but it appeared that the human named Barrett Albers had an obsession with showing off that he was superior to people around him.

At one time, he made a flashy display in a sacred ceremony, and at another time, he made young and beautiful women his maids and surrounded himself with them. His attitude didn’t change even after he grew up and became a Hero, instead, he caused trouble everywhere, becoming a useless member of society.

Was it an innate part of his nature?

His parents and sister were honest and upright, yet Barrett was the only one growing up to be an arrogant prick as though he was a mutant in the family.

……Well, to be fair, the author, his creator, designed him as a character to whom the readers could say “Serves you right!” without leaving any bad feelings, so it was completely understandable why he was such an unreasonable scumbag.

But now that I had reincarnated into that scumbag, the story was different.

The original storyline didn’t mention much about his school life. So, from here on until I became a Hero and thwarted the Protagonist Raul, I had to make people acknowledge that I was a Hero in the truest sense.

And above all… so as not to embarrass my fiancée Tayte.

So as not to embarrass her and myself… I first had to quit making ostentatious displays.

◇◇◇

In the end, I narrowed down the number of maids who’d be accompanying me to the academy from 26 to 3 in total.

First off, we had Marina, who had been serving me (Barrett) the longest and knew all there was to know about me. She being the first person I’d met after I was reincarnated indeed played a factor in why I had selected her, but she was also very capable and had good control over the ever-tyrannical Barrett. I would surely need her high adaptability in the future.

The other was Priim. She was a cat-beastfolk and human halfling, so she had outstanding physical abilities. I figured I’d ask her to teach me martial arts and swordsmanship between her maid duties. I definitely didn’t select her because I loved catgirls; I swore to God.

The last one was Rebecca. She was very knowledgeable and especially familiar with magic. And maybe because she was the oldest of the three, she appeared to be the most reliable one. She was an intelligent beauty who looked good with glasses.

As it turned out, even three maids were a lot compared to the other nobles, apparently.

Well, I ama scion to a ducal house, after all… Be that as it may, I knew the end of Barrett who used that status as a shield to do whatever he wanted, so I’d do my best to be as discreet as possible and win the favor of the masses. My first goal was to be a friendly duke’s son that was easy to get along with!

Having renewed my determination, I exited the mansion to get on the carriage that would take me to the Academy Homeville, but then—

“?!”

My feet came to a halt.

In front of me parked a carriage which I assumed I’d be riding, but… it was decorated with cringe flashy decorations.

What was up with this gaudy carriage!

The carriage I’d rode to the church yesterday was normal!

…Oh, now that I thought about it, that carriage was the Ehrenbergs’s, wasn’t it?

“Is there something not to your liking, Young Master?” Rebecca asked me in wonder, but to me, the existence of this carriage itself was the wonder here. Barrett’s aesthetic sense was this bad, huh.

Furthermore, upon closer look, there was not only one carriage. There were more than ten carriages in total. Were all stuffed with my luggage?!

“Say, Rebecca.”

“Yes.”

“My luggage… isn’t it too much?”

“?” Rebecca stared at me with a look of puzzlement. Huh? Did I say something strange?

“You will be staying in the academy for a short term this time, so this is less than usual, however…”

“Huh?!” Rebecca’s words left me in shock. “B-by the way, what is it filled with?”

“90% of it is changing clothes.”

That was too many clothes, wasn’t it?!

“Uhh… do I really need that many clothes?”

“As it is getting warmer, you will be changing clothes four times a day: in the morning, the afternoon, after class, and before going to bed. So, yes, you do.”

……I see, no wonder they packed me so many.

Or rather, just how many school uniforms did I have?

But this would greatly increase the workload of Rebecca and the others. I wanted them to support me in their respective fields of specialty, so I had to cut down on unnecessary work as much as possible.

“Rebecca, I’m sorry, but… Please reduce the luggage. Just enough to fit in two carriages, max.”

“Huh?! B-but, then your clothes—”

“I’m bringing several school uniforms, and I’ll be rotating between them while the used ones are being washed. I don’t really need training wear or loungewear, either.”

“?!” Rebecca was so shocked to the point that she couldn’t utter a sound.

……In any case, let’s get to repacking.

Incidentally, when I told the same thing to Marina and Priim, they reacted similarly to Rebecca.

From now on, I’d make sure to take care of a bit more of my personal stuff by myself…