Kays Translations

Chapter 290: I Didn’t Do Anything

Dinner time ended peacefully, and now only free time, the bath, and bedtime remained. The bath time varies by day. Basically, you can go in at your preferred time.

“Nero, could you tell me when the bath will be free?”

“Um, right now, Madam and Rosalia-sama are using it. It should be free afterward.”

Nero took out a notebook and checked. Now that I think about it, the servants use small pieces of graphite instead of pens to take notes. Maybe servants actually need fountain pens? No, on second thought, pencils might be better. They can be erased, after all. I might try making one with an eraser.

“Then, I’ll go at that time. It’s helpful that Mother takes Rosalia with her to the bath lately. Mira seems to be joining them too.”

“Yes, it seems so. Lelie also joins them from time to time.”

“Oh, so she’s practicing washing her body. Lelie seems to be doing her best too.”

“She seems to find satisfaction in her work. She said she enjoys every day.”

Nero’s voice was cheerful. Perhaps it’s not just Lelie who feels this way, but Nero too. I hope that’s the case.

I think Lelie is right. Rosalia doesn’t act arrogantly, and she’s part of the group that eats snacks together. I don’t know how other households treat their servants, but I think we are quite lenient with them.

There’s a little time before the bath. I’ll use this time to make a pencil with an eraser. I managed to make one with the materials I had in my room. The performance as an eraser isn’t very good, but since I couldn’t get PVC, I had to settle for natural rubber.

I shaped the wood nicely and created several small grooves. I crushed the graphite, mixed it with clay, and then baked it into thin cylindrical shapes. I put these into the grooves I made earlier, applied glue, and sandwiched it from both sides to complete it.

Next, I shaved off the unnecessary parts to make it hexagonal, and finally, I attached the eraser to one side using a thin copper plate. It was smooth since I had seen a pencil-making process on TV when I was little. The lacking technical skill was covered by the ‘Craft’ skill. This really is a cheat skill. Rosalia can use it too.

“I did it, Nero.”

“What did you do?”

“Ta-da~! A pencil with an eraser~”

*Clap clap clap.* Nero, who looked a bit puzzled, still applauded. Well, that’s expected. I took out a knife and sharpened the pencil. By now, it seemed Nero understood what it was.

“This is… something that can replace graphite?”

“Exactly. When the tip gets short, use a knife to sharpen it like I just did.”

I handed over the finished pencil. Nero compared it with the one I had and seemed intrigued but decided to give it a try. He made some test strokes in his notebook. His cute face then widened in surprise.

“Julius-sama?”

“Yes, by rubbing the eraser on the writing, you can erase it to some extent.”

“What? I-it’s true!”

Nero seemed so surprised that he became somewhat restless. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Nero like this. Usually, he’s always so focused, as if striving to become a proper butler. I think he could relax a bit more. Even if there are a few slip-ups, I won’t abandon Nero and the others.

“Um, can I also give one to Lelie?”

“Of course. If you run out, don’t hesitate to let me know. I can make more quickly like this.”

“Yes!”

Nero responded cheerfully. It seems he liked the pencil. It looks like pencils are better for servants after all. They’re convenient and adaptable to schedule changes. Maybe I should spread them among the servants?

I was glad I made the pencil with an eraser. As I was thinking this, Rosalia and the others came to my room after finishing their bath.

“Julius-niisan, what are you doing?”

“Hmm? I’m not doing anything. I was just about to take a bath after Mother and Rosalia finished.”

For a moment, Nero looked a bit taken aback, but then he tightened his expression after seeing my face. He seemed to want to say, “I didn’t see anything.” As expected of Nero, he reads the room well.

If I talk to Rosalia about the pencil, it might spread further than expected. I’ve already made quite a few mistakes with pens. Another mistake could be fatal.

“I see. We just got out of the bath.”

“Kyu!”

Half-dried Mira leaped into my chest. Her fur has grown quite a bit. Maybe it’s time to cut it? But it’s winter now. It might be cold if I cut it now. By the way, dragon’s fur seems like it could be used for some kind of material. This is a chance to get a new material!

“Kyu”

Perhaps sensing something, Mira immediately returned to Rosalia’s arms. Rosalia tilted her head. Mira is sharp.

“Niisan, what’s that? It’s not graphite, is it?”

It seems Lelie noticed Nero using an unfamiliar item to write something in his notebook. Maybe she noticed right away because she’s observing to get closer to her proud brother.

“Oh, this is a pencil that Julius-sama made earlier. It’s a substitute for graphite. As you can see, it doesn’t dirty your hands at all, you can write thin letters, and it’s excellent because you can erase mistakes like this. I’ll give one to Lilie as well.”

When Nero was about to hand some pencils to Lelie, Rosalia screamed.

“W-what did you say? Niisan, didn’t you say you weren’t doing anything?”

Nero looked like he had just realized a mistake, covering his mouth with both hands. It doesn’t seem to have been intentional. It seems he couldn’t help but boast about the pencil he made easily, and it slipped out. It didn’t help that the other person was his younger sister, Lelie.

“Huh? Did I say that? Oh, right, Nero. The bath. We need to go to the bath!”

“Y-yes, that’s right. Let’s hurry to the bath!”

Nero hurriedly prepared his clothes. I also tried to leave the room quickly but was a step too late. Rosalia grabbed my leg firmly. Seeing this, Mira thought it was a game and grabbed my other leg.

“Julius-niisan, you’re not escaping!”

“Kyu!”

Oh no, if this continues, Rosalia and Mira will end up coming to the bath with me. I’ll have to give up on going to the bath now.

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