Chapter 34: ep.3 [Girsch’s advice] ◆

　As Girsch’s lover was about to leave his room, “Oh, that’s right!” she turned around with a smile.

“My father and mother were so thankful to the Wizard. My parents, they have to pull their cart to the market every day, right?　They say it’s so much easier now that he’s made the roads so clean. It’s amazing how smooth and shiny they’ve become overnight, Wizards are just amazing, aren’t they? Can you give him their regards?　The people are very grateful."

“Oh, okay.”

　Girsch responded with a smile, but in the short time he had, he thought about many things.

　Although he has not told his girlfriend, Girsch has been managing the road maintenance work for the past six months. The roads around the market, aside from the main street, the road from his girlfriend’s parents’ house to the market is mostly dirt, and he has not yet had time to maintain it that well.

　The fact that it has been cleaned up overnight must mean that, as his lover said, it was done by a wizard.

“Henry was the only one who could get a wizard to work at night. But it would be a bad idea to do that to a national treasure.”

　For Girsch, Henry is a proud peer. He is no longer the target of envy or criticism, as he is rising through the ranks like a falcon overtaking a flock of pigeons. He is even curious to see how far he will rise in his career.

　Girsch was once helped by such a Henry.

　Many years ago, Girsch wrote the numbers on an order form incorrectly and gave it to a contractor.

　As a result, he ended up ordering three times as much high-quality stone as he had planned for the castle's exterior walls.

　Days later, he realized his mistake and ran to correct it, but the other party had already placed the order with a stonemasonry company they did business with.

　When Girsch asked Henry if “it was possible to revise the order in exchange for certain terms”, he replied, "You shouldn't do that, because you'll owe the contractor. I got it. I’ll handle this.” And he moved on.

　Henry went around talking to various people and convinced them that it would be better to buy in bulk and cut freight and labor costs. Thanks to his efforts, Girsch’s failure was no longer a failure.

　Since that incident, Girsch has had the desire to protect Henry. So when he heard something that would make the higher-ups furious, he felt he had to advise Henry.

　The next morning.

“Henry, are you having wizards working at night?　That’s not good.  I’m sure you’ve come up with some sort of trade-off to convince them, but if the bigwigs hear about it, it’s going to be a problem.”

　Henry looked as if he was thinking.

“Um, what district are you talking about?”

“It’s the road from the west gate to the market. Apparently they made it all shiny and smooth overnight.”

　Henry, with a rare smile in his eyes, said, "Oh, yes. Thanks for the advice. You're the only one who would give me that kind of advice. I owe you one."

　Henry readily accepted Girsch's advice and was about to head back to the stack of papers. Girsch decided to tell him what he always thought of him (as a matter of courtesy).

 "You know, you've been getting a lot of pressure lately to do some of the work that the finance department officials do. Don’t take it on. Just say no. There's no end to it.”

“it was something I was forced to do at first, but now I’m doing it willingly. It’s actually quite convenient to know how the budget flows. It allows me to subtly guide the actions of each department.”

　Girsch was stunned and could only say, "Huh?"

“You’re not aiming for the position of Prime Minister, are you?”

“It will be tough for me to be the Prime Minister with my status as a Viscount. I am thinking of becoming a capable civil servant who can guide the Prime Minister.”

　Henry said this with a straight face, and Girsch shook his head and returned to his seat, saying, “Henry, you’re actually a pretty scary guy.”

　Later that afternoon, Henry went out for a late lunch, and when he and Mai were alone, he broached the subject.

“You’re the one cleaning the roads at night, Mai-san, right? People are talking about it, so you’d better be careful about how you do it. If you really want to do it, you have to move in a way that makes it unpredictable where you’ll be next.”

　Mai said “Ahh” and her face went red.

“If you want to do road maintenance efficiently, why don’t you ride your assistant’s horse once a week to do it?”

　He thought she would refuse, but Mai nodded her head.

“I knew I’d get found out eventually, so I kept changing locations and taking breaks.”

“There is a civil servant who was suspicious of me. You should be cautious. You can ride a horse and use magic. If anyone asks you anything, just tell them I invited you to go out with me.”

“Are you sure? Thank you very much. I’m happy to be able to ride a horse.”

( Are you sure it isn't that you're excited to go out with me at night?) Henry thought, hiding the disappointment behind his smile.

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