The week I spent at the orphanage went by really fast.

Originally, when the body is busy, it feels like time goes by that fast.

In that sense, the week I spent at the Arwen Nursery School felt like I was being dragged out by force.

It was a tiring day, but aside from that, it was also a time with many meanings.

During the week we stayed at the nursery school, Xian and I lived under the title of ‘temporary nursery teacher’ just like Stella.

For me, who needed to come into contact with the children and find out their own tendencies, at least this title was absolutely necessary.

Of course, for children, regardless of whether it is a temporary daycare teacher or a formal daycare teacher, it will only be used as the title of ‘Mr. Conrad’.

Xian was still reluctant to stand in front of noisy children, but eventually she agreed and accepted the position of temporary nursery teacher like me.

“If dealing with kids seems difficult, you can just give up, Xian. After all, even if it’s not you, Stella is looking after the girls.”

“… Does the intention of saying that mean that I can’t do what Stella juniors do?”

“Everyone has things they are good at and things they are not used to. It felt like a comparison, so I tried not to say it if possible, but Stella is much better at taking care of children.”

“Is that so? I mean, I really think so… ?”

It was a story I told her in the sense that she didn’t have to burden her because of me, but Xian seemed to have a strange competitive spirit when he said that he had less talent for taking care of children than Stella.

“I’ll make sure you reverse that, Conrad.”

“yes?”

“I’ll make sure to correct your words that I’m less qualified to be a mother than Stella’s juniors.”

“… I didn’t really say that.”

“Even so, the short-lived lack of knowledge about the world… It is just a set of human species. I will make everyone sincerely admire the noble elves of different years.”

“… … .”

It was a proposal to burn the will to something strange, but I didn’t see any elements that could be a problem, so I left it as it is.

I didn’t want to pour cold water on her passion to try something so hard.

Of course, even though she had expressed her will to that extent, she only barely managed to prove that she was not in the way.

In the first place, Xian and child were words that didn’t go well together at the level of a cat and broccoli. I can’t imagine why they put these two words together.

“Elf teacher! Elf teacher!”

“Okay, what else do you want to ask?”

“I want to become a fairy living in the forest of the world tree, but what should I do to become an elf like you?!”

“First of all, it will be impossible for humans, so for now, I have to end my life once… .”

“Sian, Sian!!!”

Several times, I had to hurriedly shut Xian’s mouth to refrain from breaking the child’s innocence with the children too seriously.

Fortunately, Stella and I controlled her so that she wouldn’t run out of control in the middle, so it didn’t lead to a disaster that broke her innocence.

My first day as a temporary nursery teacher went that way.

From the second day, I was able to spend a day that was much easier than the first day.

This is because Mr. Lexio, the original daycare teacher for boys, has returned from a regular holiday.

“It seems that there is a face that I have not seen before. Like Miss Stella, they are temporary nursery teachers!”

“… … .”

“… … .”

The first impression I and Xian had of him was that he was a rather noisy person.

I wondered if the voices and body of the tomboy boys in the orphanage would be just like that.

“I am Lexio Gregorius! You can call me Lexio teacher comfortably! It may be a while, but please take good care of me!”

“… Please take good care of me.”

“… It’s a short time, but thank you, Mr. Lexio.”

“Even if you just call me Mr. Lexio! hahahaha!”

As expected of a male teacher who soothes the energetic boys at the nursery school, he was a very energetic person.

As a result, he was a person of tension that was a little burdensome to face one-on-one, but he was a certain person with the ability of a childcare teacher.

Because there was no one person with that kind of personality to accept all the pranks of boys who were a bit burdensome to deal with alone.

“Mr. Lexio! I also! I want to ride a wooden horse too!”

“I will too! I also!!”

“hahahaha! Then, who can hold on to the teacher’s arm longer, Kellyn or Nicole, let’s face it!”

Thanks to him who never gets tired even with boys in their prime, I was able to spend my day relatively comfortably from the second day.

As a bonus, it was quite helpful to take the time to step back and observe the children’s tendencies.

Other than that, like helping Director Nemia cook in the kitchen every mealtime, or using magic to finish large-scale cleaning a little faster.

In that way, I was having a pretty enjoyable day, so the time of the first week I planned went by pretty quickly.

The day after a week has passed since I took the position of temporary nursery teacher and hung out with the children.

I called each of the children I had clearly identified during my time at the nursery into a private interview room.

From now on, it was time to finish running errands for Delphina, the purpose of visiting this nursery school.

While waiting for the children to come in one after another in the interview room prepared with the care of the Nemia Nursery Director, the door opened and the first child entered the interview room.

A girl with short brown hair and a gentle look. It looked like Bell.

“… Mr. Conrad?”

Bell entered the interview room as if not understanding why she had been called, and began to look around.

“There is nothing to be nervous about. I didn’t call you to scold you.”

“… Yeah.”

“Would you like to sit down for a moment?”

“yes… .”

Bell, who still couldn’t let go of her tension, looked at me and cautiously sat across from me.

“Belle, how old are you now?”

“Hey, I’m twelve… .”

“If you’re 12 now, next year you’ll be old enough to graduate from nursery school.”

“That, yes… .”

As soon as she heard the word graduation, Bell’s eyes began to tremble with anxiety.

That would be a natural reaction. What kind of child can happily accept the act of being thrown into society after graduating from a nursery school?

A place called a nursery school is a facility that provides basic education to go out into society, but it was only to the extent that it taught the minimum survival knowledge.

It must be close to a miracle that a thirteen-year-old child can become a member of society without any preparation.

Of course, in order to prevent such a situation from happening in the empire, there were several facilities where children could be taken in so that they would not wander even after graduating from nursery school.

Factories that make industrial products such as magic tools, workshops that make clothes and dolls by hand-sewn, and other facilities where even a child can work.

It was not a facility built with the expectation of an adult’s workload, but rather a business built to help them develop their self-reliance by making them do what they can to some extent.

After graduating from nursery schools, most of the children enter such government-affiliated businesses and spend a few more years until they reach adulthood before becoming members of society.

Of course, there were many cases in which the fate of the orphanage students changed in various ways, such as being adopted by someone from the time they were at the nursery school before that, being hired by a facility operated by an individual rather than a business under the empire, and so on.

After most of them entered the empire’s businesses, they simply filled their positions as simple labor force.

Read at noblemtl.com

Just one simple workforce that can be replaced at any time and replaced by anyone.

Unfortunately, that was one of the better things out of all the realities experienced by children from nursery schools in the Empire.

At least much more than being a bandit or a tramp or a prostitute.

Bell was quite smart among kids her age, so she must be more worried about after graduating from nursery school.

That’s why I didn’t want Bell to be consumed as a labor force in a factory after graduating from an orphanage.

After all, this child would be able to do things that suited him far better than being a part of society in that way.

All I did during the week at Arwen Orphanage was to find a precious stone like this bell.

Bell-like children who have not yet been processed will become the necessary talent for Perdalos in the future.

“Bell, whatever you say from now on is your choice. Don’t be shy and answer comfortably.”

“Yes Yes!”

“Are you thinking of working as a maid for the Perdalos family?”

“… … Yeah?”

Bell, who couldn’t understand what I was saying at once, asked with a puzzled expression.

I put a piece of paper with the family seal on it in front of Bell, who showed such a reaction.

A contract made as simple and concise as possible that even a child can understand.

It was an employment contract for young children that Delfina had been thinking about all day long.

“I’m sorry for hiding it until now, but I’m actually the eldest son of the Viscount Perdalos family.”

“Come on, viscount… !”

“Don’t be so nervous. I’m not really aristocrats, so I didn’t bring up what commoners say.”

“Ha, but, he’s still the Viscount… .”

No matter how halfway aristocratic a viscount may be, a nobleman is a nobleman.

And since there was, of course, an insurmountable difference in status between nobles and commoners, Bell, who was especially smarter than her peers, hurriedly put her forehead on the table and bowed her head as soon as she heard that I was an aristocrat.

… The fact that Stella is the daughter of a count should be kept as secret as possible.

“Don’t fall down like that, Bell. Could it be that, to Belle, ‘Mr. Conrad’ was a coward who discriminated against commoners while promoting the face of an aristocrat?”

“Oh no! No, Mr. Conrad is absolutely not like that!”

“Yeah, right? Now, raise your head.”

“yes… .”

I haven’t completely cleared my doubts yet, but Bell slowly raised her head and met my eyes.

“I will ask you again. Do you have any plans to work as a maid in Perdalos?”

“Me, maid… .”

“Bell, if you like it, the Perdalos family will learn to become a maid, and when you’ve done it right, the Perdalos family will hire you as a maid. Of course, the Perdalos family will take care of eating and sleeping.”

“… … .”

“Of course I won’t be mad at you for refusing. Bell, I will listen to your thoughts as much as possible.”

Perhaps she hadn’t completely decided on her thoughts, Bell pondered with her head hanging before asking the last question.

“Why are you doing this?”

“yes?”

“To Miss Conrad, am I not just a common girl everywhere? … If you feel responsible for the fact that I was almost attacked by a monster two years ago… .”

“I’m not going to take you out of trivial sympathy, so don’t worry.”

He clearly explained why he wanted to take him to Bell, who had a strange misunderstanding.

“Because Belle was a pretty decent talent in my opinion. That’s all.”

“… Is that all?”

“Yeah, that’s all. It’s because you’re looking at your future and investing in the present you. I’m saying it again, but if you don’t like it, it doesn’t matter if you decline.”

“… … .”

“Perhaps it would be difficult to promise dramatic success as hired as a maid. But if you come to Perdalos Mansion, at least you will never have to worry about food, clothes, or a place to sleep.”

“Joe, can I think about it a little more? Because it’s such a sudden story… .”

“yes. But can you answer me at least by tomorrow?”

“Yes, ah, I see…” .”

Bell, who left the interview room with a bewildered expression, returned to me the next day with a determined expression.

The brown-haired girl has safely completed the contract to become a servant of the Perdalos family.

In this way, a total of seven apprentice maids and prospective butlers, including Bell, belonged to the Perdalos family.