The next day was a different matter. His Royal Highness the Dauphin has decided to investigate that passage under his command, and we’ve been told that no one except those in charge of the investigation is allowed to go in or out. I feel like I’ve been let down, but he’s going to tell me the results so I’ll just have to put up with it and I’ll be in charge of something else in the meantime.
It’s good that he’s been appointed as the Prime Minister’s chamberlain, but if he spends every day in the underground library, ordinary nobles will wonder where the hell he is and what he’s doing there. What’s he doing here? And since the library itself is a secret, the more they wonder what he’s doing there.
I couldn’t argue with him, and that’s why I’m here today.
I was told that I should continue to work on other tasks at least once every three days. In other words, I was assigned to a task that I can leave anytime I want.
The reasons make sense to me, but the time factor gives me a headache. I’ll think of a way to investigate the archives efficiently.
And today I’m in charge of the temporary organization of the warehouse. There’s an air of being told that it doesn’t have to be finished by the end of the day, and that it’s just an ostensible job, and that I should just get on with it. He looks like one of those useless employees in a comic book who spies behind the scenes.
By the way, since it was decided that she wouldn’t be working in the library, Lily spent the morning studying at Zehrfeldt’s. Her mother had called in a history and dance tutor for the morning and afternoon. Her mother had called for history and dance tutors for the morning and afternoon. I’m not much use to her in history but I’m not much use to her in dance.
“You don’t need me to check on how the food is being managed…”
Yes, sir, a specialist will be in charge. The Viscount will be in charge of the tableware.
Okay.
The world as a whole is medieval, but the court is almost early modern. I must admit, I’m grateful.
In the Middle Ages, which is a long time ago, people ate everything but soup with their fingers until about the middle of the Middle Ages. It’s a description of table manners so laudatory that it says, “The lady never got her fingers wet when she put them in the dish.” is an expression of admiration.
But the table manners book at that time said, “Don’t use your little finger for condiments.” or even “Don’t blow your nose with the tablecloth. Some of them even say “Don’t blow your nose with the tablecloth”. That’s how different was the perception of table manners in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.
There is also an anecdote that a frog was floating in the emperor’s wine, and the aristocrat who served it swallowed the frog before he was suspected of trying to poison the emperor. Come to think of it, there was a similar story about a shogun and a caterpillar in the Edo period in Japan. That’s the world of the Middle Ages.
If the world we live in now was like that, I would have given up, but I don’t think I would like to see such a picture. It’s an aristocratic society of the early modern era only where it’s convenient, but I’m happy with it, so I’d be punished if I complained.
“All right, divide into groups and investigate yourselves. Pay close attention to the chipping on the vessels and the tarnishing of the silverware.”
“Yes.”
I’m getting a little too military for my taste. Divide the porcelain into men and the silverware into women… and have them go through the boxes in order. The silverware is divided into smaller pieces and is heavy enough for a woman to carry. Thank goodness we don’t have any trouble finding light with the magic lamps.
The number of tableware in the palace is really quite large. My father, the Minister of Liturgy, has a man in charge of them, and I heard once that they’re in charge of 600 pieces of porcelain alone and over 100 pieces of silverware such as knives.
There are thousands of glasses used in international ceremonies to show the power of a nation. I wonder how long it takes to count and polish them.
The candlesticks are usually stored here, but the biggest one weighs over 30 kilograms. The biggest candlestick weighs over 30 kilograms. The manager jokingly told me that it was too heavy to be used as a weapon, but I’m not sure if I should laugh or not.
“Any problem with the number of pieces of silverware?”
“There have been no changes since the last knighthood ceremony.”
Confirming the number with the person in charge. On a side note, we usually have to order a lot of small teaspoons or something after a lot of parties. It’s the same as in my previous life… some of the guys just put the small teaspoons in their pockets and take them home.
You might think that nobles and knights would do such a thing, but it’s actually not that unusual. It’s not for monetary value, but as a memento, so I can understand why they do it.
However, I can’t check the belongings of aristocrats every time, so I have to order small things after the event as a regular event. It’s a wasteful budget, but I don’t want to make a controlled society where even that kind of thing is tied up too tightly.
Movable assembly tables are also stored in these places. It is called a horse and saddle table, and is used by putting the upper board on a stepladder.
This top board has handles and is decorated. It’s an assembled seat but it’s not a lowly one. I think this is the seat that Sir Gawain sat on in a famous knight’s tale. There are many types of seats, such as rectangular and oval ones, because they are used for different purposes.
There is also a small iron that is used again after the tablecloth has been covered, but perhaps the most interesting feature is the long rope. This is used to check that the heads of all the dishes and knives are aligned when they are laid out on the long table. It is surprisingly low-tech.
“Wait, change the placement and position of the storage. Those of you who use this room often, please raise your hands and stand up.”
I was thinking about some nonsense when some guy tried to put it back in its original place mechanically, so I stopped the work and sorted out the people who usually use it. The average height is about this.
“Okay, this height and this height of the shelves is for the things you use most often. “and the ones you use most often.”
This one and this one.
“Now start with those two boxes. Move the ones you use to a convenient position and mark the boxes so you can see what’s in them.”
The aristocracy has a better diet, so there’s more likely to be a height difference between the servants and the keepers. No wonder the most used things are better in front. We have to be careful in this area.
In the afternoon, I’ll be carrying and posting materials for the finance meeting. I’m not old enough to be involved in the financial affairs of the state, so I’m just expected to attend. So I’m in the same position as the civilian officials who used to sit in on refugee conferences.
“This document will be the next item on the agenda.”
However, others have already done the preparation, so all you have to do is distribute and post. I have time to think, but I would like to use this time for something else.
Maybe the reason some of them glance at me now and then is because I’ve been transferred from royal consort to the Prime Minister’s chamberlain. I’ve been downgraded in the eyes of the court.
Maybe they think he’s a debt collector and Anheim’s walls are breached and the Knights are left with a man with no crisis management skills who would be in danger on the defensive if it weren’t for them.
Could it be that they’re making me do this work on purpose to draw attention to myself for the purpose of fishing? Let’s not think about that.
They’re discussing how to deal with the damage and the financial situation with the Demon Army, but what I couldn’t help but notice was when they were talking about lowering the value of the currency.
This is a story that was often told in the past life when financial problems occurred. In Japan, the Edo period is famous for this. It was also done in the West during the Hundred Years War. It’s a way to give a nation’s finances a breather by mixing in gold and silver coins. It’s certainly effective in the short term.
However, inflation is inevitable in the long run, and unlike the Edo period, when Japan was an island nation, in this world of easy circulation, the change in the value of money with neighboring countries is a source of trouble.
Moreover, once it is done, the government officials may come to an easy conclusion that ‘there is a precedent, so let’s do it again’. Unlike in the previous life, the wartime devaluation of money is a sweet, slow-acting poison because it is easy and effective in the short term, though we are dealing with an evil army.
Above all, in the Middle Ages, it was not possible to exchange money at once, so there was inevitably a period of time when money was used in combination with other currencies. During this period, inflation would increase gradually, and then the adverse effects of the inflation would appear, but historically, it usually happens after about five or ten years.
I’m in my 20s and I don’t want to deal with that kind of hassle. I don’t have a say in this, so I’m gonna have to put in a proposal later.
But if it’s just opposition, it will probably be ignored, and we’ll have to figure out where to pull the money from. In my experience as a deputy, tax collection from the guilds hasn’t been going so well in some areas, so maybe we should start there. I don’t know what to write. I have a headache.
