Chapter 5: 5

Volume 1 Chapter 5: The Birth of Melody, Maid of House Luthorburg

The Commerce Guild was a state-operated enterprise whose sole purpose was to bolster trading and the flow of currency. However, although the Guild offered support in the way of information and financing, such services were only available to those who paid the annual membership fee – a fee ironically too exorbitant for the people the Guild supposedly supported.

However, six years ago, the Commerce Guild implemented a new system for non-members called Occupation Recommendation Support. In short, it was a system for aggregating nonstandard job postings, thereby streamlining the search for employment for people without connections or references.

“Did the crown prince come up with this system too? He sure is an amazing guy, isn’t he? Surely that also means he’s the Guild’s favorite person too!”

“Oh my, how bold! Don’t let His Majesty the king catch you saying that! Hehehe…”

“Oh, you’re right, you’re right. Fufufu…”

Melody, the Commerce Guild’s latest client, was making small talk with the receptionist during a employment consultation.

“So to summarize, you wish to find a job working as a maid, but you do not have a letter of reference. Is that correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“In that case, please start with checking the job board for all the current openings that do not require a letter of reference.”

“Understood! Thank you very much!”

Having thanked the receptionist for the direction, Melody immediately went to examine the job board, but…

“Hmm, these are all short-term contracts, and the jobs themselves are…”

The only available openings were for laundry maids to do the washing and for housemaids to do general cleaning.

While she held no aversion for menial labor, Melody’s goal was to experience a variety of jobs in pursuit of becoming “the greatest maid in the world”. Basically, she wants to live out her hobby and try all the things maids are known to do.

(I want a job where I do the cooking, the cleaning, and the laundry. I want to be the one dressing up my charge, receiving visitors, and sewing clothes. If possible, I also want to build a gazebo for a garden tea party. Developing cosmetics, designing furniture… ah… my dream just keeps growing…)

…Melody’s mind has glorified (?) a maid’s responsibilities to a ridiculous degree.

Melody was frowning in displeasure, unable to find a job that suited her preference, when the guild receptionist came by with papers in hand: she was posting new job listings. After sticking the papers onto the board, the receptionist returned her desk.

“Are those new job listings? Maybe something good came up!”

She immediately checked the posts with great enthusiasm, all five of them. However, the job descriptions were…

“Aww, they’re only recruiting male servants.”

Unfortunately, the new listings were not asking for maids; rather, they were looking for men to fulfill roles like cooking and gardening.

“As for the last one… oh, they’re looking for a female servant. Huh? Isn’t this listing…hiring a maid for a aristocratic family?

Normally, nobles require a letter of reference from potential servant hires as they fill positions of power and may even involve themselves with royalty. In other words, they require servants that can demonstrate a certain level of discretion and responsibility; the minimum requirement to vouch for such a servant is a “Letter of Introduction” from a reputable authority.

However, this job listing, posted by a House Luthorburg, requires no reference.

“…The location is the Count’s residence in the capital, they’re recruiting one person, and the responsibilities include… all-works?!”

The all-works type is the lowest among maids, usually finding employment under lower-class nobility and middle-class commoners – social classes that, to say the least, cannot afford to hire role-specific servants.

Affluent noble houses usually hire different maids in order to better handle the difficulty of managing larger estates. This would include positions such as kitchen maids and laundry maids for those specific responsibilities, and housemaids for general maintenance and cleaning.

However, an all-works maid was not role-specialized. The all-works was a jack-of-all-trades type that others looked down on because of their generalist master-of-none ability and commonplace presence in lower-class, less-affluent households. And yet any household employing an all-works expected a sweeping coverage of duties because of that same capability, leading to the all-works type being the toughest role of all.

And for some reason, House Luthorburg, a count-ranked household, is looking for an all-works maid.

Most people would want absolutely nothing to do with this listing; let alone working for a count household as an all-works, the lack of a reference requirement meant House Luthorburg would hire even a person of low-status, with the implication of taking no responsibility should any incident occur.

“This… this is it… this is it! This is the job I’ve wanted!”

Melody rushes back to the receptionist, a large grin plastered on her face.

“I’ll take this one, please!”

“Did you find something good? There isn’t a whole lot available right now… oh? This one was the noble household looking for a maid but without requiring a reference?”

The receptionist tilted her head in interest, but Melody paid her no mind.

“Um, if there isn’t a problem, I’d prefer if you could process my application as soon as possible.

“Huh? Oh, yes. Please give me a minute to file this.”

Although she felt a little concern given the contents of the request, the receptionist nonetheless does her job assisting Melody.

“Thank you very much! I’ll be going then!”

“Good luck..! Huh? She’s already gone. She sure is an energetic girl. I hope her seniors at the Luthorburg estate take care of her… Wait, Luthorburg?”

A sense of  déjà vu washes over the receptionist; she seemed to recall hearing of the name, but where…

Out of curiosity, the receptionist decided to ask the staff member that handled the registration of job listings.

“Hey, about this listing from House Luthorburg…”

“Oh, that one? I heard the previous maid threw out her back and can’t work anymore. House Luthorburg must be desperate if they’re willing to waive references! But with that level of responsibility, will they even find someone willing?”

“Luthorburg was.. oh, now I remember! That’s the family everyone calls “House Luthorbroke” because despite owning a mansion, they can only afford a single maid!”

“What’s wrong? …Hey, you’re looking a bit pale. Are you feeling all right?”

That was not the kind of job she should have assigned to a newbie maid! There has been a huge mistake! Many such thoughts swirled through the receptionist’s head.

But while the receptionist was panicking from her oversight, Melody was well on her way towards the Noble District and completely and blissfully unaware of any mistake.

Partesia, the capital, was a heavily-fortified fortress of a city with distinct layers segregating its residents: the royal family resided in the castle at the very heart of the city, the Noble District surrounded that inner zone, and the Commoners Precinct expanded out from there.

The Luthorburg residence, Melody’s destination, is located within the Noble District, a high-class residential area as its name implied. Compared to the rest of the area, the Luthorburg estate stands out as completely different… but not in a positive sense.

“…Is this some sort of haunted mansion?”

The rusty, dilapidated gate; the cracked and broken cobblestone path; the rampant overgrown verdure… a number of factors together created a gloomy atmosphere.

The main entranceway was no better; parts of the outer wall were beginning to crumble, the paint was peeling from the inner walls, and old rust blackened the brass knocker… It must have been over a decade since the last time anyone performed maintenance on the property.

Any regular maid would have turned and left immediately… really, any regular one would have.

“As they say, hard work is its own reward! It’s time to put my skills to the test!”

And to no surprise, the irregular maid Melody chose not to run, her eyes sparkling in anticipation and full of life.

“They’ll definitely want to hire me here! Let’s see, so if this is the front entrance, then the back entrance should be…”

As a general rule, only the master, his family, and guests may enter through the front door; the servants must use the back door to enter the mansion.

As Melody began walking around to the back, the front door opened to reveal a girl.

“For now, I should buy something for dinner… Oh? Who are you?

She wore a shabby dark-green dress and appeared to be around Melody’s age; after a quick glance, Melody came to a single conclusion: “This is a girl with wasted potential”.

The girl’s well-defined figure, long blonde hair, and blue eyes hinted at her potential, but it seems continual neglect has adversely affected the luster of her skin and hair. She would not be able to display the full extent of her beauty like this! It truly was such a waste!

(In any case… perhaps she is an all-works maid like me. But is she going shopping? She can’t just go through the front door like that, she really needs to pay better attention to — oops, I should be greeting her first!)

“My name is Melody Wave. I’m here about the job posting, from the Commerce Guild.”

You are reading story Me, the Heroine? And a Saint? No Way, I’m Just an All-Works Maid (Heh)! at novel35.com

“We sent the request out just yesterday, and you’re already here for it? Oh, thank you!”

“Huh? Kya!” Um.. huh?!”

Melody had yet to finish her self-introduction when the girl suddenly grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her into the mansion.

“Let’s hurry to the dining room to talk!”

“U-um! Servants shouldn’t be entering through the front door! I can use the back door, so…”

“It’s fine, don’t worry! If I say so, then it’s okay! There’s no problem!”

“Huh? ‘If you say so’?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? I’m Luciana Luthorburg. I don’t look the part, but I’m definitely a count’s daughter! Nice to meet you!”

“Huuuh?!”

Luciana, wearing an innocent smile, ignores the bewildered Melody as the pair arrive at the dining room.

“You can sit here. I’ll go make the tea!”

“No, wait! I cannot have my lady brew the tea!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve done it before back at our territory, so I know what to do!”

Having felt the intensity of Luciana’s enthusiasm, Melody passively took a seat in the servant’s dining area.

Luciana reached into a cupboard, removing a tea caddy. After opening the lid, she began haphazardly pouring leaves into the pot, and…

“Hey, wait! Stop!”

“Huh? What?”

“My lady, I must insist: please allow me to brew the tea after all.”

“B-but this is an opportunity for me to..”

“I shall prepare the finest of teas!”

“‘The finest of teas,’ you said? …I think I’d like to try drinking that. Can I leave it to you then?”

“Please leave everything to me!”

(That was a close call… I didn’t think she would simply steep leaves and pour, let alone not tempering the pot and cups…)

Melody quickly looked in the cupboard before preparing the tea set for use. First, she checked the water supply.

“My lady, when was this water drawn?”

“I drew it from the well just yesterday, so it should still be usable.”

“Hm, unfortunately, this water not suitable for use in brewing tea. Generate pure water, Water CreationFarediacca.”

Melody pours the magicked water into the copper pot on the stove.

“You can use magic? That’s the first time I’ve ever seen it used!”

“The leaves will finish steeping momentarily, so I must ask that you wait a little longer.”

Using freshly-drawn, aerated water is ideal for brewing tea; when the heated water goes into the teapot, the air in the water creates a convection current that causes the tea leaves to float to the water’s surface before settling at the bottom. This technique is referred to as “jumping the tea” and is vital for extracting and enhancing the full flavor of loose leaf teas.

“The tea is now ready to drink. Please enjoy!”

“How fragrant… You brewed this tea with those same leaves? …It tastes wonderful!”

The aroma and flavor were much better than what Luciana was expecting, and she sighed with satisfaction.

As a general rule, there existed no noble that does not love tea. The Luthorburg household, despite their peers mocking them as “House Luthorbroke”, was no exception to this rule, but their dire financial straits could not justify buying something as lavish as high-quality leaves. The leaves they could afford – the absolute cheapest available – quite frankly did not make a very appetizing tea, but…

“How did the taste change this much with just the brewing method? It tastes so much better… You said your name was Melody?”

“That is correct, my lady.”

“Um, does that mean you’re fine working for us? As an all-works, I mean.”

Yes, of course!

“Oh, I’m so relieved! Its nice to meet you, Melody! I’ll be counting on you from hereon!”

“Thank you for the welcome, my lady. Now then, I must speak with the housekeeper as soon as possible…”

As Melody happily celebrated the favorable turn of events, Luciana hesitantly responded in a low voice.

“…You didn’t know?”

“What do you mean?”

Luciana paled in the face of Melody’s puzzled blank stare.. Had something happened?

“Um, how do I say this… It’ll just be you, Melody…”

“Do you mean the number of applicants? Were there others?”

“No, it’s not that. It’ll… just be you alone… You’ll be the only maid working here.”

“Just me… alone?”

Although the Luthorburg estate was on the smaller side, a single girl would still struggle with managing the household; including daily household chores and caring for Luciana on top of that, a veritable mountain of tasks loomed menacingly. Honestly speaking, this was not the kind of workload a lone maid could handle… normally, at least.

“…Um, my lady? I will be doing everything then, correct? Since I am an all-works?”

“But doing everything is impossible… It’s fine if you just do what you can. I’ll help out as much as I can, so..!”

Although she offered a desperate compromise, Luciana already half-surrendered to the expected outcome; there was no way the average all-works maid could handle the entire workload alone, and willingly, at that. Naturally, anyone would refuse to accept this kind of job.

Having reminded herself, Luciana internally mourned over the tribulations she would face on the morrow. However…

“Wow, that would be amazing! Thank you for allowing me to serve, my lady! From this day forward, I shall be doing my best to support you!”

Melody had a wide smile on her face as she replied with unexpected assent.

“…Are you sure? You have to manage this entire mansion on your own!”

“Of course! Who would have thought everything would be left for me to do? …This is perfect!”

(H-huh? Why is this girl so happy?)

(I knew I would have plenty to do as an all-works type, but I would never have guessed I would get to do everything! When did I become this blessed? My luck is way too scary!)

Will someone please tell Melody its her own thought process that is the truly scary part…

“It will be my pleasure to be working for you, my lady, Miss Luciana.”

“Um, y-yeah. I’ll be expecting a lot from you, Melody!”

And thus, House Luthorburg successfully hired their newest maid, Melody Wave.

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