"There's a pretty interesting story here. The reward is 5 items at the sweet shop!"
"Uh... Well, with three items, I can manage..."
"Hmm, if this is true, I should have made a bargain here and said, 'If it's 4 items...,' but I've always been treated to treats... No problem, I'll make a deal with 3 items!"
"...The ultimate level of gratitude!"
Two maids were having a somewhat suspicious conversation.
This was not a problem if they were both wearing the same maid outfit.
However, the maid uniforms these two were wearing had different designs.
They were not due to different occupations, such as ladies' maids and laundry maids, but they were maids from distinctly different noble families.
...They contacted maids from other noble families and exchanged information.
If the employer found out, wouldn't it be a big deal?
It was natural to be concerned about this.
Could these two be spies pretending to be maids?
For that reason, the information fee for 3 items at a sweets shop was way too low.
What on earth does this mean?
"Anke, what's the result?"
"It's great. Countess MacDull hasn't been able to make any progress with her makeup skills, and she's been hitting the servants all over the place... I think if we can negotiate something on the condition that one of her family's servants be dispatched as an instructor, we can conclude a contract that is advantageous to master. If we have mistress present at the signing of the contract, it's almost certain..."
"Rogue!!...Alright, I'll make a proposal to master as a joint result of the three of us! If we do that..."
""Incentives and special leave, definitely!!""
……yes.
Anke, Britta, and Carla from ABC, the trio of maids from the Viscount Reiner family.
The girls were praised by the Viscount for being the starting point for their interaction with Viscount Yamano, and received a reward and special leave.
After that, they were contacted by a maid from the Count Bozes family (currently a marquis).
There wasn't anything malicious about it, and what we talked about at that time was just small talk between maids, but at that time, the other person said, "The Viscount Reiner family is a comrade with the Archpriestess. Don't tell the other house's maids."
It's not about revealing secrets or leaking information, it's just normal small talk...like a wife saying she was overjoyed when her husband bought her jewelry, or a young lady saying something about a stage actor. Just talk about things that make you smile, such as trivial things like things that make you feel anxious.
Just common small talk that didn't violate their duty of confidentiality as a servant.
...And even though that's all, they got the cost of eating and drinking with a maid from another family plus allowance from their mistress.
Naturally, the surveyors were left wondering, "What's that?"
And they tried to imitate it themselves.
At that time, they told their master, Viscount Reiner and his wife, about some very ordinary, small, heartwarming stories about the Bozes family that they had heard from the other party...the Bozes family's maid...
...They received three small gold coins and a three-day vacation.
""What is this?!""
Shocked! Stunned!
Botamochi from the shelf. Millet with wet hands.
A similar saying existed in this world as well.
They got a little scared and honestly told the Viscount that they had been contacted by the Bozes family's maid and the conversation they had at that time...
"...Ah, even if it's trivial, information has value. Even if one thing is meaningless on its own, it can serve as proof that other things are true, or it can provide unexpected hints. Also, the example mentioned in the previous story about the young lady trying to become an actor. What if someone found out about this and asked the actor to perform a play that targeted a specific individual? What if someone was forced to do something, like pay a lot of money or pray for the actor's family's safety and long life? ...So, I wonder what you guys talked about the Reiner family at that time..."
The eyes of Viscount Reiner, who was usually kind to the servants, were smiling but not smiling at all.
""Gyaaaaaaaaaaa~~!!""
And what he told them was that the young lady was addicted to Reversi, and that she was very grateful to Mitsuha-sama, but she didn't show it to the public, but when they found out, Mitsuha-sama said, "You're a tsundere!" They were relieved when the Viscount told, "As long as that's the case, there's no problem."
However, when the Viscount asked, "What is 'tsundere'?", they couldn't answer because they didn't know either...
After that, the Viscount taught them "Things you can say to a maid from another family"... that there was no problem even it would be known, and that they dared to give out deceptive information...three girls were asked to followe the methods of the Bozes family's maids and worked behind the scenes.
Of course, deceptive information was not something that would be revealed immediately, but rather the content had been carefully considered to ensure that it did not conflict with other information, and the maid who conveyed it to her employer would not be disadvantaged.
Also, even though it's a "secret move," it didn't necessarily mean spreading malicious lies.
Disseminating information that was convenient for the Reiner family, such as that the Reiner family was honest and good people, that the industry in the territory was doing well and there were no problems, and that they were looking for a partner in their activities in the royal capital. It only collected information about other families.
...Of course, they thought about the possibility that other families would notice the Viscount Reiner family's methods and spread deceptive information, and if they thought it was even a little suspicious, they would double-check that, and determined whether it was intentionally released.
...Thus, the three maid daughters of the Viscount Reiner family started doing the same thing as the maids of the Bozes family.
Of course, the necessary expenses would be covered by the Viscount family, and if good information was obtained, there would be a reward.
For the Reiner family, no matter how trivial it may be, if they could obtain valuable information about other noble families, the price of a sweet parlor for commoners or the success fee they give to the three was cheap.
Nowadays, there were stories among the maids working in the royal residences of noble families that "the maids of Viscount Rainer's family are very nice," and "If you go to a sweet shop with them and have a good chat, they will pay you for the sweets." It became popular and it became easier to invite maids from other families.
Nowadays, social gatherings were being held where maids from multiple noble families gathered.
Most of the maids would just talk about funny things and hardships at work, or complain about things, just as "small talk with friends".
...The maids' mouths became lighter at the "free sweets" that wasn't just free alcohol.
Some of the maids, who somehow understood the situation, blatantly said, "We'll give you information, so please buy us a lot!" But it's not like they were selling their employer's secrets, it's just small talk like "It looks like the young lady's engagement will be decided" or "Her husband is in a good mood." They didn't feel any sense of violation or betrayal of my employer, and they didn't feel any guilt.
In addition, there were people who would tell their employers about the information they had obtained by saying that they happened to hear employees from other families talking to each other, and successfully get rewards. They seemed to have kept it a secret, probably because they thought it would be bad if people found out that they were having such conversations with the maids.
...Thus, a royal residence maid network was formed consisting of maids from noble families whose existence was known only to a few people...
Author's Note
The 9th volume of my work, "I will save 80,000 gold coins in another world in preparation for my retirement," will be published on March 1st (Friday)!
Thank you for your support! (^^)/
Also, I will be taking a break from all three works next week.[1]
My birthday is this weekend[2], and next week I have to prepare tax returns and do various other paperwork, and I haven't been able to rest at all during the holidays due to work on the book, so I decided to take a week off. In the meantime, I have to make some progress on the big work that has fallen behind... (^^ゞ
That's why I'm taking a break from Volume 9 and one episode of 80k Gold, and thank you for your continued support! (^^)/
Translator's Note
[1] As the author said, there will be no new chapter next week. I will also take a break from 80k gold next week. A new chapter probably will be 2 weeks from now.
[2] Probably 24 or 25 February, by the time the original post was published.