Translated by yAmi

Early in the morning, I went out from the backdoor of the residence"s bathroom (that could only be used by the masters) and saw, not far away, another female servant. She had a pail filled with water and was washing clothes, making the *Basha Basha* sound while doing so.

A kind looking auntie with a good physique. She must be Mary.

「Mary-sama, are you doing the laundry here?  Early isn"t it.」

「Ahh, Ryou? Morning. By the way, you can drop the ‘-sama’ with me. Aren"t you early yourself?」
「Yes, I am going to do make some preparations.」

And next, I went on with surveying the ground. There was gravel all around here. The size of the gravels were generally large, being roughly 5cm in diameter. Just what I needed.

After being satisfied with my surveying, I turned back face Mary and asked, 「Is Mary going to continue washing the laundry here? Why not do it at the washing area?」

If it was as per normal, most people would have done it at the place a.s.signed for doing laundry. I usually go there to wash Cain-bouchama and incidentally, Alan’s clothes there.

「The washing area is meant for washing the masters’ clothes, you see. The clothes washed here are the servants’ attires. We use the bathwater that"s left after Oku-sama is done with her bath. It contains soapnuts so using it makes it easier to wash off dirt.」

Ah, so that"s soapnuts! It"s the herb that Stella-san always carries around her.

I have always noticed that the Madam’s bathtub is empty the day after she used it – so this was what happened. It was fully utilised by the servants to wash their clothes. Great for ecology.
「Mary-san, thank you for your constant guidance.」

「It’s alright, you don’t have to thank me for everything. Considering that ever since you came, the number of dirty clothes Alan-bouchama usually racks up has decreased, making my work easier…… Though it has increased again as of late.」

d.a.m.n s.h.i.tty brat.

「Sorry. From today, I will return to being the bouchama’s maid and I would make sure to instruct him carefully to prevent it.」

「Ahaha, are you seriously saying that, you don’t seem like a child at all. Young yet dependable.」
Well, my mental age is indeed around your level.

If I continued to stay and chat with Mary-san, I would likely be a hindrance to her work so I decided to cut off the conversation at an appropriate timing and hastily went on with my preparations. 
I made sure to inform Mary-san that I would be doing some work here, and of course I gained Stella-san’s approval beforehand so please do not be bothered by my presence.

First and foremost, I pushed the gravel with my feet around to form a circle with 1m in diameter. After which, I piled some big rocks and firewood in the circle.

This sounds quite simple but it took a significant amount of time. Compounded by the fact that I only have a physical body of a 5-year-old, doing anything at all would easily make me tired, and my movement is sluggish too. Moving these heavy objects was tough.

I took a short break and realised that the young masters should be waking up anytime soon. I quickly dusted my attire and went to their room.

–Knock, knock

「Good morning, Cain-sama. May I enter?」

No replies came from inside the room. They were probably still asleep. I was taken aback as I didn’t expect Cain-bouchama to be the type to oversleep.

Saying excuse me, I entered the room.

There were bulges on the canopy bed. As I thought so, they were still in la-la land.

The curtains shielded the room from the morning sun, cladding the room in darkness. For starters, let’s flood the room with sunlight. I drew open the curtains. The room was bathed in sunlight in one go.

Even though the radiance struck above their eyelids, all that could be heard from the bed was their monotone “uuuun” cries.

I stood by the side of the bed and greeted “Morning”, and Cain-bouchama and …… Alan replied “U~n” again while snuck underneath their covers.

Yet again, Alan had crawled into Cain-bouchama’s bed. This happens regularly. Perhaps he feels lonely. Well, he is a 5-year-old.

I was sincerely sorry to interrupt their good night sleep but, I hardened my heart and flipped their covers over.

The bouchamas were wearing their bathrobe-like pyjamas, which was creased and wrinkled (after sleeping on their bed). For now, since they are children it is acceptable but…… to continue sleeping on the same bed after they grow older, people might get the wrong idea.

「It is morning already. Breakfast has been prepared. Please wake up.」I pressed on.

The first reaction came from Alan.

Un? He laid down on the bed before lifting his face and as he met my eyes, something twinkled in his eyes. He started shouting, 「It’s Ryou!」and jumped to his feet.

Unexpectedly, he was extremely excited and I too, was startled at his enthusiasm.

I had imagined him to shout that “my pain in the b.u.t.t, boss, is finally came back!” and make a disgusted face.

「……Ryou?」

Cain-bouchama had been awoken by Alan’s shouting and while rubbing his drowsy face, he slowly rose. Cain-bouchama probably has low blood pressure. Morning was when he looked sheepish.
「It’s really Ryou. Morning.」said Cain-bouchama as he sweetly smiled.

An amazing angelic smile. His sheepish half-asleep look was good. I archived his smiling face into my mind’s folder.

「What, Ryou! I was told that Okaa-sama found you useless ultimately, and so you came back huh?!」
Alan was extremely delighted. I see, I see.

d.a.m.n Alan. He had wanted to spout his nonsense to me all this! What a reliable brat. Initially, I had thought that he was such a cute henchman, but now I have to return the borrowed sense of warmth.

「So I heard a rumour about some henchman that had been behaving riotously while his boss wasn’t around. Since there was no way to resolve this problem, I have returned.」

「Eh! Someone is behaving riotously…… You, do you have any other henchman other than me!?」
Alan’s face looked as if he was greatly shocked.

I’m talking about you! Mr Alan! Please realise! Your boss is being sarcastic here!
「I don’t have any other henchman.」

「This means…… some other henchman out there, is he from another faction!? Could it be the brat from the adjacent town at fatty arms Coffin’s place!? No worries, Ryou. That dude definitely has plump arms, a bulging belly and fat legs. There is no way he can oppose me! 」declared Alan braggingly. He puffed up his chest in pride and looked at me with his twinkling eyes.

“As expected of my henchman, reliable!” was what I wanted to say, but I won’t say it anyways!
What is this fatty arms Coffin? Who is it? There are other factions? This was my first time hearing about it. Don’t count on me to join in the conflict!

I sighed, and decided not to continue this topic.

Beside Alan was Cain-bouchama cowering and shivering as he tried to restrain his laughter. Isn’t it the job of the elder brother to prevent his little brother from going berserk? Cain-bouchama.

「Alan-sama, I have yet to hear anything about this fatty Coffin-san.  More importantly, breakfast has been prepared. Please allow me to a.s.sist in changing your clothes. Today you have sword practice, hence, let’s make do with a set that is easy to move in.」

Speedily, I selected the clothes from their closets and a.s.sisted in their change of clothes.

We are all children, so for now, helping them change is okay but in the future, I feel it’s best to search for a male servant to deal with this. It appears that Alan and Cain-bouchama felt somewhat awkward about it.

I combed their hair and gave them a seal of approval on their heads that guaranteed that “It is decided that today would be a perfect day” before sending them off to the dining room.

I retrieved their pyjamas and informed the other servant-oneesan, who was in charge of the room’s management and tidiness, that the bouchamas have woken up and they would proceed to have their breakfast. I then rushed off to the dining room myself. I have to help them in their meals or else.

…… Somehow, rather than being the ‘boss’ (oyabun), I am more like the ‘parent’(oya). Well,  I am their maid, so that’s fine.