“Before coming to the duke’s household. I originally worked in a magic tower. So I know a bit about it. Like magic force utilization theory, magic force internalization theory, and so on.”

“Ah, I see. Sophia has magical power……”

I was muttering when suddenly a word occurred to me and I turned my head abruptly.

“Sophia was a magician?”

“Shh, I’m sorry, young miss. If they find out I can use magic, it will cause a commotion around here. They tend to be a bit sensitive about such things.”

At her gesture asking me to be quiet, I closed my mouth. Still, as my eyes widened, Sophia whispered softly only to me.

“I can’t do anything too impressive, just small things like detecting poisons or sensing the surroundings. Other than that, well… creating a small barrier? Besides that, simple hypnosis or pursuit, light mind reading. That’s all. It’s really a useless ability.”

‘Uh… isn’t that actually quite a useful ability……’

Contrary to my thoughts, Sophia seemed to firmly believe her abilities were useless.

‘She’s too modest.’

I couldn’t make a fuss about it right now, so I’d have to tell her gradually later.

At that moment, Sophia, who had been watching my eyes, quietly asked.

“Were you very surprised? I’m truly sorry I didn’t tell you in advance, young miss.”

“I was surprised, but it’s okay.”

“Yes, I didn’t intentionally try to hide it. There just wasn’t really an opportunity to mention it. I was worried that if I told you from the beginning, you might be scared.”

That was certainly true.

Now, I know that Sophia is a kind and good person. I also know that she sincerely cares about me. So even finding out now, I’m not too worried.

‘Actually, it’s fortunate to have someone like that on my side.’

However, if I had learned these facts on the first day I met Sophia, I probably wouldn’t have opened up to her as easily as I did with the duke and Clemens.

‘……Though it’s not like I’ve opened up to the duke and Clemens even now.’

I’ve just gotten a little more comfortable after seeing them for a long time, but I haven’t actually opened my heart to them.

‘Right. That’s definitely not the case.’

“I guess I was being too cautious, so it became difficult to bring it up easily. As time passed, it just never came up. I didn’t know I would be in charge of you, young miss. I had been in charge of the young masters before, but that was as a tutor, and this is my first time as a nanny……”

“Huh? Sophia, you were in charge of the twins too?”

“Yes, with my experience working at the magic tower, I was in charge of the young masters’ magic force utilization education.”

Sophia replied with a slight smile. I realized her abilities once again.

‘To have been the twins’ tutor and still be working for the duke’s household.’

That alone was already more than enough proof of her capabilities.

In the middle of the hallway. A red-haired man leaned against the wall, nodding off while holding a sword in his arms.

At his feet, a red carpet was spread out.

“Hey, hey!”

As a colleague patted his shoulder, the man jumped up startled.

“Wh-what! What is it! Who’s there!”

“Get it together, they’ll be coming down soon.”

“Ah.”

Though the sentence was cut short at both ends, the man understood immediately.

He hurriedly wiped his face with his sleeve and straightened his posture.

As he looked around, he tapped the floor a couple of times with one foot.

A muffled thudding sound echoed quietly from beneath the floor.

Not long after, the sound of footsteps walking briskly could be heard from not far away.

“Ah shit, damn them!”

The man who had been comically introducing himself on stage just moments ago was gone. The man who had introduced himself as Kiki-jang, Aguil, roughly took off the mask he had been wearing.

“Those worthless fools! What, they came to see the elixir of immortality? And they believe that? Those idiots!”

Aguil irritably dusted off his clothes. Then suddenly, he noticed an unfamiliar face standing in the hallway and raised one eyebrow.

“Who’s that?”

“He’s a new recruit who just joined recently.”

As soon as the answer finished, the large man introduced as the new recruit shouted loudly.

“Vice Commander, have you arrived!”

Hearing those words, Aguil irritably ruffled his hair.

“What did you say? Say that again.”

“Yes, understood! Vice Commander, have you arrived!”

At the clueless new recruit’s response, the colleague standing next to him tensed up so much he could barely breathe properly.

Aguil had always been on the larger side from birth. His parents were tall, and he ate twice as much as others.

So it wasn’t difficult for him to have a bulkier body than the average man.

Moreover, Aguil was the type to make full use of his large build.

“Who the hell is this guy? Huh? Why is he calling me Vice Commander!”

“Ah, well……”

Aguil approached the small-framed man standing next to the new recruit and intimidated him. His head only came up to Aguil’s philtrum at most.

The atmosphere instantly became hostile.

While the soldier next to him hesitated, the clueless new recruit spoke up again.

“Vice Commander, is something the matter?”

“……What?”

“I’m concerned to see so many wrinkles on your noble forehead. Have you been having many worries lately?”

“Wh-what……”

After going to the trouble of creating such a hostile atmosphere, this new recruit had ruined it all.

However, it didn’t seem like he was deliberately trying to provoke Aguil. The reason was that innocent expression.

Moreover, he kept using the title “Vice Commander” which grated on Aguil’s nerves with every word, making Aguil truly want to grab the back of his neck and collapse.

“Excuse me Vice Commander, if it’s not too presumptuous, may I offer a word of advice? Of course, it’s all sincerely for your sake, Vice Commander.”

Aguil gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to hear what kind of advice this upstart was going to give, nor was he curious.

However, the reason he didn’t refuse in time was because this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. He had never met someone who wasn’t afraid of him before.

He didn’t know how to manipulate a subordinate to his liking in this kind of situation.

The new recruit didn’t seem to be waiting for an answer either, and continued speaking right away.

“Ahem ahem! You see, I had a superior I served since I was young. That superior always went around frowning like this.”

The new recruit furrowed his brows deeply. His expression was quite comical with his eyes, nose and mouth all scrunched up towards the center of his face.

However, no one laughed at the sight.

The new recruit didn’t seem to be trying to make a joke either, as he continued speaking with a serious face.

“He always had such a scary expression that I thought he had a disease that prevented him from smiling! Hahaha!”

The others were confused by the new recruit’s sudden burst of laughter after talking to himself.

They couldn’t even guess which part was supposed to be funny.

“But I realized that wasn’t the case. When I saw him spending time with his daughter recently. He always had a gentle smile on his face. And do you know what the most surprising thing was?!”

“Wh-what was it?”

“When he smiled, he looked 10 years younger than when he was always frowning! Hahaha!”

“……”

The new recruit finished his story with a laugh. No one else laughed along with the new recruit’s long story.

Aguil opened and closed his mouth several times. Then suddenly he recalled that the new recruit had mistakenly called him Vice Commander earlier.

“B-by the way, what did you call me earlier? What? Vice Commander?”

“Yes, that’s right! I called the Vice Commander ‘Vice Commander’!”

“Ha, look at this bastard.”

“Huh? Look at who? Me?”

Aguil was infuriated to the top of his head by the new recruit’s flippant tone. He approached the new recruit, huffing and puffing like he had done to the other soldier.

“Hey, ahem ahem! Isn’t this a bit too close?”

“……”

But that too wasn’t as easy as he thought.

Aguil had never met anyone with a larger build than himself in his life. So he had no idea that this new recruit’s physique was even bigger than his own.

That’s why he had strode over confidently, but the new recruit’s head was a whole hand span higher than his own.

“Y-you bastard……”

Aguil raised one hand as if to hit him. His hand failed to reach the new recruit’s head and slowly came back down.

Aguil retreated slightly and cleared his throat unnecessarily.

“What, you! Did you recruit such an idiotic guy?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll explain properly.”

Before leaving the hallway, Aguil glared at the new recruit with all his might. Even though he deliberately looked him up and down to make him feel bad, the new recruit said something infuriating with an innocent face.

“Vice Commander! It was nice to meet you!”

“……”

After Aguil disappeared, the colleague standing next to the new recruit finally let out a deep sigh.

“Hey, you shouldn’t call the Vice Commander ‘Vice Commander’.”

“Huh? What kind of bean-peeling, weed-picking nonsense is that?”

“……Anyway, the Vice Commander doesn’t like being called Vice Commander. So just know that.”

“If I don’t call the Vice Commander ‘Vice Commander’, then what am I supposed to call him?”

At the new recruit’s words of incomprehension, his colleague shook his head.

“Think about it, what other title is there besides Vice Commander?”

“There isn’t one.”

“No, I mean above that……, sigh. Forget it, obviously you’re supposed to call him Commander.”

“But isn’t there already a separate Commander? Shouldn’t we only use Commander when calling the actual Commander? Otherwise won’t the Commander be upset?”

“It doesn’t matter. The Commander will never show up anyway.”

The new recruit’s previously unfocused gaze suddenly sharpened. His eyes lit up, but his colleague who was looking straight ahead didn’t notice.

“What do you mean by that? The Commander will never show up? Did the Vice Commander say that?”

“Yeah, even the Vice Commander said he’s never seen the Commander before.”

“Hmm, I see.”

The new recruit’s gaze rolled across the floor. His colleague patted him on the shoulder and got up.

“Anyway, just know that and watch what you say next time. The real power here isn’t the nameless Commander, but the Vice Commander.”

After his colleague left, the new recruit plopped back down in his seat.

As he was getting ready to sleep again, a faint tapping sound reached his ears.

More precisely, it came from under the carpet he was sitting on. The new recruit quickly pressed his body to the floor after briefly surveying his surroundings.

As he slightly lifted the carpet, a straight line drawn on the floor became visible. He tapped it twice.

“Not yet, please be patient a little longer.”

When it quieted down inside, he casually laid the carpet back down and sat on it.

Getting into a comfortable position for dozing off, he quickly fell back asleep.

Seeing how drowsy he was getting, it must be just the right time for a walk.

The new recruit muttered half-asleep.

“Yawn, I miss our young lady……”