24-Hour Regression Counseling Office — Episode 12
“It seems you’ve experienced everything except reincarnation.”
“That’s right.”
Tom fell silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
“After five hundred years?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow.”
It was a “wow” delivered in an exceedingly dry tone. But that was the greatest display of surprise Tom was capable of.
“I see.”
He nodded slowly.
“So now our House of Lien rises from a count’s house to a duke’s house?”
It was a shift in attitude that made one wonder if this was truly the same person who had been asking Laura whether she planned to become a mercenary from now on.
Laura’s expression turned somewhat displeased, but Tom kept nodding his head as he gazed into empty space.
“If people merely see you going around with your customers, you’ll maintain your noble standing all the same, won’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
Laura retorted.
Because being compensated by customers and using them to throw one’s weight around were entirely different matters.
“Hmm.”
Tom narrowed his eyes. His previously indifferent face took on a fox-like countenance in an instant.
“My lady, you don’t intend to refrain from taking advantage of the current situation entirely, do you?”
“I have no intention of using my customers.”
“Hoo. So you won’t use the customers, but you’ll use the other things that follow along on their own?”
Laura didn’t answer. Tom curled up the corners of his lips, as if that alone was sufficient—an expression he rarely made.
“You’ll find out if you watch and see.”
With that, he pulled a notebook from his breast pocket.
“First, I shall look into the Rerin Order, as well as the first and second customers.”
Then he added,
“The head maid will also be arriving soon.”
“…Didn’t you say she was farming in the countryside?”
“Since I contacted her about participating in the Noble Congress, she will be coming up with her farming tools in hand.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Laura’s concealed weapon techniques were something she had learned from the head maid.
Of course, the head maid knew nothing of the “customers.”
“The head maid was truly regretful about it. She said both the previous head and my lady are too kind. She said that if it were her, she would have ambushed a few of the troublesome houses. She said everything would have been resolved if she had.”
“…She said that?”
“Yes. When she resigned.”
Tom pondered for a moment before asking,
“Are the customers’ temperaments aggressive?”
“Hmm.”
Laura gazed into empty space, lost in thought for a moment.
At that sight, Tom’s eyes suddenly sharpened.
“No.”
But at Laura’s immediate reply, that sharpness quickly faded.
“They were wary of me at first, but neither of them has ever shown an aggressive disposition.”
But Laura’s face was far from pleased.
“But after hearing news of the Imperial Palace, I can’t be certain.”
“The Crown Prince certainly, yes.”
“And I still don’t know about the second customer for sure.”
He may be a crybaby now, but before his regression, he was someone who had tried to bring down the Empire.
“We mustn’t judge rashly.”
“Indeed.”
*Slap!*
Tom promptly shut the notebook.
“For now, I shall prepare suitable spaces for the counseling.”
“Let’s do it together.”
Laura intended to create two counseling rooms within this large but old mansion.
They would be individual spaces for each customer. That was the plan for now.
“Yes. And I shall continue gathering information through the tavern.”
“You intend to work at the tavern while serving as a butler?”
“There is someone I will entrust the tavern to in my stead.”
“I see.”
Laura thought it was just as well.
The mercenary district. It was filled with mercenaries, adventurers, and merchants, so all sorts of information circulated there.
Of course, the reliability of that information could not be guaranteed.
“Laura. We are a family that carries out the will of the gods. You must not do anything that goes beyond what is proper. And you must not act without caution due to impatience.”
Her grandfather’s words, spoken with a benevolent face, suddenly came to mind.
At that, her heart settled into calm.
*‘One step at a time, slowly and steadily.’*
*Ring—!*
Just then, the magic doorbell rang.
Laura’s gaze turned toward the window, where the sun was setting.
“My lady, they are strangers to me.”
Tom was already standing by the window, surveying the outside.
“They have arrived with a carriage, but I can find nothing in their attire that would prove their identity.”
Tom’s eyes cooled as he reported in a dry voice.
“Furthermore, the one seated in the coachman’s seat does not appear to be a coachman. Judging by their posture, both men are presumed to be knights.”
Knights?
Laura’s gaze shifted to Tom.
“They are not from the Noble Council. I know the faces of all the knights belonging to the Council.”
*Sigh.*
Laura let out a sigh.
*‘Really! I want to take things slowly, but that only works if life lets me!’*
She wanted to organize her thoughts and work, but things kept happening.
*‘Why has it been like this since yesterday?’*
Laura set aside her questions for the moment and rose from her seat.
*Screech.*
The sound of her chair scraping accompanied her words to Tom.
“The fact that they have visited so openly in a district densely packed with nobles means they most likely haven’t come to do anything shady.”
This was the heart of the noble district. As such, there were eyes watching everywhere.
“My lady.”
“Tom, let’s go out together.”
“Rather than that, my lady.”
“What is it?”
Tom pointed to Laura’s left hand.
“The axe.”
“Ah.”
Addressing Laura, who had grabbed her axe first, Tom opened his mouth with a calm expression.
“I believe you may leave it behind.”
“Ah.”
Laura gave an embarrassed smile.
“Sorry, it’s a habit.”
Even when she tried to fix it, her hands would search for an axe or a dagger first.
She pointed out the window.
“I just end up grabbing my axe first once the sun sets.”
*Thud.*
The axe, substantial in weight, was placed back beside the dining table.
Tom, who had been watching this, muttered with a nonchalant expression.
“As expected, a mercenary rather than a noble…”
“Hmm?”
“Nothing, my lady.”
“Let’s go.”
Laura headed for the main gate, accompanied by Tom.
*‘Who could it be?’*
Laura examined the face of the person standing beyond the main gate.
*‘Who sent them?’*
Tom asked the person beyond the iron bars of the gate,
“Where have you come from?”
“…Might I ask who you are first?”
“I am the butler.”
Laura regarded the visitor with an elegant bearing but eyes full of wariness.
“It is an honor, Count Lien.”
Oh.
Laura marveled inwardly.
The visitor displayed exceedingly meticulous courtesy toward her. It was an attitude so excessively deferential that it would suit the head of one of the five founding meritorious houses.
She had truly never received such treatment before.
*‘What is this?’*
Her surprise was short-lived; Laura soon felt an inexplicable unease.
There was nothing to be gained from the Lien family, so such an attitude naturally aroused suspicion.
“Where have you come from?”
“We were sent by the guest who visited last night.”
Tom and Laura’s gazes turned toward each other.
*‘Customer Ion.’*
They were people sent by Customer Ion, who was currently possessing Crown Prince Diant.
If so, these men were most likely knights who followed the Crown Prince.
In the meantime, the other party opened his mouth.
“‘Counseling.’ I was told that if I spoke this word, you would know who it is.”
Laura suddenly felt something was strange.
The knight seemed filled with fear about something. Furthermore, he gauged Laura’s mood quite carefully.
*‘What on earth happened at the Crown Prince’s palace?’*
She had her doubts, but she spoke first.
“I know who sent you.”
If it was someone who visited last night, it was indeed Customer Ion. And since the word “counseling” was mentioned, it was certain.
“So what brings you here?”
“He requested whether the Count of Lien could come to meet him whenever it is convenient.”
The knight continued.
“We intend to call upon you each time we are to escort Count Lien to him, so we have stopped by to pay our respects.”
The person who had been in the coachman’s seat also descended and paid her a respectful greeting.
Only then did Laura seem to understand why these people were watching her mood so carefully.
The Crown Prince had prepared a carriage and assigned dedicated personnel to make a “request” of Laura. Naturally, they had no choice but to be mindful of her reactions.
*‘What should I do?’*
Laura pondered how to reply before quickly reaching a decision.
“Did he say he needs me right now?”
Anyone could guess how much chaos must have erupted at the Crown Prince’s palace.
Laura was curious about the customer’s condition.
“That is—”
“I won’t base my decision on courtesy, so speak freely.”
The knight squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them to speak.
“He said he would adjust his schedule day or night at any time for Count Lien, so you should come when it is convenient.”
At those words, Laura thought,
*‘He’s saying he urgently needs me.’*
She replied to the knight.
“Please wait thirty minutes. I will go to see him as soon as I finish preparing.”
“Ah, thank you!”
The knight bowed reflexively.
“Ah, no—”
Flustered by his own actions, he stammered before promptly resuming a disciplined posture and paying his respects.
“We shall wait, Count.”
Laura nodded and gestured to Tom with her eyes before heading back into the mansion.
The moment they entered the mansion, Tom voiced a question.
“My lady, might the first customer be someone who torments his subordinates?”
“Who knows.”
Our customer didn’t seem like the type to act so rashly.
“I’ll have to go and see, Tom.”