"I would like to hire eleven maids, one of which is versed in cooking, four of which have combat skills and can watch over the gate to the estate, and one that is good at teaching,"
Viscountess Valorie nodded her head and then looked towards Clara and said, "If you would not mind bringing the recent graduates from class eight here, I believe that a number of them will have the required skills that Lady Irene here wants."
Clara bowed respectfully towards her master before leaving the room and once she had gone the viscountess looked towards Marcus and said, "Clara will be back shortly but, in this time, let us get the paperwork out of the way."
The viscountess then took out a number of forms from a magic bag that was attached to her belt and handed them over towards Marcus.
Looking them over Marcus found that the forms were pretty streamlined allowing for multiply boxes to be checked on the qualifications of each maid and the length and salary of the contract.
As Marcus continued to look over the forms, he had been given it was not long before Clara came back with a little over twenty young maids who all looked quite professional.
Seeing the candidates for the people he was going to be hiring enter Marcus used his creature appraisal skill on them and found that they all ranged from level twelve to twenty-one.
However, that was not all that Marcus' appraisal skill revealed, he found that since it had leveled up, he was now able to see the basic statuses of living creatures, such as their name, race, age, and stats.
'Well, that was a bit of a surprise, I was wondering when I was going to be able to get more than just someone's level. Now when will I be able to see entire statuses.'
While deep in thought about the growing utility of his creature appraisal skill the viscountess noticed Marcus's attention being elsewhere and slightly loudly said, "Lady Irene if you would not mind hearing the qualifications of each of academy's graduates.
Marcus hearing the viscountess quickly snapped his attention back towards her and began listing to each of the maids' capabilities and once they were done Marcus figured out quickly which ones were the best.
Marcus then remembered that there was one other maid in the room and deciding to see what a veteran maid's status looked like Marcus decided to appraise Clara.
What he got back surprised him, he found that he could not see her basic status and only her level which was twenty-five.
'So, I must only be able to see the basic statuses of people who are a certain number of levels under me. Oh well the skill is still pretty useful since knowing someone's level allows me to know if I can take them or not.'
Looking over his choice of servants to hire Marcus looked back over at Clara before looking at the Viscountess and saying, "Lady Tenreion, I would like to hire, Amy, Elianna, Grace, Hazel, Jenna, Leah, Melanie, Riley, Stella, Violet, and if possible, I was hoping to employ Clara as the head maid."
As Marcus finished listing off the names of the girls he wanted to hire, the ones who heard their names all internally rejoiced while the others who were not chosen by Marcus had sullen expressions.
However, there were two people who were quite surprised, both the viscountess and Clara did not think that Marcus would ask to employ her, and the viscountess looked towards Clara with a slightly pitiable look before saying, "While I am glad that you have taken a liking to Clara it would be difficult for her to come and work for you. She was until recently employed at the estate of one of the kingdom's barons, but the baron decided to get handsy with Clara here and she in turn broke his arm. Luckily there had been a number of witnesses so Clara did not receive any form of punishment and the baron in question was forced to give his title over to his oldest son since the kingdom gives a certain level of protection to the graduates of this academy. Unfortunately, Clara could of course no longer work where she had been and came back here but after news of the incident spread no nobles would hire Clara. Thus, I must inform you that hiring her could make other nobles avoid you or even try to undermine you."
Marcus looked over towards Clara and said, "I really do not care what the other nobles think, I have had this title for less than a month, so I certainly do not sympathize with the baron who had his arm broken. If that is the only problem than if you would like to come work for me, I would be more than happy to have you Clara. Though I suppose that since you have been forthright, I should do the same. The mansion I have recently obtained happens to have its own history and had been haunted for the last twenty years. However, I have recently eliminated the spirt plaguing the place, so it is perfectly safe to stay in."
When most of the young maids heard Marcus' description of his mansion, they did not know what he was talking about, but the expression on both Clara and Viscount Valorie's faces contorted into one of terror.
As the two of them looked at Marcus with fear on their faces the viscountess said, "Are you joking, how did you get that place. That bastard Flourensy must be going senile, did he want to get you killed. I do not know what he told you about that place being cleared but no matter how many times they have said that a persist has successfully cleansed the place, the people who stay there in up dead."
The viscountess then stood up and looked at Marcus and said, "Come with me Lady Irene we are going to go give Flourensy a visit, if this was a joke on his part it was not a very good one and I am going to let him have it."
Marcus seeing that things were starting to get out of hand stood up as well and said, "There seems to be a misunderstanding, no one told me that the place had been cleansed in fact Count Flourensy told me about its condition, and I took it anyway. I am the one who went in and fought the evil spirt inhabiting the place and got rid of it."
The viscountess looked at Marcus with disbelief, some of the greatest persist in the kingdom's history had tried to get rid of the spirt that had occupied that mansion, but none had been successful.
However, the resolute expression on Marcus' face made it seem like he was telling the truth.
With a bit of hesitation, the viscountess sat back down and said, "Very well then but I will have to go with you personally and inspect the place before I allow any maids from this academy to work there."
Marcus was a bit surprised to hear that the viscountess would go herself while all of the maids had a look of worry on their faces.
"Very well when would you like to go, I must admit the place is still in a bit of disrepair but me and my little sister have done our best to clean the place up."
The viscountess got back up and said, "We can leave immediately. Clara if you would not mind getting my carriage ready and accompanying us."
Clara nodded he head and quickly left the room before the viscountess said, "If you would follow me, I will lead you to my carriage and we can depart.
Marcus just shook his head and said, "I actually came here riding my own magical beast so I will meet you outside."
Marcus then left the room and made his way out of the building and found Blitz asleep under a tree near the area he was tied off.
Calling Blitz back over to him Marcus untied him and jump up onto his back.
It was not long before Marcus saw the viscountess's carriage coming out from the academy being pulled by a pure white unicorn.
Looking at the unicorn Marcus could feel the majesty and power that the rare grade magical beast was emitting.
Blitz and the unicorn looked at each other with hostility and if either of them was not in the presence of their master they certainly would have fought for dominance since in the wild their species were mortal enemies.
Marcus sensing Blitz's hostility told him to calm down a bit and had Blitz move over towards the carriage.
The viscountess seeing Marcus approach and the type of magical beast he was riding was quite surprised.
"Wow I am impressed Lady Irene, you even own a rare grade magical beast, not many nobles even in the capital can attest to such a feat."
Marcus smiled at the viscountess and said, "You appear to also have your own rare grade magical beast so you must be quite strong yourself. Now then I will lead you to my estate and you can see that it is perfectly safe."
The two of them set off towards Marcus' new estate and within an hour they had arrived in front of it.
Getting off of Blitz, Marcus opened the gate and then led the viscountess and Clara who was acting as her coachman, towards the mansion.
When they arrived at the front door, the viscountess had a bit of trepidation but seeing Marcus brazenly walk in without any worry, they gathered their courage and followed behind.
Walking in they could tell that the place had been recently cleaned and that it did not seem to have the oppressive atmosphere they were expecting.
Marcus then began showing them around the first floor and when he came to the kitchen, he saw Lilia standing over the stove and cooking herself some lunch.
The viscountess and Clara seeing this could only stare in disbelief, here was a young girl cooking food in the kitchen of a supposedly haunted mansion, that had claimed the lives of most who had entered it during the last twenty years.
Marcus approached Lilia and said, "Lilia I see you are cooking lunch if you would not mind could you make enough for our guests here. I will show them to the dining area and then come and help you prepare."
Lilia nodded her head and Marcus walked back towards the viscountess and Clara and directed them towards the dining room.
Sitting the viscountess down at the table Marcus moved over to pull out a chair for Clara but instead she said, "Excuse me Lady Geist it would not be appropriate for me to share a table with you and the viscountess. Please allow me to go and help in the kitchen instead, since as the hostess it would be rude for you to leave the viscountess."
Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders before going to sit next to the viscountess and began talking to her about her unicorn.
It was not long before Lilia and Clara came into the dining room carrying the meal that they had prepared.
Marcus once again asked Clara if she would like to sit down and eat but she still vehemently refused.
After they had finished eating Marcus looked towards the viscountess and said, "So do you think that my mansion is safe enough now that you have seen it yourself and even enjoyed a meal."
The viscountess then froze as she remembered exactly where she was and looked around expecting for some horrible monster to come and kill her.
Fortunately, this did not happen and after having walked through the manor and even eaten a meal there, the viscountess could only sigh and say, "It appears that you tell the truth, this place really does seem to be safe. However, I will still be adding a clause to the contracts stating that if at any time any of the maids you hired though our academy feel that their lives are in danger, they can terminate their contract immediately."
Marcus simply nodded his head and said, "That is fine I can assure you that this place is safe."
Marcus then turned towards Clara and said, So, Clara have decided if you would like to work for me as my head maid?"
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