Stranger’s Handbook Chapter 76

Chapter 76: The Birth of a Cat-Eared Civil Official

“I’m Katalina-nya. I look forwards to working with you-nya.”

The little girl cat kemon.o.bito lowered her head energetically in a greeting.
When a asked her if she wanted to work for me as a civil official, she said that she’ll do it with pleasure.
She didn’t have a family, she was all alone in the world it seems.
Because of the previous kemon.o.bito hunting, seeing orphans was not an unusual thing.

I wanted to take her with me and return as quickly as possible, but…….

“Well, well, you are so good at greetings. Do you want some sweets?”
“Woaaa, they look so fluffy.”
“Katalina-chan, call me onee-sama (= older sister).”
“I want to give birth to a child as adorable as this one.”

…………..Media, you won’t give birth to anything.

On the way back to the capital city, the Maids Unit wanted to have a picnic so that they could play with Katalina.
These maids have excessive strength, so it’s actually good there are incidents like these from time to time.
Also, 100 or 200 thieves, if they decide to attack, they are nothing to them.

We got back to the capital city without any other incidents. In order to formally appoint Katalina as a civil official, my master had to test her.

“Zest, you must appoint her immediately. I said immediately.”

Master gave his approval, his eyes a little teary, and she started to work.

Katalina said she was good at counting, and it turned out she was faster and more accurate than both me and my master.
‘This way my workload will be halved.’
My master and I had the exact same thought in that moment.

After one month of work, Katalina completely became our main force.
So much so that the muscle brains couldn’t raise their heads in front of her anymore.

“Why is it that you destroy the training ground every single day-nya?”
“Well, urm…….Sorry.”

“Alcohol doesn’t count as expenses-nya. Your proposal is rejected-nya.”
“Can’t we work something out somehow!?”

“This and this are mistaken-nya. This is……..like this-nya.”
“Oh! Thank you very much!”

“Nya? Sonia-sama, what’s that Mitsurin Company-nya? I received an expenses application from Albert-sama………”

“Mitsurin Company?…….Ah! It’s a company that manages some bars, where young ladies pour sake for you and the sort……….It’s better for you not knowing about it actually.”
“Albert! Where are you Albert, come out! You dared going there without letting me and master know about it!!?”

When Albert embezzlement leaked out, the headquarters rapidly turned into a battleground, but it couldn’t be helped.

Katalina’s skills became clear to me, and, now that everyone consented to it, it was a good time to confer her the t.i.tle of knight.
At any rate, I had a lot of court ranks left for me to use.
I didn’t want to bargain them, but I wasn’t stingy either.
My plan for her was to make her a knight first, then eventually give her the t.i.tle of baron and have her become my trusted confident.

It was during the celebratory party that an incident happened.

“Nya? I’m 21-nya. I can also drink alcohol-nya.”

With 140cm of height, her body was that of a child’s………She was very slender.
It was hard to believe she was an adult.

No, it was just that I didn’t check out.

The guys were the ones to snap at this.

“Thank G.o.d…….I was actually normal…….”
“I know, right? She has a strange seductiveness.”
“……….She’s legal.”
“She’s someone to admire! I am different from you guys”

I was anxious that only one gentleman could be found among them, but…….he actually pays  special attention.

Katalina had a lot of fans, and everyone’s excuse for that was ‘She’s cute like my own child’.
If they were to cry out that they loved a little girl, I am confident I would’ve killed them right away.

It’s true that n.o.bles get married really young.
But that’s only for political reasons. If you were to expressly choose to marry a little girl, you would be treated like a pervert.

However, now that everyone knew she was an adult, the story was different.
After that, Katalina tasted a storm of confessions………

The office had long queues of people waiting for some sort of an idol handshake meeting.

Yes………
The guys were thirsty for a normal girl.

Not like the manly women from the Maids Unit, but an actual frail girl that needed protection.
Except for black knights, she was very popular to everyone.

“Ha? I don’t like women who are not at least as strong as the girls from the Maids Unit.”
“She looks like she’d break if I touched her, so no thanks.”
“Adorable? A partner is power! It is something you choose based on strength!”
“I have no interest in women who can’t win against me.”

This was the logic of muscle brains.
I didn’t really understand them, but I could only consent.
The Maids Unit was very happy about this, and I really wanted to press the question of why!? Was it really all right for young girls to feel happy about that?

Nevertheless, the Katalina fever started to wane after about 2 months.
Well, I actually expected that.

She could finally relax and concentrate on doing her job now.
Yes, everything was progressing favorably.
She was great as a civil official.

Those who got rejected by her, didn’t try to seduce her any longer, but rather were coming to socialize with her in a natural manner.
She was a civil official after all…….and a commoner, so there was no one who despised her.
It was only natural. If they were to make fun of her for being a commoner, without any doubt, the black knights would’ve started a fight.
I felt relieved that no such ‘hero’ appeared.

Our work was progressing nicely as well.
The fis.h.i.+ng business already started, and the main road was properly maintained.

Isn’t my domain perfect!?

Now that the workload was lesser, master and I were spending some fancy time in my office, drinking tea.
Recently, I got the chance to take easy.

This was indeed an elegant time, worthy of a n.o.ble.
However, my master’s words ended everything.

“…….By the way, son-in-law-dono, you are keeping in touch with Princess Tsubaki, right? How are things recently? Do you think she and Bea will actually get along?”
“……………………”

“Hahaha, there’s no need to hide anything. Political marriages are an indispensible part of a n.o.ble’s life. It’s not a grudge, I’m just curious.”
“……………………”

“Son-in-law-dono?”
“Master……………….I haven’t sent her any letter………………..”

“………………….”
“………………….”